A month went by and Liberty had only left the apartment to buy groceries (fruit mostly) and rent videos. She’d gotten back into her normal hygienic ways and she’d plugged the phone back in, but she waited to see who it was before she answered. She’d told the manager at the book store where she used to work that she was never coming back (they’d been holding her position while she’d been away) and he had sounded sad, and wished her luck in life. Her clothes were still all around the apartment, much to Kate’s chagrin, but she didn’t care. Kate didn’t understand, she was the kind of person who’d always been the one to dump guys and she’d never once been cheated on. Liberty hated her.

Liberty had spoken to Raya and Orlando once a day at least, sometimes twice. They kept her up to date with baby news, like how they’d just gotten a sonogram, which was the first picture ever of the baby. Orlando promised to send her a copy of it so she could frame it and tell everyone that was her godchild. Liberty had cried a little, but passed it off as just being stuffed up. Naturally, neither Raya nor Orlando believed her.

Dom called daily, now back in his place in New Zealand for pick-ups, sounding more desperate in each message. She stopped whatever she was doing to listen intently to them, but she never picked up the phone. Now she only cried when she heard his voice.

When the group had been in New Zealand for two months, and pick-ups were nearly through, Raya branched the subject she’d been skirting around in all their calls. She didn’t usually bring Dom up, but now she knew she had to.

“Maybe you should talk to Anaka about this, hear her side.”

“I don’t want to fucking talk to her, Raya. I know she’s your friend, but GOD. How can you even suggest that?”

“Will you stop swearing, please? It’s most unladylike.” Liberty snorted. “And so is that.” Raya sighed exasperatedly. “She is my friend, yes, but I haven’t seen her since before The Incident. She even apologized to me. She wrote you a sorry card and everything. It’s part of a twelve step program.”

“Bitches Anonymous?”

Raya chuckled, “Billy said that too. I have it here in my dresser. You can have it when I see you next.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever see you again. Unless you venture to Michigan.”

“Liberty! You’re not honestly still thinking you’re never going to see us again, are you? That’s immature and silly! You don’t have to see Dominic, but you shouldn’t push all of us aside too. We’re your friends. Or have you forgotten that?”

“I haven’t forgotten.”

“You’ll have to come and see us when the baby is born.”

“You can send pictures.”

“What about the Christening?”

“No,” Liberty replied, her throat closing up. “I don’t think I’ll be able to make it.”

Raya was silent for a few minutes, when she spoke her voice was quiet and firm, “I know you miss him. Just admit it.”

“I miss him.”

“So call him. He says you haven’t.”

“You’ve talked to him?”

“Of course I have. Orlando and I went over there just last night. He looks awful. His performance at the set isn’t up to his standards, but he does at least try to put on a good face. Failing miserably some days. I’ve never seen him look so bad, in fact. He keeps crying. It’s dreadful. He didn’t even say any snide remarks to or about me.”

Liberty swallowed, “Huh.”

“You know you can get over this. You just have to put your mind to it. You KNOW he didn’t mean it. You KNOW it won’t happen again. You know it was a mistake.” She paused and became more serious, “You know he loves you.”

“I can’t just pretend it never happened.”

“You don’t have to. But you can get over it and move on with your life. You still love him, I know you do.”

“I’ll always love him,” Liberty replied quietly.

There was silence for a few more moments and then Raya spoke, sounding oddly composed and distant. “Orlando cheated on me once, you know.”

Liberty gaped at the phone in her hands. “He did?”

“Yes,” she replied, sighing as if she was remembering the awful time. “It’s a long story, but we fought…rather horribly, I might add…I slapped him, he explained himself…and we reconciled. Billy inevitably saved our relationship, actually.”

“Did he. I’ve always wondered why he was the chosen one.”

“I know you have,” Raya laughed.

“You forgave him?” Liberty ventured hesitantly after a moment.

“Yes.”

“How long does it take to get over it?”

Raya smiled, watching as Orlando walked past her doing a little jig on his way to the bathroom. “That depends on you. If and when you realize it was nothing, it meant nothing, and it’s just a little bump in the road, the rest will fall into place, as it often does. I wouldn’t be trying to convince you back together if I thought he’d do it again. He’s in a right state. I doubt he’ll ever raise his voice again to you, he’s so upset at what he’s done.”

Liberty sighed, “You’re always right.”

“Not always.”

“I don’t know what I’d do without you, to be perfectly honest.”

“You’d probably fall apart and settle for a guy from the trailer park next door. You deserve better than that. You deserve Dominic. I’m not always sure he deserves you, but seeing him the way he’s been the last few days…it proved to me that he really does love you with all his heart. That‘s enough for me to push you in the right direction. That‘s all I need.” She paused, and allowed Liberty some time for the words to sink in. “We‘re leaving NZ for London in two weeks. The premieres start in November. Come to London after Thanksgiving. I’ll make you over. You can talk to him. Make up. Get back together. Be happy.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“That’s all I ask.”

