"Sky— oh my god, I was so fucking worried! Are you okay? Shit— Thank god you picked up— I was freaking out here, after the texts you sent— and then you just left me on the read like that? Jesus—"

Cody kept the phone on his ear and screwed his eyes shut fighting the nausea that made his stomach turn.

He knew he shouldn't have picked up Sky's phone. He knew he shouldn't have taken this call, but he had done it anyway, unable to fight the sickening feeling that had coursed through his body when seeing Hawk's name blinking on the screen.

"Sky—?" Hawk rasped, as Cody just kept silent, swallowing his bitter tears. "Sky— are you there? Are you okay?"

"Sorry. Sky can't come to the phone right now."

A short silence followed. Cody kept the phone in his ear as he slowly sat up and threw his legs over the edge of the bed, leaning his elbows on his knees.

"Cody?" asked the voice at the other end of the line. "Shit— why the fuck are you answering Sky's phone?"

"Why the fuck are you calling her in the middle of the night?"

"It's like 9 pm, dude—"

"I don't care what time it is!" Cody almost yelled, his voice breaking. "I literally asked one thing of you today, one thing– that you'd leave me and Sky the fuck alone. And now you're calling her— for what? And what was that about the texts? She texted you?! Why?"

"Maybe you should ask her," Hawk replied, his voice now sharp too.

Cody felt like he was choking. Was Sky cheating on him with Hawk? Was that it? Had his talk with Hawk in the school today been just a bluff— the way Hawk had asked him to treat Sky well, had it meant nothing, had it been just a joke? Was that asshole laughing at him behind his back—?

No, no, this suspicion was tearing his chest apart. He had to know the truth, no matter how much it hurt, no matter if it killed him.

"Well, I'm asking you, Moskowitz. What's— What's going on between you and Sky?"

Hawk let out a tense sigh, Cody could hear how he cursed silently at the other end of the line. "Nothing. Okay? Nothing. She just— she texted me earlier. Something about Never Have I Ever, and how that made her upset. She said she was drunk and thinking about Kat. And I got worried— cause, you know, she was at a party, and getting drunk. There's nothing going on between us. I just wanted to check on her."

"Well she's fine," Cody replied bitterly. "Better than fine. I've been with her for the past hour or so."

He wanted to say something about what had happened tonight. About Sky's words I love you Cody, I love you so much! and about their lovemaking, the way she had sobbed his name when he had made her come, but—

But he would never do that to Sky. He wouldn't talk about their sweet, private moments to anyone, the least of all to her ex. She deserved better than that.

Maybe Hawk picked up his meaning anyway because his tone was sharp as a knife when he replied: "Right. Cause I talked to Sam and she said Sky was fucking wasted and acting all weird."

"So what? It's a party. We're all fucking wasted." Cody rubbed his tired eyes. The world was still spinning, he felt like he would be sick. "I said she's fine."

"Yeah, okay, because drunk texting me is being fine. She's clearly not okay. You sure she's not using again?"

Hawk's words hit Cody like a punch in the gut.

No. Shit—!

He ended the call without another word and threw Sky's phone onto the nightstand as if it had burnt his fingers. Oh God. I'm a fucking idiot. Sky's foggy eyes, her slow grin, her dilated pupils, the softness of her body—

She was high. Suddenly Cody was 100% sure of it. She had been high this whole time, in the backyard, in his arms, here on the bed when he had been making love to her, when she had said I love you, Cody, I love you—!

And he hadn't realized. He was an idiot. He was a selfish, fucking idiot, the worst boyfriend in the history of mankind. He had been so fucking drunk and so fucking high on love that he hadn't realized it was all just a lie. And Hawk—

He had realized Sky wasn't fine, based on just a couple of texts.

The pain was suffocating. He gasped for air, trying to push down the hurt, but it did no good. He felt like he was drowning, his lungs filled with cold water, taking his breath away.

The door opened, and Cody turned to look, swallowing the burning tears that kept wanting to break free as Sky walked into the room, holding two plates of cake in her hands. For a short moment, she was just a silhouette in the doorway, the light of the hallway behind her back painted her hair with all the shades of gold and fire, and more than anything Cody hoped that he was wrong, that all his suspicions were stupid and false, that Sky hadn't been texting Hawk tonight, that she wasn't high, but—

Her eyes were foggy and her cheeks red, when she walked in and closed the door behind her, and Cody felt his heart breaking.

