Best Friends Forever, Chapter Two (*cricket cricket*)




Lexi and Nadia walked along the streets together, looking, if they could say so with a straight face, very drunk. They hadn't even been drinking, but there was always something about catching up with an old friend that made every inside joke ten times funnier, every little slip up funnier, and every sound effect louder. They were suddenly and happily aware of the hot night air, walking around the streets of London, collecting odd looks by the bushel and hardly caring anymore. Nadia hadn't even considered what she was going to do when she got there, but she found herself just having a good time with Lexi and she didn't mind at all. She sketched her friend twice using charcoal and grained paper, keeping one for herself and giving the better of the two to Lexi for her to keep.

Inside a small shop with Gray and John, Eric sighed in a bored manner. He had volunteered to go scouting locations, hadn't he? Yet there he sat, bored out of his mind, and he hadn't a clue why. John gave him a stern look as he sat there, chin in hand, elbow on table, eyes half-shut with boredom. Finally, papers signed and location scouted, John and Gray hauled Eric out of the shop as they started toward the car. They were interrupted rudely, if not strangely.

There was a loud screech somewhere to their left, and two women flew out out of the nearest alley with a broken bottle fleeing after them. They were laughing hard, and when the second collapsed in a heap in front of the parking meter, Gray had almost started laughing as well. The woman hoisted her bag and stood up, making sure she hadn't dropped any of her painting materials or her papers. John was just about to elbow Eric in the side when he stepped forward and helped her to her feet, shaking his head slowly.

"What happened?" He asked gently, brushing her off.

Nadia giggled and looked up, her eyes sparkling. "Ding dong ditch without a doorbell; risky business."

Eric fixed her with a scorful stare for about three seconds before he started to laugh gently, turning to see how the other woman was faring.

The second woman's eyes widened as Eric stepped over to make sure she hadn't gotten hurt and she gave Nadia a hard look. "Oh! Hello, Eric,"

"Hey, look, I brought Lexi!" She elbowed Lexi, who ran her eyes over her former flame eagerly. He just got cuter and cuter every time she saw him-and he was growing his hair out! She smiled and tried not to look out of breath; John and Gray snorted, Gray clearing his throat loudly.

Eric ignored him and turned back to Nadia. "What are you doing here?"

She shrugged. "Lexi just showed up and we wanted something to do. Movie's opening up at the cinema, so we were going to go out and have a good time." She paused, thinking over her comment quickly. "Care to join a couple ladies in a dark theater?"

Against his wishes, Eric's heart began to pound harder. "Sounds promising,"

For once, John and Gray did not make any comments about their outing, they didn't tell them to be back by eleven, and they didn't seem to mind that Eric was staring at both of them like he was seeing a woman for the very first time. Finally he shook Lexi's hand and wrapped Nadia lightly upside the head before turning to get into the car, slipping into the back seat fearlessly. They waved as they left, but as soon as they rounded the block, Eric flopped back in the seat and screamed loudly, kicking the window once. Gray started to tap on the brakes in case he was going into a seizure, but the man lying in the back seat was not in pain, he was just confused and angry.

"Which movie is opening up at the cinema?" Lexi asked quickly, turning to walk with Nadia, who was already looking in a window forlornly.

She squinted one eye. "It's not really opening so much as re-opening, you see. Casablanca is playing along with a thriller, Psycho I think."

Lexi snorted. "You're going to take you 'best friend' to see Casablanca and Psycho? What are you, crazy?"

Nadia folded her arms defensively. "Psycho is my favourite movie!"

"You're forgetting the fact that Casablanca is a love story and you're taking Eric to it!" Lexi retorted, smiling knowingly.

Nadia rolled her eyes. "It's not like we haven't done it before. That's why we go to re-openings. There'll be no one there, we can sit and make fun of that movie the entire time. Romances are the best things to make fun of."

With another snort, Lexi sighed. "You are the only woman I know who doesn't take guys to theaters to scream and clamor on their laps."

Instead of scrunching her nose up, as usual at things like that, Nadia's face went lax; she began to think about what it would be like to have Eric holding her tight again, keeping her safe from whatever horror and violence she was seeing. It made her feel warm just to think about it, just like it always did when she was upset and knew he'd be there to cheer her up. The only other "scary" movie Nadia had seen in Eric's company had been a not so scary movie that had left her laughing when others were screaming, Eric trying to shush her as she howled with the cheesiness of the film ("Eric, the mask just ties in the back. How can anyone be afraid of that?").

Nadia pushed her glasses to the bridge of her nose and sighed, pulling her bag off her shoulder with a fierce look. She began to sketch lightly, trying to remember Eric's face from memory. Lexi talked on and on about various things, correcting Nadia as she went, telling her things about Eric she remembered, throwing in a few unnecessary things as she did.

"So, you're working as a legal aide and I'm still trying to get myself enough money to stop working at the elementary school and become a professional artist. What else is new?" Nadia asked sarcastically, trying to concentrate on shading the sketch before her.