She didn’t have to think about it; at least, not really. She valued Raya’s opinion more than she realized, and if Raya thought, no, if Raya knew all those things she said pertaining to Dom, well, that was enough for Liberty.

Of course, a part of her wanted to forgive him all along while the other side of her wanted to never speak to him again. But thinking about never speaking to him again made her feel worse than ever.

Liberty sighed heavily and spoke into the phone at last. “Raya, I’m sorry I’m so angsty. If I were a newlywed like you, I wouldn’t bother with me.”

"Go on and angst all you want, at least your boobs aren't sore."

Liberty giggled in spite of herself, “I’m sorry.”

“Meh. You know what you could do to repay me having to listen to your woes?”

“Oh, God, what?”

“Call Dominic.”

“Raya---”

“CALL HIM!” She hung up directly after that, and Liberty knew that if she didn’t call Dom right then and there, Raya would find out. However, she didn’t hang the phone up and then turn it immediately back on just because she didn’t want to suffer the wrath of Raya. She did it because she’d had enough of the entire mess and she wanted to put things right. She needed to.

She punched in the familiar numbers and waited while it rang, all the while second guessing her decision.

Dom coughed before he answered the phone and Liberty felt her fingers trembling, wanting to slam the phone back on its hook, “Dominic Monaghan sexiest Brit alive here, who's speaking?"

“Hi,” Liberty said, sounding breathless and, for the first time in days, not flat and depressed.

“Like what?” Liberty asked, feeling a sudden affection towards him that she couldn’t mask in her voice.

“Like ‘Dominic Monaghan, Billy’s Bitch’. I’m glad you called. Really, really glad.”

“Me too,” she cleared her throat. “How are you?” She cursed inwardly at herself for asking such a mundane question, but he seemed so keen to speak with her that it didn’t phase him.

His voice sounded exactly the same, glad and normal, when he responded, “I’m bloody awful. How ’bout you?”

“Same. I’m sorry I haven’t called sooner.”

Dom laughed a little. “Don’t be sorry. You shouldn‘t be the one apologizing, I should.”

“Please don’t apologize anymore,“ she paused, collecting her words. “I got your messages. I should have picked up the phone, but---”

“Don’t worry about it, love. I’m just glad you‘re ringing me now.”

She melted then, when he called her love and he could have said anything after that and she still would have said what came out of her mouth next. “Dom…I love you.”

He seemed taken aback by this but recovered quickly, “I love you too, Libs.”

Liberty bit her bottom lip as tears cascaded down her cheeks, “I miss you.”

Dom’s laugh suggested that he was extremely relieved to hear her say the words he’d hoped she would for so long. “God. I miss you so much. And I’m just so sorry.”

“I know,” she sighed. “I don’t want to pretend like this never happened, but we can get past it, right?”

He didn‘t speak for a moment, but when he did his voice was quiet and sincere, “I hope so.”

“I absolutely hate being away from you and being depressed and thinking I’m never going to see you again and thinking it’s over---”

“It can’t be over,” he replied quickly. “I don’t want it to be.”

“Me either.”

“Let’s start over, then.”

“Start over? Dom---”

“Move to London. Get a flat, a job. Start a new life. You don’t have to move in with me if you don’t want to.”

“I don’t know if I can make such a hasty move right now. I’m not sure I’m strong enough to handle living with you.”

“Libs,” he sounded so sad that she felt the tears start up again even though they’d barely stopped. “Please. We have to make this work, otherwise I don’t know what I’m gonna do with myself.”

*

Over the next couple weeks, Liberty spoke to Dom pretty much daily, though the conversations were short and sporadic. She called Raya frequently, asking advice and fretting over her decisions. Billy and Elijah called her and she actually answered, which caught them so off guard that they didn’t remember what they’d called for in the first place. Sean, Christine, Liv, Viggo and Orlando gave her their opinions as well, which she took to heart. They all said the same thing; go back to Dom.

She wanted to so badly that it hurt, but something was holding her back. It took Ezra’s surprise visit to convince her of what she really wanted.

“It’s obvious to me,” he remarked, chewing on a carrot stick. Liberty had only stalked healthy foods in the fridge lately, after her hefty intake of McDonalds. Kate had moved out due to this, staying with her cousin several streets over until Liberty left. Alexia didn’t mind, she liked it being just she and Liberty like old times. “You’re so smitten with him that you can’t think straight.” Liberty raised an eyebrow at him, but didn’t speak. “I think the time away from him has done the relationship some good. You know, maybe him cheating was a good idea. It certainly made you reevaluate everything in your life. I think it’s a valuable thing that’s happened here. It made you realize you really do love him, that your feelings are for real. I think you should be thanking this Anaka character. Her plan backfired.”

