The Redhead, and The Dreamer.

So...the words came, and surprisingly enough, they felt incredibly...right. Crystal said she hated the song, but I think we were both learning to ignore her. Everything was going great...

I'd decided to take the back way in for practice one night. I'd had my own key for a few weeks now, and I sure as hell was good at using it. My plan was to jump out on Ethan and scare him. It'd give me something to make fun of him for for the next few days.

I guess the smell should have tipped me off a bit, but i was coming to notice his house always smelled like sex, or at least it did whenever I was around. I walked through the kitchen slowly, testing my steps, being completely silent. I was good at this. I'd used the same technique to escape an annoying guy around town or two too many times at this point. They were being silent as possible too. I didn't even hear them over the living room TV.

I opened the door slowly and stepped into the room. I froze. Gasped. For a second there I thought it was Crystal, but then specifics sunk in. Dark brown hair. Not blonde. Slightly chunky. I could tell she was short even at such an odd position.

Frantic self-serving movement stopped. Eyes fluttered open alarmed, shot to me almost instantly. Ethan's mouth dropped open. It looked like he was trying to think of something to say, but no words came out of his mouth. The girl was glaring at me, like this was all my fault.

"Sky..." Ethan muttered finally. He rolled off of the girl and the couch quickly, stealing the thin blanket they were under to cover himself, leaving her totally exposed. She nearly dived into the small pile of their clothes on the floor next to the couch, and started dressing quickly.

"I noticed my mouth had somehow fallen open too. It was dry. I wanted to yell. It somehow felt like he was betraying me more than he was Crystal. I must have been feeling selfish. "Really?" I asked. I didn't know what else to say. Even that word got caught in my throat and was sort of croaked out rather than spoken.

"I..." Ethan was lost for words too. I bet he was feeling like a real ass right about then.

"You..." I drew out the word, saying it kind of like a question, trying to egg on whatever statement was going to come next.

"It's not-,"

I cut him off there, knowing exactly what generic statement he was going to try to say next. "It is exactly what it looks like," I shot back, defensively for some reason. "Cheating? Really?"

"I...I..."

"Whatever," I tossed him his key and turned on my heel and started heading for the back door.

"Wait," he called at me. "Where are you going?"

"Home," I said. "This is done." It kind of sounded like I was breaking up a relationship rather than just a music partnership. "Fuck the music. You can keep the song. I'm done."

"Crystal doesn't have to know." He chased me into the kitchen as we heard the front door slam. Seems like the other girl wanted to be quick to flee the scene too. "It shouldn't really matter to you all that much."

"Crystal's my best friend!"

"Was!" he shouted back at me. "Nowadays she wants nothing to do with you and don't act like you don't fucking realize it. Hell, other females hate you too. They say you're fast, and wouldn't let you around their boyfriends for a million dollars. The guys around town all think you're a quick fuck. Who else do you have other than me?"

I bit my lip. I almost turned around, but I couldn't help myself. I slapped him, as hard as I could. His fingers raised to his face, feeling his cheek and then his expression hardened. The next thing I knew I was slapping into the tile floor, one of my cheeks burning too. He'd hit me back.

I howled. I didn't know it at the time, but I was bawling my eyes out. On hands and knees I made my way for the back door, but then Ethan caught me by my collar and pulled me to my feet, turning me to face him.

He just stared at me a few seconds before his expression softened again. I thought he was going to hit me again, but eventually he just sighed.

"I swear you just make me so mad sometimes," he muttered, pulling me against him. He was hugging me. "I didn't mean it," he said. "You're like...my little sister. I never meant to. I won't. Never again." I said nothing, but relaxed a little bit despite everything. "You know I love you, right Skylar?" he asked me. I was still crying, more because I was confused than scared or in pain now. I shrugged. "Well, I do. Don't forget that." He squeezed me a little tighter in his arms. "Ever. Okay?"

I shrugged then slowly nodded.

I liked it here. I could feel him breathe.