"Sick of all these people talking, sick of all this noise
Tired of all these cameras flashing, sick of being poised
Now my neck is open wide, begging for a fist around it
Already choking on my pride, so there's no use crying about it"

Skye was feeling like her life was looking up. It'd been awhile since she'd had an accidental flashbang or a depressive episode, and she surprisingly had a girlfriend again. She was still trying to wrap around how that happened, but...sometimes things just fell into place. It was nice having someone to spend most of the week with; they hadn't gone beyond kissing, but Skye didn't care about that. Just having someone there was nice.

She was walking down the streets of the Village, just unwinding, seeing where the wind took her; she hadn't done that in quite some time. Her hood was down since the temperature was *somewhat* mohawk friendly, at least for right now. Her orange mohawk lay across the right side of her head, as usual. Spiking it really didn't seem like her style, and besides a hood wouldn't go over it. She was wearing an acid-washed denim jacket with a rainbow-heart on it, similar to her tattoo, but not quite. Her pants were the exact same denim, and she was wearing her basic black tennis shoes. Around her neck was the cloth choker with a metal, rainbow-colored skull in the center.

Her earbuds were in, and she was softly singing to the music as she walked along, head slightly bobbing to the beat, looking around and just taking in her surroundings.

"I'm headed straight for the castle
They wanna make me their queen
And there's an old man sitting on the throne
That's saying that I probably shouldn't be so mean
I'm headed straight for the castle
They've got the kingdom locked up
And there's an old man sitting on the throne
That's saying I should probably keep my pretty mouth shut
Straight for the castle..."

After a turbulent 2019 to say the least, things finally felt like they were normalizing for Marisol. Her failed spring semester was made up for in the fall, she was no longer on the brink of losing her lead role in First Position, and she had even moved out of the dorms at the high school. Well, she had to move out of them since she was no longer a student there, but it was nice to move on to a new chapter of her life.

Not too long ago, Marisol was dreading her new apartment. The hunt was going poorly, and the notion of an empty apartment for her to come home to would evoke negative thoughts about her personal life choices. Fortunately, she was saved by Alice making the last-minute decision to join her as a roommate, making her new life less empty.

They were settling into their new shared space, working on obtaining the right furniture and decorations for the vibe they wanted. Cozy and casual, with a little artsy flair. They were still learning how to be roommates, but this was as happy as Marisol had been in months.

With one earbud in listening to an upbeat acoustic song from some ViewTube cover artist with an amazing voice, Marisol left the front door of her apartment building. She had no rehearsal today and there was a loveseat for sale she was dying to check out in person.

As her Converse-clad feet hit the sidewalk, Marisol used the railing to pivot to the right.

And then she froze. Her eyes were tricking her, right? The mohawk was new-- cool, and new. But there was no mistaking it. She could tell by the pit in her stomach. Skye was walking toward her.

The mutant might not have even noticed yet. She was still a good ten feet away. Marisol could run. It was totally still an option. Was she terrible for thinking about it? Was the other option to come up with a good excuse for months of silence? Maybe she could just--

”Hi, Skye.” The words tumbled out of her mouth before she could second-guess them.

Skye was lost in her own little world. Life was good, better than it had been in months. She didn't notice that she was walking straight for who was possibly the last person she'd wanted to see, at least until it was too late.

"Hi, Skye."

She heard the words over her music, and she recognized the voice instantly. When she snapped to, she realized the orange light had gone out of her hands, and her mohawk was more than likely brunette right now. She wondered how that even looked, being brunette and all.

"Hello, Mari," was Skye's reply. The name dripped from her lips like venom, or like a curse word. So many emotions were bubbling up right now, but thankfully, Mari was keeping that in check. Her brown eyes locked on the other girl's, but her mind was racing. And in a split second, it was almost like she wasn't even there anymore.

"Happy birthday, Mari!" Skye said excitedly, the brunette leaning in and giving her girlfriend a kiss on the cheek. She'd scheduled for a few of them to hang out for a few hours, starting with Skye visiting her. And of course she'd brought a gift wrapped in rainbow-patterned wrapping paper.

"Hope you like it. I've got a few things planned today, Hun." She bit her lip, a little nervous; Skye really wanted this day to be as amazing as Mari was...

