It took Max three failed attempts at finding the lock with his car key before he decided that he was too drunk to drive. “Do you...ahh...do you mind if we walk?”

Lily grinned. Her face was deeply flushed, but whether this was from the exertion of singing, the booze, or some other, private reason, Max wasn’t sure. “I was just about to suggest that. It’s only a couple of miles to my place, and it’s a warm night anyhow.”

“It IS warm isn't it? It might even be forty.”

The couple walked together past melting snow drifts, Lily snaking her arm around his without a word. The evening had the smell of false spring about it, the odor of thaw and moist earth that people desperate for the end of winter find so alluring.

“Well,” Lily began. “After all your complaining...be honest. You had a good time tonight, didn’t you?”

Max chuffed. “It wasn’t awful, I GUESS.”

“Oh come ON,” she cried, pinching him on the forearm. “You were going for it! I mean, you totally gave it everything you had! Granted, you probably should have kept some of it for yourself, but...”

He raised his eyebrows. “What’s THAT suppose to mean?”

“You can’t sing,” she told him, slurring her speech so the word came out ‘sching.’ “Don’t worry about it. You’ve got other good qualities.”

“Such as?” he asked, glaring.

“Oh, I'm sorry. I said you've got good qualities – I didn't mean to imply that I knew what any of them actually WERE.” She stuck her tongue out at him, grinning from ear to ear.

He pulled his arm out of her grasp, the motion causing him to briefly lose his balance. “Wow. You know what Lily? You aren’t nice.”

“Don’t start with that again. You're way more attractive when you aren’t acting like a little bitch.” She reached for him again.

Begrudgingly he took her hand, though he continued to give her the evil eye. “I don’t get it. Why always with the vitriol? You’ve been busting my balls, like seriously, since the day we met. Now we’re on a date, and you’re still doing it. So, seriously. Why?”

Lily stopped. She stared up into his eyes wistfully. Then, without pretext, she punched him in the chest. Hard.

“Hey! What the hell?”

Another blow came in. Max dodged.

“When you were in pre-school, was there ever a girl that would come up and start beating on you for no good reason?” As she spoke, Lily continued to rain punches down upon him.

“What’s your problem?” he yelled, blocking yet another attack. “Yeah. Sara Cummings. The whore used to kick sand in my face on the playground every day.”

Suddenly Lily took a step forward and shoved him. Max tumbled backward, landing in a wet pile of snow. She stood over him, her arms crossed in satisfaction. “I’ve got news for you, kid. Little Sara had a crush on you.”

Lily reached down, and offered him her arm. He took it, and she hoisted him to his feet. They walked on in silence. The night was cloudless, and a half moon was just clearing the horizon, casting a pale blue light over them. Lily shone brilliantly, her coppery skin glowing with an electric radiance.

“Since the day we met?” he asked, after what felt like an eternity.

She nodded slowly.

“Did it ever occur to you that, if you wanted me to like you back, being NICE would've been more effective than riding my ass every day?”

Lily spun, fixing him with a fiery glare. “Of COURSE it occurred to me! I’m...I just....” She sighed, hanging her head. “I don’t know how to be any other way.”

Max shook his head. “I don’t understand you.”

She smiled at him sadly. “Do you really want me to spell this out for you? Fine. How long ago was it that I was walking around as some little dwarf – just four and a half feet tall. A week? Ten days? Do you have any idea what it's like to live your entire LIFE that way?”

“What are you trying to tell me? That you act like a bitch to compensate? Do you have some sort of....”

“If you were about to say ‘Napoleon complex….’” Lily interrupted, pounding her fist into her hand.

“I wasn’t.”

“Good. My arms are too tired to keep punching you anyway.” Lily took a deep breath, putting her hands behind her head. “To compensate…that isn’t quite right. Maybe more like…to not get ignored completely.”

“But what about now?” he asked, putting his arm around her. “You aren’t short anymore. You’re a perfectly normal height for a woman, and so attractive that nobody could ignore you, even if they tried.”

Lily shrugged. “Age-old habits die hard, I guess. Or maybe I'll mellow out a bit once I decide I'm tall enough.”

Max coughed. “So you weren’t kidding. You really DO want to keep growing.”

“Of course I do! More than anything! So much that...well okay, how about this: have you ever wondered why I let YOU hold on to what is, after all, OUR drug? I mean, we had an agreement to split it. Why do you think I haven’t demanded my cut?”

Max thought about it for a moment, and shook his head. “I have no idea.”

“Because I don’t trust myself.” Her face broke out in a wolfish grin. “I wouldn’t last ten minutes alone with it before I’d be dosing myself up again. It feels incredible to be this tall, especially after all those years looking like one of the Keebler elves. Never mind the pleasure I get from the actual PROCESS of growing. Or what tends to happen…afterward.” She gave him a wink.

“So, you let me control how much you get. I’m your gatekeeper?”

“I usually think of you more like the control rods for my nuclear reactor. You keep me from melting down.” She stepped in front of him, stopping with her face only inches from his. “And it’s a good thing too. Because even right now, all I can think about is going critical.”

Max snickered. “Okay then, answer me this: how much is enough? Would you want to be five foot ten? Six feet? I’m not talking about just for a night – I mean forever.”

Lily sniffed disdainfully. “Those numbers? They aren’t even close. Keep going.”

“Six foot six?”

She shook her head.

“Seven? Eight feet tall. Seriously? Okay, ten.”

Lily was making a twirling motion with her finger. Keep going.

“That’s bull-shit!” he exclaimed, laughing, hearing the nervousness in his voice. “You would hate your life if you were that tall!”

“Maybe I would at that. But right now, it sounds like the most wonderful thing I can imagine. Except maybe being eleven feet tall.”

They were in front of Lily’s house now. She lead him up the steps of her front porch and stood gazing at him, her eyes polished mirrors of moonglow. “Look Max. I don’t know if I’m ever going to stop being this way. Acting like a total bitch, I mean. Even if the reasons for it no longer exist. But just remember...each cutting little remark, every time I put you down in front of your friends, or tell you you're terrible in bed...it’s just my way of saying that I care about you.”

Without another word, Lily turned away. She pulled her keys from her pocket, and began to unlock the door.

“Wow, I don’t even get a good-night kiss?” he asked, shaking his head in dismay.

“No, you don’t.” Lily looked over her shoulder, smirking at him. “You get to come in.” She held the door open.

Inside, Lily tossed her jacket on the floor and headed for the bedroom. “Make yourself at home. I’m going to put on my pajamas really quick. Oh, and would you mind bringing me a glass of water? Second cupboard on the left.”

Max found her a cup, but then he held it in his hand, just staring at it. Lily had given him so much to think about tonight. But at this moment, the only thing on his mind was her insistence that, above anything else, the thing she most desired was to be taller.

He pulled the syringe from his pocket. Without bothering to measure, he squeezed a huge dose into her cup – larger than he had seen anyone take before.

There was an instant when he wondered if this was a good idea, if he wasn't about to make a terrible mistake. It was a serious question, with important moral and philosophical implications, and he would have to reflect upon when he had the time. Right now, there was a very thirsty lady waiting for him in the next room.