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It started over something stupid.
Which was, in hindsight, how all of the worst arguments started.
Megan had said she’d “handle the night.”
Daniela had said, very clearly, that she “didn’t need handling.”
Indie had screamed for the third time in two hours.
And nobody had slept properly in eleven days.
So when Megan finally said, “Just let me do it,” something in Daniela snapped.
“I am doing it,” Daniela said sharply, bouncing Indie against her shoulder. “I’ve been doing it.”
Megan stood in the doorway of the bedroom, hair messy, eyes red.
“You’re exhausted.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re not fine.”
“I said I’m fine.”
Megan exhaled slowly.
“That’s not what fine looks like.”
Daniela laughed once, sharp and humorless.
“Oh, sorry. Do I need to perform wellness for you now?”
Megan flinched.
“That’s not what I meant.”
Daniela tightened her grip on Indie.
“Then what did you mean, Megan?”
Megan opened her mouth.
Paused.
Then tried again, slower.
“I mean you haven’t slept properly in days.”
Daniela’s eyes flicked up immediately.
“And you have?”
That landed.
Megan hesitated.
“…That’s not the point.”
Daniela let out a short, broken laugh.
“There it is.”
Megan frowned.
“There what is?”
“You always do this,” Daniela said, voice rising now. “You turn it into me being incapable.”
“I’m not—”
“You are. You’re always hovering. Always correcting. Always acting like I’m about to drop her.”
Megan’s face changed instantly.
“I’m not saying that.”
“You don’t have to say it, Megan.”
Silence.
Indie made a small sound between them, unaware she had just become the emotional centerpiece of a war.
Megan stepped forward.
“I’m trying to help you.”
“I don’t need you to rescue me.”
That word hit like a slap.
Megan froze.
“I’m not rescuing you.”
Daniela’s eyes were glossy now.
“Yes, you are.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Yes, you are,” Daniela repeated, louder now. “You act like I can’t do anything without you checking it first.”
“That is not what I do.”
Daniela’s voice cracked.
“Then what do you do?”
Megan stared at her.
And for a second, both of them looked like they were about to cry.
Then Megan said quietly:
“I keep everything from falling apart.”
That was worse.
Daniela’s face broke immediately.
“Oh my God,” she whispered. “So I’m the one letting it fall apart?”
Megan shook her head fast.
“No, that’s not what I meant.”
But it was too late.
Because exhaustion turns everything into something sharper than it is.
Daniela’s eyes filled.
“I can’t do this with you talking to me like I’m a problem.”
Megan’s voice shook.
“I’m not talking to you like you’re a problem.”
“You are!”
The baby started crying again at the exact wrong moment.
Of course she did.
Daniela flinched like it physically hurt.
Megan stepped forward instinctively.
“I’ll take her—”
“No.”
Megan stopped.
Daniela’s voice was shaking now, tears starting to fall.
“I don’t need you to take her every time she cries.”
“I didn’t say—”
“You don’t trust me.”
Megan’s face went pale.
“That’s not true.”
Daniela laughed through tears.
“It feels true.”
That was the worst kind of argument.
The kind where everything becomes about feelings instead of facts.
Megan looked like she was holding herself together by force alone.
“I trust you,” she said carefully. “I just think you’re drowning.”
That made Daniela flinch harder.
“Wow,” she whispered. “Okay.”
Megan immediately regretted it.
“Dani, I didn’t—”
“Just stop.”
Daniela turned away sharply, rocking Indie harder now.
“Just stop talking.”
Silence.
Except for Indie crying.
And Daniela crying now too.
And Megan standing there looking like she didn’t know where to put her hands or her grief.
Finally Megan spoke, voice breaking slightly.
“I’m trying so hard.”
Daniela didn’t turn around.
“So am I.”
A long pause.
Then Megan said quietly:
“I think I’m making it worse.”
That one landed differently.
Daniela hesitated.
But pride is a stubborn thing.
“I think you are too,” she whispered.
Megan went completely still.
Like something inside her had finally shut off.
She nodded once.
Slowly.
“Okay,” she said.
Daniela turned slightly at that.
Something in her face flickered.
But Megan had already stepped back.
“I’m gonna go.”
Daniela’s eyes widened slightly.
“Megan—”
But Megan was already grabbing her keys.
Not dramatic.
Not loud.
Just final.
“I’ll be back,” she said.
Daniela shook her head quickly.
“No. Wait. Don’t—”
But the door closed.
And Megan was gone.
Silence hit the apartment like a weight.
Indie’s crying filled it immediately.
Daniela stood there frozen for exactly three seconds before her face crumpled.
“No,” she whispered.
Then again.
“No, no, no.”
She sat down on the edge of the bed still holding the baby, tears falling now without permission.
“I didn’t mean it like that,” she said to no one.
Indie kept crying.
