Sympathy for the Devil by Billy London

told me to keep an eye on her and I had. The fact he was telling me to leave well alone, really irritated me. “The fuck do you know about it? You’ve had colds longer than you’ve had a girlfriend.”
           “For good reason. At the very least, a cold builds my immune system.” He took a swig of his beer and placed the empty bottle on the floor, reaching into his pocket for his menthols. “You’ve been together what, four months now?”
           “Yeah.”
           “Against all advice. And what’s going on now? You don’t trust her. Because she hasn’t told you how her last relationship ended.”
           “Is this what you found out on Facebook?” I’d looked through my girlfriend’s page and found nothing incriminating. Unless she’d cleared posts and hid them from me.
           “She cheated on the last one. With his best friend. And that feeling you’ve got that something’s wrong? It’s because you know you won’t be able to keep hold of her for long.”
           He was right. He was always right, but fuck it if I gave him the satisfaction of letting him know. “She loves me.”
           “Really? She probably said that about the last guy. Do you want another drink? Soothe your ills?”
           “Stop it,” I fumed. “I get it, you don’t like her. But she’s not a cheat. She’s…”
           “Perfect?” He rolled his eyes. “Fuck’s sake, no one is perfect. She’s clearly made mistakes in her past and from the looks of things, those mistakes are ones she’s doomed to repeat.” Blowing a plume of smoke past me, he glanced down to where Toni had her head on Ben’s shoulder and she was gesturing to the club with a tilted beer bottle, splashing some club goers. “You’re never going to find perfection. In anyone. To expect perfection from her —it’s a mistake.”
           “Shut up!” I roared, the sound carrying over a dip in the music. It seemed everyone in the club turned to stare at me. “Just shut up about her. I don’t want to hear any more. We’re fine as we are. I trust her.”
           “Bullshit you do.” Pierce sent me a smirk of disgust. “When you see sense, I won’t say I told you so. I won’t even say it doesn’t matter. Just be very aware that you’re risking a friendship for someone who doesn’t know how to be faithful.”
           “I said don’t talk about her. If you have any respect for me, you won’t.”
           Pierce flicked his cigarette to the floor. “Lacking in the respect department for you, Weston. But I won’t say anything else. You clearly don’t want to listen.” He turned on his heel and disappeared into the throng of the club. Enough of this , I thought, storming downstairs. I walked up to Toni and held out my hand to her.
           “We’re going.”
           Ben and Toni both gazed at me. “Really?” Toni seemed flustered. “What’s happened?”
           “I’ve had enough of this place and I want to go home.”
           Ben held out a restraining hand. “Listen, we haven’t seen each other in almost a year. We just want to catch up.”
           “On your own time,” I seethed. “Come on, Toni.”
           She put down her beer bottle and kissed Ben on the cheek. “See you.”
           With her hand tightly and reassuringly in mine, I hurried her through the club and to the tube station. Flustered by men selling incense and others smoking weed so strong it made my eyes sting, we rushed to the safety of the Victoria Line. We leapt onto the next tube just as the doors beeped their closure and Toni released me.
           “What?” I demanded, sensing her dissatisfaction.
           “You didn’t have to drag me out like a child,” she said on a huff. “I don’t need you watching me all the time!”
           “I wasn’t watching you. I wanted to go. If you wanted to stay you should have said