Disclaimers: Please see Part One.

Feedback: BardBQue@Aol.com

Sorrow hung up her phone and turned to Carl excitedly. She grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him into a tight hug.

"I’m going to her house tonight," she said, smiling broadly.

"So, what are you going to tell her?"

"Well, I don’t want to flip her out and tell her I’m in love with her. I was thinking I could, I dunno, turn up the seduction knob a bit, maybe kiss her or something? Tell her that my feelings aren’t platonic?"

"That sounds like a good plan."

"No, it’s a terrible plan. You’re here to make it the perfect plan. I don’t wanna fuck this up, she actually means something to me."

Carl nodded his head, and, rubbing his goatee, looked up at the ceiling thoughtfully. He glanced around Sorrow’s apartment and made a dash for her sketchbook and a pen. Opening the book, he landed on the page where Sorrow had initially sketched Alex.

"Give her this?"

"NO. That’s personal. She doesn’t even know I did that. And, whatever, that’s lame, dude, giving her a sketch I did of her… Tsssssss," she hissed, making a show of rolling her eyes at his suggestion. Carl shrugged and turned to a blank page.

"Well, here’s my idea, take her a flower or something like that. Something fuzzy. Chicks dig fuzzy things."

"I don’t have fuzzy things," Sorrow said, furrowing her brows in confusion.

"You don’t count. Anyway, take her something and say something witty and charming about it."

"OH! I know!"

Sorrow dashed over to her bed where the fuzzy owl was. She returned and sat across from Carl, the owl safely in her lap.

"I’ll give her this. It’s fuzzy, it’s cute… that meets the criteria, right?"

"Well, what are you gonna say?"

"Uh… how about, ‘Hi Alex. I was at the diner the other day and I saw this in the Claw Machine, and it reminded me of you cause it’s cute, and uh… and you’re cute. I mean, not that you look like an owl but,"

"Okay, stop there. Rambling gives you negative points."

"Dude, I know what I’m doing. It’s not like I’ve never dealt with chicks."

"Yeah," Carl argued, "but you’ve never dealt with a chick while trying to start a RELATIONSHIP with said chick. One night stands don’t count."

"Ouch, okay okay, I get the point. So, I tell her something sweet about the owl and then what?"

"Well, then you can kiss her."

"WHAT?!"

"Yeah, you know, she’ll be all overwhelmed at your show of emotion, and she’ll probably just want you to kiss her. Or, maybe she’ll just say ‘thanks for the owl Sorrow’, and it won’t go beyond that…"

Carl’s statement was enough to get Sorrow’s doubts up. She started realizing that Alex might not want to be with her. She felt her heart and stomach competing for whose knots were worse, and she felt dizzy.

"Dude what if she doesn’t even like me?"

"Nah, dude, she likes you. I was just saying that, you know, just in case. I mean, you know," Carl looked away, cursing himself for planting the seed of doubt in Sorrow’s mind.

Sorrow looked at her watch; she had 2 hours and 15 minutes to figure out what she was going to do and say before going to Alex’s house. She and Carl went hard to work on making sure everything she did for Alex was charming and flawless. Sorrow silently went to her closet, grimly picking out her wardrobe with Carl’s help.

"Pick something that shows off your assets," he said, smiling wickedly.

"Assets, huh?"

They settled finally, after much arguing, on a pair of low slung jeans, her boots, and a black tshirt with the sleeves cut off. Carl insisted that she put on some make up, and her perfume.

"Oh, and NO smoking."

"What?"

"No cigarettes, you’ll smell bad."

"She always smells me with cigarettes," Sorrow said, sadly looking at her pack of Marlboro’s that were calling out to her.

"Well, not tonight. You said perfect, right?"

Sorrow agreed, and the final touch was choosing the right music to get her "in the mood for love," as Carl said. Looking through her c.d. collection, he picked out songs for her to listen to and wrote them down on a list, quickly running over to Sorrow’s computer to burn her a c.d. with the songs in order.

Thank God I forced her to get this damn c.d. burner, he said proudly to himself. Soon, he had composed a c.d. of twenty songs, and handed it to Sorrow for her perusal.

"Mood music, eh?"

"Well, music does wonders for people, doesn’t it?"

" ‘It’s Oh So Quiet’, from Bjork," Sorrow began, " ‘Twentieth Century Fox’, the Doors…" Sorrow continued looking at the c.d., nodding at the selection Carl had made, until, "wait a second, you put ‘Baby I Like it Raw’ on here??"

