Scratch One Off (Sunset/Vinyl - Maid)

 

You can feel her warmth all across your face as she feverishly kisses every part of you in her reach. You don't even remember how you managed to convince her to come here with you, but it might have something to do with the very strong smell of alcohol on her breath.

 

You don't even bother to close the door behind you as you start stripping each other's clothes off. You pick her up and lay her down onto the bed with some force. She wraps her legs around your waist and pulls you close to push her tongue into your mouth. The two of you only break the kiss to strip off another article of clothing. You bump the purple glasses off her face, and they land somewhere on the other side of the bed, forgotten.

 

Her fingers reach for your belt as you grab at her bra, trying to get it off as fast as you could. You would've laughed at the intense focus in her ruby eyes if you weren't giving her bra the same look. You pull the black cloth off of her and move down to her pants. When you lean down she pushes her lips back into yours as you both lean further back into the bed.

 

You both smell like sweat and alcohol, but it doesn't hinder your libido in the slightest. As soon as she pops your belt off, your dick breaks out of your zipper like it's been imprisoned for the last ten years, presenting itself tall and proud in front of her. You pop her bra off and throw it across the room without a care. You take a split second to appreciate her pale figure as you run your hands across her breasts, then down her navel to slide her panties down her thighs. She clumsily grabs your shaft and strokes it at an uncomfortable pace. You could care less right now as you completely expose her and kick off your own pants as well. The only thing on her right now is her blue, fingerless gloves and your hands.

 

You aren't in the mood to spend half an hour working up to it. You peel her off of your face and push her down into the sheets. With an awkward adjustment, you place yourself between her legs and line yourself up for the act. She’s been expecting you, since she’s completely soaked once you touch your head to her folds. In one motion you grab her by the hips and yank her towards you. The wince is evident on her face as you force yourself completely inside of her with no hesitation. You momentarily wince as well. The skin on your shaft stretches before her fluids begin to accommodate you properly.

 

She looks down her body to see you thrusting yourself forward, trying to catch a glimpse of the action. When she realized she couldn't, she looked you in the eyes and bit her lip as you pumped into her. The pale DJ threw her head back into the sheets and wrapped her legs around your waist. She never bothered to take her flashy blue and black boots off, so the strange combination of rubber and leather straps pulled on your skin in the most uncomfortable of ways. Being balls deep in this girl definitely took your mind off of it. With each sloppy thrust, you lose yourself in the pleasure and her radiance even further; or, more likely, you're getting close to passing out on top of her.

 

You lean over her and run your hands up the toned form under you, drinking up as much of her smooth skin as your disoriented perception will allow. In a clumsy attempt to be considerate, you grab her breasts and squeeze. She grabs your hands and looks up at you, but you can't tell if it's in agitation or pleasure. The drunken blush on her shows no signs of fading, and her hips are still grinding against you as you pound into her.

 

You however, are showing signs of fading. Your vision is getting hazy and a rather important part in this situation is also losing interest. To fight the inevitable, you crawl up onto the bed, refusing to pull yourself out. With your knees on the sheets and her hips hoisted high in the air to yours, you make your way to the finish line with hard humps that were sure to leave bruises in the morning.

 

She still moans as loudly as her voice can handle as you pound into her. Her head is cocked to one side from you pulling her over. There is no way that could be comfortable, but she doesn't seem to mind. You are both more focused on the wet smacks that continually connect at the hip. The sound that echoes off of the wall reminds you of the uncomfortable churning in your stomach rather than some reason to be aroused.

 

Through some divine intervention, you feel yourself nearing the edge. Or rather, you remember yourself nearing the edge, because at that moment you feel the tell-tale jerk of your cock as it empties its load. You panic and pull out, watching as the last of your seed shoots out onto her face and tits. It isn't even enough to be sexy either, as most of it is currently dripping out of her and onto your legs and the sheets.

 

Before you can even begin to be worried by any of this, the edges of your vision begin to darken. You look down to warn the girl you may throw up and pass out, but as luck would have it, she's already thrown up and passed out.

 

The sight of your former desire peacefully sleeping in a puddle of her own vomit causes you to do the same all over her midsection before falling backwards off of the bed. The only thing your dulled senses can pick up in these final moments was a hard knock against something wooden. You don't care; you've got a nap to take.

 

[center]_______________________________________________________[/center]

 

Light finally reaches over the bed and hits your eyelids. You scorn whatever gods there may be for creating such a vile, disturbing thing. Your head feels like way too many rats got packed into it and they're all trying to eat their way out at once. You'd throw up, but telling from the piles on the bed, that part of the process has already been taken care of.

 

With a pained groan, you sit up to begin taking stock of the situation. You remember nothing from last night, except going to a club and a large amount of blue lights. There was also something about blue hair... and fingerless gloves. You look down at your naked self to see dried cum on one thigh, and your member sporting the slight smell of female musk.

 

Putting some of these clues together, you deduce that you got lucky. Putting in the fact that half of the bed is covered in vomit and there is a distinct outline of a woman in said vomit, you also deduce that it didn't end well.

 

Oh well. You doubt you'll ever see her again. After closing the door and wondering how many people you scarred with that sight, you put your clothes on and gather what valuables you threw across the room in whatever tantric sexual position you ended up in last night.

 

Finally being fully clothed brought on another realization: you don't have a wallet. You pat your pants down like you're in the TSA but there's no wallet-like bulge to be found. Keys and phone, but no wallet in sight.

 

You check under every chair and nightstand in the room, but it's nowhere to be found. You even checked under the pile of vomit-stained towels in the bathroom. It's not like anyone would want to steal it; besides maybe seven dollars in change there was nothing in there but a few gift cards, your id.You know you left your debit card in your car, so not much to worry about there. You groan yet again once you realize you probably left it at that club for some reason. Maybe you would have to see that girl again after all.

 

A quick check outside also revealed that you have no idea where you are, and your car is also nowhere in sight.

 

Good thing you had a friend with a car. You whip out your phone and prepare your best begging voice.

 

____________________________________________________

 

"I still don't understand how you ended up fifty miles away from this place," Sunset says, a clear hint of agitation in her voice.

 

You roll your eyes. "Like I said, I have no idea. I'm not even sure what happened after I opened the doors to that club."

 

"Well maybe you should stop getting blackout drunk and sleeping with random whores." Sunset wouldn't look at you. She stared intently at the road, seemingly pissed that she had to drive so far.

 

"Is that a hint of jealousy in your voice?" you say with a cocky smile, nudging her with your elbow.

 

"What? Of course not. I'm just tired of having to pick up your broken ass every time you do this." You look over at her and smile. You love the fact that she blushes so easily. Better poke some more fun at her.

 

        "Then why are you blushing? Maybe you'd rather have me have some nice, sober sex with someone who's not a whore? There're plenty of hotels if you want to make a stop."

 

Sunset playfully pushes you against the door, rolling her eyes with a friendly smile. "Or I could leave you on the side of the road for being an ass."

 

"Hey now. Us drop-outs gotta stick together."

 

"I am not a drop-out!" Sunset says, giving you her best 'getting tired of your shit' look.

 

"You were in college, now you're not. You also never got a diploma, so what does that make you?" you tease playfully.

 

"I just don't know what I want to do yet. Better than you; partying his way straight to a one point four gpa," Sunset tosses back, daring you to beat it.

 

"Maybe I just need some lovely girl who's got her life together to show me to the promise land, huh?"

 

"Gonna take a lot more than that to make you look presentable," Sunset says, rolling her eyes yet again at your advances.

 

"Ouch. Well, enough pillow talk. That's the place right there," you say, pointing to a small building outside of the window. The neon blue lights are off at the moment, making the otherwise flashy club look pretty dead. Sunset parks her car on the sidewalk, and both of you get out to see how much you can uncover in the mystery of the missing wallet.

        

    You don't remember the club or the surrounding neighborhood being this shitty when you came here last night. This is definitely the bad side of town; most houses have bars over their windows, there’s what is hopefully a small junkyard next to the club, and sirens and dog barks pollute air.

 

    You push open the metal door into the building, quickly having a look around to get your bearings back. The club is a mess of blue lights and trashy floors, supposedly from whatever happened last night. There are only four people in it, including you and Sunset. You spot a girl with electric blue hair sitting at the bar with a bartender, and realize that she seems mildly familiar. You walk up to her and take a seat at the bar.

 

    "Hey there. You wouldn't happen to remember me, would you?"

 

    The girl looks up from her bloody mary, her eyes covered with sunglasses and her hair a complete mess. "I remember waking up naked next to you, covered in vomit," she says in a slightly irritated tone.

 

    Sunset holds a hand to her mouth, unsuccessfully trying to hold back a laugh. You turn around and give her the evil eye before turning back to the girl at the bar. "And I am extremely sorry about that. If there's any way I can make up for that, you just let me know. But I currently don't have a car or wallet and I was wondering if..."

 

    The bartender reaches under the bar and produces one of your two missing items, sliding them over to you with a disgusted expression. You open your wallet, revealing nothing but emptiness.

 

    "Hey, what the hell--" you start before the bartender cuts you off.

 

    "You ordered 300 dollars worth of drinks last night and only had three dollars in your wallet," the bartender says, crossing his arms as his aggravation grew.

 

    You put on a sheepish smile. "Put it on my tab?"

 

    Sunset bursts out laughing behind you. "Oh my god, you're hopeless."

 

    You turn around again, getting slightly frustrated yourself. "Not helping!"

 

    The blue-haired girl elbows you in the ribs to get your attention. "Uhh, it's cool, dude, but sorry in advance for this."

 

    You raise an eyebrow at her. "For wh--"

 

    "Is this the guy?!" a white-haired guy in a stupid looking leather jacket says as he marches towards you two, two of his friends in tow.

 

    The blue-haired girl turns around in her seat and gets up, trying to cut him off before things get out of hand. "Listen, Neon. Shit happens, you know? I can't be held responsible for every little thing I do when I'm drunk. Let's just let it go and--"

 

    "No!" he says, pushing her out of the way and focusing his attention on you. "Is this the guy?!"

 

    "Well yeah, but--"

 

    Neon, or whatever his name was, pushes up his sleeves, making a beeline straight toward you. You look to the blue-haired girl desperately and she mouths a weak "I'm sorry" with an apologetic shrug and a sheepish smile.

 

    You get out of your seat, holding your hands up in front of you to attempt to diffuse the situation. "Hey, man, listen. I seriously had no idea that--woah!"

 

    Before you could finish, Neon swings at you, just barely missing your cheek as you duck under it, stumbling next to Sunset. You open your mouth again to say something, but Neon turns around, enraged, and decks you right in the chest. This time, you aren't lucky enough to get out of the way, and he drives the air right out of your lungs with a swift hit to the nipple.

 

    Like the true, brave man that you are, you stumble behind Sunset, making sure to get her body squarely between you and the guy trying to knock your lights out.

 

    "Get him, Sunset!" you manage to wheeze out, giving her a slight nudge towards Neon.

 

    "What! No! I--" Sunset stammers. Neon gives a frustrated grunt as he makes his way towards her, Sunset yelps and reaches into her pocket once he comes close enough to her. Instead of the epic roundhouse kick you were imagining, she produces a tiny can of pepper spray, liberally applying it to your aggressor's face.

 

    Neon yells in agony and bends over, trying to wipe the liquid pain out of his eyes.

 

    "What the hell, Sunset?" You say, standing up next to her as you catch your breath.

 

    She looks over to you incredulously. "What the hell me?! What the hell you! Why would you do that?!"

 

    "I thought you were like a black belt or something."

 

    Sunset opens her mouth to say something, but only a few frustrated noises escape from her before she yells at you. "W-where the hell did you get that idea?!"

 

    You shrug. "I don't know, I just always assumed you were like some secret agent in your other world and knew how to fight."

 

    Sunset crosses her arms and narrows her eyes at you.

 

    "Aaaggh. Kick his ass!" Neon says, motioning towards you. His two friends took the hint, marching menacingly in your direction.

 

    "Though now would be a great time to be, wouldn't it?" you say to Sunset, with an inappropriate smile on your face.

 

    "Yo barkeep!" the blue-haired girl yells. The bartender rolls his eyes at her and tosses an empty beer bottle her way. She tips the bottle up, and gives a little pout once she realizes it's empty. With a quick hop, she smashes the beer bottle over one of the dude's head with a dull thunk, distracting him so you and Sunset can deal with the last one.

 

    Neon, however, isn't out of the fight just yet. Following where he last heard your voice, he blindly swings in your general direction, coming dangerously close to hitting Sunset instead.

 

    From the corner of your eye you see Sunset flinch and instinctively kick forward between Neon's swings, nailing him directly between the legs. Neon gives out a squeak, then keels over holding his balls while Sunset backs away from him, faintly concerned about what she just did.

 

    You on the other hand turn your attention back towards your last remaining adversary. You raise your fists and get into your best impression of a fighting stance. The two of you circle around for a few moments, preparing for battle. He definitely looks like he knows what he's doing, so you pull out your secret weapon: bullshitting.  

 

    You narrow your eyes and try to put on your most intimidating voice. "Listen here, you little bitch. I'll have you know I graduated top of my class in the navy seals, and I've been involved in numerous secret raids on Al--"

 

    While you were focusing on your bullshit, your sparring partner decides to cut the crap, and decks you right in the cheek. His fists hits your face hard enough to cut something inside your mouth, making you taste blood rather quickly.

 

    You fall to the ground. With a quick wipe of your mouth you look up, irritated. "What the hell, dude. I was in the middle of that."

 

    He, however, isn't paying you much mind. He steps over to you, fists still primed and ready. He rears back, readying for the final blow. You raise your arm and wince, preparing for the worst.  When the strike never came, you look over your arm to see your foe frozen in place, Sunset's boot firmly planted between his legs. He lets out a tiny whine of pain before crumpling to the ground in pain.

 

    Sunset pulls back, putting a hand to her mouth with a worried look on her face. "Er... sorry."

 

    You get to your feet, smiling at Sunset. "Don't say sorry, that was awesome!" You look down just in time to see your aggressor vomit onto the floor, still holding onto his nads for dear life. "Just, uh, never do that to me."

 

    Sunset crosses her arms over her chest, a smug smile on her face now that she knew she had some power over you. "Can't make any promises."

 

    "Whatever, let's see about getting... what the hell?" you say. You stop mid-sentence once you catch a glimpse of the blue-haired girl riding the other friend around the room, yelling out the occasional "yeehaw" as she hits him over the head with the beer bottle. The guy finally gets the bright idea to smash her into the wall, but just before impact she finally hits him hard enough to break it over his head, disorienting him and making him turn around, face first into the wall.

 

    The two of them tumble to the ground, one of them out cold and the other laughing like they are insane. Both you and Sunset stand there staring dumbfounded at the display.

   

    Her laughter dies down and she motions over to you two. "Oh hey, should probably look out or something."

 

    You turn around to see Neon back up again, an enraged look on his inflamed face. You quickly raise your fist and knock him across the cheek as hard as you can, throwing him back down to the ground, this time motionless.

 

    You wave your hand and wince once you realize how painful that just was. "Jesus. How do people do this for a living," you say, trying to nurse your aching wrist.

 

    "Some people actually know how to fight," Sunset says, a smug look still on her face,

 

    "Easy there, ballbuster. Not everyone is willing to kick people in the nuts to get ahead in life."

 

    "Not everyone shoves their friends into attackers either!"

 

    The blue-haired girl clears her throat, nipping that potential argument in the bud. "My name's Vinyl Scratch, by the way. You guys can just call me Vinyl, though."

 

    Vinyl steps over one of the knocked out bodies towards the two of you. She rubs her neck with a sheepish smile. "I guess I owe you two a drink after all that, huh."

 

    You shrug your shoulders, looking over to Sunset. "I wouldn't complain," you say.

 

    "How about somewhere other than here?"

 

    Vinyl nods as she looks across the three limp bodies on the floor. "Yeah, good idea."

 

    Sunset shakes her head. "Wait, it's like two in the afternoon."

 

    Both you and Vinyl look to her and say, "So?".

 

    Sunset rolls her eyes and starts walking towards the door. "Whatever. Let's just go. I assume I'm the only one here with a working car?"

 

    Vinyl smiles and follows close behind. "You would be correct."

 

    The three of you are about to leave when you remember. You turn to the miffed-looking bartender, who is giving you a very upset gaze. "So, about that three hundred dollars..."

 

    "Just get out of here."

 

[center]______________________________________________________[/center]

 

    You took your seat at the bar, country music and the smell of cheap beer in the air. This wasn't your first choice, but Vinyl said the drinks here were the cheapest in town.

 

    "Alright boys and girls, I've got a hundred bucks. Pick your poison," Vinyl says, pushing her glasses up onto her head and taking a seat beside you.

 

    Sunset takes the seat on the other side of you. "Seriously, it's only like two thirty, we really don't need to be drinking." The bartender makes his way over once Sunset waves him down. He raises an eyebrow at her, expecting an order. "I'll just have a cup of water, please."

 

    You grab Sunset's arm and pull her back to get a clear view at the barkeep. "Oh no you don't. Three shots of the strongest whiskey you got, and keep the bottle somewhere you can reach it; we might be a while."

 

    "What?! I've got to drive us home, you know," Sunset says, exasperated. She turns back to say something, but you pull her over again.

 

    "We're walking distance, don't worry about it."

 

    Sunset pulled her arm away and crossed it over her chest, narrowing her eyes at you. "Yeah, to your house, and the last time I slept over there I woke up to you trying to spoon me on the couch with a hard-on and nothing but one sock and a tank top on."

 

    Vinyl snorts between a fit of sudden laughter. "Ha! A regular casanova over here!" She says, elbowing you in the side.

   

    "Okay I was kinda drunk that night. But tonight is definitely not going to end up like that." The bartender slides over three shots your way, and you pass them over to Vinyl and Sunset. "Besides, it's too late now. Drink up."

 

    You and Vinyl tip back and down your shots without a second thought, Sunset on the other hand takes a small sip, then goes into a coughing fit, putting the majority of the shot back on the bar. "Oh my god! That burns!"

 

    Vinyl raises an eyebrow over at her, then looks at you. "How old is she?"

 

    "I thought old enough to have tried whiskey before," you respond, half-directed at Sunset herself.

 

    Sunset grabs her throat, looking at you indignantly. "I'm sorry I don't get blackout drunk every friday night like you two," she wheezes out before sticking out her tongue in disgust.

 

    "Friday, Saturday, most Tuesdays and Wednesday is definitely not out of the question most weeks," Vinyl says, standing up and waving the bartender over for another round of shots.

 

    While Sunset is busy making her icky face, a devious plan forms in your mind, one that you are halfway sure you would come out victorious in... probably.

 

    You turn to Sunset and start, "Since this is Sunset's first night out as a big girl--"

 

    "Hey!" Sunset shouts. You hold a hand up to stop her for the moment, then turn to Vinyl.

 

    "And, we may be facing legal repercussions from your boyfriend--"

 

    Three more shots slide over, and Vinyl downs hers immediately, holding a hand up to stop your sentence. "Ex boyfriend," she says, putting the glass back to the bar.

 

    "I propose a friendly competition: a drinking contest. Whoever is the last to not throw up gets to name something, and the other two have to do it, no matter what it is."

 

    "Oh! I'm in," Vinyl says, an idea supposedly already popping into her head.

 

    Sunset doesn't look too enthralled, as she looks down at her two shots with some apprehension. "Anything?" she asks, twirling the orange liquid around in the tiny glass.

 

    "Yeah, anything. Now what'll it be, girls?"

 

    Vinyl turns to you first, a smile on her face. "I get to crash at your place for a month, you go back to that club and get my gear, since I doubt they want me there ever again, and Miss Grand Am over there has to give me rides for the next month too."

 

    Sunset perks up. "What? That's not--"

 

    You hold a hand up to cut her off, still looking at Vinyl. "What makes you think they want me there any more than you?"

 

    Vinyl shrugs. "Iunno. I just don't really want to deal with that, also I may have grabbed a few bills out of the register while the bartender wasn't looking."

 

    "Wow," Sunset says, rolling her eyes away from her.

 

    You laugh at that. Vinyl definitely seems like the type. "Alright, fair enough. Sunset?" you say, turning to her.

   

    In a show of willingness, Sunset knocks back her first shot to completion, albeit with another one of her grossed out faces again. After a few coughs and a wince she turns to you. "Ugh. You..." she coughs, still getting used to the burn, "pay me back that six hundred dollars you owe me, plus the gas for driving you around all day."

 

    "Allegedly, but alright."

 

    Sunset leans back, directing her attention to Vinyl. "And your vomit mat over there goes away, and never speaks either of our names to anyone around here again."

 

    Vinyl narrows her eyes at Sunset, and Sunset glares at her right back, obvious tension already brewing between the two of them.

 

    You lean back, cutting them both off before a catfight breaks out. "Alright, sounds fair enough. Now, if I win..." you pause, for dramatic effect of course, "Both of you have to be my maids for the month, along with all the duties and scanty outfits that entails."

 

    "What?!" Sunset says, coughing loudly again. "You can't be serious! I am not wearing lingerie and cleaning up after you. I've seen your apartment; that would take so much more than two girls and a month. You'd be better off just setting that place on fire."

 

    Vinyl chimes in, not too pleased with your proposition either. "Yeah, dude. Not cool. I am really not into the whole house cleaning deal."

 

    You put on your best goading smile. "You two sound like I've already won. Are you really giving up already?"

 

    A smile comes over Vinyl's face. "Actually, you're right. If last night was any indication--that smell still hasn't come off of me yet by the way-- you won't be lasting too long. I also doubt I'll have much competition from our resident prude over there. You're on."

 

    Sunset let out a tiny grunt of frustration. "Ooh, I am so ready to never see you again."

 

    "Then it's settled. Bartender! Just bring over that entire bottle!"

 

    The rest of your night isn't much more than a large blur in your memory. There was one thing you did remember though: stumbling into the town's local erotic product supplier with two drunk girls draped over your shoulder, and coming out with two brand new, [i]very[/i] revealing french maid outfits.

 

Chapter 2 - Worth It:

 

    You wake up with a groan. You try to roll over in your bed, but the light coming through the window makes any position you try completely unbearable. With a defeated sigh, you sit up and rub your pounding head. Another late night and another round of questions. You feel around your pockets. Thankfully, nothing missing this time. No vomit imprint of a girl on your bed either.

 

    A wave of confusion hits you once you see the items laying on your nightstand: two pieces of notebook paper with some barely legible handwriting, and a bag with the logo of the local adult entertainment store.

 

    You pick up one of the sheets of paper first. Once you read over it, you already know what's going to be in the bag. You let out a victorious laugh in celebration of your past self. The sudden noise causes a stir in your living room. You can only guess who that might be.

 

    You lean against your doorway, snickering at the sight in front of you. Vinyl's white jeans are halfway down her thighs and she has nothing to cover her breasts. Sunset is stirring to life underneath her on the couch. Boy was she going to be mad once she--

 

    "What the hell!?" Sunset says, freaking out and tossing the near-naked Vinyl off of her and onto the floor. Vinyl rolls on her back, barely even phased by getting thrown to the floor.

 

    "Sleep well?" you ask through a series of snickers.

 

    Sunset puts one hand to her forehead and another to her stomach. "God no. I feel awful, what the hell happened..." Sunset turns to you, seeing the sheet of paper you were reading over yet again, a wide smile on your face. "What is that?" she asks, nervousness growing on her face.

