For what seemed like the longest eternity, Matt's lips remained sealed. His eyes stayed closed, and his breathing was steady-ish. Every once in a while, there would be a sort of skip in the rhythm of his life breath. A blip in his life force.

"Then imagine how I feel." He said, revealing glassy, dark orbs that seemed like they'd empty any second now. "While you were searching for the love, for the chemistry that you had never had with anyone but Inez and- and that FREAK!" I could smell the smoke coming from his ears.

"Who?" I choked, knowing exactly who he was talking about.

"That figure skating son of a bitch, Evan Lysacek." He said. "The idiot everyone says I look and act like, the one who let you down on that stupid reality show."

"He didn't let me down." Just saying that felt like a knife to my heart. "The judges did."

"Fuck the judges." He said. "We've been friends since birth and I have NEVER seen you so addicted to something that doesn't affect your daily life in a way that God wants it to." His hands were balled up into fists now and I could hear the breaths he was taking through his nose. "And while this was happening, you just had to question your sexuality and go after her also." I saw his chest heave and swore I could here something that sounded similar to a rock dropping on raw flesh in his vicinity. "You just had to beat yourself up about a feeling that didn't exist within you all the while making me clueless as to whether I could ask a beautiful girl out without shattering your delicate porcelain mask." He stood up, as calmly as his shaking body could. "I hope you're as in love with yourself as you were with Inez after realizing what you've done." He adjusted the collar on his shirt, pushed his hair back, and was about to go before two shaking hands stopped him.