"Doesn't look like she scratched it..." Phil noted as he took a good look at Keely's eye.

A gray shaggy dog bounded up to Owen and Siobhan as they walked down the street to her apartment.

"What brought that on?" Seth asked as he pulled Tia to the side of the room.

Via walked outside, with a concerned Caitlin right beside her.

"What brought that on?" Tia asked, still annoyed. "She brought that on by being a stupid bitch!"

"I know Via can be a bit... abrasive, but you can't just do something like that..."

"I just did," she pointed out.

"I know you did, I'm saying you shouldn't."

"Why not?"

Seth closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead, agitated at the indirection of the conversation. "Know what, maybe you'll be more reasonable in the morning. Maybe we should go."

"Maybe we should," Tia agreed, not wanting to discuss the matter any further. She quickly headed to the door and flung it open, with Seth behind her, hurrying to catch up. She gave Via an icy glare as she headed down the walkway towards the street, but Via didn't even so much as acknowledge her presence.

- - -

"This place sucks," Keely complained, investigating her reddened eye in the mirror. She turned away from it and faced Phil as she leaned back against the sink. "Let's head back."

Phil nodded. "Alright. If you're sure."

"I'm sure."

They headed downstairs and, after a fruitless search for Tia and Seth, headed out the door. Via and Caitlin were standing along the walkway to the house, seemingly engrossed in an amusing conversation.

"I didn't know you smoked, Via," Keely clucked, eyeing the cigarette in her hand.

"I usually don't," Via replied shortly. "You two leaving?"

"Yeah, before I lose an eye or a finger or something."

"Yeah, you got it pretty bad, didn't you?" Via asked, rubbing the ring-mark on her jaw.

Keely missed the point completely. "I guess it could've been worse, but it still stung real bad."

Via raised her eyebrows and looked over at Caitlin, who lowered her head to hide her smile.

"Anyway. You should quit. It's a filthy habit."

"Perhaps so," she reasoned, taking a drag. "But it only takes off the years at the end, and those are rather miserable anyway."

"That's sad, Vee."

"Maybe, but life's rather sad when you think about it."

"It's not too bad," Phil piped up, putting an arm around Keely's waist. Via let out a low sigh.

"You would say that, wouldn't you."

"Well... whatever, Via," Keely said, glancing over at Phil. "We were just leaving.... see you... tomorrow, I guess?"

"I should certainly hope so."

Keely was about to ask what she meant by that, but decided not to, and just slowly headed to the sidewalk with Phil.

"Guess that leaves just you here," Caitlin observed.

"Right..."

"D'you think you'll be headin' back soon?"

Via sighed and flicked her hair out of her eyes. "I honestly don't know. Maybe. Not right now, though." She tossed her cigarette on the concrete and ground it out underneath her heel.

- - -

Keely felt much better by the time she and Phil returned to their room. Phil washed his face in the sink as she sat at the foot of the bed, rubbing her forehead.

"What time do you wanna get up tomorrow?" Phil asked as he brushed his teeth.

Keely glanced over at the clock, and it was only then that she noticed a sleeping form already underneath the blankets. She barely stopped herself from screaming, then tried to calmly reply to Phil's question. "Um... I think around 11:30... or noon maybe..."

"Alright, sounds good."

Keely slipped off one of her shoes and grabbed it in her left hand as she stalked to the side of the bed. She reached for the top of the blankets and threw it back, raising the shoe above her head. "YAHHH oh it's you Tia." She breathed a sigh of relief as Tia looked up at her, shielding her eyes from the light. Phil dashed out of the bathroom to see what the commotion was. "What are you doing in here?" she asked, tossing the shoe aside.

Tia propped herself onto her elbow and rubbed her eyes. "I didn't want to sleep in the same room as Owen..."

"Did he even come back?" Phil asked. Keely gave him an urgent look and shook her head. He quickly grimaced and fell silent.

"It's alright, Tia," Keely gushed. "You can stay here tonight! It'll be like a sleepover!"

Phil bit his lip and repressed a groan.

"Really?" Tia asked, bolting up into a sitting position. Keely nodded eagerly, and the two girls squealed loudly. Phil shook his head and went back into the bathroom to rinse out his mouth.

"Just forget guys for tonight, it's gonna be awesome," Keely went on.

"Can still hear ya, Keel," Phil announced. He shook his head and smirked as he heard them jabbering a mile a minute.

Once he went back into the other room, Keely flew past him into the bathroom and shut the door to get ready for bed. He stood awkwardly beside the closet as Tia glanced around the room.

"Well this is awkward," he finally blurted out.

"Little bit."

He looked around uncomfortably as she stared vacantly ahead. A few minutes later, a bubbly, pyjama-clad Keely ran out of the bathroom and jumped into bed beside Tia. She then paused and looked up at Phil. "Oh... um..."

"You know, the awkwardness would probably go away if I went away," he observed, and turned toward the door.

"Aw, you don't have to leave," Keely half-begged, causing Tia to give her a querulous look.

"You sure about that?" she asked in an undertone. Keely hit her on the shoulder in response.

"You could... sleep on the floor or something?"

Phil stood by the door and ran a hand through his hair as he considered his options.

- - -

It wasn't until about three in the morning that Owen's conscience started getting to him. He got up from the couch he was on and slowly checked on Siobhan and her roommate. They were both asleep. He nodded slowly, then headed to the door and quietly sneaked out.

The sidewalk was illuminated by the streetlamps hanging above him, but there was hardly anyone to be seen roaming the streets at the late hour.

A familiar dog came from a side alley and wagged its tail excitedly, looking up at Owen.

