Part 1

"Don't call him that, he's just over-protective. He knows we've been best friends since first grade. I just don't understand why he would think I'm cheating on him with you," she handed him a glass.

"And, I don't think I'll be dating a girl anytime soon." It had been five years since he had come out with his homosexuality. Having a gay best friend wasn't bad in any way. In fact, it made then all the more closer.

Hayley stayed silent. The kitchen door opened and Ryan stepped out. Anger was written on his boyish face. Jason stepped forward, dishcloth still in hand.

"It's not what you think! We're not washing dishes, we're having sex," he spoke in a sarcastic tone Hayley heard when he spoke to straight girls hitting on his boyfriends.

"Get out of my house."

"Dude, stop being such an ass. You know I'm gay, and Hayley is no guy. Why would I hit on her now when I've known her for more than 10 years, right when she's engaged to you."'

"Hayley get him out."

"Ryan you're being unreasonable. He's my best friend."

"The best friend you're sleeping with. Get him out." Her eyes decreased into slits.

"Don't insult me like that, Ryan," she threw the dishcloth and glass into the sink, took off her gloves, and walked out, eyes welling up with tears. Jason went after her, pressing his dishcloth to Ryan's chest on the way out.

He stared at the pair of them heading out the front door, his hand still holding the rag to his chest. Why did he even think that she was cheating on him? Was it because Mark had just lost his girlfriend to his brother, and found out that the pair had been sleeping together. Now what was he supposed to do? He could not bear to hurt Hayley any longer, and yet seeing them together was so frightening.

Ryan went to the sink and stared at the glass Hayley had been drying, he took it and continued with her work.

Part 2

Ryan sat down on the couch and casually flicked in the television, flitting in between channels, but not really concentrating. It was playing the music video of one of Hayley's favourite love songs. He sat there as though in suspended animation, every guitar strum and drum bear resonating in his mind. The front door opened and Hayley stepped in herself, red-eyed and delicate.

She ascentded the steps without looking at him. Ryan stared at her. The television suddenly blasted a punk rock song, and he switched it off.

"Are you leaving?" he asked, leaning on the doorframa and looking at his girlfriends packing her belongings into a large suitcare. She glared at him for a moment and returned to folding on of her band T-Shirts with a vengence that suggested that each on of them had done her a personal wrong.

"Back to my mother's place. Don't worry, I won't sleep with her."

"Hayley, could we talk?"

"I think we've talked enough. I'm not stupid, Ryan. I won't stand here and listen to you throwing insults at me."

"I won't hurl insults at you. please, just let me tell you what happened." She shut the suitcase, zipped it, and turned to face him, arms folded.

"Mark's girlfriend left him because she was sleeping with his brother. I did'nt want the sae thing to happen to us."

"You don't even trust me to be faithful to you. Tell me, why would I cheat on you, with a gay guy?"

"Nothing. I was just..paranoid. Please, Hayley."

Her expression softened at his sincere face. Giving him a chance would not hurt as much as it would if they seperated.

"Okay," she reached out for his hand, and kissed him.

"I'll help you unpack. You go rest for a while," he said, stroking her hair.