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It's giving me a complex (Candira and Agnores)

Amy chuckled. "I don't know. Getting a cat was just a thought. A crazy one, honestly." She smiled at him, then curiously cocked her head to one side. "You have an idea? Oh man, that's scary." She wondered what his idea could possibly be. She hoped it had to do with her getting a cat, and being able to keep it in the dorms. When he yawned, she laughed. "Maybe that's a sign someone should go to bed!" Amy laughed, sitting back in her chair. "Though first, you should tell me your idea. I'm curious!"
 
Grinning a drowsy little grin he shook his head. "Sorry, Amy. It's a surprise. You're probably right about that hole going to bed thing, though. I'll grab a quick shower and the steam should help me get to bed, too." He shrugged and grabbed his tray and hers, taking them to the correct area without asking. It was the polite thing to do. Besides, he owed her for being such a putz earlier. "So tell me what kind of cat you'd want if you were getting one. I'll walk you back to your dorm while I listen," he offered, hoping that she would go with it.

Despite all that romantic yearning, not even being friends with Amy was far worse than not being her boyfriend. Besides, she needed time. That was fair, right? He ran a hand through his hair and adjusted his earphones so they were dangling around his neck again.
 
Despite her protests, he took her tray anyway. She pretended to be overly angry about it, but she gave that up when he continued the cat discussion, though she became slightly scared. Was his big idea to get her a cat? That would be bad. She wanted one, yes, but she knew she couldn't have one. Knew she shouldn't have one. Still, she couldn't stop talking about it. "Well, I don't really know much about cats. But I want a grey one, preferrably still a kitten so its not set in its ways." She giggled just thinking about the cuteness. "Why are you asking, anyway?" She had talked while they walked, and they were well on their way back to her dorm. She glanced over at him. She, much like the cat thing, had another far fetched idea.

"You know, if you wanted, you could shower and nap at my place. Up to you, though."
 
"Just completing the mental image. And I can't help it if I'm curious. I like cats." He shrugged and kept walking with her. Her ideas lately had been strange. The cat was at least one that he could understand. He nearly tripped over his own feet at her next outlandish suggestion. "W-what?" he asked, looking at her in utter shock. The idea had many appealing aspects, but things were still pretty strange between them. Still, after last time, he doubted his honor would need defending. "Sorry, just caught me off guard. It's nice of you to offer, Amy. I don't think it'd be all that appropriate to shower there. Not that you'd try anything. But Maybe I'll head over after my shower. I suppose a napping me would be just as good as a sleeping cat," he teased.

Smooth, Drew. Real smooth. And we're walking...

"It's up to you. If you want me there, I don't have a problem with crashing on your futon."
 
Good job, Amy. Make it more awkward.

She laughed when he almost literally tripped over himself, and shook her head. "Your loss, then." She smiled warmly at him, attempting her best to hide her inner turmoil. She regretted having asked that all ready. She was going to need to start filtering her ideas, or something bad was going to happen. "You can come crash on the futon if you like, maybe Sophie will be by then." She gave a shrug, coming to a stop outside of the door that led into her dorm room. "Well, thanks for walking with me," she said, and gave Drew a quick hug, retreating into the dorm. Once she was out of sight, she let out an exasperated sigh, hung her head, and made her way to her room.

Good job, Amy. Hey, since we are acting on crazy ideas, maybe we can get away with molesting Drew while he sleeps on the futon!

She shook her head at that, the sarcasm she directed at herself dripping with her...well, she really didn't know what to call what she was feeling. Was she embarrassed that she tripped Drew up like that, so soon after their little mishap? Was she angry for doing it? She really just didn't know. She gave a mental shrug as she slipped into her room, shutting the door behind her. With a sigh, she turned the TV on, flipped it into a random channel, and crawled into her own bed, and idly watched TV waiting for someone to show up.
 
Well, at least neither of them were yelling. It was weird to try and be friends with a girl--especially one you had feelings for. But she was just being friendly. He hugged her back when she said goodbye, letting her go. "No problem." Just what the hell did this mean? It meant he might have more trouble falling asleep than he thought. Growling once she was out of sight he ran back to his dorm to shower. He cleared all thoughts in the shower, the water treading on the cold side. Once he was out he slipped into some pajama bottoms and a soft shirt, since he'd be with Amy. Then he put on some sandals, grabbed some jeans and tossed them into a bag. "Alright, you can do it," he said, practically falling over asleep.

When he got back to Amy's dorm, he knocked on her door and wondered if she really wanted to see him.
 
Amy jumped awake when there was a knock on the door. She stared wide-eyed at the door for a few moments before she remembered what was going on. She didn't remember falling asleep, nor had she intended to, but as she approached the door, she tried desperately to fix the small amount of bed-head that had arisen. She opened the door, still combing through her hair with her fingers. "Hey," she said, the fact she had just woken up (again) readily apparent on her voice. "Come in," she said. She stepped back, and when he was inside, shut the door behind him. She climbed back into her bed and slipped under the covers, glancing over at Drew. "How was your shower?" She asked, conversative. She wasn't really sure what to talk about with him, or even if he wanted to talk at all.

It occurred to her Sophie might not approve of this considering her little mishap with Drew.
 
He smiled at her when she opened the door. He was a little too drowsy to care about her bedhead, but even if he was awake, he would have still thought she was beautiful. "Hey. Catching a nap yourself? Seems like that kind of day," he said with a grin. He stepped into her room and put his bag down at the end of the futon, and watched her crawl back into bed. He grinned and sat on the futon. "It felt good. And now I'm nice and tired. What did you do while I was off grooming?"

