Lynn opened her eyes, a heavy deadness beside her. Pulling the covers closer to her she sat up, looking around to regain her surroundings. She brushed her fingers through her hair which she recently died a soft pink. She had thought that the spontaneous change would have maybe excited Rodge in a way, but he had actually been angered by it. His reaction had shocked her and made her furious. He was mad at her for changing, so she had told him it was his entire fault. He wanted her to go with the flow, but when she did, he complained. Lynn sighed at the memory, rubbing her eyes.

 Beside her, the bed lay empty, the heavy sheets wrinkled. Stumbling out of bed, she threw on a t-shirt she found on the floor. Falling to her knees, it was soft and worn and smelled of everything she desired. With each step, the floor creaked as she made her way down the hall. Paul was gone at the beach, and her parents, she hadn’t known where they were in months. Last she saw dad was after the concert when he came asking for more money.

Flames flickered in the fireplace, the wood below glowing brilliant reds and yellows. On the couch staring blankly at it sat Rodge, a bottle dangling from between his thumb and forefinger. 

"It's quite beautiful," he said, shifting the liquid around in the glass. "Watch this."

With a flick of his wrist, he sent a bit of the alcohol into the fire causing it to blare up staining the surrounding wall in black dust. 

"Rodge," Lynn warned. 

"You know, Damien got married? Damien! And I had no idea!"

"Rodge, you're drunk," Lynn stated, trying to hide the fury in her words. She had suspected he had returned to the bottle quite a while ago, but he had always been too good to let her catch him. 

"Screw everything! I'm drunk, high, I would rather be dead than be here."

"Rodge." Lynn didn't know what else to say. There was no reasoning with him when he was like this. 

"I'm settling; we're settling. It's not like either of us."

"Love makes you do crazy things," she whispered, stepping closer to him. "Like give people a second chance."

"Well you shouldn't have." Rodge cursed and tossed the whole bottle into the flames watching as they flashed a brilliant color before sinking again. "That’s like us, Lynn, brilliant, bright, and brief."

"We don't have to be."

Rodge groaned, running his hands down his face. "This lasted so much longer than I thought. You, you have to get on with your damn future and go on to be the president or whatever, and I, I have to do SOMETHING, something other than sitting around."

"With me," Lynn whispered, her voice dry. She hated to admit it, but she too had seen this coming.

"You promised you loved me," he said, his voice breaking. 

"You promised you’d never leave me!" Lynn jumped from the couch and ripped the cigarettes from the palm of his hand. 

"You don't understand!" he argued. "I can't, you're- you're too good."

"Oh 'too good'? What the hell does that mean?" Lynn's lungs grew tight as Rodge looked up at her. 

"I can't think around you. I can't do anything. All I want is to be with you."

"And the problem?" Lynn gasped.

"I'm like a freakin’ puppet! And it’s not like you're enjoying it. Don't lie to me. You have plans, and I am not in them."

"Rodge! I just want to be yours! You are my plans! I have none now!"

"Because of me!" Tears brimmed his eyes, and Lynn froze. "I'm not going to let us waste our lives learning that this will only destroy us, Lynn. I need to go; you need to go."

"Rodge!" Lynn gasped, running after him as he strolled to the door. "Your- your stuff?"

"Keep it," he said, his hand on the door. "All of it." His eyes met hers and she knew what he was talking about, the stupid piece of cut out paper in a bag in her room. "It will always be yours."   

"Rodge?" Lynn tried one last time, not sure what to feel so early in the morning. 

"SHUT UP!" he screamed, spinning around and stopping his fist just next to her scrunched up face. Gently, his fingers opened and traced down to her collarbone, and he reached down, letting his chapped lips move across hers as he whispered, "The only flaw is, you are flawless." 

Resting his forehead against hers, he closed his eyes. Cautiously, she reached up and brushed back his hair, letting it run through her fingers one final time. 

Swiftly, he pushed away, slamming the door behind him. 

Lynn stood on the other side, her arms dangling beside her. When the squeal of the tires faded down the street, she shuffled back to the couch, picking up a half drunk bottle. Taking a swig, she screamed, throwing it into the fire and silently watching until the bright burst of life faded completely into ashes. 

A/N

Soooo that's it! What do you guys think?

Thanks so much for reading and voting and all if you did :P I tend to have a habit of writing sad stories.... should I stop or....?

Okay, POLL! Which do you like reading best?

Sad / Happy

Predictable / Unpredictable

Cheers and thanks again. I adore you all,

Gem