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As of a few hours ago, my laptop quit playing sound on youtube and other web videos. I've checked all the obvious culprits. The sound on my laptop is turned up and sound is not muted or turned down for the videos in question. I queued up a song on iTunes (both in the store and the library) and that works fine, as does the sounds on other saved files. Anything from the internet (even those pesky ads) won't play sound.

Does anyone know what may be causing this and how to fix it?

I'm currently playing WoW, but have decided to start broadening my gaming horizons. Started looking at Skyrim and did a little research only to discover its game 5 in a series. Is this like WoW where its different expansions of the same game or is it like Grand Theft Auto where you can pretty much pick up wherever? Just trying to figure out where I should start with the game and any advise is helpful.

I work for a television company that only offers tv services, but partners with telephone and internet companies in order to stay competitive. The bundling trend has created more than a minor headache for those of us on the phones. Last night, I took a dozy of a call from a gentleman (and I use the term loosely) who felt it alright to scream at and threaten me due to his own incompetence. Try to remember here, I came in at the end of this mess, which was created largely by him. He tried to place an order with us through our internet partner and was unable to do so due to having a past collections balance with them. We instructed him to call the partner to straighten it out and place the order with them. The agent he was speaking with was even nice enough to stay on the line with him while he did that, though at that point it had nothing to do with us.

He called back several times within a few hour period, wanting details on the order that we couldn't provide him. We instructed him to call the partner for details on his order (since it was placed in their systems, we couldn't see the details or even that an order was placed). He decided that he wanted to cancel his account with us and got upset when we told him he would have an early cancellation fee since he was under contract. He spoke with two supervisors before finally getting to me (not a supervisor); he'd hung up and called back several times.

I tried to explain to him again that he needed to call the partner for more information, which garnered me screaming (I had to turn my phone volume down nearly all the way), threats, and insults. Apparently I'm incompetent and an idiot since I couldn't find the order (I had to explain why I couldn't see it several times). He threatened to name me personally in his letter to the utilities commission for violating his rights (I'm still not sure which rights were violated). He asked for information on cancelling his account and when I informed him I'd have to get him to the cancellations department, he started cussing more and told me he didn't want to talk to anyone else, then turned around 5 minutes later and called me a liar after trying to claim I refused to transfer him to someone who could help him.

This call lasted for 20 minutes, when it should have lasted no longer than 5. It lasted that long because he wanted to scream and talk over me and refused to let me answer his questions. He knew the answers, several people had already told them, but he (a grown man) wanted to throw a hissy over something that was his fault to begin with. Is this the legacy we're leaving to our children, that its okay for adults to behave this way when they don't get what they want? The sad thing is, I listen to stuff like this for 8 hours a day, all day long. I'm in school, so this kind of work offers better pay/benefits and hours than flipping burgers, but no one should have to put up with this kind of abuse.

I've been casually seeing a guy off and on for about the last 5 years. When we first started seeing each other he was in school and living 5 hours away, so we agreed early to keep things casual and we never revisited the rules. Recently he moved back home after completing school and I had the assumption that we would begin dating for real once that happened. He threw me a curve ball when he said he was seeing someone else. No big deal, I just assumed wrong. The only problem, I'm not really sure this other girl exists. He's mentioned her once, since then I've been the one to point out her existence and I really know nothing about her. The reason I have to point out her existence is because he still texts frequently and these conversations are usually pretty sexually graphic and center on the two of us, not sex in general. He knows I won't hook up with him while he's seeing her, but on more than one occasion he has mentioned us getting together after they break up. Why see her if he has no faith the relationship will last that long and he's still fantasizing about sleeping with me? Just the other day when we were talking, he made a comment about "when we get married.." (not the first time he's made comments like that in the past 5 years), and I asked, "How would your girlfriend feel about that?" His response: I wouldn't invite her to the wedding. After some eye rolling on my part, I responded with, "You would have to give her up before I'd marry you." and he responded with, "I know."

Then yesterday we were talking and I said something about our previous relationship being just sex and he got genuinely offended. I pointed out that he was the one that said he wanted it to just be casual and asked him what he thought it was, he responded that he thought we were making love. He seemed even more offended when I said that would suggest a deeper relationship than what we had.