 

    "Oh, just a contract."

 

    Sunset slowly rises from the couch, looking like a lioness ready to pounce. "And what does it say?"

 

    You set your hand on your doorknob, ready to deal with the obvious events about to take place. "Oh, just something about legally binding you to maid service for a month.."

 

    Sunset darts out at you, her face already turning red with rage, or embarrassment. You slam the door in her face before she gets the chance to tackle you. A quick twist of the lock ensures she can't interfere with you saving this little treasure.

 

    Sunset bangs on the door and jiggled the knob madly. "You open this door and give me that piece of paper right now!"

   

    "I'm afraid I can't do that, Sunset," you say, sitting down at your computer desk, getting out your phone to take a few pics of both pieces of paper.

 

    Sunset continues to slam her fist against the door. "You can't stay in there forever! Give me that paper!"

 

    "Just a sec. Gotta save it to my computer." You settle the cord into your phone and open a few different cloud services, getting ready to save as many copies as humanly possible.

 

    "I will throw that thing out the window! Do not save it to anything!"

 

    You hear Vinyl groan in the next room. "Uuuugh. Would you keep it quiet? Some people are still trying to sleep."

 

    "Oh, shut up. And don't think I've forgotten about waking up with your disgusting naked body on top of me."

 

    "Bitch, this body is amazing," Vinyl says in a lazy tone.

 

    Sunset lets out a frustrated grunt and goes back to banging against your door. "Just open the door already!"

 

    "Just a sec." With a final few keystrokes, the two pictures of both contracts were up on five different websites, ensuring Sunset and Vinyl's cooperation. In reality you had no idea if these scraps of paper are legally binding, but as long as they think they are, it doesn’t really matter.

 

    You finally open the door and hand Sunset the sheet of paper. She swipes it out of your hand and narrows her eyes at you. "Delete it off your computer," she commands.

 

    "No can do. Besides, it would take way too long to track down all the copies I saved on the internet."

 

    Sunset's eye twitches, her fist clenching around the paper in her hand. She is so cute when she's unbelievably angry, until she actually comes at you anyway.

 

    You walk over to Vinyl and nudge her with a foot. "Hey. You signed a contract too. Time to get up and get dressed, ladies."

 

    Vinyl slightly perks up at the word 'contract'. "Wait, like legally binding and stuff?"

 

    "Yup. Your new uniforms are sitting on the nightstand. Suit up, girls. We had a deal," you say, a smug smile on your face the entire time.

   

    You usher the pair into your room to get dressed. You have to yank Vinyl up off the ground, and even then she doesn't seem to be fully awake. Sunset stomps into your room, arms crossed in frustration. Vinyl on the other hand, barely puts forth the effort to completely pull up her pants, let alone show any emotion other than lethargy.

 

    After a few minutes and some hushed bickering coming from your room, the girls emerge from your room, not quite bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, but definitely looking the part.

 

    The maid outfits you bought were so revealing they might as well have been underwear. Both of the girls' midriffs were completely exposed, and a healthy amount of cleavage was definitely visible. The little white frills on their skirt barely made any progress down their thighs, ensuring anything they had to bend over for was going to give anyone behind them quite the show. Wrapped up in lace and showing more skin than a hooker at a bachelor party, both girls looked ready to shoot a porno. That’s going to have to wait. You've got an apartment that needs cleaning.

 

    "How do they feel?" you ask, trying to hide a snicker.

 

    Sunset crossed her arms and turned away from you, a light blush on her face. "I'm dressed like some two bit slut. This is so demeaning."

 

    "Well at least now you look the part," Vinyl says with what you could only assume was a roll of her eyes. For some reason she decided to keep her purple shades on. You're not a fashionista, but it definitely clashed.  Now that you're looking, you realize you didn't actually buy them shoes either. Sunset was sporting her usual boots and Vinyl was in a pair of Converse.

 

    Sunset looks over and narrows her eyes at Vinyl. These two look like they're going to be great friends.

 

    "Do I have to separate you two?" the girls turn away from each other like they were bickering sisters. You walk over and pick up the previously crumpled contract that Sunset must've thrown down, smoothing it out and preparing to read it. "Now let's see what the conditions are." You scan through the barely legible handwriting, picking out a few bits about their daily duties.

 

    You clear your throat. "Now, you are to cook and clean when requested to do so, carry out any necessities requested, and maintain your uniform during all work hours," you say, making most of it up since you really couldn't read most of the words on the paper. "Any questions?"

 

    Vinyl raised her hand. "Uh, when are the work hours? I'm usually not up 'til like... one-ish."

 

    "Says here it's eight to six," you say, but in reality, you aren't exactly sure those are even numbers written on the paper.

 

    "That is really gonna mess with my vibe, man. I still can't believe you out-drank me."

 

    You fold up the piece of paper and put it away in your pocket, a big smile on your face. "Now then, how about some breakfast?"

 

    Sunset stands rigid at the word 'breakfast', suddenly turning a light shade of green and shooting a hand over her mouth. She shoots over to the kitchen, but not to make breakfast. The wonderful sound of her vomiting in your sink resounds through the apartment, making you feel a little nauseous as well.

 

    "Yeah, I think I'm gonna go ahead and throw up too. Give me like ten minutes," Vinyl says without much care. She calmly walks over to your bathroom, waiting until the door is definitely shut behind her before the cacophony of gagging and heaving resonates around the frame.

 

    "Or we could wait I guess." You make your way over to Sunset, who is filling up a good portion of your sink with the spoils of last night. "How we doing, champ?" you say, patting her on the back. Being the good friend that you are, you sweep some of the hair out of her face and hold it behind her back.

 

    Sunset gags again, filling up your sink even further. "Kill me."

 

    "Give it a month," you say, giving her another supportive pat on the back.

 

    With the sudden, disgusting smell of the inside of the human stomach filling your nostrils, and remembering that you weren't completely over your own hangover, breakfast didn't sound so appealing. "You know, on second thought, I'll give you a break on the eggs and bacon this morning."

 

    Sunset heaves again. "Good idea..."

 

    After the girls are done spilling their guts over half of your apartment, you decide to go out and get some cleaning supplies, since that definitely wasn't a part of your usual grocery list. You set the sickly pair out to do some more simple tasks, like picking up the trash around the apartment and making sure everything is somewhat ready for actual cleaning.

 

    After a quick walk to the store, a long haul of a few pounds of various cleaning supplies, and a rigorous walk up the flight of stairs leading up to your apartment, you finally make it home. Before you open the door, the sound of things flying through the air, frustrated women shouting, and things crashing in your apartment make themselves very apparent.

 

    You sigh. This was going to be a long month.

 

    Opening the door, you walk right into a battlefield. "Would you stop throwing things like a three year old!?" Sunset says, hiding behind the couch.

 

   "Would you stop being a bitch for five seconds?" Vinyl says, peaking up from behind the kitchen counter with a scowl.

 

    "You don't clean a mirror with spit and toilet paper! That's disgusting, Vinyl."

 

    "I didn't ask for a lecture, Professor Ice Queen!" Vinyl says, throwing a stack of paper plates at Sunset.

 

    Both you and Sunset raise an eyebrow at that one. Sunset lets out a condescending laugh. "Professor Ice Queen? Is that the best you can do?"

 

    Vinyl grabs an apple from somewhere on the counter and lobs it at the couch, forcing Sunset to take cover again.

 

    As much as you'd love to watch these two go at it all day, they were doing it in your apartment, which is causing quite the disaster. "Girls! Seriously?" you say, snapping their attention away from each other and towards you. "Vinyl, please clean up this mess. Sunset. Bathroom," you say, pointing towards the bathroom door.

 

    Sunset perks up, surprised you singled her out. "What? I didn't start th--"

 

    You walk past her beckoning her to follow. She lets out a defeated sigh and follows you into the bathroom. Once you close the door and silence Vinyl's muffled complaints, you look to Sunset. "Already? I expected at least a few hours before the first catfight."

 

    Sunset crosses her arms and gives you an amused look. "Catfight? Really?"

 

    "Hey, a guy can dream."

 

    Sunset rolls her eyes at you with an amused smile, then her expression turns more frustrated. "Look, she is just... hard to get along with."

 

    "How's that?"

 

    Sunset opens her mouth a few times, but nothing comes out. She looks to be trying to find the right words to say. "Well... okay, so I come in here, right? To see how she's doing and she's got half the roll of toilet paper on the floor and she's spitting on the mirror! I tell her that's just going to smear it and make things worse..." Sunset motions towards the mirror, and what she says isn't false. Large streaks of what you can only assume are from Vinyl are marring the mirror, accompanied by slightly wet pieces of toilet paper in the sink.

 

    "How did it turn into that?" you say, motioning your head back to the battlefield in the living room.

 

    "Well, she just keeps doing it, like I didn't even say anything. So I nicely told her that she needed to improve her attitude so we could work together better."

 

    You raise an eyebrow at Sunset. "Are you sure you said that 'nicely'?" you ask, knowing she still had a little bite in her from her days in high school.

 

    Sunset rubs the back of her neck, a sheepish smile and a light blush on her face. "In... so many words."

 

    You smile at her, even though you want to try to come off as disappointed. "Look, just try to hold off on the arguing for now, alright?"

 

    "Alright alright. I'll just work in a different room than her I guess."

 

    "Good. I'll go talk to her too."

 

    You leave Sunset to the bathroom to clean up Vinyl's mess. She comes out occasionally to grab something out of the pile of cleaning supplies you bought, but nothing seems to blow up after that.

 

    You make your way over to Vinyl, who is busy kicking around various bits of food or trash she threw around, supposedly gathering them up into a pile to pick later.

 

    "So, uh, what was the deal with all that?" you ask her.

 

    She keeps her eyes down on the trash. "I'm sorry, man. I'm just not really sure how to do this whole 'cleaning' thing, and [i]she[/i]," Vinyl says, putting some annoyed emphasis on "she" as she motions towards the bathroom, "really isn't helping."

 

    "I'm sure she's having some trouble adjusting too, Vinyl."

 

    Vinyl puts on her best innocent smile. "You know, if it's that much trouble, you could just tear the contract up."

   

    You smile at her. "Nice try."

 

    "Worth a shot." Vinyl leans down and picks up the massive pile of trash she had built up, with some falling back to the floor and some leaving stains on her new uniform. "I still can't believe you out-drank me. That was one hell of a night, dude."

 

    "Was it? I didn't catch much of it," you say, scratching your head. All you really remember was buying the uniforms.

 

    "Seriously? That was one of the best nights I’ve had in a while. Except for goody two shoes in there complaining the whole time."

 

    "Hell, it must've been fun then," you say taking a seat on the couch as Vinyl dumps an armload into the trash can.

 

    "You got a piggyback ride from a homeless dude across like three blocks."

 

    You laugh. That is way too ridiculous to be true.

 

    "Not even lying. His name was George. You two were like best friends for three hours."

   

    "Hahaha. Okay, Vinyl, quit fucking around. What actually happened?"

 

    "Seriously, dude, check it out," she says, going into your room for a minute before coming back out with a rusty looking fork with some dried blood on it. She tosses it to you. You grab it out of the air and inspect it with some concern in your face.

 

    "Did you just hand me a murder weapon?"

 

    Vinyl sits down on the couch beside you. "Nah, we just almost got mugged. Sunset kept whining about how it was a bad part of town and we were going to get mugged or something. Guess she was kinda right."

 

    "This fork definitely looks like someone got mugged and stabbed."

 

    Vinyl leans forward, really getting into the story now. "Well check it out, this other homeless dude saw the three of us and pulled this fork on us, right? Then George comes out of nowhere and jumps this dude, headbutts him and stabs him right in the dick with his own fork."

 

    You have a mini panic attack when you realize the object in question is in your hands. The fork drops to the carpet, but the blood has dried at this point, so no stains are left behind. "Jesus, Vinyl. Did you really just hand me a rusty fork with hobo dick blood on it?"

 

    "Oh, you'll be fine. He didn't look like [i]that[/i] much of a junkie," Vinyl says, putting her arms behind the couch and crossing her legs, clearly amused.

 

    "Why do you even have that?"

 

    "George wanted you to have it to remember him by. He really was a cool dude."

 

    Feeling conflicted, you pick the fork back up by the clean end and get up.

 

    Vinyl looks over her shoulder at you as you walk towards the kitchen. "Hey, you aren't going to throw it away, are you?"

 

    You toss the disgusting fork in the sink and let the water run over it for a while. You watch in disgust as little flecks of blood and dirt wash down your sink. "Nah, just cleaning it off so nobody catches hepatitis or something."

 

    As you think it over, you realize Vinyl must've drank at least as much as you. "Say, how do you even remember all of this anyway?"

 

    Vinyl shrugs. "That is a good question. I thought it was just a dream this morning until I found that in my back pocket."

 

    You let out an amused chuckle, slightly jealous you don't remember any of that for yourself. Your amusement dies down when you realize Vinyl isn't exactly doing anything. "As awesome as that sounds, you've still got a mess to clean up," you say, motioning to the leftover trash pile on your carpet.

 

    Vinyl hangs her head in defeat. "Damn. Guess I couldn't have distracted you forever."

 

    "It was a good try though."

 

    "Right?"

   

    The rest of the day passes without any more incidents. You can tell that both of the girls met eyes a few times and some tension managed to build up, but nothing major came of it yet. You spent most of the rest of the day figuring out what exactly you needed to help the girls along, and feed you for the next month. While you weren't exactly working at the moment, you still had a considerable sum in your bank account from previous ventures. Enough to not have to worry about the next few months anyway. You still spent some time out of your day to make sure you weren't completely pissing it away just yet.

 

    As the sun begins to set outside your apartment, you emerge out of your room. You completely forgot to tell the girls to make you something for dinner, but you still weren't feeling all that hungry anyway. The first sight you see as you make your way into the living room is both of the girls propped up against each other, exhausted.

 

    "Wow. You two must really be out of it. I should take a picture."

 

    At the sound of your voice, both of the girls stir to life and realize who the person at their back is. They quickly scoot away from each other, making sure to look in opposite directions.

 

    "And we were all just starting to get along too," you say in feigned disappointment.

 

    Sunset yawns and arches her back and raises her arms into a tired stretch. Once she's done she gets up and walks over to your room. "I think it's about six. I'm gonna go home already. I'm tired of looking at this place," she says, grabbing her old clothes and heading for your bathroom.

 

    You look around your living room, impressed. You walk over to the kitchen to find it even better. "Huh. I guess you've earned it."

 

    You scratch your head. You are going to have to get imaginative if you're going to keep them busy for an entire month.

 

    Sunset comes out of the bathroom, back in her usual skirt/leather jacket combo. "Guess I'll report for forced labor again at eight," she says in a mocking tone.

 

    You give her a smile. "Looking forward to it."

 

    She playfully rolls her eyes and hits you on the arm, giving you a quick "later" before walking out the door.

 

    "So, about the whole living arrangement thing," Vinyl says carefully. "I was kinda living with Neon before all this went down, so..."

 

    "Yeah, you can stay here."

 

    Vinyl climbs up onto the couch and smiles at you. "Sweet! I promise I won't like, burn the place down or whatever."

 

    "I wasn't worried about that before, but now I am."

 

    "Hey, as long as you don't throw up on me again, we'll be cool."

 

    You still can't believe you did that. You wince at the memory of waking up to that. "Yeah, fair enough. I'll get you some sheets."

 

    After getting Vinyl set up on the couch, you head off to bed yourself. As you drift off to sleep, visions of sexy maids swim through your mind. This was going to be a good month.

 

Chapter 3 - Old Habits:

 

    You wake up to the sound of one of Sunset's signature sighs. With your senses not muddled by a hangover this morning, you notice warmth on one side of your bed. You look over to find Vinyl sleeping next to you, completely naked. This is not how you remember going to bed last night, though you kinda wish it was now.

 

    "Could you really not have waited to at least get to know her?" Sunset asks, slightly annoyed.

 

    You sit up and rub your eyes, trying to give Sunset a better presentation of yourself. Once your vision fully returns, you get an eyeful of Sunset in all of her glory, wrapped in the thin lace of the maid costume yet again. You choke up for a moment as you stare at her body. Those maid costumes don't leave much to the imagination, and you can't say you mind seeing your old friend in one. You cough to try to shake away the sudden heat building up inside you.

 

    Sunset noticed you staring at her, and looks away from you, trying to pull down her tiny skirt, seemingly embarrassed. "Hey, I didn't sleep with her." You cast a glance towards Vinyl; in the most literal sense that statement was false. "Well, not like that anyway."

 

    "Whatever. At least you didn't throw up on her this time," Sunset says, agitation still clearly in her voice. "So what are we supposed to do today?"

 

    You scratch your head, still trying to wake up. "Well I guess since you two did a pretty good job on everything else yesterday, you can start on breakfast."

 

    "Both of us, or are you going to be busy with [i]her[/i] while I do all the work?" Sunset asks. You sense a little anger in her voice, but after how they've been getting along, you aren't really surprised.

 

    "Nah, she's still contractual obligated too." You lean over and nudge her naked body. She's face down in one of your pillows, but the disastrous state of your blankets around her only covers her upper body, giving the entire world a view of her ass. Classy as always. "Vinyl. It's eight. Time to get dressed."

 

    Vinyl groans and digs herself deeper into the pillow. "Ugh. Two more hours, please."

 

    Sunset walks around to her side of the bed. "I'll take care of this."

 

    With a quick yank of Vinyl's arm, Sunset drags her right off the bed and onto the floor. Vinyl lets out a quick "woah!" before she hits the carpet.

 

    Vinyl sits up, rubbing her head with one hand and propping herself up with the other. "What the hell, man? Do you really have to be a bitch this early in the morning.

 

    Sunset scoffs down at her. "What? We both have to do this. Just because you don't--"

 

    "SO," you say, loud enough to cut off that argument before it started, "what exactly were you doing in my bed in the first place, Vinyl?"

 

    Vinyl perks up. "Oh, it got cold in the other room and I figured your blankets were warmer."

 

    Sunset puts her hands on her hips and cocks them. "So you just crawled into his bed naked without him ever noticing?" Sunset asks, not really believing her.

 

    Vinyl shrugs. "Hey, he didn't seem to mind."

 

    Sunset rolls her eyes. "Yeah. I'm sure he didn't." With that, Sunset makes her way towards your door, supposedly heading for the kitchen. "Just get dressed. We've got work to do," she says before making her way out of your room.

 

    Vinyl brings herself to her feet, grabbing her maid outfit to put on. "Jeez, man. What is her problem?"

 

    You give her a shrug. You really don't know yourself. Sunset hasn't really acted like this towards anyone ever since you can remember. You chalk it up to conflicting personalities and leave it at that for now.

 

    Vinyl finally gets dressed and goes to help Sunset in the kitchen. Only a few minutes pass before the muffled bickering starts up again. It never seems to reach the point it did yesterday, so you never go to investigate. You emerge sometime later at the promise of breakfast, and you're presented with two eggs, a piece of toast, and an apple. As you sit down at the counter to eat it, you notice the stark difference in quality in how the eggs were done compared to the lazily slathered and slightly burned bread.

 

    You dig into the plate anyway, feeling like you need to make up for yesterday's lack of sustenance. "Oh man, these eggs are great," you say, mostly ignoring the toast once you get a taste.

 

    Vinyl crosses her arms and looks away, while Sunset beams with a hint of pride. "Thanks! I thought they turned out pretty well," Sunset says. Vinyl rolls her eyes at her. Sunset takes notice of this, and her smile quickly falls off of her face. This isn't going to be good.

 

    "Just because you can barely make a slice of toast doesn't mean you get to scoff at me," Sunset says, getting snippy.

 

    "I'm sorry I didn't go to culinary school. I've got more important shit to spend my time on," Vinyl says, still not looking at Sunset.

 

    Breakfast and a show. Great. "Like what? I bet you've never cooked a single meal for yourself that didn't involve a microwave," Sunset says, looking pleased with herself. You're starting to notice it in Sunset's voice. This is more attitude than you've seen out of her since the whole demon debacle.

 

    "I spend my time on my music and doing what I love. What's it to you, anyway?" Vinyl says, agitation growing in her voice.

 

    "Well all those years of fast food and frozen burritos certainly aren't doing you any favors."

 

    Ouch. Vinyl's mouth hangs open in shock. You honestly can't believe that just came out of Sunset's mouth yourself. You can see the anger start to build up in Vinyl. Any more and she might do something drastic. "You fucking--" she starts to say.

 

    "Okay!" you say, standing up from the bar. "I think it's about time I get my car out of whatever impound lot it's sitting. Sunset, you mind giving me a ride?"

 

    Sunset snaps out of her arguing mode and looks at you. "Oh, sure. You want to leave right now?"

 

    "Yeah, sooner is probably better than later."

 

    Sunset walks out of the kitchen and towards the bathroom. "I'm just going to change into my other clothes and we can go," she says before closing the bathroom door.

 

    You look back to Vinyl, who is clenching her fists and it looks kinda like her eye is twitching with rage, but you can't really tell under her glasses. Once Vinyl catches you looking at her, she takes a deep breath and puts her hands up. "I'm cool, I'm cool. But don't even think about pinning that one on me."

 

    "Nah, Sunset definitely started that one. I guess she really doesn't like you."

 

    "Seriously, what the hell did I ever do to her?"

 

    You sigh. "I don't know. She really doesn't usually act like this, not since high school anyway. Just try to be nice to her, I'm sure she'll warm up."

 

    "I can promise I won't deck her in the mouth, but I don't know about being nice."

 

    You shake your head and give her a smile. "Fair enough, I guess."

 

    Sunset comes out of the bathroom, her maid attire gone, replaced by her usual leather jacket and skirt. "Alright, I'm ready. Let's head out."

 

    "Sure thing," you say before looking over to Vinyl. "And you can scrub the stains out of the carpet or something until we get back."

 

    Sunset grabs your wrist and drags you towards your door. "Remember, no fires. You promised!"

 

    Vinyl puts a hand next to her mouth and curls her lips up into a devious smile. "No, I just said I wouldn't burn it down!" she manages before you shut the door behind you.

 

    You and Sunset make your way down to her car to set off. You notice Sunset has more of a skip and her step and doesn't feel quite as agitated when you're walking, a lot like before Vinyl ever came into the picture. As the two of you get settled into her car, you break the silence.

 

    "Know where we're going?"

 

    Sunset starts the ignition and pulls out of your apartment's parking lot. "Not a clue."

 

    "Here, give me your phone. I'm pretty sure I know where the impound lot is in that town."

 

    Sunset tosses you her phone and you put the address into her navigator as she silently drives. You have other plans about this trip, however.

 

    "So why exactly is junior year Sunset coming back around Vinyl?" you ask her.

 

    "What? It's not that bad... is it?" Sunset puts a hand up to her mouth as worry grips her. That was alway one of her worst fears, turning back into how she was.

 

    "No, I guess not, but you haven't really been trying to make friends with her either."

 

    Sunset sighs and props one arm against her armrest and rests her head on it. "I'm sorry. I don't know why. Just looking at her irritates me." A few moments pass as you watch her, expecting more than that. "Well, she isn't easy to get along with either. I mean, have you seen her try to clean something up? It's like she's never actually been in a clean apartment in her life."