He wondered if she'd gone straight to bed, or if she'd sat up waiting for him. What if she'd been expecting him and he'd kept her waiting. "Sorry if you were waiting. I think we're both pretty glad I smell better, though." He chuckled and stood up, folding out the futon so he could lie down and still see her--talk to her if she still wanted to. "Can I borrow a pillow?" he asked, yawning a little.
 
She nodded at his first question, smiling at him. When she was in bed, she nodded. "I napped, I guess. Don't remember falling asleep." She gave a small laugh at his next statement, nodding. "I don't think I would of cared either way," she said, passing him a pillow as per his request. She yawned when she noticed Drew had yawned, and let her eyes settle on him. He seemed much better now, which was good. More conversative, more like his usual self. That was good, she thought, and she could get used to this. After a small silence, she finally decided to speak. "That pillow work?" she asked, her eyes falling closed as she did so. She couldn't believe such a short nap had made her so tired. Note to self, she thought, avoid naps when you want to be awake.

She had become too tired to think of anything to say, so she decided to use this time to think about things. For instance, she remembered now why she had acted the way she had before. Drew was very attractive, very nice young man. She had always thought he was attractive, and now that she was single, she could act on it. Hell, she wanted to act on it. The pleasure of it would likely let her forget everything for a while. But Drew didn't want that. He was too nice for that. It was a boon most times but a curse now, and Amy wasn't sure what to do. As tired as she was she'd love to have him here in her bed, have him paying her physical attention. But that was all she wanted from him. She didn't want the strings. She just wanted the pleasure and the ability to forget herself.
 
He chuckled at her answer. So she didn't remember falling asleep? Those were usually the best kinds of naps that happened at the worst times. Last time he'd fallen asleep like that, he'd been trying to watch a movie with Sophie. He'd woken up mustachioed and with a big lipstick imprint on his cheek--both of which he'd had to explain to his mother. The unexpected memory made him smile even as his eyes closed. He doubted Amy would do anything like that. Then again, with her unpredictable behavior lately, it was hard to tell. He could understand what she was going through--he'd had his fair share of break-ups and knew that sometimes crazy ideas seemed like the best ones. He also understood her desire to just forget it all and lose herself with another person.

As much as he wanted to help her, he didn't particularly want to be her rebound guy. He wanted to be her friend if he couldn't be her boyfriend. And he didn't particularly want to be a one-night stand. In her state, that was probably what Amy wanted the most--someone to help her forget her troubles for a short time--someone to make her happy for the time being. Someone who wouldn't get attached and she wouldn't get attached too. Knowing that, he didn't think it was particularly fair to ask that after he'd been so patient. And then he felt bad because he'd somehow known that her relationship wasn't what it seemed and he hadn't said anything. In fact, he'd hoped that the two of them would break up. What kind of person wanted the person they loved to feel pain?

Sighing, he shifted a little so he was facing her bed a little on his side, eyes closed. When she asked about the pillow he made a little grunt. "'Sgood," he managed, sleep slowly taking over his system. So neither of them were perfect. That made it easier to deal with the fact that right now, he wasn't the right person for her. He would get attached, and he wanted more than anything for her to become attached to him. "Sleep well," he murmured, yawning soon after. In a matter of seconds he fell into a deep, peaceful sleep, and was dead to the world.
 
Amy laid there, tired enough to not want to move, but her mind racing fast enough to keep her awake. Her eyes flitted open and rested on the now sleeping Drew. He was incredibly handsome, she thought, and wondered why he didn't all ready have a girlfriend. He had to have had some prospects. But, no. Here he was, single, handsome, desired but unobtainable. Why did he have to be a nice guy? Why couldn't he just give into her? It would make things so much easier. Any other girl could probably get him in no time flat. So why not her? Why couldn't she? He was too nice. He cared for her too much. For the first time in her life, Amy cursed the nice guy. She wished he was a bit more like Ryan in this single instant. He would never deny her if she wanted him.

Why had she even invited him over? She knew, especially after their incident, that nothing would happen between them. What part of her made her think it was okay to do invite him over, then? Did she think that something would happen? That she could cause him to give into her without causing another scene? She sighed inwardly, knowing that she was in a bad situation now because of her crazy ideas that she seemed to be full of today. It would have been simpler to just go get a cat. Still, she was here, and in desperate need of something. How could she get what she want from Drew, without causing a scene? Her mind raced, trying to find viable solutions. Eventually, she settled on two possibilites: she could go to him on the futon, and cuddle with him. It wouldn't be what she wanted, necessarily, but she would take what she could get from him. Or, she could invite him to come to her bed. That way, it was by his own choice that he ended up here, in bed with her. It wouldn't be too hard to convince him from there...though she'd have to work subtly.

She didn't want to cause another scene with Drew. She doubted he'd argue much if she cuddled up next to him. In fact, she thought he'd probably prefer that to the other option. Still, that wasn't what she wanted. She was afraid Drew would look into it too far and start to think she wanted a real relationship. She couldn't lead him on like that, though...she wasn't entirely sure she was above it at this point. He would make a deal of it if she invited him to her bed, though it shouldn't be problematic if she didn't make it seem like she wanted anything more than his nearness. It might make him think that she wanted more from him than she did, but at least he was coming to her by his own choice. Slowly, it began to click with Amy that if she had a chance to get what she really wanted, it lied with an invitation, and a hope that he didn't catch on to what she was doing.

