"Hi, Mommy." He didn't think his voice was slurred.

"You're drunk, Is'haaq." The voice on the line sounded distant and detached.

"Huh uh. Not drunk, Mum." His head was spinning. He was such a God-damned liar.

"You're drunk. I can hear it."

He frowned, even though he knew his mother wouldn't be able to see it. "I miss you."

The line remained silent.

"You won't even tell me you miss me back?" he took another swig from the bottle. He probably wasn't supposed to, but he didn't fuss too much about glasses.

"I don't miss you."

It took a few seconds to register her words. "Oh. You still hate me?"

She didn't reply.

"Oh, okay." He put the bottle to his lips again, gulping back the clear liquid. He hated Vodka but it was the first bottle he saw. "Bye, Mommy."

There was a click on the other end, and he knew she had put the phone down. He fucked up again. He couldn't help it that he needed to drink to pick up the courage to phone and every time he did, she just hated him more and more. He didn't even know why he bothered any longer. It didn't make sense to set himself up for disappointment every time he keyed in the only number he had ever remembered.

Perhaps it was because he genuinely needed her.

He needed her to tell him that everything would be okay. The bitterness burned as it went down his throat, but he carried on drinking. Storm mewed his disappointment in his behaviour- unhappy at being neglected in favour of a bottle.

"Sorry, Stormy. It's not a good day today." Is'haaq picked him up and cradled the cat to his chest. "You're probably the only one who would even care if I drank this whole bottle."

Storm clawed against him as Is'haaq bent down to kiss his nose. "It smells bad hey?"

He wiped the sweat from his brow before he set Storm down. He gulped back another mouthful- his senses far surpassed caring for its taste anymore. It was all practically numb anyway.

The door knocked incessantly, matching the throbbing pain in his head. He stood up, holding on to the wall as he made his way to wall. "Hey." He grinned as he opened the door.

Farah simply stared at him.

"What?"

She pushed him back and closed the door behind her. "I thought you were over benders like this."

He shrugged. "You used to go on them with me."

"And look where it got us." She shook her head at him. "You need a shower."

"You coming in with me?" he gripped her around her waist, holding her close to him.

She pushed him off and kept pushing him till they were in the bathroom. "Take a piss before you pee all over me in the shower."

He gasped, "I would never pee in the shower!" But he peed anyway once she turned her back on him to fiddle with the shower knobs.

"Wash your hands." She shouldered him towards the basin and stripped off his shirt as he washed his hands. "And brush your fucking teeth because you smell disgusting."

He picked up his toothbrush and blinked at it, trying to merge the multiple images into one. He shook his head and grabbed the toothpaste, squeezed miss and watched it all plop ungracefully into the sink.

"You're being ridiculous, man!" Farah shoved him out of the way before she squeezed a thick line of toothpaste onto the brush, pried open his mouth and began to brush his teeth for him. "Now gargle." She opened the tap for him and waited to rinse his mouth before she poured a cap of mouthwash and gave it to him to drink. "Don't swallow."

He burst out laughing, spraying mouthwash all over the mirror. "I'd never say that!"

She slapped his shoulder before she poured out a second handful and gave it to him. "Behave, Is'haaq."

He lifted hands in surrender and dutifully took the mouthwash. Once he spat it out and rinsed his mouth, Farah helped him out of his clothes before she guided him into the shower. He stumbled into the wall and stood there until she stripped off her own clothes and got in with him.  "I did this for Juri once. He hurt her and she was bleeding and it made me sad." His shoulders slumped as he held onto Farah for support.

"Close your eyes."

He listened to her and felt the little soap suds run down his face from whatever it was she had poured over his head.

"I think he's still hurting her, but I can't find her."

"Who's he?" Farah asked, using a wash-cloth to scrub his face.

"She didn't tell me." His voice was muffled by the cloth, but his tone was clear. "But she was hurting so badly that she couldn't even walk properly. She tried to hide but I saw."

"I'm sorry, Is'haaq." She Washed the soap from his hair and ran the spray over his body before she turned the knob and wrapped a towel around his waist.