 

    Your memory flashes back to her kicking around trash in your living room. "Yeah, I guess. Just try to lay off of her, alright? As much as I like seeing two hot girls in maid costumes go at it, I'd rather not have the mess that comes after in my living room."

 

    Sunset gets a light blush on her cheeks and starts to twirl her hair in her fingers at you calling her hot. "Okay, I'll try. I might still just be upset I lost and I'm taking it out on her."

 

    "Did you really think you had any chance at winning? You, who's probably never gotten drunk more than three times in her life?"

 

    "All three of which involved you, by the way," she adds.

 

    "I'm not entirely sure why you even agreed to it."

 

    Sunset smiles. "I guess some of that whiskey may have gone to my head pretty quickly."

 

    "Vinyl said we had one hell of a night. Apparently we almost got mugged."

 

    Sunset put a hand up to her mouth in sudden realization. "Oh my god I remember that. George stabbed that guy right in the groin." Sunset thought for a moment, then scoots away from you slightly. "You didn't keep that fork he gave you, did you?"

 

    "No," you say, much to Sunset's relief, "but Vinyl did." Sunset's relief immediately died, disgust plain on her face.

 

    "She so would."

 

    "Easy now. Trying to be more friendly, right?" Sunset gives you a half-hearted nod, then rests her head back on her arm, focusing on the road. "How do you remember all of that anyway?"

 

    "Oh I stopped drinking right after I threw up. I was too drunk to drive, but I guess not blackout drunk. Seriously though, next time listen to me when I say we should not be in that side of town," Sunset says, pointing a stern finger at you.

 

    You put your hands up. "Alright, alright. Just don't start calling me fat or kick me in the nuts or something."

 

    "That was really mean, wasn't it?"

 

    You let out a laugh. "You should have seen her face. I swear she was about to reach for one of the steak knives," you say with a smile on your face.

 

    The two of you laugh at the would-be murder. The ride to the next town was a long one, and you and Sunset had plenty of time to bullshit with each other. You trade stories from high school and talk about the things you used to do together. You smile and laugh with her like you always do when you were alone, throwing around whatever subject came up next. You always throw in a few joking advances that she casually brushes or punches you playfully in the arm for.

 

    The entire time you wonder where the hostility in her is coming from. Vinyl really is missing out: Sunset is a really fun person to be around. She's usually always friendly to most people, and since she changed in high school, she's been nothing but kind to most people. You can understand about them having conflicting personalities, but you haven't seen Sunset go out of her way to insult someone like this morning since her less than perfect years in high school.

 

    Those thoughts and questions never come forward, though. You figure now might not be the best time to stir her out of such a great mood. Besides, by the time the thoughts really come to your mind, you're already at the impound lot.

 

    The impound lot looked more like a junkyard, with a lot of the cars falling apart, most of the lot nothing but dirt, and a good amount dogs that didn't look very kind barking away. You instantly regret parking on what was probably the curb that night. This isn't going to go well.

 

    You and Sunset walk up to the little booth outside of the gate; inside sat a fat, middle aged man in a greasy jumpsuit, reading the latest issue of hustler with his boots up on his desk. This really isn't going to go well.

 

    You get your debit card out and ask the man about the make and model of your car, preemptively wincing about how much it was probably going to be. He gives a half-hearted glance at the listing book on his desk and then turns his eyes back to his magazine.

 

    "Sorry, kid. Nothing like that here."

 

    "What?" you say, annoyance starting to build up inside of you. You look beside the booth and through the chain link fence into the lot. After only a few seconds, you spot your car not far away from the gate. "Dude, it's right there," you say, pointing towards the vehicle in question.

 

    The guy looks both of you over for a moment, probably sizing you up to try and figure out if you could actually afford a lawyer. Once he settles his mind on whatever he was thinking, he goes back to his magazine, flipping to another page. "Nope. Must have it confused with something else."

 

    You pull the keys out of your pocket and press the alarm button. Sure enough, the horn on your car blares its annoying sound throughout the lot. "And just why do my keys work on the car that isn't mine?"

 

    The guy shrugs. "Dogs probably chewing on the cars again. Happens all the time."

 

    You sigh. It didn't go well. You turn around and run your hands across your hair, trying to think of something to do while not letting the stress get too much of a hold. Sunset, on the other hand, narrows her eyes at the guy in the booth. She walks past you with purpose in her step and venom building up on her tongue. You suddenly feel very sorry for whoever gets in her way.

 

    Sunset slams her hands down on the hand counter of the booth, snapping the guy's attention directly to her. "Listen here," Sunset pauses for a moment, looking at the guy's nametag, "Harvey. Just because you dropped out of high school and can barely make a living wage doesn't mean you get to sit there in that shitty booth and abuse what little power your boss mistakenly decided you could handle. Screwing people out of their hard-earned money isn't going to help your inability to speak to women or your little dick, so get your fat ass up and do your fucking job before I call my father's lawyer and make sure you and anyone you're involved with is in debt for the rest of your life."

 

    Harvey's magazine slips right out of his hands once Sunset finishes, completely shocked at the barrage he just had to endure.

 

    "Well?!" Sunset yells at him.

   

    He pulls his feet off the desk and puts his hands up, wary of catching any more of Sunset's wrath. "Alright, alright, lady! Just calm down already. The tow is three hundred dollars."

   

    Sunset swipes the card out of your hand and throws it to him. "There better not be a single scratch on that car." The guy quickly runs it through the system and opens the gate before carefully handing it back to Sunset.

 

    Sunset puts on a show of stomping over to your car, supposedly to check it for the aforementioned scratches. You jog to catch up to her, stunned by the sudden display. "Jesus, Sunset. Where did that come from?"

 

    Sunset glances back towards the booth, slightly worried. "I... I'm not sure. It just seemed like the only thing that would work."

 

    "How did you know that..." you trail off, not really wanting to recall every detail.

 

    Sunset hangs her head slightly, looking ashamed of herself. "A lot of practice, I guess. I've gotten really good at picking out insecurities and making people feel bad about them..."

 

    You hate seeing her sad like that. You know how much she hates thinking about what she did in high school. You wrap a comforting arm around her and pull her close to you, putting on your best reassuring smile. "Well I for one think it was awesome. If it wasn't for you I probably wouldn't have gotten my car back and it would've been spare parts within a week! Just, uh, never do that to me, alright?"

 

    Sunset settles into you, a smile returning to her face. "Wouldn't dream of it."

 

    Sunset pulls away from you, a light blush on her face. She coughs, trying to clear her throat of the sudden awkwardness in the few moments of silence. "So, I'll meet you back at the apartment I guess?"

 

    "Yeah, see you there," you say, watching her as she turns back around to her own car, leaving you to fend for yourself against the dogs and dusty lot workers.

 

[center]  ______________________________________________[/center]

 

    The two of you arrive back just in time to see Vinyl fast asleep on top of a bucket. Said bucket is dripping with with bubbly water, and most of your house now smells of detergent. Looking around the living room, it seems she did manage to scrub away a few stains before giving up.

 

    Sunset rolls her eyes at the display. She walks over and gives Vinyl a nudge with her boot, knocking her off the bucket. Vinyl spasms for a second before she realizes where she is. "What? No! I'm awake! Carpet is clean!"

 

    A quick scan of the floor proves this to be a lie. She may have started but she sure didn't actually finish. Sunset opens her mouth to say something, but then looks to you and thinks better of it. "I'll go get dressed and start dinner I guess." Sunset turns her eyes from you to the soapy mess that is Vinyl. "And can you at least dry the carpet off? It was like walking into a swamp."

 

    Vinyl sits up and rubs her head, trying to shake the last little bits of sleep from her mind. "Yeah yeah, whatever." Vinyl waits until Sunset closes the bathroom door to look back up to you. "So did you cure her of her bitchiness yet?"

 

    You take a deep breath and put your fists on your hips. "I have no idea."

 

   Vinyl turns back to the bathroom and sighs. "Man, that girl needs to get laid."

 

    The rest of the evening passes without much incident. Sunset eventually leaves, leaving you and Vinyl to your own devices. The two of you don't do much other than watch tv together as the night draws to a close. A few pieces of conversation come up, and you laugh and joke with her, slowly becoming friends as well. She's so much more volatile than Sunset is, with her constant, irresponsible impulses bringing about some of the most entertaining stories you've ever heard. Soon she starts talking about her passion in music, and various complaints or joys she's found in her latest song. The talk brings out an entirely different depth to her that you've never really imagined. Once she takes her glasses off, you can really see the passion in her ruby eyes. Give her a few years and you wouldn't be surprised to see her name up in lights.

 

 Eventually she falls asleep in your lap, exhausted from cleaning, napping, and talking most of the day. Before you can crawl into your own bed for the night, Vinyl strips herself naked yet again and crawls in with you, figuring now that you knew you wouldn't really have a problem with it.

 

    With another day on the horizon, you drift off to sleep yet again, avoiding Vinyl's deathly snoring before it can begin.

 

Chapter 4 - New Vices:

 

    The constant tap of a boot on your carpet stirs you out of sleep, and the distinct sound of Sunset clearing her throat with agitation made you open your eyes. You jerk up in bed, remembering the events of yesterday and how you don't want to be on the receiving end of that.

 

    "I'm up!" you yell, letting your vision adjust from sleep to focus on Sunset. She does not look very happy, her eyes looking from you to Vinyl in... disgust? No, it isn't quite that.

 

    "I can tell," Sunset says, nodding her head to your midsection. Through your pants is some very prominent morning wood. Vinyl's limp arm hanging around your midsection isn't helping the situation either, even less so since she didn't even catch any of the blanket this time around.

 

    "This isn't what it--" your best 'innocent explanation' face fades away when you realize that Sunset isn't actually your girlfriend and you don't have to explain anything. Instead, you raise an eyebrow at her. "Wait, what does it matter?"

 

   Sunset lets out a huff of air and turns around into the living room. "Oh, it doesn't, I guess. Just would be nice for you to actually wake up at eight to give us something to do."

 

    You reach for your phone on the nightstand. Sure enough, it's a full fifteen minutes after eight. You unwrap yourself from Vinyl and give her a quick nudge in the ribs. "Guess it's time for you to get up too."

 

    Vinyl rolls over in bed, trying to get away from you. "Just a few more--" In an instant she rolls back over, fully upright and alert, with her eyes wide open in a pretty dire expression. She grabs you by the shoulders. "Oh my god! What's the date!?"

 

    You raise an incredulous eyebrow at her. Sunset peeks in from her position in the living room with the same look. "Uh, the fourteenth?"

   

    Vinyl scrambles out of bed and shoots around your room, looking for her proper clothes. You and Sunset trade looks as she puts on her pants and tank top at an alarming rate. You scoot over in bed towards her. "Vinyl, are you alright?"

 

    Once Vinyl slips her sneakers on, she perks up and turns to you. "Oh. Right. I'm gonna need a ride back to that club; is that okay?"

 

    "Sure I guess, but what exactly do you need to--"

 

    "Sweet! Come on," Vinyl says, grabbing you by the hand and jerking you out of bed. You barely have time to grab your keys and shoes before she jerks you towards the front door in her panicked state.

 

    Sunset stares at the two of you as you head out, sort of dumbfounded at the display. Right before Vinyl closes the door behind the two of you, you yell out to Sunset. "Just make yourself busy or something. We'll be back la--"

 

    Vinyl cuts you off with a sharp slam of the door. You barely have enough time between jerks to properly put your shoes on, let alone ask her what's going on. Once she finally crams you into your car and hops into the passenger seat, you ask her as you pull out of the lot.

 

    "So what exactly did you yank me out of bed to do?" you say as you try to straighten out your clothes to look somewhat presentable.

 

    "Oh right. So, the club you met me at sort of sells your stuff if you don't pick it up before their next gig, and with all the commotion I kinda forgot about it. I'm like ninety percent sure the next gig was today," Vinyl says, sounding worried.

 

    "And if you're wrong?"

 

    "Well then either I have a few extra days or they've already gotten rid of it. Either way, let's hurry."

 

    You do as she asks. It's a half hour drive to that side of town, but if last night was any indication, losing all of her gear would be devastating to Vinyl. You can't even imagine how much she had to work to pay for all that stuff.

 

    Once you finally pull up to the club, you and Vinyl get out of the car and stroll right into the place. It's the same overly-blue hole in the wall you remember, albeit without three groaning assholes with vomit and blood on the floor. The bartender is still there though, and he's currently dismantling Vinyl's equipment from the stage.

 

    "Drop those cords!" Vinyl yells as she jogs up to the stage. The bartender sees both of you and his expression immediately turns sour.

 

    "What the hell are you two doing back here?" he asks, looking at you specifically.

 

    "She just wants her shit back, man. We're not here to start anything," you say as you walk up to the stage behind Vinyl.

 

    "Well [i]you[/i]," he says nodding towards you, furrowing his brow, "still owe us a lot of money. What's to say that her gear isn't good enough to pay me back?" the bartender says, continuing to unplug her equipment.

 

    Vinyl's jaw drops before she can climb up onto the stage. "You can't do that!"

 

    The bartender pauses for a moment, staring at Vinyl this time. "And you missed the deadline. All this stuff was supposed to be out of here yesterday. Now my boss is making me take it down and carry it all out back, and there are two broken chairs, a cracked mirror and a hole in the wall that need to be fixed, and I'm getting blamed for it."

 

    You crawl up onto the stage with the guy, putting on your best negotiating face. "Buddy, come on. She's here to pick it up, isn't she? How's she supposed to make an honest living if you take all this away from her?"

 

    "Wait, we didn't break any chairs or crack the mirror, how is that our fault?" Vinyl says, climbing up onto the stage with you.

 

    The bartender looks to you first. "That really isn't my problem, [i]buddy[/i]," he then turns his gaze to Vinyl, "and your friend Neon tore this place apart after you guys left and hasn't been around here since, so as far as I'm concerned, this is all your fault."

 

    This guy is a total dick, but you push down your anger and try to be reasonable. Vinyl isn't quite so forgiving, it seems; she clenches her fists and makes a few angry stomps towards the guy, but you hold out your arm to stop her, giving her a quick nod to let her know you've got this.

 

    "Alright, alright. How does five hundred dollars sound? Will that clear this up?"

 

    He pauses for a moment, thinking about your offer. "I don't know if that will be--"

 

    "And two amps!" Vinyl says. You raise an eyebrow at her, wondering where exactly her previous anger had just gone, but she gives you a reassuring nod, so you just go with it. "I know you guys need some more. I'll leave the two big ones over there if you just let me take the rest of my stuff."

 

    The bartender lets out a long sigh, then stands up. "Fine. Where's my five hundred?"

 

    "Oh, it's in the car. I'll go grab it once we get all her gear loaded up."

 

    The bartender hops off the stage, agitation still clear on his face. "Whatever. Just hurry up and get this shit out of here."

 

    Vinyl lets out a sigh of relief, then playfully punches your arm. "Nice one, dude. Now lets get this stuff out of here before he changes his mind."

 

    You nod to her, and wait to be handed something. With practiced hands, Vinyl disassembles everything she needed from the stage. She hands you a switchboard, some sort of table, and a box full of wires and who knows what. Your hands are quite full once she moves on to the two amps on the other side. With all the grace of a bulldozer, she grabs the two oversized amps and drags them off the stage and towards the door.

 

    Miraculously, the two amps manage to fit in your back seat, just barely. You load the rest of the stuff in the trunk and hop into the driver's seat, ready to go. Vinyl gets in beside you, then scrunches her face in confusion as you start the car.

 

    "Wait, I thought you said you were going to give that guy five hundred bucks?"

 

    You put on a sheepish smile. "I don't actually have five hundred dollars on me. I made that up."

 

    Vinyl bursts out laughing as the two of you drive away. She's laughing so hard you can see tears rolling down her face and she has to hold her sides as she goes even deeper into fits of giggles.

 

    "Okay, it's not that funny."

 

    She surpesses the chuckles between breaths to try to say something. "No, it's not just that. Those two amps that I said I'd leave him? I blew them out the night we met!"

 

    Now you're laughing as well. "So now we really can't go back there."

 

    After a long fit of amusement at that poor bartender's expense, Vinyl tugs on your shirt once you get to a red light, pulling you into a deep kiss before letting you go back into your seat.

 

    You blink a few times, surprised that just happened. Vinyl's warmth on your lips has your heart rate speeding up, and your face a little warmer than usual. You open your mouth to say something, but nothing comes out.

 

    "You're awesome, dude. Thanks a ton for helping me out with that," Vinyl says, a genuine smile on her face as she looks you in the eye. "Now there's one more thing I kinda need help with. You game?"

 

    You clear your throat to try to get your voice back. "Yeah, sure."

 

    "Cool. I kinda left all my clothes and stuff back at Neon's house, would you mind if we went by there to pick them up?"

 

    "Yeah, we can do that," you say, your judgement clouded by the feelings of that kiss.

 

    "He shouldn't be home right now. Here, I'll show you the way."

 

    Without saying much else, you follow Vinyl's directions through the bad side of town. You silently thank yourself for not settling for an apartment here. Even though it's more expensive, not having to put metal bars across all of your windows is always nice. Eventually Vinyl tells you to stop at what looks like a very shitty one star hotel, and even that is being generous. The entire place only has one story, and trash is littered wherever it had been thrown. You definitely see a few large rats scurrying around the parking lot when you drive in.

 

    The two of you get out of the car and make your way to what you could only guess is Neon's place. Vinyl tries the door once, but the knob doesn't budge.

 

    "Shit. Here, give me your keys," Vinyl says, reaching her hand out to you.

 

    You hand her your keys with a dubious expression. "Vinyl, that's not going to--"

 

    Vinyl sticks your apartment key in and turns the lock, opening the door on the first try with nothing broken. She hands your keys back to you and walks right in. You follow her in, confused as to how she just managed that.

 

    "How did you..." you trail off once you walk in and see the state of the place.

 

    "Oh, the door? I'm not exactly sure how. I woke up one morning covered in syrup with a massive hangover and the door has done that ever since," Vinyl says as if that is simply the usual fare for her.

 

    You decide not to question it, instead turning to the very deplorable state of the place. There are clothes and trash everywhere. Now you have some idea as to Vinyl's previous cleaning experience. Cigarette ash, dark stains, and some very questionable piles of various refuse littered the floor around you, and the smell made you want to throw up. Vinyl turns around to see your disgust.

 

    "Okay, I'm definitely not this bad when I live on my own. Neon is a total slob and there was seriously no keeping up with it."

 

    You seriously hope so. She hasn't trashed your apartment yet, so there might be some merit to what she says. Vinyl makes her way into the bedroom, grabbing a bag out of the closet and loading clothes out of the dresser into it, as well as some various nick nacks and other items she wants to keep. Eventually she sets out two large bags full of her stuff on the bedroom floor. You let out a sigh of relief. You didn't know how much longer you could keep yesterday's dinner down.

 

    "Alright, I think that's everything," Vinyl says, wiping her forehead.

 

    "Thank God. Let's get out of--" you say as you reach for one of the bags. Vinyl puts a hand on your shoulder, leaning you back up.

 

    "Though, I never really did properly thank you for letting me stay with you, did I?" Vinyl says with a gentle smile and bedroom eyes. Your heart starts beating again once you realize what she means.

 

    You break eye contact to try to stifle the arousal building up inside you. "Is now really the time?"

 

    Vinyl isn't listening, however. Before you know it she's on her knees in front of you, your pants already unbuttoned and her hand already wrapped around your shaft. The feeling of her cold fingers around your length has blood already flowing where it needs to go.

 

    You let out a long sigh once you feel the air on your member. Vinyl wastes no time to get you in the mood. The feeling of her warm mouth enveloping your head makes you let out a groan. Vinyl's tongue lapped at your shaft as she pushed her head deeper onto you, going further until her lips touched against the base. She slid one hand underneath her chin to drag her soft fingers across your balls, sending waves of pleasure throughout your body. You completely forgot the feeling of disgust from before. All you want to do now is let Vinyl pay you back however she sees fit.

 

    Just as Vinyl is pulling back to slide her lips across your shaft again, the door opens, and none other than Neon is standing in the doorway. "What the fuck!?" he shouts, stomping in and scrambling in a fit of rage at one of the drawers in the kitchen. "You fucking bitch! In my own house!? I'll fucking kill both of you!" He yells.

 

    Vinyl lets your cock slide out of her mouth. She scrambles towards her bags. Vinyl grabs one bag, and hunches down, ready for action. She looks to you as she puts a foot on the other bag. "Grab a bag and make a break for the door," she says as she kicks it across the floor to you. With the heavier, harder one in hand, Vinyl jumps into the kitchen. Neon has a pistol in his hand, pointing it right at Vinyl. You jump into the kitchen after them, about to yell at Vinyl to look out, but she's two steps ahead of you.

 

    With a heavy crunch and the sound of splintering wood, Vinyl slams her bag right into Neon's head, smashing it between the bag and the cabinet beside him. That's what you would have heard if the gun didn't go off as soon as Vinyl nailed him. It's nothing like it is in the movies; as soon as you hear the bang, everything else just becomes loud ringing in your ears. A few muffled sounds make it through, but otherwise it sounds like you just developed tinnitus.

 

    Vinyl winces at the shot as well, but doesn't seem all that phased by it. She yells something at you, but it gets lost in the ringing. She waves for you to follow her, and both of you run as fast as you can toting two heavy bags for your car. By the time you jump into your car with the bag still in your lap and turn the keys in the ignition, Vinyl has produced a pistol of her own, and is hanging out of your window pointing it back at the apartment.

 

    You step on the gas once the harsh sound of a bullet hitting metal resounds throughout the car. Vinyl lets off two shots back at the building before pulling herself mostly back into your car. "Fuck you, Neon! Your music was shit anyway!" she says as you race back onto the street, hoping to get far away from all of that. Once you were a good distance away from the danger, Vinyl crawls back into the car and rolls the window back up, laughing as the adrenaline courses through her veins.

 

    "Jesus, Vinyl!" you say, sticking a finger in your still ringing ear.

 

    "Oh, don't worry, that will wear off. Shouldn't usually fire these things inside anyway," she says casually, flipping some switch on the gun and turning it over as she inspects it in her hand.

 

    "Why do you have a gun!" you ask, your heart still beating pretty intensely in your chest.

 

    "Speaking of which, you should probably holster yours," Vinyl says with an amused smile, nodding towards your crotch.

 

    Sure enough, your dick is definitely still hanging out, Vinyl's saliva still wet on your skin. You quickly shove it back into your pants and button them again, giving her a cross look. "Doesn't answer the question."

 

    She waves you off nonchalantly. "Chill, dude. It's legal. I have my carry permit somewhere around here. How do you expect a girl to get around safely in that part of town? Wishful thinking?"

 

    You take a deep breath, trying to calm your panicking body. "Sorry. Just not used to getting [i]shot at,[/i]" you say, looking over to her with an annoyed expression.

 

    "Yeah, really sorry about that. I didn't think Neon was going to be home for another few hours at least. But hey we're still in one piece, right?"

 

    "Barely," you say, rolling down your window and reaching for your mirror, adjusting it to try and see the back of your car, "I think he might've hit my car."

 

    "Probably nothing serious. Let's just get back to the apartment. I'm sure your prude princess is probably worried sick about you."

 

    You take another deep breath, the adrenaline coursing through your body finally starting to wear off. "Fine with me. Just don't shoot at anyone else, alright?"

