Beautiful Mistakes

Matt's gaze darted to Aaron, and Aaron merely smiled bitterly. "You didn't think I was going down alone, did you?"

"You bastard," Matt said, his voice no more than a whisper.

"Must run in the family," Aaron returned levelly.

Taking another step toward Matt, Emma demanded, "What did you do, Matt?"

"How long have you been…?"

Emma practically snarled as her arms flew out and she shoved Matt hard in the chest, causing him to stumble backward. "I hate you, Matt. I really do. You're an asshole and you ruin everything."

Julie eyes widened as she listened to the pure venom in Emma's voice as she spoke to Matt, each deliberate step she took closer to him looking almost dangerous.

"Why would you do this?" she asked him, shaking her head. "You're a fool, Matt."

While it would be a stretch to say Matt stood up to Emma, he did finally say, "I was only telling her the truth."

"Why?" Emma asked softly. Then, shaking her head in apparent disgust, she said, "You know what, we are not going to do this here." Then, turning her gaze to Julie, she said, "Don't listen to either one of these idiots. Matt is an asshole and Aaron is too hard on himself. You've seen Aaron drunk before, correct?"

Julie nodded her head.

"Well, after I found out Matt was fucking Shannon I decided that I wanted to even the score a bit, and I thought perhaps Aaron would like the chance to do the same thing. I went to him, and I suggested just such a thing. Aaron declined. He turned me down. He wasn't going to stoop to Matt's level. So I backed off, took a different approach. Since we were both wounded parties, I asked him to go out for drinks with me because I needed someone to talk to," she said, making a dramatically sad pout. "Aaron, for all his bluster, has a very good heart, and he couldn't tell his brother's confused and heartbroken wife no."

Then, shooting Matt a glance and smiling a little, she continued her story. "Once I had Aaron good and drunk, I'm sure I don't have to explain to you that he got much nicer, much more open and… easier. Under the influence of alcohol and the saline from my tears, he managed to lose footing in his moral position, and while he offered me only comfort, I waited until what I thought was the right moment and then I went for more."

Emma glanced over at Julie then, no longer looking at Matt. "When he says almost, he isn't lying to you. I did try, because I was pissed off, my ego was bruised, and there's no use denying it, Aaron is the more attractive brother. But even drunk off his ass, when it came down to it Aaron turned me away. He couldn't do it. Even though his brother had no problem doing it to him, Aaron could not do the same thing."

"I think you're letting me off the hook a little here—” Aaron tried, but Emma interrupted.

"No," Emma disagreed, shaking her head and turning her attention to Julie. "Any attention you're getting from Aaron is not because you were Matt's little plaything, it is despite the fact that you were. He is not using you for revenge; he is not using you at all. The only person trying to play you right now is my husband," she said, her gaze returning unkindly to Matt.

Matt looked like he wanted to say something, but he must have known better, because he kept his mouth shut and stared at the wall past Emma like a scolded child.

"We're leaving," Emma stated, her gaze resting coldly on her husband. Then, turning to Julie, she said, "Don't let him fuck this up. Aaron didn't sleep with me, but even if he would have, don't be a hypocrite because you have no room to talk."

With that, Emma shot one last commanding look at Matt and then she went sashaying down the hall, looking as lovely as ever in her sexy backless dress, her heels clicking as she walked away.

Matt looked at Julie, and he truly looked like he wished he could linger, but he slowly moved in the direction Emma had went. He shot one quick glance at Aaron too, but Aaron just smiled bitterly back.

"Thanks a lot," Matt muttered to Aaron.

"Just returning the favor," Aaron told him.

The clicking stopped and Emma turned, presumably to see what was taking Matt so long.

He walked up to catch up to her, and then they were both gone, on their way back up to their room.

It was just the two of them left standing there, Julie gazing at the wall instead of at Aaron. There was a lengthy, uncomfortable silence between them then, and Julie wasn't even sure what to say. Her brain was going so fast that she couldn't even figure out which piece of information to process and respond to first.

It was Aaron who finally broke the silence.

"I'm sorry," he said, shaking his head slightly. "This was not supposed to happen."

Responding a little slowly, Julie shook her head and said, "I just don't understand why you made it so difficult. Wouldn't it have been better to just tell me yourself?"

"How was that going to come up in conversation, Julie? It's really not one of my proudest moments, it isn't something I wanted to tell you. And it was never supposed to matter, because you were just… you were supposed to be nothing more than a way for me to alleviate that yucky feeling I got from having to ask my brother for help. I was going to do the bastard a favor by handling his fuck-up, and then once it was all taken care of I was supposed to send you on your way. I was never supposed to like you, it was never supposed to be anything but a favor to Matt, a way to just wipe the slate clean so that I could make a clean break, get him out of my life, and move on with my own."

"Well, I'm sorry," she said, not really knowing how to respond to that. "I'm sorry if I was more than you bargained for. You think I planned you? One minute I'm like, 'Damn, I just fucked up my life,' and the next some grumpy knight in shining armor comes to haul me away, stick me up in his apartment alone and be mean to me."