Camel crouched in the corner of the room, looking up at Venus. "If you're gonna shoot me," he finally said, defiantly. "Do it already."

A manic expression crossed her face before a smoother, bland look settled quickly. "Why would I shoot you?," she asked lightly. "You have so much to live for! I'm sure you'll just trot off to another city and find another girl to turn into your dope whore!" She shouted the last word, waving the gun around angrily.

Camel switched tactics and began walking towards her slowly. "Look, you don't have to do this... Put the gun down... There's no reason to shoot me..."

She smiled sadly and shook her head. "You don't get it, do you?" She turned slightly, looking away from him. "I didn't come here to shoot you. I came here...well...let's see you get away with killing two sisters."

Camel blinked, then, before he could react, she slipped the gun into her mouth and pulled the trigger. Flesh and blood splattered across his face as he stared at her corpse slowly falling to the ground.

Seconds passed. The shot echoed throughout the apartment. He stood there, staring at her blankly.

Then it sank in.

He was standing there. Him, with blood all over him and the sister of his dead girlfriend lying at his feet.

Shit.

He had to go. Now. Get the hell out.

He stumbled away from the corpse, grabbed his bags, and ran out the door, not even bothering to turn off the lights.

Cola sat at the kitchen table and sighed.

Gothic shook his head, making sympathetic sounds as he walked towards him. "I told you not to drink so much last night. Headache, right?"

Cole grimaced. "I'm not hungover. I wish it was just that." He held up a letter. "It's from Barrett-Frost. They saw the Vogue article, and they've heard about Neiman's. They're telling me I can't design under my own name while I'm designing their line. There's there's some sort of exclusivity clause in my contract or something..."

Gothic picked up the letter from Cola's hands and skimmed it, frowning. "It looks pretty official. I could have one of my family's lawyers look at it to make sure...find out your options..."

"No, it's official, all right...." Cola took back the letter and sighed again. "I sorta knew about all this when I signed, but all the stuff I was doing on my own had been really amateur -- college fashion shows and such -- and they sort of overlooked it until now." He shook his head. "The advance from Neiman's will take care of my rent for a couple months, but it'll be pretty tight around here for a while."

"So you're going to drop them and stick with Neiman's?" He smiled and kissed Cola lightly as Cola nodded. "Great, because I know you can do it." He walked over to the fridge for a carton of orange juice, then reached into the cabinet for a glass.

Cola stood up and reached for a glass too, then leaned against the counter. "Y' know..." he said, slowly. "If I was only paying half of the rent, I wouldn't have to worry so much..."

"Huh?" Gothic looked at him, his hand still on the cabinet handle. "Are you asking me to live with you?"

"I guess I am," Cola said with a smile. "But, y'know, only to save rent. Oh, and sex, I guess..." He grinned at Gothic. "I bet the rent at your place is sky high, and then there's the darkroom space you're renting out too. I can turn that spare bathroom into a darkroom easily and it's closer to work, too..."

Gothic chuckled. "All right, all right, I'll think about it, okay?"

Cola smiled. "Of course."

Rose made a face and moved away from Cherry. "You still want me to tell my parents?"

"Yeah." Cherry draped an arm around Rose and pulled her closer. "I mean, my dads know..."

"That's different and you know it." Rose paused. "And besides..." She slid an arm around Cherry's waist. "If they know, then you can't spend the night anymore, and that means we can't..."

"It's not like we're really doing anything anyway..."

Rose's arm fell away from her. "Okay, so not only do you want me to tell my parents, you want us to start having sex?" She pushed Cherry away. "That's a heck of a lot to expect...we did just get back together."

"But, you know, before we broke up...when we were dancing at that club, and you were... I keep thinking of the way you felt at the club, melting into me, and then we keep having makeout sessions here on your bed, and I just really want--" Cherry blushed slightly and looked sheepish. "I just really want to be with you, Rose. I'm sorry -- I know you're still a virgin, you probably want to wait and make it spec--"

"Rose!"

The two girls jumped apart as Spice burst into the room, her hair wildly askew. "Hairbrush!" she shouted. "Where is it?"

Rose frowned. "Um...your dorm room?"

Spice glared at her. "Look, dork, I left one here so I could use it when I stay overnight, except now it's gone and I have a date in like five seconds, so give me yours, will you?" She stopped for a breath and looked at the pair on the bed.

She frowned, trying to make the connection as she stared at them. Cola had told her something last night, between the sixth Corona and the second tequila shot, but damned if she could remember it now. "You guys... Something... Monks chanting?"

Cherry frowned. "Huh?"

Spice shook her head. "Never mind."

Rose blinked, then her eyes widened in panic. She leaped out of the bed, grabbing the pink hairbrush sitting on her bedside table. "Here! Take it."

"Thanks..." Spice said, giving them one more thoughtful look before walking out, closing the bedroom door behind her.

Crystal walked up to Blackie's door, helmet in one arm, and knocked on the door firmly.

She straightened up when Blackie opened the door. "Hey," she said lightly. "I saw that you were off tonight, and I figured I'd ask if you wanted to go riding tonight..."

Blackie raised her eyebrows, then nodded. "Yeah, sure. Let me just get my jacket..." She held open the door for Crystal.

"Cool," Crystal said, walking into the hallway.

Blackie grabbed her jacket. "Hey, Crys?" she asked as she slipped her jacket on. "What are you trying to do?"

Crystal gave her a look. "That depends on what you mean."

Blackie waved her arms around. "This... The riding."

Crystal smiled softly. "Nothin', Blackie." She leaned in slightly. "Nothin' if you don't want me to be doin' anythin'..."

Blackie smiled just as softly. "Yeah, that's what I was thinkin'..." She grabbed her helmet from the side table. "C'mon, let's go."