 

    Vinyl gives you a childish smile. "Promise."

 

    You finally make it back to the apartment a little after noon. You check on your car, and thankfully, Neon only just scrapedthe trunk, leaving a small scratch into the metal across the top. Vinyl forgoes trying to tote her equipment up those stairs, and just asks for help carrying her bags up to your place. After a long hike up the stairs with Vinyl's heavy belongings, you open the door back to your apartment, happy to be home and not dead.

 

    Once you drop the bag beside the front door, you find Sunset on your couch in silence, scribbling away with a colored pencil on a pad in her lap, her legs crossed and a slight smile on her face. Once she notices you she sets the pad on the couch and gets up, looking at the bags you and Vinyl just set down with worry. "What's in the bags?" she asks, probably nervous it's drugs or a body or something.

 

    "Just Vinyl's stuff. It's only clothes and the rest of her junk. Nothing to worry about," you say, kind of lying since there is a gun sitting inside one of them.

 

    "Nothing to worry about, Princess," Vinyl says, walking past you and towards your room. Vinyl stops in her tracks once the smell hits her. You smell it too. It's a stark contrast from the disgusting stench of Neon's place. It smells like a five star italian restaurant.

 

    "Woah, what is that," Vinyl says, lifting up her glasses towards the kitchen.

 

    "Oh, I didn't know how long you guys were going to be, so I went to the store and got some stuff to make pasta. I wanted to try out this new sauce recipe, and I didn't really have much else to do."

 

    Vinyl sprints over to the counter, stopping only to grab a fork and sit down before she tore into Sunset's concoction. You're pretty hungry as well. Near-death experiences must build up quite an appetite.

 

    Sunset raises an eyebrow at Vinyl's behavior, but doesn't say anything. You open your mouth to thank her, but notice the pad behind Sunset before you do. "What's that?" you ask, pointing around her.

 

    "Oh this?" Sunset says, picking the sketchpad from the couch, "I was just drawing some ideas for decorating your apartment. Don't worry, I'm not going to redecorate everything without asking you or anything."

 

    You take the pad from her hands, looking over it. It's like a complete recreation of the inside of your living room in pencil. Her ideas look amazing, even though the page you're on now is only half finished. Sunset's drawing skills are impeccable, and her interior designing looks amazing as well, not that you really know much about that side of things. The designs she drew out would definitely make your place look much more vibrant. You flip through the pages; she's drawn out your bedroom and kitchen as well, with her design ideas already completed. Each of them looks just as amazing as the last. You keep flipping through the pages to see amazing drawings of people and landscapes, as well as various animals and one particularly good drawing of a castle on a hill. You flip to a page with two people hugging on it, but you only get a glimpse before Sunset yanks it out of your hands, quickly closing it and putting it behind her back.

 

    She puts on an embarrassed smile. "I'll show you all that another time. Why don't you eat?"

 

    "Damn, Sunset. I never knew you could draw like that."

 

    Sunset walks behind you, pushing you towards the kitchen. "Oh, just a little something I do to pass the time. Please, eat something. I'm sure you're really hungry."

 

    "Alright, I'm going." You sit down at the counter next to Vinyl, who has already torn apart half of the meal. It smells even better close up. You fill your fork up and take a mouthful. You're immediately floored by how good it actually tastes. You haven't eaten this well in years, at least. This tastes like it just came out of a restaurant you'd have to wait six months to get a reservation for. Sunset is just full of surprises today.

 

    "Sunset, where did you learn to cook, too? This stuff is great!" you say in amazement as you take another bite.

 

    Sunset hides away her sketchbook before walking back around to the kitchen. "Oh, it's not that great. I think I put way too much salt into it. Anyway, it's just something you pick up living on your own if you don't want takeout every night, I guess."

 

    "I don't know about that; you could be a chef with how good this tastes."

 

    Vinyl leans up from inhaling her food over her plate. "Seriously though, even though you're a total bitch sometimes, you make some mean pasta. I think this is the best thing I've ever tasted."

 

    Sunset looks taken aback for a moment, not really sure how to take the compliment with the 'total bitch' part. "Thanks, I guess."

 

    After the wonderful lunch, both you and Vinyl are in a food coma stupor, with the savory flavors still swirling around your mouth. You almost nod off before you remember that you had two maids that needed something to do for the rest of the day. You slowly slink out of your chair, trying to nurse the food baby growing inside you. Sunset is washing dishes as you nudge Vinyl out of her own reverie.

 

    "There is one last room I forgot to tell you guys to clean," you say as you make your way to the door by the bathroom. You usually kept the door locked, but no longer. You slip the key into the door and swing it open. When you first moved in it was advertised as an office space, but once you got a hold of it, it became the junk room. It got so dirty you decided to quarantine it until you had a solid weekend to yourself to try and work on it, but now that you had two maids, you don't have to worry about that.

 

    Various trash and boxes lay about the room. Packages of things you've never opened were everywhere, along with furniture that has yet to be assembled. You initially planned on making this on office, but that obviously didn't work out so well. There is definitely the supplies in this room to make it that way, but it is going to take a lot of work for that to ever happen.

 

    Sunset and Vinyl reluctantly make their way over to you, looking over your shoulder at the massive mess you've presented them. Sunset gasps dramatically and puts a hand over her mouth and Vinyl lets out a defeated whine at the sight.

 

    "Have at it, ladies," you say, leaving them to it.

 

    The next few hours you spend recovering from the first part of the day. The stress of getting shot at definitely took it out of you, but the sound of someone else toiling at your expense and putting your feet up and taking it easy for a while eased that somewhat. Once quitting time rolls around, Sunset trudges out of the room, covered in dust and dirt. She gives you half-hearted goodbye before making her way out, probably to immediately fall asleep once she got home. You almost tell her she forgot to make dinner before she left, but seeing how tired she is makes you think better of it.

 

    Vinyl slinks into the living room soon after, throwing herself onto the couch beside you dramatically. "Why? Why would you force that on another person? The egyptian slaves didn't even know that kind of horror," she says as she grabs at your shirt in faux desperation.

 

    You brush her off of you. "Oh, quit being so melodramatic. You agreed to this and lost that bet fair and square."

 

    "But it's so much woooork," Vinyl says in a long whine. "A whole month of shit like this? I'm going to lose my mind, man."

 

    Vinyl turns over and sits on her knees next to you. She adopts a sultry expression and traces her hand across your pants until it ends on your crotch, where she gives it a quick grope. "There's gotta be something else I can do to repay you..." Vinyl says, her tone going from whiny to sensual at the drop of a hat.

 

    You pat her hand away from her yet again, focusing your attention back on the tv. "Nope. You've got a month, Vinyl."

 

    Vinyl moans dramatically, spinning around and falling onto the couch, her head falling into your lap. "Really? Is there not [i]anything[/i] that I can do that let me off the hook?"

 

    You think for a moment. What would be the most impossible thing Vinyl could never manage to do that is still somewhat realistic. After a few moments, a devious idea pops into your head. You look down to Vinyl with a sly smile. "Convince Sunset to have a threesome with you and me and I'll make those contracts disappear."

 

    Vinyl lets out a long groan and puts her hands over her face. "Oooh, she's never going to agree to that shit. I doubt that stuck up bitch has ever even done anal."

 

    You let out a laugh. "Come on, she's not that bad."

 

    Vinyl's hands fall away from her face and she puts on her best puppy dog pout. "Isn't there anything else?"

 

    "Nope. That's the only thing you can do."

 

    "Ugh. Alright, whatever. A month of slavery it is." Vinyl goes limp up against you, staring at the tv for a few minutes with you before finally getting up. "I'm gonna hit the sack, man. Wake me up tomorrow for more slave duty I guess."

 

    "Night," you say to her as she turns the light off in your bedroom and crawls into bed.

 

    After another few hours, you decide to follow her in. Once you change your clothes and crawl under the blanket with a very naked Vinyl, her movement tells her she isn't quite asleep.

 

    She crawls over next to you, arching her back into you so you can feel every one of her curves on your arm. She reaches into your pants, grabbing your shaft yet again in her soft fingers. "You know, I never really got to thank you for letting me stay here," she whispers in your ear.

 

    You gulp as blood rushes into your cock. Vinyl moved next to you, rubbing your arm across her soft skin and letting her breasts rest on your shoulder.

 

    "This isn't going to help you out of that contract," you whisper back to her, a nervous pit building up in your stomach as she stroked you.

 

    "I know," she whispers, "this is just me being grateful."

 

    Vinyl's head disappears beneath the sheets as she makes her way down. With a quick jerk, she pulls your pants down to an adequate level. The stroking of her hand across your shaft increases once she situates herself between your legs. Once your first mate is standing completely at attention, Vinyl releases her tight grasp on you, trading the intense movement of her hand for the soft kisses of her lips.

 

    You let out a soft sigh at the feeling of her kisses along your length. Once she plants the final one on your head, she opens her mouth and lets you in once again. Now that you are actually comfortable and in your own home, the feeling of being inside her like that is so much more satisfying. Vinyl presses herself downward until your stiff cock touches the back of her throat, coating most of your shaft with her saliva.

 

    Vinyl reaches between your legs and cups your balls, dragging her soft fingertips across the skin to make you groan at the pleasure she gave you. Her other hand wraps around your shaft below her mouth.

   

    You clench your teeth once she really starts. Vinyl is no beginner, and her expert hands caress your skin in ways that you've never felt before. The warm comfort of her mouth bobbing up and down on your head makes your vision blur with pleasure. Your cock twitches inside of her mouth, dripping precum into her. The spinning of her hand on your shaft and the gentle caress of the other make sure you don't get a second to rest as the sensations continue to build.

 

    You look down to see the sheets fall over her electric blue hair. The tiny brushes of the strands touch along your legs and stomach, sending even more little sensations around you body as she works. Vinyl looks up, your cock still deep in her mouth, glancing at you with her ruby red eyes to see if you're enjoying yourself. You bite your lip, hoping you can last longer, but her sultry gaze and expert hands are making short work of you.

 

    You can feel the pressure building up inside you. The gentle lapping of her tongue around your head flows down your shaft and through the rest of your body, making you fidget beneath her. Vinyl can sense it too. Without even thinking about giving you a break, she increases her speed, moving her fingers out of the way to push you deeper down her throat.

 

    "Vinyl..." you whisper, but she ignores you, only striving to push herself further onto you with every bob of her head.

 

    After a few more wet slips of her lips across your shaft, you can hold back no longer. Your eyes roll back and you relax into the bed as your cock convulses in her mouth. You can feel her mouth moving around the head as you continue to spurt into her. She swallows every bit gladly, lightly caressing your length to coax the last little bits out of you. Once you feel that you can't give her any more, she lets you slip out of her mouth, a little wet slap coming from your stomach as your cock falls from her.

 

    With a gentle smile, Vinyl crawls up next to you again, making sure to press her body against you. She leans over and kisses you on the cheek as she wraps one arm around you.

 

    "You can pay me back later," she whispers to you right before snuggling up next to you and closing her eyes.

 

    Your eyes soon fall as well. Vinyl really took it out of you, in more ways than one. As much as you enjoyed her little gift, some part of you can't help but feel bad for some reason you really can't figure out. You don't spend much time searching your feelings before you finally head off to sleep yourself, a naked DJ wrapped around one side.

 

 

 

Chapter 5 - Long Lost:

 

   "What the hell!?" you hear Sunset yell from outside your room. You aren't particularly surprised until you notice that Vinyl isn't laying next to you anymore. With a sudden panic spreading over you, you hop out of bed, pants still halfway down your knees. Without realizing it, you trip over your own pants and crash through your bedroom door out into the open Sunlight, letting Vinyl, Sunset, and two other guys you've never seen before get a full view of you below the belt.

 

    Sunset's gaze averts from the guy not even trying to hide the fact that he's smoking a joint in your living room to your very exposed junk. A blush comes over her face quickly, and she averts her gaze, putting a hand up over her face with an overwhelmed expression.

 

    "Good a start to the morning as any I guess," Sunset says, a little flustered.

 

    You scramble to pull your pants back up so that not everyone memorizes the exact size and shape of your dick. The creepier of the two guys walks out of your kitchen after giving a small chuckle at your predicament. Once he notices Sunset however, his expression changes from amused to predatory. He makes his way towards Sunset, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and giving her a confident smile.

 

    "I'm digging the maid outfit, babe. What's say we find somewhere to take it off?"

 

    Your eye twitches in anger once you hear that, but Sunset seems to be able to take care of herself. With a quick shove and a very shocked expression, she pushes the guy into the opposite wall.

 

    "Get off me, you creep. Do I look like some back alley slut to you?"

 

    The guy shrugs, giving her mostly exposed body another once over with a very delighted smile. Sunset clenches her fist, her face turning red with anger.

 

    "Vinyl, what the hell are these guys doing here?" you ask.

 

    "Oh, this is Treble and Cliff," Vinyl says, pointing to the guy on the wall and the couch respectively. "I was just talking to them about getting some new amps. They sell that kind of stuff cheap."

 

   "Because it's stolen, most likely," Sunset says in a very angered tone, moving away from Treble and towards the kitchen.

 

    Treble follows Sunset with his eyes, that same wanting gaze on his face. This dude makes you sick looking at your friend like that, but then again you are the one who made her wear lingerie on a daily basis.

 

    "What's it matter where they came from, babe? I'll give you a flat screen and a hundred bucks for a blowjob," Treble says with all the grace of a mugger, a sick smile on his face all the while.

 

    Sunset's mouth hangs open in shock. You can't believe someone would actually be that forward either. You joke about it with her all the time, but this guy is just a douche. Sunset narrows her eyes at the guy and reaches for your set of steak knives. You seriously contemplate not even trying to stop her.

 

    Cliff leans back over your couch towards the two, his dreads undoubtedly leaving a grease stain as they flow across. "Hey, man, let's be cool. Treble didn't mean nothing by it. Keep the good vibes flowing, right?" Cliff says, his mannerism like he just walked out of woodstock. You could smell the pot smoke already, and your temper isn't faring much better than Sunset's anymore. You pick yourself up off the floor and look to Vinyl.

 

    "Look, Vinyl. I don't care if your friends want to meet up in the parking lot or something, but I seriously don't want them in--"

 

    Vinyl perks up, interrupting you. "Oh, and Treble had a job for you if you needed some money. What did you say, three grand?"

 

    Treble slinks his way over to you, putting his arm around your shoulder as well. He leans in close enough that you can smell the cigarette smoke on his tank top. "Yeah, man. Three grand sound good to you? Oh, and are you any good with a gun?"

 

    Your jaw hangs open for a second now too. You shoulder the guy off of you and yell, "Both of you, get out of my house!"

 

    Cliff rolls his head back and groans. "Come on, dude. You totally just ruined the mood." His 'mood' quickly returns as he gives you a gentle smile with his glazed eyes as he reaches in his vest pocket and pulls out a little green pill. Treble's eyes almost pop out of his skull at the sight of it, and he makes a beeline for your door, slamming it behind him before Cliff can even set the thing on your coffee table. "This is for the spirit, man."

 

    Vinyl sees what he has in his hand and jumps to stop him. "Wait, Cliff!"

 

    Before she can do anything, the hippie sets the pill down on your table and smashes it open with a fist. A tiny pop resounds throughout your apartment. You raise an eyebrow at the tiny stain it left behind. You look between Vinyl, whose eyes are freaking out and has a hand over her mouth, and Cliff, who is just looking at you with a very peaceful expression.

 

    You open your mouth to say something, but then it hits you: the most god-awful smell that has ever passed through your nostrils. It smelled like you just got dropped into a sewer full of rotting meat and burnt hair. You cover your mouth immediately to keep from throwing up. Sunset, however, isn't so lucky. In a flashback to a few days ago, she turns around and fills your sink with whatever she had for dinner last night.

 

    Cliff gets up, completely unfazed by the putrid stench assaulting your senses. He walks over and puts a gentle hand on your shoulder, a dazed smile still on his face. "That should help clear out your chakras or whatever, dude. Just embrace it. You'll be at peace soon," he says before following Treble out, leaving you, Sunset, and Vinyl in what might just be your burial chamber if you stay too much longer.

 

    Not seeing much more choice, you run over to the kitchen and grab Sunset before she passes out, then carry you and her out the door, Vinyl right behind you. The three of you gasp for fresh air once you slam the door behind you. Sunset is looking too green to even yell at Vinyl, so you take the honor once you catch your breath and manage to hold down the contents of your stomach.

 

    "Vinyl, what the hell!?" you say, bent over and still gasping.

 

    "Sorry, man. I hate it when he does that," Vinyl says, propping herself up on the railing.

 

    "Why were they over here in the first place?" you say, not bothering to hide the anger in your voice.

 

    Vinyl looks a little hurt at you almost yelling at her. "Hey, dude, chill. I didn't know he was going to do that. It's not like he set fire to your apartment or anything."

 

    "Treble was sexually harassing Sunset and was about to ask me to kill somebody! I don't want thugs and junkies in my apartment, Vinyl!" you say, really letting the anger show in your tone. Vinyl backs away from you slightly, legitimate remorse on her face.

 

    "I... I didn't know," Vinyl says, choking up slightly. "Cliff's stink bombs usually only last like twenty four hours, it should be alright by then."

 

    You don't answer her, still pretty mad that you're homeless for the next day unless you wanted to suffocate. You look to Sunset, and she's still looking too sick to be angry. Vinyl steps toward you, looking apologetic. "Look, man. I'm really sorry. I just--"

 

    You shake your head. "Nothing we can do about it now, except maybe go find a hotel or something."

 

    Sunset perks up from her hunched over position. She clears her throat and tries not to sound like she just threw up. "You guys can stay at my place if you don't want to spend the money."

 

    Both you and Vinyl look to her, surprised. Sunset barely let you stay over there; actually offering to house Vinyl is almost groundbreaking for her.

 

    You let out a sigh. "Yeah, that sounds good. Now I just need to go back in and grab my keys and some clothes I guess."

 

    Vinyl gets off the railing with an apologetic smile. "Hey, I'll help you."

 

    You mostly ignore her, facing towards the door. "Whatever. Let's just grab some stuff out of the dresser and get out of there as fast as possible."

 

    Vinyl nods, lining up behind you like you're about to breach and clear your living room. You're not really in the mood for it right now, and just open the door and jog in, holding your shirt over your mouth as your eyes start to water. You make a break for your room, Vinyl close behind you. Before you throw up, you manage to grab a few bits of clothing and stuff it into a backpack that Vinyl tosses you out of your closet. After a quick run through your bedroom and bathroom for the essentials, you sprint back out the front door. Vinyl grabs her two bags and pulls them out with her, closing the door behind her before the smell follows the two of you as well.

 

    Vinyl lets out a laugh as she bends over to catch her breath. "Heh, I'd almost forgotten how bad that stuff was. He never would tell me what he made it out of."

 

    You look over and glare daggers at Vinyl between gasps of fresh air. Once she catches your gaze, she shies away from you, her smile fading somewhat.

 

    Sunset looks between you two, slight concern on her face aside from the sickly expression. You give her your own concerned expression; she still looks like she might throw up. “You gonna be alright? You don’t look so good.”

 

    Sunset waves you off, coughing a few times and trying to put on a smile. “I’m fine, just a lot to take in first thing in the morning.”

 

   “You’ve got that right,” you say in an irritated tone directed toward Vinyl.

 

   “So how about we head out before that smell seeps out of the door and I throw up again,” Sunset says, looking very ready to get as far away as possible. You nod to her, and she slowly makes her way down the stairs, the sickly green tint on her cheeks fading as she got some fresh air.

 

    In an awkward silence you follow Sunset down, not paying much mind as she walks behind you. Sunset gets in her own car and leaves, leaving you and Vinyl to silently load up in yours and be on your way. Vinyl awkwardly taps against her thighs or looks out the window on the drive. Probably for the better; you don't really feel like talking anyway.

 

    After a quick drive, you pull into the parking lot of Sunset's complex. It's somewhat nicer than yours, in the sense that the building has a bit more color and the groundskeepers did a better job, but not near as much as a contrast between yours and what Neon and Vinyl lived in.

 

    Sunset is already unlocking her door once you and Vinyl get out of the car. With a quick jog up the stairs, you go up to meet her.

 

    As soon as you walk into the apartment the usual smell hits you. It's like sunshine, peaches, and a slight hint of vanilla swirling around her apartment. Her clothes always had the same aroma, but you always thought smelling her for it was kinda awkward.

 

    Sunset walks into the center of her living room, looking from you to Vinyl, slightly tense for some reason. She doesn’t seem sick anymore, but something about the way she looks at Vinyl has changed; it isn’t anger or disdain like you might expect from her. She looks back to you with a newfound smile on her face. "Well, home sweet home. I'm gonna go change out of this. You guys just don't break anything, I guess."

 

    You nod to her, a bit sad that she's dropping the maid outfit, but in light of recent events you aren’t too concerned. You look over to Vinyl after the words "break anything" and give her a stern look.

 

    She drops her bag and puts her hands up innocently. "Hey, man. I'm cool. Just gonna chill on the couch and everything is gonna be fine," Vinyl says, walking past you. She falls onto the couch and puts her feet up on the armrest, bumping her foot against a vase on an adjacent table. Vinyl scrambles forward and wraps both hands around the decoration before it can clatter to the ground. She gives you her best sheepish smile. You just sigh and shake your head.

 

    You drop your bag on the other couch and take a quick look around Sunset's place. It always felt so much warmer than yours. Instead of the usual white walls, hers is painted in some light yellow color. Sunset told you the name at one point, but you never remembered it. She has flowers decorating the room as well, along with vivid paintings of splashes of color or sunrises hanging on the walls. Those weren't there the last time you were here.

 

    Sunset emerges from her room, sporting her usual clothes.

 

    "Hey, where'd you get these paintings," you say, motioning toward them. Sunset's focused more on pushing the wrinkles out of her clothes when you open your mouth, making her perk up at the sound of your voice.

 

    "Oh, those? I painted them myself." Sunset's face turns uneasy as she looks them over. "I'm probably going to take them down pretty soon though, I think I can do better than that."

 

    You raise an eyebrow and smile at her. "Are you kidding me? They already look great. They really bring out the room, I think," you say.

 

    Sunset twirls her hair in her fingers and looks away from you, a slight smile on her face. "Heh, thanks."

 

    Vinyl on the other hand, crosses her arms over her chest and pouts. You couldn't begin to guess why. You ignore her childish reactions and go to sit on the couch on the other side of the room.

 

    Sunset leans on the wall next to her bedroom door, looking between you and Vinyl, waiting for someone to break the awkward silence. The three of you sit there for a moment before Sunset finally decides to say something.

 

    "So, uhh, do you guys want to do anything, or...?"

 

    Vinyl jumps off the couch, ready to break out of the awkwardness of sitting in Sunset's living room.  "Anything to get out of this place. It looks like a grandma lives here and the smell is making my eyes water."

 

    Sunset narrows her eyes at Vinyl, but Vinyl just walks right out the front door, leaving you two alone.

 

    Sunset looks to you, concern plain on her face. "Are you really that mad at her?"

 

    You get off the couch. "Are you not?" you say as you make your way to the front door. If anyone is going to harbor some sort of grudge against Vinyl for today's incident, you imagine it's going to be Sunset.

