You (All I Need Is)

It's Hard To Be Lovers, But It's Harder To Be Friends

"Why am I always to blame?" John annoyingly said. It's 1:30 A.M. and they still managed to fight.

"Because you didn't listen to me! I told you to pay the bills on time so that we won't receive arrears, but no! All you cared about is your guitar and your friends!" Liz blurted out of exasperation.

"Do I?" He became angrier this time.

"So you don't remember what happened last week? You went home down right drunk! I was even glad you didn't smash the car into a tree or a streetlight! God, John! And you just can't seem to separate your work life from home. The other night, I heard Ava talk to Mildred about an unfinished picture that you were supposed to do for her. Instead you got out a music sheet and starting drawing notes and clefs!"

"It was due the next morning, Liz!"

"For crying out loud, John! This isn't High School anymore!"

"I know!"

"Oh, really? Did you know that she'll cry about it? Did you know that she might not be able to depend on you on things like this? She won't forget this for the rest of her life, John. We're both struggling to make it all up to Ava and it looks like we're failing."

John heavily sighed, thinking about what Liz had just said. He looked at her again.

"Ava's not the problem here." He said.

"Then who is?" Liz answered then she crossed her arms on her chest.

"It's us."

"John, it's clear to me."

Suddenly, Liz burst into tears. It's as if she cried for the first time in her entire life because she dropped to the floor on both knees, sobbing madly like a little girl. John rushed towards her and held her in his arms.

"What happened to us, John? Did we lose it?"

"I don't know, Liz. I'm afraid we have to find out."

They both had an idea on what they were missing, but they were not sure about it. Endless questions without profound answers are swarming in their heads continuously.

"I thought I could just ignore it, bury myself deep in work, but it was always in my mind. Every waking moment of my life, all I could think about is us. It's obvious that we can't be the same like before and I wish we could start over, but there's not enough time to do it. I don't know where to begin." Then she broke free from his arms and headed to the window. He followed and stood behind her.

"I'm sorry I forgot to pay, for coming home drunk, and for not giving much attention to Ava. I love her more than my life and you know that, Liz. But when it comes to us, it seems like we're not there. We're always out of the picture. We come home feeling tired and miserable from work and that's not going to change anymore. We're fixated on our pursuits and it will go on forever."

Then Liz faced him.

"It's also hard keeping it that way. I wanted to give up and swallow my pride, but I just can't. There's always something that stops me. I continue to trick my mind into thinking that there's nothing wrong and everything's alright, that you are the same man I knew when we were young. But I guess I made a mistake; I didn't really know you at all."

"Then why did you marry me?"

"I married you because I was so deeply in love with you. You were with me throughout my life and I wanted to start a family with you. It's hard understanding things now. We're like strangers and it hurts me so damn much!"

"Well I'm hurt, too!"

Liz walked away slowly from John and headed to the kitchen for a glass of water and he went outside.

I think it's best if we don't see each other for a while. I can't stand looking into your eyes, aware that we're hurting each other.

They thought.