He had already made it back to the gym when Erika called. As she instructed, he told her everything he was willing to, not wanting to embarrass Alex by telling Erika about their intimacy, he omitted those parts.<br/><br/>Keith's voice was again like grating steel. "We love each other, but I just don't know what to do. We did some talking this evening, but we were both drunk and I don't know if her words were just from the intoxication or if she meant them. I'm . . ." His voice waived a bit, shaking ever so slightly as the wave of pain and emotions tried to break loose. He closed his eyes. "Erika, I love her more than anything, and I'm so scared of losing her. I'm scared that it was just the alcohol talking and that she won't end the game. She said we'd talk about it soon, but I don't know how to react to that. She knows I'd play this game for her, that I'd do anything to be with her, but what if she's so set on being the queen that her love of me won't matter when it comes to playing this game?" His steely demeanor was creaking and straining under the weight of such negative, painful thoughts. "I don't know how long I can keep this composure, this mask of how I feel. I've been masking my pain in different ways for all of my life and she's the one person that it truly hurts to not show myself to. She knows how I feel, and I'm pretty sure I know how she feels, but what if she wants power more than anything else? What can I do?" His voice was shaking more, but still more like metal than in pain. He was forcing such powerful composure over his emotions, trying so hard to lock everything away. Keith was able to push it all back, but his very thoughts hurt after that. His body was shaking in pain and he almost couldn't see straight.