I'm not sure how to take his comments. I'm a very literal person and that tends to get me in trouble. He said he wanted casual and that's what I gave him, but then he's also mentioned us getting married on several occasions, so I assumed he wanted a deeper relationship when he moved back to town, but then he popped up with a girlfriend. Even with the girlfriend, he keeps acting like he did before and I seem to have to remind him he has one. I'm really at a loss on how to take this or what to do with him. Any suggestions would be great.

Yeah, I know, the knee jerk reaction is "no," but what I have observed is the guys in my life going back to certifiably insane women over and over and over again. Since high school I have listened to my guy friends complain about certain traits the "crazy" girls possess: being overly clingy, being irrationally jealous, cheating, lying, drama, etc., and I have made it my mission to not possess those annoying habits. It really doesn't bother me if my boyfriend wants to have a guys night, I'll probably want a girls night at some point; it's healthy. I don't like to be clung to, so I don't cling. I don't snoop through his cell phone and I expect him to leave mine alone. I actually found out an ex was talking to his ex-gf when his phone rang and he said, "Hey, that's Chris, read it to me, please." because he was expecting a text from his buddy so we could meet him for brunch. It wasn't a bad text, it didn't start a fight, but I never would have known had he not told me to read it. And, this was the old first gen razor phone so it just said her name and I had to open it to read the message and I even stopped before opening to make sure he still wanted me to read it to him. This same boyfriend had me transfer his contacts between phones for him and set up all his passwords, as well as the passwords on his laptop. This boyfriend wound up leaving me for an ex he described as a wh*re after accusing me of cheating (I really was working that much OT).

My best friend and I dated for a bit and he started seeing this other girl (yes, we actually remained friends). She didn't like him talking to me, which I understood to a point so I didn't make first contact with him when we'd talk. Then she started separating him from his other friends (even guys) and tried to change everything about him. She broke up with him (the first time) when he got hurt and was taken to the hospital and they called his ICE which was his mom. Why? Because his mom found out first, not her. She was THAT jealous. He tried to win her back, she refused. Then when he stopped, she came back around. When he tried to put his foot down on certain behaviors (like how she treated him), she flipped out. They worked together and she was going to work with bandages on her wrist saying he stressed her out so much she was cutting herself. She faked a black eye w/ makeup and told everyone he hit her, which had everyone mad at him until the black eye was completely gone the next day. She's lied to him about pregnancies (she had ovarian cancer so one ovary was removed and she's been through chemo and radiation) to get him to come back. He went through this for a year with her before finally calling it quits.

Another friend, before this started seeing a girl who kept telling him it was only casual and she was moving, and even suggested he see other people. Finally he gave up on her and started seeing me (one of the people she told him he should ask out). When he severed ties with her, she "suddenly" realized she made a huge mistake and she was in love with him... oh, and she was pregnant (which she conveniently miscarried). I know that sounds harsh, but I've had 4 miscarriages myself and one does not wait 3 months until an appt opens with their preferred OB when one suspects a miscarriage. Her time line was all off. She is, of course, hysterical over all of this, after stringing him along and not allowing him to go to the appt with her. Then she "forgives" him for cheating on her and graciously takes him back. He never cheated. They weren't together. But she had him convinced he had done something wrong. And of course, after I exit the scene and stop talking to him, she drops him. Then when he and I start talking again and she finds out, guess what? Yup. She wants him back.

I know these are just a few examples, but these are three of many that I've seen over the years. So guys, do you just prefer the drama to the girl that doesn't cheat, doesn't cling, doesn't snoop, doesn't create drama?

(Oh, and in all of those examples, the people in them were mid to late twenties. The last example, she was 31, so this isn't stupid teenage bullsh*t.... even if it feels like it).