"Hi, hon," Sky said, taking a seat on the bed and placing the plates of cake on the sheets between them. "I would've brought champagne too, but I had no hands. Should I get some?"

The desperate need to just say Yes, let's get champagne, yes, let's eat the cake, and yes let's make love again was ripping him apart, but he silenced that voice, shoved it down, down, down. He had once said he wanted her to love him, but that he wouldn't have it through lies, and that still held. If nothing she had said tonight was true, he had to know. He was only prolonging his pain by playing these games.

"You texted Hawk behind my back?" The words were sharp and sudden, and they killed the smile on Sky's face.

"How—? Were you on my phone?"

"He called. I answered." Cody swallowed, but the tightness in his throat wouldn't ease. "He said you'd been texting him."

"I— It wasn't like that. I got upset. People threw shitty questions at Never Have I ever, and I just—"

"Okay, I get it, but you should have come to me—" Cody's voice broke with sudden emotion. "You should have come to me, instead of texting your ex! How do you think this makes me feel, huh? That you'd rather talk to him than me. Sky— I would have been there for you if you'd just said something—"

"Well, I tried!" Sky replied, and a flash of hurt crossed her face. "You were with Jess. She was all over you. What the fuck was I supposed to think?"

"What are you— what are you even asking? I would never cheat on you, Sky. Never. I fucking love you. Can you honestly say the same?"

Sky didn't answer, but her silence spoke louder than any words. It ripped Cody's heart open. He tasted tears at the back of his throat, his breathing came in sharp, painful sobs as he tried not to throw up.

"If you wanted him instead of me, all you had to do was to say so—" The tears were now falling, they were turning his voice wet and thick. "You didn't have to lie to me. Or go behind my back—"

"I don't want him," Sky breathed, for the first time showing any emotion. Her lips trembled and her eyes were wide, dark, clouded. "I— I want you. I love you."

"Do you? Do you really? Or are you just saying that because you're high?"

Sky looked like he had slapped her. Her lips parted and she took a sharp, shocked inhale.

"I— I'm not high!"

"Don't lie to me!" Cody's voice broke painfully. "You're fucking high! Oh my God, I'm such an idiot— you're high and that's the only reason you said me you loved me—"

"No, I— I do love you—"

"Yeah, but will you tomorrow? I can't believe anything you say right now," Cody drew in a shaky breath but it didn't help. He was still dying, choking on his blood and tears. Sky's shoulders sank and she looked down, her hair falling so that he couldn't see her face, but everything about her was familiar to him, everything about her was beautiful as she sat there in front of him on the bed where they had made love not 15 minutes before. Her scent was still all around him, the taste of her skin was still on his lips, but the happiness he had felt was now gone as if it had never existed at all. His heart was dead, it was a desert where no rain had fallen in a thousand years.

"I'm sorry," Sky breathed silently. "I didn't want you to find out— not like this."

He swallowed hard. "Sky— how could you? After everything— everything you've been through. After everything I've done to help? Why? Why? What did you take?"

"I took some Oxy." Her voice was silent, defeated, as soft as the shadows that surrounded them. "I don't know why. I just— I wanted it. And then I just did it."

The tears were flowing down Cody's face. He brought a hand to his lips, trying to force down the sobs, the angry, desperate sobs that made his chest ache.

"Because I ruined the party?" He rasped. "Is that— is that it? Or because you saw Jess with me? What— what did I do wrong? What did I do to make you so sad you felt like you had to do drugs?"

Sky shook her head slowly, slowly, brushing a hand through her curls, pulling them behind her ear. "Why are you making such a big deal out of this? I— I took one pill. People do that all the time. It's not the end of the world—"

"You're an addict! You can't take just one pill! You're gonna want more, you fucking know it!" His voice was breaking. His heart was breaking. He was yelling at Sky - something he had never done before, had never even thought about doing, but now the angry words were a stream that kept erupting out of his chest, and he couldn't stop them, didn't even want to stop them. "Why the fuck did you have to ruin everything?! Your dad's gonna find out— he's gonna send you back to rehab, and then what? Jesus, Sky— he's gonna think it's my fault! It's my birthday party and you're getting high— your dad's gonna think I gave this stuff to you. He's never gonna let me near you again—"

"No, no— No, he doesn't have to find out! I won't take any more, I promise, I don't even have anything—"

A sudden, horrible, coldness gripped Cody's chest like claws of ice. His shoulders rose and fell with rapid, desperate inhales.

