Roddrick's mind buzzed as she stared at Milo's face, in the far distance she barely registered the feel of his fingertips brushing against her knee. Her eyes skated down to them, watching one draw a line down crease just above her calf. She began to wonder if he was even aware of the light contact because she couldn't force herself to answer in time before his attention was stolen away from her. A smile rose slightly as she began to open her mouth to speak.

    "I can't believe you've been holding out with that song, baby." Alex stood from her seat, her petite figure draping over Milo's as her arms encircled around his neck. Clenching her hands to the skirt of her dress, Roddrick watched on with a pursed look.

    "It was amazing. I don't even understand how something like that could come out of an idiot can like you." Alex joked as she lightly kissed him just below his jaw. Her eyes had floated up to Roddrick's, and it was there that she realized Alex had intended on her being a witness to the outpour of love she had for Milo all night.

   "Wow, I knew having you here would be great for support." Milo grabbed her arms from around him, smiling up at her sarcastically.

   "Of course I would be here to support you...especially if I inspired you." Her last words were meant to be heard by only him, but Roddrick was able to catch every bit of it. She didn't know that Blake watched from across the table as her face failed to hide the obvious range of emotions she was feeling.

     "Wow," Roddrick interrupted clearing her throat," you're one lucky woman then because that was a beautiful song. And to think you two aren't together."  The last word dripped in contempt as Roddrick forced herself not to roll her eyes.

      She had begun to become uncomfortable with the PDA that seemed to happen constantly when Alex was near Milo. She had only known the woman for less than an hour, but she was already able to knick away at the small amount of confidence Roddrick had come there with. Down casting her eyes at her nails, she tried not to become the bitter one at the table and begin worrying about something that she had only imagined.

   "You think I should give him a shot? I like it when he's pining after me..." Alex laughed, knocking shoulders with him. Twisting her mouth, Roddrick looked to him, curious as to how he would respond. She knew that if he did what she half expected, then she would get rid of any hopes and thoughts she previously held.

   Sighing deeply he slouched back in his seat and crossed one leg over his knee.

   Roddrick started to fumble with her jacket, ready to make an excuse as to why she would have to leave so early when she heard Milo chuckle," Hate to break it to you Alex, you weren't exactly the target I had in mind."

   He spoke with a straight expression as his eyes commanded Roddrick's to look at him. She froze in her movements as the others turned in unison towards her.

    "Surprise." He said with a boyish grin and half raised arms.

    She fidgeted under their gazes as one looked on in amusement and the other in honest confusion.

    "You still haven't told me what you thought about the song." Milo broke the silence as he put the spotlight on her again.

   "I mean. It was a really nice song. Not nice-not that that's bad but-I thought it sounded great."

    "Just great?" He taunted.

   Blinking, she felt her hand rise to snag at the loose ends of her ponytail as she calmed herself down.

    Milo reached out, pulling her hand free from her curls as his voice lowered to a serious tone.

    "I was really counting on you to like it."

    "I'm sure anyone would have liked it, Milo."

    "I didn't want just anyone to like it. Not just anyone drove me to write it." He said matter of fact.

    "Is there something I'm missing here?" Alex spoke up, tired of straining her neck to listen to the conversation.  When Milo had brought Roddrick to the group earlier that night, she hadn't thought anything of her. For one, she was black and for Milo to be with her would have to have been out of pure desperation or just before passing out from alcohol poisoning. Sure, she was cute, but that didn't mean much to Alex as her race had immediately casted Roddrick off as a non-factor. Had it been any other woman being invited to his show, she may have taken offense.

    Roddrick had just begun to understand the meaning behind what Milo was implying before she was torn away by Alex's voice.

     Her brow was furrowed now, showing eyebrows that had been hidden by the blunt bangs she wore.

    "Can you tell me what's going on here?" Her hand laid possessively on Milo's arm, eyes glued to the way his fingers still lingered upon Roddrick's. Her mouth was open just slightly, enough to allow a scoff of disbelief to escape.

   "Are you fucking her too? Have you been fucking her this entire time?" Alex's voice raised to an uncomfortable pitch, the cool and blasé attitude swallowed up by jealousy.

   "You need to chill out. Now." Milo turned with all seriousness painted across his face as he tried to quiet her down.

    "I am not going to fucking chill when you've got the bitch you've been fucking behind my back sitting across from me!" Blake's eyes widened as he quickly downed the rest of his beer, waving over the waitress for another as the background noises took a seat to the commotion at their table.

    Roddrick sat amused and unaffected by her sudden outburst. Earlier she had seemed so sure about herself, and now here she was falling apart at the seams all because she wasn't Milo's muse.  Having Alex acting in such a manner caused for Roddrick to respond in the complete opposite as anyone else would have. No use in getting herself worked up by what she was saying when Alex obviously had enough dramatics for 100 people.

