Emori opened the door to her apartment. Clarke walked inside and immediately started pacing. She hadn't said anything the entire car ride. Emori sat her purse and bags down and just watched her for a moment.

"What happened?" Emori asked.

Clarke looked at her and shook her head.

"I just don't understand Ems." She said as she started to cry. "I give her everything my love can offer. I've done my best to understand that her life different and sometimes complicated." She shook her head again and threw her hands up. "Why was that not enough? Why would she cheat on me?" She said and fell to her knees and buried her face in her hands as she began to sob.

Emori kneeled at her side.

"Clarke look at me." She said as Clarke raised her swollen eyes to meet hers. "It's not you."

"It is me, I know it's me." She said.

"No it's not!" Emori took Clarke's face into her hands. "People like that have access to any and everything they want and are always searching for more. You don't belong in that world Clarke. You're so special and different and so fucking rare. I don't care who she is, she will never be good enough for someone like you." She said and she stroked Clarke's flushed cheeks with her thumbs. "I think now is a great time to open up that bottle we brought back, what do you say?"

Clarke smiled slightly and laughed.

"Are you sure you're good to drink?" She asked.

"Yeah, Max and I drink from time to time, I've learned to not go over my limit."

They sat at the dining room table and just talked for a while. Emori left briefly to take a phone call from Max and explained to her what had happened, at least what she knew so far.

"Fuck that's rough." Max said on the other end of the phone. "So what is she gonna do? Are they gonna try to work it out?"

"God I hope not." Emori scoffed.

"They love each other Em. They should at least talk about it. Imagine if we would've just given up." She said, trying to make a point.

"No, Clarke deserves better than her." She said standing her ground and refusing to say Janet's name. "Anyway, I'm gonna get back to Clarke. I love you and I can't wait to see you tomorrow. Goodnight baby."

Emori hung up the phone and walked back into the livingroom. Clarke was in her boxers and sports bra, finishing off the wine bottle as she attempted to turn some music on. She finally found the power button, pressed it and music blasted threw the speakers scaring them both.
Emori laughed and turned it down. Clarke tilted the bottle attempting to get the last drop out. Emori took it from her and laughed.

"There is more in the fridge and where are your clothes?" She said as she headed for the kitchen. Clarke followed dancing behind her the entire way. "Here crazy." She said as she handed Clarke a full and chilled bottle of wine. "But I'm not responsible for your hangover in the morning."

"Thank you!" Clarke said and popped the cork. She started drinking it straight from the bottle.

"Do you mind if I have some too?" Emori said and reached for it. "Come on stingy ass!" Clarke snatched it away just as Emori got her hands on it and spilled wine all over her shirt. "Clarke!" Emori screamed as Clarke burst into laughter. She pulled her shirt over her head leaving her in a her pink laced bra and a pair tiny jean shorts. "This is one of my favorite shirts." She pouted.

"My bad, I promise I'll get it dry cleaned." Clarke said and grabbed her hand. "But for now... Dance with me." She said and pulled Emori back towards the living room.

They laughed and danced around each other, mixing old school dances with new ones all the while continuing to sip from their glasses of wine until the bottle had reached the bottom.

Clarke grabbed Emori by her hips this time and pulled her closer. The wine was definitely taking effect. Emori hadn't drank that much in a long time. She put her arms around Clarke's neck bringing them even closer. She felt dizzy. Emori closed her eyes for just a second and began losing herself in the moment.

The music stopped and the room fell silent. Emori's eyes opened to see Clarke staring back. They gazed at each other for what seemed like forever.

Emori's skin was cool and clammy compared to the heat radiating from Clarke's feverish body.

Clarke opened her mouth to say something, but didn't. Instead leaned in slowly and tried to kiss her. For Emori, it almost happened in slow motion and before their lips could touch, she let Clarke go and took a step back.

Clarke was immediately filled with regret.

"Ems, I'm sorry." She said. "I just got caught up in the moment. I've been drinking. Mix that with being in my feelings and..." She tried to explain.

Emori pushed her curly hair behind her ears then without responding, walked into her bedroom and closed the door, leaving Clarke standing there, in the living room alone.

She turned her lamp on and took a seat on the side of her bed. Her body was thumping and she felt hot all of a sudden. She went into the bathroom, threw water on her face and looked at her in the mirror for a second. Her hands were trembling and she was starting to feel like she might cry.

Her and Max had been married for over a year now. She hadn't thought of Clarke that way in a very long time and now all these feelings and emotions began to pour in. Her thoughts went back to Max. She pulled her phone from her pocket and looked at the picture of them on the screen.

Emori walked back into the living room where Clarke was sitting on the couch.

"You are to never let that happen again, do you understand?" She said.

"I do and I'm sorry."

"I love Max. I can't do that to her, I can't do that to us. It would ruin my marriage and our friendship and those are two very important things to me Clarke. Do you understand that?"

"I know Emori. That's not what I want either. This shit with Janet has me all fucked up." She stood up, put on her shirt, pants and shoes. "I called Preston. He's coming to take me home."

"You don't have to leave Clarke." Emori said.

"I do Ems. You and Max are like my best friends. I've disrespected you, her and your home. I need to go." She said as Preston's "here" text alerted to her phone. She kissed Emori's cheek. "I'm so sorry again." She said and walked out.

