They both were wearing their best party dresses. I asked, "What's the occasion?"Pat answered, "This is our six month anniversary. We thought it would ...be nice to celebrate and show you how much we love you." I hadn't heard that word very much in the last six months, at least, not in that context. Pat walked over to me and kissed me with her tongue exploring my mouth. While kissing, she reached down and took my hand and placed it on her breast. I could feel that there was only fabric between her. I think we were in some kind of stubborn staring contest. She blinked first. ‘I not sure when I can pay you back for this,’ Amber admitted, ‘it may be awhile before I am on my feet again.’ She meant it. I could see she intended to pay me back. Not how I pictured a homeless person. I dropped my paper mache wall. ‘I don’t want you to,’ I caved again, ‘just think of it as gift you can pass on to someone else when they need it.’ Me, the altruistic idiot. If she hadn’t held up the line, I would. " Great. What did you do?" I don't know. I kept trying to find out. She wouldn't tell me. She kept saying I should know what I did."Xena looked Gabby up and down, and smiled. She thought she could still see her friend's beautiful soul shining through, like the sun peeking out from behind a cloud. The green eyes still sparkled; the hair was the same reddish-gold, the smile just as sweet. Artemis had done a nice job."Nice of Artemis to provide you some pants, anyway." It's only until dawn," said. I wondered if the dealwent through. After a while though, I could only ponder what hadhappened to my life. Karen's punishment had served as my awakening. Iwas aware of things about myself I had tried to suppress and hide from.I couldn't any longer. As much as I wanted it not to be true, I knew Iwould never be the man that I remembered. That mask was gone, and I wasexposed to myself. I knew I could no longer run from what made meashamed about myself.When Karen finished getting ready, we.