    "I'm not so sure if fucking is the right tense to use here. That kind of insinuates that it has been an ongoing thing. We fucked, in the past tense. Once."  Tired of the other woman's antics, Roddrick had let out something she had only meant to think as Alex's face turned red.

    "You fucking bitch." Before Roddrick could laugh at the little pet name, she found herself covered in beer with no warning.

   She heard the scraping of chairs against the wooden floor as Milo stood instantly, grabbing the flailing arm heading Roddrick's way before dragging Alex away from the table.

    "You're out of your fucking mind." He grit out as he pulled her close.

     "How could you do this to me? Three months of us actually making something and you fuck it up."

     Milo began to scold himself now. He knew that he should have stopped the romps that happened all too often between them.

   The past few months, Alex had been a recurrent face in his everyday life. Without any word from Roddrick, he had found himself bored and without much to focus on but her.

    So he thought it would have been okay to pass the time.

     Sex between them hadn't been like when Milo had first returned from rehab. It didn't happen at random, and they never quite returned to things being normal afterwards. Now, he was reaping what he had sowed. Seeing how he may have gotten into something he hadn't wanted even if he didn't intend to.

    "We need to talk, but not here. This isn't the right place." He tried to speak calmly, not really changing the snarl on Alex's face.

    "You want to talk to me then do it now!"

    "This isn't a good place Alex." He tried to keep her tear stained face hidden from the curious faces of the bar as they stood near the entrance.

     "I can't believe you would do this to me. I was just pussy to you, wasn't I?" Now Alex had reached a stage of despair as she bit her cheek, body shaking before the sobs could escape.

    "No, you weren't. I swear you weren't Alex."

     "You tried to do me the way you did her. I'm not some slut, Milo. We don't just fuck." Alex's voice grew scratchy as she began to create a divide between her and Roddrick.

    "Alex, no one's saying anything like that. Look-I can explain better somewhere else."

     "Tell me. Who is she to you."

    "Alex..." Milo became exasperated." From behind, a still wet Roddrick began to approach the two, an attentive Blake by her side.

     "Tell me Milo," eyes capturing Roddrick's, Alex spoke with a leveled voice,"was she just a quick fuck, or not?"

    Still unaware of the presence of the two behind them, Milo quickly answered, hoping to resolve the issue if not for just a moment. Long enough to get Alex out of there so that he could check on Roddrick and make sure she was okay. He figured giving her an answer-any kind of answer-was better than having her rage any longer there in the bar.

   "Yes. It was a onetime thing." He said with a sigh.

     "Just sex?"

    "Just sex, Alex. Okay? "

    Dropping her head, Alex wiped her eyes of tears just as Roddrick's filled with ones of hurt and anger.

    "What you had with her isn't what you and me have, right?" She spoke softly as she leaned into his chest, arms wrapping around his waist.  Knowing that she would want an embrace in response, Milo gave it to her.

    "No. Nothing like us." He rubbed her shoulders  as it seemed like he avoided an even greater catastrophe, Alex quickly seeming to no longer be as irate has she had been just minutes before." Let's get you out of here. I'll call you a-"

    His sentence was never finished as a rough shove to his shoulder sent a stinging sensation throughout the muscle there.

     His stomach dropped at the blank look in Roddrick's eyes as she smiled humorlessly.

       "I guess this saves us another morning after, huh? Just sex? Are you sure?" Roddrick's arms appeared relaxed, folded across her stomach, but her fingers dug into the material and pinched at her flesh as she stood there.

   Maybe she didn't deserve to be upset about finding out what Milo had obviously seen her as.

    The song had to have been a ruse, one that would have worked perfectly on Roddrick because she was definitely ready to leap when he said to.

    "Roddrick, you don't understand." Milo's arms dropped from Alex as he started towards her, stopped by one raised palm.

    "Nah, I think I do. I mean, I should have known from the start, but somehow along the way I let my imagination get the best of me and thought for a second that-" She had already said enough. Roddrick knew this when a lump in her throat prevented her from speaking anymore.

   Rocking on her heels, she laughed softly to herself before looking at Milo briefly. Eyes travelled between the small group before her feet led her to the exit, alone.

    "I guess your plans for the night have changed?" Blake walked past Milo, giving him a knowing glance as he took away a protesting Alex, saying that there had been enough fun for the night as he made out to drive her home. Looking back at Milo, he watched as the other man's pale face downturned, standing alone in the corner of the dark bar.

oOo

    Roddrick slammed the front door as she clambered through the house, heading straight for the shower. She could smell nothing but the beer and shame she now felt for herself.

    "God, you must be old now, you're back early-Roddrick?" Ignoring Roderica as she came out of her room at the sound of the commotion, she paid her no mind as she stripped her jacket off right before the bathroom door. Kicking off her heels she began to unzip her dress, letting it fall as well before slamming the bathroom door shut.