 

    "Well, I didn't like being harassed by a crackhead, but it's not like it did any lasting damage," Sunset says, walking alongside you.

 

    When you stop to think about it, you aren't necessarily mad at Vinyl, but for some reason you've developed some sort of disdain for her in the past day or two. Maybe it's because of last night. "I'm not really super pissed at her, but... I don't know."

 

   Sunset looks away from you, slightly downtrodden. "Maybe you should give her a break, I think she needs some good friends in her life," Sunset says in almost a whisper, actual pity audible in her voice.

 

    Before you turn the doorknob you look back at Sunset, perplexed. This is coming from the girl who couldn't stand Vinyl two days ago.

 

    Sunset laughs when she looks back and sees your face. She pushes you playfully. "Don't give me that look," she says, her tone going from playful to somber. "I just... I think she went to Canterlot High with us."

 

    "What? Really?"

 

    "Yeah, I remember seeing her in the halls a few times, she even helped us during that whole battle of the bands disaster. I guess I didn't recognize her before, since we never really spoke. I don't think anyone at school ever even said her name."

 

    "Huh. Are you sure? I don't remember her at all," you say, searching through your high school memories.

 

    "Yeah, she never really hung out with anyone. She was always by herself listening to her music," Sunset says, sounding like she's sorry for her. "I don't think she graduated with us either. I think she dropped out our senior year."

 

    You stand there at the doorway for a moment, just thinking of what all this meant. "So what are you getting at?"

 

    "I'm saying that Vinyl could use some friends like us. People with some stability that aren't criminals. You saw those two guys; they can't be good influences on anyone."

 

    You sigh. "I guess you're right. I mean, she is already living with me, so that’s a step in the right direction.” You turn to open the door, but look back to Sunset. "So why the sudden concern?"

 

    Sunset's face turns slightly darker, and she looks away from you. "I think you know why."

 

    It wasn't that many years ago that you hated the sight of Sunset walking through the halls, and all of your fellow students held the same sentiment. The girl didn't have a friend to her name back then. You know how much it bothers her to think about that time in her life, so you never really bring it up. At finally remembering, Sunset must've found some common ground with her otherwise arch rival on the job.

 

    "Well then, how about we take you out to make a friend."

 

    Sunset gives you a gentle smile as you open the door for her. "Sounds good to me."

 

    As the day goes on, you try to let go of your anger towards Vinyl. The more you try, the more you realize you aren't actually mad at her. As annoyed as you are about the day's earlier incident, there isn't any lasting damage and you know Vinyl isn't one to go against your wishes intentionally. You deducted it must be from last night. Actually having some semblance of sober sex made you guilty for some reason, and every time you look at Sunset the feeling grew even worse.

 

    The three of you waste the day as any normal adults in that town would: you go out to eat, explore a few of the local shops in town, follow Sunset as she drags you through department stores for things she "needs" but never actually buys anything. Surprisingly, Sunset and Vinyl actually get along for the most part, with Sunset having more patience with Vinyl's antics than usual.

 

    From what you can tell, both girls seem to enjoy themselves throughout the day, and they even gang up on you a few times in some friendly banter. After a long day of doing a whole lot of nothing, you and the girls head back to Sunset's apartment, down a couple bucks and laughing all the way.

 

    A couple of hours after the sun finally disappears behind the horizon, the three of you pour through the front door. Sunset is still laughing from the conversation her and Vinyl were having on the way up the stairs.

 

    "You really aren't supposed to ride those things! The weight limit is only like eighty pounds."

 

    Vinyl waves her off. "Oh come on. It could totally handle me for like a minute. If you had let me borrow a quarter anyway, you cheapskate."

 

    "I wasn't about to give you a quarter so you could ride the mechanical dolphin in the mall," Sunset says with a teasing smirk.

 

    "Dolphins are cool as hell though. How can you tell me you don't want to ride a dolphin?" Vinyl asks.

 

    "Riding an actual dolphin and breaking a ride for toddlers in the mall is not going to be the same thing," Sunset says, crossing her arms over her chest with a smile still on her face.

 

    Vinyl elbows you in the arm. "Jeez, we need to get this girl out to have some actual fun, huh?"

 

    You let out a laugh with them. "Heh, she could probably use it."

 

    Sunset raises an eyebrow playfully at you. "Oh, so now you're on her side?" Sunset's questioning smirk dies down to make way for a quick yawn. She glances over at the clock on her wall, then looks back to you two. "Well, I'm about ready for bed. What about you guys?"

 

    Vinyl stretches her arms over her head, then falls backwards onto one of Sunset's couches, careful of the vase this time. "Yeah whatever. I call the longer couch."

 

    Sunset perks up, stepping towards the closet as she opens her mouth. "I'll get you some--"

 

    Vinyl cuts her off by pulling the blanket laying over the back of the couch as decoration over her body, and snuggling into the pillow on one end.

 

    "Or you could just sleep in that. As long as you don't crawl into bed naked with me I guess you're alright," Sunset says jokingly.

 

    Vinyl rolls back over to face you two. "Don't worry, princess. I'd let you know if I wanted to scissor with you."

 

    Sunset doesn't seem to know how to respond to that one. Instead of letting her sit there confused, you speak up.

 

    "I guess I'll take the other couch. You have some extra sheets or something?"

 

    "You could just sleep in my bed with me," Sunset forces out quickly, looking away from you when you meet her eye. She almost winces at your gaze.

 

    You look over to Vinyl expecting some sort of sarcastic quip out of her, but instead she just scowls slightly, then rolls over away from the two of you with some force.

 

    You rub the back of your neck. "Yeah, that would save us the trouble of messing up your other couch. Sure."

 

    "Are you... um, tired now?" Sunset asks.

 

    "Tired enough. Lead the way, 'princess'," you say with a smile, quoting Vinyl.

 

    Sunset leads you into her bedroom. She quickly disappears into her bathroom, giving you the moment to shut the door and change into something more appropriate for sleeping. She emerges from her bathroom, a pair of orange sweatpants and an old t-shirt replacing her usual attire. She looks almost nervous as you stretch out, mentally preparing to hit the sack.

 

    Sunset moves over next to you and pulls up the sheets on her neatly made bed for both of you. Sunset looks to you a few times as she crawls into bed, but never for long enough to make actual eye contact. She looks like she wants to start some sort of conversation, but it dies in her throat every time. You don't really feel like talking anymore anyway. Your jaw hurt from smiling with her all day. You move over to flick the light off and crawl into bed next to her, not really thinking much of it.

 

    Sunset stirs a few times next to you, but in the complete darkness of the night, you assume she falls asleep pretty quickly. Once you settle in, you marvel at how immaculate her sheets actually are. The soft cotton felt like heaven against your skin, and the mattress sank in just enough for you to lose yourself in it. You have to ask Sunset where she got all this tomorrow, right after you enjoy it yourself.

 

    That is until Sunset rolls over and lays an arm over you in an unconscious daze. You aren't sure what to do at first; you've never even shared a bed with her before--barring one near-naked couch spooning session--and you aren't sure how well she'd react to you wrapped up with her in her own bed.

 

    Sunset's unconscious form wearily grabs at you, as if you're some teddy bear she's trying to drag towards her. You almost brush her off, turn over and forget about it, but then that smell hits you. Her scent of sunshine and peaches changes your mind. That sweet smell and her soft skin. If she woke up you could probably explain that you were just sleeping too. As slowly and carefully as you can manage, you give Sunset a grip on your back, and wrap your arms around her as well.

 

    As she snuggles into the crook of your neck, she lets out a tiny coo of delight. You smile at the sound, and sink into the feeling of being so close to your best friend. She's so soft and warm, you feel even more relaxed with her so close to you.

 

    You take a moment to reflect on just how great the girl in your arms is. She's never let you down in the entire time you've been friends.Every little joking advance and tease has been met with a playful laugh or at least was quickly forgiven.  She’s always been so sweet and helpful when it called for it, and joking and playful when it was appropriate. You can’t remember a time after she changed that you’ve ever seriously been mad at her. Even after high school the two have you have been as tight as ever, when all her other friends went their separate ways. She's so talented, smart, and nice, you feel almost jealous of the guy that she finally gives her heart to.

 

    Speaking of hearts, you can feel Sunset's beating intensely inside her chest. You'd have to remember to tell her about that in the morning too. That doesn't seem like a healthy resting heart rate at all. For now though, you enjoy the comfort of being wrapped in her arms, and quickly fall asleep in her embrace.

 

Chapter 6 - She Does:

 

    You awaken in the most heavenly sheets you’ve ever felt, immediately wishing could’ve stayed asleep a little longer. You feel like you could sleep forever in the wonderful softness enveloping your body, but the light cutting through the window and hitting you in the face had other plans. Once you come to your senses, you realize where you are, and what you did last night. Surprisingly, Sunset is sitting up in bed next to you, flipping through her phone with a tiny smile on her face.

 

    Since she woke up before you. there is no doubt she knew what position you two slept in. Somehow there isn't a trace of anger on her face; quite the opposite actually. Quite the change from the last time this happened, though you are wearing pants this time around. She looks over to you now that your eyes have fluttered open. The tiny smile on her face grows into a bright, delighted grin.

 

    "Well look who finally woke up. I thought you might sleep all day," Sunset says, not a trace of irritation in her voice. She seems so happy the feeling actually radiates to you. You pick up a smile and roll over onto the pillow, stretching out your entire body in a new position.

 

    "Well in a bed like this I could sleep forever. Where did you even get these sheets? Straight from heaven itself?" you say, rubbing your cheek across the fabric affectionately.

 

    Sunset gives you a tiny giggle. Seeing her in the sunlight and so happy like this is refreshing; you had to find out the cause and do that more often. "I bought them from that girly fabric store beside the mall. You know, the one Rarity would always drag us to?"

 

    You give a playful roll of your eyes. "God, that place was so boring. They always played that smooth jazz music that looped over and over and over," you say with a groan at all the lost hours following Rarity through that place.

 

    Sunset laughs again. You smile even wider at the sound. "Haha, I don't think they've changed that song in three years. They have some amazing sheets and blankets though; I definitely see why it was Rarity's favorite store."

 

    "I've definitely got to stop by and grab some sheets sometime."

 

    Sunset perks up. "I can go with you if you'd like."

 

    "That sounds good to me."

 

    Sunset sets her phone down on the nightstand beside her. Her expression turns from joyous to cautious at some unknown thought. It almost hurts to see her smile leave. "Something wrong?" you ask.

 

    "Have you and Vinyl... been together again since the first time you met?" Sunset asks in a worried tone.

 

    "What do you mea-- oh," you say, pausing for a moment afterwards. For some reason you feel ashamed at the thought of admitting to what you and Vinyl did, but you can't for the life of you figure out why. You know Sunset isn't going to be mad at you for being with Vinyl; she said it herself that she needed friends like the two of you. So why do you feel like this? "The night before, we slept together... sort of."

 

    "Oh..." Sunset says, laying her hands in her lap and looking down. "Well as long as she makes you happy, I'm--"

 

    Vinyl opens Sunset's bedroom door loudly, letting it bang on the wall as she strides forward and leans on the doorframe with her arms crossed over her chest and an impatient look on her face. "You losers done fucking yet? You could at least make princess here scream to add some excitement to the morning. I've been awake for like half an hour, bored as hell, waiting for you guys, and I'm all kinds of hungry," Vinyl says nonchalantly, motioning towards the two of you.

 

    Sunset goes stiff as a board, her face darkening in a shade of deep red. Sunset has to clear her throat before she can actually speak clearly. "You know can make your own breakfast, Vinyl," Sunset says, looking at her with the same disdain that she had a few days ago.

 

    "Well I didn't want you bitching at me because I messed up the perfect order of your pantry or some shit."

 

    Sunset narrows her eyes at Vinyl, opening her mouth to say something mean, probably. You nip that argument in the bud.

 

    "We'll be up in a little bit, Vinyl, just give us like five minutes."

 

    Vinyl shrugs, then turns around to go back into the living room. "Alright, whatever," she says as she walks out of sight.

 

    Sunset purses her lips and glares at the spot Vinyl was just in, a blush still bright on her face.

 

    You reluctantly roll out of the heavenly sheets and put your feet down on the carpet below. With a quick stretch you get up to put some more suitable clothes on. You notice Sunset still hasn't recovered from that last comment, her expression sitting somewhere between flustered and aggravated.

 

    "I wouldn't take her to heart this early in the morning. She's probably just cranky she didn't get her full twelve hours."

 

    Sunset turns to get out of bed, looking away from you. "You would know," she says in a tone just outside of friendly banter. You look to her with concern. Those two were getting along so well last night; you hate to see it fall apart so fast.

 

    Sunset pulls her maid outfit out of a drawer and lays it down on the bed. "I imagine we're going to be putting this to use today," Sunset says, slipping her shirt over her head.

 

    "You'd imagine correctly. There's still one more room to address before you have any free time," you say with a smile. Sunset playfully rolls her eyes at you. After putting on some more suitable clothing, you leave Sunset to get dressed before she gets completely naked. It isn't anything you haven't seen before, but now it didn't feel right for some reason.

 

    You find Vinyl in the kitchen, impatiently waiting with a scowl over Sunset's toaster.

 

    You lean over on the counter heading into the kitchen, giving Vinyl an amused smile. "Having some trouble?"

 

    "No. Three minutes is just a long time to wait. You done fucking around with her highness?" Vinyl says, jealousy clear in her voice.

 

    "We didn't do anything like that, Vinyl. She just let me share her bed."

 

    "Yeah, whatever. We going back to the apartment today?"

 

    "As soon as Sunset gets ready."

 

    Vinyl's toast pops out of the toaster, giving her a sudden smile. Finally able to satisfy her morning hunger, she dips the toast into an open tub of butter to her side, not even bothering to use a butterknife.

 

    Vinyl turns around to face you, her scowl replaced with a cautious smile. "So, uh, check this out. I've got a gig tomorrow night, and I thought maybe..."

 

    "Yeah, I'll help you bring your stuff over there."

 

    "Oh, they've got amps and everything at this place, I just need to bring my table." Vinyl stops for a moment and puts her hand behind her neck. "I was actually wondering if you wanted to come, you know, to check out my music and everything. I could get you in free and I might be able to convince the bartender there into some drinks for us afterwards."

 

    "Yeah, that sounds like fun. What about Sunset?"

 

    Vinyl's smile wanes slightly at the sound of her name. "What about her?"

 

    "Can you get her in too? I'm sure she'd love to see you on stage too."

 

    Vinyl crosses her arms and looks away from you. "I don't know. Another person might be pushing it."

 

    You shrug. "Alright, I'll pay for her then."

 

    "I doubt she'll really want to come. I mean, this definitely doesn't seem like her kind of thing. I'd imagine she'd rather sit in some boring concert hall and listen to lame classical music."

 

    You laugh to yourself at the memory of Sunset dragging you into that exact situation. "As much as I agree with you, I'm sure she's open to the idea. Besides, I'm not sure she'd be too happy about me going without her."

 

    "Why? She keep your balls in her purse? She wasn't with you the night you met me."

 

    You laugh again, but Vinyl doesn't seem nearly as amused. Her brow is furrowed and she looks more agitated than anything. Your laughter dies down, and you give Vinyl a reassuring smile instead. "No, it's nothing like that. She's my best friend; we do almost everything together. She'd be kinda hurt if I didn't at least offer for her to join us. And she usually doesn't want to come with me on my drinking ventures anyway, but this is different."

 

    "I'm sure some time without your leash would do you some good too," Vinyl says, not even trying to hide her jealousy.

 

    You give Vinyl a stern look, dropping your smile altogether. "Look, Vinyl, there's no need to be jealous of Sunset. We're just friends."

 

    Vinyl looks over to you and gives a condescending laugh. "Are you kidding, dude? She totally--"

 

    Vinyl stops mid-sentence when Sunset walks out of her room, ready for the day as a maid. She raises an eyebrow at the sudden silence between the two of you as she closes the door behind her.

 

    "Did I interrupt something?"

 

    You smile at Sunset. "No, we were just talking about Vinyl's next show. Did you want to go with us to see her?"

 

    Sunset smiles back at you. Vinyl however, doesn't seem quite as pleased. "Sure! I'd love to hear some of your music, Vinyl. You were awesome as the DJ at the fa--" Sunset's breath catches in her throat. You can tell she didn't want to bring up that memory for anyone. "Anyway, I'd love to come. When is it?"

 

    "Tomorrow night," Vinyl says quickly, with some intended venom.

 

    "Alright. Well I guess we'd better get back to your place and get started, huh?"

 

    "That'd be the plan."

 

    After a few minutes of getting all your stuff together and loaded up in your car, you and Vinyl drive back to your apartment, Sunset following close behind. The ride over is mostly uneventful. Vinyl seems to still be put off by the fact you want to include Sunset in your outing, but she'll have to get over it.

 

    Thankfully, just like Vinyl said, the smell in your apartment mostly subsided. Sunset still looks slightly sick as you walk in, but you chalk that up to bad memories. You get the girls to go about their daily cooking, then go back to the disaster of a storeroom you have. They make steady progress, but you can tell it's definitely going to take them another full day or two before they can really call it done.

 

    The rest of the day passes without incident. Both the girls are exhausted, but still manage to whip up some semblance of a nice dinner for you, with Sunset doing the cooking and Vinyl taking care of the dishes. Once the clock strikes six, Vinyl strips off her shoes and stockings and crashes you on the couch without too much hassle. Sunset, however, makes her way into your bathroom with some clothes she brought from home.

 

    Clad in a pair of jeans and a leather jacket, she walks over to your position at the counter with a hopeful smile.

 

    You smile back at her. "Going somewhere tonight? You know you don't have to ask my permission."

 

    Sunset playfully rolls her eyes at you. "Oh, shut up. I was just hoping we could go out for a walk or something. It's been a while since we've been to the park and I could use some fresh air."

 

    You spin out of the stool you’re sitting on, making your way towards the front door, beckoning Sunset to follow. "Sounds like fun to me. I'm tired of smelling the remnants of yesterday."

 

    Sunset turns a tiny bit green at the mention of that. "You and me both."

 

    You snag your jacket off the rack as you walk out, giving a quick goodbye to Vinyl as you leave. Surprisingly, she only gives you a half-hearted grunt and a lethargic wave from her position on the couch, instead of the jealous glare you were expecting for some reason.

 

    Once you and Sunset walk a few blocks away from your complex, you can feel the nip of the evening air setting in. The fall weather is just starting to subside to make way for the winter chill, and it forces your hands into your pockets for warmth.

 

    After ten minutes of walking, the urban skyline gives way to a much more open view of the horizon. Alongside Canterlot's suburbs and local shops sits a large park: a few acres of land untouched by the harsh asphalt of the city streets, mapped only with sidewalks and dirt walkways. Trees sparsely littered the landscape along the open expanse of grass. A sort of serene peacefulness lays over the lawn, with the only sounds echoing over it being the occasional hum of car tires on the adjacent streets. You and Sunset follow the sidewalk to your usual relaxing spot: a small pond in the center of the park.

 

    Sunset takes a deep breath as her eyes move across the landscape, a content smile on her face. You look over at her, unable to keep the grin off of your own face at the sight of her happiness. For some reason you really would rather watch her than the surroundings.

 

    "Good times, huh?" she says, still scanning the grass.

 

    You give her a laugh. "Depends. I remember getting into a few unnecessarily competitive games of football around here with Rainbow."

 

    Sunset giggles at the memory. You can't help but smile wider. "You and her just couldn't help but butt heads, could you?"

 

    You put on a smug smile. "Yeah, well she was just too much of a sore loser."

 

    Sunset raises a playful eyebrow at you. "Yeah? I don't remember you taking her winning very well either."

 

    "Well it's not my fault she could be such a boastful bitch sometimes."

 

    Sunset lets out a reminiscent chuckle and shakes her head. "She was pretty bad sometimes, wasn't she?"

 

    "Yeah." You sigh, thinking of all the picnics and pickup games you had with those girls in the park. "I still miss her though."

 

    Sunset's mood visibly drops at that statement. You wince at the idea that you caused that.

 

    "Me too," she says. "Though last time I talked to her, she said she was doing pretty well on the track team at her college, and she actually wasn't failing any classes either."

 

    "Huh," you say, surprised. "Guess she stepped it up from high school. Have you talked to any of the other girls?"

 

    Sunset sighs, then turns her eyes up to the sun setting across the horizon. "No... not in a few months anyway," she says, melancholy clear in her voice.

 

    You look over to her with some concern. "We all had to go our separate ways after high school. It's just a fact of life. It's not like you've lost any friends... they're just further away."

 

   The two of you stop once you reach the pond. You spend a moment looking across the smooth water, watching the orange light off of it as the sun gave out the last warmth of the day. You think about sitting down at a bench across from the sidewalk, but Sunset looks like she wants to stay right where she’s at. She also looks like she wants to say something; she had a thoughtful look in her eye as she gazed across the water with you.

 

    "I... I'm glad we didn't," Sunset says quietly.

 

    "Hmm?" you say, since the sight before you and the long stretch of silence had ended your last conversation.

 

    "Drift away, I mean. I'm glad we're still together," Sunset says almost nervously, keeping her eyes on the pond and her hands deep in the pockets of her leather jacket.

 

    You turn your head and smile at her. "Me too. I don't know what I'd do without you. I'd probably be very good at walking and be out of a lot of wallets," you say playfully, nudging her hip with your own.

 

    Sunset rolls her eyes at you with a smile. "I'm more than just a set of wheels and a safety net, you know."

 

    Sunset still stares out across the water, and you still look across her with a smile. "I know. That's just what best friends are for. If you ever actually did anything fun I'd be there to help you too."

 

    Sunset finally turns to face you and cocks her head. "I think your drama is quite enough for the both of us. If anything we need to get you to cut down on so much fun."

 

    You nudge Sunset lightly with your shoulder. "Maybe I just need some sweet suburban girl to set me on the path of righteousness, huh?"

 

    Sunset's cheeks flush a light red. "I-I am not some suburban girl."

 

    "Former pony princess student. Close enough."

 

    Sunset opens her mouth a few times, but nothing comes out. Her cheeks flush a darker shade of red after a few moments, and she closes her eyes tightly to try to distance herself from the feeling, you suppose.

 

    Your smile turns to concern at the strange display from her. "Would you rather I didn't bring that up?"

 

    She looks to you, a blush still plain on her face. "No! I mean, no, that's not why I... uh... how are," Sunset brings a hand up to her mouth and lets out an awkward cough, "how are you and Vinyl?"

 

    "If you say so. We're fine, I suppose. She's super jealous of you."

 

    Sunset tries to clear her throat a few more times, the blush slowly fading. "Why's that?"

 

    "I have no idea honestly. It's not like me and Vinyl are in a relationship or anything. She hasn't really expressed any interest in me other than the other night, and I would hardly qualify that as--"

 

    "The other night? When you two slept together?" Sunset cut you off, a mixture of nervousness and relief on her face.

 

    You raise an eyebrow at her too. What is with the girls in your life acting so weird lately? "Yeah... I mean, she just blew me," you say without thinking. You've detailed your sexual exploits to Sunset before, but now it just feels wrong for some reason. You put a hand behind your neck at Sunset's gaze. She seems extremely interested all of the sudden. "I mean, it wasn't anything romantic. I just chalked it up to Vinyl being Vinyl, you know?"

