Todd was a shell of the man he was before. Nothing remained from his former stardom, from the big stages and crowds of people cheering him on, from the man he fell so hard for... "Wallace," he murmured to himself, and clawed for another chicken wing in the KFC bucket he so desperately used to punish his own body with. He used the back of his hand to wipe his orange-smeared lips clean and dropped the half-eaten bone back into the bucket he had almost finished at this point. His slightly greasy, unkempt hair clung to his forehead just enough to expose his blank, lifeless eyes.

He wandered aimlessly through the main street of the Canadian metropolis and only looked up to not run into other pedestrians or scan the shops for other ways to fill his stomach with more food proudly rejected for the biggest part of his conscious life.

The first real emotion he felt today was his disappointment when he found the KFC bucket suddenly empty, except for the bones he left behind. He discarded the empty food container and felt the dehydration set in.

The cheap-looking coffee shop down the street seemed like the kind of milky sanctuary his thirsty body now craved.

Todd slowly dragged his body over to the entrance and pushed his way into the coffee shop.

"Milkshake with, uh, whatever, something with milk, big too," the former superstars slurred speech was almost unintelligible to the black-haired girl behind the counter.

"Milkshake with chocolate, coming right up on what name?" She asked the mess of a man, with a pen in one hand and a cup in the other.

"Todd Ingram, that's his name," a deep voice from further back behind the counter answered before Todd could say anything.

Todd looked up for the first time now, recognizing the voice of the former actor that was towering above him from behind the counter at this very moment.

Lucas looked Todd up and down for a few seconds, clearly surprised by the sight of the blond bassist that looked almost unrecognizable to any person that had ever met him in his prime; his still chicken wing smeared fingers left prints on the formerly clean counter; the white shirt he was wearing was stained and smelling like it had been worn for several days and his oily, unwashed hair didn't help Todd either.

Todd barely kept eye contact, clearly ashamed of who he had become since his first true love broke his heart so unceremoniously, rather looking to the side than confronting the judging glare of the other former league member.

Lucas finally broke the awkward silence that had just developed between the two. "You look like fucking ass Todd; what the fuck happened to you?" he said while sounding way less judging than Todd had expected from Lucas. Todd expected Lucas to use this moment to humiliate Todd and get his revenge on Todd for taking Ramona from him all those years ago. But instead of being pushed even lower by the former actor, he heard a slight tone of empathy in his slightly raspy voice.

"That's a long story, kinda." Todd finally spoke up and fought his instinct to immediately leave and flee the scene now after being recognized.

"Is 15 minutes enough?" Lucas answered while handing Todd the milkshake he ordered a few minutes ago, and he had already started to untie the knot of the apron he was wearing for his new job.

The bassist just nodded and sat down at the table Lucas gestured to. He sipped on his milkshake which symbolized him reaching his new low point on his self-punishment journey. Lucas didn't let Todd wait for long, quickly announcing his 15-minute break to his coworker before sitting down across from Todd. "So... what's up with all of this?" Lucas said and gestured to the entirety of Todd.

Todd sighed deeply and braced himself for the impact of having to own up to the reality of the situation. "Well, you ever felt sparks, like when kissing someone? That intoxicating feeling like you are on cloud nine and every breath in that person's presence makes you feel like you are high. You know that feeling?" Todd asked and clearly dwelled on the sweet memories he had with Wallace again, almost having a faint smile break through his frown.

"Yeah, what about it?" Lucas asked with genuine curiosity now.

"I felt them for the first time ever. In years of dating and sleeping around, I never felt them before, but now I finally had them, you know, and god, I never wanted to let that feeling go ever again..." Todd explained.

"Oh, let me guess, she dumped you." Lucas interluded.

"He didn't just dump me," Todd said, almost tearing up. Lucas decided against commenting on the sudden revelation that Todd wasn't entirely straight and kept on listening. "He told me it was all just a fling for him; he never liked me in the first place at all and just led me on. And even worse than that, Envy doesn't want to talk to me again, and the band is basically over now. Just like my acting career. Him rejecting me like that destroyed everything... I have nothing and no one left, aside from a broken heart." Todd couldn't fight his tears anymore and sobbed all over the arm he was pressing his face into now.

"And now you are even stopping with your vegan lifestyle. Goddamn Todd, that's pretty fucked up from he—him." Lucas sounded genuine in his attempt to comfort his former rival in romance, taken back by the far-reaching effect the heartbreak had on Todd.

Todd just whimpered in response and Lucas didn't really know what to do with the bundle of tears in front of him.

"Alright, listen, Todd – "Lucas put a hand on the distraught musician's shoulder and helped him up to look at him. "I have to continue working in a minute or two; how about you just come over to my place later today and then we can just talk about this, alright?" Todd looked up at him, slightly confused by the kind gesture that Lucas was extending towards him.

Lucas was kind of surprised by himself that he would just offer to meet up with him like that but something deep inside of him felt the need to help Todd get back on track. So he took a napkin and wrote down his number and address on it with a sharpie.

"I am done here at 6, so come over at around 7ish if you want to."

Todd dried his eyes up with his shirt sleeves and took the napkin from Lucas.

"Thanks Lucas... really" Todd sounded defeated but still appreciative of Lucas' attempt to help and got up from his slumped-over position, slowly making his way out of the coffee shop. Just before he reached the door, he heard Lucas's yell something in his direction: "Oh, and take a shower before you come, Todd."

Todd couldn't help but force a faint smile at the sarcastic comment from Lucas and leave the place behind him.

"So, a friend of yours?" Lucas's coworker asked him, full of curiosity, just after the door fell back into place. Lucas sighed shortly. "Something like that... he stole my girlfriend a few years ago, actually," he answered nonchalantly and went back to washing the cups behind the counter. His coworker was just staring at him in confusion.