Judging by the silence, Catherine knew Jackie was equally paralysed.
"Holy shit. I was right?" Rachel gasped, breaking the silence.
"N-No it's not- it's not what you think," Jackie stuttered.
Catherine pulled herself together and turned around. It wasn't fair to make Jackie deal with this on her own.
"It's okay Jackie."
Jackie looked back a t her with hesitation in her eyes.
"Rachel, can you sit down?" Catherine asked, trying to remain calm.
Rachel looked like someone had just dropped a bomb on her. Probably because they just did. She made her way across the room, switching her gaze between the two of them before slowly sitting down on the bed.
"Please keep this between the three of us for now. We're still trying to figure this whole thing out," Catherine pled.
"So there's no boyfriend?" Rachel asked.
"How did you know?" Jackie interrupted.
"I saw you two at dinner the other night. Underneath the table," she emphasised.
Jackie shot Catherine a look and smirked, "The irony that it was you to get us caught."
"Then I was in the bathroom at the party last night. Right before we left and overheard some questionable things," Rachel continued on talking.
Catherine returned Jackie's snarky comment, "That was all on you sweetheart."
"Does anyone else know, or speculate?" Jackie asked.
"No, not that I'm aware of. Everyone thinks Jackie has a boyfriend back in...Ohhh, Indiana."
The expression on Rachel's face really let them know that she was slowly piecing it all together.
"So when you were venting to me the other day about your boyfriend...Oops. So I was talking to Catherine about...Catherine."
Jackie's eyes grew big as she looked at Rachel. She couldn't believe that she told Catherine about her struggles with their relationship.
"Rachel, that was supposed to be between me and you as friends. I was confiding in you."
"Well, I thought Catherine was your best friend and she knew your 'boyfriend'', she said, using air quotes.
"It's fine Jackie. It actually helped that she told me, but we don't need to discuss this right now. We have more important things to deal with."
Rachel sat on the side of the bed staring into space. Her mind was obviously spinning a million miles a minute.
"How did this even happen? When did you guys start, I mean-"
Jackie interrupted her once more, "We met at my first week of college and it started almost immediately."
"Holy shit!" Rachel raised her hands to her mouth. "She's your ex too?! The one you were so tore up about all year?"
"Yes,"Â Jackie said through clenching her teeth. She was not enjoying how exposed this was all leaving her.
"Damn Catherine, you did quite a number on her."
"Can we not talk about everything I've confided in you for the past year?" Jackie said irritably. "She's my girlfriend and you're my best friend. You need to grasp this concept because it's not fair to me to have my feelings to be completely transparent between the two of you."
"Okay, I'm sorry. You're right. This is really big news though, so you're going to have to bear with me while I let it all sink in."
"I know, I'm sorry. You're right about that too."
After a long pause, Rachel began to smile.
"Aww, you guys have such a cute and crazy story."
Jackie glanced at Catherine and smiled. It was weird letting someone into their secret little world.
"Jesus. No wonder you've been such a bitch to Tommy, Catherine."
Catherine smiled at her, "It's been pretty difficult."
"Everyone makes so much sense now," Rachel looked as through she had just discovered the meaning of life.
"Rachel, you need to keep quiet about this for now. Please promise us that we can trust you. Wade and Matt are literally the only other people that know." Jackie said.
"Of course. Wow. This is really going to change a lot for you Jackie."
"Trust me, I'm aware of that. It's also going to change a lot for Catherine too, so we really need to keep it private until we work it all out."
"I promise. I won't say a word to anyone," Rachel said, placing her hand over her heart.
She looked down at her phone, "I'm sorry but I really need to get out of here. I have a flight to catch."
She then got up and hugged Jackie, "thanks for confiding  on me, it means a lot," she whispered to Jackie.
Then she hugged Catherine as well, "And you Catherine, it's so nice to meet the real you. I've heard so many good things about you and I can see why Jackie is so in love with you. Whoops, sorry Jackie," Rachel said looking back.
"It's okay," Jackie laughed. "She's very familiar with my feelings for her."
"Thanks so much for everything. It was really nice meeting you as well. I'm sure I will be seeing you again soon," Catherine said as she hugged Rachel tightly.
Rachel looked back at them again before leaving, "You guys are adorable."
****
As soon as the door closed, Jackie and Catherine both looked at each other and let out a deep sigh. Once they had both been holding in since Rachel spoke.
"Way to go Stark! Warning me to behave when your behaviour is what got us caught," Jackie said as she poked Catherine on her shoulder.
"Excuse me but you're guilty too."
"I need to sit down," Jackie sighed, suddenly feeling light headed.
Catherine sat down next to her on the bed.
"Are you okay?" Catherine asked while rubbing her back.
"Yeah, I just can't believe this is all finally happening. I mean, I know it's just Rachel but it's such a relief. I no longer need to hide from the people closest to me, except for Sean."
"You can tell him too if you want."
"Really? You wouldn't mind?" Jackie asked.
She couldn't believe that Catherine was starting to come around to the idea of coming out of hiding.
"No. I like Sean, and if I was him I would feel pretty crappy being the only one left in the dark. Not Tommy though. I do not trust that little asshole."
"No way. He's too hungry for the press right now."
Jackie flashed a pout as she grabbed Catherine's hand from her cheek and intertwined their fingers. She felt her eyes begin to burn and stared at their hands for a moment, realising everything they've ever known was about to change. When she finally looked up at Catherine, she noticed her eyes were glistening as well. Jackie leaned over and gently wiped away a tear that had suddenly escaped from Catherine's eye. They both burst into laughter about how ridiculous they were being.
"This is stupid. We're still us," Jackie said.
"Yes we are and we better get going," Catherine interrupted, tucking Jackie's hair behind her ear.
Catherine rolled over and stood up off the bed before pulling on Jackie's arms to help her sit up. Once she was sitting on the bed, Catherine took her face in her hands and gently kissed her forehead.
"Are you ready for all of this, kiddo?"
Jackie looked up at her with a smile, expanding from ear to ear.
"Absolutely."
A/n Thanks for reading my story. Please vote and drop a comment. Comments will help me a lot more than you might think. â¤ï¸