Liv was performing magical tricks again. She'd pop a pill in to her mouth, and then disappear until the next morning, in millions of multicoloured rays and special effects. The audience clapped, amazed by her simple disappearing act. Of course, the audience was easily impressed because the audience was as fucked as she was.

Liv's nightly metamorphoses gave her sex and laughter and dark circles under her eyes, and it was all pretty smashing again, because she didn't have to see her boyfriend's eyes rolling back in his head in rapture while he gazed at somebody else. Now Liv didn't have a boyfriend anymore, and she was free to do whatever or whomever she pleased. Grinding her bottom against some nameless stranger's crotch, she wondered why the fuck she was in a relationship in the first place.

The bloke behind her lifted his hands from her hips and clasped her shoulders instead, turning her around so she was facing him. His face was pale in the neon lights of the club as he lowered his head to her ear, but whatever he was trying to say sounded like no more than a vibrating noise to her ear, and she laughed soundlessly to his face. She took him by his hand instead, and pulled him outside, away from the lights and music, and palpating mass of people where her friends swiveled around each other and where Nick stood looking at her with a drunken yearning gaze.

She pulled him outside, where they nearly collided with a sullen Rich, who was smoking a cigarette by himself. Rich shot them a disinterested glance before rolling his eyes, and it made Liv burst out with laughter. She kept marching onwards, dragging the bloke by his hand, determined to get to some undefined, hazy place appropriate for a quick shag.

They stumbled across the street, narrowly avoiding a racing car whose driver shouted words at them that Liv couldn't bother to listen. She looked around, but the bloke whose hand she kept clutched in hers, pulled her closer to him, sliding his tongue over her neck. Liv snorted and looked down at his face for the first time. There wasn't much to look at, but he will have to do.

"Don't you have a car or something?" she asked.

He ceased the assault on her neck, his head emerging from below. He blinked a few times, as if trying to remember who she was, and for a split second, Liv wondered if this was how it's always going to be.

"I don't have a car," he said, reaching to his back pocket and pulling out a set of keys. "But I do own a flat, you know."

"Well done," Liv smiled and took the keys from his hand, tucking them firmly back in his pocket. "Lead the way, then."

He took her hand back in his, grinning at her. He wasn't actually that bad looking, she concluded. Fuck it. She smirked at him, mostly because he was standing there with his woozy eyes and pale face, but partly to remind herself that she knew how to handle this. This is where she was.

"Liv!"

Fucking hell. She didn't need to look across the street to know who called her name, but with a sigh she did anyway – and sure enough, Nick was standing on the other side, throwing his hands up in the air and waving maniacally like some messed up clown on a sinking ship. As he waved, the bottle clutched in his hand spilled all over, but he didn't seem to take any notice. He staggered across the road towards them with a huge grin on his face, and Liv braced herself for another episode of unnecessary drama.

"Liv," he said in between breaths, with his hands on his knees. "I'm so happy to see you. Like, so fucking happy. I was worried you'd left and I wanted to tell you something important, but I couldn't have if you were gone, could I?" He took another sip from his nearly empty bottle, and looked from her to the bloke beside her, the face-splitting smile never wavering from his face.

"What do you want, Nick?" she asked tiredly, stressing the last syllable of his name.

"I told you, I want to talk to you." Nick straightened up, ignoring the other bloke who was looking increasingly bored. And taking a step towards her, Nick muttered through gritted teeth. "In private."

Him and Mini were more alike than they would ever know, Liv thought exasperatedly. She shot her would-be-shag an apologetic glance, and took Nick by his hand instead, pulling him back in the other direction.

"Next time, then?" she said, looking over her shoulder. The bloke looked pretty pissed off, which only increased when Nick flipped him a finger when he thought she wasn't looking.

"Fuck you, you slag," she heard him bark, which only made her roll her eyes. Nick, who was up to that point looking like he just won a million pounds, stopped in his tracks, and tried to break free from Liv's hold, presumably to go after the bloke and make an even bigger fool of himself.

"Leave it, Nick. Let's go and talk, then, or wasn't that what you wanted?" she said sternly, grabbing him by his elbow and he complied immediately, looking all too pleased with himself.

If she didn't end this once and for all, it would never be over and done with. Her friends (if that's even how she could call them) were all like little kids, and Nick was by no means an exception. The one way to deal with children is to give them what they want, and then show them why it is bad for them. She would make Nick grow up tonight, she decided, sitting down on a bench and pulling him down beside her.

"Now," she said. "What did you want to tell me?"

Nick looked at her with a sheepish grin. "I, um, forgot."

He offered her his bottle, and Liv swallowed the urge to take it and toss it over his shoulder. She will have to keep her wits about her if she wants this to come to an end that won't make them all even more miserable and confused. She took a deep breath, and put her hand on his knee.

"Nick," she said patiently. "Stop this bullshit. I want you to quit dicking around and find it in you to get over this, whatever you think you're feeling. And the sooner you let it go, the sooner we all let out a great sigh of relief and feel alright, okay?"

Nick's giant smile finally vanished. "But I don't understand. Why are you so against us?"

"Because I don't love you, Nick, okay? It's that simple." He looked hurt for a moment, but then his face transformed again with a newfound determination.

"Maybe if you gave it a chance, you'd see that we're right for each other," he said, slurring only slightly. "We'd be fucking awesome together. Life doesn't have to be complicated. You should just dive right into it, and see where it takes you, and who knows, maybe it will take you to a wonderful, splendid face," he hiccupped. "I meant place, obviously.

He closed his eyes and rubbed at his temple, getting lost for a second, and Liv couldn't help but feel a pang of fondness. They were all babies. All of them, stupid, innocent and fucked up babies.

"And you would take me to that wonderful, splendid place, I presume?"

He opened his eyes and looked at her, blinking once. And then he smiled and nodded and there was no doubt that he knew who she was. "You bet I would," he said with conviction, lifting his hand and offering it to her.

His hand was clammy and sticky when she took it, and he smiled at her like she was something brilliant, and it was all very ridiculous. But she felt too weak and tired to do anything, really, but to take his hand and fuck off for the night.

"Let's go then," she said, standing up, and he followed, as always. "Let's go to a wonderful place that is my house. And do try to keep quiet; I don't want to deal with mom tonight."

"Yes, ma'am," Nick nodded happily, then immediately failed to keep his word by proceeding to hum some toneless tune in to her ear. She sighed, and they walked on slowly through the darkness, stopping just once when Nick absolutely had to go. As he turned around to piss all over a meticulously kept flowerbed, Liv wondered if she was ever going to find it in herself to actually sort something right, for once. It wasn't like she was supposed to sort other people's shit, but it would be nice if something actually went right just one time.

Not tonight, though. Nick zipped himself up and turned back to her, and she kept quiet even when he offered her his hand again. She took it and even though she knew that this problem would only be increased by a million after tonight, she smiled back at him.

"I won't fuck you, though," she said.