"You do, don’t you?" He exclaimed, defending his choice of songs. "Besides, they’re from your c.d.’s, not mine."

Sorrow shot him a look, but, he had a point.

Finally, when they had decided she was ready, Carl took his leave of her apartment, deciding to give Tony a call and ask to take him out to dinner in an effort to make sure Alex and Sorrow were given privacy.

Sorrow put on the ‘mood music’ c.d., putting the volume up full blast and stepping in the shower. It had begun.

"Mom, what are you doing tonight?"

"I don’t know honey, why do you ask?"

Alex looked down at her bare feet, stuffing her hands into the pocket of her jeans.

"Um, just curious…"

"You want me out of the house, don’t you?" her mother asked, smiling and patting her daughters cheek. "What’s the special occasion?"

"Um, well, Sorrow’s coming over to watch ‘Angela’s Ashes’ with me, but, I don’t know. I think I’m uh…"

Alex’s mother looked at her, waiting for her to continue.

"I think I …" am desperately in love with her "really like her. And I’m gonna take a chance and see if she feels the same way."

"And you want me out because?"

"Because the pressure will be too much! I might get embarrassed or something. I can’t have all this extra stress if I’m going to tell her something like this!" Alex exclaimed, making a big show by throwing her hands in big motions in the air.

"I don’t want any funny business, Alex. You know my rules about respecting my HOME," she said, opening her eyes for extra emphasis.

"I KNOW Mom, geez, like I haven’t lived through this all my life. Please?"

Alex’s mother sighed dramatically, but called one of her friends and made plans to catch a movie and dinner. She thanked the heavens for having such an understanding parent. Then she remembered. Tony…

Tony was walking out of the shower when he was confronted by Alex’s 5’4" frame, standing with her arms crossed and her feet firmly planted on the ground.

"We need to speak," she said, and they headed for her room.

"What’s up, girlfriend?"

"Okay, I’m going to tell you something and you’re not going to interrupt; Sorrow is coming over tonight, and I want to tell her that I like her and I want to attempt a non-platonic relationship with her. I’ve never been this nuts about a girl, and I know you’re not condoning this but," Alex said, taking a breath, "I can’t contain myself anymore."

Tony looked at her, and rolling his eyes and, sighing dramatically, looked away.

"It’s your heart’s funeral, not mine. Besides, Carl asked me to dinner tonight anyway, so I won’t be here to stop the inevitable. I swear Alex, looking at you two trying not to touch each other was torture, it couldn’t be more obvious how you feel."

Alex blushed, and Tony reached over and took her hand, smiling as he did so. "C’mon, I’ll help you pick out something sexy."

They stood in front of Alex’s closet, with Tony going through every article of clothing.

"You don’t have anything sexy!! Aren’t you a girl?!?" He exclaimed.

"Last time I checked, yes," Alex answered, raising an eyebrow. "Besides, she’s coming over to watch a movie, we’re not going out to some fancy restaurant or anything."

Tony sighed again, "I hate being a gay man trying to dress a lesbian. I’m surprised I haven’t found flannel yet, Alex."

Alex opened her mouth in shock, and laughing, smacked his arm.

"OK, I got something!" He exclaimed. He held out a red halter top and a pair of tight blue jeans for Alex to wear.

"See?! Halter top for casual-sexy, and combined with the jeans, it shows off all your best," he swooped his hand flamboyantly over Alex’s breasts and her butt, "assets."

"Assets… right…" Alex said suspiciously.

Left to her own devices, Sorrow felt uncharacteristically confident. She was going to leave to Alex’s house in approximately 15 minutes. She was dancing around her apartment with her stuffed owl, singing along as Bjork’s voice bounced off her apartment walls singing "It’s Oh So Quiet". She was putting on the finishing touches to her make-up, which consisted of a piece of black eyeliner and lip gloss, as opposed to the colorless chapstick she usually put on. Her lips had a mauve tint to them, and her eyeliner was smudged just enough to make her eyes seem to shine out from her face. She smiled and raised an eyebrow seductively to her reflection, and brushing the long bangs from her face, was ready to go. She grabbed the owl by a wing and swung him under her arm. Whistling, and grabbing her keys and mood c.d., she walked out the door, ready to jump off the cliff into the emotional abyss.