I've been seeing a guy off and on for several years. Mostly off while he's lived about 6 hours away for school. He recently graduated and has moved back into town. We talk frequently and the conversation is mostly sexual in nature. We were recently talking about him going with me when I have to drive to another state on a quick road trip. He asked me if we could have sex (among other things) in each state we pass through so he can cross it off his bucket list. Then he started to get flakey about going with me and about a week ago told me he started seeing someone. This comes after he gets mad at me for not reminding him I was housesitting and asked if someone else stayed with me that week (no one had). When he told me he was seeing someone, I said congrats and left the conversation at that. I understand him not wanting to go on a multi-state road trip with me when he's entering into a new relationship, if I were in the other girl's shoes I wouldn't be comfortable with my new boyfriend spending 3 days in a car with a former booty call.

Then I posted a meme on facebook about the last song you listened to being your go to sexual position and threw in my song of "Just a Ride." (Great song btw, if you've never heard it). He sends me a text shortly after saying he could go for "just a ride." I responded with, "I thought you just started seeing someone." He failed to confirm or deny that and instead turned it around to me not wanting to have sex with him while also stating that no one does what I do in bed. My response was, "And yet you're seeing someone else. Very telling, that." The conversation continued with him asking about different sexual favors/situations I'd be willing to do with him and me reminding him I didn't like to share and I wouldn't do any of that if he's seeing someone. He then made comments that sounded like he still wants to go on the road trip with me, like when he asked about us getting a hotel with a pool, I responded with "I usually just stop at the first hotel I come to after I can't drive anymore." His response to that was, "I can drive a bit too." But then when I asked him point blank, are you going with me? His response was still, "I don't know."

I don't know what to make of that kind of back and forth. When I asked him what was holding up his decision, he said studying (he has a licensing test he needs to pass next month). I told him he could bring the books with him and study while I drive. He turned the conversation back to sex, at one point again telling me I was the best. When he started talking fantasy scenarios in the pool, I shot him down and said there was no point since we're not going to be able to act them out. He then said we always could in the future, which tells me he doesn't think new girl is going to work (its also the first time he really said anything about her the whole conversation and this was near constant texts for 3 hours).

I kinda feel like he's just stringing me along to keep the booty call alive, but I also feel like I might be over analyzing what he's said/done over the past few months. Any ideas on what he's doing would be helpful, thanks!

About three weeks ago I went running to try out a new zombie app. I'm out of shape and have never been a runner. I mostly walked, then sprinted for short intervals while following the app. Since it was my first run, I only made it through about 3 "zombie attacks" before I really couldn't run any more and just had to vary my walking speed. In all I walked/ran nearly 3 miles in about 45 minutes. Toward the end of my walk/run I felt wheezy and my throat was tight and dry. I'm no stranger to this (like I said, I'm not a runner), so I used breathing exercises and drank plenty of cold water afterward. Since then I have hard an intense barking cough. I don't feel it in my chest, just my throat. My throat as a result is sore and my voice is hoarse (think Emma Stone). I lost my voice for 2 days in the first week and after about 2 weeks, the cough seemed to be going away. I got a little bit of a workout in with my boyfriend and week ago (I'll let you use your imagination) and now the cough has come back with a vengeance. I talk on the phone all day at work and it seems to get worse when I have to talk over extended periods and after eating. The cough of course is at its worse at night when I lay down and I've had to sleep propped up. I've been taking Nyquil at night to help me sleep.

I don't really have any other symptoms. I've had a slightly stuffy nose (it is the start of allergy season here) and I am extremely tired (I think it might be from tossing and turning at night and waking up with coughing fits). I have not had any fever or other flu symptoms.

I've always operated under the assumption that if a guy likes me, he'll tell me. And if he wants to spend time with me, he'll make time for me. Am I being too simplistic about it?

I have a close guy friend, that I've dated in the past, who claims to have feelings for me, but never seems to have time to spend with me. We last hung out together on New Years. I've been operating under the "just friends" assumption with him since he and I broke up about a year ago. There was a lot of drinking done on New Years and I wound up making out with a friend of his and he "caught" me doing it. He said he was cool with it, but his face and body language said otherwise. Later that day, after we'd both sobered up, we had a very long conversation. I missed his call initially and he left me a voicemail where he dropped "I love you" several times. I called him back before listening to the voicemail and he confided that he wasn't ok with me making out with his buddy because he liked me, but if I was into his friend he wouldn't stay in the way. I confided that I wasn't into his friend, I was into him, but I thought he and I were just friends. During the phone call I mentioned that his mixed signals confused me, so I always erred with us being just friends. He promised to be more forward with things.