The small talk with Preston led Clarke to believe that he had no knowledge of what had happened between her and Janet. She didn't say anything about it. She just told him about New York and why she had decided to come home early and before she new it, they were pulling up to the house. She stalled and sat there for a moment.

"Everything okay Clarke?" Preston asked looking over his shoulder. Clarke looked towards the house and nodded.

"Yeah things are great." Clarke answered. Her tone was dry but dripping with sarcasm. Preston noticed but didn't ask as he got out of the car.

"Well have a good night. Call me if you need anything." He said as he opened her door.

"Thanks Pres, I will. Have a good night."

Clarke approached the door to her home slowly. It felt different now, not much like home at all. She stood there for a moment before walking inside.

The house was dark, except a small light coming from their bedroom. She walked slowly towards the door and looked inside. Janet was fast asleep. Her cell phone gripped tightly in her hands and she breathed lightly against her pillow. Her eyes were puffy and there was a pile of balled up tissues on the side table.

Clarke quietly sat her bags down in the closet, changed and headed for the guest bedroom where she stood in the doorway for a moment before closing it again.

She grabbed extra covers and pillows and decided to lay down on the couch instead. She finally closed her eyes and tried to clear her mind long enough to sleep. It was impossible. She laid there and watched as the sun began to peak into the living room. She could hear footsteps coming down the hall and as they got closer she looked up to see Janet, who was now standing over her.

"Good morning." She said. Her eyes were still red and really swollen.

Clarke sat up and made room for her to take a seat.

"Morning." Clarke said.

Janet cautiously took and seat next to her.

"I didn't hear you come in last night. What time did you get home?" Janet asked.

"Around 3am..." she replied.

"Preston?"

"Yeah." Clarke nodded.

They were quiet for a moment. The silence made Janet uneasy.

"Clarke I-" she began and Clarke cut her off.

"I wanna know what happened between you and Shawnette?" She asked. Janet looked down at her fiddling fingers in her lap.

"We were young a- and stupid and in love. She was the first woman I'd ever been with, the only other woman other than you."

"You told me you'd never been with a woman before." Clarke said.

"I know, because it's a secret that I had to live with for so long. Joseph freaked when I told him about Shawn and I. My mother was afraid for me and kept talking about how many artist's careers had been ruined because of it. Something that was bringing me so much joy, all of the sudden terrified me. So we went into hiding. Even when I was married or in serious relationships, I was still with her. Shawn grew tired of it, tired of hiding. Things started to get really hard for us. She resented me for keeping her a secret for so long. I began to resent her when I started to fall for someone else." Janet was quiet for a moment then continued. "We had a big fight about it. She threaten to expose me and sell a story about us but just I braced myself for the worst... she vanished. I found out an hour before one of my shows that she'd checked out of her hotel and caught a flight home. I was short a dancer that night. We had to improvise and Gil came through and got everyone through it. I was so angry with her. I felt hurt and betrayed and we just never spoke again. We weren't just a couple, we were best friends and I let my fear ruin it."

"When did you start seeing her again?" Clarke asked. It was a tough question but Janet was honest.

"State of the world, final show." She replied. "I thought it would be fun to go out and greet fans. They were all huddled against the gates as we walked to the buses, so I had Joey and the guys walk me over to them. As I walked down saying hi, there she was. All these years and now she was standing right in front of me wearing a Velvet Rope t-shirt. I mean original, vintage tour shirt." Janet said and smiled as the memory came back in. Clarke's heart dropped. She watched Janet's face closely as she lost herself in her story. "I could pick her face out of a crowd. She held her hand out to me and handed me a piece paper and asked if we could talk somewhere and she left me her number."

"Where did you meet her?" Clarke asked.

"My hotel room." Janet answered.

"Was that before or after we talked that night?" Clarke asked and stood to her feet.

"Clarke."

"Was it before or after J?!' She said raising her voice.

"After."

"You told me you wasn't feeling well. So you lied to me. You just wanted to get me off the phone...." Clarke said. Janet could hear the hurt in her voice. "Do you still love her?" Clarke asked.

Janet didn't respond right away.

"Clarke I love you." She said finally.

"That's not what I asked.... Are you still in love with her?"

"I do have feelings for her that I didn't know were still there." She confessed.

"Fuck this." Clarke said and headed for their bedroom. Janet was right behind her.

"I don't want to be with her. I want to be with you. I'm in love with you." Janet said. Clarke was ripping clothes off hangers and throwing them into an empty duffle bag. She didn't respond. Janet touched her shoulders gently. "Clarke I love you so much baby, just please let me fix this." She begged. Clarke turned to face her finally, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Love? If this is what your love feels like... then you can keep it." She said as she threw the over stuffed bag over her shoulder and headed for the front door.

"Clarke baby don't do this. Don't just give up on this. Okay, I know I made a mistake, but I want to fix it.  Haven't I shown you how I'm here with you. I told the world about us."

Clarke turned around and glared at her.

"You think I give a shit about the world knowing about us? I don't care what the world thinks! But congratulations J, you faced your demon, now you and Shawn can live that happily ever after you always dreamed of."

"That's not what I want." Janet argued.

"Well that's what you chose... I hope she's worth it." She said.

Clarke opened the door and without looking back walked out.