Daniela started crying harder.
“I didn’t mean it like that,” she repeated, rocking the baby too fast now. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
Her voice broke completely.
And the apartment just filled with noise.
Crying baby.
Crying mother.
Empty space where Megan used to be.
Hours later, Megan walked through the door of her old apartment.
She didn’t knock.
Which was unfortunate.
Because Lara and Manon absolutely did not expect to be interrupted in the middle of something.
Lara screamed.
Manon shouted something extremely unprintable.
Megan stood there in the doorway, eyes swollen, face blank with exhaustion.
Silence fell instantly.
Then Manon snapped:
“Do you mind—”
But Lara immediately stopped her.
Because she saw Megan’s face properly.
“Oh,” Lara said softly.
Megan just walked in.
Slowly.
Sat down on the edge of the couch like her legs had given up on her.
“I messed it up,” she said quietly.
Manon, still annoyed, pulled a shirt on quickly.
“You usually knock,” she muttered.
Lara elbowed her.
“Shut up.”
Megan didn’t react to either of them.
Just stared at her hands.
“I think I made her hate me.”
That stopped everything.
Manon frowned.
“What happened?”
Megan shook her head.
“I don’t know. Everything. Nothing. I don’t know.”
Her voice cracked suddenly.
“I told her she was drowning.”
Lara’s expression softened immediately.
“Oh, Meg…”
Megan laughed once, broken.
“She looked at me like I didn’t trust her at all.”
Manon sighed, sitting on the arm of the couch now.
“Did you?”
Megan looked up sharply.
“No.”
A pause.
Then quieter:
“I just didn’t know how to help without doing it for her.”
Lara moved instantly.
She didn’t ask permission.
Just sat beside Megan and pulled her into a hug.
Megan froze for half a second.
Then collapsed into it.
Like she’d been holding it in too long.
Her breath hitched immediately.
“I didn’t want to leave,” she whispered.
“I know,” Lara said softly.
Megan shook her head against her shoulder.
“I just couldn’t stay there and keep making it worse.”
Manon watched them for a second, still tense, then sighed.
“…You’re a disaster,” she said, but less harshly now.
Megan let out a wet laugh.
“Yeah.”
Lara held her tighter.
“You don’t have to go back right now,” she said gently.
Megan shook her head immediately.
“I should.”
“Should and can are different,” Lara said.
Megan cried harder at that.
Because she knew.
A few hours later, across town, Sophia was sitting on Daniela’s couch holding a very upset Indie while Daniela stared at the floor like it had personally betrayed her.
“You’re spiraling,” Sophia said bluntly.
“I am not spiraling.”
“You’ve said ‘I am a terrible mother’ eight times.”
Daniela wiped her face angrily.
“I pushed her away.”
Sophia nodded.
“Yes.”
“I didn’t mean it.”
“I know.”
Daniela’s voice broke again.
“I just wanted her to stop acting like I can’t do anything.”
Sophia sighed.
“And she wanted to make sure you didn’t fall apart.”
Daniela snapped:
“I’m not falling apart.”
Sophia looked at her.
Daniela immediately broke into tears again.
“Okay,” Sophia said softly. “You are. A bit.”
Daniela buried her face in her hands.
“I hate this.”
“I know.”
A long pause.
Indie made a small sound.
Daniela looked up instantly.
And that was it.
That was the tether.
Sophia stood up carefully.
“Go talk to her.”
Daniela shook her head immediately.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“I can’t.”
“You can,” Sophia said firmly. “You just don’t want to be the first one to break.”
Daniela laughed weakly through tears.
“That’s not true.”
Sophia raised an eyebrow.
Daniela hesitated.
Then whispered:
“…Maybe a little.”
Sophia adjusted Indie in her arms.
“She loves you,” she said simply.
Daniela’s eyes filled again.
“And you love her,” Sophia added.
Silence.
Daniela finally stood up.
Wiping her face.
Still shaking.
“Okay,” she whispered.
Sophia nodded once.
“Go.”
And Daniela left.
____
💔💔💔💔💔
# Chapter Ten: Apologies, Reconciliations, and Extremely Awkward Timing
Megan didn’t expect a knock.
She was sitting on Lara’s couch wearing yesterday’s hoodie, holding a mug she hadn’t drunk from in an hour, staring at nothing in particular while Lara and Manon tried very hard to act normal around her emotional devastation.
So when the knock came, she didn’t move at first.
Lara did.
Manon froze like she thought it might be the police.
Then Lara opened the door.
And Daniela was standing there.
Still tired. Still red-eyed. Hair messy. Hands shaking slightly.
Holding nothing except herself together by pure stubbornness.
Lara immediately stepped aside.
“Oh,” she said softly.
Manon made an immediate sound of realization.
“Ohhh.”
Megan looked up.
And stopped breathing.
