Title: Pain

Character: Skills

Chocolate or Vanilla? He scans the ice cream aisle at the local supermarket carefully. He is about to pick up the chocolate but when he turns to the left, he finds himself putting the ice cream back.

That's when he spots her. At the end of the aisle, she is picking up chocolate ice cream, tossing it into her basket. Suddenly he loses his appetite for chocolate ice cream.

He opts for the vanilla instead, tossing it into his own basket; he quickly turns around, anxious to get away from her. Somehow he's managed to avoid her for the past five years despite the fact that they've both been living in the same town.

He crashes into a body. "Sorry," he mumbles.

"It's okay," she chuckles, her voice sweet like honey. "I should watch where I'm going."

The voice registers immediately and his dark eyes travel up from the floor to stare into mystical brown ones.

She looks shocked to see him. "Antwon?"

"Bevin," he nods stoically. He feels like he is suffocating and he needs to get out.

"Hey…" she offers him a slight smile. "I haven't seen you around. How have you been?"

"Good," he replies as if the conversation is rehearsed. "Been busy you know."

"Yeah, I hear you," she nods quickly, surveying him up and down. "You look good," she notes.

"Look I have to go. Mouth um… he needs help with something," he replies quickly, fumbling for his phone, pretending to read a text from Mouth.

"Oh," she sounds disappointed but nods. "Okay. Well, I guess I'll see you around."

He nods before turning around and quickly escaping.

"Wait, Antwon!"

He turns around. As much as he doesn't want to, he knows that he can't keep running from the past forever. It's time to face down his demons.

"Yeah?"

"How come you avoid me all the time? Every time I have tried to talk to you in the past five years, you've always ran away before I could approach you."

He spots Tim and their son Nathan coming up from the other end of the aisle, both laughing idiotically at something that probably isn't even really that funny.

"That's why," he whispers, jerking his thumb towards the two boys. "You chose them."

"I'm sorry," she whispers back. "I know you're upset but that was five years ago. Time to move on isn't it?"

"I haven't been able to hold a relationship since. Every time a good girl comes along, I can't hold onto her because I am haunted by you…"

"I'm sorry I slept with Tim…"

"I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed," he whispers painfully. "Because, you threw away everything that we could have had."

"Antwon…"

"Look I really have to go," he replies, stepping back. "Have a nice life Bevin; I hope it was worth it in the end.

As he walks away, he leaves a piece of his heart behind. He knows that Bevin Mirskey will always hold a piece of his heart and no other girl will ever hold a torch to her.

AN: This one is for all those Skills/Bevin shippers out there. Why they never lasted is beyond me.