 

    "I, uh... I guess so," Sunset says, her tone going quiet again. She shoots her eyes back towards the pond once you look over at her. With one hand wrapped over her chest and the other towards her mouth, Sunset chews on her sleeve instinctively. She always does that when she's really nervous about something.

 

    "Are you alright, Sunset? You want to talk about something other than Vinyl?"

 

    "Yeah! Yeah I'm alright," Sunset blurts out before clearing her throat again awkwardly. "I... I just wanted to know if you were serious about Vinyl so I could..."

 

    You shake your head. "No, I'm not going out with Vinyl. Now chill out, Sunset. I haven't seen you this worked up since Rainbow stuck a hand down your pants and offered to sleep with you."

 

    Sunset took a deep breath to try to calm her nerves. "I'm alright. And did you seriously have to bring that up? I still get weirded out thinking of her fingers touching me like that."

 

    You let out a more hearty laugh. "She was just joking, you know?"

 

    "Her fingers weren't," Sunset says, shuddering at the memory.

 

    The two of you share a laugh for a few moments as the sun's last rays peek over the horizon. As your laughter dies down the two of you end up much closer together, brushing arms as your eyes scan across the still pool ahead of you. Even after her odd behavior, you're thankful for little moments like this with her, since you know you probably won't have her next to you forever.

 

    "Actually," Sunset says, breaking the silence, "there is something I wanted to talk to you about."

 

    Her timid tone didn't really catch your attention. You kept staring out at the water, content just to be next to her. "What's on your mind?"

 

    Sunset looks over at you, but you don't meet her gaze. "I..." she pauses for a few moments, alternating between looking down at the ground and back up to you. "I think I..." Sunset brings up her sleeve to chew on again.

 

    You turn to look at her, giving her a reassuring smile. "You think you what?"

 

    Sunset looks into your eyes and opens her mouth to speak, but nothing ever comes out. Instead she closes her mouth and sighs. In an instant her nervous expression is replaced with a content smile. "Nevermind," she says, sliding on of her hands underneath your arm and around your back. "It's getting cold. Stop hogging all that body heat."

   

    You smile down at her as she wraps her other arm around you, letting her head settle into your chest. "Sure thing, Princess," you say as you wrap your arms around her as well. You let your cheek rest on the silky strands of her hair.

 

    The two of you sit there in each other's embrace as the sun makes its final pass over the horizon, and even for some time after. It feels good to spend some alone time with Sunset again after recent events. You sigh, close your eyes, and let the smile extend across your cheeks. You could stay like this forever if you were able. The only thing that isn't perfect is the fast, erratic beat of Sunset's heart against you. You almost say something about it, but with a beautiful Sunset at the horizon, and another in your arms, you don't want to ruin the moment.

 

 

Chapter 7 - Put Out:

 

Three loud knocks resonate throughout your apartment, followed by a voice that clearly belonged to Sunset, saying "Would you let me in already?!". You groan and roll over in bed, wondering why you actually bothered to lock your door last night.

 

"Vinyl..." you say, patting the bed next to you. Instead of a naked woman, you find empty sheets. "Vinyl!" you say, this time louder.

 

Vinyl only manages to groan from her position on the couch from the other room. From the sound of it, she isn't going to be getting up any time soon. You begrudgingly pull yourself out of bed, rubbing your head with one hand as you reach for your phone with the other.

 

After a quick check as you head out of your bedroom, you find out it's closer to twelve than it is to eight. Whoops.

 

Sunset knocks on the door again hard enough to make you wince at the volume. "Are you serious? How do people sleep for this long?" you can hear her say from the other side of the door.

 

"Hold on, I'm coming." As soon as you turn the lock and open the door, Sunset darts in around you, her cheeks bright red and frustration clearly on her face.

 

"You are so infuriating sometimes!" she says narrowing her eyes at you.

 

You put your hands up and feign innocence. "Hey, you're the one who's late."

 

Sunset puffs her cheeks out and gives an adorable little stomp of her foot as her frustration builds. She points a finger at you in her usual lecturing stance. "Oh... Don't even start with me, mister. I already tried at eight this morning to wake you up! All I got was a grunt out of her," Sunset says, motioning towards Vinyl. "People saw me in this thing, you know. I'd appreciate at least a little punctuality, especially if you're going to parade me around in this..." Sunset says, trailing off into some of her usual upset banter.

 

You sigh and deal with the brunt of her nagging. As much as you'd like to ignore her, this is kind of your fault anyway, so you brought it on yourself.

 

"...and she fell asleep when we left last night! How does a person fall asleep then and stay asleep until noon the next day?"

 

"Noon?!" Vinyl says, suddenly jerking upright, all the tiredness absent from her eyes. "You're joking right?"

 

"Nope, you were definitely going on around fifteen hours last night," you say, looking down to your phone to verify.

 

Vinyl shoots up off the couch, stripping her maid outfit off herself and looking around her bag for some appropriate clothes at the same time. The end result is her hopping around the floor with half of one outfit still on while she's trying to slide on others around them. It might be funny if you didn't end up so confused.

 

"You got somewhere you need to be, Vinyl?" you ask with a raised eyebrow as she continues to tear through her bag.

 

"Yeah! That gig I told you about yesterday. I should've been there to set up like an hour ago," Vinyl hurries out. She pulls her jeans up over the stockings and yanks a tank top over her head without even bothering to put on a bra.

 

"Oh, well you need me to--"

 

Vinyl cuts you off by sticking her hand in your pocket and grabbing your keys. Before you can manage to stop her or even get another word out, she's already opened the front door and has started down the stairs.

 

"Gotta go! It starts at eight so I'll see you guys there!" she yells up the stairwell as her voice gets increasingly distant, being overpowered by the sound of her boots quickly hitting the steps below her.

 

"Well I guess I'm riding with you then," you say to Sunset as both of you stand there, perplexed.

 

"Did you seriously just let her steal your car?" Sunset says, more in amazement than anything else.

 

"I don't think I really had a choice." You sigh and close the door behind her, leaving you and Sunset alone in your apartment. "Oh well. I doubt she'll do anything too drastic to it."

 

"Like scrape it with something metal?" Sunset asks.

 

You raise an eyebrow at her.

 

"I saw that scrape on the back of your car. I doubt that was any sort of minor accident."

 

"Oh, that," you say, faking a laugh and positioning yourself over Vinyl's open bag so Sunset might not get a view of the pistol in it. "We just ran into a little trouble getting some of Vinyl's stuff back. No big deal."

 

Sunset narrows her eyes at you again, obviously seeing through your attempt to hide something. She takes a step forward and moves you out of the way with one arm, kneeling down to take a look at whatever you didn't want her to see.

 

"Okay, don't freak out, but Vinyl has a--"

 

"What the hell?!" Sunset says, picking up the shiny metal firearm out of Vinyl's bag. She looks up to you in bewilderment as she holds the gun out in front of her with two fingers like it's covered in smallpox. "Why does she have this?! Why did you let her in your house with it?!"

 

"She has a carry license for it. It's no big deal."

 

"No big deal? She shot your car!" Sunset says as she stands up, holding the gun out like a piece of evidence condemning you of your crimes. She looks more concerned than angry though, if that is any consolation.

 

"Well, she didn't actually shoot at my car, her ex-boyfriend did. We were... uh..." You give Sunset your best innocent smile as you gently take the gun out of her hand. "Well, nobody got hurt and I can promise you it won't happen again. Just calm down, okay?"

 

"She's the most irresponsible person I've ever met! How can I calm down when I know she's carrying around that thing?!" Sunset says, pointing at the gun in your hand. Her eyes widen and she looks away from you, one hand resting against her temple in some sudden realization. "Oh my god... all those fights we had... She could've shot me!"

 

You toss the gun back into Vinyl's bag and make sure to zip it back up as Sunset watches you with an expecting frown. Out of sight, out of mind, right? Once you get back to your feet, you notice Sunset has her hands firmly planted on her hips and is expecting some sort of response from you.

 

Instead, you pull out one of your old tricks: hug her until she's not mad anymore.

 

"Wait, what are you--" Is all she gets out before you wrap her in a tight embrace. Before she can manage to resist you already have her in your grip, gently petting her head like she's a scared child.

 

"Shhh. It's alright, Vinyl's not going to be stupid with it. You don't have to worry."

 

"Would you--" Sunset tries to wiggle out of your grip, but soon realizes she's not going anywhere and lays limp against you. "Ugh, I hate it when you do this."

 

Finally Sunset just resigns to laying her head against your chest in defeat. "Are you calm now," you ask.

 

"Yes, I'm calm. Now would you please let go of me?" Sunset says, her voice still carrying a bit of frustration, but it's enough to convince you she won't fall back into a rant.

 

You let Sunset go and she takes a step away from you, a blush beginning on her face. She turns away to try not to make direct eye contact, though it still looks like her gaze is set on the bag.

 

"Sunset, really. It's not big deal. You don't have to worry about it. I know Vinyl might seem like--"

 

Sunset raises her hands up to stop you. "I know, I know. I'll believe you. I just don't like the idea of you getting shot at."

 

"You and me both," you say with a laugh.

 

Sunset takes a deep breath, then finally looks back up at you with a smile. "Well, I suppose I'd better start lunch then, huh?"

 

"That definitely sounds good to me."

 

You take you seat on the bar stool as Sunset makes her way into the kitchen. Your grumbling stomach definitely likes the idea of some of Sunset's amazing cooking right now. As she gets some of the pans and ingredients out though, you can tell her mind is elsewhere. The concerned look on her face coupled with the fact that she doesn't seem too invested in what she's doing is a dead giveaway that her thoughts might still be on other matters. You can only guess the fact that a gun is sitting in a bag a few feet away from her is still bugging her.

 

"So, I was thinking about what we were talking about last night," you say to try to get Sunset's mind off of her worries. Sunset actually jumps slightly at your words though, and drops a pan loudly onto the countertop.

 

You wince at the noise as she quickly and awkwardly tries to make up for it, turning around with a strained smile. "O-oh yeah? What about it?" she asks, her worry managing to stay on her face.

 

You raise an eyebrow at her. "Yeah... I was thinking about what you asked about Vinyl. If we were going out or not. The more I think about it, the more it'd make sense that she might think that."

 

"Oh... You think so?" Sunset says, turning around to go back to cooking.

 

"Yeah, I mean, she was comfortable enough with me to sleep in my bed naked, she's super jealous of me being around you, and she obviously doesn't seem to think borrowing my car and apartment are problems. Plus, she had no qualms about blowing me twice completely sober."

 

"T-twice?" Sunset asks, her voice cracking slightly. She still doesn't look up from her position over the stove though.

 

"Sort of. It's a long story. Anyway, I'm really not sure how to handle this situation now that I think she's convinced we're together."

 

"Just, you know, tell her you're not interested in her like that. Tell her having sex was just a one-time thing and that you're just trying to be a good friend," Sunset says, turning her head and looking you in the eye sparingly as she does.

 

"Well, that's the thing. I'm not sure if i really want to just brush her off like that. It might be cool to have a steady girlfriend for once. Like you said, I'm sure Vinyl could use some stability in her life too."

 

Sunset doesn't say anything, but for some reason her grip around her various utensils tightens visibly.

 

You can feel your friend getting tense about the subject. You knew she'd be touchy on the topic of Vinyl, but if there's anyone you know you can talk to about it, it's her. "She's not that bad, and I could definitely get used to the free drinks around the clubs she might work."

 

"Don't you think that's a little shallow? Going out with a girl for free drinks? When there are other girls that could treat you so much better?" Sunset says in a low tone, frustration building in her voice yet again.

 

"I didn't mean it like that. I mean, I don't love her right now or anything, but I wouldn't mind getting to know her. I could definitely get used to dating her."

 

"Sure," Sunset says, obviously fed up with this conversation.

 

You stare at the back of Sunset's head with concern. Something about the idea of going out with Vinyl is definitely bugging her. The last thing you want is to lose her over some bitch problems.

 

"You know just because I'm going out with someone doesn't mean we can't still be friends. I don't want you to think I'm just going to forget about you if I get into a relationship. You know our friendship means a lot to me."

 

Sunset audibly sighs and droops her shoulders. "I know..."

 

You adopt a cocky smile. "You wouldn't happen to have a crush on me too? I could always arrange a mud wrestling match or something if you two want to fight over me."

 

Sunset goes stiff as a board at your first sentence, dropping a knife into the pan in front of her as it involuntarily falls out of her hand. She turns around with a bright, sheepish smile and a very heavy blush.

 

"O-of course not! I... I just want you to end up with the right girl is all. You know how much of a bad influence Vinyl can be. I just don't want to have to get you out of even more shit than I already do, you know?" Sunset says, trailing off with a laugh as she turns back around. You almost catch the beginnings of a wince as her face leaves your view, but you ignore it.

 

Sunset pulls a various seasoning bottles out of your cabinets and puts the finishing touches on her latest dish. You had no idea what she lays out in front of you--definitely something Italian--but it tastes amazing all the same.

 

Sunset leans on the counter beside you. Her occasional glance and worried expression tells you something is definitely eating at her, but she never actually opens her mouth to say it. Finally, she drops her head in defeat against the countertop with a quiet thunk, letting out another deep sigh.

 

"Why the long face, princess?" you ask, nudging her with an elbow.

 

"Oh, I, uh..." Sunset pulls her forehead off of your counter and tries to look as dismissive as possible. "Just dreading having to clean up anymore of that room. I don't know how you managed to make that big of a mess in the first place."

 

You push your plate away, having finished off the last bite with a satisfied groan. "Years of practice."

 

You notice the vacant expression on Sunset's face and decide to take the opportunity to have a little fun with her. "Now..." you say, easing your hand over her back to prepare for some sensual groping. "How about we use that lingerie how it was meant to be used," you say sensually, sliding your hand down her bare lower back, making a point to slip a finger under her waistband.

 

Once you look back up to Sunset's face you can't help but bite your lip as you feel the chuckles coming on. You don't think you've ever seen Sunset so red: her cheeks are bright crimson and you can feel her entire body freeze at your touch.

 

You pull your hand away from her to cover your mouth as the laughs break through and you can hardly contain yourself any longer.

 

"Haha, damn, are you gonna make it?" you ask her through your wide smile. Sunset can't even bring herself to move as her blush grows darker by the second. You might've broken her this time.

 

"I-I have to go to the bathroom!" she says, snapping up from the counter and hurrying into your bathroom like she just wet herself.

 

"Jesus, Sunset, I was just kidding!" you yell, still laughing at her reaction.

 

"Shut up!" she yells back quickly, doing whatever it is embarrassed girls do in the bathroom.

 

After a few minutes of addressing whatever situation she was having, Sunset finally emerges with her blush showing no signs of dimming, but instead of embarrassed, she narrows her eyes at you and crosses her arms when you make eye contact.

 

"Too much?" you say with a smirk.

 

Sunset pouts and shakes her head, seemingly too mad to actually give you a lecture. You just continue on with your streak of laughter instead. She is so cute when she gets like this.

 

Once the embarrassment of the mid-afternoon drama wears off, the two of you go through the usual motions of a regular day, albeit without Vinyl this time. After this morning, you can take the hint that Sunset doesn't really want to talk about her any more. You definitely want to iron out things with those two if you're going to stay with Vinyl, but you know Sunset likes to take things slower anyway. You reassure yourself that she'll come around to the idea of hanging out with her more and maybe turning your duo with Sunset into a trio. It was her idea after all.

 

As the clock winds down, you and Sunset make preparations to go out to Vinyl's gig. You take a shower and put on some clothes that you didn't actually sleep in, and Sunset follows suit. Instead of her usual leather jacket and skirt, Sunset opts to wear jeans tonight instead. You raise an eyebrow at her as she walks out of the bathroom without her trademark skirt on.

 

"What, you're not going in your maid costume?" you ask her with a playful smirk.

 

"Easy mister, I am the one driving you after all," she says, shooting back a look that says you better be on your best behavior. "Come on, let's go."

 

She waves you along as the two of you make your way out the front door and to her car.

 

"I'm digging the jeans though. Nice change from the usual setup," you say casually as the two of you walk down the stairs.

 

"Oh, really? Thanks," Sunset says, a tiny blush forming on her face yet again.

 

"Form-fitting is always nice," you say with a playful wink.

 

Sunset gives you a roll of her eyes and a slight smile. "How about we cut down on the sexual harassment for the night? I had enough when I first came over."

 

You smile and bump her hips with your own. "You know you love it. Besides, that's all the interaction you're going to get at that club, I feel like you'd rather get it from me than some random junkie."

 

Sunset looks over to you, some slight concern on her face. "Wait, are they really like that?"

 

"If you'd come with me every now and then maybe you'd find out."

 

Sunset stops and raises an eyebrow in agitation.

 

"Okay, okay," you say, raising your hands up, "they're not all like that. But a pretty girl like you? You could get free drinks all night."

 

That put a smile and a slight blush on her face. "Really? That's--"

 

"When you're not grinding on me of course," you say with a playful nudge.

 

Sunset gives you a small push back as the two of you walk up to her car. "Oh, shut up already."

 

"Hey, if you're not grinding on me someone else is going to seize the opportunity. You really want some strangers dick all over you?" You say as you open the door to her car.

 

Sunset rolls her eyes as the two of you settle into the seats and she puts her keys in the ignition. "I'd rather have no one grinding on me if I can help it."

 

Your smile widens and you nudge her again. "We'll see if we can change that tone after a couple of drinks."

 

"I think at this point this could be considered legitimate sexual harassment," Sunset says with a slight grin.

 

"Oh you know you love it."

 

"So, where is this place at anyway?" Sunset asks as she backs out of your parking lot.

 

You open your mouth to say something before you realize Vinyl never actually told you where this place was in the first place. You can see out of the corner of your eye that Sunset definitely notices your lack of an answer, and her expression has already turned from a slight smile to a disappointed glare.

 

You give her a sheepish smile in response. "Hey, there are only like six clubs in this town, and we've already been kicked out of one, so..."

 

Sunset sighs and lets her head fall into one of her hands in a defeated facepalm. "You two are hopeless."

 

"All a part of the charm. Come on, it shouldn't take that long."

 

After a good hour of jumping between the local nightclubs that actually hire a DJ for their music, the two of you finally arrive to the club Vinyl was playing at. She's already up on stage bobbing her head to the beat with one hand on her headphones and the other on her table, letting her music pour out of the speakers and resonate through your bodies. The music is so loud you can feel the vibration rock your heart and the vibration pulse through the floor.

 

You look over to Sunset, who seems to be a little disoriented. She obviously never goes to this kind of thing, but hopefully after tonight you can show her it isn't all that bad.

 

You look up to the stage at Vinyl, and somehow in one of her glances across the crowd she notices you as well. Her smile widens and she gives you a little nod to acknowledge your presence.

 

Knowing that there would be no way Sunset could hear you over the crowd and the music, you take her by the hand and pull her towards the bar without her consent. She lets you drag her without a struggle with an unsure look on her face. As you look back at her, she almost seems like a kid who lost her mom in the grocery store.

 

You figure that's nothing that some alcohol won't fix. After a little convincing and a couple of shots at the bar, you drag Sunset out onto the dance floor to actually have some fun.

 

As you traverse through the crowd, you hear her voice behind you, but can't make anything of it because of the music. You turn your head to give her an encouraging smile and pull her deeper onto the dance floor. You can tell already by the look on her face that she's feeling tipsy; drinking maybe three times a year will do that to a girl. Now that you think about it, your vision is starting to blur around the edges as well, so you can't even imagine what it's doing to her.

 

Once you find a decent spot close to the stage, you turn around, letting your body move to the music. You were never much of a dancer in the first place, but in a large crowd where everyone is basically just jumping up and down to the beat, it's not like it really matters. Sunset looks around nervously as strangers continuously bump into her. You've seen her dance around the girls before, but she's definitely out of her element now.

 

As adorable as it is to watch her squirm against the crowd, the last thing you want is to have your best friend missing out on all the fun. Since the size of the dance floor is no where near large enough to accommodate the current amount of people on it, Sunset is already pressing up against you and awkwardly avoiding eye contact.

 

With a cheeky grin, you snake your hands around Sunset's hips and pull her tight against you, forcing her body to move in tandem with yours. You can see the sharp gasp she makes as she turns towards you, surprise in her face at the sudden forwardness. You just keep smiling and hope she eventually catches on.

 

After a song or two, Sunset finally decides to at least look like she's having fun. Slowly but surely, a smile starts to form on her face and her body loses the initial stiffness she walked in with. You guess that the alcohol has probably caught up with her enough, since she's actually jumping to the beat as well. At one point she actually turns around and grinds on you for a few seconds before turning around and letting out an embarrassed laugh.

 

Sunset wraps her hands around you once you put yours back on her hips. The music slows down for a moment as the two of you come face to face and lock eyes. Along with the beat of the music resonating through both of you, you can feel Sunset's heartbeat and warmth as she presses up against you. The softness of her hair against you and the beautiful sight of her bright blue eyes put you in a momentary trance. Without even thinking, you let your head move down closer to her level...

 

...And then your lips meet. Like a shock moving throughout your body, the feeling of her lips pressing up against yours stuns you as you feel the warmth spreading around you. You feel like you could stay like this forever as you hold each other in a tight embrace, lips locked and simply enjoying each other's presence. That is until you both realize what you're actually doing.

 

You both pull away at the same time, looking at each other with the same expression of utter shock at what just happened. You open your mouth to try to say something, but you can't properly put together words. For the first time in what feels like an eternity with her, you can actually feel the distinct heat of a blush on yourself as well. You pull your hands away from her as you feel her body go stiff. After a few more seconds of awkward eye contact, you both look away from each other. You feel so odd still being pressed up against her, but have no idea what to do about the situation.

 

As soon as it feels like the world might just end from the awkwardness, you hear Vinyl's voice call your name over the music. You turn around to see Vinyl on stage waving you up with a massive smile on her face. Somehow she must've not caught what you and Sunset just did, or maybe she did. Either way, you give Sunset one last apologetic glance before you push your way through the crowd and up onto the stage.

 

Sunset can't even look back at you. The blush on her face as dark as you've ever seen it, and her entire body is locked stiff. You rack your brain trying to think of ways to fix this situation, some way to not make things awkward between you as you climb up onto the stage.

 

Vinyl seems completely aloof to your current predicament. She grabs you around the waist with a massive smile on her face and gives a wave to the crowd as her song gets to its most intense. With her usual lack of inhibition, she grabs you by the collar and pulls you into a deep kiss, eliciting a collective "oooh" from the crowd. You inwardly wince and scorn whatever gods decided you deserved this twist of fate. Vinyl's kiss lasts a few moments longer than your previous one, making sure that everyone in the crowd had ample time to witness the two of you.

 

After a few more seconds of Vinyl rubbing her lipstick across a good portion of your face, she breaks away and throws a hand back up to the crowd.

 

You put on a half smile, trying to look excited about it, but once your eyes turn away from Vinyl and back towards the crowd, your gaze automatically locks back onto Sunset.

 

You can see the hurt in her eyes, plain as day. You can't entirely tell from the distance, but it seems like she's almost shaking in anger. The mixture of pain and frustration in her face hits you like a spike of ice directly in the heart, and guilt overcomes you almost immediately. You can't tell if Sunset wants to cry or yell, but either one makes you wince at the thought.