“I won’t be thanking her,” Liberty laughed. “But otherwise…you’re right. As usual.”

*

Meanwhile, Raya had decided to rip into Anaka. Orlando suspected this had to do with her sudden onslaught of wild hormones, but Raya insisted it was for Liberty and justice.

"You can no longer purchase French hairspray, randomly take clothes out of my closet which I warned you about since you're two sizes bigger than me, or anything else you‘ve been allowed to do since we‘ve been friends."

Anaka‘s eyes widened and she set down her cup of tea. She‘d been invited to Raya and Orlando‘s on the pretence that they‘d have a nice, calming tea. "TWO! You promised you'd never mention that!"

"You were messing with my matchmaking! I'm trying to make a happy couple here!"

"You've done a match for everyone except your bloody best mate!"

"Well you were with those football stars whenever I had a good bloke for you."

Anaka sat back in her seat, breathing heavily and looking less composed than usual. Raya, however, looked positively alight. “You can’t stop me from buying French hairspray.”

Raya, an eyebrow raised, leaned across the table, “Try me.”

“RAYA!” Anaka cried, flinging herself out of her chair. “We didn’t even DO anything! You can’t shun me now! Not when I haven’t done anything wrong!”

“You seduced Dominic, slept with him and broke up his otherwise close-to-perfect relationship with a good friend of mine.”

“I did seduce him, I’ll admit that---”

“Spare me the sordid details,” Raya remarked, sipping her tea.

“Raya. Listen to me. Listen to REASON. Dominic isn’t interested in me, he never was. I only wanted him because I couldn’t have him.”

“By that reason, you’d have wanted Orlando too.”

“I did. But you were my best mate, I wasn’t about to go sniffing around your man.”

“You best not,” Raya replied evenly.

“We didn’t sleep together.”

“You told me you did, he said you did. Why should I listen to you now? How do I know you’re not lying in order to get the hairspray? You wrote a sorry note to Liberty---”

“I told her the truth in it. If you’d have opened it and read it, or given it to her as I requested, you’d know that.”

Raya, hesitantly, asked “What happened, then?”

“We kissed, I lured him back to my place and he passed out on the couch before I’d so much as gotten my top off.”

Raya wasn’t sure what else she could say, so after a short spheel about French hairspray being available to her in copious amounts, she rang off.

*

Liberty answered the phone on the second ring without bothering to let it click over to the answering machine. This was a huge step for her.

Raya took a deep breath, readying herself to tell Liberty exactly what she needed to hear. "So," she said briskly the second Liberty picked up the phone. "I have some interesting news."

"Oh?" Liberty replied. "And, hello, by the way."

Raya ignored the greeting and pressed on. "I was speaking with Anaka. I had tea with her, on the pretense to sever all ties I had with her....but it didn't go exactly as planned."

"Why? Are you still friends with her? Because, at this point, I honestly don't care. Dom and I are fine, more or less, we're working on it. As long as I don't have to see her, you can do what you want."

"As pleased as I am to hear you say you and Dominic are working out your troubles, you need to hear what I have to say."

"It can't possibly be worse."

"No," Raya agreed. "But it could get better."

"How?" Liberty laughed. "I mean, other than this all being a nightmare and being wiped from my memory, that is."

"Yes. It seems that it was all a nightmare...and none of what we were told happended, did, indeed, happen."

"What are you saying?"

"Anaka confessed to misleading Dominic and giving him false information. Apparently, they didn't fraternize. She drugged him, by buying him several drinks, and brought him to her flat. She intended, of course, to bed him...but he passed out before she could even get her top off."

"You're kidding," Liberty deadpanned, her voice void of emotion.

"I am not," Raya assured her. "It seems that Dominic was faithful to you, asking Anaka to call you and tell you he was sorry he wasn't home to take your call. I'm not sure what that meant, and neither was she, but apparently all he talked about was you. When he woke up the next morning, she didn't bother correcting his assumptions, but let him leave in a wreck and catch the first flight out to Michigan."

Liberty sank onto the sofa, chewing on a fingernail in thought. "I can't believe this."

"Believe it. She wouldn't lie to my face. I can always detect when she's giving me false information, her nostrils flare. There was no flaring of the nostrils."

"Why the hell did she not tell us sooner?"

"She did. In that letter I promised to you. Too bad I didn't send it to you as soon as I received it, this would have all been cleared up much sooner."

"I'm sorta speechless,” Liberty said after several moments.

"Understandable. I must say though, that I'm a bit glad we didn’t know the truth until AFTER you'd decided to give him a second chance. Makes your relationship seem a lot stronger, don’t you think?"

"Yes," Liberty replied meekly. "Yes, it does."

"Dominic doesn't know yet. I decided to ring you first."

"Thanks, Raya. I don't know what to say---"

"Don't say anything at all. A promise that you'll be here in December is enough for me."

"You got it."

»Chapter 10