"I just gotta grab something, then we can go," I said over my shoulder. Lights nodded and I opened the door to my dorm room.

"Vinyl, there you are! I've been worried sick. I couldn't sleep and Lyra and Symphony had to come over for hours...where were you?"

"Octavia?" I looked at the couch in shock. Octavia was there, her eyes pink from not sleeping. "What're you doing here?"

"I live here," the cellist said simply.

"You live with Lyra. You moved." I tried blinking. I was almost positive that Octavia was not on my couch.

"No, I considered living with Lyra. She has the space since Bee Bop moved to an apartment to be with Money Shot. I chose to stay here, however, to remain with you. I've had a lot of time to think. You were right. I was very inconsiderate."

I was ready to hug her, plant kisses along her cheek, and tell her that I was in the wrong, but something stopped me. Forgiving her for being worried about her parents getting divorced was fine. I could forgive that. Forgiving her for forgetting about my mom was hard. In all of Equestria, only a few ponies remembered her. Even less actually missed her.

"I..."

"Scratch, let's go! We'll be late and Beats is gonna kill us if we show up late again," Lights called from the hall. Octavia's eyes shot to the door.

"Who's out there?" She asked.

"Neon Lights," I said quickly. "He's a friend."

"Scratchie, babe, hurry up!" Lights called again.

"Scratchie? Babe?" Octavia looked confused.

"A close friend. More like a coltfriend really." I tried to act like I didn't care, but Octy's face broke my stone cold DJ heart. Her eyes looked watery and she bit her lower lip.

"You're a fillyfooler," Octavia said softly. "You like mares."

"That's the old Vinyl," I replied. "The new Vinyl is into stallions."

"But I...never mind. I'll move into Lyra's dorm during lunch so that you and Neon Lights can be alone when he comes over. Goodbye, Vinyl. I'll see you around." She started for the door.

"Octy, wait." She turned back to me with a tiny smile.

"Yes, Vinyl?"

"Don't tell anypony about me and Lights. We're going to work out the kinks before we go public."

"Oh...alright." Octavia sighed and left the room. Lights pushed past the door and into the dorm.

"Let's get going. At this rate, we'll have to teleport to class." The stallion nudged my shoulder and I smiled weakly.

"You go on ahead. I'm not going to class today. I don't feel too hot." It wasn't a lie really. Seeing Octavia and watching her leave had taken something out of me.

"You gonna be alright?" Lights raised his glasses, looking concerned.

"I'll be fine. I just need to sleep. I'll find you after classes. We'll get a smo...a frozen yogurt." I didn't want to get smoothies. That was something Octy and I did.

"See you, Scratch." Lights kissed my cheek and left the dorm. I waited until I could no longer hear him in the hall before I left with one destination in mind.

Nopony in the streets questioned why I wasn't at school. In the last few months, I had finally started to look my age. Instead of looking like a high schooler ditching first period, I looked like the average mare off doing her morning shopping.

The bouncer at the club let me in without any issue. Even this early, the place was lively. I felt like I was stepping into late evening, thanking Celestia that my dad owned the only twenty-four hour club in Equestria.

"Vinyl, this doesn't look like the Academy." A voice called over the pounding music.

"Sorry, Dad, but I've had a pretty shitty week." My dad put a hoof around my shoulders.

"Is it just you today?"

"Yup."

"Come with me to my office. It's quieter there."

~XoXo~

Dad stared at me, his eyes concentrating on something behind my shoulder.

"You called her a bitch?"

"Yeah. She said she forgot about Mom." My voice cracked on mom, but I swallowed back my emotions.

"She had a lot going on. You should talk to her, Vi. She needs a friend."

"She has friends. Lyra, Bon Bon, Symphony, Brassy, and whoever else is in that damned orchestra."

"She loves you, Vi. The way you describe it, she was pretty torn up when you said you were with that stallion. I'm willing to bet the entire club that this filly is into you."

"No she's not. Even if she was, I'm with Lights now."

"That stallion you slept with when you were fourteen?" Dad asked. I looked down and my glasses slid off my nose and onto the chair.

"I forgot you knew about that. That's not important though."

"Do you love Octavia?"

"Do I...what? Dad, that doesn't matter. I have a coltfriend," I said stubbornly.

"Are you in love with Octavia Philharmonica? It's a yes or no question, Vinyl." Dad stared at me, waiting for the answer he already knew. I nodded my head.

"Full sentences, Vi."

"I'm in love with Octy," I mumbled.

"And Lights?"

"I'm not romantically or sexually interested in him."

"You know what you gotta do, right?" I nodded and Dad ruffled my mane, kissing my forehead. "You're a good kid, Vi. Mom would be proud of you."

"I miss her," I said softly. Tears clouded my eyes, but I refused to cry.

"I miss her too, Vi," Dad replied in a whisper. "I miss her too."

~XoXo~

The club lights flashed as I took a swallow of my drink. Lights was working the DJ booth and I sat at the bar, waiting for him to finish his set.

"Cheer up, Vi. You've never been so depressed while drinking." The bartender winked at me as he refilled my glass. He knew good and well that I wasn't 21, but, because I was Rec's kid, he was making an exception.

"Sorry, Brew. I'm just loaded with stuff." I slurped the foam out of my glass and sighed. The cider was weak, but I had enough in me to work up a decent buzz.

A grey mare walked in and I was about to call her over when I saw that her cutie mark was a heart, not a treble clef. The music changed to more upbeat than dubtrot and Lights slid in beside me.

"Rec's got Pinks on DJ duty. She's trying to find her party calling before she heads back to Ponyville." Lights shrugged, then noticed my glass. "You're in college and you're still on cider? You drank stronger stuff when we were kids!" I didn't remind him that he had given me the stronger stuff.

Lights tapped the bar twice and Brew replaced my cider with something bright orange that smelled of some pretty strong stuff.

"To us," Lights smiled, raising his own orange drink. I raised mine, watching the liquid swirl inside the bright blue aura.

"A whole week of not killing each other," I teased. I ignored the voice in my head that told me the relationship should have ended right after my talk with my dad. There had just been too much going on and no time to sneak in a 'so-I'm-still-gay, hope-we-can-be-friends' conversation. Our glasses clinked, sloshing their contents over the sides, and we downed them in one.

~XoXo~

Lights and I stumbled into my dorm and I collapsed in a fit of giggles on the couch. Lights lifted me into the air and carried me to my bedroom, letting me fall to the bed.

"You alright, Scratch?" Lights asked, looking concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I hiccuped. "I'll have a bitch of a hangover tomorrow, but I'll be fine."

"I should stay here," Lights said. I wanted to protest, but I figured it would be better than spending the night alone. Besides, now I could finally do what Dad wanted and get out of the relationship. I could still win Octavia back.

"We gotta talk," I slurred.

"In the morning." Lights countered. "Go to sleep. I'll sleep on the couch." Lights used his magic to make sure I was tucked into bed before he left the room. I heard the couch strain as it took his weight and all the lights went out. I tossed around for a bit, still unused to sleeping without Octavia's cello music through my head. A few bars from one of her Beethoofen pieces was swirling around my brain, but whatever Lights had made me drink was pushing the melody away.

I could hear Lights snoring in the other room. The sound of another pony in the room was soothing, even though I knew it wasn't Octavia. Before long, the sounds Lights made lulled me into a sleepy state.

"Night, Octy," I muttered. As my eyelids drooped, I made up my mind. As soon as I woke up, I would go get some breakfast and explain to Lights that I couldn't date him. I would confess that I loved Octavia, and I would do everything I could to get her to like me again.

I would have Octavia tomorrow, no matter what got in the way.