I have not seen him since New Years. We've texted and spoken several times, and he keeps saying he misses me and we need to hang out, but then when I try to make plans with him, he's too busy or has an excuse. In one of our conversations he mentioned me seeing someone soon enough and I joked, "I'm holding out for one guy in particular." His response was, "I'm gonna beat his a**." To this I responded with, "Have fun beating yourself up."

Despite his, I'm into you, I don't want you to see other people attitude, he doesn't seem in any hurry to actual get with me. I'm getting fed up with the back and forth, but don't really know how to approach it. To me he's behaving like some other kid tried to pick up his toy in the sandbox, but when he got the toy back, he really didn't want it.

In contrast, I have a really good guy friend who recently made contact with me again (we hadn't spoken in over a year) and has made and carried through plans to hang out with me twice in one week. He and I are strictly friends (we've both expressed we have no interest in dating one another, but we enjoy hanging out together), but when he said, "we need to hang out and catch up," he actually meant it and we hung out the next day.

Am I over thinking things or do I just need to move on? Why does the guy who is strictly my friend have more time for me than the guy who professes to be in love with me?

I'm looking for a thorough book on dream analysis, preferably from a Freudian or psychology standpoint. Any suggestions would be welcome. Thanks!

The past three nights I have been having the same dream. That alone is unusual for me. The dream is also fairly lucid and follows a story line.

There's a knock at my door and I open it to find my old supervisor (from a job I had in another state). He's transferred from his old state to the one I now live in and is renting the house down the street from me and tells me he's now divorced. Almost immediately, I move in with him. Shortly after moving in, he and I have this talk. Or rather, I dictate, which isn't normal for me. He isn't known for keeping his zipper up (has two failed marriages to show for it and another that I'm surprised is still together). I tell him I expect him to stay faithful or I'm gone. What follows next is a bunch of steamy X-rated magic. Then at the end of the dream his wife shows up and I find out he's not actually divorced. I leave him and the dream ends.

A little back story. This man is 8 years older than me, my former mentor in a high stress, literally life-or-death job, and a close confidant. He and I had a brief fling before he married his third wife. No feelings were hurt when it ended and our friendship/mentor relationship continued. I haven't seen him in over five years and I haven't spoken to him in over 2. I really haven't thought of him before the dreams started.

Recent changes in my life. I'm in a pseudo-relationship with a guy while we both "figure things out." I've recently decided that I'm done hooking up. I haven't had a real relationship with a man in over five years and its getting old. I have another guy that I've dated on and off for several years that has pushed for a relationship before and while I'm considering seriously dating him, I'm also worried if I'm not settling just because I feel I'm at an age where I should be in a serious relationship (I'm nearly 30).

Any thoughts on what the dream could mean and why I'm having it would be great. Thanks in advance!

I've always operated under the assumption that if a guy likes me, he'll tell me. And if he wants to spend time with me, he'll make time for me. Am I being too simplistic about it?

I have a close guy friend, that I've dated in the past, who claims to have feelings for me, but never seems to have time to spend with me. We last hung out together on New Years. I've been operating under the "just friends" assumption with him since he and I broke up about a year ago. There was a lot of drinking done on New Years and I wound up making out with a friend of his and he "caught" me doing it. He said he was cool with it, but his face and body language said otherwise. Later that day, after we'd both sobered up, we had a very long conversation. I missed his call initially and he left me a voicemail where he dropped "I love you" several times. I called him back before listening to the voicemail and he confided that he wasn't ok with me making out with his buddy because he liked me, but if I was into his friend he wouldn't stay in the way. I confided that I wasn't into his friend, I was into him, but I thought he and I were just friends. During the phone call I mentioned that his mixed signals confused me, so I always erred with us being just friends. He promised to be more forward with things.

I have not seen him since New Years. We've texted and spoken several times, and he keeps saying he misses me and we need to hang out, but then when I try to make plans with him, he's too busy or has an excuse. In one of our conversations he mentioned me seeing someone soon enough and I joked, "I'm holding out for one guy in particular." His response was, "I'm gonna beat his a**." To this I responded with, "Have fun beating yourself up."