A few seconds later, Amy sat up in bed, her eyes focused on the handsome man on the futon. "Drew...Drew, wake up." She called. She waited for him to acknowledge her, then she smiled. "Would you like...to sleep here, with me? In my bed?" Her voice was low, sweet, innocent. She looked away while she asked, towards the floor, as if she wasn't really sure she should ask what she was. "Its okay if you don't," she added.
 
Drew hadn't been dreaming, but he was very disoriented when he woke up. Turned out, he hadn't been asleep very long at all, according to the clock. And he was still in Amy's room, despite it feeling like he might have been back in his own. He woke with a deep breath and his eyes opened about halfway as he tried to get a hold on those facts. "Mmm? What?" he asked, voice a little raspy from sleep. Amy had woken him up after he'd fallen asleep. Did she need something. Had he been snoring? Just great. It had to be now, that it happened, right? He'd probably been keeping her awake with it because he was so damn tired.

But no, that wasn't it. She wanted to know if he wanted to sleep with her. What? Wait. What? WHAT?! He really hoped his face didn't look half as confused as he felt. Another wanton idea, he decided. Maybe she just wanted someone to hold her. He could do that. Really, what could it hurt at this point? He was just going to fall asleep anyway. She knew that. He'd figured she'd asked him over for company--just so she wouldn't be alone. What was so different about this?

Aside from that fact, she was a very pretty girl who was inviting him to sleep with her. There had been times when he'd actually dreamed of a similar situation. Judging by her demeanor, however, it didn't seem like she wanted what had followed that invitation in his dreams. He remembered how she'd gone for him on the futon not long ago. How she'd wanted him then. Maybe she still did. But would she really invite him over for that in his current state?

Why did this have to be so damn complicated? It wasn't like it would be the worst thing in the world to have meaningless sex, right? And what if she decided that she liked him? Maybe if he just talked to her about it, they could work things out. But now was not the time for coherent discussion. Now was the time for sleep. "Mm, sure, if you want."

Still sleepy, Drew managed to roll off one side of the futon, put it back to rights and walk to her bedside. He waited for her to make some room for him and asked. "How do you wanna do this?"
 
Amy smiled when he approached, wondering if she may have made the right choice. Maybe she'd actually be able to get what she wanted....maybe. She threw the blanket back as she scooted back, smiling at Drew. "Right here," he said as she tapped on the spot she had freed up from him. She waited for him to get into the bed before she grabbed the blanket that had been bunched up behind her, pulling it over both of them. She laid her head on his chest, slipping her arm under the blanket and around Drew. She laid there, letting her eyes fall closed, trying to figure out her next move. Drew was obviously very tired, but that could play to her advantage. If he wasn't completely lucid, maybe she could convince him to do more than he normally would...she smiled slightly. That still didn't help her decide her next move, though.

"Thanks," she whispered. She knew he would probably think there was more to this then there was, but she couldn't help that. For now, she would wait until he dozed off again. At least then she could figure out what she wanted to do next. There were so many ways she could take this, and if she acted too openly, it would ruin everything...again.
 
Drew climbed in next to her where she'd gestured and lay on his back, just a little cheated to the side so he wouldn't snore. He smiled when she put her head on his chest, and couldn't help but feel that this was nice. Was it really so bad to just let her have her way once in awhile? He yawned hugely and then closed his eyes, falling asleep again in no time. He slipped into a dreamless sleep without any trouble. He had no idea that she was plotting different ways to use him, though she would probably never see it that way. Hopefully he'd get some sleep in before she needed him to move or talk to her. But then, one never knew.

Probably, he should have been worried about her wanting something else entirely from him. He might have stayed on the futon if that were the case. But did he really want to be alone? Was it really okay to take an all or nothing stance here? After all, that was pretty selfish on his part. Plus, wasn't it a bit arrogant of him to have thought that she would have just come running to him after Ryan? Like she'd have no other choice? But his plan had been to woo her gently. He hadn't planned on practically being attacked. Then again, he hadn't really put up much of a fight, had he? He'd let it go on a bit before he could stop himself. And didn't that make him just as bad, in the end? He really did want to be more than just someone to blow off steam with, but who was to say that she wouldn't come around later?

He found himself dreaming about Sophie now, wishing that she would come home so he could talk to her and get his head on straight--so he could be sure that she was alright. And he found Amy in the dream, and he had everything he wanted, but just couldn't have.


Meanwhile, across campus, Sophie was waking up. It had been close to six hours since she'd passed out, and the instant her eyes opened, she smiled. She was a little sore, but last night had been worth it. She was still tired--no doubt--but she would probably shake that off as the day wore on. Late morning was underway, and it was so peaceful and comfortable where she was that she was tempted to just go back to sleep and stay there. Evan's warm body was near, an arm draped over Sophie's torso. She smiled and stretched just a little, yawning. Now for the first and most important decision of the day. Should she get up and get some breakfast with her boyfriend? Or should she try to sleep just a little longer?

She smiled as the word boyfriend came up in her mind and closed her eyes again. It was hard to remember feeling this good after sex. It was hard to remember being quite this happy with any of her past boyfriends. Thoughts of them came rushing in to ruin her morning. Each one of them had torn out her heart and flung it back at her with relish. They had only really been interested in one thing. Evan wasn't like that. No--he liked her personality and her ideas. He liked her creativity and her work. In fact, there didn't really seem to be anything about her that he didn't like. But she knew from past experience, that burning bright sometimes meant burning out, and she really didn't want that. From now on, she and Evan would take things slower. She promised herself that she would make this last as long as possible. And she would never look back.
 
