It had been a long day at work for Starrk. The kind where one counts each second of their shift and is out exactly when their time is up. Work at the warehouse left him weak, and in pain. Not the "take some pain pills and it'll be fine" kind of pain, or the "put a band-aid on it" kind of pain, but deep pain. The "my feet are fire, knees are gonna collapse, shoulders carried a mountain, and I need to not exist" kind of pain. Step by step, Starrk climbed the stairs that led to his apartment, nearly tripping and landing face-first. With shaky hands, he fiddled with his keys in front of his door, nothing but early morning blue hues to guide him as the key to his apartment kept slipping through his fingers. Finally, he was able to keep it within his grasp, and opened the door to his cozy apartment.

"Honey, I'm home!" he called out, the familiar emptiness of the apartment enveloping him.

"Hey, I picked up pizza," a voice called back. Starrk looked around. The lights to his apartment were on, revealing the bare interior. In the kitchen was a blonde woman with tan skin wearing a white blouse and jeans. Starrk sighed, releasing tension from his body as he left fight or flight.

"Halibel, why, and more importantly, how are you in my apartment at five in the morning?"

"It's good to see you too," she said as she walked out of the kitchen and hugged him. "Lilynette and the others said they hadn't seen you in months so I decided to drop by and check up on you."

"I guess I never was the best at staying in touch."

"You can fill me in after you change and take a shower. You smell like shit, Starrk," Halibel said as she plugged her nose and pushed him towards his bathroom.

Starrk sighed as he came out of the bathroom wearing black pajama pants and a white tank top. The water washed off the dirt and blood, but the scars and bruises that covered his form remained. Starrk limped his way over to his shoddy excuse for a dining area, two small, white plastic folding chairs and a small card table. There Halibel sat waiting for him, digging into a slice of vegetarian pizza. As he sat down, she offered him cheesy bread and honey mustard. Starrk nodded his thanks.

"Nice of you to remember my favorites."

"Kind of hard not to after you got sick from too much honey mustard the one time," she laughed.

"I stand by that honey mustard can, and should, go on everything," Starrk pouted as he began to eat.

"Anyway, it's been a while. What have you been up to lately? Everybody says you dropped off the face of the Earth a couple months ago."

"I… felt like I needed a change," Starrk sighed. Halibel leaned forward eyeing him up, deciphering his body language. "I moved to a different city, found a new job, and have just been working on paying off some debt while I find better work."

"What are you doing for work these days?"

"I load boxes onto trucks at a distribution center."

"That doesn't explain the bags under your eyes, " she said as her own azure eyes narrowed.

"I work through both the second and third shift. It hasn't been easy for me to adjust my sleep schedule," Starrk responded, punctuating the end of his sentence with a yawn. Halibel let out a small chuckle.

"You never have been one to miss your beauty sleep."

"Yeah...," Starrk trailed off, as he ate a bit more, not looking Halibel in the eyes. He sat cross legged, hunched over the table. He was silent for a few moments. Halibel sat back, looked around the apartment, and settled her eyes on Starrk again. He could feel her gaze on the scars and bruises. Starrk swallowed and rubbed his sore, calloused knuckles.

"..."

"..."

"Are you-"

"So what have you been doing these past few months?" Starrk interrupted.

"Um, well, I started doing more freelance work, took some classes online, and finally worked on a website for myself," she hesitantly responded.

"Nice! Sounds like you've been keeping busy then," Starrk said as he smiled for the first time since he had gotten home. His posture didn't change. "I'm happy to hear things are-"

Halibel cut him off, "Starrk, I'm not here for small talk. Your friends are worried. I'm worried too. It's not like you to just cut everyone out, especially Lilynette. What's wrong?"

Starrk sighed again, "I thought I told you, I'm fine. Just tired since you kind of ambushed me in my own home. How did you get in here anyway?"

"I just called your landlord, said that I was your girlfriend and locked myself out. He was more than happy to help a beautiful woman out."

"Figures."

"Now stop deflecting, I can tell something is wrong. Just tell me, please Starrk," Halibel pleaded, reaching her hand out and clasping his. He took his hand out of her grasp. "Hey, what is wrong with you, Starrk? I'm trying to help you!"

Starrk surged upwards, standing so forcefully he knocked his chair over. Anger blazed in his blue eyes, the morning light streaming from his window revealing the lines in his face, revealing unladen fury. Halibel looked up at him with fear in her eyes, unflinching and waiting to see what he would do next. Starrk looked into her eyes before closing his own. He took a deep breath and clenched his fist before releasing the breath and opening his hand. He picked up his chair, not looking Halibel in the eye. She was stock-still. He took his dishes and went to the kitchen, and began to clean up. A few minutes passed in silence. Footsteps sounded behind Starrk, getting closer to him, and going to the kitchen.

"What's wrong," Starrk whispered, "is that you left. I thought things were great between us, and you never really brought up your problems until you sent the break-up text."

"Starrk, I'm sorry, but things weren't right…"

"Being broken up hurt like hell, yeah, but the worst part was how you did it. You texted me before I had to give my speech for Lilynette's going away party, and the day after our anniversary. I had to hold myself together, and smile while my heart was breaking. You didn't trust me to talk things through. And you broke up by text! As if all our time together didn't mean anything. It just felt like you decided to kick me to the curb like a lot of other people have done."

"..."

"So then I left. And now here I am."

"..."

"..."

"Starrk… I'm sorry… But don't take this out on your friends, they're worried about you."

"... I couldn't wait to never lead a life that you aren't in, Halibel." Starrk breathed out as he finally turned to face Halibel, hot tears streaming down his face.

"I… wasn't ready. And I didn't want to risk hurting you more by hanging on to you longer," Halibel said. Her arms were crossed, and she wasn't looking him in the eye.

"Halibel… Tia… Why are you here, really? Any of our friends could have come, but you're the one that showed up. Why?"

"Lilynette. She had actually been asking me to see you for a while now. She's been pretty upset you haven't checked up on her… and because I realized that I made a mistake," Halibel shakily let out.

"What… do you mean?"

" I never should have left… you're one of the best people I've met, even if your honey mustard policy is heretical," She said as she moved to turn off the kitchen light as morning light was starting to strongly illuminate the apartment. It caught Halibel's eyes and hair, making her glow in the soft light. "You always put me first, and made it so that I could always count on you. You're one of a kind, and I need you."

She crossed the kitchen to him, and brushed the tears from his cheek. She gently caressed his face. He reached up and grasped her hand, before slowly taking it from his cheek. He looked her in the eye, now visibly stronger.

"Tia, I can't just accept you back like nothing happened. You hurt me."

"I know, but-"

"-But I'm willing to see if we can do this. If 'us' actually can work," Starrk said smiling with a small, timid curve. Halibel's face also broke into a smile, but hers was bold and radiant.

"Alright!"

"For now though," Starrk yawned as he led Halibel down a hallway, "I need sleep. We can talk more about things when I'm not dead on my feet." He flicked on a light to illuminate a room filled with pillows.

"Still haven't gotten a bed?" Halibel smirked.

"We both know this is much more comfy," Starrk retorted as Halibel pushed him down, turned out the lights, and took a familiar place curled up to him.

"I can't wait to be back in your life," Halibel said as she sweetly kissed him as the day broke.