Lexi began to giggle.

"Say it," the other said dangerously.

Lexi giggled again, but spoke. "Well, for starters my best female friend has a best male friend that-"

"I'd leave that subject alone, seeing as I have a pointy object at hand." Nadia cut her off shortly, smiling lightly to show she was joking.

Her friend laughed. "It's just hard to see you two doing anything together; I never could picture you two living together. There was that week when you sold the couch and we could only guess where you were sleeping, and you said, 'Oh, I've been in Eric's bed, with him' and we were all, 'WHAT?!'"

Nadia rolled her eyes. "And you were like, and she was all, and then he was like-"

"I get it, I get it," Lexi muttered darkly, turning her head sharply to look down the street.

She snorted and flipped over her pad of paper. "Yes? No?" She tilted the sketch of Eric, squinting slightly. Lexi gave her a thumbs up; Nadia ripped the page from the book and handed it to her.

Nadia rubbed her feet in her sandals, moaning softly as she stood. "I really should get a car, but I have no money. Thank you, public transportation, oh, and thank you God, while I'm at it!" She shook a fist at the sky.

Lexi smiled. "Just means you can get rides home with Eric more,"

"Reckless driver he is..."

"Ugh! Nadia, you need to un-lighten up!" Lexi shook her briskly. Nadia lolled about for a moment before seizing Lexi's hands and fixing her with an incredulous look.

"What?"

Lexi made a disgusted noise and stalked off, mutter haphazardly. "You need to act serious for once and start talking to me like you're in a drama here!"

Nadia laughed. "But I'm not! There's nothing melodramatic happening right now; why act like it?"

Whirling around with nostrils flaring, Lexi took a tremendous breath. "You must be joking!"

"You think just because I kissed my best friend I'm going to have to get all sappy and worried? I had a few drinks, I freaked, I'm done! I'm dropping it, and you should too! Just because you used to date him doesn't mean that I have to make up for what you couldn't provide for him, Lexi. Just because you couldn't handle having him so casual about everything doesn't mean I have to be attached to his side. I've lived with that guy; I know how he ticks. So shut up and let me live!" Nadia's arms stopped waving around as she stopped ranting and looked around to see quite a few people staring. Slowly, Lexi took a bow, Nadia following. A small smattering of applause came shortly and soon enough they were sitting down inside a small book store, cheeks flaming.

Lexi sipped out of a Styrofoam cup nonchalantly. "You never told Eric what time to meet us at the theater."

"Seven o' clock show; ever since we were eighteen we've been going to the seven o' clock. There's always a show at that time on a Saturday. He'll find us." Nadia muttered, stirring some sugar into her cup.

Lexi sighed dreamily. "Just don't take things for granted, huh Nadia? Promise me that."

The other woman sighed and looked up. "How so?"

"Don't take for granted the fact that he still knows what you like and don't like, and that he makes time for you. Don't forget that he has been there for you when no one else has, you know what I mean. Don't forget that he does sweet things for you when he doesn't have to." Lexi was looking rather lonely at that point.

Nadia sighed slowly, tiring of her constant deep breathing. "What cute things? You mean like the way he always drives me home at all hours, and he still sends me concert notifications when Steel Tarantula is in town?" She smiled, remembering her favourite band's name fondly.

"Yeah, and the way he still hugs you in the morning when you look like you could die on your feet, and the way he pushes your glasses up on your face for you. When you fall asleep with those on he takes them off and puts them on the table for you; he's just a sweet person to you for some reason." She sniffed and looked away.

Nadia hinted some jealousy and took Lexi's hand. "He used to be sweet to you, or do you forget?"

Lexi's shoulders rocked, though Nadia couldn't see the tears. "I don't remember,"

"He'd carry you inside to your dorm, he'd drive you to classes half an hour out of his way, and he put up with all your room-mates for almost a year before you two broke up for the first time." Nadia smiled.

Lexi laughed gently, smiling in spite of herself. "You were my room-mate when we dated, Nadia."

"I'm pretty annoying, believe it or not." She replied wisely.

"Yeah, but he always liked you. He stuck up for you when the entire campus thought that you were a lesbian," she paused and laughed, "and even made up that rumour about Jon Beckensale to save you."

Nadia laughed. "Jon Beckensale, God, if only he was single now!"

The lead singer of Steel Tarantula was a tall and lanky blonde haired, blue eyed beauty. He had a very soft voice, and sounded very sincere, and had even gone to college around the same time as Nadia and Eric. He was a fourth year student when Nadia was a first year student. She had stayed five years to get her degree, also a year behind in age for her group. She had graduated at seventeen instead of eighteen, a year younger than everyone in her class, at least.

