"You're sure you'll be OK? I feel bad leaving you alone for so long. Maybe you can drive in with Mikey when you get back from work!" Joey continued. I simply dropped my jaw. After a few more minutes of negotiating with each other, EJ finally told Joey that it was okay with him if Joey came home a bit later than expected. But I was still stunned. Did my roommate actually just ask his boyfriend for permission to have dinner with me? What if EJ had refused Joey's pitiful request and demanded him home on time? Would Joey have broken his plans with me, his good friend and roommate, right then and there in order to come running home to his boyfriend of two-months? Why hadn't Joey simply informed EJ that he'd be home later than normal? In a world where we're all dying to make a connection, to get spiritually inside another person, I couldn't help but wonder: how close is too close?

We've all seen it happen. Some of us may have even experienced it first hand. Only few return safely. One day, you're talking with a close friend as usual, everything seems normal, they tell you about their latest romance like they're describing the Capulet's ball when suddenly, three weeks go by and you realize that you haven't heard from your friend since. You wonder if they've moved, been kidnapped, murdered, become a plate spinner in the Big Apple Circus ... until you realize the awful truth: they've been sucked into the Relationship Black Hole.