     Roderica stood looking at the pile of clothes, noticing the stench of alcohol and how soiled they looked. Blinking, she began to wonder if anything bad had happened to her sister while she was out.

    "What happened? Why does your stuff reek?" She knocked quickly on the door, met by the sound of the shower running and not Roddrick's reply. Picking them up carefully, she inspected them for rips or tears, any sign of a struggle that Roddrick may have encountered.

    Puffing out her cheeks, she turned her back to the door, sliding her body down as she waited for her sister to reappear. Hugging her knees close, she tapped her toes against the carpet, silently praying that what she was imagining hadn't happened. Roderica felt like there was a huge gaping hole in the middle of her as she dreaded an answer.

    Gasping, Roddrick moved from under the spray of the water, as it washed out the suds in her hair. Her hands went to her eyes, rubbing at them roughly before they stilled.

   "What did you expect?" She asked herself.

     "You can't be mad about something like this. You wanted it anyway."

     "Roddrick?" The concerned sound of her little sister brought her out of her pity party as she turned to the voice beyond the door.

    "I'm okay Rodey." She called out, the first bit of relief she had given Roderica all night.

    "No you're not." She didn't even have to see Roderica to know that she had her body plastered against the door, speaking in the same voice apprehensive tone she had as a little girl.

   She moaned at the door like a puppy begging to be with its human as Roddrick finished her shower. She obviously wasn't going to get to sulk in peace as she had hoped.

    Walking out, wrapped in her towel, Roddrick had little time to react to Roderica as she clung to her side, stumbling along all the way to her room.

   "You're pulling down my towel."

    "Are you okay?"

     "Rodey, I'm getting you soaked."

     "Are you okay?" When they reached the room, Roddrick tried to twist out of her grasp, but it was tight enough to render her efforts useless.

    "You gonna stand here with me while I'm naked?"

    "Are. You. Okay?" Staring up with wide brown eyes, Roderica wasn't going to budge. She was stubborn like that, and luckily that trait was always a sure fire way to break down Roddrick's farce.

    "Yes. I'm okay."

    "Are you sure?" Roderica asked, holding tighter. A hand came to her forehead, pushing at the loose strands of her French braids as Roddrick showered kisses on her cheek.

   "I'm okay. Some stupid boy, did stupid boy things tonight, and I fell right in the trap." Finally letting go, Roddrick began to dress, slipping into a nightie that was a favorite of hers as Roderica stood close by.

    "What kind of stupid boy things? Like really dumb? Like...we should call the police dumb? Maybe you shouldn't have taken a shower. That's how they can run tests-"

   "Rodey? What are you thinking?" When she realized where her sister was headed to in her thoughts, she had to stop her.

    "I'm saying if that guy did something stupid, we should tell someone. I regret even saying you should have even gone out with him now. Asshole." Moving her wet hair behind her, Roddrick walked with open arms as she engulfed Roderica within them.

    "That's not what I mean. Nothing like that happened to me, baby. I just got played."

    "And that's all?"

     "That's all. I fell for the okie doke."

     "Okie dok-do you know what year it is? You need to refresh your vocab." Roderica laughed with a twisted face.

     "I need to refresh a whole bunch it seems." Roddrick agreed, walking to the bed." I'm sleeping here tonight. Deal with it." Roderica rushed by, flopping onto the bed before Roddrick could get a chance to climb in.

    "No, you're a horrible sleeper."

    "Quit playing, girl. My back hurts and I can't be sleeping out there on that couch." Jerking at the comforter, Roddrick entered a tug of war with her sister.

    "You gotta tell me what happened tonight if I let you sleep here." Roderica bargained.

   "Let me? You don't have to let me because I'm gonna."

    "Rules!" She shouted."These are my rules."

     "I'd rather not..."

    "It will make you feel better."

     "You just want to be nosy." Dropping the blanket and placing her hands on her hips, Roddrick stopped struggling as she stared down her sister.

    "Nosy? Hardly. I'm just a concerned sister who want to be someone you can come to with your problems and any issues. That's what sisters are for. We have a special duty to one another and-"

     "Okay! Okay, just stopping talking and I'll tell you." Finally giving in, Roddrick waited for Roderica to unwrap herself from the cocoon she had made.

    "You may now enter the chamber of secrets." Holding up the blanket, Roderica gave Roddrick enough space to climb under them, pulling a pillow under her head as she waited for Roddrick to start her story.

    "...And you can't repeat none of this, you hear?"  A stiff finger pointed in Roderica's nodding face and goofy smile.

    Making the motion of zipping her lips, she sat back, soaking in all of the information she could get about Roddrick and her mishap with Milo.