He fights to earn respect. She fights to maintain it. Together they're fire. Apart they're broken. Abandonment is a funny thing. It leads to all sorts of bad decisions. My parents didn't want me. They had their golden child and I was the interloper who ruined their lives. When I was sixteen, they finally abandoned me. Sure they called it rehab for a drinking problem I didn't have, and yeah they visited every now and then, but the moment I was eighteen, I was nothing more than a bitter memory to them. That's fine. They don't mean anything to me either. Rehab is where I met her. She understands abandonment too. A junkie mother and an inconvenienced father who couldn't be bothered with the daughter they had because one was easy and the other was dollar signs. We understand each other. We care for each other. Even long after rehab is over and the real world is back in our faces wishing for us to fail. She's my everything: My best friend. My sidekick. The only girl I've ever been with and ever want to be with. Until one day. Until rumors start to spread. Until the talk is so loud I can't hear the truth anymore. And she does nothing to really stop them. I thought she was my girl. I thought she was mine alone. But I hear I may be wrong. And being wrong...well, that might just be too dangerous to face.