My Best Friend's Girlfriend

[Kira & Lee Norris]

Kira cocked an eyebrow at her reflection, setting down the eyeliner with a dull sense of horror. What exactly had she done? She'd seen Ellie with it up on the lid like that before... but surely it never looked so... strange? Ellie had made it look good. And where was the eyeshadow meant to go, exactly? Wouldn't it cover the eyeliner? And what about under the eyes? Except that made them small. Lydia said so.
She did.
Kira wanted to make an effort. She never made an effort- in fact the most she'd ever don was some concealer on a particularly spotty day, except those were few and far between. She didn't know how to put on lip gloss (well, she did, but her lips always looked too pink, so she wiped it off), had no idea in hell how to not get those blobby bits of mascara in her lashes (she always took about five lashes out at once when trying to fix it) and couldn't for the life of her understand why blusher never made her cheeks go pink, like they were meant to.
Hence the whole not making an effort thing.
But now... something new had come over her. Ever since she'd seen Deron again- and kissed him again- and all of that... well, she'd felt like she ought to try a bit harder. It seemed really stupid in retrospect... but make-up would make her look pretty. It was meant to. And... for Deron, she wanted to look pretty. Even a little bit.
Yeah, stupid, right?
Kira groaned, dragging her facecloth out and soaking it in warm water, before raising it to her face, and scrubbing fiercely. Once the mess she'd made was gone, she dried her face with a towel, and picked up the eyeliner again; a little frown line appearing on her forehead as she leant forward, concentrating hard...
Some footsteps made Kira jump about a foot in the air, dropping her make-up bag across the floor and spilling its contents. Frustrated, Kira dropped to the floor, and her anger only deepened when she saw who it was who'd interrupted her.
Madeleine.

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

It was freezing.
These days, Madeleine was no longer resenting the warm clothes Nurse Gornray was making her wear, because she really, really needed them. The days were passing in a constant haze of grey clouds and white breath, with the occasional rainstorm and frosty ground, and Madeleine hated it because when it rained, she was trapped inside.
It made her slightly claustrophobic, especially since she was getting stir-crazy already.
It was close to the time when they would normally have upped camp and moved. Shaun had always found living in one place hard, but Madeleine was fine - except at moving time, when she was restless and itched to get out. She loved Orchid, but generations of blood mixed with the habit was hard to beat.
And she'd loved the gypsy life - especially in the summer, when she and Shaun could go to sleep on the road and not know where they'd wake up the next morning. It created such a free feeling - they were free. Not tied down by anything, they could leave whenever they wanted, and go to wherever they wanted.
It was something amazing, that was for sure.
But the wanderlust could be hard to choke.
Anyway, now, it was raining. Well, understatement. It was pouring from the heavens, and both Madeleine and Lee were absolutely drenched. They'd been in their place again, and the skies had suddenly opened.
She walked quickly along the corridor, her hair soaked, the rain pulling it straight and making it black, into her dorm.
Kira was there, and just knocked over a bag of make-up. Determined to try and make up for something, to try and get back into Kira's good books, she started picking the stuff off the floor and handing it to her.
She knew that Kira was still mad at her - and she knew it was upsetting Lee. If she was honest, she couldn't care less what Kira thought of her. After their words whenever she and Lee had broke up, Madeleine just didn't want to know.
But it was hurting Lee, and she hated that.

[Kira & Lee Norris]

"Thanks," Kira said softly, wishing Madeleine hadn't bothered to help her.
Zipping up the bag, she crossed the room to her drawer and shoved it away around the back of her art pads. She would've happily continued doing what she'd been doing... but she always felt awkward whenever it came to things like putting make-up on herself when other people were around. And the fact that it was Madeleine- well, she wasn't in the mood to humiliate herself.
Sitting down silently on her bed, Kira glanced at Madeleine, taking note that she was completely drenched through. She must've been out in the rain... probably with Lee. He had said he'd be going out with her that day. What sucked about it was that Lee and her never did anything together. Either it was Lee and Madeleine, or Kira and Deron, or Lee, Kira and friends. It was never just them- the two cousins.
The thing was... it was like they weren't as close as they used to be. And that scared her. She'd seen people drift before- and she didn't want to drift from Lee. Except they were. They were. It was another of those things she would love to blame Madeleine for- but had decided she couldn't. Lee and her's relationship shouldn't be based around his and Madeleine's. Before, they needed nobody. Now, Lee needed Madeleine, and Kira...
Kira didn't know what she wanted.
D'you remember when we were best friends, Lee?
Jeez, that one would go down well...
"Are you going out with Lee again, later?" Kira asked Madeleine dully.

