Chapter Text
xxx
When Lea and Cory return half an hour later, no questions are asked. So, Dianna can’t bring herself to ask where they had been, at least not in front of their friends and Dave. Instead, from the corner of her eye, she watches them, feeling mildly nauseous. She has to remind herself how well she and Lea had been before Dave arrived. So, this has to be about him.
“This is fucking nice,” Lea says, downing her third shot. Her eyes meet Dianna’s for a lingering moment before she snaps her fingers at the bartender, signaling for one more. Dianna reaches for what’s left of her wine, taking a deliberate sip, as she studies the brunette.
“Is it necessary for you to curse this much?” Cory’s lips quirk into a teasing grin. “There are minors among us.”
Lea shrugs a shoulder, reaching the shot the bartender has pushed in front of her and downing it in one swallow. Dianna purses her lips, noting that she has never seen the other women drink that many shots in a row. She wishes she could find a way to talk to Lea tonight without Dave suspecting anything.
“You know I am legally not a minor right Cory?” Chris scolds playfully, nursing the rum and coke Cory had to buy for him. “Although, technically, I am not allowed to drink.”
“Whatever,” Cory shrugs. “She has some dirty mouth on her.”
Lea smiles thinly, “From now on, I am going to swear more to scare Canadians away.”
“And I am going to buy a swear jar just for you,” Cory tells her sweetly. “Then, with that money, I will take a vacation to Cabo. You just wait.”
“Yeah, that’s likely to happen,” Lea agrees with a smirk. “Take me with you. I am a good beach buddy.”
“Aw, of course. Who else can I take? You are my best buddy.” Cory beams with a smile that makes Dianna want to puke in her mouth. She is glad Dave is out somewhere on his phone, having a spontaneous meeting, or else he could have noticed how uncomfortable she is with Lea and Cory flirting.
“That’s some Finn and Rachel level of sweetness, you two,” Jenna gushes, clapping her hands together in delight.
Dianna squeezes her eyes closed, shaking her head irritably at the comment.
xxx
Some guy is doing a rendition of Use Somebody by Kings of Leon when Lea stands up abruptly, walking towards where the restrooms are. With Dave’s careful eyes on her, Dianna has to wait a while. When she feels Dave throw an arm around her shoulders, she chews on her lip, unwilling to sit here one moment longer and miss her chance to talk to the other woman. So, she excuses herself despite what Dave may think, heading to the restroom with swift steps.
Dianna stops in front of the door and takes a moment to collect her thoughts. There is no way she has missed something that may have happened between her roommate and Cory. Nevertheless, it bugs her that Lea seems to draw to Cory whenever she is upset with her and more importantly, she doesn’t acknowledge that.
As Dianna reaches for the doorknob, the door opens, revealing the brunette she was hoping to find.
“Lea,” Dianna whispers, noticing how exhausted Lea is after today and she wants nothing more than to hold her and have the other woman assure her that it’s going to be okay.
However, Lea chooses not to acknowledge the other woman. She steps out of the restroom and starts walking away.
“Lea! Get back here,” Dianna hisses, hazel eyes darting around them to make sure they are alone.
“Don’t walk away from me. You told me no more running,” the blonde reminds, noticing Lea’s steps starting to slow down until she stops completely.
“And you told me you were going to break up with your boyfriend,” Lea counters, turning on her heel to face the other woman, “I guess you can’t always get what you want.”
“Is this what you want?”
“It doesn’t matter what I want,” Lea snaps. “You said you were going to do it. It seems as though you’ve changed your mind.”
“I haven’t,”
“You brought him to our set, and you introduced him to our friends,” Lea points out, irritated with a roll of dark eyes.
“He insisted on coming,”
“Do you always give in to other people’s wants? How about what you want?”
Dianna sucks in a harsh breath at the words, her heartbreaking, “Stop.”
“I am just looking out for my best girl ,” Lea drawls sarcastically.
“You are so frustrating,” Dianna says in exasperation, her frown deepening. “As if you are any less confusing. What is it with you being all over Cory lately?”
“This is not our problem right now,” Lea whispers as she is suddenly aware they are having this conversation very publicly. So, she paces back to the restroom with the other woman behind her.
“But it is! You obviously had been to his place, enough times to get comfortable around it, and when he’s flirting with you, it is not unreciprocated,” Dianna puffs out a frustrated breath, crossing her arms. “And the worst part is, you don’t even acknowledge any of it.”
“Yes, I have been to his place, okay? I stayed the night, too. So what?” Lea asks wryly.
Dianna's eyes grow watery and she shakes her head, absently brushing a stray tear from her cheek before she points a finger at Lea, “I can’t believe you.”
“You told me you weren’t expecting anything from me,” Lea accuses, pointing a finger back at Dianna. “You breaking up with your boyfriend has nothing to do with me, Dianna.”
“You are such a fool,” Dianna chuckles wetly, shaking her head in disbelief.
Lea crosses her arms over her chest, her big brown eyes are filled with questions.
“Me leaving Dave has everything to do with you!” Dianna says brokenly.
Lea draws in a breath as her eyes roam over Dianna’s face.
“Well, you can’t...” Lea closes her eyes and takes a trembling breath. “Not because of us.”
Dianna frowns in confusion. “You don’t want me to leave Dave?”
“No, you don’t understand,” Lea sighs. “This decision has to come from you, and you only .”
xxx
Dianna is glad Dave is not only a non-smoker but also can’t stand the smell. She really needs some time alone, especially after the exchange she had with Lea earlier. So, she uses smoking as an excuse to have it. Once she is outside, she forces a deep breath into her lungs, leaning her back against the wall.