For a second, nobody spoke.
The room felt too small again.
Too similar to before.
Daniela swallowed hard.
“I’m sorry,” she said immediately.
Megan blinked.
Daniela shook her head quickly like she needed to get it all out before she lost the courage.
“I was horrible to you. I didn’t mean what I said. I was tired and scared and I took it out on you.”
Megan’s face tightened instantly.
She stood up.
Slowly.
“I left you,” Megan said quietly.
Daniela nodded immediately.
“I know.”
“I shouldn’t have left.”
“I know that too.”
A pause.
The air between them was thick with everything that had happened in the middle.
Indie crying.
The argument.
The silence after.
Megan’s voice cracked slightly.
“I didn’t know how to stay without making it worse.”
Daniela’s eyes filled immediately.
“I didn’t know how to stop pushing you away.”
That landed.
Hard.
Megan stepped forward one small step.
“Dani…”
Daniela shook her head quickly, tears falling again now.
“I hate that I made you feel like I don’t trust you.”
Megan immediately shook her head too.
“No. No, that’s not— I didn’t feel that.”
Daniela let out a broken laugh.
“You literally left.”
Megan flinched.
“I know.”
A beat.
Then Megan whispered:
“I just thought you needed space from me.”
Daniela shook her head harder.
“I needed you.”
That hit something deep in Megan’s expression.
Something that cracked open all the exhaustion and guilt she’d been holding.
“I didn’t want to leave,” Megan admitted.
“I know,” Daniela whispered.
“I just didn’t know how to be there without making everything heavier.”
Daniela wiped her face.
“You’re not heavy.”
Megan let out a shaky laugh.
“I feel heavy.”
Daniela stepped forward then.
Careful.
Like she was afraid Megan might still disappear if she moved too fast.
“I’m sorry,” Daniela said again, softer now. “I was mean.”
Megan shook her head immediately.
“You were exhausted.”
“I was still mean.”
Megan stared at her for a long second.
Then stepped forward too.
Closing the space completely.
“I miss you,” Megan said quietly.
That did it.
Daniela broke.
Not dramatically.
Just quietly collapsing into Megan like something inside her finally gave out.
Megan caught her instantly.
Arms wrapping around her without hesitation.
“I’ve got you,” Megan whispered immediately.
Daniela shook her head against her shoulder.
“I don’t want us to do that again.”
“Me neither.”
“I hated it.”
“Me too.”
They just held each other for a long moment.
No sarcasm.
No defensiveness.
Just exhaustion and relief and the very real fact that neither of them had wanted separation even for a second.
Megan pulled back slightly first, just enough to look at her.
“You okay?” she asked softly.
Daniela laughed weakly through tears.
“No.”
Megan nodded.
“Same.”
Then Daniela grabbed her hoodie and pulled her in again, harder this time.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered again.
Megan closed her eyes.
“I’m sorry too.”
From the couch, Manon cleared her throat loudly.
“Okay,” she said.
They didn’t move.
Manon tried again.
“Not to interrupt the emotional healing arc or whatever, but we were actively doing something before this.”
Lara immediately elbowed her.
“Manon!”
“What? I’m just saying there was a vibe and now there is crying.”
Megan, still holding Daniela, let out a tired laugh.
Daniela buried her face in Megan’s shoulder.
“I forgot they were here.”
Manon raised a hand.
“Hi. I live here.”
Lara sighed fondly.
“They’re fine.”
Manon pointed between them.
“Yes, but also I was in the middle of something extremely time-sensitive.”
Lara blinked.
“…You mean sex.”
Manon nodded seriously.
“Yes.”
There was a beat.
Then Lara burst out laughing.
Megan pulled back slightly, still holding Daniela.
“Sorry,” she said automatically.
Manon waved a hand.
“No, it’s fine. I just want to know if we’re done here so I can resume my private life.”
Daniela sniffed.
Megan looked at her.
Daniela looked at Megan.
Then both of them started laughing at the same time.
Because of course this was their lives.
Crying in the middle of reconciliation while someone demanded schedule efficiency for intimacy.
Megan wiped Daniela’s face gently with her thumb.
“You coming home?” she asked softly.
Daniela nodded immediately.
“Yeah.”
Megan exhaled like she’d been holding her breath for days.
“Okay.”
Lara clapped her hands once.
“Great. Love that. Beautiful emotional closure. Now go. Please. Respectfully.”
Manon added immediately:
“Yeah, because I would like to continue being extremely busy in a way that requires your absence.”
Lara stared at her.
“You are impossible.”
Manon shrugged.
“It’s a lifestyle.”
"Okay..bye girlies. Have good..sex, I guess?"
Megan laughed, still holding Daniela’s hand.
Daniela squeezed back.
And this time, when they left together, nothing felt broken anymore.
Just tired.
And real.
And fixable.