Liam settled himself on a seat near the water, close to where the Blaxland was docked. It was peaceful here in the late afternoon light, no incessant waves, maybe he'd be able to string a line or two together. He took his guitar from its case and held it, but he couldn't bring himself to strum a single note. Heath had no right. No right at all to talk about his family, Liam would never forgive him for this. And Liam was angry at himself too, for being the idiot Heath said he was, and believing that there was more to Heath, and that between them maybe there could've been...something. But Liam wasn't under that delusion anymore, not now he knew what Heath really thought of him...loser, druggie Dad...

"Hey mate, you alright?" Romeo called from the boat.

"Yeah," Liam lied, this wasn't something he could discuss, even with his best mate. Apparently Romeo wasn't convinced of Liam's 'alrightness', he was leaving the boat and heading towards Liam. Shit, maybe Heath had sent Liam off the deep end, who came up with words like 'alrightness'?

"You sure?" Romeo prompted, giving Liam a second chance to get this off his chest. Liam was determined to avoid the topic, hopefully Romeo wouldn't chuck a sook like Heath had...oh God, he had it bad. Liam shook his head to clear his thoughts.

"Yeah, it's nothing," Liam lied again.

"Ok," Romeo said uncertainly, "I've gotta go, I'm meeting Indi for dinner. You could come if you like..." Liam was grateful for the offer but it also made him feel pitiful.

"Three's a crowd," Liam said with a small smile, intended to say 'thank-you for trying to help but I'm not quite that pathetic yet'.

"Ok," Romeo said, letting it drop, "I'll see ya later."

"See ya." Liam watched Romeo go, heading off towards his dinner with Indi. Even though it shouldn't have, it made Liam think of Heath, which made him angry again. He needed to forget Heath, he wasn't worth all this anger and frustration. He needed to get the fuck over this and move on. It was bloody ridiculous anyway, it shouldn't be too hard to get over, there was every reason in the world to do so and none that made it worth holding onto...

xxx

Heath had only seen Murphy once since that night. It was in passing, Heath had called the other man's name but Murphy had walked straight past him, as though he hadn't even seen him. It bugged Heath. Very sensibly on his part, Heath thought, he'd given Murphy a couple of days to cool off but now Heath had had enough of waiting. He decided to approach Murphy while he was working at Angelo's, this way he'd have to talk to Heath, and there was less chance of copping another shiner in the gob as well. Heath had to walk right up to the bar before Murphy even looked at him. Murphy turned to Heath, nothing in his cool gaze but the expectation of a drink order. Heath hated it. He couldn't think straight when Murphy looked at him like that and with a jolt he realised he'd never actually seen this cold, indifference in Murphy before...that had to mean something.

"Can I get you anything?" Murphy asked in a flat, formal voice, and again Heath hated it. Say something to him! Anything! Heath's mind screamed at him.

"A beer," was all he came up with. Murphy plonked the bottle down in front of Heath and moved onto the next customer. Heath stared dumbly at the beer, what was he supposed to do with it? He didn't want a beer, he wanted...something, he wasn't sure. Something from Murphy. A frown, an insult, a derisive laugh, a sarcastic comment...something, anything...but Murphy didn't waver. He never changed that flat look, or that flat tone and eventually Heath gave up and left, feeling empty, like something vital to his being was missing.