Eric had saved her reputation after Nadia's mistake of stating that she wasn't interested in guys as much as her studies. Most people took it the wrong way and thought that she was a lesbian and she hung out with Eric so people wouldn't know. He had spread the rumour that Nadia had slept with Jon Beckensale and it had ended badly, so she was sick of guys for a while. He then insisted that if a woman could put up with a man like him for more than ten minutes, she was not a lesbian, because they have absolutely no use for men and prefer to have female friends, of which she only had one, and she was also rather strange. Together the three of them gathered themselves some attention.

"I wonder what it would be like to sleep with him," Lexi mumured, thinking about Jon Beckensale.

Nadia giggled. "Let's go find out, right now."

"Right, we'll just knock on the door and pretend to go nuts; 'OH MY GOD! JUST SCREW ME NOW!'" She laughed.

Nadia looked up at the clock. "Six thirty; we have half an hour. Oh, let's buy our tickets while we're thinking about it."

They left and walked the ten blocks to the theater, which with their slow and steady gait took them upwards of twenty minutes. They bought their tickets and went inside to sit, though Nadia lingered outside. She handed the ticket salesman a few extra notes.

"There'll be a guy showing up, probably the only other person that shows, when he comes in, tell him he doesn't have to pay, it's on me." She grinned wickedly, knowing very well Eric would be embarrassed she paid for him.

"In case someone else does show up, can I have this wonderful stranger's name?" The man asked in a monotone.

Nadia nodded gracefully. "Eric Idle, and pass the message for me."

"What message?" He asked in the same bored voice.

Nadia grinned before saying, "Just do me a favor and give him a hard time about having a woman pay for his admittance, please?"

He nodded. "As you wish, madame."

She thanked him before walking into the theater where Lexi sat in the very middle, slightly to the right, holding her jacket like a pillow. Nadia showed her a cool trick where they sat in the very back near the concession stand and were able to use the wall like a rest. After a few minutes of previews and shorts, a crouched figure made its way over to the area where they sat. He popped up, face scrunched up in a strange way.

"You bitch," he muttered, sitting down.

Nadia laughed. "Aww, poor baby! Did the mean man give you a hard time?"

Eric smacked at her lightly, sitting to her left while Lexi sat pinned to the wall. Nadia snickered again and bunched her jacket up under her arms before placing it on Eric's shoulder and putting her head on it. He moved his shoulder once or twice, tilting her head off to either side, but the movie had started so he sort of sat still to make sure that this one time she didn't lose it and end up needing to bury into his shirt like the first time she watched the movie with him.

The movie was great, they made it through part one before there was a break and the concession stand was opened to all three of them. Lexi paid up and bought everyone everything they needed, Eric not quite being able to face the ticket salesman/concession worker as she paid. Nadia sat back down and stared anxiously as "Casablanca" came onto the screen. Eric situated himself in between the two women and jokingly faked a stretch, putting his arms around both of them. Instead of batting him away, both sort of snuggled up to him, passing foodstuffs between them and chatting as the more boring parts came along. There were a few late arrivals that moved right up to the front, mostly boyfriend girlfriend couples that proceeded to snog heavily every few moments, a few older couples necking in the corners for old times' sake. As it proceeded to go along, Lexi managed to spill most everything she got her hands on, which proved to go badly for Eric, caught in the middle. It was the last straw when she tipped over a cup of soda, jumping over the seats to get paper towels. She was gone, in and out, retrieving paper towels and throwing sopping ones away. When she did return, she grabbed the empty cup and walked up to the vacant stand, waiting patiently for someone to refill or throw away. Nadia shook her head at Lexi for a moment before turning back to the screen, Eric's arm still around her shoulders, her right one pressed to the wall.

She heard Lexi sigh and walk to the other side in hopes of catching the ticket salesman there, but he wasn't there. She sat down cross legged and waited, now determined.

Nadia shook her head slowly again, waiting for the sappy love scene to be over.

"What's her name again?" Eric whispered, making Nadia break out into goosebumps as his breath washed over her.

She shivered once before answering. "Ilsa Lund,"

"Ah, right." He replied, sinking down lower into the chair, turning to look at Nadia's face.

She stared fixedly at the screen, clearly telling Eric that she was giving it her all not to look at him. She blinked several times as she turned to look at him, giving him almost a scolding before fixing her eyes on the screen again, turning a light pink as she did.

"Kiss me. Kiss me as if it were the last time!" Ilsa crooned softly before the man on the screen pushed his face to hers and an ecstasy spread over both of them.

Both Nadia and Eric went rigid, neither of them brave enough to look at the either, neither of them brave enough to laugh. Lexi still wasn't there, and the never-ending kiss on the screen seemed to have sparked what couples were not busy necking to have started. Eric finally moved, crossing his legs slowly, moving his arm off her shoulder even slower. Nadia wanted to close her eyes and open them to see a white sand beach, blue waters, and no Eric. It was hard enough knowing they wouldn't talk about it, but now there was a love scene playing in the theater and she was alone with him, not making fun of it.

"I think she swallowed his tongue," she whispered finally.

