Just one shot left of this drink in this glass
Don't make me break it
I wish that you were me
So you could feel this feeling
I never broke one promise,
And I know when you're not honest
Now you got me yelling.
That's because I'm jealous

When she wasn't staring off into space, Mai was out. Out doing what, exactly? Out with her girlfriends, out drinking, out volunteering at a soup kitchen?

Out avoiding him?

She didn't say, nor did he ask—which was probably why Valon was left feeling like shit. So there he was, sitting on the beach, working on his—second, third?—whatever number bottle of beer. He didn't drink by himself. Just like almost everything else he did, Valon was a social drinker; his mum and dad drank alone, and he tried to avoid being even remotely like them. Most of his memories of his parents were of his mum sitting at the kitchen table at 9:30 at night, taking half an hour to finish a single glass of wine while she kept her head down and tried not to break out sobbing; as for his dad, well...his dad was a mean drunk who used alcohol as his anesthetic for life and was to be avoided at all costs.

And yet there he was, drinking alone at night because his girlfriend was out God knows where and was probably just avoiding him.

Valon closed his eyes and muttered an exhausted, defeated "Fuck," under his breath.

What was he doing?

Valon looked down at the bottle in his hand, frowned, and realized he couldn't stomach another drop. Disgusted with himself, he threw the bottle off to the side and flopped onto his back, promising himself that he'd pick up his trash later. Right now, looking up the minute sprinkling of stars in the sky, Valon just didn't want to do anything.

"So this is love," he muttered to himself. "Whoop dee fucking do."

So this was love, huh? Love was paranoia and insecurity, right? Love was trying your hardest to make the one you love smile and failing miserably. Love was sex that looked good on paper but was akin to warming up a bowl of soup and receiving a hot bowl that secretly held a lukewarm liquid. Love was reaching out and receiving nothing.

Love was pain.

Love was feeling small and inadequate.

Love was "Mate, get the fuck out now before things get even worse."

Love was...

Love was lying on a beach late at night, feeling sorry for yourself.

Love was loneliness.

Valon sighed and sat up.

The ocean started evaporating.

The stars disappeared one by one.

He got to his feet and started brushing the sand off.

The green beer bottle rolled away until it sank into the ground.

Valon chuckled without humor.

Furniture sprouted out of the sand.

He shook his head.

"You can't keep on like this," he told himself as the beach around his disappeared and turned into a night club.

Mai exhaled and slid herself down the sleek curve of her bathtub into the bubbly, fragrant water. Mai resolved that for however long she would soak in the tub, her world would consist of warm water and bubbles that smelled like rose petals. She knew that she needed this because of the last few days. She was not going to think of her microscopic relationship crisis she'd just experienced with Joey, she was not going to think about loud teenagers in her apartment early in the morning, and she was not going to think about Valon pretending not to recognize her.

Mai's eyelids, which had been steadily closing as she grew relaxed, shot open.

Shit.

Why did she have to think about Valon? She already had enough going on in her personal life without her mind dwelling on the fact that someone she'd spent months of her life with would prefer to act like he didn't know her rather than actually talk to her. It still didn't make sense to her; Valon wasn't exactly someone who spent his time in denial.

Mai sighed and sluggishly closed her eyes, exhaling mournfully as she sank farther into the water.

Girl, did you ever screw that one up. Mai thought as she wiggled her toes underwater, frowning.

If she were to be honest with herself, she sometimes forgot that she was coming home to Joey instead of Valon, but she figured that happened when you go from living with someone one day to spending time with someone else practically the next. At least that was what she wanted to believe.

Whatever the case may be, Mai knew she couldn't slip up and say the wrong name; she didn't want a repeat happening.

Valon now was in the night club he'd decided to visit after he'd cleaned himself off and gotten a change of clothes. He hadn't gone dancing in a while, so it was a change of scenery for him.

