#cj was ready to confess and before she gets the chance leila springs it on her that she just got a bf

[cry-stars]

🌹 one more rose cuz I'm desperate for your writing

Bro... <3 Thank you awwww, these are some deleted scenes from BHC when I was thinking of putting some Leilane flashbacks in. I was going to have some parallels between Leilane failing and Shirnyx succeeding, and Onyx worrying over whether his Khat crush would fail too fdkjhfddf. It didn't really fit though, so it's just been hanging around in the doc for ages dfjkhdffd I hope it's not too boring!

“Sometimes I think about how fortunate I am that Leila’s never shown much interest in boys.”

Blinking, Onyx looks up from the paperwork on his desk towards the couch in his office where Shirley now reclines. Despite Shirley’s business-like appearance in his everyday mannerisms, he rarely does work at the desk that Onyx had ordered for him when they first began sharing their office ten years ago. Rather, he tends to sprawl himself over the couch, his papers spread everywhere, organized by a system that only Shirley’s brilliant mind can comprehend. Onyx was shocked when they first became partners, but now finds Shirley’s habit amusing—especially considering the amount of work he gets done in such apparent disorganization.

But of course, the most important thing here isn’t Shirley’s position on the couch, but what he’s said. In all honesty, Onyx has never given CJ’s interest in boys (or, rather, lack thereof) much thought. She’s still a little girl, after all—

 Shirley chuckles, but Onyx hears a hesitancy behind his laughter. “She’s getting to that age, you know.” He lets out a bit of a sigh, relaxing a little further into the couch cushion, his expression bemused. “Not that I’d mind grandchildren, mind you. But I’m picky. Very picky.” He laughs again. “I almost feel sorry for the poor boy who falls for my Leila.”

From the tone of his voice, Onyx can tell that he’s definitely not sorry. It’s endearing how transparently disdainful Shirley is towards this poor hypothetical fellow. “I think I feel more sorry for him than you do,” he laughs. “You’d enjoy terrorizing the boy.”

“Maybe I would, maybe I wouldn’t.” Shirley smirks, staring up at the ceiling.

...

“CJ, dear, I’d… I’d like to help you, if I can.”

“It’s Leila. She… I thought she…” CJ rubs at her eyes, dark streaks cascading down her face. Her voice shakes uncontrollably. “Even just last week, she said that she l-liked…” A sob escapes her, and she hides her face in her hands. “I thought she was in… in… that she liked me; I don’t know how I misinterpreted everything so badly. I messed everything up, and now she hates me and she’ll never want to see me again and I ruined our friendship and, and, and…”

Hesitantly, Onyx reaches out to her, and just as hesitantly, CJ leans against him, her body stiff, trembling.

Now he understands.

...

“What’s the problem?”

“Oh, nothing.” Shirley says, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “Leila only has a boyfriend. I can’t believe she’d do something like that without consulting me.”

“Ah. I heard.” The words slip out before Onyx can stop them.

Shirley blinks. “Did you?

...

“I almost wouldn’t have minded, really…” Shirley smiles ruefully. “If she had to like anybody, your daughter would be an inoffensive choice.” He laughs a little. “But then I’d be seeing you even more than I already do, which is already an exorbitant amount of time.”

“Is that really such a bad thing?”

“Perhaps not.”