He was taken aback by her sudden outbursts, and his mouth opened as if he was going to say something - but it just hung there. In shock. He had really hurt her, he was still hurting her. What was he supposed to say to that? What was he supposed to do? He wanted to comfort her, tell her everything was going to be okay, but he couldn't. He couldn't do that, he knew very well she would never let that happen. He ran his hand through his spiky hair, and took a deep breath. "Well I'm glad, I'm glad you're so much fucking stronger than I am. But I can't deal with it. I just can't." He yelled back. Why was he yelling? He was defending his drug use like a true addict. He hated the part of him, but it just came out like word vomit.

I won't have any part of it. We're done, Demitri. Done!

Did she...Did she just break up with him? The cemetery setting wasn't helping with the shock factor of what just happened. Everything had been going so well, and now it was just blowing up. "Don't do that. You don't...you don't really want that. Do you?" And when she said he didn't care about her, his stomach flipped upside down and his heart stopped. "Mikki, I do care about you! You mean the world to me. W-we can get through this. Please, beautiful? Don't do this." The corners of his mouth twitched as if he were about to cry, but he stopped himself. This was pathetic, he was absolutely pathetic. "I care about you so much." He was desperately clinging onto the hope that she didn't mean that.

Michaline retreated, two steps back. She shook her head slowly. "No, Demitri. If you truly care about me, then prove it. You get clean, and then we can talk. You know what happened to my mother, you know what it did to me, yet you do this to yourself. You don't have to face what ever is haunting you alone! You never did! But hiding all of that from me...when I told you about my past..." She shook her head again. "That's not caring about me. That's just making sure you save your own ass."

She looked down at her hands, holding them out in front of her. "I can say truthfully that I love you, Demitri. And I thought you loved me. If you do, and you want to prove it, then you know what to do. Come talk to me. But until then, don't. I can't put myself through that voluntarily again. I'll even hep you get clean, just show me that you're willing...to start." She stopped again, letting her hands fall to her sides, and then looked Demitri in the eye.

"For me."

Get clean, get clean, get clean.

It was like a broken record playing over and over again in his head. Get clean, get clean. He had to choose between her and dealing with it. At the moment, he wasn't sure if the good outweighed the bad, but he was sure he was going to have to make a decision soon or lose her. And she wanted to know everything, a past for a past. Was he ready for that? Was he ready for any of this? The dilemma in his head was similar to a tiny devil and a tiny angel having an argument over his shoulder, like in the cartoons.

"Michaline," The name felt foreign in his mouth, he never called her that. "I don't...I just can't tell you that. Not right now. I can't." It was taking all he had no to completely fall apart, he could feel his hands shaking - he shoved them back into his pockets.

The look in her eyes terrified him, but he didn't want to look away from them. He didn't speak, not for a few moments, he just studied her, chewing on his bottom lip like he did when he was deep in thought. "I..." He wanted to say that wouldn't do it, that he couldn't. But those words were getting tired, and he was sick of using them.

For me.

The words crashed down in his head like a tsunami. He couldn't say no to that. He couldn't. It was impossible, he'd just be more of an ass than he already was if he said no.

He looked in her eyes now, focusing all of his energy on it.

"I can try."

"I can try."

Somewhere deep within her, Michaline was relieved. But a part of her didn't believe him, and she knew she couldn't believe him. Not yet. She didn't believe the words that sprung out of her mouth, and that she was turning her back on him, yet she saw that she was.

"Trying isn't good enough." The words hurt her, probably as much as they were going to hurt Demitri. But she couldn't help it. She had to know that he would quit, not just try. She had also found herself beginning to walk away from him, not able to face what was coming, to look into his eyes. Her heart was screaming, tearing in two, telling her to go back to him, that no matter what they should stay together. But she couldn't. She just couldn't.

Trying isn't good enough.

Any hope he had had left, had completely shattered when she turned her back. He couldn't run after her either, it was like she had cemented his feet to the ground when she walked away. He watched her back as she walked, desperately wanting to go after her. Wanting to win her back, wanting to say that he would quit for her. Demitri couldn't honestly say that, he couldn't tell her that without knowing if he was lying or not. All he could tell her was that he could try.

He had just lost his girlfriend - who also happened to be his best friend - to a drug. Growing up, he never thought that he would be that guy, but it's safe to assume no one does. The worst part was? He would go home to do it again and again. He knew full well that this was his fault, that he had made his choice.

"Mikki," He called out after her, in one last, futile attempt. Mikki.

Kaze walked out of his own door and began walking to meet Saphire. The thought of her had a grin on his face. His beautiful, musical Saphire. She was always so willing to do as he asked, he wondered briefly if he was that willing. Of course he was. This was his beauty he was talking about. His mind then switched to Rain. Surely she would like his new formula as well. She never seemed quite as willing to do so, but she was just as beautiful as he felt Saphire was. He loved both of his beauties. He didn't know why most guys didnt claim more than one girl as their own. Not that women were possessions, no. When he made it to his and Saphire's usual meeting spot, he stopped and waited for her. Surely she would be along in a moment.

