~~Pogue's POV~~

Bickering. That's all I heard. Bickering. That annoying squawk didn't go to well with my hangover. The mouth that produced this was my mother. She was back from Paris, Beijing, Egypt, or wherever the hell she had been this time. Don't really care. She came into my apartment when I supposed to be at school. What exactly she was trying to say, I don't know. Possibly something about the alcohol everywhere or maybe it was the fact that I've actually been to school once or twice since the incident.

Oh well, she'll rant for a few more minutes, start crying, and leave. I should feel sad about hurting her feelings, but those were things that I gave up on a while ago. What's the use? Feelings get you into the position I'm in. Broken, numb, and incomplete.

Not that I'm taking Tyler for granted, but when it was the four of us we weren't that close. Now that it's just the two of us, it's more unspoken. The extent of our communication is me handing him a bottle of Jack when he gets back from swimming. Damn. Swimming. I used to love to swim, and I was damn good at it too. But without Caleb my desire to win just wasn't there, not without him cheering me on.

My apartment's empty now. I wonder when my mother left. Again, Oh well. Looking at the clock, I see that it is now 2 p.m., time to start drinking. Mom tried to take the alcohol away, but she didn't check the oven. I had the oven well stocked, since it hasn't been used in over a month. I lived off of the food that Tyler brought me, Caleb's mom used to bring me something every once and a while but I think she's falling into the same haven that I've been trying to sink into for the past month.

To think that my biggest problem a few months ago was not becoming addicted to Using. I haven't used once in three weeks. That one week between getting completely clean and the incident is one that people have learned to not mention. One that I have partially blacked out. All I remember is going into a rage and ruining my old room at the estate. And Tyler, he tried to stop me. It didn't work.

Tyler hadn't used once since his ascension. He was too scared to do it. I think he is afraid that he'll do the same thing I did: Freak out. He still flinches every time I get too close.

How long had I been sitting here like this? Sitting on my couch, bottle in one hand remote in the other. Death Sentence was on and it seemed like a perfect fit given my mood. Tyler walked in. I guess it's Chinese tonight. The girl was with him. Naomi? Nessa? Whatever.

"Your mom was here"

"Yeah"

"Find the Jack?"

"No"

"Noodles or Chicken?"

"Both"

That was about the longest conversation we've had in 2 weeks. The girl is just sitting in the Lazyboy. Staring. What does Tyler see in her? Maybe she's a good lay; no she's too big to be a good lay.

"Hello Pogue. I'm Noelle Andrews."

"Hi."

Great. She's talking to me. Here come the questions. How are you doing? Is everything alright? Yada, Yada, Yada. I've heard it all before and I didn't need to hear it from this ugly fat chick, okay not ugly, but nothing I've ever imagined Tyler with.

"Jack and Chicken doesn't mix well. You should switch to Bud Light."

Well there's something I didn't expect. Not only did she not question or scold me, she gave me a good suggestion. Huh, maybe she's not so bad.

…………………………………

(A/N: Tyler and Noelle are not together. She's just helping him through a rough time.)

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