Evan could still imagine the music at the church. It rang in his ears and permeated his dreams. Every waking second was spent trying to think of something else, or another song, or distract himself from his new reality, but it wasn't happening, and he was starting to get pretty stressed out about it.

As one day passed, and then another, and then one more, he became adjusted to this new version of reality. Glory was gone. Craig and Maura had gone back to being nonexistent. No one had come around after the service. It was all over now, and he was alone.

He sat at work on a quiet night, the bloody red lights shining on his tanned skin. He felt a sense of déjà vu, like this had all happened before. Like he'd sat here before, done all this before, and nothing new would ever happen.

He wanted the place to burn.

Maybe if he was lucky, it would take him with it.

It was cold outside. The weather report called for snow soon.

Tanya wasn't around, and there really wasn't anyone else to talk to, he just kind of had to look tough and not do anything stupid.

Over at the bar, Rodney was sitting doing the same thing. In the back, the boss was doing something important that involved quite a lot of money, and probably drugs. He felt like he was an extra in Breaking Bad, only it was slightly less glamorous, if that was possible.

The only difference was that Rodney was drinking, and getting more and more douchey by the second.

The bartender was a guy named Murphy, who was pretty alright as far as bartenders went. He wasn't in on the shady stuff. Murphy was starting to cut Rodney off, and Rodney wasn't going to be told what to do or when to stop abusing substances.

Rodney threw his shot glass at Murphy, and Murphy dodged it, then shouted. The club went quiet, and someone walked up to Rodney, put their hand on his arm, and tried to get him to chill out.

Rodney flung the other guy's hand off and pushed him, and climbed down from his stool with an aggressive set to his shoulders.

Evan stood up and marched over. He saw Tanya walk in and stop when she saw the drama happening. She wasn't dressed in her usual sexy getup, and in fact it looked kind of like she'd just gotten off of work at the salon. She froze, and her eyes met Evan's as he walked over to Rodney.

She shook her head. She mouthed the word no.

Rodney was trying to climb over the bar to get to Murphy, who was staying well clear and shouting at Rodney, who had obscenities pouring out of his mouth like water. Evan grabbed him and pulled him back, flipping him over so that he slammed against the bar itself. Evan twisted his fist into the collar of Rodney's shirt, and gave the guy a good hard shake.

"Rodney! Knock it off!" he shouted. Rodney looked up at him, smelling like a cocktail. His pupils were pinholes. Rodney took a second before he recognized Evan, and then he gritted his teeth, reached out, and punched Evan in the shoulder.

Evan backed up. Rodney was going to come at him again, but someone grabbed him, and Murphy came around and helped, knowing that Rodney's anger was no longer directed at him. Tanya came up and snagged Evan's arm, standing in front of him.

"Czerny, you drunk dick! What are you doing?" Evan shouted.

"You and me, right now, Lockwood! Right now! I'll kill you!"

"Rod, knock it off!" shouted Tanya. "You're acting like a psycho."

"No, if that's what he wants, then that's what he wants! Let's throw down!"

Finally, Evan felt alive and awake. Finally, there was blood pumping in his veins, and that damn church song was gone.

"Evan!" Tanya shrilled. She turned and looked at him.

"No, I need this—"

"Isobel will kick your ass—"

"Isobel isn't around anymore."

Tanya's eyebrows furrowed. "Well, you don't want to fight him right now. I promise."

She pulled on his shirt and looked him dead in the eyes. In an undertone, she said, "He's clearly tripping out."

"He's always tripping out!"

Evan shoved past her and went at Rodney, who grinned like he'd won the lottery. "That's right, Lockwood! Come and get me!"

Rodney shoved at the guys holding him, who let go without much of a fight.

"Whoa, whoa, boys. Boys! Knock it off."

KC was walking over to them, hurrying about as much as Evan had ever seen KC hurry at anything. "You boys want to get into it? That's fine. But throw down in the ring—not during normal business hours."

Evan's chest and shoulders were heaving and his hands were shaking.

"You know what? Yeah. I think that sounds like a great idea," said Rodney. He looked at Evan like a snake looked at a mouse. "I think we should throw down. Make an event out of it. All sorts of official. I'd like to officially kick your ass," he said, pointing at Evan and throwing his whole body into it.

Evan balled his hands into fists, and said, "Yeah, fine. KC can work out the details, and then I'll beat you black and blue."

"Sure, whatever."

Evan shook his head and threw up his hands. "KC, call me with the details. I'm going home."

KC nodded, and turned to walk away. Evan looked at Tanya, who had turned white.

"Dude, you're making a mistake."

"Yeah, probably."

He went to his table and Tanya followed him. "What do you think is gonna happen if Isobel finds out? She'll never speak to you again."

"Well now, she's not going to find out, is she?"

Evan put on his coat and looked at Tanya as he shrugged his shoulders into it properly. "You aren't going to tell her."

"Dude, I can't just let you do this."

"Tanya, I messed up with Isobel. I won't have her bothered with this. She’s living her life, and she's going to be fine. Me, I'm going to finish this B.S. with Rodney, and when that's over, I'm going to leave. I'll go to Cleveland or some shit, I don't know, but I'm done with this life and this drama."

Evan stood before Tanya and looked at her. He put his hands on her shoulders. "I'm going to ask you again, Tanya. Please, do not tell Isobel."

Tanya's eyes narrowed as she thought. And then she sighed, and said, "Okay. Fine. I won't."