A fist pounded against the front door of Tom's apartment, and he tore his eyes away from his book and toward the cell phone sitting on the end table. Ada still had an hour before close, not that he was expecting her to come over; just hoping.

He'd gone over to the coffee shop earlier that night, but had forgotten that it was the kickoff of open mic, which Crystal had started two years ago and ran every Saturday throughout the summer. It bombed the first year, and most of the second, but picked up some momentum by the end of last summer.

It was busy over there, so Tom left.

Tom propped his book open face down on his armrest before pushing his body off the couch and walking toward the door. It was tempting to pretend to not be home, just let whoever the hell it was assume he wasn't around. But his cell phone ringing from behind him on the end table pretty much shot that idea to shit and Tom turned the doorknob and opened the door.

"You have bags," Tom noted aloud. "Why do you have bags?"

There stood his college roommate, best friend and former bandmate, Nate Barber. He'd been teasing Tom about the rumor since it first circulated, but Tom hadn't spoken to him since just after he got cleared.

"Cause I'm crashing here a few days?" Nate said as if Tom already knew this.

"Am I missing something?"

Nate just scoffed and walked past Tom, dropping his bags on the ground and dropping himself on the couch. "I sent you a message, man."

Tom never got a message, then remembered that he hadn't heard from Nate because he hadn't been checking his social media accounts, seeing if he could go without them well enough to just delete every fucking one.

Ada had also deleted her accounts pretty much as soon as they put Tom on leave. She knew it wouldn't take long before the cyber bullying began, so she just deleted them all before it started. She seemed to be just fine without them, so Tom figured he'd try to do the same.

Except he'd forgotten to tell anyone.

"And when you didn't get a message back, you just showed up anyhow instead of calling?"

"Looks like it."

One thing baffled Tom, something that hadn't occurred to him until just now. "How the hell did you know where I live?"

"Elizabeth told me," he said as if it was the most casual thing in the world.

Tom fidgeted, not knowing how to feel about this. "My ex wife, Elizabeth?"

"No. You're current wife, Elizabeth. Unless you already got the divorce and just forgot to mention it."

"How long have you been talking to Liz?"

Nate just laid back, seeming more amused by his annoyance than anything. "The divorce game is stupid, man, and I'm not playing it. I've known you both the same amount of time and I'm not picking sides. I called her, told her I was coming into town and wanted your address. She gave it to me. She's on a date tonight, in case you wanted to know."

"Good for her."

Nate gave him a long look before scratching as his red beard, the slight twisted point in it giving him the appearance of Satan. "You been on a date yet?"

"Not exactly." Tom tried to act casual about it, but his word choice appeared to pique Nate's interest.

"Not exactly," Nate repeated. "So that means you hooked up."

Tom took too long to think about this. He noticed and Nate noticed. "Not exactly."

Nate snorted. "What are we, in grade school? Did she pass you a note in class asking to hold hands behind the gym?"

"Fuck you," Tom muttered before crossing his arms, already regretting having opened the door.

This only made Nate smile, his appearance of Satan taking on a whole new level. Now Nate had known him a good long time, long enough to know which buttons to push, when to push them and how. He loved the guy, but not a time went by that they hung out and Tom didn't want to punch him in the face at least once.

"Seriously, dude, who is she?" When Tom didn't reply, Nate stood upright and wiped his hands together. "Is it Liz's friend, Courtney?"

Tom's eyes narrowed on him. Nate had always had a thing for Courtney Daniels. She was hot, but to say she was drama was a full blown understatement. Even if Tom had been tempted, which he wasn't, it wouldn't be worth it. She talked shit about every ex she had to anyone who would listen, and you could tell most of it was twisted to suit her mood.

"Not Courtney," Nate figured out on his own. "Is it the cute blonde who's hot for teacher? What was her name again?"

Tom just shook his head and turned away. "Her name is Ada."

"Sounds like an old person name," Nate said from behind him. "Does she knit you sweaters after sex?"

"Don't talk about her, man. I'm warning you." Tom turned around to shoot him a glare.

His glare didn't appear to keep Nate in check. Instead, he wiggled his fingers in front of him and smiled. "I'm so scared." But the smile faded and Nate seemed to figure out why Tom was getting defensive. "It is her, isn't it? That chick from the rumor?"