Despite his, I'm into you, I don't want you to see other people attitude, he doesn't seem in any hurry to actual get with me. I'm getting fed up with the back and forth, but don't really know how to approach it. To me he's behaving like some other kid tried to pick up his toy in the sandbox, but when he got the toy back, he really didn't want it.

Am I over thinking things or do I just need to move on?

A friend/co-worker of mine recently had her license suspended as punishment for a DUI (please, no soapbox comments about this). She lives near-by and we work the same shift, so I've agreed to give her rides to and from work. I have a newer car that gets over 40mpg. I live in a good sized city and literally average a $35 fill-up every two weeks. She offered to give me $75 on payday to help with gas as compensation for me driving her to and from work. When she offered it, she asked, "How much will that get me?" I responded with, "That's more than I spend on gas in a month."

She needs the rides for the next three months and I told her I'd be happy to give her rides as long as we're on the same schedule. I told her I'd accept the $75, but she certainly isn't obligated to pay me that much when a) my gas doesn't cost that much for an entire month, b) she really isn't that far out of my way (she lives about 10 min away from me), and c) I'm going to work anyway.

I understand that she's appreciative of me helping her out and I am aware of how much I'm helping her out (she really doesn't have any other way to work most days), but I feel like she's offering too much in way of compensation and the more I think about it, the guiltier I feel. My car is paid off, and both my car insurance and gas bills are less than $75/month. I suppose I could use the money to beef up my Christmas funds, but I still feel like I'm taking advantage of the situation.

Any thoughts?

For the past few years I've gotten hiccups when I eat white bread, so I cut it from my diet. Problem solved, right? Wrong. In the past month or so, I've noticed hiccups almost every time I eat. At first I thought I might be eating too fast, so I made myself slow down between bites. Still getting hiccups. I thought maybe I wasn't chewing my bites enough or taking too big of bites, started taking smaller bites and chewing more, while still eating more slowly... It seriously takes me forever to eat anything now and its not working.

Any other thoughts on what could be causing the hiccups and how to prevent them?

The hiccups are the silent ones that form and erupt in the chest (not the cute, noisy ones that come from the throat). Its painful. They don't last long, maybe five minutes, but they often start while I'm still eating and make me think I might puke (I'm not nauseous, I just worry food will come up with the air).

I don't often have vivid dreams and when I do, its usually because I'm stressed about something. I'm not stressed about anything right now, though. Last night I went out with friends and had a couple drinks (literally 2, early in the evening b/c I was driving, so I didn't go to bed drunk).

In the dream I was with a good friend of mine that I dated casually about a year ago. I was on my knees in front of him while he sat on the couch. I was teasing him sexually (mostly with my mouth). The odd part of the dream was that I kept calling him by my ex's name (a mutual friend of ours that I broke up with about 8 months before I dated my friend). It didn't just happen once or twice, I literally said my ex's name in every sentence I said. The really crazy part, neither of us reacted to it. It was like I was calling him by the correct name.

Anyone wanna take a guess at what this could mean?

I work in sales for a TV company. I spend all day selling our equipment. In some cases, people will pay the amount for the equipment or simply decline due to price. In many cases (most of the ones I handle actually) they flat refuse to pay anything for the product they want and insist they should get it for free. My favorite is, "I'll just go to your competitor and get the same thing for free." I wish I could say, "Then go to the competitor, but no, you won't get this item for free, just something similar."

Recently, we came out with a new receiver that has a lot of really cool features. I get why people want it. Hell, even I want it. What I don't get is why people feel they are entitled to get this new receiver for free. It costs $299. Yes, that's no small chunk of change, but when we look at people spending $600+ on Apple products, I really don't see what the problem is.

I spent 30 minutes on the phone with a customer while he ranted about how we were making this product inaccessible to the common person. Its not a food item. Its not housing. Or clothing. Its a luxury item that gives you cool features to enhance your experience with another luxury item. Why do we have to make it accessible to the common person?