Plains. Dark, desolate, and haunted. Evan came here every night after being with a girl. He knew what he was in store for. Part of him even wanted it. He could see her again. The one who got away. No, the one he chased away. The air was damp with rain, and thunder could be heard in the distance. The sky was dark with heavy clouds, but Evan had no trouble seeing until the Earth curved away. He spun around then, like he always did. Like always, there she stood, right before the Earth curved away. He had no trouble making out her features, soft and innocent. No trouble seeing her light hair, falling past her shoulders in golden waves. Her bright blue eyes were like spotlights converging on him. She was dressed in the soft red dress that had been his Valentine's Day gift to her, shining lightly in the soft glow cast by the many wisps that floated about her; but in the soft wisps, Evan could see the faces of the girls he had slept with but couldn't stay with. The women who had been killed by her. The women he could never be with.

That was when he noticed the new addition. Behind her was a cage. Sitting in the cage, still naked and glistening with sweat from their night's deeds, was Sophie. She looked scared, confused, her hands grasping the bars of her cage tightly. Even at this distance, he could hear her whispers, hear her pain. "Why, Evan, why? Why did you do this to me?" He took off running in their direction, intent completely on saving Sophie. He would free Sophie from her cage. He wouldn't let her hurt Sophie. He couldn't. Not anymore. Still, it wasn't until now that Evan realized they hadn't been standing there at all. No, she was running away from him. She was always running. She carried Sophie's cage, with Sophie still whimpering and whispering, tears forming and falling from her eyes.

But then Evan wasn't running at all. He was in bed, with her crawling on top of him, her lips on his. The feel, the taste, the smell of her was intoxicating; Evan lost himself in the kiss, in her touch. He found his pleasure in her once again, just as he once had, and all other troubles in his life were forgotten. He had her again, finally, after all these years. He turned her over onto her back and took his pleasure once again, getting drawn into her body once more. It was then that he heard the sobs, and he looked away from her long enough to see the form of the naked Sophie, now dirty and bruised, crying in the corner of the room. Suddenly, he remembered that this was wrong. He jumped back, turning to move towards Sophie, to apologize, make this right.

But it was gone. He was at his old high school, in the courtyard. Sophie was no where to be seen, but her voice was plain as day.

"I'm leaving you, Evan," she said.

"Wh-what? Why?" Evan spun around, confused and lost. Why was this happening? What was going on?

"Because a recruiter noticed my voice. I can be someone. I can be famous. I'm sorry, Evan, but I....I think you'll just drag me down. Not let me perform at my best."

He was devastated. What was happening? At that moment, a little light, a wisp floated in front of Evan. In it, he saw Sophie's face. "Why...?" he heard her ask, and he fell to his knees. "No...Lissa..." he said, ignoring the wisp and stepping past it, arms outstretched and taking her by the hand. "Don't leave me, please. Don't. I love you. Don't go."

She smiled. "Look, Evan, maybe if this doesn't work out, maybe I'll come back. I love you too. I really do. This hurts me as much as it does you...but I have to do this. Just...don't wait for me. I am not making promises."

Evan took a few steps back, devastated. She was really doing this. He heard the sobs again, and he spun, now back out in the deolate plain. Laying next to him was a dirty, naked, and bruised Evan, sitting next to a similarly fashioned Sophie. "I have to wait," the naked Evan said, not meeting Sophie's eyes. "Why?" Sophie asked, her voice full of pain and grief. The real Evan wanted to move to her, to hold her, to comfort her, to tell her he didn't have to wait. But the naked Evan knew better. The naked Evan knew true.

"Because I still love her."


Amy laid there, still undecided on what to do. He was asleep now, lucky him, and so she could get away with a bit more, or at least she hoped. Part of her wanted to wake him up and just talk to him. Tell her how much she needed this. Beg him, even. Some guys found that hot, maybe he would. Still, that might cause more problems then just subtly pushing him that way. Maybe this was all a big mistake, anyway. Amy had the sudden urge to scream. Why did this have to be so complicated? With Ryan, it was just as simple as flash a boob or touch him inappropriately and he would be ready to go, anytime, anywhere.

She stopped herself there. That was her mistake. Drew was not Ryan. She couldn't have Ryan back. She didn't need him back, especially if what he had said to Drew was true. Drew was different, and that was good. Even if she did need the meaningless sex, or think she did, Drew wasn't the type of person to give it to her. He was the safe-est, for sure. However, he just wanted too much. There would be too many strings attached. She shouldn't do this to him.

But damn it, she wanted too.
 
Sophie was very much in the dark about Evan's past. She had no idea about his history with women, or the fact that he still loved a girl who'd left him a long time ago. The artist had no idea what he was dreaming of, or that his mood would be significantly less cheerful than hers. The thought that he might not be happy about being with her never even entered her mind. As she watched him sleep, however, she noticed that his face looked a little troubled. Maybe he was having a nightmare. Waking him seemed like the prudent thing to do. He could always sleep more later. Besides, if they didn't get up soon, they might sleep all day.

Gently, she moved so that she was on her side and leaned over him a bit, shaking his shoulder. "Evan?" she said softly, her voice warm and just a little raspy. "Time to wake up, hun." His face looked a little sad, which made her a bit concerned. She was sure it showed on her face. "Having a bad dream?"



Drew slept peacefully, blissfully unaware of any designs Amy may have had for him. Just like she didn't know how complicated his feelings for her were, or how close he was to just giving in and letting her have what she wanted. She probably never would. Telling her seemed monumentally stupid--especially when he was awake. In his sleep, he curled a little around Amy and pulled her a little closer, his head resting just above hers.
 
"Hm? Li---uhh, hrm."

