UNCHANGEABLE - FREENBECKY

dinner party

"will you be all right?" kade asks.

freen glances at kade before closing the door to her car's back seat where noey is lying comfortably.

"yeah. this isn't the first time i've done this." she walks over to the other side of the car. "noey loves getting wasted from time to time. sometimes irin will call me to pick her up if she's not available, and i will let her crash into my place for the night."

"you called her up already?"

"i did. she's also having party with her mates. i think she plans on getting wasted too."

"i hope not in bed with a stranger." kade folds her arms. "anyway, becky and i will be going."

freen looks at becky, who is sleeping on the shotgun seat of kade's car.

"is she okay? i've never seen her touch a wine bottle before. but tonight she was like thirsty for it."

kade sighs. "i don't know. she's... she's going through something..."

"a-are they having problems?"

"a bit. but i'm not in the position to tell you about it. and i'm sure it's something they can still fix since this isn't the first time it happened."

"i hope he's not cheating on her or abusing her or emily. because if he does, i'll kill him," she says.

kade chuckles and turns away. "mew's a kind person. but i'll be the first one to kill him if he does anything to hurt becky or my goddaughter."

freen watches as the doctor walks back to her car. "i hope it's not about me."

kade stops and opens the door to the driver's seat. "do you really hope it's not about you? because it's always about you, freen. since day one, it's always been about you."

freen opens and closes her mouth, not sure how to respond.

kade leans an elbow on the roof of her car and smiles. "don't think about it too much. you take care, freen. we'll see you at the wedding next week."

freen goes inside the car and drives away from there, living freen still rooted to the ground.

---

"jeez. i'm sorry. i have no control over my mouth when i'm drunk." noey shakes her head, embarrassed. "guess i messed up last night, huh?"

freen leans on her kitchen counter, smelling the aroma of the coffee in front of her.

"well, you made it a little awkward for me and becky, but it's your party and you had a blast. that's the important part," she says.