It turns out Kai had an obligation to fulfill, so shortly after their turf war he left. Ali was sad to see him leave. Aqua and Noir stay with her at their table for a while longer, but they too take off after the sun begins to set. Ali, now alone, knows what she has to do. She pulls out her phone and lays it on the table in front of her. The sound of chatting squids fades away as she turns it on. Reading the notifications, she sees messages from Pearl and Marina. Underneath them are the ten messages from Keaton, all dated from last night. Tapping on them she reads them, one by one, cringing at each bubble.

Hey! Wanna go grab a bite to eat? (3pm)

I thought about you a lot today. (3:30pm)

If you don't want to go out, I can come over. (4pm)

Are you okay? (5pm)

Hey, I'm getting worried. (6pm)

I'm sorry if I did or said something wrong. (7pm)

Please just talk to me. (7:30pm)

Ali, I'm getting kind of upset. What's wrong? (9:30pm)

Please, don't shut me out. (10:30pm)

I'll be here when you need me. I'm just a text away. (11:00pm)

Ali groans covers her face in her hands. His texts ranged from when she'd first seen Kai from the balcony, all the way to to when they were writhing on the bed together. Feeling like a criminal Ali tries to come up with a response, but can't. Giving up, she puts her phone in her pocket and gets up to walk home. It's getting chilly, and she's grateful for her jacket. Looking around she observes the squids on the street. Some are huddled together, watching videos. Others are eating at tables. They all look happy and content.

The red eyed octoling walks into her room and locks the door leaning against it. Sinking to the floor she feels tears well up in her eyes. Confused and lonely she weeps light pink tears. It'd only been a few days and she'd already messed up. Picking up her phone she texts Keaton a simple message "I'm sorry." and sends it. She pulls up Kai's contact on her phone and looks at his number. She reads it over and over until she can't possibly forget it. A message pops up on the top of her screen from Keaton: "Meet me at the top of the battle tower at nine."

Ali deliberates on whether or not she'll go. While wanting to make things right, she doesn't think she can face Keaton. She imagines his wide eyes as she tells him she's discarding him, and that there's someone else. She scrunches her face, is there someone else? Kai never said what they were. For all she knew Kai was using her just like she'd used Keaton. The thought makes her stomach churn and she shivers away the thoughts. No, he'd stayed the night and comforted her when she'd needed someone. That had to mean something. Ali looks at her phone: it's seven thirty. She makes a split second decision and calls Marina. "Hey, I need someone to talk to." "Where are you? I can come over now, we finished shooting a while ago." Marina sounds concerned. Ali pauses and then sighs "Yes, please. Come to my apartment, quickly. I have somewhere I have to go soon." Ali hangs up and holds her knees to her chest, resting her forehead on her knees.

She stays like that until she hears a faint knocking at the door. Getting up and opening it she looks up at Marina, who's in a cotton crop top, pale green pants and canvas shoes. Around her head is a white bandanna tied in a knot. Glinting around her neck is a medal with her Off The Hook symbol. "I came as fast as I could, what's going on?" Marina steps inside and looks at Ali nervously. Agent 8 hands Marina her phone, Keaton's messages up, and explains their encounter earlier today. "He saw me with Kai-" "Who's Kai?" Marina asks incredulously. Ali blushes, embarrassed "An octoling I met yesterday. We went to a party and... Connected." Marina drags her hand over her face "You slept with someone else before clarifying things with the other squid?" Ali looks down at her shoes as Marina goes off "You're giving octolings a bad rap. No wonder he wants to talk he's probably confused and upset. What if he thought you two had something?" "I thought we did too, at first. But I think I was just lonely." Ali muses aloud to herself.

"You need to go talk to him. You need to make things right. Be honest, tell him you were lost and needed someone there for you." Marina puts her hands on her hips and cocks an eyebrow "Okay? Be. Honest. With. Him." Each enunciated word hits Ali like a stone. "I'll be honest with him." Marina wraps her in a hug, "Thank you for talking to me, and letting me know what's up. I know what it's like to feel out of place in Inkopolis. I was new, once, too." Ali snuggles into Marina for one last second before letting her go. "No, thank you. You're swimmy." The tall octoling laughs "'Swimmy' is never going to happen, but I appreciate that." Marina checks her phone and takes Ali's hand, "Let's go. I'll walk you to the square." Ali nods and follows Marina out the door.

Marina walks her to the back entrance to the battle tower and gives her one last hug, "You're doing the right thing. Text me after, or call. Your choice." Ali smiles at her friend before walking into the battle tower, and starting the ascent up the many flights of stairs. Each step makes her more nervous, and weaker. By the time she gets to the top she's in a cold sweat, not from the exercise, but from the anxiety. She peeks out the window on the door and sees a squid sitting on the ledge, feet dangling. He's wearing a black tee with fingerless gloves, joggers and the same sneakers, which Ali now knew were black Norimaki 750's. On his head is a Jellyvader cap. Slowly Ali opens the door and walks up behind him, her footsteps echoing.

"Hey..." Her voice is hoarse. Keaton doesn't turn around but says simply "You were my first." Ali opens her mouth but says nothing. Keaton continues "You ignored all my messages. I was worried. I thought we mattered to each other." He lets out a sharp laugh "I told you I loved you." Ali winces. "I'm sorry, I was lonely and-" Keaton turns and stands up. He walks over to her and looks down at her, "So you thought you could use me to fill some gap?" Ali breaks their eye contact and looks down at her shoes. Keaton reaches up and Ali flinches, instinctively. Keaton pulls back his hand, steely eyes replaced with concern, "Have... Have you been hit?" She feels tears well up, "Things are different back in Octo Valley." she can barely get the words out, and they escape as a whisper.

Keaton crosses his arms, seemingly unsure of what to do. "I told you, you could talk to me. I could help you. It felt like we were making each other happy." His face is washed over with hurt "What changed?" Ali feels disgust for herself bubbling up and swallows it. She looks up at him and ices over. "I'm a soldier. I was abused. I'm selfish." She straightens her back and stares him in the eye "Where I'm from, it's use or be used." She clenches her fists "I slept with someone else last night." The squid kid's eyes widen and then narrow "The octoling from the turf war." He states quietly. It's nto a question, it's a statement. Ali holds her ground "Yes."

They stand there, the tension dissolved and replaced with sadness. Keaton sniffs and Ali realizes he's crying. Ali melts "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to-" "Stop." Keaton glares at her through tears "I shouldn't have expected anything less from an octoling. It's my fault." He dashes past her and down the stairs. Ali feels hurt pang through her and then turns and runs after him. She runs out the back door and scans the area, but he's gone. She pulls out her phone and calls his number, but the dial tone is cut off: he'd blocked her. Ali, frustrated, stands there helplessly.

Thank you for reading!