*Mallory*

I sighed as I sat outside at a table at the cafe down the street from Sebastian's place, waiting for Nikki.

What if he gets sad? What if he gets angry?

I then spot his car pull up nearby and took a deep breath, straightening myself out.

I watched as he walked out and then jogged over when he saw me.

"Hey," he said, looking at me with concern. "What's going on? You sounded upset on the phone."

I gulped. "I... I just needed to talk to you...." I said as he sat down across from me.

"Is everything okay, Mal?" he asked me.

I gulped. "I don't know...." I answered honestly.

He looked at me in confusion before he gulped and sighed. "Look, Mal, if... If you relapsed, its gonna be alright. Okay, people tend to fall off the wagon, its not your fault. We can just start over from scratch, I can help-"

"No no no no no no no no no, Nikki, i-its not that," I quickly said. "I'm still clean."

He sighed with relief, nodded.

"Though I did kind of slip with cigarettes again, but that's sort of why I wanted to talk," I said.

He looked at me quizzically before I took a deep breath and started.

"Turns out, I have enough credits to start earning my residency early already," I said. "I can pick any hospital anywhere to earn it, but one hospital had already accepted me to earn it with them."

His eyes widen. "Serious? Mal, that's amazing! But.... But then what's the problem?" he asked.

I pursed my lips and sighed. "It was St. Mary's Hospital that accepted me...."

He was confused until I reached into my bag and handed him the folder.

He frowned and looked at the cover, his his eyes widening.

"Its in London?" he asked.

I sighed and looked down. "I don't have to take it... I can apply to any hospital in Los Angeles or nearby, they'll accept me regardless, but.... This is still a once in a lifetime opportunity....I just don't know what to do....."

He frowned as he looked through the papers.

"So back to square one, huh?" he suddenly said coldly.

I frowned. "What?"
"You getting comfortable, and then just wanting to bail," he snapped a bit.

I looked at him, surprised. "Hang on, I-I didn't even say yes to going," I said.

"No, but you're thinking about it, or else you would have just rejected them long time ago," he said sternly, slamming the folder down, making me jump a bit. 

"Nikki..." I spoke, surprised at his tone, but he cut me off.

"Even after everything, after the hell we all went through, you still want to leave!" He asked, upset. "What keeps stopping you, huh?! You want to leave so bad, what's stopping you now?!"

My eyes widen at him.

"Back then was different, okay!? This is my career we're talking about, something I was lucky to even be able to study on my own choice!!!" I shouted. "Back then we were all on dark paths, I was running away from my problems."

"So then what is it now?!" He snapped.

"I-I don't know!" I said.

"You're running from us?! From Sebastian?!" he asked. "From me!?"

"No!" I snapped. "Wait, why are you so upset about this!? I haven't even made a decision!! Besides, you knew from when I first started medical college that I was probably going to be transferred at some point!!"

"But you weren't!!" he snapped. "You were given a choice, and you're just debating if its better than staying with us, just like you always wondered before!!"

"That is not fair," I snapped.

"But its fair to us!?" he said.

"Nikki, please, I don't even have to say yes to this!!" I said. "I can go to any other hospital, no problem!!"

"Then why not just say it!!" He exclaimed, holding the folder up.

I stopped and looked at the folder hesitantly, and pursed my lips.

He's right... Why can't I just say it?

"I-I...." I hesitated.

Nikki just scoffed and threw his hands in the air.

"You know what, maybe you're just like every groupie we come across and I was wrong about you since the start," he snapped.

I looked at him in shock. "Nikki...."

"Maybe its because you have plans to bed yet another rockstar, is that it!?" he shouted.

I looked at him in shock as he pursed his lips, realizing what he said. "Mal... N-No..."

"Those were mistakes that I swore never to let happen again!" I snarled. "And right now I'm starting to think you were definitely one of those mistakes!!"

His eyes widen at me and that's when I scoffed.

"You know what..... Maybe I should leave to London," I snapped back coldly as I snatched back the folders from his hands and grabbed my things. "Because clearly come Hell or high water, we're always going to end up right where we are right now, realizing this is never going to work out, no matter who we are to each other or how many times we keep coming back to each other."

He just glared at me as I got up.

"We couldn't work it out when married, or as enemies or friends or even as acquaintances, so why bother anymore!?" I snapped, storming off. "I'm done!!"

"Fine!! Run away!!! That's all you were ever good for anyway!! Sober or not!!!" he snarled as I walked off.

I climb back into my car, slamming the car down and throwing my stuff to the seat.

I tried taking deep breaths before suddenly....

"AAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!" a frustrated scream ripped out of me as I slammed the wheel with my fist, causing it to honk and scare some nearby bystanders, which earned me some strange looks.

I let out a shaky breath as I raked my fingers through my hair as I felt tears drip down my cheeks.

No matter what, this stupid cycle is never going to end, is it.....?

Its always going to be the same crap over and over again, no matter if we're sober or not...

I sniffled and wiped my tears before taking a deep breath as I then reached for the car phone and dialed Mick.

"What?" he spoke rudely, as he usually does.

"Hey... It's me...." I said.

"Mallory? Why are you crying? What happened?" he asked, now speaking calmly.

I sighed as I looked up at the ceiling.

"I think I finally made a decision.... I'm taking St. Mary's offer....."

*Nikki*

She's leaving again!?!

Even after going though every circle of hell, she's considering leaving us all in the dust!!!

God, if she wants to leave so fucking badly then why doesn't she just do it already!? No one's fucking stopping her!!!

I stormed over to my car as she left in a different direction and I climbed in, slamming the door shut. I then sat there as I tried to calm my breathing.

Only once I was somewhat calm did my mind process what just happened and I sat there in shock.

Oh shit... What did I just do.... How could I just say that to her?!

"AAAARRGGHHH!!" I screamed out in frustration as my fists slammed against the steering wheel repeatedly, and then I was pulling at my hair by the roots.

Nikki, you fucking idiot.....!!!

~~~~~

Ouch. Will these two make up in time? Will Mallory really leave? 🤔

Also, just saying, the Superbowl this year belonged to the Latinos. Its how it is, I don't make the rules. 🤷🏻‍♀️🇨🇴🇵🇷🏈🙌🏻❤✨

(Note: I'm Colombian 🇨🇴 and my girl sadgrrlfriend is Borriqua af 🇵🇷, so we were obviously going crazy over all the Latina power that night. 👑👑 Such a spectacular show!!! 🌻❤❤❤)

Oh, and Happy 59th birthday to Vince Neil!! 🎂🎈🎉♒✨🎁💛

🎧 Currently in Sapph's playlist:

Green Day "Oh Love"

https://youtu.be/IWwMqa-_210

♡~ sapphire.