Paul opened his eyes to the bright sun. He looked over at his alarm clock to see that it was already noon. He sat up and coughed, "Nikki, baby, where's my cigarettes?" He yelled, standing up and stumbling from his room, "Nikki?"

"They're out here." Nikki stood in the kitchen, still in his T-shirt and nothing more, "hi honey." She smiled seductively.

"Hey Nikki." He nodded towards her and stuffed a cigarette between his lips, "is Rosemarie at school already?"

She sighed, "duh, she went to school four hours ago." She turned and poured him a cup of lukewarm coffee, "here," she handed him the cup, "you were really bad off last night."

"I know." He cleared his throat, "I'm feeling it Nikki, I know." He took a few sips before putting the cup down, "I can't do it tonight. I can't pull that off tonight again."

"So don't." Nikki stared at him, "it's not like you have to drink Paul." She pushed her hair out of the way, "I'm gonna take a shower, I'll be back."

"Yeah." He watched her walk down the hallway and disappear, "what the fuck?" He asked himself, holding his head.

"Paul, your cell phone's ringing!" Nikki yelled from the bathroom, "it rang like twice while I was still in the shower."

It was his friend Shawn. He didn't bother listening to the voice mails before calling him back, "hey, Shawn, what's up?"

"Oh, just laying here on my couch. Dude, are you still up for tonight?" That was the million-dollar question, "Paul?"

"Umm, sorry Shawn, I don't think so." On any other day, Paul would be up to drinking, and it shocked him that he was saying no, "I'm not really feeling good after last night."

"Damn, I don't think I'd be feeling good either if I were you last night." Shawn snickered, "you were so fucked up."

"I know." Paul closed his eyes, thinking about last night, but he couldn't remember anything besides the first drink, "I'm gonna let you go so I can eat and take some Tylenol or something."

"Alright, I'll catch you later." Shawn hung up, leaving Paul still in utter confusion.

"Who was it?" Nikki asked, coming out of the bathroom, "wait, was it Shawn?"

"Yeah, he asked if I was up for tonight, I said no." He felt sort of proud of himself, "after last night, I'm not really feeling it."

She smiled, "that's probably better ." She started to brush her hair, "wow, and its a Friday night? That's impressive honey! We all should do something tonight."

"Like what?" He stared at her, "this is like the first sober day ever, or, in a long time."

"Yes it is." She nodded, "now I'm gonna go do my hair, do you need to take a shower in this bathroom?"

"Um, I'll just use the other bathroom, it's okay. Let me just grab my shampoo and soap." He took his stuff and walked away. He liked Nikki, she was great, there was just one thing about her that sort of annoyed him, she whined. And it wasn't a small complaint every once in awhile, she would complain about everything, all the time, and didn't know when to stop.

When he came out, she was in the living room cleaning, "Paul, you need to help clean this place too." She grunted in disgust, "this place is filthy!"

"Whatever." He turned around and walked towards his room.

"Don't 'whatever' me." She yelled, "you know, I don't have to put up with your shit Paul!" She threw a couch pillow in his direction.

"You're right Nikki, you don't have to put up with me!" He yelled back, and before he could say anything else, she pushed him out of her way towards the bedroom, "wait, what are you doing?"

"I don't have to put up with you, remember?" She piled all of her belongings on his bed and started to stuff it in plastic bags, "fine, bye."

"What the hell Nikki? You started all of that!" He sighed, "fine, whatever, bye. Have fun." He slammed the bedroom door on her. He was always the one to walk away in arguments, he hated fighting, he'd rather just not talk.

He sat on the couch with a cigarette in his hand as Nikki stormed back and forth from the bedroom to her car with her clothes, "I put up with you for way too long." She stomped on the hardwood floor.

"Okay." He nodded, exhaling, "what exactly have you been putting up with?"

She ignored him, "don't talk to me at work." She slammed the front door, then made sure her tires screeched on the way down the driveway.