 

Before you can even give her an apologetic look, Sunset turns on her heels and forcefully pushes through the crowd, making her way right out the front door without stopping to look back once.

 

You close your eyes and silently chastise yourself. This is going to make tomorrow very difficult.

 

Chapter 8 - Hard Days:

 

The light pierces through you window and cuts right through your eyelids, waking you out of your blissful slumber into a cruel world of ear-splitting headaches and a precarious churning in your stomach that told you a trip to the toilet might be necessary soon. You reluctantly open your eyelids to try to regain your senses. Thankfully, you somehow ended up back home in your own bed, with no vomit to be found. Once your vision focuses back in, a naked Vinyl appears next to you, which seems normal enough. A pang of realization washes over you when you realize you're naked too. You sigh, internally berating yourself as you piece together what little you remember from last night.

 

No amount of alcohol could make you forget Sunset's face when Vinyl kissed you. The hurt in her eyes pierces through your heart, ruining your mood before you can even think about enjoying last night. You feel even worse when you realize what you must've done with Vinyl when you got home.

 

Just as you start thinking about it, Vinyl turns over with a sappy smile and groggy eyes to lean against you, making sure to lay her breasts across your arm and draw circles in your chest with one finger. "Morning," she says with a content tone. "Wanna go another round? I could definitely use more of last night," she says with a sly grin and a gentle nudge.

 

You rub your forehead and lean up out of bed, leaving her alone in the sheets. "I think I'm just gonna get up." Once you put your feet on the carpet and attempt to rise, you have to brace yourself against the wall to keep yourself from tipping over. You grab your temple in pain and wince. "Jesus, how drunk did we get last night?"

 

Vinyl stretches out across the bed, her smile widening as you say 'last night', as if she's enjoying a fond memory. "Yeah, you got drunk as hell last night. Whiskey definitely does wonder for you."

 

"You didn't drink?" you ask with a raised eyebrow.

 

"Oh, not really," Vinyl says, snuggling back up into the sheets, "I had to perform, so I couldn't be too drunk. It was a lot of fun being around you though," she says, her sly smile returning. "I don't think I've ever had a night like that," with that her eyes slide down your body and towards your groin; as she looks back up she bites her lip, trying to look sultry. "You sure you don't want to go again?"

 

If it'd been any other day you probably would say yes, but instead you just step into your jeans and put the rest of your clothes on without a word. Vinyl shrugs and rolls back over in bed. Guilt built up inside you as you look to your phone and see that it's almost eight. The thought of facing Sunset right now makes you want to crawl into bed and never get out again.

 

Despite the growing nervousness, you lean up against the wall outside of the front door, waiting impatiently for a knock.

 

You continuously clench your fists and chastise yourself for last night, and think of what you might say when you actually open that door. She's not really your girlfriend, right? So why should that kiss have meant anything? Even as you try to rationalize it, you can't help but remember the feelings that overtook you last night as your lips touched, and the betrayal in her face when Vinyl kissed you. There is no simple solution to this problem, no matter how hard you try to think about it logically.

 

You grimace as the wait for her becomes excruciating. Just like her: ten minutes before ten. You hear a knock on your door and immediately open up the door to Sunset, making her hand drop forward awkwardly without the presence of the wood.

 

She sees you and drops her eyes to the floor, not wanting to meet your gaze. "Sunset, about last night..." you open your mouth, but the myriad of dialogue you want to let out catches in your throat.

 

Sunset lets out an odd mixture of clearing her throat and coughing to cover for something. "Don't... don't worry about it. It was just the alcohol making us stupid. Sorry for coming between you and Vinyl," she says, never looking at you.

 

Her flat tone feels like ice spiking through your heart. The lightly smeared mascara underneath the new layer tells you she didn't take last night too well, and only makes you feel worse.

 

"That's not--" your words get caught in your throat again. You don't even know what you want to say anymore.

 

"It's alright," she says, raising a hand to stop you. "I should probably go ahead and make breakfast anyway." She pushes past you without another word, leaving you standing in the doorway with your mouth open, feeling even worse than before.

 

As if on que, Vinyl comes out of your room, wrapped in your sheets and not even trying to hide her sex hair and content smile. "Morning, Princess. What's on the menu for today?" she says as she takes a place up on the bar stool.

 

Sunset turns around, and you can tell by her eyes that she immediately puts together the pieces in her head. The blush on her face isn't embarrassment or anything you'd usually cause, but almost anger in a sea of sadness. You run your fingers through your hair and wince at the sight.

 

Sunset, to her credit, keeps a level head and just turns back around to the kitchen. "Just pancakes or something I guess."

 

"Sounds good to me. So," Vinyl leans in, a confident smile on her face, "why did you leave early last night?"

 

Sunset stiffens up at the question. "Oh, I just... didn't feel well after those drinks and wanted to go home."

 

"Heh, lightweight," Vinyl says, leaning up against the counter and letting the sheets fall off of her a little bit. "We definitely had fun. Especially afterwards, didn't we?" Vinyl coos as she looks in your direction.

 

You didn't want to be in this situation anymore. Before Vinyl was even halfway through her last sentence you turn around, slip your shoes on, and shut the door behind you, leaving the two girls alone as you trot down the stairs. You need to clear your head. Anymore stammering and awkward conversation like that is only going to make the situation even worse.

 

It's a cloudy day; the sun is nowhere in sight. It looks like it might rain at any second, but being wet and miserable seems like the better option at the moment. You have no idea where to go, so you just let your feet take you wherever they feel like going.

 

You shove your hands in your pockets and close your eyes tightly. The torrent of sounds of the city around you drowns into your thoughts, as you try to think of what to even do.

 

You knew last night this was going to be a difficult day, and Vinyl certainly isn't helping. You don't know if she's just being oblivious or purposely hurtful, but either way, you know Sunset isn't taking it well.

 

But why? You keep asking yourself over and over why it should mean anything. Why should this be a big deal to you or Sunset. You've never had a romantic interest in her, and she's never been anything but platonic with you. Despite that, last night's kiss with her felt so strange. You've never had that feeling with anyone else. You'd like to chalk it up to just the awkwardness of the situation in general, but your mind won't let you settle on that conclusion.

 

Once you snap out of your thoughts, the whine of the tires on the highway and occasional car horn and the usual sounds of the city are gone. You're in the park, standing in front of that little pond again. It's sprinkling now, sending ripples across the pond and making your shirt slightly wet across the shoulders. The memories of standing here with Sunset wash over you, alleviating the slight discomfort of the weather and makes you smile slightly. Her grin as she looked out to the setting sun with you, the feeling of her warmth radiating against you when she hugged you, the long talks about nothing at all during those boring summer afternoons. You realize that's not something you want to give up.

 

Steady girlfriend be damned, the last thing you want to lose right now is your best friend.

 

With a new found purpose, you walk back home. You know you have to sort this out with Sunset, alone.

 

[center] ____________________________________________________________________________________________[/center]

 

You open the door up to your apartment and drip all over the carpet. Just as soon as you got halfway back, the weather turned bad, going from a light sprinkle to full on downpour. You can hear the constant patter on the roof once you close the door behind you. Before you get down to business, you definitely need change of clothes.

 

Just as you go to turn to your room, however, you can hear the familiar bickering of the two girls in your life from your old junk room. You peak your head around the corner to see both of them in their uniforms, taking breaks from picking things up to throw another line at each other.

 

"Or what? You going to shoot me like you almost did him? Yeah, I saw that scratch on his car," Sunset says matter-of-factly, anger clear in her voice.

 

"That... I... N-no! That's not what happened, and just because you're too irresponsible to properly handle a gun doesn't mean I am," Vinyl says definsively.

 

"Me!? Irresponsible?" Sunset adds a condescending laugh, "I'm not the one who has to mooch off someone the second my boyfriend breaks up with me! Or the one who has to outright avoid places since I couldn't control myself for one night, or whose personality is so god-awful that I can't even hold onto one set of friends for longer than six months. Should I go on?"

 

"Oh, shut the fuck up. At least I have a boyfriend. I bet every guy you've ever liked dropped you the second they saw how boring you were. When's the last time you've even had a boyfriend? Let me guess, sophomore year in high school? I'm sure you've been following the same dead end since then, hoping it would just miraculously happen."

 

"It's not..." Sunset starts intensely, but reels back, "It's not a dead end," Sunset says, trying to convince herself more than refute Vinyl.

 

Vinyl rolls her eyes. "Admit it already, you're never going to get anywhere with him. If you've been too much of a pussy to even say anything for this long, then you really deserve sitting on the sidelines and watching while someone else gets him instead."

 

Sunset looks away from her for a moment and doesn't say anything. "Fuck you..." she finally lets out, her voice cracking like she's trying to hold back a sob.

 

You feel the emotion in that one. Sunset has always had some sort of witty comment for anyone she's gotten in an argument with. Seeing her resort to that definitely means it's getting way too serious. You step into the doorway to put an end to it.

 

"Girls! That's enough. I thought we were done with the childish arguments?" you say, trying to sound as stern as possible.

 

"Hey, she started it," Vinyl says, trying to sound playful.

 

Sunset ducks her head back down and continues to clean, keeping her eyes away from you or Vinyl and sighs. "Sorry, it won't happen again."

 

You purse your lips as you watch Sunset go back to her depressed state. You almost prefer her being pissed over this.

 

"Sunset," you say, making her perk up, "can I talk to you... alone." You direct your eyes towards Vinyl, who puts her hands up innocently.

 

"Now or never, princess," Vinyl says, nudging Sunset as she walks past. Sunset jerks away from her.

 

"Oh, shut up," Sunset spits back at her as she follows you out of the room. You lead Sunset into your room and close the door behind her. Hopefully that will be enough of a signal to Vinyl to leave you two alone.

 

You take a deep breath and pull your wet shirt over your head. Better to have hard conversations while somewhat comfortable at least. As you yank a clean one out of your closet, you turn to Sunset and open your mouth.

 

"Look, Sunset, I..." the words catch in your throat when you see her face.

 

She definitely knows this isn't going to be an easy conversation either. She's staring intensely at the carpet, her hands restlessly fidgeting with each other. She even brings her wrist up to her mouth instinctively before realizing she isn't wearing something that has sleeves.

 

You close your eyes as you feel the nervousness building up inside you as well. You remember how badly you wanted to keep her in your life on the walk back, so you take a deep breath and soldier through.

 

"Sunset, I think we need to talk about last night... I know you said not to worry about it, and I'm sure the alcohol definitely had something to do with it, but... just look at us," you say as you notice her increasing blush, "I really don't want us to stop being friends, and this entire situation is already making things awkward."

 

"I, actually wanted to talk to you too... about, well, everything," Sunset says timidly, still not able to make eye contact.

 

"Huh?" you say raising an eyebrow.

 

Sunset takes a nervous step forward and opens her mouth a few times, trying to look for the right words. Her eyes dart back and forth across the carpet, slowly trying to make eye contact with you, but failing every time.

 

"I... I think we really... I feel like... I lo--" Sunset closes her eyes in frustration as every thought stops halfway out of her mouth. She gives a quiet groan of annoyance at herself before finally meeting eyes with you.

 

The two of you share a strange moment as all the words fall away, and everything else stops mattering. All you can focus on are the soft, blue shades in her eyes and the expression of distant wonder among a sea of uncertainty.

 

Sunset finally looks away and spouts a quiet "fuck it".

 

Before you can even realize what's going on, Sunset lunges forward and presses her lips against yours. You drop the shirt in your hand as your eyes go wide at the sudden push. The force of her throwing herself at you causes both of you to fall backwards into your bed as the feelings start to overcome you.

 

Sunset's soft hands gently lay on either side of your face, carefully holding you in place as the warmth of her lips graces your own. The electric feelings of last night return yet again, but much clearer this time. There's no sudden shock, no realization of what your impulses just lead you to do. Outside of the influence of alcohol and the oddity of the first time, it felt right.

 

After your surprise at Sunset's forwardness wears off, Sunset breaks away from the kiss, desperately looking from one eye to the other to see if she's done something wrong, if you're going to tell her you're not interested, or something even worse. You can see the immense stress on her face as the moment lingers. You know what you want to do. You grab wrap your hands around her back and pull her back down, meeting lips again, but much more passionately this time. Sunset lets out a tiny coo of pleasure at your reciprocation, and you can feel her heart beating intensely through her maid outfit against your chest. As the warm feeling of her embrace envelopes your senses, you notice your heart beating just as hard.

 

The two of you can no longer rationally control your actions; drunk off of each other's affection, your hands move of their own accord. The laces on the back of her uniform go first, followed by the clip of her bra. With her bare back exposed, you slide your hands down her skin to slip your fingers underneath her waistband, slowly pushing the fabric down her hips to expose her completely.

 

Sunset is succumbing to the same urges, letting her hands explore your bare chest as the make their way down to your pants. With one hand, she raises your head up to maintain the kiss as she leans back to give the other hand room to work. With a quick motion, Sunset has your pants unbuttoned and shoots her hand under the waistband of your underwear, quick to go after what she really wants.

 

The smooth contours of her hand wrapping around your length make you break away from the kiss to let out a satisfied sigh. The feeling of her gently stroking you is heavenly, and the last doubt that you might not be at full mast has been completely destroyed.

 

You lean back up to meet lips again, this time opening your mouth to let your tongue's mingle together, not caring to be articulate, but simply enjoying the feeling of letting the tension between you two turn to pleasure. You return to her tiny skirt, slipping it all the way down her hips and letting it rest on her thighs. Wanting to return the favor, you snake a hand down her bare navel and between her legs, slipping your fingers across her sopping wet folds.

 

Sunset's slit radiates an intense heat that tells you she's been looking forward to this. As soon as you slip two of your fingers inside her Sunset has to break the kiss herself to let out her own, drawn-out coo of pleasure.

 

The two of you stay in the same position for a few moments, exploring each other's bodies and sharing warmth as you settle into the feeling of getting so intimate with your best friend. Your mind can't really form rational thoughts any longer, as you lift her bra and maid top up her arms and off her completely. The feeling of her bare breasts resting against your chest is the final straw in losing your logical thinking completely. You're operating solely on instinct and urges at this point.

 

At some point during the mindless kissing and fondling, you hear your door open up and close again. You decide to not pay it any mind, thinking that Vinyl might've looked in for a moment before darting back out. This isn't the case at all once you feel the weight of a third person on your bed.

 

Sunset's hand grips your length uncomfortably tightly as she breaks away from your embrace with a shocked expression. You look up at her in confusion until she opens her mouth.

 

"Vinyl, what the--" she starts in a harsh whisper as she tries to look back. Absorbed with infatuation and testosterone, you seize the opportunity without thinking of any of the consequences. You wrap your hands around Sunset's neck and pull her back down into a kiss.

 

Sunset doesn't resist at all once she feels your lips connect with hers again and your arms around her. She settles back into you again, albeit a little more tensely this time. From what you could tell, Vinyl is just as good at fucking girls as she is guys. Sunset's tiny coos of pleasure slowly turn to full-blown moans as Vinyl goes to work on her. Her hips continually sway and fidget unconsciously, and you can feel Susnet's excitement drip down her thighs and around your pants.

 

With her free hand, Vinyl tugs on your pants with little success. You break away from your embrace with Sunset to help her along, slipping your pants and underwear down your own thighs, letting Vinyl easily pull them off of you. Once they're off, you really can feel how well Vinyl is tearing into Sunset; her fluids have already made their way to the halfway point of her thighs, and are letting the occasional drip across your groin, making your cock twitch in anticipation.

 

Vinyl wastes no time in going to work on you as well. Switching hands between the two of you, she wraps the hand she just used on Sunset around your length, letting Sunset's warmth and wetness glide across you as Vinyl strokes it.

 

You and Sunset hold onto each other tightly as the pleasure of Vinyl's actions overtake you. You involuntarily let your hips buck at the feeling of Vinyl's hand stroking you, brushing the tip up against Sunset's soft navel. You can almost feel Vinyl's devious smile as she pulls your cock back slightly, and rubs against Sunset's wet folds. You both break away from your kiss momentarily at the feeling. Her warmth radiates through your length and makes you let out a satisfied groan. Sunset's grip on you tightens as her own barrage of pleasure assaults her.

 

Without warning, Vinyl slides you into Sunset. Her warm, velvety insides grip your length tightly. Sunset grabs your arms so tightly you think she might tear the skin. With her forehead leaning against yours, she closes her eyes and lets out a long sigh as you push each inch into her.

 

Vinyl leans over and grabs her by the shoulders. You can see the sly smile on her face from behind Sunset, but you're way too caught up in the moment to do or say anything. Vinyl pulls her back, forcing you deeper into her.

 

Sunset lets her head fall back at the feeling, letting the first clear moan leave her lips once you feel your entire length inside her. You slide your hands up Sunset's thighs, past the skirt still clinging to them, and up onto her hips. You let out a groan of your own as Sunset subconsciously sways her hips on you, moving you around inside her and sending waves of pleasure through her own body as well.

 

Vinyl snakes her hands around Sunset's bare skin, letting one hand find its way up to her breast, and the other across her navel until it forces itself between the two of you, stroking Sunset's clit to send her even deeper into the throes of passion. Sunset lets her head rest on Vinyl's shoulder, and rests her own hands on your wrists, letting you and Vinyl take complete control over her.

 

Vinyl pulls back Sunset's silky, red and yellow hair to place her lips against Sunset's neck. With your hands keeping her steady, you gently push your hips into hers and simply enjoying the feeling of being inside your best friend. Her warm, wet folds absorb your every thought as you push yourself past them, and the subtle coos of her pleasure fill the room only make you want more of her.

 

Sunset bites her lip and arches her back as Vinyl's hand increases its pace. Vinyl doesn't bother giving her a break as she makes sure to plant kisses on every part of Sunset's neck and lets her practiced hand massage into her breast.

 

As much as you enjoy the sights, sounds, and feelings of your situation, you can't help but want more. For a moment you stop pushing into Sunset to sit up on the bed, wiggling yourself out from under her to get into a better position. Sunset gives you a questioning mumble as you slip out of her, but Vinyl's smile only grows wider as she sees what you're doing.

 

With you out of the way, Vinyl pushes the very limp Sunset over onto the bed without much effort, and with a sultry smile, pulls Sunset's skirt and panties down the rest of the way off her legs, followed by her boots, leaving Sunset in nothing but her socks and little lacy choker that came with the maid outfit. Vinyl leans down as you crawl across the bed, spreading Sunset's legs and giving her mound a few kisses and licks in preperation for you. Sunset bites her lip and opens one eye, watching Vinyl go to work on her. You can see the uncertainty and concern in her face, but no other emotion but lust could pass through your mind right now.

 

Vinyl moves aside, presenting you Sunset, legs spread and ready to go. You position yourself at her hips, laying your cock against Sunset's navel and lovingly tracing one hand up her side as the other gets ready to help you back in her.

 

Vinyl strips herself of her outfit, eager to have a little fun herself. As quickly as she can with one hand, she pulls off every little strip of fabric on herself while letting her other hand under her waistband, enjoying the sight of you lining up with Sunset.

 

You don't pay her much mind as you let the tip flow through Sunset's folds, enjoying the little moments of warmth and all the little emotions it's eliciting from Sunset. Once you finally find your mark, you slowly ease yourself back in her, maintaining eye contact with those lovely blue orbs of hers. She closes her eyes and grips the sheets tightly the deeper you go, your cock making her arch her back and let out tiny whimpers of pleasure as you filled her.

 

Vinyl finally pulls off her last sock, and is eager to get in on the action. She leans down next to Sunset and presses her lips on the closest nipple she could reach, making Sunset gasp and put one of her hands on Vinyl's arm. Vinyl, her own fingers still deep inside of herself, kisses every part of Sunset's breast, even sparing a few moments to give the more tender areas a few nibbles. With you gradually increasing the force of your hips inside her, Sunset squirms under you and Vinyl's touch.

 

Vinyl breaks her attention away from Sunset's breast to kiss up her chest and neck, stopping at her lips to trade a few kisses with Sunset. A small part of you wonders why Sunset would ever be okay with this, but is completely drowned out by the feeling of Sunset's soft thighs wrapped around your hips, and your length buried deep inside of her.

 

Vinyl breaks away from Sunset's lips with a sly smile on her face. With no warning of her actions, she throws one leg over Sunset's face and straddles her head, forcing Sunset mouth first into Vinyl's wet slit. Vinyl leans forward and grabs you by the shoulders forcing you into a wet, sloppy kiss.

 

For some reason your desire for more only grows stronger. Instead of the slow, gentle thrusts into Sunset, you turn your force up a notch, tightening your grip around Sunset's hips and really driving into her. Sunset moans loudly into Vinyl, arching her back yet again under the sudden force. Her strained moans come out muffled between Vinyl's folds as she focuses her grip on Vinyl's hips instead of the sheets now.

 

Vinyl breaks away from you to give a content sigh of her own. "Ooohh, right there, princess." She says as she melts into your shoulder at the feeling of Sunset's tongue.

 

You pound into Sunset with as much force as you think she can handle. The loud, wet smacks from your hips elicit louder and louder muffled moans from between Vinyl's legs. Vinyl sways her hips on Sunset's head, obviously enjoying the attention as she lovingly kisses across your chest, drawing her hands around your body.

 

You close your eyes, enjoying the feeling of Sunset's excitement coating most of your groin. Her welcoming inner walls tense with every stroke, enveloping your member in the heavanly grip of her insides. With every pump you can feel yourself getting closer to the edge, the moans of the two girls driving you mind wild with lust.

 

Sunset can't seem to take anymore either. As her muffled cries reach an apex, she arches her back one last time, her hips twitching slightly as her folds convulse around you. You push yourself as deep inside of her as she's willing to take, giving her no respite from the pleasure assaulting her.

 

Once her orgasm fades, you quickly pull out of her, the subtle milking of her orgasm pulling you towards your own. You had enough sense not to cum inside her, but not nearly enough to escape your impending climax.

 

You let the first volley fall between Vinyl and Sunset's bare chests, hitting Vinyl first only to drip down to the next target. Vinyl's sly smile only grows once she sees your face, and quickly leans down to take in the next few spurts.

 

Before your next convulsion can spill anymore seed on the girls, Vinyl takes you into her mouth, happily lapping up every drop you give to her. Her tongue coaxed every ounce out of you, circling around and massaging all the right spots. The warmth of her lips wrapped around you makes your head fall back, cause a deep, satisfied groan to escape your mouth.

 

You can hear an audible gulp as you slip out of Vinyl's mouth. The sudden absence of attention lets you regain your other senses. You lean against the bed beside the girls, watching as Vinyl leans away from Sunset, revealing her face. Sunset is stained with Vinyl's own fluids from her nose down to her chin, and her expression is that of content exhaustion. Vinyl continues to run her hands across Sunset's bare skin, tracing her tongue across the tiny pools of cum that built up on Sunset's navel. Sunset can only coo quietly at the feelings, her glazed eyes longing for your embrace.

 

Once Vinyl is done, you fall between them and wrap one arm around Sunset, who lethargically crawls up to you and gives you a soft kiss before snuggling in against your chest. Vinyl on the other hand falls into the sheets and puts both hands behind her head, a victorious smile on her face. The three of you bask in the afterglow for a few minutes, simply letting the memory of your first time together sink in.