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

Madeleine took note of Kira's dull tone as she pulled a towel out of a drawer and started to dry her hair off.
"It doesn't look like it'll stop raining, so probably not," she said, deliberately keeping her voice light. "Might just stay in the common room."
Kira and Lee hadn't spoken much recently, she knew. Maybe because she and Lee had been spending nearly all of their free time with each other. But they were often together in the common room, holding conversations with different people. Madeleine had now seemingly been welcomed 'back into the fold' thanks to Lee and Jack - and thank God for that. Very few people actually thought of her with nice thoughts these days.
But as it had been on Lee's birthday, Kira generally refused to talk when Madeleine was there.
The two were nowhere near as close as they had been before, and Madeleine knew that they both missed it - Kira's voice screamed it, and it was always in Lee's blue eyes when he looked at his cousin. And no matter what Lee said, she couldn't shake off the feeling that it was all her fault.
She rubbed the ends of her dripping hair with the towel, glancing across at Kira and feeling that the atmosphere was definitely very awkward.

[Kira & Lee Norris]

Kira sighed- and failed to smother it. She was having issues with the promise she'd made to Lee- of course she was trying to do it... but it was hard.
"Right, okay, that's fine," she said softly. "Tell him hi, from me, I mean..."
Did she sound that miserable? She didn't mean to. They were being civil to each other, after all- that was good enough wasn't it?
Wasn't it?

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

Madeleine stopped still for a second, the towel end falling down and landing on her shoulder.
"Why don't you tell him yourself?" she said softly, her tone making it clear that she wasn't being rude.

[Kira & Lee Norris]

Kira pulled a face, looking away quickly, and cleared her throat. "Okay. Yeah. Then I will."
That was, if he actually left Madeleine's arms and came to talk to her.

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

Madeleine bit her lip, starting to dry her hair again.
"Kira... am I making things awkward for you and Lee? Tell the truth. Lee keeps telling me that it isn't me, but..."
She had to know. She knew how important family was, and she was not going to let Lee hurt himself like that. He'd been hurt enough.

[Kira & Lee Norris]

Kira turned and stared at her for a couple of seconds.
"Yes."
It was a simple answer really. She didn't have to go into detail.

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

"Thanks," Madeleine answered, feeling somewhat glad that she was right.
Then, inspiration struck her.
"Right," she said serenely, putting down her towel and staring at Kira. "We're talking this out. Now. What is your problem with me - aside from the fact that I am a stupid cow that hurt your cousin and doesn't know what is good for her?"
All said in a serene, calm tone. Calm, because she was calm. She really didn't care what Kira was going to say, she just wanted to get this finally fixed.

[Kira & Lee Norris]

Kira felt her tongue lick over her lips, and grimaced. What could she say that wouldn't break her promise to Lee? Um... nothing?
"I hate you," Kira shrugged. "You've said it all already. Must we go into details?"

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

"No," replied Madeleine, picking up her towel again. "But Kira - you don't have to like me. Just please, don't let me stop you talking to Lee. Because he loves you, and the fact that he's with me doesn't stop you from loving him. I don't want the two of us to tear him in two."
Like that story, in the Bible... King Solomon, and the two women fighting over the baby...

[Kira & Lee Norris]

Kira cleared her throat. "So, you leave him."
It was simple, really- even though she knew it wasn't going to happen.
Ever.
Or, at least it wouldn't for a while.

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

Madeleine smiled sadly.
Was Kira really under that delusion?
"Sorry, but I can't," she said softly. "I love him. I lost him once, I'm not losing him again. You can want me to leave him all you like, you can wish it, but it's not happening Kira. I'm sorry."

[Kira & Lee Norris]

Kira snorted. She couldn't help it. "You love him, huh? Not using him then- well, that's always nice to know..."
How could she have the nerve to stand there, and say that to Kira's face? How?
They were friends once. Kira could never seem to get over that fact.
That once upon a time.