He arrived 6 minutes later. He helped Crystal into his car and drove off. He put his arm around Crystal who leaned into him and cried. "Crystal do you want me to take you home?"

"No!" Crystal didn’t want to face home yet.

"Ok, want to go back to my apartment?" Billy asked.

"I guess. Do you have alcohol?" Crystal asked.

"Yes."

"Good, I plan on getting shit faced." Crystal’s tears stopped flowing as they arrived at Billy’s place. Billy helped her out of the car. Her phone rang. She checked it and it was Elijah. "I don’t want to talk to him."

"Hello?" Billy answered.

"Billy? Why are you answering Crystal’s phone?" Elijah sounded like he was crying.

"Because you are the asshole of the hour Elijah. She doesn’t want to talk to you, and right now I don’t want to either. Goodbye." Billy hung up the phone. Billy let Crystal in to his apartment. He propped her leg up and got her a beer and they sat and talked. Seven beers later Crystal could hardly say her name.

"Billy?" Crystal slurred. "I’m going to call Elijah and apologize."

"Why?" Billy who had only two beers was coherent.

"Because I’ve overreacted." Crystal dialed the number.

"Hello?" A female voice answered.

"Where’s Elijah? Who’s this? Liv?" Crystal started crying again. There was some muffled talking and some rustling and then…

"Hello?" Elijah answered.

"I was calling to tell you I was sorry. But, I see you’ve moved on. Tell me you didn’t sleep with her." Crystal waited. The only answer she got was silence. "It’s only been four hours Elijah. I see how much I meant to you." She yelled the last part, threw the phone and it hit the wall where it shattered in to a million pieces. Crystal was sobbing wildly; Billy wrapped his arms around her.

"Shhh. Crystal it’s ok." Billy rubbed her back. They sat like that for along time. Fifteen minutes, twenty, an hour? He didn’t know. He knew he hated Elijah for doing this to her. Crystal looked up at Billy and said.

"Why do we get the shitty people?"

"I don’t know." Billy traced his finger drown her cheek following the same path a tear had taken, "Maybe we don’t know what to look for, what’s right in front of us." His lips brushed her cheek lightly. Then she turned her face and his lips were on hers. Billy gasped in her mouth. Crystal pulled back.

"It’s ok Billy." Her lips crashed on his again and Billy’s head screamed out ‘NO! This isn’t right.’ It was at this moment Elijah crashed through the door and saw them on the couch.

"CRYSTAL!" His voice boomed out. "Billy get off my girlfriend."

"Your girlfriend?" Crystal laughed. "Tell me Elijah, did you think of me when you were fucking Liv just then?" Elijah reached out and smacked her across the face.

"YOU ASS!" Billy jumped up and punched him in the face. "DON’T you ever touch her again." He punched him once more, surely breaking his nose. "Now, GET OUT."

"Oh and Elijah, kindly return any of my underwear you have." Crystal said bitterly.

"Yeah I will," Elijah grunted while holding his nose, "What would I use them for? A tent?" Crystal stood on her broken foot and smacked him squarely in the face. Elijah turned and stalked out of the apartment. He got into the elevator at the end of the hall and sank to the floor. He cried, he cried for his nose, for himself, but mostly he cried for what he did to Crystal. He hadn’t slept with Liv. She was just there for him to talk to, someone to get stoned with. He would never sleep with Liv again, he loved Crystal.

In Billy’s apartment Crystal was crying and Billy was getting ice for his hand and her face. "Why is he like that?"

"Well, Crystal I imagine he’s on something now." Billy said.

"Drugs? He does drugs?" Crystal was shocked.

"He used to be really into them. Before he met you. I was glad that you kept him in line." Billy said.

"Oh god, did I even know him?" Crystal flinched as Billy put the ice on her face.

"No, you didn’t, not really." Billy looked at her. "I wanted to tell you but he promised he would change. I told him I…" Billy stopped, "Well, nothing.

"What?" Crystal asked.

"I told him, I wanted you." Billy looked down. "I had a girlfriend though. So there wasn’t really anything I could do." Crystal grabbed his hand and squeezed. "OUCH!" Billy jerked his hand away. "Well, well looks like I broke my hand on his face." Billy took her to her doctor’s the next afternoon. Elijah was going to do it, but after what happened Crystal didn’t expect him to be doing much for her. The doctor sawed off her cast and asked about her face. Crystal said she fell. Crystal hating lying but she wasn’t about to tell her doctor that her boyfriend hit her. Billy had gone to the hospital to have his hand x-rayed. It was broken. It was just his middle finger, which Billy loved. He could flick people off and blame it on his broken finger.