Alex sat alone in her empty house. The movie was in place in the v.c.r. in her room. She had the bag of popcorn ready in the microwave. She checked herself in the mirror again, checking to make sure her make up looked all right. She wore a dab of cherry lip gloss, which gave her lips a red tint, and just the slightest hint of mascara that brought out the green of her eyes. She adjusted her red halter top, wanting to curse Tony for making her wear the damn thing, regardless if it showed off her assets or not. She sighed heavily to herself and checked her watch. It was 5:25, which meant Sorrow would be arriving soon (Alex had already figured out Sorrow was a stickler for punctuality). Suddenly, the gravity of the situation hit her, and immediately her cheeks were rosy, her palms were sweaty, and her heart rate was beating faster than the speed of light. She sat down in the middle of her bed, breathing deep, calming breaths.

Sorrow pulled into the driveway of Alex’s house. Something she had done a few times before, but never with so much on the line. She noticed immediately that the only car in the house was Alex’s, her mother and Tony were both gone. She panicked. She looked quickly to the owl in her car, having second doubts. Her heart was in her throat, her stomach screamed at her to turn back before it was too late. She was nervous the prior times she had gone to visit Alex, but this time was by far, the most emotionally exhausting. She looked straight ahead, staring at the wall of Alex’s garage and not blinking. Her "mood music" c.d. was playing, although the volume was turned down to let Sorrow think. She looked towards the heavens, and silently asked for assistance of some kind, preferably a blazing comet to just take her out of her torment. Suddenly she heard the c.d. for the first time in five minutes, as Ani Difranco sang,

Sorrow grabbed the owl and turned off her car, and with a resolve that would’ve surprised anyone that knew her, she got out of her car and stomped to Alex’s front door, staring at it, and shaking only slightly.

Alex’s calming breaths were doing nothing for her. Her heart was still racing and suddenly it was too late; her doorbell rang. Her green eyes shot open in terror and excitement. She ran towards her door, which she had closed out of habit, and walked quickly against it before turning the knob. She hit her forehead hard against the closed door and let out a string of curses that would’ve made the worst sailor blush. She opened it and walked through, her hand clutching her head, knowing there would be a huge bump in a few minutes. She adjusted her blonde hair, trying to get her bangs to fall over the red spot on her forehead. She checked herself one last time, and walked to the door.

Alex opened the door, her mouth opening slightly as she beheld Sorrow. She was dressed in a pair of light blue jeans that fell low on her flat stomach, and clutched tightly to her long legs. Her tshirt was cropped a bit short, revealing yet another tattoo that she had never seen, this one across her pelvic bone. It was a spiral — tribal like design, and Alex found it to be incredibly sexy. Sorrow’s shirt was also missing the sleeves, revealing her long muscular arms and her other tattoos as well. Alex tried not to stare at Sorrow’s beautiful breasts, but let her gaze lingered briefly there, until her eyes swept across the colored, full lips, the wild black hair, and her eyes, the electric blue seeming unreal.

"Hi," Sorrow said, trying not to blush at such intense scrutiny.

"Hey, I’m sorry… um, come in, please," Alex said, slapping herself mentally for being so obvious in her appraisal.

Sorrow walked in quickly, careful to not let Alex see the small owl she held behind her back. Walking in, she took in Alex’s small form, her firm bottom hugged by her jeans, the beautiful arms and breasts that were being barely covered by the red halter top. She took a deep breath, and when Alex turned around, she looked her straight in her green eyes, and remembering Carl’s advice about being witty and charming, spoke.

"You look beautiful tonight. Got a hot date after we watch this movie?" Oh. My. God. Kill me.

Alex blushed and laughed, not really knowing what to say to that. She thought quickly, remembering Tony’s advice at being witty and coy.

"Um, no. I like to dress up to watch movies." Idiot. Lame. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

They both looked at each other, smiling awkwardly. Sorrow bit her lip and looked around, suddenly feeling incredibly hot.

"Uh, why don’t you go to my room; I’ll get the popcorn ready and I’ll be there in a sec."

"Oh, okay. Right," Sorrow smiled, "Room, got it." They both walked over to different ends of the house, having mixed emotions. The tension between them was unbearable. Sorrow knew that if she wasn’t careful, she was going to ravish Alex in her bed, popcorn and all.

Alex stood in front of the microwave, hoping the radiation would cause a chemical reaction in her brain that would return her to her normal mental state. The popping ceased, and Alex grabbed the bag without thinking, burning her thumb.