Tom lowered his brow before fixating his eyes on Nate. "Don't go there."

"She works right across the street, doesn't she? At that coffee shop?" Nate asked before pointing behind him with his thumb. It wasn't more than two seconds before he jumped off the couch and ran over to the balcony to steal a glimpse of the girl in question.

Tom tried to pull him back, but Nate only brushed him off. "Either I spy on her from up here or I go down there and do it."

Tom's hands went limp and fell to his sides. Admitting defeat was a lot easier than trying to stop Nate from going downstairs and across the street. He was a little guy, but strong.

Tom walked away from the window and went into the kitchen to pour himself a shot. Then another.

"I think I see her, man!" he yelled from the other room and Tom poured himself a third shot. "That chick's in high school?"

Tom let out a sigh before downing his third and final shot. "She graduates next week."

"Well, she's just adorable."

Tom went back into the room and leaned against the wall. "Fuck you."

Nate left the window and went back to the couch, putting his feet up on the table. "Nothing wrong with adorable. She's the girl you'd take home to your mother. I mean, normally. In this case, your mom would have a fucking stroke if you brought this chick home."

It was true. He couldn't imagine his family accepting her as his girlfriend if he ever tried to bring her home to meet them. His father would be polite, but quiet. His brother would make up some excuse to leave early while his wife would make small talk with subtle judgmental comments and his mother... She wouldn't say more than a few words to her and would tell Tom that she didn't want him bringing her around again.

He could feel his blood pressure rising. Tom swallowed hard to calm himself before speaking. "I don't care what my family thinks about her."

Nate huffed. "Maybe not, but I'm guessing her family won't want you around either. Remember when my little sister dated my uncle's friend when she was in college? When my dad found out, he didn't talk to her for a year and a fucking half.

"And what about friends? I'm here for you, man, but none of the guy's wives are ever going to accept her. They'll be that annoying polite to her face, then talk shit as soon as the two of you leave the room."

"I will give you twenty dollars if you shut up right now."

"Hey, man-"

"Fifty dollars."

"Deal."

And though Nate held on to his end of the deal, it was too late. The words were still in his head.

He couldn't imagine Ada going through that shit with her family, especially with her mom's disease. Every second with her mom counted and Tom didn't want to be the reason for that time being taken away.

************

The summer heat glistened against Ada's skin as she locked up the coffee shop.

Less than a month ago, the streets were empty, the air was cold and time moved at a snail's pace. Now her shifts moved quickly. The parking spaces were full and the hot air had a heaviness to it that had hit her every time she went to check on an outside table that night.

Rather than go to her car, which she had to park down in the lot, she waited for the next car to pass before walking across the street. Though the parking spots were full, most people were in the bar or at the movie theater. There weren't many people walking around and those who were, she didn't recognize.

To them, she was just a person going across the street and down an alley rather than a student going over to her teacher's apartment. The summer weather brought her own sort of anonymity amongst a crowd of tourists.

Ada walked up the familiar steps and knocked on the familiar door. Within moments, a not so familiar face opened the door.

He was not a man she'd ever seen before around town. He was Tom's age, but at least a half a foot smaller than him, closer to her height than Tom's. His hair was red and had a beard to match, and his skin was pale.

"I think I broke Tom," he mumbled.

The words were tough for Ada to make sense of and she looked around him to see Tom sitting on the couch, staring ahead at the blank wall above the television.

"What did you do to him?"

The guy shrugged. "I dunno. I was just giving him shit about you and I think I took it too far. He was fine for a while. Distracted, but fine. Then he just sort of started talking less and less and I gave up trying and then he turned into this."

Ada walked around the stranger and took in the sight of Tom, who looked half in the bag and completely out of it.

His eyes flashed to her as if he'd only then just noticed that she was in the room. "Hey." His voice was scratchy as it came out, as if he hadn't used it for days.

Something felt off. She couldn't pin point what, but the way he looked at her felt cryptic.

"Hey."

"You off work already?"

Ada had checked the clock at the coffee shop before she left and was surprised by how late it was. It took forever to get the last of the customers out the door.

She turned away from Tom and back toward the red-haired man she could only assume was one of Tom's friends.