"She didn't say goodbye. She just went away." He waited for her to wrap a towel around her body before he followed her, holding on to her hand as she led him to his room.

She sat him down on the bed before she rubbed a smaller towel over his head and down his chest. She then dug into his drawers and pulled out a pair of sweats an a t-shirt. He couldn't wait for her to dig out his clothes though. His head was heavy and the room was too bright and all he wanted to do was close his eyes and drift away.

"Is'haaq!"

But her voice was far away.

Far, far away.

"Not now, Juri. Let's just sleep, okay."

"At least get dressed."

He couldn't understand why her voice sounded so different, but he didn't care too much. He was just happy that she was there with him.

"Is'haaq?" she cupped his cheek and tried to shake him awake but he didn't want to wake up. "At least get under the covers, okay?"

"Hm'kay..." he moved back until he felt his pillow and shuffled beneath his duvet. "Juri?"

"Yes?"

"Please stay with me."

She climbed in beside him and ran her hands through his hair. He turned over and snuggled into her side as he wrapped his arm around her waist.

She kissed the side of his forehead and settled down beside him.

"I'm happy you're safe, Juri."

She kissed him once more. "Me too, Is'haaq."

He thought he felt a tear run down his chest but he was too tired. All he wanted to do was drift away.

And so he did...

***

"Someone's looking for you." Paul walked into the lounge and stripped off his holster and toed off his boots. His uniform looked a bit worse for wear and Juri could only assume that he had actually done something with his time.

"Who?" Juri knew enough not to believe him. He had lied to her enough in the past and had gotten her hopes up only to laugh at her when she looked happy for once.

"Some PI. It's almost amusing that I was the one driving around with him to look for you." He sniggered as he collapsed on the sofa and covered his eyes from the light.

"What?" her heartbeat quickened if only a little... he looked too thrilled for it to be a lie.

"Ya. He was waiting in the car when I was here this afternoon."

Her breaths were sharp and hurt her chest as they escaped her. While he was fucking her, someone was looking for her. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary for him to drop by for a quick screw once in a while, so she didn't think anything of it. But he had done it earlier only out of sheer spite. It amused him that someone was out there for her while he was inside forcing her to moan out his name while he took her against the shower wall. That was why he told her to go into the shower. He didn't want her possibly peeking out the window to spot the man in the car. "Someone was in the car looking for me while you were..."

"Yes, while I was fucking your little brains out from behind, someone was sitting in the car going over all the evidence he had gotten about your whereabouts. And he didn't even know that you were right inside screaming for me like a little nympho."

"Oh."

She didn't want to say more. He would get angry if he knew she was so, so unbelievably awestruck that Is'haaq hadn't stopped looking for her. He still remembered her. He didn't forget her.

"Oh?" he dropped his arms and quirked his brow. "That's all?"

"It's not like I have anyone to go back to so..." she shrugged.

"Good girl." He patted his lap as a sign for her to sit. "So, want to repeat this afternoon's performance?"

"I can't. I just got my period." She allowed him to pull her back to rest against his chest.

"You got your period?" He turned her face towards him.

"Uhm hmm."

"Let's..." he dipped his fingers beneath her panties, probing her till he felt the tell-tale plastic end of her tampon. "Was just checking."

Juri turned her face away and stared at the wall ahead.

"I'm feeling generous. Let's just watch tv. You can choose." He reached for the remote and switched on his tv, allowing her to scroll through the menu.

"Anything? It doesn't have to be porn?"

"Go for it." he shrugged, but kept his hand above her crotch, rubbing her anyway.

"Okay..." she shook in anticipation. How long had it been since she had watched a normal show? She had so many things she wanted to watch but settled for the first horror she could find. 

"Spooks?" he laughed and shook his head. "Fine..."

She settled back against him, her eyes wide as she consumed the images before her. It was almost enough to block out his hand rubbing over her and the feeling inside her core that she couldn't stem, no matter how hard she tried.

Almost.