Hey Avaney,

Back in Denmark. Sorry about the other day. I know it was weird. We'll talk soon okay?

Miss you,

Chris

She stared at the screen of her laptop for what seemed like the four hundredth hour since she'd first opened the email that evening. Every once in awhile her eyes would wander away from Chris' words to the piece of broken plastic sticking out from her screen that she never got fixed…or her finger nails that had grown fairly long but badly needed a nail file to shape them. Then as if by magnetic force, her eyes would refocus on the email, reading it over again in case somehow, the words had changed.

Finally she slammed the laptop closed and leaned back in her desk chair. Since her and Sienna had gone out for ice cream the week before, Avaney had been doing a good job of not thinking about Chris too much. She hadn't, however, been expecting an email from him. What she needed was to forget about him, as soon as possible.

As she often did when she had a problem, Avaney picked up her scratched, year-old Nokia from the desk beside her and dialed Alex's familiar number. He usually had a way of taking her mind off things.

"Hellooo?" He answered. She always thought it was funny how she could hear the slightest bit of a British accent from his childhood spent in England whenever he answered the phone.

"Hey. Wanna hang out?"

"Sure, I'm on my third beer. Bring some rum or something."

Avaney wouldn't normally choose to drink unless there was some kind of special occasion, but tonight seemed like an appropriate time to give in and break her own rules.

"Alright, I'm on my way."

After the thirty-minute drive through Friday night rush hour traffic, Avaney was standing at the bar in Alex's living room. The Industrial Design college students who used to live in his house made the bar out of an old cabinet that the neighbours had put out with the trash. She ran her fingers over the surface of it, dented and stained by glasses that had been placed down without coasters at past house parties. For a brief moment she imagined the bar in Chris' parents' house, flawlessly smooth and polished. Then the moment was gone and she looked up to see Alex staring at her thoughtfully from the couch.

"You okay?" He asked, although he seemed nervous to actually hear her response.

"Sure, I'm fine. I'm just making my drink," she answered.

"Well, you looked lost there for a minute. Anyway there's coke in the mini-fridge if you want to mix–"

"Yeah I'll get it thanks," she replied, not even giving him time to finish his sentence. She knew she was being short with him, but her mind was distracted and wouldn't allow her to behave any other way.

Avaney finished mixing her drink and brought it with her to the couch. Alex turned away from the television where a Futurama rerun was playing and faced her, his own beer in hand. She couldn't help but notice there were now four empty bottles on the coffee table in front of them.

"So…were you planning to get drunk by yourself tonight?" She asked, her eyebrows raised with slight concern.

"Nope, I knew you'd call me."

"Oh so you wanted to be drunk in case I decided to come over? Wow, thanks Al," she said sarcastically. Alex laughed in response, a natural, easy way about him as he sat slouched in the corner of the couch.

"You've seemed stressed out lately, and I thought we could have a few drinks and relax…and maybe have a little fun," he said casually, but looking directly at her to catch her response.

"Well, if that's what you wanted, you should have just asked me to come over in the first place instead of waiting for me to call you."

"You're here now, right? Start drinking," he teased, not taking her seriously.

She squinted her eyes and glared at him but couldn't help the smile that was creeping onto her face. Maybe she had been right to come here tonight. Maybe it was Alex after all that would help her relax and forget about Chris.

Avaney lifted her drink to her nose and recoiled after giving it a sniff.

"Ugh, this is strong," she complained.

"Okay let's finish our drinks when I say go. Then you can just make a new, better one after!" Alex was pleased with his suggestion and held is nearly empty beer bottle up to his mouth. "GO!"

Avaney decided there was no point objecting. She plugged her nose and within about eight seconds, she had completely downed her rum and coke (but mostly rum).

"I feel better already!" She actually felt a little nauseous, but was enjoying the warm feeling of alcohol suddenly flowing through her bloodstream. Without hesitation, she quickly got up to make another drink and grab Alex another beer.

A few drinks later, Alex was still slumped in the corner of the couch but Avaney had somehow managed to fit herself next to him in such a way, that his body was acting as a form-fitting pillow. His arm was hanging lazily over her shoulders and her arms were wrapped around his stomach. She was resting her head on his chest and it was as if she could hear his slow, steady heartbeat through a microphone compared to the distant sound of South Park on the television.

She finally felt at ease. Probably it was the alcohol, but she liked to think it was Alex's calm presence that was helping her to relax into the moment. She felt him run his fingers up the top of her arm and to the back of her neck, pausing to graze just the tip of her earlobe. She closed her eyes as she felt a shiver creep up her spine.

"Mmm," she hummed as she tilted her up toward Alex's. And then he kissed her very softly, gently biting her bottom lip as he pulled his face away to look at her.

"Wanna have a sleepover?" He asked coyly as he placed his hand under the bottom of her shirt and began lightly scratching her back. She couldn't resist.

"Yes," she grinned. "And it's getting late…we better get to bed."