The longer they spent apart, the harder Marisol knew it would be to see Skye again. She had never had a girlfriend before, let alone an ex-girlfriend. Things did not end easily, and Marisol was sure she had only made things worse by dropping off the face of the earth. Seeing Skye, it was like every stereotype of the world slowing down.

When Skye noticed her, the air turned cold and so did Marisol's blood. Thing were indeed as bad as she expected. She took a subconscious step closer to ensure Skye was in her radius. After their history, she knew to keep an eye out for potential moments of panic or stress, and they were in one of those, she was very sure.

It was amazed of the things you didn't forget...

Marisol felt like she had a lot on her plate, to the point where she almost let her birthday pass without a thought. Thankfully, Skye was on top of things and her wonderful girlfriend was not going to let her hold up in her dorm for the night.

The moment Marisol opened the door and met the beautiful young woman there to greet her, she wasted no time pulling Skye into the room and into her arms and into a deep kiss. When she finally broke the kiss, she smiled. "I can't believe it; an amazing, perfect gift showed up on my dorm doorstep! And hey, she brought a box," she added, chuckling as she kicked closed the door to the room.

Now that they had their privacy, Marisol eyed the colorful parcel. "Though okay, I am pretty curious what you got me." So sue her for being excited for her first girlfriend birthday gift! She was interested in their plan for the day, but until then, they had a little time to themselves.

Skye's heart fluttered; she'd never had a girlfriend before, and she'd been super nervous and hoping this worked out. Hoping she did a good job because she thought the world of Mari and wanted everything to be just perfect. 

The door opened and Skye was a little surprised when Mari pulled her right into the room and into a kiss, and the hand that wasn't holding the box tangled gently in Mari's hair. That was different and it made her heart skip a beat as it thumped furiously in her chest, the butterflies wreaking havoc in her stomach. The hand that wasn't holding the present tangled gently in Mari's hair.

She had to admit, she loved when Mari did that to her. The kiss broke, and Skye found herself blushing a bright red as Mari spoke. 

"You're too sweet, hun," she said softly, leaning in and kissing Mari's cheek. To be honest, Skye was caught a little off guard; she was used to being the one who took initiative, but...she had to admit she liked it. It was new. 

"I hope you like the present," she said with a small smile, holding out the flat square box that had until now just been in her hand dangling at her side. "Again. Happy birthday."

Marisol never expected to be the type of girl who would get lost in her relationship. She was quickly learning how wrong she was. She really liked Skye, and when she was around, other things felt less important. What else gave her this fluttery feeling? It had a name, didn't it?

Also, she finally understood why kissing was so great. So many little wonderful things. She felt it through her whole body when Skye's fingers got into her hair. Skye was the more experienced of the pair, but Marisol was learning her way around Skye. There was so much to enjoy, and so much they had not enjoyed quite yet. Still, she felt it coming, because each kiss seemed to generate more heat and another word at the tip of her tongue.

With the gift handed over, Marisol skipped over to her bed to sit down and assess it. Flat, square, and she was tempted to shake it but would have died of embarrassment if she broke something. Instead, she carefully tore into the wrapping paper and cut the box open.

The record slammed her with memories. Maybe it was their third date? Not counting hanging out in their rooms or grabbing coffee. Skye and Marisol had unique music tastes that did not always overlap, but there was something about The Stolen Moment Affair. When Marisol found them in Skye's music library, she was hooked for the bettr part of a month. Leave it to Skye to surprise her with tickets to see them in a small music club on Long Island.

Marisol felt her heart swell thinking back to that night, and the record would forever remind her of a perfect night hand in hand in the crowd with the woman she...

"I love you, Skye." Marisol realized the words slipped from her lips and almost corrected herself. "I meant thank you. Well, I do mean thank you but also... I really love you, Skye." She had been close to saying it for a while now, but it came so easily suddenly.

It was weird how Skye had never pinned herself as the relationship now that she'd actually found herself in one. Mari was...different. Special. It lacked what Skye normally went after but she cherished it all the same. It showed that she didn't need to bed someone to be happy. Because right now, she was the happiest she could remember being in a long time.

When Mari assessed the present, Skye sat across from her, biting her lip and hoping it would go over as she'd intended. God, she knew that Mari was super into this, so why the hell was she so nervous?