 

After another few moments though, you and Sunset start to come to your senses. You can see the slight worry on her face, and concern grows on you as well. This isn't what you wanted your first time to be, and may only make things even more awkward as well. You try not to worry about it for now, and hold Sunset tighter against you, silently worrying about your future with her.

 

"Well that's that. Looks like you've got a couple of contracts to rip up, huh?" Vinyl says, without a hint of shame in her voice.

 

"What?" Sunset says in a flat, cold tone as she perks up from your side.

 

"Yeah, he promised me that he'd let us out of our contracts if I could get you into a threesome with us." Vinyl looks over to meet Sunset's suddenly furious gaze and raises an eyebrow. "What? I just saved you from a few more weeks of maid duty. You're welcome."

 

Sunset's glare turns from Vinyl to you. As soon as you meet her eyes, you know you fucked up. Tears well up at the edge of her vision, and her expression is nothing but pure anger and betrayal.

 

"Is that really all I mean to you? Some two-bit slut to make bets about?" she says, getting up from the bed, but never breaking eye contact with you. Tears are already streaming down her cheeks. You wince at her gaze but raise your hand up to try to stop her.

 

"Sunset, no, that's not what this w--"

 

"Oh yeah? What was it then? One good fuck before you ruin your life with her?!" Sunset is shaking she's so mad. She looks between you and Vinyl, then slaps away your outstretched hand. "Don't fucking touch me." Sunset finally closes her eyes and lets out the first wave of a sob. She looks away and tries to contain herself, but to no avail. "I can't believe I just did that..." she whispers to herself as she gathers up her clothes and runs out of your room, slamming the door behind her.

 

"Jeez. What the hell is her problem? Not like I didn't let her take center stage in that threesome," Vinyl says, with no hint of remorse or empathy for Sunset.

 

"Oh, can it, Vinyl." You get up and gather up some clothes of your own, putting them on as quickly as you could to catch Sunset before she storms off. "Just stay out of this one, alright?" you say as you move towards the door with your pants halfway on.

 

Vinyl shrugs and settles into the sheets, putting her arms back behind her head. "Alright, whatever. Just tell me when she's done with her little temper tantrum and it's safe to come out."

 

You shake your head and button your pants, making your way out of your room as quickly as possible and shutting the door behind you.

 

"Sunset, wait!" you say as she throws her jacket over her shoulders and stomps towards the front door. As soon as she hears you she glares daggers at you and stops in place, a torrent of emotions overcoming her blushing face. Tears freely stained her cheeks and dripped onto the carpet below.

 

"Why? Why should I stick around and wait for you? All I've ever done is wait around on you, and you've always just taken me for granted and tossed me aside for girls like... her," Sunset spits out in the general direction of your room, her voice cracking heavily under her impending sobs.

 

"Sunset, please, you know that's not true. You mean the world to m--"

 

"Oh, fucking stop," she says, gritting her teeth. "Ever since high school you've done nothing but waste your life with girls like her, doing nothing but living in the moment while other girls who were much better for you waited, and waited."

 

Sunset stopped for a moment to close her eyes tightly and wipe some of the tears away. It isn't long until she looks back to you with the same hurt in her eyes from the other night. "Other girls that could've supported you, helped you through life, who would love you like you would love them back, not trash like her that sees you as a walking wallet to mooch off of. Don't even dare tell me it's not true," Sunset says, the tears she just wiped away quickly replaced by an even bigger batch.

 

Suddenly it all dawns on you. Like a ton of bricks the realization hits you and you feel like the biggest idiot in the world. "We're not talking about other girls, are we, Sunset..."

 

"I love you, you fucking idiot," Sunset lets out, followed by a whimpering sob as she continues to cry even harder. "I have ever since high school."

 

You don't even know what to do. You just stand there, dumbfounded. You know you can't hug her, she'd just push you away. There are no words that could fix this right now.

 

"I loved you so much that even after we graduated I couldn't stand the thought of moving off away from you. I followed you to that shitty community college, scared that if I ever actually said anything, you might push me away, think of me as just another one of the girls..." Sunset crosses her arms and puts one of her hands up to her face, the confession tearing her apart inside after what just happened.

 

"Even if I couldn't be with you, I didn't want you to push me away if you ever found out..." Sunset sinks into her hand, letting the anger subside for a moment to let the unbridled pain flow out of her.

 

Seeing her like this struck you to the very core, like a frozen dagger cutting your heart straight in two. "Sunset, I... I would nev--" you say, reaching a hand out to her again, hoping to console her, but she isn't having any of it.

 

She slaps it away again, anger returning to her face."But now I know how much that actually means to you, and how much of my life I've wasted chasing dead ends."

 

Sunset holds herself tightly, letting the hand fall from her face and the hurt take over her again. "Vinyl was right. What do I even have to live for anymore..." she whispers to herself.

 

That was it. That's what broke you. You feel the tears streaming down your own cheeks now. The thought of your best friend like this is tearing you apart on the inside, and there's literally nothing you can do right now to help her. You can't even move anymore. Your mouth won't even open to say anything.

 

"Just... Just leave me alone!" Sunset says, storming away from you, back towards the front door. The thunderous slam as she leaves echoes through you, and as Sunset walks down the stairs, you can hear her unbound sobs as loudly and as clearly as your own tired heartbeat.

 

You slink down onto the couch, staring off at nothing. You had nothing; there isn't a single thought that crosses your mind anymore. You're simply devastated and nothing in the world is going to fix it and get your best friend back right now.

 

The door to your bedroom opens, but you don't look over. You can feel Vinyl fall into the couch cushions beside you, but you can't even bring yourself to look at her.

 

"Ouch. That one sounded rough, man. I'm sure she'll be fine in a few days and we'll all be back to-- woah," Vinyl says as she sees the tears streaming down your cheeks.

 

"Dude, are you alright?"

 

"No, Vinyl, I'm not," you say, letting a bit of venom out at her.

 

"Hey, come on. You know how she gets better than anyone. She just needs a couple of days to cool off. In a couple of days I'm sure she'll be thanking me for getting her out of that stupid maid contract. I mean really though, it's not like she didn't know we were going out. She missed he--"

 

"We're not going out, Vinyl," you say flatly, still not bothering to look over at her.

 

"W-what?" Vinyl asks, taken aback.

 

"Just because I let you stay here doesn't mean we're going out."

 

"What are you talking about? We've fucked twice for Christ's sake! And three times if you count that," Vinyl says, motioning towards the bedroom. "You let me sleep in your bed naked! I fucking live with you, dude. How are we not going out?"

 

You take a deep breath, staring out the window. You don't bother answering her.

 

"Oh, come on, man. Don't tell me Sunset's got you this fucked up. There's no way you couldn't have known about her little crush on you. She'll get over it, man. You can still be friends. Look, we can go over to her place tomorrow and tell her how it is, alright? Tell her that we care about her but that she's got to accept that we're together." Vinyl gives you a strained laugh and a nudge on the shoulder. "And hey, if she's up for it, I'm definitely down for a few more threesomes."

 

You're fed up. You look Vinyl dead in the eyes and her tiny smile immediately goes flat. "Vinyl, fucking drop it. You've already done enough, I don't need you messing this up anymore than you already have."

 

You look away from her, letting a few more tears down your cheeks. You meant every word, but that didn't stop you from feeling guilty about it. You don't bother to watch Vinyl's expression, but from the crack in her voice you can tell it isn't anything good.

 

"Wh... I... I just remembered, I have to go do a... a thing," she says, her words choking up in her throat.

 

Vinyl quickly and silently gathers up her clothes, puts them on, and heads out the door without a word.

 

With her gone, nothing but silence fills the air. In that silence echoes Sunset's sobs and Vinyl's choked up voice, haunting you and only making you feel worse by the second.

 

You get up and turn the light out before sitting back down on the couch. You lean forward and put your head in your hands. In less than an hour you just destroyed some of the most important relationships in your life, ones that you might not ever be able to repair.

 

As the tears stream down your face, you realize you had to make a choice. The last thing you want is to end up with no one, but you may have just forced your own hand. A million thoughts rush through your head about what to try to do, but you know none of them will work. You've got to think long and hard about what you really want out of life, and if at this point you can even get back what you just lost.. And you thought this morning was going to be difficult...

 

 

Chapter 9 - True Love:

 

The sound of a distant car alarm in the streets below wakes you out of your slumber. Going by the light shining through your blinds, it has to be at least noon. It doesn't really matter though; no amount of sleep could make you feel any better right now. Your apartment is deathly quiet. The usual sounds of Vinyl snoring, or Sunset walking around that you had gotten used to this week are absent.

 

You sit up and lean your head into your hands, feeling worse by the second. The echoes of last night are still painfully fresh in your mind. The sound of Sunset's sobs as she walked down the stairs and Vinyl's choked up voice right before she left haunt you, making you feel cold even though the air conditioner has been off all night. You want to cry, you want to go back to sleep and hope your dreams can take you away from this awful existence, but you know none of that is going to help in the end.

 

You think back to yesterday at the pond. You remember all those beautiful evenings with Sunset, all those hopeless situations she's helped you out of, how she's always been there for you, and how you haven't gone more than a few days without her since high school. You remember her hair, her smile, her beautiful eyes.

 

Then you remember last night again. How she said she didn't know what she had to live for anymore, how she thought she wasted her life following you. You can feel the tears start to well in your eyes yet again. Just the memory of the pain you saw in her face brings a dull ache to your chest that doesn't seem to go away.

 

Then you think about Vinyl; her confident smile, her playful demeanor, how every little situation with her ended in a fun memory or silly story. You remember the music, the lights, the dancing... the amazing sex. You remember the thrill of simply being around her. Then you remember the pain in her voice when you told her you didn't want her help, how you weren't going out and how hard she tried to convince herself otherwise.

 

The constant stream of fuck ups last night weighs heavy on you now; so heavy you don't even think you can muster the strength to get up anymore. You sink back into the couch and lay your head down against the cushion, wishing you could take back all of last night, that you could at least go back and make some better decisions that you could keep those two in your life.

 

You sigh and give up. There isn't a single thing that could help you out of this. You just have to live with your regrets and start over, hoping you didn't ruin either of their lives. You close your eyes and hope to go back to sleep on the couch, to hopefully wake up to a better life than the one you're living now.

 

After a few moments you open your eyes back up. A deep, angry scowl comes over your face, at yourself more than anything. What were you thinking? Just cut and run? Wish them the best and leave their lives completely? No, that isn't what you're going to do. If something is worth having, it's worth working your ass off for, worth fighting for.

 

You get up off the couch with determination in your eyes, a purpose in your heart. You slip your shoes on and grab your car keys. It might be a lost cause, but you'd never be able to live with yourself if you didn't at least try. You know what you have to do.

 

[center] ___________________________________________________________________________________________[/center]

 

You stop your car on the curb outside of the club where it all started the other night, and sure enough, Vinyl is sitting over there on the sidewalk, curled up holding her knees with one hand and smoking a cigarette with the other. She sees you as you get out of your car, and eyes you with an apprehensive look as you walk towards her.

 

You plant yourself against the wall beside her and slide down next to her, letting out a long sigh as you do. You know this is going to be hard. You open your mouth to let out the first word, but as usual in these kinds of situations, the words catch in your throat.

 

Vinyl taps the ashes off of her cigarette next to her and looks over to you, trying to put on her usual playful smile. "So... what's up?"

 

You take a deep breath, coughing a little bit as you smell some of the acrid smoke. "I didn't know you smoked."

 

She eyes the cigarette for a moment before flicking it out into the street. "I don't. Not usually anyway."

 

"Ah," you say, completely understanding. You were the same way with alcohol sometimes.

 

Vinyl lets out a sigh of her own and droops further into herself. "Don't suppose you've come to confess your undying love for me?"

 

You open your mouth again and turn to her, only to fall short yet again, and look away with disappointment.

 

"Yeah, I kinda figured as much."

 

"Look, Vinyl, I'm really sorry for what I said last night, but--"

 

She holds up a hand to you, her expression turning quickly somber. "Save it, dude. I know where this goes: 'I'm really sorry about how I said it, but I really did mean it'," Vinyl says, making a little face with her hand.

 

You open your mouth again and close it. That's actually pretty much exactly what you were going to say.

 

"But for real, I'm sorry," Vinyl says, wrapping both hands around her knees and hiding most of her face between them.

 

You look over to her with confusion on your face. "What? Why?"

 

"Because I knew about Sunset all along. I saw that kiss you had on the dancefloor. All that gloating about fucking you yesterday? That was on purpose," Vinyl says, sounding disappointed in herself.

 

You look at her with the same disdain. "W-Why would you do that if you knew--"

 

"I was jealous, alright? You were the first guy I've been with pretty much ever that had his life together. That had a clean apartment and wasn't a junkie. As much fun as those other guys were, I know I was wasting years of my life with them. I knew that if I kept on that path for much longer, I was going to end up on meth, or crack, or something, and live on the streets for the rest of my life. Every time Sunset insulted my habits, or called me trash, it just hurt so much..." Vinyl says, holding herself tighter. You can see the start of tears at the edge of her eyes.

 

Your mouth is hanging open slightly in shock. You had no idea. "Vinyl..." you whisper to her. You put an arm around her in attempt to be comforting.

 

She looks over and gives you a weak smile and a sniff to try to compose herself. "Thanks..."

 

You give her a smile in return, and she goes back between her knees.

 

"When I first realized how much Sunset wanted you, I wanted to do everything in my power to get her to leave, to get her to realize there was no chance, but if nothing else that girl is persistent."

 

You stay silent. You don't know what else to do right now but listen. Vinyl grips herself even tighter and lets out a frustrated grunt.

 

"God, I feel so awful now. All those fights, all those insults..." Vinyl looks over to you, genuine remorse in her eyes. "I heard all that last night. Man, I never wanted for her to think she was worthless, to pretty much say she wanted to kill herself. I just wanted to take her place and have the life she was too scared to ask for, you know?"

 

You give Vinyl a comforting squeeze and a tiny smile as she looks over to you. "I understand, Vinyl. I'm not mad at you."

 

Vinyl perks up. "Really?"

 

"Well, I am a little pissed you sent Sunset into a sobbing fit and running out of my apartment, but we all make mistakes. I'd still like to be friends with you."

 

Vinyl's face brightens up a little bit at that. "You promise?" she asks.

 

"Promise. You're a fun girl to be around when I don't have to break up you and Sunset... or I'm getting shot at."

 

"Heh, I swear that's going to be the one and only time." Vinyl's smile fades slightly and she looks off onto the concrete in front of her thoughtfully. "Can you make me two more promises?"

 

"Sure. What's on your mind?"

 

"Set me up with one of your guy friends, will ya? And make sure he's not a total fuck up," she says, playfully nudging you in the ribs.

 

"Heh, I promise. I think I know just the guy, too. What's the other one?"

 

"Tell Sunset how you feel about her. Even if you don't realize it, I can see how much you love that girl. You two are meant to be together, and right now, I think that's something she really needs to hear now more than ever."

 

You close your eyes and sigh. Deep down you know that's something you want to do, but you're terrified that you completely ruined that chance last night.

 

"Hey," Vinyl says, putting a finger on your chin and making you look over to her, "It's not too late. From what I saw, she's not going to be able to stop loving you in a year, much less an entire day. So promise me you'll go right over there and tell her exactly what's on your mind, okay?"

 

"But what if--"

 

"Ah! No sir. No buts." Vinyl hops to her feet out from under your arm and grabs your hand, pulling you up with all her might. "Promise me."

 

Once you're to your feet, you look away from Vinyl, the pit inside your stomach growing at the thought of your next interaction.

 

Vinyl gives a little "Hmph!" and makes a pouty face at you, really laying it on thick and trying to get your attention.

 

You throw up your hands and smile at her. "Alright, alright. I promise. Now stop giving me those puppy dog eyes."

 

"Right over, alright? No going back to your apartment and moping, and no alcohol. Straight to Sunset. No excuses," Vinyl says sternly as she drags you back to your car and forces you in.

 

"You've got to promise me. Seriously," she says, leaning over your door as she plops you down into your seat.

 

"Really, Vinyl, I promise. Straight over to Sunset's."

 

"Alright, good." Vinyl closes your door for you and gives you her usual confident smile. "Go get her, tiger."

 

"Thank you, Vinyl," you say genuinely as you put your seatbelt on.

 

"Thank me later. You've got bigger things to deal with."

 

You start your car and put it in gear. Vinyl waves you off, a hopeful smile on her face. Unfortunately, you couldn't keep the smile on yours. The pit in your stomach is growing unbearable and the lump in your throat swells with every passing second. You've never been so nervous in your life.

 

[center] _______________________________________________________________________________________[/center]

 

Twenty minutes. You've been standing outside this door for twenty minutes. The suspense is killing you. Your heartbeat hasn't slowed down a beat since you walked up here, and you can feel the pounding in your chest. You know you want to make amends, you know you want to say sorry and tell Sunset how you really feel, but your body is completely locked up at the thought.

 

Finally, in an impulse of masochism you knock on the door twice, then immediately wince when you draw your hand back. Panic builds inside you as you continually think you're not ready, that you still need to wait and think out what you're going to say so you don't mess things up again. Too late now; you can hear footsteps on the other side of the door. Part of you wants to run away and come back later, but thankfully, you're way too petrified to move from that spot.

 

Sunset opens the door to you, and you can immediately tell how awful she's doing: smeared mascara ran freely down her face from her puffy red eyes, her hair is a complete mess of tangles and is sticking up all over her head, and she still has on her pajamas at this time of day. A wave of relief washes over you once you see she hasn't done anything drastic, but that quickly fades once you realize you've never actually seen her this upset before.

 

Sunset recognizes you as the door comes about halfway open. Her expression immediately turns from somber to sour, and she goes to slam the door in your face in anger. You're quick enough to stick your shoe in front of the doorway and get it caught right before it closes. You wince at the strength behind that slam against your foot, but at least it keeps it open.

 

"Sunset, please, I just want to talk to you."

 

You can feel her turn around and put her back to the door. "Haven't you said enough?" she says, pain still heavy in her voice. There isn't any malice in her tone, only sadness.

 

You sigh. "No, I haven't," you say quietly.

 

You can hear fabric sliding on wood, and feel the sudden shift in weight. She must've sat down in front of the door.

 

"Please, just leave me alone. I don't want to hear anymore about you and Vinyl. Just... go," she says, her voice already falling apart. With her last sentence you could hear the start of a muffled sob from behind the doorway.

 

You grimace at the sounds. That's the last thing you want to hear right now. The familiar ache in your heart returns as she continues to cry.

 

"I'm not here to talk about Vinyl and I. I'm here to talk about you and I, Sunset. Can you please let me in?"

 

After a few moments, you hear the sound of Sunset's feet on the carpet, and the weight off of the door leaves. You push in to see her walking into her living room, so you follow after her, making sure to shut the door behind you.

 

The sight in front of you reminds you of one of Rarity's meltdowns: ice cream cartoons littering the couch, tissues all over the floor, and her tear-stained laptop sitting on the coffee table; no doubt skyping some of the girls for comfort. You know at least two of them are going to slap the life out of you for doing this to Sunset. Sunset sat on the other side of the coffee table, wrapping her arms around herself and looking away from you. You take a place on one of her couches to look at her.

 

"Sunset... I am so sorry about last night. I just..." you sigh, close your eyes, and try to collect yourself. You think these probably weren't the right words you should've started with. "...the last thing I ever wanted was for you to run out of my apartment crying like that, saying that..." you take a moment to push back your own tears at the thought of even saying it, "that you didn't think you had anything to live for anymore."

 

Tears run down Sunset's cheeks as she continues to face away from you. She closes her eyes, only a few quiet sniffs coming from her. "If I could change everything about yesterday and the night before, I would. If we could just talk this through instead of having Vinyl--"

 

Sunset looks over at you, just for a second before turning her gaze back to the carpet. It's enough to cut your sentence off, and enough to make you clear your throat awkwardly and look around the room to avoid her.

 

You look back to her. "I just never wanted to lose you, Sunset. I still don't."

 

She meets your gaze, with slight anger building in her crying eyes. "Then why did you let her talk to me like that? Why did you let her..." Sunset gives a little shiver, no doubt at the memory of the threesome, "...do that to me?" Sunset turns away from you again, holding herself tighter. "Why are you even here if you'd rather be with her?" Sunset sighs and droops lower into her own sadness. "You showed me what you really wanted last night. So just please, leave me alone."

 

"I wouldn't rather be with her, Sunset. Last night wasn't even close to what I really want," you say, getting up off the couch.

 

Sunset looks over at you, slight confusion on her tear-stained face. "W-What?"

 

You kneel beside Sunset, careful not to get too close to her. She looks into your eyes for the first time since you got here, and you look back into hers. "You were right, last night, Sunset. I'm an idiot. I am the dumbest man to have ever graced your presence. It took you finally admitting it to me before I could put the pieces together about how you felt, and how I felt.

 

"All these years you've been with me, you've been my best friend. I can't imagine going more than a few days without seeing you, I can't live without those little moments between us out by that pond, or the endless conversations about nothing at all on those boring weekday nights, or seeing you smile, or hearing you laugh, or just being next to you at all. Seeing you like that last night hurt me more than anything ever could."

 

Sunset stares at you, tears still streaming down her face, but not nearly as broken-hearted as before. You take a deep breath, then look back into her eyes and scoot closer to her and take her hands in yours. "Sunset, I am so sorry. About everything. I know how much I hurt you, and I know how much you must resent me right now, but I just want you to know, it isn't a dead end, Sunset."

 

You look deeper into her eyes, savoring all the little shades as you feel your heart almost explode out of your chest with nervousness. "I love you too, Sunset. I love you more than anything else on this earth. There's no one in the world I'd rather be with than you."

 

You stare longingly into her eyes, waiting for her to say something. After a tense few seconds, you drop your head; you know what that blank gaze meant. It's too late. You've already fucked this up beyond repair.

 

You feel the lump in your throat growing. You can't help but let a few tears flow out. You close your eyes and turn away from her, letting her hands go. You could feel your heart shatter into a million pieces. You finally realize your feelings for your best friend, and in one night you destroy any chance of having a happy life with her. You know you have no one to blame but yourself.

 

"I'm sorry, Sunset," you say as you begin to rise to your feet, "I just needed to say that. I'll leave you alone no--"

 

Before you can finish your sentence, Sunset throws herself at you. She wraps her arms around your neck and presses her lips so hard against yours you think you might have busted something. You fall backwards and hit the carpet, Sunset straddling you and kissing you as deeply as she possibly could.

 

She breaks the kiss and looks down to you, a smile bigger than you've ever seen before on her face. She's still crying, but this time you can tell... they're tears of joy.

 

"Shut up and hug me, you idiot," her tone hopeful and sweet yet again. You wrap your arms around her and hold her tightly, never wanting to let her go again. You bury your face in her shoulder, enjoying her warmth, her smell, the softness of her body. The tears coming out are still coming, but with the massive smile on your face, you can tell they're coming out for the same reason that Sunset's are.

 

"I love you so much, Sunset."

 

Sunset leans back from your hug, bringing her hands up to your cheeks, cradling your face lovingly. "I love you too," she says in a sweet whisper. Slowly she comes back down, meeting her lips with yours yet again. You close your eyes, losing yourself in her kiss. You feel all your stress wash away in her grasp. In the end, this is all you really wanted. With the girl of your dreams in your arms and a bright future with her ahead of you, everything felt perfect.