Without her saying the words, he seemed to take the hint. "I think I'll go for a walk." He gave Tom one last look before heading out the door.

Ada went over and kneeled in front of Tom. When she reached for him, he grabbed her arm and held it in place for several seconds before releasing it.

"What's wrong?"

He shook his head, still not out of his daze. "Nothing. Just tired."

"Bullshit. What's wrong?" she repeated.

"We don't need to talk about it right now." He was hesitating, putting something off. Whatever was going on in his head wasn't good.

Yet Ada needed to know. "Tell me."

Tom let out a heavy breath and leaned back on the couch, away from her. "I keep..." Tom searched for the right words, or was procrastinating. "I keep trying to figure out how you and I could possibly work, but I just can't see it."

The words stung at her heart and tore the air from her lungs. She lowered her head to hide her trembling chin, though something told her he wasn't looking at her anymore.

"Y-" Ada coughed to strengthen her voice. "You were the one who said it was a bad idea. You said that people weren't going to like this. You knew the consequences, and you kissed me anyhow."

"Yes, I knew the consequences."

"So, was that your way of trying to talk me out of all this?"

Tom reached out to her, but let his hands fall before they reached her body. "No."

She looked down, away from his stare. She didn't want him to see the tears filling her eyes, but he was sure he could sense them from her shaky breaths and body.

Ada felt the need to be strong, yet it wasn't in her. She wanted to get up and walk out the door, but she knew her body would barely move if she tried. Her thoughts were too hazy to tell her body to do anything or her mouth to say anything.

"Ada, look at me."

She shook her head.

The kiss they'd shared the night before was the most magical moment of her young life. It was everything beautiful in life wrapped up into a series of of perfect moments. It turned her insides to realize he didn't feel that. Not enough for him to want to try.

"I should get home," Ada stuttered, putting her palm against the table next to her to help raise her weakening body. She felt dizzy, confused, and lost. She ran her fingers through her hair and sucked in the heavy air around her. "What about me isn't good enough for you?"

"That's not-" Tom grabbed her by her shoulders. She hadn't even realized she'd been pacing. "You are more than good enough for me, Ada. You're too good for me."

She laughed at his words. This wasn't just a rejection to Ada. This was a betrayal of a best friend. Everything he'd said and everything he'd done felt like it was to pull her up just so he could let her go to suffer the fall. He was a liar who wasn't just lying to her, but to himself.

If he'd wanted her enough, he would have seen a future with her.

"Either I'm a shitty kisser, or not good enough for you, or not worth the wrath of my dad, or not worth the reputation of being a cradle robber. Maybe your job is more important. Maybe it's because you don't want to take the chance of being with a girl who has Huntington's."

Tom tried to pull her against him, but she fought him with the little strength she had left.

"I'm sorry, Ada." She lost the fight and ended up in his arms. "Believe me, I don't want to hurt you."

She shook her head, wishing she had the strength to push him away. So instead, she let her arms fall to her sides and waited for him to get the hint, which he did, and let her go.

She wiped her nose on her arm and took a step away from him. "Yeah, better to break my heart and ruin our friendship than take a chance."

Tom shook his head and wiped the tears from her face. Normally she would have turned into a puddle by that action.

"I don't want to lose our friendship and I don't want to break your heart. I'm trying to protect it."

"You're trying to protect yourself," she told him, the words coming out clearer than she expected and with surprising conviction. "You want me to understand and say it's okay, but it's not okay, Tom. If a little teasing from one of your friends is enough to make you decide that I'm not worth the risk, then fuck you."

"You're worth the risk, Ada. I'm the one that's not worth the risk for you."

She shook her head. It was all bullshit. Every kiss last night, every look and every touch they'd shared over the last few weeks.

"That's the cheapest fucking version of 'it's not you, it's me' that I've ever heard."

"It's true."

"It's a cop-out." Ada couldn't even stand to look at the guy who she once had to stop herself from looking at for too long. "And you're an asshole."

"I am," he admitted, tears appearing to fill his own eyes. "I am an asshole. But I'm an asshole who's trying to do right by you."

"Keep telling yourself that."

She walked away from him then, out of the door to his apartment and, at the end of the week, out of his life.