"FUCK!" she yelped in pain, and putting her thumb in her mouth, grabbed an oven mitten and pried the scorching bag open.

Sorrow, left alone in Alex’s room, stared at the owl. She had to come up with a plan quickly about how to give it to Alex. She couldn’t conceal the damn thing until the movie was over, and Alex would be walking in with a bowl of popcorn, so she certainly couldn’t give it to her then. Suddenly, she heard Alex’s footsteps approaching and in a rush, placed the owl on top of Alex’s bed, and sat in front of the t.v. on the floor, looking as innocent as she could.

"Shit, this popcorn is hot as fuck. I burned my thumb trying to get the bag open, you better watch out."

"Oh I can handle a little pain," Sorrow answered, smiling up at Alex.

Alex placed the bowl on her desk and smiling seductively, raised an eyebrow and said, "Oh I’m sure you can."

Sorrow audibly gulped. Alex smiled, knowing she had won the little game and looked over causally to the owl on her bed. She blinked a few times, wondering how it had gotten there, and then realized it was the owl she tried to win a few weeks ago in the Claw Machine at the diner.

Sorrow followed her gaze, and her face erupted into a goofy half smile as she saw Alex climbing towards it and clutching it to her chest. She turned to Sorrow, saying,

"You brought this for me?"

"Uh, yeah. I won it a few weeks ago at the diner’s Claw Machine, and um," Well, here goes nothing, " it reminded me of you cause it’s uh… cute. And you’re cute and I just kind of always found it comforting and you’re comforting… and … ah.."

Alex was now sitting next to Sorrow on the floor, holding the owl to her chest and smiling.

"Uh, I thought I’d give it to you for um, for putting up with me for the last month and uh, being my friend." NO! NO! MAYDAY!

Alex was touched by Sorrow’s sincerity. And she thinks I’m cute and comforting! She leaned over and kissed Sorrow’s cheek quickly.

"Thank you, it means a lot." She smiled sincerely at Sorrow, who blushed a bit and looked away.

"It was uh… no problem," she finished, turning to Alex and smiling. She felt nervous beyond belief, and panicking for a moment, said, "so um, where’s this deadly popcorn you were talking about?"

Alex handed her the bowl, and they both leaned against a few pillows from Alex’s bed and began watching the movie. The tension was so thick they could’ve cut it with a knife. They chatted throughout the beginning of the movie, each making lame excuses to get closer to each other. Towards the middle of the movie, Sorrow was leaning against the edge of Alex’s bed, her long legs stretched out in front of her. Alex was sitting close to her, their bodies touching, the heat that Sorrow emitted keeping her warm. She held the owl tightly against her chest, and was curled into a semi-ball at Sorrow’s side. Sorrow’s heartbeat had not stopped beating quickly since she left her apartment so long ago, and Alex’s close proximity was driving her insane. Every muscle in her body was threatening to atrophy if she didn’t move something. She decided to at least move her arms, and doing so, realized that Alex was actually fast asleep, and looking quite uncomfortable. Sorrow looked at her small, sleeping form, and smiled to herself.

She’s so fucking beautiful, she thought. She fought the temptation to wake Alex from her peaceful slumber with a kiss. No, that’s not right, think think… how am I going to tell her? I need to kiss her tonight. I’m not leaving here without a kiss, damn it, I’m going to burst if I don’t get this feeling out of me! She settled instead to wrap her arms around Alex, nudging the blonde closer to her until Alex’s head was against her chest, and her torso snuggled to her own. To Sorrow’s delight, Alex squirmed slightly and draped a leg over hers, and began snoring lightly. Sorrow absently stroked one of Alex’s soft forearms, which held the owl like it was a treasure of incredible value. Glad she liked it.

Sorrow leaned her head back, watching the remainder of the movie with a slumbering Alex in her arms. She couldn’t remember feeling so happy and peaceful.

"So, what do you think Alex and Sorrow are doing?" Carl asked around a mouth full of sushi.

"I don’t know, hopefully nothing," mumbled Tony, his annoyance at Alex putting her heart at risk with Sorrow apparent.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Look, Carl," he said, his blue eyes locking with Carl’s brown ones, "I love Alex as if she were my sister. She means the world to me. And I know you feel the same about Sorrow, but a lot of things about her scare the shit out of me. I don’t like that she does weird crazy drugs, or that she’s promiscuous, and I certainly don’t like how she treats people in general. I just don’t want to see her hurt Alex."