His head had shot up when she woke, Evan's eyes wide and resiting on Sophie's. His head fell back now, his eyes squeezing closed and his hand pinching at the bridge of his nose. He had stopped himself this time, at least. Last girl he had been with he had actually said her name when she woke him up. Needless to say, that hadn't ended well. Part of him wished he could forget about her, and move on. He knew that wasn't going to happen anytime soon, though. When he opened his eyes, they fell on Sophie again, and he smiled. Sophie was indeed beautiful. Golden, radiant. Perfect. Still, she wasn't her. She wasn't the girl he had been waiting all this time for. He sat up in the bed, glancing over at the goddess next to him. Why couldn't he be happy with this? What was wrong with it? Why did that damnable woman have to ruin everything for him?

His expression would give away his troubled mind, he knew. He knew she would ask. How could he answer? There would be no real way to answer. He couldn't not answer, however. Anyway this went, Sophie's feelings ended up hurt and she ended up claiming yet another wisp. After a few seconds, Evan managed a smile, turning away from from her. "Still early enough for breakfast?" he asked, his voice still raspy from sleep. He wanted to do what he usually did. He wanted to run, hide away in his room, promise calls and texts that never showed up. He couldn't do that with this girl. He couldn't. Not yet. Not now. He had to move on.

But could he?



When he pulled her closer, Amy freaked. It was too much for her. It meant too much. She pulled away, rather roughly, turning and sitting up in the bed. Just as suddenly as she had gotten scared, she felt silly. Her movement had likely woken Drew, though she glanced back at him to check anyway. It occurred to her then that she couldn't do this. Not with him. After being so nice to her for so long, he didn't deserve that. He didn't deserve to be used and thrown away. She could find other guys, she thought. Find someone else who could show her a good time. Find someone else to forget herself in, and rebound from. Maybe she could rebound to Drew, even. Though...even that thought was too much for her. Why couldn't this be simple? Why couldn't anything be simple anymore? Why couldn't she still be with Ryan, when things made sense and she didn't have to worry about how it would affect relationships to sleep with someone. It was all clear cut then. What happened to that?

She let her head fall into her hands, and she shook her head. "I'm sorry, Drew," she said, awake or not. "I can't do this. You know what I want, but I can't ask it from you. I...I just can't do it. Not from you." She sighed, letting her hands fall. "I don't know. I just don't know." Her eyes filled with tears, unbidden, and she suddenly found herself crying.
 
Sophie frowned, worried about him. Obviously, he'd had a bad dream. His face was pained, and he was so shocked as he was roused from sleep. And he'd been about to say something but just couldn't get it out. It wasn't really the ideal start to the morning after, but sometimes people had bad dreams. When he opened his eyes, he smiled at her. Her entire being lit up and she felt warm. Oh, boy. She was in trouble. Cool it, she told herself. He needs you.

The smile faded again and he replaced it with one that was far less genuine--not really like him--as he turned away. That hurt a little more than she thought it would. He was shutting her out. But he had his reasons, right? Maybe they would talk about it later. He clearly didn't want to right now. So she wrapped her arms around him and kissed his shoulder. "I think so. If not, maybe I'll share one of my places with you." She smiled and squeezed him to her before letting him go. "So...are you sure you're okay? It must have been some kind of dream," she said, sitting up and then standing. Yup. A little stiff, but she'd get over that. And they'd get through this weird stretch, too. All the time.



He definitely felt when Amy pushed him away--it was actually kind of violent. It took him a second to wake up, though. Shocked awake for the second time today, he groaned and sat up, utterly confused as to what had just happened. "What?"

And she was saying something but it was coming out too fast for him to process. And then she was crying again. "Shit. Did I cross a line or something? I'm sorry, Amy. Please don't cry," he said, scrubbing his hand over his face into his hair. He felt like touching her would be wrong, though it was his first instinct to do that. And then he slowly started to piece together that she'd been apologizing to him for something. But what?

"Hey, I'm not really sure what my name is right now, so I'm not sure what either of us did wrong. Just know that if I did something to hurt you, I'm sorry. And I think I heard something like an apology in there, too, right? So I forgive you. I'm sure whatever it was, you didn't mean to do it and vice versa. Please, don't cry, Amy. You break my heart when you cry." He hadn't meant to say it quite like that, but it was pretty much true. But it broke his heart when Sophie cried, too. No doubt she would take it the wrong way, though and like he was too deep. Groaning, he swung out of her bed and stood up.

"If you want me to go, I will. I'll understand, Amy. If you need me to just be a friend and sit here with you, that's what I'll be. But I don't really understand what just happened or why myself, so I might need a minute to catch up." He was ridiculously tired, she was very upset, and he wasn't entirely sure why. Not the best of situations. Where was Sophie when he needed her?
 
When she wrapped her arms around him, Evan tensed involuntarily, and he immediately felt bad. He knew what that must seem like to her, and he knew it wasn't good. When she mentioned showing him one of her places, he chuckled, but it was a quiet thing, not full of his usual mirth. "Sounds good either way," he replied, still not meeting her eyes. Her question wasn't unexpected...it was just hard for him to answer. He looked away from her, staring at the wall in front of him as he tried to piece together what he should say. Should he tell her the truth? Should he lie and try to deal with this himself? What would cause the least amount of damage to his and Sophie's relationship. After all, Sophie was something special. She was the first girl ever to appear as herself in that dream. All the other girls were all ready wisps.