Am I the only person left that understands electronics and other luxuries cost money? And if you don't have that money, you can't get the item? Why should a business have to lower their costs (or give away expensive equipment for free) just to make one person happy. Especially, when that results in them losing money in the long run?

About 2 years ago my ex husband and I went to court ordered mediation to work out some details of our custody arrangement. He barely gave me anything, but one thing we agreed to was that we would alternate full Christmas breaks, rather than one week of the break each year. I had them the full term the first year, he had them last year. Now this year he has decided that we're going back to what is written in the divorce decree and I have no say in it. This is to punish me for refusing to let him pick up the boys 4 hours early this summer, after he has repeatedly refused me the same courtesy. We had agreed to a settlement out of court between our lawyers in January of this year and he has since refused to sign the paperwork making it official. My lawyer keeps giving him and his attorny more time, but this has screwed me over on taxes and summer visitation, as well as other things.

My ex keeps waffling between the old decree (which gave a shorter timeframe for summer visits and specific pick up times) and the new one (which gave longer visitations and no specific pickup times) to get his way, but consistently says the new decree is not valid becase he hasn't signed it (at one point he even tried to say I was holding it up, but I signed it as soon as it was ready in Feb).

When I told him in an email that I was going to have them the full Christmas break this year, he told me the mediation was not legally binding because we weren't given paperwork to sign. I can't call my lawyer until next week and haven't been able to find anything online about this.

He's not just screwing with my visitations, he's screwing with everything. He's even managed to mess up my credit by agreeing to a change in child support, then going to the state and saying I"m not paying. Since he hasn't signed the new order, I didn't have a leg to stand on and a failure to pay now shows on my credit.

Any info on mediation would be helpful. Thanks in advance!

I have been babysitting my nephew since he was just a few weeks old. When he was first born I was working 12-16 hrs/night at a prison and would get up at 7 am on my days off (I got off work at 5 am) to watch him while my sister worked. Sunday was my only true day off and I spent that resetting my sleep cycle to watch the baby. My sister was laid off from work and I got a reprieve from baby duty for a few weeks, then wound up watching the baby in the evenings while she went to school. She lives with her boyfriend, but I often find myself watching the child so they can go out, take classes, or go to the gym. Now I'm working a mid style shift, but I'm still watching my nephew on my days off. The agreement was for Wednesdays only, but I wind up watching him a good 13 hours that day (so my brother in law can go to the gym after work). I am working on my bachelor's degree and starting Monday, begin a 16 credit course load while working full time and raising two kids of my own (on my own). My sister is now asking me to also watch my nephew on Tuesdays so she can go to appointments. I told her the first two weeks were fine, but that I couldn't be giving every one of my days off up with my course load. She got angry with me when I told her this, but I feel completely justified. I've been watching this child 50% of the time since he was born and he's 3 1/2 years old. She's pregnant again and I know that I'll also be expected to watch my niece.

This spring, I put my foot down about the amount of time I was watching my nephew and got about a month's reprieve from duty. Then she came back to me and offered to pay me to watch my nephew just one day a week. I accepted because I do need the extra cash. She paid me for two days, then kept "forgetting" to bring me the check for the rest of the time. I didn't say anything or push it, but when I found myself strapped for cash I asked her to pay me the money she owed me. She claimed she was broke (after she and her boyfriend bought new iPhones and flatscreens) and that she didn't owe me any money because she was watching my kids. I only need daycare help in the summer and I would have been fine with the arrangement of one-for-one child care, but that doesn't absolve her of the days leading up to the summer does it?

I feel like I am expected to watch this child (soon to be children) without so much as a thank you. It seems like my personal time isn't respected as my own. I also feel like I can't say anything without starting a major family issue, since my mom tends to side with my sister when I complain about the amount of time I spend watching my nephew. I honestly don't mind watching him every now and again, but when I can't plan my own appointments or events without worrying about what my sister will do for childcare, it becomes an issue. Even my work schedule is dictated by hers. This summer I had to get my boss to switch my Mondays for Sundays because my brother in law (who is off Mondays) refused to watch my kids for a few hours until my mom got off work, despite the fact that I gave up my Valentine's evening to watch their son so he could take a hunter's safety course while she was in class, not to mention all the other days I've given up to watch the baby.

