Before the Friendship Games: Sugarcoat

Neon and Sugarcoat finally caught their breaths and stood up. "So." Neon said, "I think we should stop by my house first. It's not too far off from here. Plus I really need to get a change of clothes. We both probably smell like sex incarnate."

Sugarcoat smiled, and the couple began walking. "I understand. Still..." She took a deep whiff of her clothes and shuddered in delight.

Neon looked at Sugarcoat. "Oh, geez, you're not gonna get all horny on me right now, are you? We'll never make it to your place if we keep going at it."

Sugarcoat playfully shoved Neon. "Come on now! I may fuck like a rabbit, but that doesn't mean I'm turned on all the time."

"Anyway...as long as we're walking, what would you like to talk about?" Neon asked.

Sugarcoat cupped her chin and thought for a moment. "What's with the sunglasses? I don't think I've ever seen you take them off before, even during sex."

Neon looked at his girlfriend, then sighed. "Well, there's a good reason for it." He slowly removed his sunglasses, revealing his closed eyes.

Sugarcoat rolled her eyes and scoffed. "Okay, now you're just being-" She stopped mid-sentence as Neon opened his eyes. Her jaw dropped as she stared into the brightest green eyes she had ever seen. She was entranced. Hypnotized. They were so bright that the only way to describe them were..."Neon Lights." She whispered. "Wow..."

Neon smiled as he put his sunglasses back on. "Yeah. They're pretty distracting, aren't they?"

"They're beautiful." Sugarcoat said.

Neon laughed. "Thanks."

"So what about when you told me you've 'had some experience' when we were fucking?" She asked. Neon's smile slowly disappeared and he stopped walking, then sighed heavily. Sugarcoat walked back and put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey...you don't have to tell me if you don't want to." She said.

Neon shook his head slowly. "No. I think it's better that you know about this sooner rather than later." He walked over to nearby bench and sat down, then beckoned her to join him. "It all happened a couple of years ago." He began, "We met in a classroom, got to talking...turned out we had a lot in common." Neon's smile returned. "So we started going out and we felt a real connection to each other."

Sugarcoat nodded in understanding. "Obviously something went wrong, though."

Neon scoffed. "That's putting it mildly." His smile slowly began to disappear. "Over the next couple of months, I had noticed some red flags. I should have paid attention to them, but no." He said, throwing his arms up. "I was just happy to finally be dating someone after wanting it so badly that I just ignored them." He put a palm to his face. "Then one day, she said she wanted to have sex with me. I figured 'hey, maybe if I fuck her she'll calm down a bit.' So we did it once. Nothing changed. We fucked several more times. Nothing changed."

Neon sighed heavily. "It turns out she was...mentally unbalanced. She was clingy, possessive...she kept on stealing things, she was emotionally manipulative." He sighed. "The list went on and on. I told her I was going away for a weekend, and she practically begged me to come along." He sighed again. "I told her 'no, this isn't something you can just up and join.' And she kept on asking about it. It drove me crazy."

"Then one day, I finally realized the harsh truth." Neon slowly reached for Sugarcoat's hand, and she held his. "I...I had to break up with her. It was one of the most painful things I ever had to do, even though I knew deep down inside that it was for the best." A tear fell from underneath his sunglasses. "And you'd think that would be the end of it." Neon shook his head. "Well it wasn't. After that she constantly sent notes to me, trying to explain the benefits of us getting back together. Even double dating with people I hardly knew. It got so bad that the staff had to keep her in the classroom until I could leave."

"And you know what?" Neon said, turning to his girlfriend. "I almost got back together with her. She was just that good at emotional manipulation. If it wasn't for my friends and family talking me out of it, I would have made a grave mistake. Fortunately, we were moving. Not too far off, just a few miles away. And I didn't tell her about it."

"So you never saw her again, right?" Sugarcoat asked. Neon took his sunglasses off and gave her a sad smile. "...No." She whispered.

Neon nodded his head. "I'll never forget that morning." He said quietly. "I was about to heat up some lunch, when suddenly I see her making her way to my front door." He sniffled. "She kept on knocking on the door, and then resorted to using the doorbell. She just wouldn't stop, so I called the police. About a half-hour later, the police showed up and told me she brought fast food and a book on suicide."

Sugarcoat's eyes widened in shock, then she gave him a hug. "I'm sorry you had to go through all of that." She said quietly.

"Not as sorry as I am that I went through it." Neon said bitterly. "Every now and then she'll still show up in some way, shape or form. That restraining order I put on her just didn't get it through her head." He sighed heavily. "You probably haven't gone through anything like that, though."

Sugarcoat looked away as she broke the hug. "Maybe not ending with a stalker...but I'm no stranger to terrible relationships."

Silence hung in the air for a moment before Neon spoke. "Do you want to talk about it?" He asked softly.

Sugarcoat looked at him for a moment, then nodded. She took a deep breath, then exhaled. "It was my Sophomore year, and I was classmates with this guy who seemed to be my type. We really clicked. I got around to dating him, but like you, I ignored all the red flags. Even after my mom and dad pointed it out to me."

Neon frowned. "You were desperate to have someone who really cared about you, too?"

Sugarcoat sighed. "I wouldn't say desperate, I was just happy to be with him. But as I was saying, he was definitely the jealous type. If any other guy even so much as sneezed in my direction and he found out, he'd punch their lights out. Now I normally wouldn't give a crap about that sort of thing. It was one of the red flags, however."

Sugarcoat looked away, and tightened her grip on Neon's hand. "He...he was...verbally abusive." She said, her voice quavering. "If I did something he didn't like, he'd just call me useless. That the only thing I was good for was for sex." She sniffled. "He always called me a...f-fucking whore." She shot towards Neon's chest and sobbed. "So...so I decided if h-he should call me that, I should act like it. Revenge fucking felt...like the best thing ever. He...left me and I haven't heard from...him since." She said, continuing to sob through her sentences. "That's why I can't stop having sex. But as much as I love it, it's a constant reminder...of...of..." She broke completely and sobbed uncontrollably as Neon ran a hand through her hair, offering her words of comfort.