"So, what did you say you wanted to talk to me about?" Jacqueline asked, throwing a piece of hard candy in the air and catching it perfectly in her mouth.

We were at the willow tree in my neighbor's backyard. The dog that belonged to the lady down the street from my house had finally given birth, and three of the seven puppies had taken to Jacqueline.

Jacqueline hung by her ankles from one of the branches, letting the puppies lick at her fingers.

"Life is so complicated," I told her, "ever since Delphine started dating Lucas. Now they aren't together, and Fiona and I have to avoid Lucas. It just sucks. He's my friend, y'know? Imagine trying to avoid Mitchell just because he dated Celine."

"First of all, don't compare your little blondie with Mitchell. I've known the dude since I was four," Jacqueline said. "Second, he would never date Celine."

"Jeez, just go with it! How would you feel if you had to avoid someone you really trust? Someone who's really important to you?"

"Probably bummed," Jacqueline agreed. "Look, Dolphin or whatever her name is doesn't own Lucas. She never explicitly told you to avoid him, you just did. You can talk to him if you want to."

(A/N: Notice how she remembers Lucas's name but not Delphine's-)

She dropped me a piece of candy from her box. I caught, holding the small pink disk in my hand.

"I just don't know if Delphine will be upset," I said, popping the candy into my mouth.

"So? It's your life. He's your friend. She doesn't own the guy," Jacqueline said. "When will you finally accept things as is? You're delusional, Y/N."

"I'm not delusional! She got upset when she saw me hug him, and he wasn't even her ex at the time."

"Hugging and talking are two different things," she said. "Please, just take my word for it. Talk to your blond guy. I'll back you up if Dolphin gets upset."

"Delphine," I said. "And thanks."

She shrugged and pulled herself up to a sitting position on the branch, then flipped off and landed on her feet as if she'd done it a hundred times. I got up from my spot and took the candy box from her hand as she knelt to play with the puppies.

"You good now?" Jacqueline asked.

I popped another piece of candy in my mouth. "Yeah, I'm good."

"And you'll stop overthinking everything?"

"No promises."

She threw a handful of grass at me.

"Seriously," I said, now overthinking again. "It doesn't feel the same when I hang out with my group anymore, or even Fiona and Delphine. The trio just isn't... trioing."

"I doubt that's a word," Jacqueline said, rubbing one of the puppies on his belly. His brothers turned on their backs, too, waiting for belly rubs.

"Will you take me seriously for a second?"

"I am taking you seriously, Y/N," Jacqueline said. "Here's the deal; you've got a problem, and you're scared to act on it for whatever reason. I say just talk to him and deal with the consequences. Life might surprise you. And if it doesn't, I'll be there."

"Playing with puppies?" I asked, rubbing the third puppy's belly since Jacqueline didn't have enough hands.

"Nah. I'll be playing with the big dog," she replied. "But seriously- just do what you gotta do. Talk to Lucas and deal with the consequences. Or just keep it secret. That usually works for me."

"More secrets?" I groaned.

"Right, right, right, your whole no secret thing. Personally, babe, I wouldn't be able to live my life without having secrets, but you do you."

I didn't answer. No doubt Jacqueline had secrets; from her mother and her sisters and Walker and maybe even me. The only person who could ever know all her secrets was Mitchell, no matter how much she trusted me, so I didn't bother worrying over her keeping anything from me. At least I was sure she wasn't sparing my feelings.

The puppies followed us as we walked down the street. Eventually we dropped them off at the lady's house. Her daughter, a girl around my age, seemed both exasperated and relieved that the dogs had been with us all along.

After we'd done maybe three laps around the neighborhood, Jacqueline bid me goodbye and went home. I laid on my back in bed, staring up at the ceiling.

Winter break was in two days, and life could not feel more dull.

~>♡<~

LUCAS'S POV

I stared at my phone. Usually I spent the few minutes, half hour if I was lucky, of peace where my roommates weren't in the room drawing or doing whatever they described as 'dorky.' This time, I just stared at the text from my therapist, one I had not seen coming when she said she'd 'analyze the situation and get back to me.' And even worse, I was not expecting it to click in my mind so easily.

I had to talk to Y/N.

(A/N: Short chapter, but I dropped a Lucas POV before GTA 6. Be honest, is the story just kind of dropping or am I just overthinking?)

(Anyways cliffhanger)