Eric took a deep, relieved breath, letting it out in a small laugh. "Along with a few other things,"

Lexi paused as she reentered the viewing area, wiping her hands off on her pants as she did, looking carefully at the fading picture of the kissing couple on the screen, and then searching in the dark for her two friends, who were busy looking opposite directions. Eric cleared his throat once before leaning dramatically to his left and resurfacing with a pair of sunglasses from Lexi's bag, which he put on and lowered himself into the seat some more, catching up on some lost sleep. Nadia's head lowered onto his shoulder, and within minutes the two were fast asleep as the end of the movie came and went, credits rolling at just past eleven. Lexi slid up behind Nadia and shook her shoulders softly, grabbing her glasses as they slipped off the end of her face as she sat up.

"You should have kissed him, Naddy. He was looking you over!" Lexi prodded.

Nadia groaned sleepily. "No, Lexi, never again. The more I think about it, the less I think I actually enjoyed it and the more I think I just assumed I would. I don't think I really did."

Lexi sighed this time, knowing it was about time Nadia figure out her feelings by herself with enough help from her.

"Besides, I'd rather do this," Nadia said mischievously, sticking her index finger into her mouth before inserting it into Eric's ear. He sat bolt upright, rubbing his ear furiously with his shirt sleeve, whining under it all.

"Eww, gross, Nadia!" He muttered, scrubbing feverishly at the area.

Nadia laughed. "You've only done that to me ever since we met! That's only the second time I've done it, I say you suck it up and let it go!"

As they walked out to the street, Nadia began counting underground subway tokens carefully. She cursed and handed Lexi enough to get her home before turning to Eric pitifully.

"Spare a bum some tokens, buddy?" She asked, holding out the amount she had. Eric fished around in his pockets before shaking his head apologetically.

He tilted his head back towards his car. "I'll give you a ride, come on."

Lexi giggled softly and raced off to link her hand in his, Nadia trying to act mad. She whined to him about how nice he was being and how she'd probably owe him for some reason. In the end she did climb into the car, but she felt strange being in the back seat while Lexi and Eric chatted up front. Eric seemed to be stiffening up a bit toward Lexi, he didn't seem to like talking to her all that much. Lexi, on the other hand, seemed to be ecstatic he was giving her the attention and basked in it. She brought up so many stupid topics on the hour-long drive that Nadia even tuned out and stared at her feet.

As they pulled up, Nadia leapt out of the car before it even stopped, Lexi scrambling out after her with a yelp. Eric stood up on the other side of the car and coughed lightly. "Nadia! I need to talk to you!"

She froze and rolled her eyes, depositing her bag into Lexi's arms as she stormed into the house, scared of what was going to happen. Nadia walked back to the side of Eric's car, her hands on her hips.

"What?"

He tossed his keys into the back seat. "Get in," he commanded sternly, slipping in himself. Nadia climbed in and folded her arms, looking carefully at her sandaled feet again. Eric sighed somewhere to her right, hands on the steering wheel.

"What the hell is the matter with you?" He finally asked.

Nadia snorted. "I'm sick of you being a goody-two-shoes all the time, what the hell happened to you?"

He gave her an incredulous look. "Since when am I not allowed to give you a ride home?"

"When it's an hour away! We should have walked," she spat irrationally.

He started to talk again, but Nadia cut him off. "Naddy-"

"And another thing, stop calling me 'Naddy!' It's a stupid name-" She started in on him, eyes glittering maliciously.

He raised his hands in confusion. "What the hell?"

Nadia's face was reddening slowly, making her usually beautiful skin become ugly. "Shut up!"

"What is it, that time of the month?" Eric asked, hurt shining out in his eyes.

"You are such a jerk, you know that? You can't even be serious when I'm serious!"

He looked up suddenly, surprising Nadia to see his eyes swimming slightly. "Is this because we kissed?"

Averting her eyes, Nadia bit her lip. "Yes,"

Eric sighed and looked away, his face making a beacon of hurt and sorrow. "I'm sorry, Nadia. I'll go now,"

With that, Nadia seized his arm, feeling slightly schizophrenic as she did so. "Eric! I'm not supposed to be allowed to yell at you for being nice, or for using my nickname, or for trying to lighten the mood. Keep me sane, don't let me beat you up over it!"

He gave her a very strange look of confusion. "Look, I'm sorry if I've fucked up your life, but I-"

"You didn't fuck up anything! Well, a lot anyway," she muttered, turning away. "I'm sorry, Eric, and I should be. Please don't be mad; it's my fault."

Her glasses slipped down to the end of her nose as she rapidly turned back to him and looked out to her house several times. He reached out and pulled the glasses off of her face. He put them on and looked at her intelligently.

"How do I look?" He posed, letting her know she was forgiven.

She giggled, squinting. "Smashing, dear, now can I have those back? I have a date with my bed."

