The walls reek of cigarettes and paint. Though the smell of moving boxes over powered it temporarily. Erick was in the middle of the clutter, sorting his clothes from books. Beside him is his phone and a blutooth speaker. It was playing Lua by Bright Eyes, the tempo set his speed as he sort the stuff into the boxes. He never realized how much stuff he had and how much clutter he accumulated over the years. Small trinkets from events, sample prints for posters he designed and random keychains as souvenirs that friends brought home. Some of them went to a separate box except for a chosen few.

In the middle of his packing a knock on the door came. "It's open" Erick said. A girl in her mid 20s came into the room, long hair, black rimmed glasses that framed her face perfectly and a black shirt that says "Pessimism".

"Malcom couldn't make it. He said he had to band practice." said the girl.

"It's so like him to ditch me, even for the last time." said Erick as he lowered the volume on the speakers. "Well atleast I have you to help me Yan."

"I'm only here for the free coffee you promised." She looked around the room and grabbed a marker, looked inside one of the boxes and labeled it "Shirts". "You don't have a lot of stuff do you?"

"Well graphic design doesn't pay well." said Erick. "Plus most of my money goes to a freakin Creative Suites account since the ad council has been strict with pirated softwares."

"That doesn't seem to stop you from buying cigarettes and coffee." Yan said as she taped some of the boxes. She proceed to another box and checked the inside of it. It was filled with art books and a paper that had an address on it. "Do you really want to go to New York?"

"Mom has always bugged me on moving there for so long. Might as well put my dual citizenship to good use right?" said Erick. "That and a couple of other reasons."

"Couple of reasons?"

"I'm not leaving just because of that, ok?"

"Well it did contribute the most. Didn't it?"

"Can we not get into right now?" Erick lit a cigarette. Yan went over to him and took the cigarette before he could puff another. She look a puff and sat in front of Erick. Erick took another and lit it up. "This is called running away." said Yan.

"No. This is called forgetting." said Erick before taking a puff.

"I've known you for so long, you're not one to forget." Yan stood up and returned to the boxes.

Erick blew a long smoke and whispered under his voice "I can try."

Yan's phone suddenly ran. Her ring tone was the bass riff of Seven Nation Army by The white stripes. She had a different ringtone for each person. "Yan, Malcom's calling." said Erick as he picked up his own phone. He changed the song to Seven Nation Army.

"Zup ditcher? Having fun not packing boxes?" said Yan as she put Malcom on speaker.

"Can totally feel your fun all the way here. Listen I'll make it up to you tonight, come over to the QX, Tracy called us up for a gig. Booze's on me."

"I rather have coffee man." said Erick without looking up from the boxes.

"I'll bring a bottle of Bailey's if that'll get you to come out." said Malcom from the speakers.

"Fuck." he whispered. "Fine, I'm in."

"Awesome, see you there." Said Malcom. Before Yan pressed the red button on her phone, "And Yan, don't bring Joshua, he's an asshole, bye." Then the call got cut off.

"You're still dating him?" said Erick.

Yan sighed and took a long puff as he took Erick's phone. "Well, we got back together. Malcom was so busy with his band and you're always zoned out since 'that' happened. Needed someone to talk to." Yan scrolled through Erick's playlist and changed it a Gising by Autotelic.

"But he's such a prick. So clean and organized. He's practically the complete opposite of me."

"That's the point." There was a long awkward silence.

They continued to pack with the music on the background. Suddenly it stopped. They didn't bother to check why it stopped. They continued in silence. The silence was unsettling especially on the 30th floor where the noise of the street below doesn't reach them. Just the sound of the wind and the occasional plane flying by.

Then in the middle of the silence, Yan started humming a familiar tune. A tune they both knew. It started slow with a single note dragging a few seconds then a few melodies entered. Erick stood up and lit a cigarette. Walked to the corner of the room where a digital piano lay on the floor. Yan didn't notice this so it took her by surprise when his fingers caressed the first note. She stopped for a moment and smiled and continued humming. And as the melody continues its crescendo, Yan started to sing:

We saw them coming from miles away,

With hearts on their faces and minds out of place.

So don’t give me a reason to stay

To be fooled by them and take my mind away

Because only in your heart, my mind is at bay.

Erick entered:

Steal your heart dear, I know you're at bay

For I am a fool for letting you stay

When the winds wants you what more can I say

But to look down on my feet and walk away

Erick stopped playing. "We should really finish writing that song." said Yan.

"I rather not." said Erick before continuing packing.