The small apartment glowed under a tired yellow light.  

Empty bottles lay scattered across the table,  

the last skewers left half-eaten.  

The air was thick with alcohol—  

warm, dizzying, slow.  

Evan slumped against the couch,  

his cheeks flushed, mind fogged.  

He still held his phone loosely in one hand,  

its screen lighting up now and then—  

but never with the message he was waiting for.  

He stared at the blank glow.  

Each second of silence pricked at him like glass.  

He knew she was working.  

He knew she couldn’t reply.  

But the alcohol blurred logic,  

stretching every minute into ache.  

With a sigh, he tossed the phone onto the table  

and let his eyes fall shut,  

the pulse of the liquor still running wild in his veins.  

“Hey,” Lynne’s voice broke through the haze.  

“Cheers.”  

Evan opened his eyes.  

She was leaning toward him, bottle in hand,  

her face tinted pink,  

her gaze soft and unreadable.  

Their bottles clinked gently.  

He took another swallow—  

the bitterness burned hotter this time.  

The couch was too small.  

He’d slid halfway down without realizing,  

his head lolling against the armrest,  

his body heavy, adrift.  

Then—  

she leaned in.  

Her breath brushed his skin, sweet and faintly sharp with beer.  

And before he could move,  

her lips were on his.  

Evan froze.  

For a heartbeat, he was awake again.  

Then the world spun,  

and reason drowned in the rush of alcohol.  

“I don’t dislike you,” she murmured,  

her voice low, unsteady,  

but certain.  

“Maybe you should… stop pretending you don’t notice.”  

His throat tightened.  

He wanted to speak, to pull away—  

but the words wouldn’t come.  

The room tilted.  

The warmth pressed heavier.  

His vision dimmed,  

and within moments, he was gone—  

breathing slow, deep, asleep.  

Lynne watched him quietly.  

For a long time, she didn’t move.  

Then she let out a small, helpless laugh,  

pushed the bottles aside,  

and leaned back.  

The night fell still again,  

filled only with the quiet rhythm of two people breathing.