Ryan had never been able to stay angry at Mau. Bursts of fury, of course. Emotional manipulation, without a doubt. And indeed, there had been so many times in their shared past when Mau had driven him crazy, insane, into fits of rage. She knew him well enough to do that. Ryan had slapped her, shoved her, given her the silent treatment, and taunted her with the possibility of him abandoning her for other girls. But no matter what, she always came back to him, he always came back to her, and at the end of the day they ended up back together. It was like a force of nature, this inexorable pull that drew them towards each other despite all of their differences. They would reconcile in whatever damaged way they did, whether it be with Mau breaking down in a waterfall of tears or furious and hateful fucking. They had trodden just about every possible path of a broken relationship, but the only constant through their life was that they ended back together.<br/><br/>Five years and an ocean between should have been more than enough to render obsolete whatever inexplicable bond they had. Ryan had thought that whatever that kept bringing him back had finally been lost. Or at least, his side of it.<br/><br/>It was clear to him that not for a moment had Mau’s side of the relationship ever come under duress. He saw it in way she leaned back into him was a perfect mirror of how she had acted half a decade ago, as though she wanted more of him no matter if he offered pleasure or pain. He saw it in her head shook as though she couldn’t contemplate the thought of him leaving her once more, a desperate and violent motion that almost looked like she was denying reality. And of course, the characteristic trait – the sudden waterworks of hot and wet tears streaming down her face, splashing onto the counter in fat droplets. These tears weren’t fake – Ryan had seen her fake crying to elicit sympathy from many a poor boy before, but with him, her tears were almost never false. He had that effect on her, an ability to cut her to her core like no other.<br/><br/>How wrong he had been! He had thought that whatever they had was over, dead, gone. But it only took one look at her weeping, desperate, anguished form to elicit emotions and memories within him that he hadn’t felt in years. How was it possible for her to still have a hold on him like this? Was it her beauty, the innocent appearance she had, perfect for inducing sympathy? That wasn’t possible. No, it had to be something else, something Ryan couldn’t figure out. Their very relationship was a contradiction, an abominable thing that by any reasonable standard should never have happened, yet it did all the same. And now, Ryan was feeling the pull for the first time in a long while once more. It didn’t matter how furious he was at Mau’s taunts, how irritated he was with her mood swings. When he looked at her emotionally torn face and heard the sheer desperation in her pleas, he couldn’t bring himself to just walk away. Even though he knew her apology meant just about nothing. Even though he knew that she was almost guaranteed to drive him into a rage again. Even though just a moment ago she had been spitting viciously barbed words at him. He just couldn’t stay angry. Perhaps part of it was that he knew that she truly was sorry, that she truly didn’t want him to leave more than anything else in the world. That she was truly in pain.<br/><br/>“Fine,” he breathed finally, pushing Maureen gently away off of his chest. “One night. Just talking. As a testament to the times that we shared five years ago.”<br/><br/>Ryan sighed, his eyes roaming around Sully’s. Most of the patrons were trying to pretend like they hadn’t heard or seen anything, although no doubt all of them were still listening in intently on their conversation, likely one of the best spots of entertainment they had in years. Breanna was standing off to the side, her mouth gaping open, staring at Ryan like he was a completely different person. Which, he supposed, he was. Or, at least, the side of him that Mau brought out was.<br/><br/>“Let’s get out of this spot, yeah? You got yourself a nice apartment yet?”