Sophie had also been the first girl that she had directly influence in carrying her off in the cage. She may have even been the reason Sophie had become so dirty and bruised. Did that mean Sophie was a threat to her place in his head? That couldn't be a bad thing, could it? Evan sighed outwardly, realizing he had been silent for a rather long time. He shook his head as it fell into his hand, and after a few more seconds of silence, he finally spoke. "Sophie," he began. "You are special to me. Very special. That...scares me. A lot. I just...I just think I need time to think about things, get it straight."

He turned on the bed so he could face her, his expression pained. "That's not a break-up. Not...not this time. We take it slow. We go back to the beginning. The cheesy dates. The hand holding because we can. We build back up to this point. We see where we are then. Does that sound good?" He gave a smile, but it had no emotion to it. "Don't take this as a indicator of last night, either. I just..." He sighed again, closing his eyes and looking away. "I just need some me time right now, okay? I'll meet you for lunch. I swear. You can show me one of your places. It'll be a date."

He looked back at her, cautiously, afraid of how she might look.



Amy almost didn't hear Drew speak, and when she finally understood what he had said, she dried her tears up long enough to give a sigh. "I don't know, Drew. I don't know. You didn't do anything wrong. I don't know." She flopped back in the bed, sighing loudly. "This all just sucks. Why can't things be like they were before?"
 
It hurt more than she'd thought it might that he seemed to recoil at her touch. Clearly last night wasn't everything for him that it had been for her. Confusion colored her perspective, as did the hurt, but she tried to withhold judgment a little longer. After all, maybe it had just been a really affective dream. Maybe some sad memories had unearthed themselves somehow. If that was the case, then she wanted to be near him. No matter what he agreed to or suggested with good intentions, it all fell flat because none of that really reached his face or his voice. This wasn't like him at all. Immediately, she began to feel as though this was her fault. She'd broken the only guy who'd ever really deserved her affection.

Speechless, she watched in horror as he tried to collect the scattered pieces of himself and failed to hold them together in her presence. The silence had been unbearable, but what came after that made her sincerely worry that she'd done it again--ruined everything because she'd rushed in. And this time, she was a little afraid that she couldn't fix it. Touching him was a bad idea. He couldn't even look at her. The excuse that he was scared because she was so special seemed frail, but she'd never known Evan to lie to her--even before they'd gotten together.

Okay. Deep breaths, she told herself. He didn't want to break it off. That was a good thing, right? He just wanted to slow down and work their way back up. That had been exactly what she'd been thinking of doing not long ago this morning. So why did it hurt so much to hear him say it? Why did it seem like he didn't want her anymore? Deep breaths.

It was her turn to look away now, turning the other way, brushing her fingers through her hair so it would stay off of her face. Calm down, she ordered herself. For once, her body listened. She managed a clear voice, despite the fact that she felt like crying. She even got a little smile. It was clear she wasn't happy, but she didn't look like she was crumbling on the inside. "You know, I was thinking we should slow down anyway. I was going to bring it up earlier," she said, her voice cheerful and matter-of-fact.

"Take it from me, moving too fast is a sure-fire way to ruin a relationship." She smiled at him and then stood up, looking for her clothes. "So, I will just get my clothes and be on my way," she said, making sure she couldn't see him. "I get it. Too much at once." She found her panties after a long moment of searching and grabbed those. Best not to dwell on this. Best to hurry the hell up and run away from it so it couldn't swallow her up. It was just that things had been going so well, and now this...she wasn't sure what to do with that or how to react.

"You just call me when you're ready." With that, she slipped into her panties, and found her bra, snapping that in place. Next she found her shirt and skirt and before she knew it she was dressed--if not a bit rumpled. "I'll talk to you later, then," she said, turning to smile at him one last time and then heading out the door. She was forgetting her pillow and blanket, but she had her purse and her keys and that would be enough for now. She could come back for her things later.



Drew sighed and shook his head. Why did this kind of thing always happen when he wasn't in the best place to deal with it. "Listen, I'm glad I didn't do anything wrong, but Amy...if you're crying, it can't be something little, right? Obviously, you're hurting. Somehow I set that off, and I'm sorry." He groaned, thinking that he never should have come. Hindsight was a bitch. "Not to be heavy-handed or anything, but I think maybe you should see a counselor here. It couldn't hurt, right? Maybe it would help you sort things out. I don't think I'm the person to help with it, which sucks. I can't help you. But I know for sure that you're better off this way. You're a strong person, Amy. I think you'll work through this. I'm going to go back to my room so you can be alone for awhile. I shouldn't be here."

With that, he grabbed his bag, tossed it over his shoulder and headed for the door, knowing that he was partially to blame for this mess.
 
Evan looked away when while she gathered her clothes, but he didn't say anything. She wasn't happy, though she was doing a much better job at keeping herself together than he could. As he stared off into space, his emotions went rampant; he flashed between anger at his inability to move pass her and grief at how he had hurt Sophie. He was appalled with himself, how he could ruin something so grand. Even if it was true they had gone too far too fast, it didn't need this ending. Not after last night. Not after something so perfect. Something so beautiful. Why did she have to ruin everything? Why couldn't she -- Evan heard the door close, and his eyes shot to the door. He hadn't realized he had zoned out that far. What had Sophie said? Was she crying? Should he have comforted her?

God damm it, Evan.

