Rumored Nights

The hallways were quiet as William walked through them.

12C... 14C...

He knew though that behind these doors were different worlds, not in the Alice and Wonderland sense, but in human terms, though the thought of Alice caused a mental cringe.

16C... 18C...

There were different atmospheres, one apartment could belong to a recently happy person, their happiness throwing light like crystal in the sun.

Other's could be heavy and thick with rage, leaving it hard to breathe under the intensity of their emotion.

20C... 22C...

William's heart beat loudly in sync with his footsteps as he tread the wooden floors.

He followed a path he had never taken before to a place he never thought he would willingly go.

24C, Mike's apartment.

He stood there, taking deep steady breaths, before he raised his fist and knocked twice.

White noise filled the hallway, but even still he could hear the footsteps on the otherside of the door, one hurried, one steady as it drew toward where he stood.

The green chipping wood in front of him opened wide enough for William to see a disheveled Mike, hair a mess as he tugged down his shirt.

"William?" Mike asked, not sure if it was the very same under the fluorecent lights.

"Am I interrupting something?" He wondered, unintentionally peering behind him and forgetting his mission.

Mike pulled the door closer to him, hiding any sign there was someone else there.

"What are you doing here?" He asked monotoned.

With a sigh William swallowed his pride.

"I need to talk to you about Alice." He explained meekly.

As expected Mike suddenly became defensive, pulling the door even tighter to him as footsteps could be heard behind him.

His features turned puzzled. "Is she in there now?"

Without an answer William knew, connected the dots between the two footsteps, Mike's appearance, and his defensive stare.

Jealously like never before flooded through William, pushing Mike aside to barge into the apartment uninvited.

Where he expected to see Alice half naked on the couch was a girl, poised despite her desheveled hair and misbuttoned shirt, sitting there with the remote in hand.

"Hi there William." She greeted, though nothing about her welcome was welcoming.

He could feel the blood beginning to gather at his cheeks, lightly tinting his pale features with shame.

"William this is Melanie." Mike explained, walking into the room.

"I'm sorry..." He apologized sheepishly, turning to Melanie. "You're one of Alice's friends."

It wasn't a question, merely an observation, but Melanie took it as such regardless.

"Yeah I am, and I know all about you. Why are you here anyway?" She asked bluntly.

His blush deepened.

"I, uh, wanted to talk to Mike... about Alice." He answered, rubbing his palms nervously on his jeans.

Hearing this, Mike looked over at Melanie questioning.

"Oh no, I'm not leaving. If this has anything to do with Alice I'm staying right here." She declared, crossing her arms to cement her words.

William sighed and began to slowly pace before he looked up at Mike.

"I'm an idiot. A complete and utter idiot."

"That's for damn sure." Melane snorted, but was silenced by Mike's glance.

They both cared for Alice, but Mike was intrigued by William and somewhat hopeful that he was going to fix the rift in their friendship and not let Alice go on without closure.

Seeing the neutral, waiting expression on Mike's face, William continued.

"I've liked Alice for a long time, I just never did anything because I couldn't get over the fact I should see her as my sister. When we were walking together one day I couldn't help but hint to her that I liked her. But she didn't get it and it was just so frustrating and I'd been holding back for so long that I kissed her. And I should regret it but I don't. What I do regret is freaking out and leaving."

The anxiety was running so fast through him William couldn't stand still and began pacing the room while the other two watched.

"Now it's like her whole life is so much better without me in it." He surmised with a sigh, pausing his steps.

Looking at them as if he were a twelve year old confessing, William got to the point of his visit.

"The reason I'm here is, since you know Alice so well, I need to know if she's better off without me in her life."

Melanie couldn't hold her tongue for long and spoke.

"What about that girl of yours? The Alice replacement?"

He moved to shrug, but instead squared his shoulders knowing what would come with his honest answer, honesty being his only way these days.

"She broke up with me last week, and she's partly the reason I'm here, but not because of what you're thinking. I would've done this sooner but for all my faults I had to do that for Avery. I was a shitty enough boyfriend to her without Alice, and I treated her like she was only there when I felt like it... God it's no wonder she broke up with me. I was so hung up on Alice I didn't even treat Avery like I should've."

With furrowed eyebrows Mike looked at William in the hot seat, figuratively of course as he still stood there.

"If you want her back that probably wasn't the best thing to say." He intoned.

William shrugged. "It's the truth, and I'm not after Alice as my girlfriend. I'll take whatever I can as long as she doesn't hate me."

For a few moments Mike started at William looking for any trace of a lie but saw none.

"Why Alice? It looks like you've hardly gotten any sleep and this is one of those family holidays, why spend it freaking out about a girl that can't stand you?" He asked.

William didn't shrug or pause with his answer.

"Because I love her."