"There is nothing more reassuring than realizing the world is crazier than you are."

~Thor: The Dark World

Kelsey gripped the steering wheel of her car so hard her knuckles turned white.

Becca was silent, for once. She sat in the passenger's seat, hands clutched together in her lap, sniffling every once in a while.

Kelsey didn't ask any questions. She figured she'd wait until Becca got some rest before she found out what was going on.

There was a darker part of Kelsey that resented helping Becca after everything she'd done to her.

But then she kept looking at the bruise on Becca's cheek. No one deserved that.

Kelsey had just never expected to be the one helping Becca Lynn out of her world-famous relationship.

She pulled into the dimly lit apartment complex and unbuckled. "Not exactly The Ritz, sorry."

"No, no, it's fine," Becca murmured in a surprisingly soft voice.

Kelsey glanced at her before getting out.

She unlocked the door to her apartment and began rummaging through a box. She found a sheet, two pillows, and a blanket.

"I don't have another bedroom," she explained. "So you'll have to sleep on the couch."

Becca nodded. "Okay."

Kelsey awkwardly tried to make the couch more comfortable and patted the cushion. "Uh, home sweet home."

"Thanks," Becca said. She sat down on the couch with a faint smile. "I used to sleep on the couch when my sisters and I shared a room. It was in the basement."

Kelsey raised her eyebrows. She picked up her purse and gave a forced smile. "Goodnight."

"Night."

Kelsey retreated to her room and closed the door. She tossed her things onto the bed and sighed.

"Oh, L.A., I did not miss this," she muttered.

~~~~~~~~~

Kelsey woke up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

She stumbled to her feet and put on a fresh pair of clothes, wondering if last night had been a dream.

But when she went into the living room, Becca was sprawled across the couch, mouth hanging open, hair strewn over her face.

"This is so weird," Kelsey muttered as she snuck to the kitchen and began making breakfast.

She poached a couple eggs and opened a Tupperware of yolks that she'd saved when she made a merengue to make hollandaise sauce.

Soon she had a quick eggs benedict served on two plates just as Becca stumbled into the kitchen.

"Morning," Kelsey said, barely glancing at her. She didn't want to stare at the bruise on her cheek that looked worse than it did last night.

"Hi," Becca said.

They sat down at Kelsey's small round table that was littered with junk mail and ate in silence.

Kelsey picked at her food as she watched Becca inhale hers.

Becca caught Kelsey staring and gave an apologetic smile. "It's really, really good."

That wasn't what you said at your party, Kelsey thought bitterly. "Thanks."

"You, uh, are a good chef," Becca said. She placed her fork on the edge of her plate and sat up, looking everywhere but at Kelsey. "Listen, I'm not very good at these. I've never really done one before. But I'm sorry. Really. For all those things I said and did at the party."

Becca glanced at Kelsey before continuing. "I didn't know where else to go. My family has always told me that Mack was a bad guy, and Ethan and I aren't exactly on good terms right now."

"Why not?" Kelsey asked.

Becca gulped and gave her a guilty expression.

"Nevermind," Kelsey sighed.

"And you were literally the only person I could think of, and I didn't expect you to help me out, but you did, and I just, I'm so sorry."

Kelsey searched her face and got the feeling Becca said what she meant. "Why me? Don't you know millions of people in Hollywood?"

"No way." Becca gave a short laugh. "Besides Ethan, any one of my friends would sell me out with a piece of news that juicy before I could even explain the whole thing." She looked down at her knotted hands and said, "Ethan thinks a lot of you. So you were the first person I thought of."

Kelsey reclined back in her seat, turning a fork in her hands thoughtfully. "So what did happen, then? I mean, if you want to talk about it."

"I own a piece of property in San Bernardino," Becca said, "Mack wanted me to sell it to him, but I said, "no, you know I'm saving that land for my parents when they retire", and he just blew up. Like usual, when he doesn't get what he wants." She took a sip of coffee to hide the trembling in her lips. "Now don't get me wrong, I'm a diva too. I like to yell when I get mad. But I don't mean it, you know? Mack? He means it. And then he, uh, he hit me. Like I was a punching bag."

Kelsey nodded. "I'm sorry. No one deserves to be treated like that."

Becca gave a shaky smile. "You know, most people tell me it's my fault. That I was the one who got tangled up with him, so now I have to deal with it."

Kelsey shook her head. "It's not your fault. But now you have to decide; what are you going to do about it?"

"I don't know," Becca admitted. "I don't know if I can do this without Mack."

"Do what, exactly?"

"You know—live here in L.A., have parties, go to premieres, or even the store! It's like running through the streets naked all of a sudden!"

"You mean you don't have anyone to hide behind?" Kelsey asked softly.

Becca didn't reply.

"I get it." Kelsey shrugged. "Sometimes people become training wheels for us. They're easy and safe and dependable. When they get taken away, we're forced to careen through life, where everything feels unbalanced and we can crash at any moment. But then we get the hang of it. Life gets easier. And we don't need the training wheels anymore."

Becca swallowed and gave another jerky nod. "Yeah. I get that."

Kelsey looked down and took another bite of her eggs benedict, noting that she'd used too much lemon juice in her hollandaise.

"I can see why Ethan likes you," Becca commented.

Kelsey's fork hovered over her plate. "Uh, we're not, you know. Not anymore."

"I know I'm as selfish as they come," Becca said, "and I don't want anyone to take Ethan away from me. He's the only stability I have."

Kelsey nodded loftily. There it was. The old Becca.

"But as much as I hate to admit it, if I had to lose him to someone, I'm glad it's you."

Kelsey's eyes jerked up. It took her a moment to get over her shock and she shook her head. "Well, I appreciate the sentiment. But you haven't lost him. At least not to me."

"Come on, hon," Becca prompted. "He's crazy about you."

Kelsey gave a half smile. "You told me that I didn't belong out there. And, honestly, you were right. I don't want the attention and I don't want to deal with it all. One tabloid was enough for me."

Becca sat up, her eyes brighter than they had been all morning. "But you could make it work! Ethan's not like the rest of us. He doesn't want the attention either. You could live a quiet life like you want. Well, as quiet as a movie star's life can be."

Kelsey inhaled slowly and rested her forearm on the table. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, hon."

Kelsey licked her lips. "Does Ethan like acting?"

Becca gave a confused expression. "I mean, yeah? He probably likes theater better, but that's just because he's a nerd."

Kelsey glanced down at her hands and smiled. "Really?"

"Sure. He geeks out about things like that."

"So why doesn't he go back?"

Becca lifted a brow and took another sip of coffee. "It's hard to get out of this kind of life once you're in it."

Kelsey gathered up the plates and began loading them into the dishwasher. After she'd put the soap pod in, she turned around and rested her hands on the counter.

She surveyed Becca for a moment. "Just so we're clear, I don't want to be dragged into all of your Hollywood crap once the press finds out about you and Mack."

Becca nodded. "Y-yeah, right. I'll, um, be out of here today, I promise."

Kelsey pressed her lips together before sighing. "You can stay. At least until you feel ready to deal with everything."

"You don't have to—"

"You're right, I don't," Kelsey interrupted. "Just don't make me regret it, okay?"

"Deal."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hey guys! I'm beginning to think that Kelsey is becoming the embodiment of the -_- face XD

~What do you think of Becca and Kelsey's alliance?

~Do you think Becca will keep her promise?

~General thoughts?

Thank you so much for reading! {Don't forget to comment, vote, and share!}