Slowly Eric took the glasses off and slid up next to her, tilting her chin up to place the square frames back onto her face. She didn't move as he slid closer, and she didn't move as the cool plastic slid over her ears and brought the world back into focus. She didn't move as Eric leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on her lips, washing her over with a strange feeling. She didn't move as he pushed her against the seat, and she didn't try to kiss him back. He continued to kiss her over and over again, touching her cheek with a free hand, the other holding her left hand tightly. The only time she voluntarily moved was when he parted for air and she opened her mouth, giving him a silent notice. He slid up to her again and pushed his tongue into her mouth, sighing with her taste, loving he way she went limp again and again in his arms. She didn't move back, and she didn't touch him, but the simple fact she wasn't pushing him away made him feel golden. As he moved his lips from her mouth to her cheek, inching back to her neck slowly, Nadia sighed. He was so gentle this time, not pushing urgently, not grabbing her and pulling her unbelievably close. Goosebumps broke out over Nadia's arms and legs, making the hairs on the back of her neck rise pleasantly as he kissed gently on her neck, his lips soft and inviting. She looked him over as he slid back and looked at her silently. When she didn't move, he reached up and took her glasses from her again, sliding back over to her.

This was one of those times she felt over-comfortable. He was so gentle and adorable, kissing her here and there, but in the end she still knew that he probably had an unholy mess waiting for him to clean when he got home, he drank and smoked, he hung out with an unruly crowd, and he had dated more than three women at once a long time ago. She knew so much about him, and yet this was a surprising thing she was learning. She was learning that he could be gentle and caring with even her, the girl he'd met sitting in a fountain. She could almost hear his breathy voice asking her if it had always been like that again, but in the end she decided she was asking herself that question. Then she answered the question and said that no, it hadn't always been like that, and she was scared of what was going to happen. As his hands ran over her hips and shoulders, she knew that once again, she'd do just about anything for him, which scared her more. She pushed him away finally, fleeing the car as she felt tears coming.

"Nadia-!"

"Save it Eric, go home." She replied with a choke in her voice.

He caught her arm and looked her over urgently. "Why-?"

"I don't want to talk to you anymore," she shook her arm from his grip, "and I'd appreciate it if you never touched me again."

With that she walked inside and slammed her door behind her.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Eric lit a cigarette, not caring there were about four empty packs next to him and Mike wasn't helping him burn them down. He picked up a small glass of whiskey and sipped it, glaring hard as John shook his head at him. It was ten o' clock in the morning and he'd been drinking for about an hour, hardly caring that he was on the road to a meltdown of sorts. The others hadn't brought up the night before, knowing something had happened between Nadia and himself, and it hadn't been good. He hadn't spoken a word all morning, though he'd turned out about five new sketches in five minutes, scribbling quickly, cigarette bouncing in the corner of his mouth as he did so, his loose clothes looking more loose than ever, like he was starving before their very eyes. He sighed and rubbed his eyes, trying to see past the horror in his life. Since when does drama strike up so quickly and harshly, with so many consequences?

As if hoping to break the uncomfortable silence, Gray switched on the radio and sat back, tuning into a station. A strange melody played and John Lennon's voice floated over the static.

"I love to turn you on...."

Eric hurled a glass at the radio and scowled as it shattered but did not manage to destroy Terry's radio. Terry picked up the shards of glass and sighed as the other Terry began to sketch Eric, who was sitting there in the heartlessness of heartbreak. He looked like such a badass, cigarette, bottle of whiskey, and his dirty and disheveled appearance. Terry added some shading to make him look like he had five o' clock shadow, snickering softly. He stopped laughing as Eric shot him a murderous glare, only hoping that whatever had happened between him and Nadia would resolve soon. His job wasn't at stake, but his social life was.

Morning had come and left already for Nadia, who was wide awake and sitting in the ledge of her small house's window. She watched the cars going by, hoping one of them would stop like they used to do when she'd sit in her dorm window. They'd stop and two or five young men would climb out and whistle, maybe knock on the door and gasp as the masses of young girls walked out amongst Eric, the lone male in a house dorm full of women.

Lexi tapped Nadia on the shoulder carefully; it still frightened her. "Hey, how's life?"

Nadia took a deep, slow breath through her nose, trying not to cry like she had last night. "Melodramatic, crappy, stupid. I wish I was dead."

"Now now, you don't wish you were dead, come on!" Lexi chided softly, rubbing her shoulders.

The other woman nodded. "Yes I do! I told Eric," she let her head drop down, "not twelve hours ago that I'd rather not see him ever again on any level."

Lexi stared. "Well, why the hell did you do that?"

"He kissed me again, Lexi. I can't have him doing that to me!" She howled, putting her head down again.

"And how did you feel when he kissed you?" Lexi asked, tossing some of her short hair out of her eyes. Seeing this, Nadia ran her hand over her own head, trying to feel how her hair had faired. It stuck out in all directions, hanging in her eyes when she looked down. She ruffled her hair very thoroughly before looking up again.

