STARSTRUCK BLVD,

when the unresolved psychosexuality of the relationship is way better than whatever resolution it might hypothetically have and actually its own being unresolved is the crux and the paradigm of what the characters have going on between them:

" yeah, true …" he pulls up his knee . rests his head on it and gives her a quiet glance . he can't imagine it . maybe that's all there is to this . he can't imagine letting go of his place, letting go of everything he never thought he would get, even if spending the rest of his life (always so definite) in l.a. with mara theoretically would surpass all and any dream he ever used to have. " i'm going to show them the picture you took of me next to the hollywood sign and they're going to be so impressed. " a stupid grin , because that particular trip was not at all representative of most of their activities. this summer ben had felt more space and there was nothing else to focus on than her and them and had been seeking each other out as if it would be the last time they would ever see each other.

she laughs around her straw, wind-whipped and all smiles. the summer's so fucking rosy, every morning to every night. --- why's he got to bring up any world outside of theirs? he knows better. "you have the chance," she tells him, it's right there, in the palm of her open hand. bookmarked on her phone for a few years now, actually --- a roomy one-bedroom unit that could drown in its sunlight, an airy hope of everything they could make their own, not too far from one of her favorite beaches --- and resurrected for consideration every october that hers and jack's lease comes close to expiring. jack announced he'd be moving out seven years ago, mara's going on year four of the same. if there's ever a time to cut the cord, it's now; if there's a bullet to bite, she needs ben to hold the gun.