Carl looked down at his plate. He cursed himself for having told Tony about Sorrow’s past.

"Have you been telling Alex that she shouldn’t be involved with her?" He asked, not meeting Tony’s eyes.

"Well, yeah. I told her what you told me. I wanted her to know what she’s dealing with. You see, our little Alex claims she’s never loved any girl she’s dated. She says words like ‘infatuated’ and pretends that she’s aloof about the whole thing, but she’s not. She hurts, bad. After her dad died, she saw the pain her mom went through, and swore never to love anyone. And now I see her with Sorrow, and she’s a different person, but she denies it every step of the way. If Sorrow fucks with her," he said, letting his thought trail off.

"Dude, you don’t even know how bad Sorrow has it for her. You think Alex is acting differently? Sorrow smiles like an idiot if I mention Alex. She told me today that she’s totally in love with her, and coming from her, I know she means it. She doesn’t joke around about shit like that."

"Well, maybe it’s just a by-product of all those drugs she’s always doing."

"No it’s not! She means it! You don’t know her like I do, dude…"

"I guess not. I know I shouldn’t be judging her or whatever but… I can’t help it," Tony grumbled.

"It’s okay. She won’t hurt Alex. I know that for a fact. Besides, Alex and her go good together."

"What?! No they don’t!" Tony said, laughing.

"Sure! You don’t think that whole, dark-light combo is sexy?" Carl asked honestly.

"Well, I don’t know… I suppose in some way…"

"It’s like you and me. You’re blonde and blue eyed, and I have black hair and brown eyes, and we look like pimps together!" He said smiling.

Tony blushed slightly, and agreed. They dropped the Alex/Sorrow topic and moved on, each wondering what was going on with their best friends.

The movie ended and Alex still hadn’t woken up. Sorrow grabbed the remote and clicked the t.v. off. She ran her hand through Alex’s soft blonde hair, letting her fingers trail along her cheek and jaw line. Sorrow smiled at herself, wondering what she had done in her life to deserve a moment as precious as this. She contemplated just resigning herself and trying to sleep there with Alex, but her anxiousness got the better of her. She didn’t know when Alex’s mother was going to get home, or Tony and Carl, for that matter, and she wanted to tell Alex already. Her heart was threatening to explode in her chest.

She brought her lips down to Alex’s ear, and whispered, "Alex… Alex honey, wake up, the movie’s over."

"Hmm… wha… movie…?" Alex mumbled as she was roused from her slumber. Her green eyes opened and she felt warm and safe and incredibly comfortable. The most comfortable her bed had been in years. She shifted a bit and realized her head had been on Sorrow’s chest. Blinking a few times, she adjusted herself, and looked up to Sorrow’s gorgeous eyes.

"Hey, lady," Sorrow said, smiling brilliantly, "You fell asleep. I’m afraid you’ll have to watch that again."

"Oh god, I’m sorry I fell asleep on you, I didn’t realize…"Alex said, blushing brightly and feeling terribly nervous when she realized Sorrow’s arms were still around her.

"It’s all right, you didn’t," Sorrow said, lifting Alex’s chin so that their eyes locked.

The moment seemed to last forever, and Alex leaned forward, her eyes closing slightly as Sorrow’s lips touched her own. She felt as if her heart stopped beating; she had died and gone to heaven in Sorrow’s embrace. The softness of her lips and the feeling of her hand along the side of her face sent tremors through her whole body. My whole life, she suddenly realized, is nothing compared to this…and she resigned all thought as she melted further in Sorrow’s lips, hands and body.

Sorrow couldn’t comprehend the feelings she was experiencing. She felt like she was floating, being hit by a brick wall, falling a million miles, melting in a fire, all at once, when her lips met Alex’s. She could feel tears welling up her eyes; her emotions and body reacted in a way that blew her mind right out of her head.

She ended their kiss, wanting to look into Alex’s eyes and tell her how she felt. Alex’s arms were wrapped around her neck, and her own hands had found their way down to Alex’s slim waist. Alex’s green eyes were hooded in unmasked pleasure, her smile groggy as if she had drank too much wine.

"That was amazing," she said, as if in a dream.

"You’re amazing, Alex," Sorrow countered, kissing the tip of Alex’s nose.

