Friends With Benefits ~ A Seaycee Story

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Rice Household 

December 12th

"Julian? What are you doing here?" Kaycee asked, opening her front door wider so that he could come in.

"I wanted to come and see how you were doing," he asked, wrapping his younger friend in a hug. 

"If you're here on some mission for Sean you can leave right now. I'm not in the mood to hear why this isn't his fault," she said, pulling away from him. 

"Believe me, I'm not thrilled with Sean right now either," he said, following her into her kitchen where she took a seat.

"That picture isn't us Jules," Kaycee said, biting her lip at the obvious lie.

"Kayc, you don't have to lie to me, Sean told Josh and I what was going on the whole time," He said, sitting down in the chair next to her, an appropriate amount of distance between them.  

"Of course he did," Kaycee said, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms.

"I'm not going to stand up for him. I think he was being an ass," he said, looking at her next to him. Kaycee just nodded her head. "But I want you to know something so you can at least be mad at him for the things he actually did, not the things that he didn't."

Kaycee's brow knit together, her face contorting in confusion. "What do you mean the things he didn't do?"

"I mean Sean didn't post that picture," he said, looking down at his lap. Kaycee closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"What are you saying, Julian?"

"I mean Josh and I were with Sean and he was showing us that picture and telling us what you two were doing," he said, still not able to look up at her. She sighed and stood up, walking toward the living room. "Kaycee, wait, hear me out."

"I'm listening, I just, I'm listening," she said, pacing around the space between the two rooms. 

"We tried to tell him what it would look like if people found out. That he was playing with fire. I wanted him to see what he was doing, how badly he was treating you," Julian said, his eyes pleading.

"What are you saying, Julian?" She asked, unshed tears in her eyes as she looked over at him.

"I mean when Sean showed me that picture, I sent it to myself from his phone and deleted the text," he admitted quietly, his eyes locked on the floor.

"Julian," she whispered, a tear rolling down her cheek.

"Kaycee I am so sorry. I sent it to a small account. I didn't think it would go viral. I was just going to show Sean what he was doing and get him to stop. I didn't mean for any of this to hurt you," he said, standing up. Kaycee backed away from him.

"I know it was stupid and short-sighted but you have to understand. I wanted him to understand how bad what he was doing was."

"Julian, stop."

"Kayc."

"No. Stop saying what he was doing. We were doing it," she said, shaking her head.

"Kaycee. We could see what he was doing to you. We know that you deserve better than how he was treating you."

"You had no right to involve yourself," Kaycee said, sinking down onto the couch behind her. 

"I know, and I'd do anything to take it back but I can't. I just wanted you to know so that you knew who to blame," he said, sitting back down in the kitchen chair. Kaycee took a deep breath.