"I love you, Skye." The words snapped Skye out of her train of thought and she just froze, and then Mari corrected herself before repeating the words she thought she'd heard. A smile spread across Skye's face as the blush darkened.

"I...I love you too, Mari," she said, her voice almost a whisper as she leaned in, wrapping her arms around Mari and planting a passionate kiss on her."

Marisol expected to be more nervous when she said it. What if it was too early? What if she didn't say it back? Those thoughts never entered her mind because everything about this felt... right.

That was why the affirmation from Skye was less of a revelation and more of a warm blanket enveloping her. They were in love. It was so apparent, and every kiss they shared echoed that.

And those kisses were intense. Loving kisses. Needing kisses. As they deepened, Marisol leaned back against the bed, letting Skye follow her until the vivid, bold girl she loved was on top of her. Marisol bit her lip. "Please tell me we have time," she whispered. "Everyone can wait a little longer, right?"

It did not matter. This felt right. Marisol let her hands find the hem of Skye's shirt to peel it slowly off her body. If Skye tried to caution her about the decision she was pushing them toward, Marisol would respond with another piece of removed clothing until it was just them. Just two young women in a bed, in love, and taking a blissful leap together...

Marisol hated how foreign everything felt in this situation. There was a time when everything with Skye just felt normal. Now Marisol was on edge, and she hated it because she knew she was at fault.

"You look good," she fumbled out, before pointing to Skye's hair, which was its standard color. Probably for the best since Marisol could guess the shade she would be sporting. "The mohawk's a good look for you."

Was that even right or fair to point out? What was the right thing to say? It had been a while, maybe she was supposed to try catching up. She would hazard a question. "How have you been?"

Skye blinked, gasping a little as she found herself on top of Mari, and the other girl was pulling up the hem of her hoodie, which was rather quickly removed. It was getting hot in here, anyway. "We have time, but..." She paused, shuddering as the hem of her tee shirt was slowly being peeled off as well; she didn't fight it. "Oh yeah, it can wait but...are you sure? I mean...you're positive." Skye was just trying to make sure she wasn't pressuring Mari into anything she didn't want to do. When the tee shirt found itself on the floor, Skye exhaled, looking down at her girlfriend with a smile, tugging her shirt up before leaning down for another passionate kiss...

Now that felt like a hundred years ago instead of a mere few months. The compliment caught her off guard, chipping away at the anger a bit as her face softened. She really liked it. Ugh. No. She didn't care. She wasn't supposed to care. But that small remnant of a smile remained. "I...thanks. You look the same..." The latter part wasn't an insult, in fact there was a hint of sadness in it as the smile faded, and then the wall went back up.

"Oh, aside from the obvious?" she said, her voice hardening a bit. "I'm actually quite good, aside from running into the person who literally sent me into an explosive depression..." Her voice was as cold as ice, her brown eyes narrowing into a soul-punching glare.

What the everloving hell did that mean? Marisol was not ready for this. Was that a compliment or an insult? Skye liked the way she looked, last she remembered. Skye knew how to make her feel beautiful. Marisol was now being reminded of the power Skye had over her.

And she wielded that power like a sword. Marisol winced as the shot hit her and it cracked her heart. She thought Skye might have had a hard time with the breakup, but it killed her to realize how much she damaged Skye. That was never the goal; she just needed to refocus, and Skye was all she saw when they were together. "Listen, I... I'm sorry." She did owe her an apology, if not for the breakup, then maybe for vanishing. "It was a stressful time. I needed space, Skye. But um, quite good is... is good. I'm still glad you're okay."

She was glad she did not break Skye beyond repair.

"I mean...you look as good as you always have," was said lower and sadder than the rest of her dialogue before then had been. But dammit she was still feeling bitter.

Skye was tense, if not for Mari's power she probably would have gone critical more than once by now. So maybe that was for the best. "Stressful? It wasn't exactly roses and sunshine for me either. I felt like you didn't care about me anymore. Like maybe I had done something that made you not want to be around me anymore. That was ****ing stressful. I thought for some reason you didn't love me anymore. That I was the problem." Her voice was dripping again. Sharp, bitter, and angry. She wasn't even going to tell Mari about Emily. She wasn't sure if that would be too low a blow, or if she felt that Mari didn't deserve to know how happy she really was these days.