He received a few inviting smiles from strangers beckoning him to dance, but Valon smiled nervously and shook his head, aiming to head for the bar. He hopped into the one free seat and scanned the prices for drinks, and he felt compelled to let out a whistle of disbelief. A woman sitting on his right looked at him at him from the corner of her eye and smirked at his bewilderment.

"Hey, stranger," she greeted airily, turning around in her seat to look at him in the eye. "Can I buy you a drink?"

Valon laughed. "With these prices? I couldn't let you with a good conscience."

The woman shook her head, causing her deep purple curls to bounce. "I insist," she replied, signaling the bartender. "Two shots of tequila."

Valon grinned at her in surprise. "What's your name?" he asked her while she handed him his shot glass.

"Talia," she replied, holding her glass up, indicating that she wanted to clink glasses. "Yours?"

"Valon," he replied, holding his glass up close to hers. "What're we toasting to?"

Talia pursed her red lips in thought, her green eyes looking off to the side. She looked back at him and smiled. "To good fun, wealth, fortune..." She paused, smiled suggestively, and added, "And good orgasms."

Valon barked out a laugh and tapped his glass to hers. "All right," he said enthusiastically, then upended his shot glass. "All right."

Talia paid for the drinks and pulled him onto tbe dance floor.

"So what brings you here tonight?" she asked as they adjusted to the beat of the music blaring over the speaker system.

It was loud, crowded, Valon was already sweating because of all the bodies in the room, and he had to really pay attention to catch what Tallia was saying, but this was the most fun he'd had in a while. "Needed to get out of the house," he replied, leaning in closer so Talia could hear him.

Time melted away as Valon danced with Talia. Song after song played until Talia swore she was going to drop from exhaustion. So she took him by the hands, dragged him off to one of the plush couches, and let herself fall back onto one of the cushions. Talia smiled up at Valon, holding her hands up and making a grabbing motion until he sat down next to her.

"What time is it?" Valon asked Talia.

"Late," she replied. "What, is it past your bedtime?"

"Maybe," Valon chirped. "My ride's gonna turn into a pumpkin if I don't leave soon."

"Oh, no," Talia drawled. She gazed at him with half-lidded eyes and she leaned in closer.

"Hey," she whispered, or did the best she could so he could still hear her thanks to the loud music. "You wanna go back to my place?"

Valon's smile dropped. He found himself wishing that he could say yes, but he thought about Mai. True, things weren't going well, but he couldn't do that to her. "I-I'm sorry. I have a girlfriend."

Talia took his response well. She simply nodded. "I guess that means you two're exclusive, right?"

The dancers, the bar, the strobing lights started to melt away.

Valon looked at Talia with regret in his eyes.

"Yeah. I guess so."

Mai legs were wrapped around Valon's waist while he bent over her, his hand in her panties. She held onto his shoulders while he kept one arm around her while he focused his attention on her clitoris. Mai moaned and writhed beneath him as he increased his speed and placed kisses into the curve of her neck. With his face buried in Mai's neck and with pleasuring her as his main objective, Valon didn't have time to think about how close he'd been to taking Talia up on her offer.

His guilt made him work even harder than usual.

What kind of person would he be if he'd done that, anyway?

Valon closed his eyes and pressed his face into Mai's shoulder.

Certainly not the kind he wanted to be.

How could he possibly do that to Mai? How could he betray her like—

"Mmmm, Joey..."

Valon and Mai froze. He released his hold of her and looked down into her eyes. "Come again?"

Mai's face was red. "Valon, I—"

Valon shook his head. "That's why you've been so quiet," he muttered, taking a few steps back.

Mai got to her feet, readjusting her skirt and underwear.

Valon shook his head again and found that he could not look at her. "All this time," he whispered. "All this time you've wanted him, haven't you?"

"Valon—baby, please," Mai said helplessly. "It's not like that."

Valon's eyes started to sting. "Don't—don't call me that," he mumbled, staring at the floor. "Don't call me that."

He turned around and made his way to the door, squeezing his eyes shut. "Don't ever call me that again."