She thought carefully. "At first I was nothing, I was just there. He was being more gentle than usual, so I felt sort of warm, beautiful. As he moved closer I could feel elation, but then there was all this dread and I couldn't see through it. I didn't even try to move and he still kept going; I felt like a damned queen. Beautiful and loved, but I'm still going to be in hell in the end anyway."

Lexi clucked her tongue softly. "Honey, you're misinterpreting this whole thing. You were probably just surprised when he kissed you, so you didn't know how to react. When you realised he was trying to be gentle and careful with you, it was like you felt loved, which is warm like you described. Elation is next, right? Elation is usually happiness, which means you were happy that he was kissing you again, but the dread wasn't that you think it can never work or it'll spoil something you already have! That dread was of him moving around, ending the moment. You knew it would end and you didn't know what to say to him." She took Nadia's glasses and put them on, arranging them like a psychiatrist.

Nadia laughed carefully. "I still told him never to touch me, to stop talking to me, and he didn't have to walk me in. What if he doesn't ever want to talk to me again?"

"You know Eric isn't like that; he'll try to win you over. Don't make it too hard and he'll be all yours again." She concluded.

"It's different for him and me; we never do stupid stuff to each other." Nadia sniffed. "I was afraid at the very end; things were changing and I knew I'd do anything for him. I knew that if he wanted me to do something that I-well, I would have done it!"

The doorbell rang, causing Nadia to put on her stony, expressionless stare as she walked downstairs to answer the door, snatching her glasses from Lexi as she passed her. When she yanked open the door, her jaw dropped slowly.

"Hello, are you Nadia Smart?" A soft and sincere voice asked, shedding a pair of sunglasses to reveal a pair of pale blue eyes nearly hidden under a pile of blonde hair.

She blinked three times quickly, nodding. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure."

The man smiled briefly before saying, "I was wondering if you were interested in doing a painting for our new record cover-"

Lexi froze as she peered over Nadia's shoulder to see who it was. "Jon Beckensale! We were just talking about you!"

He flashed another rare smile at Nadia as she closed her eyes and let them open to reveal just the whites of her eyes, twitching in annoyance. She swatted Lexi quickly, inviting Jon to sit down anywhere there was space. She swept a set of Chinese food containers off a couch before letting him sit.

"So, what kind of painting did you have in mind?" She asked, picking up a notepad and flipping to an empty page.

He made a nervous face before leaning back into the couch. "Well, we were hoping on some subliminal messages of some kind, but we didn't want to go too far. Basically we want to show the world that tarantulas are better that beetles, if you get my drift."

"I'm reading in between the lines, trust me." She nodded with a sly grin. "Still working on hard rock, then?"

He nodded. "Led Zeppelin don't have shit on us."

Nadia nodded and continued to sketch lightly, turning it around finally. "This is just a rough sketch, mind you. I could paint it or make a black and white final print of this for you. Depending on what definition of detail you want."

The rouch sketch depicted five giant steel tarantulas standing over a city where all the people fleeing around were beetles of one kind or another, the only ones in safety being the tinier steel tarantulas. The message was clear: Join us or die.

"The name of the album is 'Combat Rock' if that helps." He added.

"It still works. You're fighting all the insects on earth, and the only survivors are converts and those on your side. Like a giant war, like combat." She told him, smiling as it finally dawned on him.

He grinned again. "Ohhh! I get it! You've got some talent here, Nadia. I think we should do a detailed black and white cover, if you don't mind."

She shook her head, smiling warmly. "I don't mind at all, actually. I need those paints for my fourth grade project at the public school."

Slowly, Jon scratched the back of his neck. "Do you remember your first year surrealism in the arts class at Cambridge?"

"Yeah, I do." She tilted her head.

"Remember that project that showed up anonymous that was a whole bunch of Polaroids showing all these peoples' faces, all lonely and empty around a picture of a woman crying on a stone bench? And in the middle of the collage was your face, laughing, in color." He said, looking off into the distance. "Then I failed the class because the teacher never graded my project."

"Why didn't she grade it?" Nadia asked, not seeing why he was asking all these questions.

He blushed slightly. "Because I didn't want you to know I centered my entire collage out of a picture I took of you hanging out with your friends. I didn't want you to know that I was falling all over myself for an hour a half a day just to be in the same room with you. And I certainly didn't want you to think I cared I was failing that class."

Nadia stared at him. "That was a beautiful collage, Jon. All those lonely faces bathed in sorrow, black and white, and then a face full of color, it almost brightened it, but it was almost a metaphor for life. We all want to be that beautiful shiny person when the reality is we're all lonely."

He looked up with bright eyes. "You're the first person to understand it!"

She shrugged, flipping her notepad closed. "I don't look at the world in 3-D as much as 4-D."

"You're wonderful, Nadia. I want to take you out somewhere, right now! Let's go!" He tugged her hand, tossing his blonde hair out of his face again, smiling again.

She smiled slyly. "I thought you said you never smiled."

"Nothing worth smiling for before," he replied, shrugging one shoulder.