"I'm okay. No thanks to you."

It had been a little while since Mari's birthday, and things had really been looking up for them since that day. But today, Skye found herself sitting in her room, phone sitting beside her on the bed as she played a video-game. Her mind really wasn't on it. She kept looking at her phone clock and at the messages. Mari wasn't running late but it was odd that she hadn't texted her either. Hopefully she'd just gotten caught up doing something or gotten busy. Everything would be okay. She knew it would.

Marisol did not come to the decision to end things with Skye lightly. It took time and a lot of uncertainty. She hoped Skye understood, but this meeting suggested that was not the case. Marisol was hurt because she was not malicious; she did not want to hurt Skye like she did. ”I… Skye, I didn’t just stop loving you. I’m sorry. It was hard and I didn’t know what to do…”

It was not a surprise. Not really. Deep down, Marisol knew the way her semester was heading. She was just in denial, believing she was just in a funk and she would break it in time to save her semester. When her instructors let her know her coursework was insufficient and she would need to complete another semester, it became real.

Walking through the Mansion to Skye’s room, Marisol was in a fog. What went wrong? She was a good student. What would her mother and uncle say? How was she going to juggle First Position rehearsals with another semester of coursework?

By the time she knocked on the door and stood in Skye’s doorway, tears were starting to well in her eyes.

"But at some point you did stop," she pointed out, her voice quiet as her brown eyes dropped to the ground, staring at her black, generic brand sneakers with rainbow-colored laces. She thought she was over it, she really did but it was now obvious she wasn't so now she felt bitter, guilty, sad, and angry. "So you just...decided to kick me to the curb and then ghost me. Makes perfect sense," she said, her voice sharp yet still trying to hide that sadness that for some reason lingered, like that annoying friend at the party who wouldn't leave her alone. "You look like you're doing okay, so I guess you didn't need me after all..."

It was really only a few minutes before Skye heard a familiar knock on her door and she jumped up to answer; the door wasn't locked, but after that whole incident with her playing a video game in her underwear only to have Mari surprise her and walk in on her like that, Mari always knocked. Even though they had been a lot more....intimate since that day. Honestly Skye loved that she was so considerate, even though it was obvious that Skye really didn't give a damn; that first time was just more of a shock.

Speaking of shock, that's exactly what Skye got when she opened the door. She...couldn't recall ever seeing Mari looking....broken like this.

"Hey..." she said, her voice soothing as she gently pulled Mari inside. Not into a kiss like normal, but into a warm, loving hug. Her arms wrapped around the other girl and her right hand gently rubbed her back. "What's going on, Hun?" she asked. "Anything I can help with? Did something happen? Are you okay?" she asked, sounding much more like the 'worried girlfriend' than she usually did.

When she got the news, Marisol sort of autopiloted to Skye because where else would she go? Skye was the one she kept going to when she needed somewhere to be. Being with Skye made things better, so why would she not go to the woman she loved?

The moment Skye got a good look at her, she pulled her into a warm hug. Marisol’s head was still filled with fog, but the warmth and love melted some of the frost she was carrying with her.

Maybe that was why, when Skye started asking what had happened and what was wrong, the tears Marisol had been holding in flowed freely. Through her sobbing, she choked out the problem. ”I failed. I… I have to r-retake my courses in the Fall. I’m not graduating…”

Skye just stood there, holding onto Mari as she continued rubbing her back in an attempt to console her. Aaaand then she was crying.

"Oh...damn...I'm so sorry, Hun..." she murmured, one hand moving to run gently through her girlfriend's hair. She bit her lip; she was unsure of really what she could do in this situation, but she was going to be there in any way she needed to. She wasn't going anywhere. Pulling back, she looked Mari in the eyes, one hand moving to brush a tear gently from the other girl's cheek.

"I'm here for you, Hun. Whatever you need, just let me know, okay? It's gonna be all right. You're gonna get through this, I know you will, and I'll be with you every step of the way." She smiled, leaning in to kiss Mari's forehead.

"In the meantime...is there anything we can do to help you cope or unwind? Videogamesm music...I know where they have some cookie dough stashed in the fridge...." Skye flashed a mischievous grin.