Alex pulled her close, burying her face in the crook of Sorrow’s neck and shoulder, kissing the sensitive skin there, letting the long black strands of hair tickle her nose. She heard Sorrow’s muffled moan above her, and pulled her tighter, wanting to tell her how much she loved her, but infinitely afraid that Sorrow would get spooked, as well as herself, by such admissions of love.

"Alex," Sorrow said, adjusting herself to be able to look into Alex’s green eyes. She went over the speech she had been preparing mentally since she started watching the movie.

"I wanted to tell you that this past month, being with you, talking with you and stuff… it’s been great. I never felt so close to someone so quickly and um… I was wondering if you felt the same way, if maybe you’d want to take the next step?"

Alex looked into those crystalline eyes that she had fallen in love with the moment she first saw them. She smiled and kissed Sorrow tenderly, saying before she did so, "Yes…"

The word had never sounded sweeter to Sorrow’s ears. She smiled internally and was ecstatic to be kissing Alex again. This time the kiss was just as tender, and exquisitely tortuous in its slowness. Alex licked the tip of Sorrow’s lips, and slid her tongue into Sorrow’s mouth. The feeling of warmth and, was it love? That she found there sent her emotions and body flying, she had found ecstacy, happiness, and love all in one night, with one person.

Her phone rang suddenly, jolting both of them out of their euphoria. Alex turned an evil eye to it as Sorrow looked at her breathlessly.

"Let the machine get it," she said, and smiling pounced on Sorrow, pushing her down on her back and climbing on top of her. Sorrow let a low rumble of laughter catch in her throat as Alex nibbled her neck, running her hands through Sorrow’s black mane.

*click * Hey, this is Alex, I’m erhmm…. BUSY.. leaveamessage. * beeeeeep *

"Hey baby, it’s Natalie. I’m sorry I haven’t called or written you honey, I’ve been busy with school and work. I really miss you, and I’m sorry if I pissed you off last time we spoke. Anyway, you could’ve called or written too, you know, but it’s all right, I guess we’ve both been neglecting girlfriends, huh? Well, call me baby. I love you…"

Alex sat up on Sorrow, suddenly cursing herself a million times for ignoring Tony’s advice about not "officially" breaking up with Natalie.

She looked down at Sorrow’s shocked face, noticing immediately the mixture of anger and betrayal and hurt.

"Sorrow, wait, I can explain!"

"Oh, there’s no need to explain!"

"NO, yes there is!! That’s not what you think!"

"OH REALLY," Sorrow screamed, "SO THAT’S NOT YOUR GIRLFRIEND CALLING YOU ON THE PHONE?!?!?!"

"Well, yes, but no, I mean, she’s my girlfriend but only in the loosest sense of the wo-

"RIGHT OF COURSE, LOOSEST SENSE OF THE WORD MY ASS!!! I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU LIED TO ME!! THIS WHOLE TIME, YOU NEVER TOLD ME ANYTHING, YOU PLAYED ME FOR A FUCKING FOOL, PLAYING THE LITTLE INNOCENT GIRL!!"

"NO! IT’S NOT LIKE THAT, SORROW!!"

"My ASS it isn’t," She hissed menacingly. Sorrow stormed out of Alex’s room, with Alex running after her, trying to get her to listen to reason. She managed to grab Sorrow’s elbow, but she snapped away from Alex’s grip.

"Don’t you even.." she said, baring her teeth only inches from Alex’s face, "I knew I should’ve never trusted you. Go back to your little girlfriend, and your other little slut Noelle. You have no idea who you’re fucking messing with.." she let her words hang in the air as she slammed the door in Alex’s face. The last thing Alex heard was Sorrow screeching out of her driveway and roaring away into the night. Alex slumped down on the floor, crying hysterically, her head in her hands in defeat.

"FUCKING BITCH!!!," Sorrow screamed as she drove to nowhere in particular. She was driving like a maniac, smiling wickedly as she left a string of shocked drivers trying to avoid getting into accidents. She laughed like a lunatic, her heart broken into a billion fragments. This was certainly the last thing she expected. She laughed at herself for being such an idiot, for letting her emotions get the better of her. She hurt so much she could only laugh. Tragedy, after all, becomes comedy after a while. She decided to call Carl, despite where he was or who he was with. Tonight, she was going to celebrate a new life, void of all emotions. She was never going to feel like this again, she swore, and hit the talk button on her phone.

Alex felt like she had a series of swords repeatedly jabbing her chest. She was sure blood was going to start pouring forth from her eyes and mouth soon. She felt as if she was dying.