Evan stood from his bed, with the intent of taking a shower. His eyes, however, fell upon his cell phone and he picked it up. He dialed his voice mail, and listened to a three year old message that had been the last he had heard from her. "Hey, Evan," it began. "How are you? I hear you actually went to college. Surprising. Guess when you dated someone that is becoming famous, it kind of inspires you to go do something with yourself too, eh? Hm. I hear you are single, still, Evan. Not because of me, I hope. I told you not to wait. I'm not gonna.." Evan was no longer listening. She ruins everything.. Everything seemed so hopeless now. She hurt Sophie. He doubted his relationship with Sophie would last anymore. She ruins everything. Why couldn't he get over her? What was his deal? What was so special about this girl that Sophie didn't have? She hurt Sophie. Anger was slowly replacing his grief. He couldn't do anything, and as her voice played off of his phone, he realized he never would. He would lose Sophie, and be alone again. She ruins everything. She hurt Sophie. No, Evan suddenly thought. I hurt Sophie.

He wasn't sure what came over him then, whether it was rage, grief, or something in between, but with a strangled yell Evan tore the phone from his ear and chunked it as hard as he could against the fall furthest from him. The explosion of tiny phone pieces only took a few seconds to register in Evan's mind before he fell to his knees, look dumbstruck at the wall. Well, fuck, he thought. How the hell am I to get ahold of Sophie now? She won't believe I broke my phone. Contacting her over Facebook would just make things worse...

Evan sat there, staring, unmoving.

God damn it all.


Amy just laid there. At least she wasn't crying now, that was a plus. Drew must think she was freaking psycho. Heck, she thought she was freaking psycho. Horny one second, in tears the next. What was going on? As Drew went for the door, she finally sat up, looking towards him. "Drew, wait." She sighed, still trying to figure out what exactly she was about to say. She slipped off her bed and walked towards Drew, and stood right in front of him. For a second, her eyes met his, but she looked down at the floor. "Thanks," she said finally, shifting on the spot. "For being so nice to me. I don't deserve you. Not when all I want from you is a nice time in the bed." She shook her head. "You're right. You shouldn't be here. I shouldn't of asked. I'm sorry. This is just a hard time for me. Harder than I thought. I thought I was past this. Guess its gonna take longer than a few days. Just...bear with me, okay? Please?"

She looked up, hopefully. She thought she knew what he would say anyway, but hearing him say it would have meant the world to her.
 
Well, so far, she'd managed to keep it together in broad daylight. No crying yet. Of course, going back to her roommate might change that. The last thing she needed was to hang out with another weepy girl and start feeling sorry for herself. He'd made a reasonable request of her--one that she'd intended to make herself. In fact, she was glad that he'd brought it up, damn it. But she had intended to do so far more gently, and without the air of a fucking funeral. Something was definitely wrong with Evan, but since she didn't know what it was, she couldn't really help him. He hadn't even said goodbye. She'd just walked out and slipped through his fingers.

Well fuck him, then. That was just bad manners. She could be rightfully angry about being treated poorly this morning. Even if there was a damn good reason for all of this, there was no excuse for not meeting her eyes. For not responding to her or even saying goodbye to her. He'd told her that last night wasn't the reason for all this, but she failed to see what else it could be. Somehow, she'd broken him. She'd killed the brightest light in her life somehow by taking too much. But it hadn't all been her fault. He'd damn sure taken from her, too. He could have stopped them any time and she would have been fine with it.

No, something much deeper was troubling him, and she'd set it off somehow. Yes--that made more sense. The only question was what she'd done and how to never do it again. He'd handled his emotions poorly--hurt her when he hadn't needed to, but she had undoubtedly done something to set him off. The dream came back to her and she wondered just what the hell he'd seen to scare him that badly? A future with her? No, that was insecurity talking. GODDAMNIT!

He'd said he'd meet her for lunch. Well she was going to get to the bottom of this. And she wasn't going to give up because of a bump in the road. Because of some hurt feelings. If he thought he was going to shake her with a lame excuse like that he had another thing coming! Still...she wanted to talk to someone about it. Since Amy wasn't going to be much help in this matter, the next person to turn to would be Drew. So she headed for his place.



Amy's voice stopped him. He turned to face her, watching her as she apologized again. They always seemed so heart-felt at the time, but she kept going back to that same behavior. It wasn't him she was looking at, though. No, her asking why it couldn't be like before, her using these little tricks on him, it all stemmed from her comparing him to Ryan. What a shitty frame of reference for any girl to have. He looked down at her as she asked for forgiveness and sighed. He wrapped one arm around her shoulders and gave her a little squeeze, letting go after. "I wasn't really mad at you. A little disappointed, but that's on me." He rubbed his eyes and sighed.

"You're confused about what you feel--you told me that much. I shouldn't have come here knowing that. I should have politely turned you down and just gone straight to bed. I thought it was because you were lonely--you just wanted someone to be close to. But what's done is done." He smiled softly and said, "Well, of course I'll bear with you. We're friends, right? Friends support each other--even when the one of them is a mess and the other is a shmuck." He grinned and then hitched his bag up on his shoulder. "So I'm going to go. Call me later if you want. I'll see you around." And with that, he was gone, headed to his room and the promise of sleep. Or so he thought.
 
Amy was silent, watching Drew as he left. When the door shut, she sighed, shook her head, grabbed her phone, and shot Sophie another quick text. When you finally get back, I would like to talk. She threw her phone back on the desk, and climbed in bed. She wanted Drew back in her, wanted him to comfort her, wanted him to....do everything he didn't want to do without attaching strings. She didn't want to be alone, but she had no choice, she solemnly thought. Until Sophie showed back up, she'd be alone. And there was no guarantee, it being the weekend, that Sophie would show back up. After all, Evan was a great guy, and Sophie seemed to really like him...why wouldn't they stay the weekend together? Get to really know each other.