Michaline didn't know where her feet were taking her, but they were taking her away fast. She could feel herself going into that familiar haze of "Everything's okay, nothing's wrong" attitude, in order to hide her pain from the world. Just like she had done when her mother was still alive. But her mom wasn't alive, and she had just broken up with Demitri. There was no one else she could turn to. Demitri had become her life, and had thrown her aside for a drug.

She ooked around, finding herself in her old neighborhood. Sure enough, there was the small, broken house she had grown up in. Michaline curled herself up under the tree in the backyard and began to cry.
~+~+~+~+~+~+~
Ed was slightly taken aback at her mood. Trying to lighten the mood, he sat down and asked, "What's with the face? Did your puppy die or something?" Then he felt like an ass. He knew she didn't have a dog, but what if someone close to her had died? He sighed gently. "Sorry, that was uncalled for. Seriously, what's up? Why so glum, hun?"

Tori gave a small smile that didn't reach her eyes and fidgeted a bit with her hands under the table. "Well..." She said, and her throat closed up. She was nervous. She didn't want to hurt Edward, but she was sure she would. And she had never broken up with someone before. She didn't know how to handle it. She took a deep breath. She was stronger than this. Besides, this was good for Edward. It would benefit him. She looked him in the eye. "I don't think we should be together anymore. I'm just... I'm not feeling what I should be. I'm sorry..." She said in a slightly wavering voice.

Ed sat there, completely shocked. "W...what?" She was breaking up with him? It didn't make any sense. What had he done wrong? Or maybe she hadn't liked him from the start. Ed stood up so abrubtly, his chair almost toppled over, and he shoved it aside roughly when it got in his way.

"Whatever." He muttered. He thenstormed out of the building, hands in his pockets and pissed off.
.......
Michaline suddenly thought of something. She realized that she desperately wanted Demi to get clean. Maybe she could show him why...she had everything she needed, as long as the Police hadn't found it.

She ran into the dirty house, straight into her mother's closet. She felt around the walls and floor. There! It was still there....

She couldn't understand how anyone functioned at all high. She could barely text.

Demi...I wan sh0w yoo something...woah,colors...

She got distracted three times just by the screen lighting up. Yep...she was pretty close. Just a little more...

Demitri had somehow found himself back in his bedroom, staring at the stark white ceiling. How had things gotten so far out of hand? How had he let them? No. He knew how. He was a coward who couldn't deal with the past, who couldn't deal with the guilt he felt - even though he had no reason to feel that guilt. He knew what happened to his sister wasn't his fault, but that didn't stop him from blaming himself.

It was in the middle of all these thoughts, that his phone had gone off.

Mikki.

He stared at the name on the glowing screen for a long time. What did she want? And why was there suddenly a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach? He dialed her number, listening to the dial tone.

"Mikki? Where are you?" He whispered into the phone, waiting for her to answer.

"Edward!" She called after him. But it was too late. He was gone. She felt tears stinging her eyes. She blinked them back. She wasn't supposed to be the one crying here! So instead, she got angry. He was being completely unfair, she had been nice, kind about it. And he had gotten pissed and ran off. She shoved her own chair out and walked out, still blinking her eyes against the tears that were coming no matter what she did. She felt an icy block in her chest, spreading through her. She pulled out her phone and texted him. Hey Edward. I am sorry that I had to end it, but I was kind enough. It was unfair of you to treat me that way. When you want to speak civilly, I will be willing to talk. She shoved her phone in her pocket and kept walking.

Michaline was completely distracted by her phone when it started buzzing. Some distant part of her mind realized she was acting like an idiot yelling at it, and yelling "for the gods of phone lords to banish her phone to Mordor." Then she sat staring at, when suddenly she got a feeling of heaviness, as if her bones were all collecting at her feet. Her mind slowly cleared, and she realized that Demitri was calling her.

She threw up before she could answer. Yeah, she was real close. She grabbed her phone, wipping her mouth, and finaly answered. "Demitri..." She barely got his name out when he asked where she was. "563 East Westbrook Lane, in the old Slum distrit. You should recognize it from the photo." She didn't give him time to say anything else, because she hung up. She looked at the bag sitting on the bed. She wondered vaguely just what she was doing as she shot up again. "Let's go, gods of Mordor." She muttered.

~+~+~+~+

Ed looked at his phone, scowling. "She wants me to be civil? She didn't even tell me why we broke up, other than, she didn't feel right." He muttered under his breath. What a day. "Just freakin perfect."

Tori decided she wasn't going to school, but she wasn't sure where else to go. Her feet carried her without her knowing where she was going. That was until she saw the old broken down house. It had been their place. She remembered when he said they would put it back together someday and live there happily. The roof was caved in at most places, and all the wood was rotted. He had never let her in there alone. Tears were streaming down her face, and she didn't know why. She walked into the old broken down house and wandered a bit. Everything creaked around her. The wood was rotted and cracked. She started making her way up the stairs. Some of them were missing. She had to step carefully so she didn't fall. She made it to the second floor and kept walking around, daydreaming about how the house could have looked.