"I AM SUCH AN IDIOT!" she screamed to herself. She didn’t even want to deal with Natalie right now, and she knew calling Sorrow was futile. So, she called her best friend, for moral support.

Carl and Tony were sitting in a playground joking around and passing a bottle of rum they had bought to each other. They were both surprised when their phones rang simultaneously. They gave each other curious looks, and turned around answering each call.

"Hello?"

"CARL, GOOD TA HEAR FROM YA, BUDDY. HOW ARE YA??"

Carl immediately noticed the edge to Sorrow’s voice, and knew something was terribly, desperately wrong.

"Uh, hey Row. What’s up?" He asked cautiously.

"OH, that little BITCH Alex stabbed me in the back. It turns out all this time she has some fucking GIRLFRIEND. So, you know when this bitch decides to call? When we’re making out and things are getting like, REALLY serious. So, I said, FUCK YOU, and took off, and guess what?"

"Um, what?" Carl said, a great sadness tugging at his heart when he realized that everything was totally fucked now.

"YOU and I are going to get SO FUCKED UP we’re not going to remember who we are for another week!" She exclaimed, "So, where are ya?"

"Alex, honey, calm down, what’s wrong?"

Alex was sobbing hysterically on the phone, and Tony could barely make out what she was saying.

"NATALIE CALLED!!! Sorrow hates me… I’m such an asshole, I should’ve broken up with her a month ago, DAMN IT!!!"

"Alex, baby, calm down, it’s not your fault… shhhh.. it’s okay… shhhhh…. I’ll be over there in a minute okay? Then we’ll take care of everything, don’t worry."

"DAMN IT, TONY!! I’M IN LOVE WITH HER AND SHE HATES ME, HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO NOT WORRY?!?!?!"

"I know hun, I know… I’m sorry…"

Tony and Carl both hung up their phones, with equally exhausted and worried looks on their faces.

"That was Alex, huh?"

"And that was Sorrow?"

Carl nodded.

"Well, now what?"

"I guess we try and calm them down, or something," Carl said, feeling useless, knowing that Sorrow wouldn’t listen to him no matter what he said.

"I knew it. I knew Sorrow was only going to hurt her," Tony said, kicking the sand angrily.

"Wait a second, Alex was the one that never told Sorrow she had a girlfriend!"

"Well, maybe if Sorrow wouldn’t have stormed off and left her crying there by herself then Alex COULD HAVE told her that she has no interest in that girl who lives in Colorado, and that she’s in love with HER."

"Yeah, probably…" Carl admitted, knowing his friend to be one to overreact.

"This should’ve never happened. We should’ve never left them alone."

"Why? They both wanted it, so they didn’t go about it the right way, it happens…" Carl said.

"Well, they shouldn’t have. When love is bound to hurt you, then it’s better to just ignore it."

"HEY! You have no way of knowing whether or not love is going to hurt you unless you try! That’s part of life!"

"Whatever…" grumbled Tony, wanting to get away from Carl suddenly, his own feelings threatening to spill out.

"Shit, Tony, it’s better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all, and all that bullshit," Carl said, trying to get his friends attention.

"What’re you saying? That it’s better to take the chance of getting your heart ripped out than to live your life not telling someone you love them? You’re insane, man! All my life, I’ve fallen for people, and I’ve never been able to tell them anything because they would’ve killed me, LITERALLY! Love isn’t worth all of that pain. Right now, both of our best friends our hell bent for destruction, Alex of herself, and Sorrow of everything and anything in her path. Love isn’t worth it."

But Carl stepped forward, and grabbing Tony’s face, looked him in the eyes.

"YES. IT. IS." He said, and kissed Tony.

Tony’s initial shock caused his eyes to open, and his whole body to resist what was going on. Actually, he couldn’t really register what was going on, but soon his body reminded him that he really, REALLY liked Carl, and now his dark, handsome friend was kissing him. He calmed himself and put his arms around Carl’s waist, waiting for him to break the kiss.

When he finally did, Carl looked into Tony’s blue eyes, and said, "That was the biggest chance I’ve ever taken in my life, Tony. Love does that to you."

Tony nodded, running his hands through Carl’s hair.

"I understand."

"C’mon, we have a couple of women to tend to. We’ll talk later, okay?"

"Yeah."

And with that, they both went their separate ways; Tony to help Alex, and Carl to try and calm the seething volcano that was Sorrow.