"Sky— where did you get the Oxy? Who gave it to you?"

"Luke. He's using again."

Cody's fists clenched tight on his sides as burning anger blasted every other emotion off his mind. His hands were shaking with barely controlled rage, as he shoved off the sheets and climbed off the bed, gripped his jeans, and pulled them on as fast as he could, not caring about the fact he didn't find his underwear, not bothering to even look for his shirt. He didn't look at Sky, as he went to the door and yanked it open, but Sky was out of the bed now too, and caught up with him in the doorway.

"Where are you going—?" She gasped, trying to grip his arm, but Cody shook her hand off. The bright light of the hallway was blinding him, hurting his tired eyes.

"I'm gonna fucking kill him. I'm gonna kill that asshole!"

"No, no, please, Cody, no—" Sky's eyes widened and she tried to stop him, but Cody rushed past her into the hallway.

He couldn't stand her touch, not now, couldn't stand her scent of vanilla and alcohol that he had so greedily breathed in only moments ago, but now made his stomach turn.

Lies, all lies. She had lied to him about Hawk, had lied to him about the drugs, and the worst, the absolute worst thing had been to lie about love—

It hurt too much. His heart was ripped out of his chest.

"Luke!" Cody yelled, running through the upstairs hallway, his bare feet slipping on the hardwood floor. "Luke—! Where the fuck are you?"

"Cody, please, stop this, it's not his fault, he didn't force me, I asked for it, I begged of him, it's not Luke's fault—" Sky kept trying to grip Cody's arm, the words gushing out of her mouth, and for a moment Cody hated her. That sudden emotion was fierce and shocking, unexpected, but it rushed through his system like wildfire. He wished she would just shut the fuck up! He hated her for the lies, hated her with such passion that it scared him. He didn't even look at her, as he ran down the stairs, leaving her behind.

He had to get away from her before he said or did something he'd regret for the rest of his life.

Yelling at Sky had made him feel like a monster, he hated himself even more than he hated her. His mouth was meant to speak soft, kind words to her, his lips were meant to whisper confessions of love and deliver kisses– not this, not these mean, ugly insults he could feel crawling on the tip of his tongue just waiting to burst free.

No, no, no, he couldn't let them out, he couldn't let her see what horrible things dwelled inside of him—

But the anger was burning him alive. The tears in his eyes felt like acid, burning his eyes in their sockets, the world was blurred and spinning, he was too drunk—

Everything was ruined. This day wasn't the best of his life, this was the worst. He was losing Sky, losing her to Hawk and to drugs and to lies, and it was fucking killing him, he couldn't take it.

"Cody, wait— please, stop, it's not his fault!" Sky was whining somewhere behind him, but he didn't stop, didn't answer.

He had thought Luke was his friend. But friends didn't do shit like this. If Sky got hooked on the pills again, she could die— she could fucking die. What Luke had done was the worst betrayal he could think of, the fucking worst. He would kill that pink-haired asshole, he would rip him apart, limb by limb, he would fucking go and get his gun and shoot that junkie loser in the head—

The music was blasting downstairs, the air was thick with the scent of alcohol and people. It hit Cody in the face like a sledgehammer when he reached downstairs and rushed through the rooms, yelling Luke's name in a breaking voice. He barely noticed Tom, who tried to stop him, or some of Sky's friends who stared at him open-mouthed as he pushed past them shirtless, barefoot, murder in his eyes.

He found Luke in the office of Sky's Dad.

He was lying on the armchair, his head had fallen back revealing his long, white neck with some fresh hickies on his skin. His eyes were closed, the shadows under them were almost black. Next to the chair on a small coffee table, was a syringe and a needle, a pill bottle, a spoon, some cotton balls, a lighter. The belt Luke had used to bring up the veins, was still strapped around his arm.

Suddenly all the anger in Cody's chest died. He froze in the doorway.

Luke was dead.