"Come on, ya dumb dog, get outta here..." Owen muttered, kicking lightly at the ground, sending a few pebbles scattering in the dog's direction. The stray looked up at Owen, then backed up slightly, still staring up at him. He headed down the sidewalk and the dog turned around and headed down an alley.

"What am I even gonna say to her... she's probably still up waiting for me to get back..."

His thoughts were interrupted by the not-too distant voices of a few late teenagers.

"Feckin' mutt...."

Owen's head snapped up as he heard a yelping sound, accompanied by scattered laughter. He spun around wildly, and saw three men around his age and size surrounding the shaggy dog that had been following him. "HEY!"

The three young men looked up, and the injured and frightened dog quickly took its chance to scamper away.

"Whaya lookin' at, feller?" one of them asked, this one with long, spiked, black hair.

"Big man, huh? Kickin' a damn dog?!" Owen shouted through clenched teeth as he took a swing at the black-haired man. He jumped back to avoid the attack, then landed a blow on Owen's jaw. The shortest of the three then landed a punch right on Owen's gut, causing him to double over in pain. He felt a few more blows land on his sides and his back, and tried to stand up, but was instantly clocked in the face once he did. He staggered back and fell to the ground, and the two blokes beating up on him began to kick him in the stomach and in the ribs.

"Come on, let's scram," the third punk piped up, watching his two comrades uninterestedly.

"Aye. 'Sgo."

Owen shut his eyes and bit his lip as the three walked away. He heard scrabbling on the pavement, then felt something wet on his face. He opened his eyes and saw the shaggy gray dog licking at his cheek. He almost laughed as he slowly picked himself up, spitting some blood out of his mouth. He put his hands on his knees and waited for the world to stop spinning.

"Lovely," he muttered as he headed down the street again, the dog close at his heels. He came across a 24-hour mart and went inside. The dog sat by the door and cocked its head as the door shut, causing a bell to ring.

"You alright there, son?" the man behind the counter asked, looking at Owen's battered face with alarm.

"I'm fine," Owen replied.

"Well, first aid supplies are by the wall there," the gray-haired man said, pointing to the far wall. Instead, Owen walked up to one of the refrigerators at the side of the building and grabbed a ham sandwich. "Sure you're gonna be okay?"

Owen nodded and put down a five-note. He grinned and thanked the salesman as he took his change and the sandwich, and headed back outside. The dog stood up and backed up slightly as he exited.

He sat down on a nearby bench and opened the container. He looked down at the dog and tore off a chunk of the sandwich, then set the lid down on the ground, putting the food on top of it. The dog eagerly scarfed down the offering, and Owen laughed as he took a bite.

After sharing the rest of his sandwich with the mutt, he slowly stood up and walked down the sidewalk, wondering what he was going to say when Tia inevitably confronted him. The dog bounded ahead of him and headed down a separate alley. He paused and watched it scamper along the side of a brick building and find shelter in a cardboard box. He sighed sadly and shook his head before slowly walking away.

- - -

"What in the bloody hell happened to you?"

Owen didn't even get a chance to reach his room before running into Via. She was looking at his bloodied nose and bruised jaw with alarmed concern.

"I could ask you the same question," he replied, pointing out the deep red mark on her jaw.

"Oh, right. Let's just say Tia has a rather short fuse when she's drunk," she explained hastily.

"She fought you?"

"She tackled me and beat me rather nicely. It's nothing."

"I wouldn't say that's nothing..."

"She was fed up," Via explained with a shrug. "She acted accordingly."

"You're taking this frighteningly well."

"What did you do to get like that? I'm assuming it wasn't that bird I saw you with."

"Oh, no.... just ran into some street toughs. That's what I get for defending a defenseless animal, I guess."

"Animal...?"

"They were kicking this dog. It doesn't matter."

Via frowned and put a hand to her chest. "I'm... I'm sorry to hear that, I really am..."

"I'll be alright."

"...so what are you going to do?"

"Probably head up to my room and face the music, I guess," he reasoned, scratching the back of his head.

"You do realize of course, that she's not in your room."

"What? Did you check?"

"No."

"Then how do you know?"

She shrugged. "I just do. After the way she reacted to you leaving..."

"I see..."

"You should at least get cleaned up..."

"I guess so..."

The two headed up to the vacant room. Via grabbed a spare cloth from the rack on the wall of the bathroom and ran it under some warm water before wiping off the dried blood under Owen's nose.

"Reckon it's not that bad," she said. "Mostly bruises. Seems like they got your nose rather bad though..."

He put a hand to her cheek and lightly grazed his thumb along her jaw. She tried not to flinch.

He sighed and lowered his hand, then lifted his shirt and inspected himself in the mirror. A few minor bruises were starting to form, but they didn't look as bad as he expected them to be.

Via winced as she looked at the faint bruises and remembered the kick Tia had delivered to her earlier. She turned and lifted her shirt up to her ribs, inspecting the deep purple contusion on her side. Owen sucked his breath in through his teeth.

"That looks bad...." he whispered softly, almost as if his voice could hurt her more. He leaned down and took a closer look, and grimaced. "Yikes..."

"Tell me about it..." she muttered, glancing at him briefly in the mirror before gliding her fingers lightly over the surface of the bruise.

She slowly lowered her shirt and rubbed her forehead. Owen straightened up and looked at the back of her head.

"I'm feeling right buggered," she announced, turning to face the mirror and placing her hands on the linoleum counter.

"Right... yeah, it's pretty late," he noticed. "Should probably get to bed..."

"I'm just going to sleep here, if that's alright with you..."

"Oh... yeah, sure..." He nodded and rubbed his pounding head. The two of them walked into the other room and collapsed into bed, and after a few minutes, passed out.