"So, was that a date invitation, or am I getting my hopes up?" She asked.

Jon snickered. "You flatter me; I'd love to have you come with me somewhere."

"When? I'm free all summer," she smirked at his raised eyebrows.

"How does eight o' clock sound? We'll go out to this club I know, see if I still know how to dance." He grinned sheepishly. With that he left, promising to call her, taking her number down and exiting just a strangely as he came, seemingly disappearing into her hedge and into the next door neighbor's yard. Nadia shook her head disbelievingly before closing her door and sitting down to work on that album cover.

Lexi walked in and wrapped Nadia upside the head impatiently. "You ditz, did you forget that at this very minute you've got your best friend in the world sitting somewhere out there thinking you never want to see him again? You better reconcile before you go out tonight, really Nadia!" She scolded, folding her arms in a very criminal lawyer-like way.

Nadia grabbed her sketch and made a face. "Fine, I'll go talk to him right now!" She seized her coat and slipped on her shoes, ignoring the fact she was wearing a pair of men's basketball shorts, a tank top, and nothing else. She slipped on her denim jacket, slid on some sneakers she'd sheared the heels from and walked out into the street holding nothing but some money for the underground and her glasses, which she had taken off to clean.

She sat on the subway train, feeling in a very uneven mood. Before, when she had thought that things were evening out again, she had completely forgotten that Eric was probably sitting somewhere just trying to forget about her, or figure her out. She hated to say it, but sometimes she could be a real woman and be hard to read, and normally she was just a magazine he could pick up and read when he felt necessary. Now she felt like ancient runes that needed deciphering, which can be a very seductive and mysterious thing to do, but she didn't like being secretive to Eric. He was her best friend for God's sake! Why mess with him?

The cart slowed and stopped in the London station, a speaker blaring. Nadia stepped off and pulled off her denim jacket, shrugging it off because of the stifling heat of the car she had occupied. Now as she stood in the crowded station she realised just how undressed she was, and what she was wearing was a bit out of the ordinary. She pulled on her hair and shirt and tried not to look creepy, arranging her glasses carefully. She walked, her sneakers squeaking softly on the wet tile floor of the lobby. She stepped into the hot air and squinted across the street, dreading the half and hour trudge to Eric's house, which he probably wasn't even in on a Sunday afternoon.

A song which had been running through Nadia's head all day resurfaced and tried to sing out loudly but she squashed it the best she could. There were words in her head she hadn't ever heard before, and the melody seemed to be a medley of all her favorite Beatles, Rolling Stones, and Steel Tarantula songs. She began to hum and think more about the words running through her head. They seemed to be dictating her life at that point, only singing more to the point of view of herself looking at her life and critisizing what she could.

Her half an hour was up. Sighing heavily, she knocked on his door and window simultaneously, and not hearing an answer, lifted up his welcome mat and pulled the spare key up, slipping it into the lock and feeling a tell-tale click. She pushed open the door after replacing the key. Inside was a complete mess, beer cans, cigarette butts, dirty clothes, blankets, a few empty pizza boxes. It hadn't been like that two days ago. Female instincts kicked in; Nadia began to obsessively clean the small house, saving leftovers, picking up the clutter, scrubbing stains, vacuuming, laundry, dishes, and dusting. She felt like a house-wife of sorts, waiting for Eric to return, but never stopped flitting around with one of her old head scarves tied on her head in a slightly gypsy way. As she worked in the kitchen, wiping off the counters at around six thirty, she began to sing the song that had been running through her head, trying to keep herself from singing loudly, but unable as the emotions of the song became evident.

As she began to swing her hips back and forth, drying a particularly wet dish with a fresh towel, she began to really belt out the song, her voice shaking with an unknown talent. She loved singing with the radio, and she wasn't all that bad, but the guitar and singing stuff was usually saved for Eric. There was a loud snap behind Nadia somewhere; her voice failed her instantly, nearly dropping the dish she held. She put it down and spun around, letting her jaw drop as she saw Eric, his eyes red and sad. He took a few deep breaths before placing a brown paper bag on the table and a pizza box. A small smile crept up on his face before he seated himself at the table, back to Nadia.

"Want some?" He opened the box, averting his eyes as she stepped into view.

She made a face. "Did you buy more liquor?"

Looking up slowly, his red rimmed eyes glowing out hauntingly, he nodded. "Why yes, yes I did."

She waved a hand through the air. "You've already been drinking today. Do you really-?"

"Some things happen that make you want to drink, alright?" He snapped, leaning back and grabbing a clean plate, tossing it to her. He grabbed one for himself and sat down again, giving her a look that made her sit down.

"Eric, I'm sorry. I didn't mean what I said." She started, knowing he wasn't going to want to talk all that much.

He shrugged and pulled the bottle out of the bag. "Brandy, Nadia?"

She shook her head slowly. "No, I would like to talk to you. If you don't mind actually talking."

