hi, guys. thank you for those who sent me kind messages, i really do appreciate them.

Tess was shorter than Phil had expected, but just as angry. Her thin, hazel eyes were glaring at him intensely, making him shuffle behind Dan for safety. Dan rolled his eyes at him, but didn't turn away from his diminutive ex-lover.

"Hello, Tess. I-" she interrupted him, her voice sickly sweet.

"Who's this, Dan? I didn't know you were expecting visitors." Dan bit his lip.

"Well, um, this is Phil-" Her face dropped.

"Phil? You mean the queer who tried to take you from me?"

"I didn't 'try to take him from you'. I was doing what you couldn't: listening to him." Phil's outburst shocked Dan. Tess glared fiercely at him.

"You're disgusting, you know that? Cheating on your girlfriend? With this?" She pointed at Phil. Dan felt his face flushing with anger as she spoke.

"Last time I checked, you can only cheat on someone if you're still in a relationship with them." Phil quipped smugly. Tess stepped forward, her hands reaching out for Phil, when Dan pushed her away. She stumbled backwards, but managed to regain her balance before she could fall.

"Don't touch him." His voice was dangerously low.

"I'll report you! I'll say you abused me!" Her voice trembled with fear. Dan stepped away, but Phil spoke up.

"Tess, you should probably leave…" Tess's eyes burned straight through him.

"It's your fault! You turned my Daniel… My baby… You turned him into one of you." Her voice was full of malice. "I hope you both burn in hell." She turns towards Dan. "I thought you were better than this, baby."

Dan scowled. "Better than what? Having feelings for a person who actually cares about me?"

Tess looked horrified. "I do care about you! I love you!"

"Then why did you spend our entire relationship degrading me over everything? You're abusive, Tess, and I won't stand it any longer."

"Fine." She growled. She grabbed her purse and pushed between the two men. As she reached the door, she turned around to face them. "Fuck you, Daniel. I hope you're happy, being with this disgusting mistake." Before Dan could think of a retort, she swung her purse at Phil.

"You bitch!" Dan yelled as Phil lifted his hand to his cheek, which was bright red. She laughed and opened the door.

"This was your choice, Daniel." She said as she left, the door swinging shut behind her. As soon as she was gone, Dan turned his attention to his injured partner.

"Are you okay?" Phil lifted his hand, revealing the beginning of a black eye. "This is all my fault, I should've made sure she couldn't come back…"

"Honestly, it's not as bad as you think, Dan. It hardly hurts. Though, I don't think that'll be the last we see from her."

"It will be if I call the police on her. She had no right to hit you." Dan pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed the number for the nearest police station.

About 15 minutes after Dan had placed the call, two police officers arrived at Dan's complex. They didn't seemed surprised to see the pair in such disarray; apparently they were used to strange calls.

"What happened here?" The first officer asked.

"My ex-girlfriend came in and attacked him." Dan gestured for Phil to remove the ice he held against his face, which he did, revealing the dark splotch surrounding his eye. One of the officers stepped closer to him to inspect his injury, while her partner began to fiddle with his phone.

After the police officer had finished her examination of the injury, she turned to her partner, who was waiting.

"This is definitely assault, possible battery too… Is she a repeat offender?" The last question was directed towards Dan, who thought for a moment.

"I don't believe so, but she's kept a lot of things from me. I wouldn't be surprised if Tess isn't even her real name."

"Well, funnily enough, it isn't." The second officer said. He showed the device to his partner, who nodded slowly. "Her name is actually Penelope Grant, and she has a warrant out for her arrest after she assaulted her girlfriend last March.

"And she's going off on you for being with a guy." Phil muttered snarkily. Dan chuckled, then turned to the officers.

"We'll find her and bring her in. I'm assuming you'll be pressing charges?" The two men nodded in near unison. The officer took one more scan of the apartment before turning back to the men. "Stay safe, guys. If she comes back, don't let her in. Call us and we'll take care of it." With that, they left, leaving Dan and an injured Phil in the apartment by themselves.

"God, I'm so sorry, Phil, this is all my fault."

"No, it's not. You can't really control when she's a bitch and when she's not, can you?"

Phil did have a point. "I guess not. Is there anything I could do to make it up to you?"

Phil thought for a moment before responding. "You could always let me beat you at Mario Kart…"

Dan laughed, a deep, throaty laugh. "It'd be pretty hard to tank it for you. I'll have you know, I am a master at Mario Kart."

"Is that a challenge?"

"Oh, definitely."

Four hours later, the duo was still playing furiously. Each had had their fair share of wins, and when the take out they had ordered arrived, they ate quickly, so they could continue playing.

Phil challenged Dan to a race for the last slice of pizza, and by the time Dan won ("By half a second! I beat you by half of a second!") they were both laughing. After all, Tess was gone, and they could be happy. And as they ran through the same tracks that they had practiced over and over again, Phil felt the euphoria in his heart that he knew was love, and Dan began to feel the warmth seep back into him that Tess had stolen from him.

That's a wrap, folks! Thank you guys so much for sticking with me through this. I'm so sorry my hiatus was a bit longer than I forecasted; I just wasn't in a good place to write anymore. I think after this, I'll take a long break from writing. Hopefully, I'll come back after school ends in June. Until then, I guess this is goodbye!