Price Check On Monogamy

"When the fight was over, nothing mattered. Nothing was solved..."

I munched on some popcorn and sat curled up on my side of the couch. I honestly loved FIght Club-- and I hadn't seen it in forever. "Gotta love imaginary friends," I mused, washing the popcorn down with some Coke.

Tandem laughed in agreement. From his end of the couch. The sudden hiss of air escaping a can and the putrid smell of Monster made me wrinkle my nose and look over at him.

"And you call Coke acid? All that stuff is is flavoured horse piss."

Tandem raised his eyebrows and took a deep gulp of the disgusting energy drink, staring at me over the rim the whole time. Once he finally broke for air, and sighed in overdramatic content and licked his lips. "Doesn't taste that way to me. Besides, how would you even know what horse piss tastes like, hmm?"

"Well, you see, it's a long story--"

"Oh, shut up!" Tandem laughed and chucked a couch pillow at me. I batted it away and stuck my tongue out at him. "You're such a little bitch sometimes, you know that?"

I shrugged and sighed. "What can I say, it takes a true genius to appreciate someone as unique as me."

Tandem quieted, and the playful look on his face calmed down to something... not so much serious, as contemplative. "Yeah, you're right," he said finally, quietly enough for me to have to strain to hear him. Shaking his head and going to pick up his drink, he hissed and swore under his breath.

"Did something happen?" I asked, eyebrows raised.

"Dammit, the cap came off wrong and cut my hand."

I rolled my eyes and went over to him, moving across the couch on my knees. Grabbing his hand and looking it over, and I laughed and shook my head. "Way to overreact. It looks fine, it's just a little cut." I looked up to tease him a little more, but swallowed whatever I was going to say next at the look in his eyes. It was caring and... confused. "Tandem?" I almost whispered.

He answered with a kiss.

Just like it was at the lake, the kiss was soft and gentle at first, almost hesitant. And, just as I had at the lake, like a damn idiot, I started kissing back. The kiss got heavier, and Tandem was pressing me back, his hand in my hair holding my head up. When my back hit the couch, followed gently by my head, he ran a hand down my side and I sighed.

This time, there wasn't a rock to bring me back to my senses.

There was, however, a phone.

"Shit," Tandem mumbled under his breath, straightening and pulling his phone out of his pocket. Looking at the caller ID and rolling his eyes, he flipped the phone open and mumbled, "Yeah? ... are you fucking serious? ... why the hell-- fine, fine, okay, just shut the fuck up, I'll be there in a second."

Tandem looked at me apologetically as I sat up. "Tiger, I'm really sorry, your dumb ass brother just knocked a few of Heather's boyfriend's teeth out, and I need to go grab him before someone calls the cops. Jeremy would do it, but he can't get him to the car on his own."

I nodded and brushed some of my hair back, embarrassed over what had just happened. "Yeah, cool, you should probably keep that from happening."

Tandem stood up and started walking to the door. When he got to the threshold between the kitchen and the living room, however, he hesitated.

"Tiger?" He asked quietly. "I... I really enjoyed tonight, alright? Umm... I just... I don't know how to say this, but..." He sighed and shook his head. "Never mind, it's stupid. Good night, Tiger."

"Tandem, wait!" I called before jumping up and running over to the door. I grabbed his arm and tugged him to a stop. "What were you going to say?"

Tandem looked at his arm, then at me and closed his eyes. "This has never been so hard, Tiger. It's so wrong."

"What are you talking about?" First thought: this bastard didn't just give me some sort of disease, did he?

Tandem touched my cheek with one hand and stared at me with a look so soft and genuine that it pierced me soul deep. "Tiger... I know I'm a bad person. I know that I'm a player and a slut. I know that I've fucked you over-- in more ways than you probably know. And I know that you still hate me and that you have a right to, especially because of everything's that's going on right now. But... you confuse the hell out of me, Tiger. You're beautiful, but you don't really care, or see it. You're smart, which, for you, works. You're a bitch, but only when you have to be. You drive me crazy. And I loved it. So-- will you go out with me?"