Noah got dressed and started to walk down the stairs.

"Alli !" he called out...

There was silence.

"Alli?"

Noah went to the kitchen and saw a note on the table. When he had read it, he crumpled it up in his hand and aimed it for the fridge, then threw it with all his anger. Then he went to the closet to get his coat, and ran out of the house into his car.

There was a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" cried Lon from his couch.

"It's... it's me Lon. Open up. I wanna talk to you," said Alli.

Lon took a deep breath, got up from the couch and walked over to the door. When he had opened it, leaving the door slightly open behind him, he walked away, back to the couch, and plopped himself onto it.

"Lon, I'm, I'm sorry... I didn't wanna hurt you," said Alli, pacing back and forth in front of Lon. "I just had to do what's best for me."

"Alli—"

"I love you, you have to believe that I love you. You do believe me, don't you?"

"Alli—"

"I mean, it was foolish of me not to tell you why I was leaving, and that's why I wanted to come here, and personally give you my reason. So whadda you say?"

"Alli... I don't care anymore," said Lon.

"W—what? You don't... you don't care?" stuttered Alli, in shock.

"Well... no."

Alli, in complete bewilderment, sat on the couch, contemplating out loud what had just happened, fighting back tears.

"Alli, I was pretty much... thee worse husband that ever lived. I lived for my job, I never payed attention to ya, I ate my dinners cold... you didn't love me. From our marriage on, you never did. And that's alright. You'll always think of me as the bad husband, and I'll alway think of you as the moody slut. We're even."

Alli still couldn't quite accept the idea that Lon was okay with her, that he had no bitterness, no anger. As cruel as she knew it sounded, she wanted Lon to hate her, or to be miserable over her, to be crying. She wanted to know that her leaving him was enough to make him feel that way, that she mattered enough to make him weep, or break something, or be depressed. So she just sat there, in silence, her eyes watering, her body trembling, her mouth agape. When she felt a tear hit her open mouth, she closed it and wiped her eyes with her silken cream gloves, now inked with lines of her dark mascara. When it hit her that she had just heard Lon call her a slut, she got up from the couch and paced around a bit more.

"You just called me a slut, didn't you?" giggled Alli. Then, suddenly, she burst out laughing, the laughter surging from a confusion of emotions that had been so rattled up together, she couldn't help but laugh. Lon started laughing as well. Soon both were laughing, laughing at the fact that Lon had just called Alli a slut, but also laughing at themselves.

Alli sat back down on the couch, wiping tears of laughter, and soon found herself unconsciously nuzzled up in the gap between his chin and his neck. When they had collected themselves, they found themselevs in silence, just sitting there. Lon found his hand make his way on Alli's knee, and Alli looked up at him, still snug in the little nook she had created. Their lips were milimeters apart, and Alli found herself getting carried away in Lon's kiss. This kiss was a kiss just like the first one Lon had given her, one she had always remembered because she had never been able to forget it. It was tender and warm, soft, yet passionate and intense and whisked with lust... and maybe even love.

Alli pulled herself back from the kiss and cleared her throat.

"I can't do this Lon. Sorry."

Alli got up from the couch, ironed her dress with her fingers, going over the creases, and heard Lon get up. She felt his body press against hers, as he was standing behind her, his hands holding hers, his face now in the gap between her chin and her neck. He nibbled her neck gently.

"Lon... Lon... Lon— stop."

Lon withdrew himself.

"I'm sorry, Alli," he sighed. "But I still love you. I know I was a bad husband, and you were a moody slut. But let's start over. C'mon... I know that, deep down inside"— Lon put his hand on Alli's stomach— "you still care. When I told you I didn't care... I really did. And you do too."

Noah walked into the house and saw Alli and Lon pressed up against each other, Lon's hands on Alli's.

"The... the door was open... I— I..."

"Noah!" cried Alli, her eyes welling up with bitter tears. "NOAH!"

Noah walked out of the house, furiously slamming the door behind him.