Brian opened his mouth to protest, but just like that, Valerie had popped the pill, and he wasn’t going to pretend she was a kid or pet and pry her mouth open to fish it out again. His knee-jerk reaction was to be worried she’d taken it –because he didn’t want any harm to come to her. Some people didn’t like how drugs hit them, and he’d pretty much kick his own ass if Valerie had a bad experience. If he’d known she would be downing one of those pills, he would have scrutinized his dealer a little more.

But she was a big girl. Probably had ten times the constitution he did. He swallowed the angst party at the same time she swallowed the pill.

“I can’t believe you did that,” he said, laughing nervously.

“Alright.” He took his, too, and leaned in to kiss her as the pill went down his throat. Both of his hands held her head, a possessive gesture that told his band mates anything they hadn’t figured out when Maddy yapped (which she had undoubtedly done). Brian ran his thumbs across her cheeks. He realized it was the first real public display of affection, and he had a paranoid feeling that everybody was staring, but it was still awesome. He ended the kiss and leaned into her ear. “This one makes me feel like you do. Kinda warm and loose and blurry around the edges. Then the room turns colors.”

On stage, the other band wrapped their set. The small crowd cheered. Immediately, Maddy flicked a guitar pick at them. “Let’s get a move on, Loverboy,” she called. The speed with which it happened meant that she’d been waiting for the right moment to do it.

“I’ve gotta help set up,” he said. “Don’t go anywhere, okay?”