The Monroe Legacy - G.2. Chapter 10 -.You've Got a Friend In Me

Hallie returned to Appaloosa Plains refreshed and optimistic. A month in rural Italy, a holiday romance and a lot of wine had helped her to see past the tragedies and missed opportunities of the past two years.

As the taxi pulled up in front of her rebuilt home Hallie's jaw dropped. She'd seen the plans but never imagined it looking this good. From the floor to ceiling windows in the sun room to the purpose built studio, it was more than she'd dared to dream of.

Walking slowly to the door through the bowery walkway she'd personally designed, Hallie felt a lump forming in her throat. She knew that this was the home in which she'd create the family her parents dreamed she would have.

The next morning as Hallie whipped up breakfast in her shiny new kitchen she heard a knock at her door. 

Shutting off the hob she rushed to the door, expecting a welcoming committee of family members. The visitor was more unexpected but no less welcome.

'Luna', Hallie shrieked, dragging her best friend in for a hug. 'I can't believe you're here, come in!'

As the two women began to catch up, laughing at the activities of their university days and trading gossip on their old course-mates, Hallie noticed a change in Luna. Her laugh was just as ringing, her gestures as animated, but there was something missing in her eyes.

Sensing that hers was not the only bruised heart in the room Hallie boiled the kettle and as the coffee brewed she looked Luna in the eye and gently asked what was wrong.

Luna's eyes filled with tears which she angrily scrubbed away only to have fresh ones take their place as they ran down her face.

'Bryce broke up with me. He's moving out'.

Hallie was horrified, Bryce and Luna had been a solid couple since before university. He'd seemed a nice guy the times she had met him and last she had heard, they were shopping for a ring.

'What the hell Luna!Why didn't you call, I couldn't have come back weeks ago to be here. I owe you for two years of Brian related moaning after all. Oh, I could kill Brice, castrate him! What happened?'

Luna flushed and hid behind her hair.

'We couldn't have a baby,' she muttered. 'We'd been trying, I wanted a kid so bad, seems stupid now, I'm only 26 after all. But anyway, we'd made up our mind and started trying. After six months with no luck, I went to the doctors, they ran checks, end result is I can't have a baby.'

Hallie paled and clutched Luna's hand as she continued.

'I was so angry when I found out. I made myself impossible, I made Bryce miserable. He tried to convince me we could be happy without children or adopt, but I wouldn't listen. Just pushed him away and screamed and shouted, I didn't care that his dream had been crushed as well as mine. After a few months we were barely speaking, let alone sharing a bed.

Her name was Kylie. Kylie from marketing. He was drunk, she'd always had a thing for him and one night after a leaving party he cracked. He came straight home and told me, begging to be forgiven, we probably would have been okay if she hadn't got pregnant.

Bryce said he couldn't abandon his baby. I understand why, I would have done almost anything for that chance. But now I'm alone and I can't make rent and I just needed to get out of Boston.'

Hallie didn't have the words to comfort this kind of heartbreak so she just let Luna sob until she was out of tears. 

After a bath and a glass of wine Luna was calmer and Hallie had a plan.

'Luna, move out here. I could use a friend, this house is too big for just me so you can stay here 'til you find a place of your own. What do you think?'

By the end of the week Luna's stuff had been freighted down by an apologetic Bryce. Hallie fulfilled her best friend role and threatened him with grevious bodily harm if he tried to contact Luna again and the girls settled in to a new routine.

Luna got a job at the local paper and Hallie was working her way up as an architect. While she preferred the artistic end of her work she was good at the structural stuff too and soon built a reputation for herself - especially for her trademark handmade sculptures which she created for each individual client.

As Luna's heart began to heal the girls also took to hitting the best only local bar on Friday nights. Reliving their college days the pair would drink, flirt and dance the night away.

Despite the relatively low population of attractive, single men in the area, Luna often disappeared for the night and returned the next day in the same dress. Hallie had as many offers, but every time she closed her eyes and went in for a kiss, Cai's face would pop in to her mind. She tried to dance it off but he was always there.

(Hallie rocks out to Vogue)

Whilst Hallie enjoyed partying with her friend, she couldn't escape the fact that she wanted more from her life than what she had. She dated a little without success, unable to muster any enthusiasm when things began to turn serious. 

It didn't help that Luna would update her on Cai's life, unaware of what had happened since graduation, updates which kept the wound open. Single life was exhausting and Hallie was ready to settle down if only she could convince her heart to settle for anyone else.

After a particularly messy night (Hallie had found out that week that both Lola and Georgia were pregnant and Marisol was due any day) Hallie found herself using Luna's phone to call the forbidden number.

Whilst the conversation that followed was largely Luna and Hallie screaming Mariah Carey's Touch My Body down the phone at a dazed and freshly awoken Cai they somehow managed to invite him to visit. Shockingly he accepted and when the next morning and the call history reminded Hallie of what they had done she clutched her aching head in her hands and promised herself it was the last time.

Cai arrived a week later to find Hallie alone in the house. Luna had finally found a flat and rushed off for a viewing, assuring Hallie she'd be back in plenty of time. She wasn't.

To defuse the tension Cai pulled out a game he'd designed and they decided to give it ago. The awkwardness ebbed as they fell in to their old patterns of competition and playful banter.

Cai won which Hallie deemed cheating as he'd invented the game and they retreated laughing to the house. When Luna eventually returned she was in a frenzy of excitement, the flat was perfect and what's more, the landlord was HOT. She hugged Cai and sat chatting but after an hour of watching her fidget and look longingly at the stairs they sent her off to deal with all the formalities and pack.

The evening passed quietly with the occasional squeal and thud coming from Luna's room and Hallie and Cai shared their lives, skirting around any potentially dangerous areas; romance, Brian and their shared history were definitely off limits.

Cai was writing another book, his first had been modestly successful and reading between the lines Hallie surmised that his girlfriend of their previous encounter was no more.

When Cai asked if he could stay a few days to write in the peace of the countryside, Hallie didn't hesitate to agree.

She missed him and after all, their past was behind them, they were nothing more than old friends now.

Weren't they?

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Find out what happens next in The Monroe Legacy - Generation 2 Chapter 11 - Out of the Ashes