It doesn’t take long until someone comes looking for her. Someone is Cory, in this case, much to Dianna’s disappointment.
“Cory,” Dianna sighs, eyeing her friend. “I am sorry, but you are the last person I want to see right now.”
“Yeah,” Cory seems unaffected by the confession. “I thought that might be the case.”
“Why are you here then?”
“Because I don’t want you to think in a certain way about Lea and me,” Cory says, shifting his weight impatiently. “Especially when it is not the truth.”
“What’s the truth?”
“Look, I am not going to say there is nothing going on on my end,” Cory admits with an embarrassed smile. “Because one, I am not a good liar, and two, lying would mess things up in the long run.”
Dianna quirks an eyebrow, eyeing the tall man skeptically until Cory shrugs in defeat, “I mean we will be doing this TV show for God knows how long. Anything can happen.”
“You are not helping here, Cory,” Dianna scolds.
“Sorry, yeah. What was I thinking?” he grimaces and deadpans.
Dianna crosses her arms over her chest and waits for her friend to continue explaining.
“Lea and I have grown closer these past weeks only because she is upset with you,” Cory explains. “I didn’t know what it was about before, but now I am guessing it has something to do with Franco.”
Cory pauses, glancing at Dianna to confirm or deny his suspicion. When he doesn’t get any reactions from the woman, he continues, “I don’t know what you think is going on, but there isn’t much, I can guarantee you that.”
Dianna sighs at how vague Cory is being and impatiently taps her fingers on her wait, “What do you mean by not much going on ?”
“You want all the details?” Cory asks with a playful smile, which earns him a glare sent in his direction.
His complexion pales noticeably at her friend’s reaction before he clarifies, “Lea came to my place twice. In both times, my roommates accompanied us throughout her stay. We ordered food and watched stupid reality shows. She slept in my guest room one time because she had a few beers, and told me she didn’t want to go home because you’d be there. So, I let her stay.”
Dianna feels quite relieved at that confession, but she has to ask, “And the flirting?”
“It is merely platonic, I swear,” Cory raises his hands in surrender. “I got the memo, you only have eyes for each other.”
Dianna nods, ducking her head, “why are you telling me this, Cory?”
“Because I know you needed to hear it,” Cory shrugs with a half-smile. “And Lea is too stubborn to do the same.”
“That she is,” Dianna chuckles wetly, wiping at her glittering eyes.
xxx
Cory and Lea leave the bar first after he assures Dianna that he is going to drive Lea back to their apartment safe and sound. Then, she and Dave excuse themselves, leaving behind an intoxicated Jenna who has no business ending the night just yet as she’d rather dance and sing with several gay men they met tonight, and a tipsy Chris who is blissfully tagging along.
Dianna rushes into the bathroom when she and Dave are back to their hotel room. She squeezes her eyes closed, thunking her forehead against the door as she takes a moment to gather her thoughts and think about everything she wants to say to Dave. Fresh tears gather in her eyes as Dianna lets her mind wander over the conversation she had with Lea. Although the other woman had a terrible way of voicing her opinion, she was right. It wasn’t the attraction nor the feelings she has for Lea that made her mind up about leaving him. It was the moment she saw Dave at the door and how the only thing she felt was anxiety about having to pretend she’s missed him, when in fact she hasn’t. It was clear at that moment that she no longer loved him.
Her thoughts are interrupted when she hears Dave’s muffled whining through the door. “Dianna! Come to bed, please.”
Dianna drags in a shaky breath.
“Babe?”
Another breath.
Dave is lying down on the mattress when Dianna walks out of the bathroom, somewhat ready to confront him. Dave sits up a little and glances at his girlfriend with expectation.
“Hi,” Dianna says with a tentative smile.
“Hi,” Dave echoes, frowning. “I thought you were changing in there or something. Are you okay? Is there something wrong with your stomach again?”
“No, no…” Dianna shakes her head, shifting uncomfortably.
“What is it then?”
“I am not going to stay the night, Dave,” she announces lamely.
“Why?”
“Because I want to break up….”
“You are kidding, right?’
She sighs, “I am sorry.”
Dave laughs dryly, running a hand through his hair. “You are not sorry.”
Dianna gives him a remorseful look. “I am really sorry,” she says again, sounding more sincere this time. “I hope we can remain friends. I do care about you.”
“You don’t give a fuck about me, Dianna,” Dave decides, shaking his head with an exasperated expression. “If you cared about me, you wouldn’t do this to me. For months , Dianna. For months, I have asked you what was wrong and each time you shrugged off my concerns. I wanted to fix our problems!”
“There’s nothing to fix, don’t you see?” Dianna cries. “I don't have feelings for you anymore.”
“I don’t accept this,” Dave spits, standing up and hovering over the woman with a finger directed at her. “You comforted me. You told me you loved me and that you wanted me.”
“I know I shouldn’t- I shouldn’t have…” Dianna trails off, glancing away. “I wanted to do this face to face, but I wasn’t brave enough for a confrontation. It is true that I love you, but I don’t want you anymore.”
“You want someone else, don’t you?”
Dianna glances away embarrassedly, “this is not about someone else. This is about how I feel.”
When she finally brings herself to face Dave, there is a mixture of anger and hurt glittering in his eyes.
"Get the fuck out of here,” he mutters, shoving her a little.
“I don’t want to see your face ever again. Just piss off!”
xxx