"Come in," They heard Tania's strained voice from the other side of the wall after knocking. Juliet turned the knob to open the door and they entered the apartment. Tania was lying on the couch but she stood up and went to hug Juliet.

"Thank you so much for coming," Tania said, breaking away. It was clear she had been crying but stopped when they arrived. "Hi Ethan. Please have a seat."

Ethan nodded and sat down but the girls remained standing.

"What happened?" Juliet asked, taking in the messy surrounding. The room looked like a robber had been turning everything over, hoping to find a stash of money and when he hadn't, decided to break everything in anger.

Before Tania could answer, the sound of breaking glass came from the kitchen, startling Juliet.

"What was that?" Juliet asked, striding to the kitchen followed by Tania. Ethan rose up and went after them when he heard Juliet gasp.

Cooper stood by the kitchen counter, drinking from a bottle of beer, shards of glass allover the kitchen floor. There was blood flowing from his foot which had been pierced by a shard.

"He's been smashing every bottle of alcohol after drinking it," Tania shook her head, looking at the mess on the floor.

"What do you want, Juliet?" He asked, trying to stagger towards the breakfast table. Juliet rushed over and tried to help him but he pushed her hand away and decided to lean against the counter. Juliet backed away from the horrifying stench of alcohol wafting from him. "You came to laugh at me. Isn't that why you're here?"

"I called her," Tania said.

Cooper looked at her, then at Juliet and Ethan. "Why did you bring him, Juliet? I know you have a boyfriend and I have no chance with you. You don't have to mock me. I'm already a mess."

After saying that, Cooper put the bottle back into his mouth, drinking almost all the beer in it.

"Stop drinking, Cooper." Ethan said, walking towards him and attempting to grab the half full bottle.

"You have one second to remove that arm or I'll bite it," Cooper warned. "Get away from me, you moron."

As Ethan retreated, Cooper took another big gulp. He lifted the bottle to see how much was remaining and let it drop on the floor. Watching one of her best friends breakdown in front of her made Juliet extremely sad and she started crying. She knew what it felt like to be broken and didn't want anyone to feel that way. Cooper noticed her looking at him.

"I love you, Juliet." He said before collapsing on the shattered glass on the floor.

"Nooo," Tania yelled, rushing to her brother, not caring if the glass might go through the light slippers to her leg. "Is he alive?"

Ethan squatted and checked Cooper's pulse. "He is alive. He just passed out, probably due to too much alcohol. Let's get him out of here."

A few glass particles had pierced him when he fell face down. Ethan turned him over and lifted him, carefully putting him face up on the other side of the floor without glass. "Carefully remove the glass particles from his body apply pressure to stop the bleeding while I sweep the floor." He said to the girls after spotting a broom behind the open door. He also picked up a rag and used it to block the poured alcohol from flowing to the side where Cooper and the girls were. Juliet and Tania had picked big and small particles and placed them on the side by the time he finished collecting the shards. He put them in the trash can along with the bloodied ones from Cooper's body.

Tania led the way to Cooper's room. Ethan carried him and placed him on the bed. "We need to clean his wounds."

"I'll warm up some water," Tania said and disappeared. Ethan walked over to Juliet who was staring at Cooper and put his hand around her shoulder. "He'll be okay."

"I really hope so," she said. "Tania and Cooper are like family to me. I don't want them to be like this, I want them to be happy."

"Did you know that he loved you?"

"Not really," Juliet said. "He has never told me but I've always suspected so because of his actions. Don't worry, I'm not in love with him. He's like a brother to me."

After a few minutes of silence between the two, Tania returned with a bucket of warm water, a basin, antiseptic soap and cream plus four small white towels. She placed them down and went ahead to take off her unconscious brother's shirt. Juliet poured some water into the basin and grabbed a towel.

"No, you can't clean him." Ethan said.

"Why not?" Juliet wet the towel and applied soap on it.

"Let her do it," Ethan indicated Tania.

"I'll do it, " Juliet said and Ethan walked out, without saying a word. Juliet started cleaning Cooper's wounds and Tania joined her with another wet towel to rinse out the soap from the wounds Juliet had finished. She used another towel to dry and then applied antibiotic ointment.

"I can do this alone," Tania said. "Your boyfriend is angry and he might break up with you because of this. I want you to be happy. Besides you've already helped a lot."

"No, Tania." Juliet said. "Just because he is my boyfriend doesn't give him the right to run my life. I'll do what I need to do. You guys have always supported me and I love doing the same for you. You're my best friends and I can't abandon you because of Ethan. I believe you can do it on your own but you need me, Cooper needs me and I need both of you. I know I've been distant lately but it's complicated. I may not communicate but you guys are always in my mind. I can't go, now."

Later, Ethan and Juliet were walking to Ethan's apartment which was five blocks away. He had not said said anything since leaving Cooper and Tania's apartment.

"I really wanted to leave you there," Ethan said after opening his main door and letting both of them in. "You touched his chest, Juliet. How could you?"

"You're the one I love Ethan but, Cooper is my friend. I needed to help him. I can't believe cleaning the wounds on his chest made you jealous."

"Well, the only chest I want to see you touching is mine," He grinned, heading to the bedroom. Juliet followed him in.

"I'm so sorry," she said, standing behind him. He removed his shirt and threw it on the bed.

"Sorry can't fix this," he turned around, smirking which made Juliet smile. He was no longer angry at her. The quiet long walk had probably calmed him down.

He cupped her face and kissed her. She submitted to him and let ecstasy over take her. While kissing her, one of his hands went under her shirt and undid her bra. She broke away to pull off her shirt so she could feel his skin against her. Shirt and bra joined Ethan's shirt on the bed. Lips reconnected as he led her to the bed. He moved on to kiss the area around her neck, going on lower towards her perky breasts while his hand unfastened her jeans. Her hand reached over to stop his. He'd have to try harder before that could happen, she thought.

"Not now, my darling." She said. "Soon."