Dominica frowned into her cereal. Her stomach hurt, her muscles were sore and she wasn’t even hungry. Pushing the soggy mass of breakfast food through the milk she sighed and leaned her head on her hand, her long hair falling around her in thick clumps. She missed him already. She could still feel the ghost of his arms squeezed around her, feel the rumble of his throat when he groaned. She missed his presence, the press of his body against hers, the feel of his breath against her skin before he kissed her.

“Shit,” she mumbled, dropping her spoon and jumping when it clanged loudly against the bowl. She pushed it away from her and slouched back into her chair.

“You’re up early,” the groggy voice of her roommate, Natalie, interrupted her miserable thoughts.

“Haven’t been sleeping well,” she grumbled into her hand and shrugged a shoulder.

Natalie shook her head and pulled out the carton of milk from the fridge. She eyed it hesitantly, pulling the lid open with her fingernail and lifting it to her nose. She inhaled slowly, her face scrunching.

“I hope you know the milk is bad,” she tossed it into the sink where it splashed loudly into the stainless steel. Dominica shrugged again, pushing the cereal farther across the table. She watched Nat move around the kitchen preparing toast, her short blonde hair still messy from sleeping.

Nat pushed a chunk of hair from her face and leaned her back against the counter, her dark eyes falling on her roommate. “You look like shit.”

“Thanks, babe,” Dom muttered, shoving the chair out from the table and grabbing the cereal bowl. Tossing it into the sink she avoided Natalie’s gaze as she made her way down the narrow hall to the bedrooms.

“I hope you’re not using again, Dom,” her voice cut through the air, her tone serious.

Dom’s hand froze on the doorknob of her bedroom. She sighed, letting her shoulders slump and turned back toward the kitchen. She stopped in the entryway and leaned against the wall.

“I don’t know why you’d even think that, Nattie. I’ve been clean for almost three months now.”

Her roommate held her hands up, her eyes wide, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have even mentioned it. I’m just concerned, Dom. I mean, you’ve been gone almost every night this week and you look exhausted.”

Dom sighed. She wished she could just come out and reveal everything. She wanted to scream it at the top of her lungs. She was fucking Gerard Way. She just wanted it out there but they both couldn’t do that. Not while Mikey was around. And especially not while Frank was messing around with Nattie either.

“I’ve just picked up a new hobby that’s all,” Dom shrugged, feeling her face flush. Yeah, the hobby of sex.

“What’s that?” Nat cocked her head to the side, her blond bob brushing her shoulder. Dom found herself admiring the blond’s beauty. She was just adorable. Her hair framed pale cheeks, her naturally pink lips drawn in a line, and her chocolate brown eyes surrounded by thick dark lashes. Her thin frame was clad in a pair of gym shorts she’d obviously borrowed from Frank and a frayed t-shirt that revealed her toned and milky abdomen.

“Ray’s giving me guitar lessons,” Dom finally replied, tearing her eyes away from her roommate.

“Oh cool!” Nat’s eyes lit up. “Way to learn from the best.”

“Yeah,” she shrugged, silently cursing at her blatant lie. There was no way she’d have any kind of skill with the guitar. She made a mental note to actually ask Ray for lessons the next time she saw the boys. She knew he’d be thrilled to teach her. A yawn broke their conversation, Dom lifting her hand to cover her display of sleepiness. “I’m gonna go lay down, okay?”

Nat nodded, “You better, you look like a zombie.”

Flipping her off, Dom shuffled back to her room, falling onto her bed and quickly drifting into a deep sleep.