"So what's up between Riley and you?"

Bree asked in her usual boisterous tone as she eyed up some guys who passed us by. Henrietta's was bustling today and filled with innumerable amounts of couples. It made me long for Riley all the more but he was away and I didn't know when he would return. The insecurity about his whereabouts was slowly driving me to madness. I kept thinking about what Neil said, I mean could it really be true? Did Riley have three hearts? Neil had dismissed it as a joke but I couldn't shrug off the feeling that Riley had two other lovers out there. And I knew that he would rather spend time with them than with me, because who could really love me?

"It's well... I want to..."

"Come on Andi, fess up already!" Bree, beautiful but oh so annoying Bree, urged me on. I swallowed, looking pensively at a couple who were holding hands and French kissing simultaneously.
"I want to have sex with Riley."

Bree laughed noisily and spurted out the contents of her 400 calories in one sip, raspberry lemon fusion milkshake.

"You guys still haven't done it yet?! That's wicked! You've been dating for two years!"

Trust Bree to ejaculate my greatest secret in a crowded restaurant. I let out a grunt of embarrassment and hid behind my hands, quite unsure of what to say next. How could Bree, simple, extraordinarily beautiful in comparison to ugly old me Bree, ever understand what went on between me and Riley? Tears flooded my eyes when I recalled the first night I had asked him if he wanted to have sex with me. I could even remember his exact words:

"Diminutive one, we cannot fornicate."

He had been sitting on my bed and I had been revelling in his glorious presence. How smooth his alabaster skin had looked in the dimmed light of my room and how he had run his hands through his shiny raven black hair five times in two minutes. But his words had roughly interrupted my thoughts. Of course when he had stated that he couldn't have sex with me, I'd automatically assumed that he had another woman. Usually I would have dismissed the fear but this time, totally against my character, I had voiced my entirely justified concerns.

"But why? Is someone else fulfilling your needs?"

Riley had laughed; that gorgeous echoing laugh before he dismissed my anxieties with a small pat on my head.

"That is not the case puny mortal. Only you possess my heart, in fact you are my heart."

I had thrown myself on top of him and began to tug at his shirt. I wanted to feel those hard abs against me, I wanted him, my Riley, my old one, my chutchulu inside of me. But he had moved to the other side of the room at the speed of light, leaving me a sobbing and heartbroken mess.

"But why can't we have sex then Riley? Is it because I'm not attractive enough?"

I could understand. Who would want me anyway? I was plain, pale skinned Andromeda Slate. I was boredom and repulsiveness personified. I think everybody in Portsmouth, no Innsmouth, could have heard my loud, dejected wail that disastrous night.

"You are as appealing to me as a flesh coated skeletal structure can be. But if we were to perform such a deed I might take on my original form and literally tear you apart."

I didn't care at the moment, and now, two years later, I still didn't care. If I was to be torn apart during lovemaking with my handsome Riley, then so be it. I only lived to please my Chuthchulu, it was my sole purpose in life and I couldn't imagine a more glorious death than me dying whilst sexually satisfying him. But Riley kept on rejecting me! He had showered me with gifts (Many stunning dresses, expensive jewellery, designer shoes and an adorable puppy I had named Raoul) to compensate for our lack of physical contact, yet our relationship didn't feel real to me without sex. It was like I wasn't fully his and this thought infuriated me. It incensed me to such an extent that I just wanted to get rid of my pesky virginity so I didn't have to think about it ever again.

"So what's his problem then? Can't he get little Riley up?"

Bree quipped with a nearly satanic smile on her lips. I instantly became defensive. Riley was perfect in every way imaginable! How dare she suggest that something that belonged to him wasn't functioning properly?!

"What a horrible thing to say Bree! How... How could you?"

I slammed my hands on the flat polished wood of the table and stormed out of Henrietta's. I couldn't believe Bree sometimes. She could be so selfish and irrational, and I shouldn't have told her about the sexual side of mine and Riley's epic love saga anyway. I was about to take a left turn but then I suddenly bumped into someone... It was Vik!

"Oh sorry Andi."

Vik muttered an apology and I accepted it with a smile. After the horrible incident with Epistola, Vik and mine's friendship had never been the same. Vik had kept himself distant from me and I often found him lurking in the hallways, watching me and looking broody. It was like having two guardian angels, although Vik didn't have the power to consume souls. During the past two years his shoulders had broadened and he had developed some serious abs. My friend had turned into a real man, and a fine looking man at that. For some reason, I wondered if he could help me with my problem.

"Vik wait... I need your help with something."

Vik quirked his well shaped eyebrow.

"What is it Andi? Did that monster do something?"

Anger flared up in his big eyes. I giggled involuntarily. I couldn't believe how hot Vik had become. He was nothing like the archaeology loving nerd he used to be. I stared at Vik for a while, noticing that he was wearing a white shirt which was partially unbuttoned, revealing parts of his muscular, hairless chest, and some tight fitting jeans. Much to my astonishment, I wanted to see what was underneath his clothing.

No Andi, no! You can't think this! Riley is the one for you! But still... he is unwilling to have sex with you. And everybody knows it's not actually cheating if I look somewhere else for something Riley is reluctant to give me...And how am I supposed to love him, to worship him, if I am constantly distracted by my own atrocious needs?

"Well... Well... It's more about what Riley didn't do."

I cast my eyes to the ground, looking at my, in my opinion, disproportionate feet. I was wearing the cutest pink leather sandals today that Riley had bought me during one of our many shopping trips in New York. The memory of him made my insides churn. I wanted him so badly, but he would never give himself to me.

"I'm eighteen and still a virgin and I... I wondered if you could help me."

A small 'huh' escaped Vik's lips. I shifted awkwardly from foot to foot.

"You see Riley doesn't want to have sex with me and I'm just so fraught. I need physical contact and... And I wanted to know if you... I trust you Vik and I want you to help me get rid of these, these urges."

It all made perfect sense. If Vik had sex with me, I could love my Riley fully again and I would no longer bother him with my indecent proposals. And Vik would get something out of it too, so then we would all be happy, right? My best friend stared at me, outrageously conflicted.

"You want me to make love to you?"

I nodded furiously, trying my hardest not to look too eager.

"To touch you lovingly with these hands... The same hands that nearly ended your life?"

I grabbed hold of his hands and pressed them against my bosom.

"These are gentle hands Vik, they're the hands of a lover, not a murderer. What happened two years ago is behind us now. There is no reason to keep beating yourself up about it. Ms Epistola brainwashed you, turned you against me. It's not your fault."

Vik shook his head.

"It was still me Andi. Ms Epistola was my first time and I was smitten by her. She taught me so much about pleasing a woman and-"

I interrupted him with a gentle hush.

"Then let me experience this pleasure Vik. Make it so that the time you and Ms Epistola had together wasn't all doom and gloom. Let us forget that dark day in the past and create a brighter future."

He hesitated for a moment but then he leant forwards and kissed me. The kiss immediately grew more passionate and when we parted, our lips red and swollen, and our chests heaving from lack of oxygen, I grabbed his hands again.

"Together we will make a beautiful memory that will last forever."

And then I can fully dedicate myself to Riley again.