However, when I point all that out I'm being melodramatic and childish. Does any of this seem fair to you?

Is anyone willing to read and critique my stories? I'm currently posting on wattpad.com, but I just opened the account about a week ago, so they haven't gotten much traffic yet. There are 3 very different stories posted there. My penname on the account is KenleyJase. Here is the link to the stories:

http://www.wattpad.com/story/1952513-thi%E2%80%A6

http://www.wattpad.com/story/1952321-sca%E2%80%A6

http://www.wattpad.com/story/1951958-kil%E2%80%A6

Thanks in advance for all the feedback! You can comment here or on wattpad, either one works for me. Thanks again!

Is anyone willing to read and critique my stories? I'm currently posting on wattpad.com, but I just opened the account about a week ago, so they haven't gotten much traffic yet. There are 3 very different stories posted there. My penname on the account is KenleyJase. Here is the link to the stories:

http://www.wattpad.com/story/1952513-this-time

http://www.wattpad.com/story/1952321-scars-and-sto...

http://www.wattpad.com/story/1951958-killer-among-...

Thanks in advance for all the feedback!

Is it too vague? Too cliche? Too obvious? Little background:

My main character, Aidann (known in this passage as Squish), thought she found the love of her life in best friend Collin, who screwed her over too many times. Her other really close friend, Chris, picked up the pieces, but they kinda had the understanding it was casual and it worked for them. Then they're at a friend's wedding together when Collin shows up again and tried to apologize to Aidann, she turned him down flat. This part starts after she has spoken to Collin after he follows her and Chris to a bar. Let me know what you think. Thanks!

With that, I walked away from Collin, back into the bar and straight to the bathroom. I felt sick to my stomach. While I’d like to think it was all cheap champagne and too much whisky, I knew it was mostly emotional stress. I hated myself in that moment. I wanted to be able to tell Collin to kick rocks, to peddle his half-baked promises somewhere else. Instead, I told him I’d talk to him more when I was sober – already I was dreading the meeting. I had no desire to see him again; I really was doing much better without him.

I barely made it to the toilet before the alcohol and dry chicken made a repeat appearance. Once my stomach contents were spent, I half crawled, half stumbled to the sink. As dry sobs wracked my body, I attempted to rinse my mouth out. I finally gave up and sank down to the grungy floor. I rested against the wall, neatly hugged by the sink and the trashcan.

I have no idea how long I sat there, feeling sorry for myself, when I felt another presence in the room. Looking up I was surprised to see Wise Chris standing in the doorway. Wordlessly, he moved the trashcan, then sank down next to me. He gently me pulled me into his lap, rubbing my back while I sobbed into his chest.

“You’re going to give him another chance,” Chris said matter-of-factly, after several long moments of silence.

“I think he’s used up all his chances,” I said, my voice sounding pitiful to my own ears.

“He’s certainly used up more than he deserves, but that doesn’t mean you won’t give him another one.”

I didn’t comment. It seemed Wise Chris was trying to prove a point and I was sure if I stopped arguing for just a moment, I’d understand what he was driving at.

“You’re going to give him another chance because despite every horrible thing he has done to you, you love him.”

“I don’t trust him. What is love without trust?”

“But you do love him.”

When he looked at me, I saw sorrow clearly reflected in his blue depths. For a moment, I thought my own pain was reflected back at me, then he spoke again.

“And because I love you, I’ll be waiting here to help pick up the pieces when he screws up again.”

The pain reflected back at me broke my heart and my tears began anew. I couldn’t look away from him though. He cupped my cheek, his thumb brushing away the tears as they fell.

“Are you ending things with me?” I asked.

Chris continued to look me in the eyes, his thumb acting like a mini windshield wiper.

“No. I’m providing you an out, Squish. It’s killing me, but I know you need it. I can’t have you with me out of guilt.”

In that moment I knew: white knights really did exist. They didn’t show up on a white horse anymore, they didn’t look or act like the Prince Charmings of storybook lore, but they showed up. And in that moment, thanks to my white knight, I knew I’d be alright. Everything was going to be just as it should.