The warm summer night breeze ruffled his hair as he sat on the fountain's edge. Washington Square Arch to his back, he looked out over the shadows of the park. His chest felt heavy and his throat tight as he sighed deeply, shoulders slouching further down. Breakup songs playing softly from his headphones, he thumbed through the same handful of pictures on his phone for the umpteenth time.

"You know what your problem is, Lance?" demanded an irritated voice next to him, snapping him back to attention.

"What, Pidge? What's my problem?" he shot back, equally miffed, because what was the point of having your friend sit next to you while you wallowed in your own misery if she was only going to be mean? Then again, this was Pidge; so, joke was on him. As per usual.

"You're just not good at being in a relationship," she told him matter-of-factly.

"This is not the best time to be roasting me," he whined, gazing mournfully at his phone again. Good thing he'd disabled the auto-lock. Now he could stare at his favorite picture of his ex with minimal effort.

"I always roast you, Lance," Pidge pointed out. "It's the foundation of our friendship."

Lance resisted the urge to snort. He was wallowing. "I've just had my heart broken," he reminded Pidge, before turning back to his phone. "How could you do this to me, Nyma? After twenty beautiful days together."

Pidge got to her feet. Apparently she had had enough. "It's the eighth time this year!" she exclaimed, crossing her arms.

He looked up at her sadly. He'd heard of being unlucky in love, but this had to be some sort of record. It wasn't exactly what he'd expected when he'd been voted 'most likely to make it big' at his college graduation.

Pidge sighed, tone softening a notch as she said, "Well. Do what you need to and get over it. Like you did all the other times."

"You know, sometimes I feel your tough love could use a little less tough and a little more love," he muttered.

"You're sappy enough for the two of us," she replied, voice undeniably fond.

Lance allowed himself a chuckle before turning to his phone with purpose. He gave Nyma one last long gaze before deleting the photos. Selfies of him kissing her, solitary pictures of her being cute. One after the other, he tapped that trash can icon. With a sigh he glanced up, only to find Pidge already walking away.

Pausing his music and pocketing his phone, he jumped up to his feet, the usual spring back in his step. "Yo wait up." He walked along the fountain's edge then jumped onto the ground right behind her. "Don't worry about me, I'm a-okay," he assured her. With the sadness out of his system now, he mostly meant it.

Knowing he was following, she kept walking, headed toward their shared apartment.

"I know this was the eighth time in less than a year, but I'm not gonna let this get me down," he said to her retreating back. "You can change the world if you follow your heart, Pidge."