Eric snorted and put his hands down at his sides, staring at her gauntly. He snorted again and started to stand up when Nadia lurched to her feet and sat on his lap, wrapping her arms around him tightly. She took a deep breath through her nose, trying to tell what he was going through, trying to keep him close. He went sort of limp in her arms, pulling away slightly. His shoulders shook and when Nadia looked up from her slightly curled position she saw his face tilted away from her, grimace forcibly put there, eyes shining weakly. Such a man to not cry, Nadia mused. Just as he started to open his mouth, his hands floated up between them and tried to push him away. She only hugged him tighter and shushed him as he let out a small cry of anguish, hands finally leaping up around her shoulders.

"I'm sorry, Eric, I'm really sorry." She whispered, holding his head on her shoulder.

He laughed gently. "You're lucky I'm drunk."

Nadia smiled. "I'm just lucky,"

They pulled apart and smiled sheepishly at each other, Nadia brushing Eric's hair from his eyes, Eric pushing Nadia's glasses up on her face for her, both just sort of staring at the other. Eric smiled again but stopped abruptly and cast his eyes downward, blushing lightly. He shook his head and groped for his glass of brandy. He muttered something under his breath before slapping Nadia gently, letting her know he needed to get up. She slipped lightly off his lap and stood awkwardly as he stood up and sipped at his glass, unmoving. He reached out with one arm and pulled her into another tight hug before sitting down and opening the box again.

Gray stopped outside the house half an hour later and sighed, looking over at John who nodded furiously. He sighed again but climbed out of the car and started towards the door and knocking gently on the wood. He heard Eric's voice call him in, the door was unlocked. Pushing open the door revealed a very relieving sight. Eric was lying on his stomach up to his shoulders in freshly laundered blankets, a new pizza box next to him on the vacuumed carpet, but more importantly there was Nadia. She had propped herself with her elbows and was presently hiding behind the blanket as suspenseful music stabbed into the air. She whimpered softly and elbowed Eric weakly. He turned towards the screen of the brightly lit TV, playing an old black and white film.

"Glad to see you've, ahem, kissed and made up, Eric." Gray smiled.

Eric looked up and smiled back, turning to see what Nadia was doing. She pulled her denim jacket on, looking at her watch and staring expectantly at Eric. He lifted himself up and fished around in his pockets, pulling a few coins out and handing them over.

She smiled at him, not noticing Gray's smile. "Thanks, doll, you're an angel."

"Just whipped beyond belief," he retorted, reaching up and rubbing his face weakly.

"Thanks Eric; I'll talk to you later. Got me a date," she smirked.

He laughed. "You sure do recover quickly."

"You won't believe who it is this time," she replied, eyes sparkling.

Eric lifted his eyebrows. "Who?" His voice was stiff sounding, but Gray couldn't quite tell why.

"Jon Beckensale!" She danced happily.

Eric's face lit up, but Gray grimaced; he knew an actor's face when he saw one. "Go you, Nadia! Make sure he treats you well; I can't play big brother anymore."

She smiled sheepishly. "I know,"

With that she kissed him on the cheek, receiving one in return before stepping out and walking quickly for the train station, looking at her watch with a grimace. If she found some change along the road she could tell Lexi to stall Jon until she got there, half an hour late.

Inside, Eric fell to his knees, reaching under his kitchen table for his bottle of brandy. He cursed several times until Gray held out the bottle for him, empty.

"What the fuck did you do that for?" Eric shrieked, shaking the bottle hysterically.

Gray folded his arms. "Own up, mate, you can't accept the fact she's dating again after all this can you? I don't care what you do tonight, but no more drinking. I've got some Valium if you need that," he offered.

"You shouldn't be talking!" Eric retorted, eyes wild.

Gray rolled his eyes and put his hands on his hips. "Get some sleep, Eric."

"She's trying to kill me,"

"She apologized, didn't she? You didn't go begging her. This proves she doesn't want to kill you, I should think."

Eric looked pouty for an instant. "You didn't hear her last night. She wasn't Nadia, she wasn't even Naddy, she was just some teeny-bopper trying to keep her virginity like I was raping her or something." He said bitterly.

"Respect that decision then; if she doesn't feel like she can date you than it can't happen. Love isn't one way, you know that. If it doesn't come from two directions, it isn't there at all. Without a mutual connection it's an infatuation or an obsession. Even a crush." Graham was sounding too smart for Eric's taste.

"It's like a fucking job application. I'm fully qualified and I practically have the job, but she's going to give it to some slobbish lead singer of a crap-band and hope all goes well. In fact, my application is so good she's going to have me sign a contract so she can ring me up and complain about the guy she does hire, and all I can do is hope she finally sees I've been here the entire time." Clever metaphores seemed to happen upon Eric under extreme stress, and he didn't argue with that.

Gray shrugged and shook his head. "Women, mate. I decided it was too hard." He grinned.

"Yeah, and I'm considering." Eric replied, putting his head down with a sigh. "Goodnight, Gray."