After all, she used to do the same things with Ryan. She stopped herself there, not wanting to let herself get consumed with thoughts of him, but it was too late. Why couldn't things be like they were? Why couldn't she be there, getting what she wanted, instead of hearing, confused and crying? It wasn't fair. Everything had been so good. Nothing had been going wrong. Why did everything have to go to hell now? AAAGH! Why the hell couldn't Drew just sleep with her and make this so much easier!?
 
Drew arrived at his dorm a few moments later, ready to drop and not get up for the rest of the day. Possibly to not get up ever again. In fact, if he could marry his pillow, he damn well would. But when he found when he got to his door had him thinking twice about that. Normally, his day brightened when he met up with Sophie, but today, the girl who'd been his best friend since he could remember was curled up in a ball outside his dorm room. And it looked like she was going to cry.

He sighed and dropped his bag on the floor before he sat down next to his beautiful friend and put an arm around her. That seemed to do the trick. Sophie leaned into him and started to cry into his shoulder. "Hey now. I know you missed me, but tears are not necessary," he teased, trying desperately to lighten things up long enough for her to tell him what was wrong.

She gasped a few times and eventually worked herself down into a tentative calm. "Sorry. Can I come in for a little while? I need to talk to you." Drew smiled at her and nodded. They got up together and headed into his very quiet room.

Once she got in there, though, Sophie had a hard time finding the right words. Drew tossed his bag down, took off his shoes and sat on his bed. Sophie followed suit and leaned against him. Silence took over the room before she said, "So I feel pretty stupid. I rushed into something again and it came back to bite me. Things were going so well, and then...I'm not even really sure what happened."

Drew put his arm around her and leaned his head against hers. This was why he hadn't slept all night. He'd been afraid something like this was going to happen. But it wasn't fair to just assume that Evan had been a jerk to her. He didn't know what happened yet, and he intended to hear it out first. "Okay. So...tell me what he did or you did or why you're near tears, Soph."

And so she went on to explain what had happened, sure to leave out more graphic details. "And I'm mad at him, but I'm worried about him, and I'm sad because he didn't seem to care about me when all was said and done. And I'm horribly confused because up until this morning he was genuinely invested in me. He always wanted to be around me and he was smiling, and he didn't mind hanging out with Amy, and we were so great. And now, God forbid, he turns out to be like every other guy..." And here she paused, tearing up again.

"Hey now. Stop beating yourself up. Something is wrong with him, not you." He kissed the top of her head and shook her head. "Want me to beat him up?" he asked, already upset with Evan. If he saw the guy, he'd just as soon clock him as say hello. "He doesn't deserve you, and it would just serve him right to lose you after being such a jerk."

Sophie shook her head. "I don't want you to beat him up. I want to know what the hell is wrong with him. I want to know why he was such a jerk after being the sweetest guy I know!" She practically growled and stood up quickly. "You're damn right he doesn't deserve me, but I sure as hell didn't deserve to be treated that way and I'll be damned if I let him believe that it's in any way okay for him to treat anyone that way. I'll not slink off like some coward."

Drew's eyebrows shot up and he smiled at her. "Well, God have mercy on his soul. You'll be okay, Sophie. Listen, I didn't get any sleep last night. Like I still haven't had any. I'm going to take a nap. You're welcome to stay with me, but I feel like you're too keyed up to sleep."

Sophie sighed and kissed his cheek. "Thanks for being there for me, hun. I'll be in touch. And don't worry about beating Evan up. I'll take care of that myself."

With that, she left and Drew sank back into dreamland, completely exhausted.



Sophie walked slowly back to her dorm room, sighing softly. She really didn't want to focus too closely on anything. She really didn't want to do anything with Amy, but what can you do when you live with someone? Her body hauled itself to her room and she let herself in, kicking off her shoes and dragging herself in. "Hey."
 
Amy looked up when she heard the door rattle, and a few seconds later Sophie dragged herself into the room. However, something immediately struck Amy as odd; Sophie looked worn out, depressed...and like she had been crying. Confused, having considered Evan to be the perfect guy, Amy sat up slowly in the bed as Sophie went about her business in the room. "Hey," she shot back, still watching Sophie intently. "Are you okay?" she asked, her own problems forgotten. "Did Evan do something?" From the little she knew of him, she couldn't imagine that he would...but by Sophie's appearance, it had to have been him. Drew would want to know, if he didn't all ready. She thought of diving for her phone, sending him a message, but figured Sophie would all ready know what she was trying to do.


Evan sat back in his chair, the message to Sophie via Facebook sent. It told her he would meet her there at 12:45, when most of the heavy traffic had cleared out. He told her the truth, that he broke his phone shortly after she left. He admitted to how lame that actually sounded, but clarified he was willing to bring the pieces to show her. He avoided explaining why or how, however. He wasn't sure he ever would, not to Sophie. Not to the best thing to happen to him since her. He ran his fingers through his hair, and for the first time since he woke up, actually felt calm. As long as she didn't try to force him to talk about his dream or any of this crap, things with Sophie could work. He only had his dreams when he slept with the girl, so as long as he avoided doing so with Sophie, he could be happy and untormented.

She was just so damn perfect, though. How could he resist?

He was aware he fucked up, and she probably thought he was a terrible person. He was aware that she probably wanted answers, wanted to know why he had been such a nice guy up until the morning after. He knew he couldn't answer. Not truly. Those were his problems, not her's...he couldn't share. Why should he? She wouldn't understand. She would likely get more hurt over the knowledge than anything Evan did to her right now. He sighed, resolving himself to not talking about this subject. Anything else would be fair game...just not this.
 
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