Wishin' and Hopin'

The planet shouldn’t be stable, it’s a ball of disparate particles spinning as it flies through space, its core pulsing from heat and magnetic forces and that could buckle the lithosphere at any second. The earth isn’t stable, tectonic plates move and slide all the time, volcanoes thought long dormant raise their heads and bury civilizations in lava and ash and earthquakes can bring cities to their knees. She feels a trembling through her body that she wishes was due to external elemental forces but alas there is no seismic activity and the ground has refused to open up and swallow her whole. She would have settled for less, the house collapsing on all of them would have probably sufficed but the foundations remain stable and the others are going to survive to witness what she feels will later become to be known as the beginning of her downfall.

The sounds around her are distorted and the light seems too bright but she is cogent enough to know that she could cheerfully strangle Susan Mayer right now. If Susan wasn’t hiding in her house, wallowing in self-pity because the little blue-collar felon had broken her heart, it’s possible that Edie Britt wouldn’t be here orchestrating the end of the universe. She had reined in her thoughts enough to have begun plotting ways in which she could kill Susan and make it look like an accident when Gabrielle throws in a comment that forces her to debate the merits of becoming a spree killer. "Obviously someone who’s not getting it at home" -Gaby’s words continued to echo in her mind and though she is sure that Gabrielle can’t possibly know how much they hurt her, or how that was almost the last thing she would want anyone to say in front of Lynette, it doesn’t mean that she not disappointed that Gabrielle refuses to spontaneously combust before her eyes.

Lynette is certainly not wrong, the stakes have been raised. It’s hard to continue to convince herself that she’s going to be able to remain strong and not do anything about her feelings for Lynette when the thought of someone, albeit indirectly, implying to Lynette that she may be less than adequate in bed has her contemplating homicide. She doesn’t remember much of the rest of the game and judging by the lack of chips in her stack at the end of it, that’s probably for the best. She spent the time trying to avoid the eye contact that Lynette seemed determined to make. She can’t believe how much she wishes that she hadn’t been avoiding Lynette recently, she just didn’t how to broach the subject of what she thinks almost happened between them that night and the longer she left it, the less sure she was that anything had happened at all. As much as she doesn’t like to think that she could be so obsessed with Lynette that she has begun to project her own feelings into Lynette’s actions, that is actually beginning to seem a more plausible explanation than her original belief that Lynette had been going to kiss her.

She hovers after the end of the game but Edie seems determined to outlast her and in her current state she is not prepared to engage in small talk, so she makes her move to depart. Lynette follows her to the door and after a surreptitious glance over her shoulder to ensure that Edie is preoccupied she runs her hand down Bree’s arm before catching the other woman’s hand and briefly linking their fingers together. “Are you alright?” she whispers as she again checks to see if Edie is watching them.

“I’m fine,” she lies, fairly certain that Lynette won’t believe her but confident that she won’t push the issue with Edie there.

“No you're not.”

Bree’s only reply is to shrug and to turn to leave but Lynette catches the edge of her sweater knowing full well that Bree won’t allow the material to stretch. She turns back to express her displeasure, expecting Lynette’s trademark smirk to be in full force but instead is greeted with a raised eyebrow and a shrug that mirrors her own from seconds before.

“Let me go.”

“I want you to stay.”

“And I’m telling you that I want to go.”

“We need to talk, I’ll tell her to leave.”

“You can’t Lynette that would be rude.” She must have seemed more like her self with that statement because Lynette smiles and lets go of the cardigan although she does force Bree to promise that they will talk soon before she finally allows her to exit.

She decides that she will keep her promise to Lynette but that there is nothing wrong with trying to make that conversation easier and with that in mind she visits the prison – she may not be able to stop the rumors but if she can keep Rex’s name away from the scandal, Lynette may never find out that he paid someone to satisfy him in ways that she could not. She knows that Maisy Gibbons lacks class but still finds it hard to believe that the woman refused to acquiesce to her wishes, especially since she asked politely and had brought baked goods. Her lack of success means that she’s not exactly surprised when it’s clear from people’s reactions that the entire restaurant knows that Rex was one of Maisy’s clients. As Rex stands to leave, she realises that this may be her chance, he’s giving her the opening that she needs to show the world the type of man that he is and a way to get him out of the house without anyone thinking that she is deserting her sick husband in his hour of need. As she tells him the things that she will say and the truths that she will expose she knows she sounds bitter but her body is tingling with anticipation and she can almost taste freedom - this may not clear the path for her and Lynette but it would certainly remove a major obstacle. As she waits for Rex to make his move she imagines what life without him would be like but it’s a pipe dream and she is done with wishing and hoping and thinking and praying and planning and dreaming because, no matter how much she wants him to, Rex doesn’t take a step.