It was all open. The moment you stepped through the door, in the small entryway, you could see everything. Kitchen, dining nook, living room, the hall where a bedroom and a bathroom was. It really wasn’t that large, but the tall ceiling and the huge bay window that was so popular around the city made it feel bigger. Quaint, you could call it, and far more elegant than the likes of her should be living in. Sully upped the pay when he upped the risks, so why not though right? Of course Mau’s flare was everywhere; lavender pillows, slate gray curtains, matte gold candle holders and a splash of pink here and there. She was…<i>proud</i>! Of her little place that had become the hub of their friends to gather. She walked backwards, waiting for his stoic face to crack with a grin, show his pride too but when that didn’t happen? Mau sighed it off, shook out of her jacket, and tossed it on a long, white wall rack.<br/><br/>His silence on the way over was deafening. For all her efforts to pry him open, Ryan was locked up tight. Did it seem to phase her? Not in the slightest! Just made the girl more resolved to pick him apart bit by bit. She couldn’t quite deny, however, that the more indifferent Ryan remained? The more timorous she felt. He was so…<i>so withdrawn</i>. With her of all people! Mau had seen him, sitting there on that pub stool, talking to Breanna. There’d been moments he’d even became animated when he did, so why did she get this side of him when a complete stranger got the other?<i>For all they know I died in Afghanistan. </i><br/><br/>Her scoff was not subtle, leaning her back against the island so she could unzip one boot, yank it off, and toss it into a corner where a couple of other pairs were at. Repeated the same thing with the other. Mau was just about to tell him that was a real shit thing to say! Yet there he went, kept on talking; wasn’t part of<i>his</i>crew. Wasn’t meetin them again. She rolled her eyes at him, but some part of her was weirdly happy to see that he helped himself to the fridge, “Yea-yea. Fine.” Her words meant she conceded. The gleam she had told an entirely different story and soon enough she was fetching a drink too but not no beer.<br/><br/>Unfortunately for Ryan, Mau plucked a bottle of Patron off the bottom shelf of a cabinet since she couldn’t reach the others without having a stool and that was one she liked to have on hand without an issue, “Ya used to be fun.” She snarked, popping the cork out and pouring a dab into a very colorful, very flowery coffee cup that had already been sitting on the counter. She was trying to get passed this industrial fucking wall he had up, every time thinking maybe she’d cause a crack to spring about and every time was let down. Those memories?<i>Mm</i>. Mau tossed back the tequila, face pinching at the burn, long breath leaving her lungs after and she shuddered delightfully, thinking back to many.<br/><br/><br/><i>Liiiike</i>, how she could always go bubbly-bouncing into Rick’s Corner Store, bend over the counter with her tits on display, and keep the goof in the glasses completely mesmerized while Ryan and<i>his crew</i>he wasn’t apart of and didn’t wanna see, slipped in from the back and lifted case after case of beer. Or, bumming smoke money from the donation jars set out at Marv’s Market. Using one of her sundresses as a cover to fuck him on the park bench at dusk where folks passing would be none the wiser, believing they were just a couple hot and heavy teens having a really good makeout session. They made her smile, those memories.<br/><br/>But it soon faded when his lips hadn’t so much as twitched.<br/>So then she felt foolish, and awkwardly stripped beyond the means of clothing.<br/>Had no intentions of getting dragged back into this huh?<br/><br/>Another drink, more than a dab this time, and Mau was glad the flush on her face could be blamed on the liquor that settled in her belly and burst in flames everywhere else. Did he have to sound so goddamned condescending? She sat the bottle and the cup down, looked at him for only a moment, actually choosing to roll over what she was going to say first and literally bit her tongue so she didn’t say anything at all! As… hurtful as he was being… and as ridiculous as he made her feel? Still didn’t wanna run him off. She still needed him because----<b><i>fuck</i></b>----to be realistic, and not melodramatic, not even for her, Ryan was the closest and...only...thing she’d ever had that was remotely close to family. She’d have went anywhere, and she’d have done anything, all he’d had to do was say it. He didn’t try to change her no matter how bad he might have wanted her to, no more than he put up with her shit. But he remained…. Until he didn’t. And the identity of hers, that had been molded in how he saw her? Got lost, yea, but would always be solidified.<br/><br/>He grew.<br/>She hadn't.<br/><br/>Now there was fucking Marcus, always<i>so sweetly</i>making sure she had her meds filled. Always so sweetly making sure, with a maddening hint of a reminder, she took them this morning and that morning. Always so goddamned,<b>saccharine</b>sweet she could stab him in the eye with a fork. Mau felt like she was in limbo, waiting-waiting-waiting. For what? Ryan of course. Now that he was there? She was waiting for him to just give her a semblance of a sign he wanted to be there! With her. Not some bullshit reason it was a homage to their memories, the fuckin liar. She was beginning the become convinced he wanted to be there just to further torture her. Dangle himself like a prize above her face, just to yank up out of reach, sit back and laugh when she tripped all over herself trying to grab it.<br/><br/>The two tosses of Patron had her skin ablaze and she pulled the shirt out several times by the neckline, fanning her chest, “I’m gonna change.” Mau finally said, breathing heavy and with a faux smile that didn’t make it anywhere near her eyes, having pulled herself out of her head, she moved for the tiny laundry room just to the left of the fridge - stripping herself out of the shirt on the way. He'd seen her tits a'plenty, a white lace bra wouldn't be risque, “If it’s so fucking bad bein here, Ry? If I’m so…<i>unbearable</i>...” She threw over her shoulder; there the melodramatic was, “Just fuckin leave. I like it betta when I<i><b>miss</b></i>you’.” Oh yea, that was the truth tho. Not being a smartass at all, "Like it betta, when..." There was a grunt interrupting her when she tugged the broken dryer door open, "I pretend ya missin me too." Did she sound crazy? She didn't give a shit, "Or...." Another pause, just long enough for her to slip into a rock 'n roll T shirt too faded to tell the band. It'd been his, but she'd cropped it to fit her style, and it hung loose off her right shoulder, "....Or when I think of you bein...."<br/>Mau was in the kitchen again, standing between him and the island.<br/>Her face and demeanor had been poised to say something really witty. Hopefully something that would hurt his feelings too, since he was so flippant to burn hers, but the girl just sagged back and shook her head. Eyes up at him in genuine disappointment, sadness, shame, pity, "What the fuck happened to you ova there, Ry?" No, he wasn't afraid to hurt her feelings, but he'd never gone out of his way to make her feel like she was<i>nothin</i>, neither.