Always say no (to mind control).
Despite having good company to keep him form being overly upset, Avalon can't quite get Henry and Katima out from under his skin. He and Josh had even taken to sleeping in the same bed, though their sharing was much more innocent than anyone else would probably think.  It's not jealousy that he feels, but heartbreak - and Avalon knows it.  Avalon knows himself and knows his emotions well enough that he can see what has happened.  He knows that he is a fool, that he never should have let himself get into this position..  but none the less, here he is.

The night of the party, Avalon got his worst and most hurtful shock. Right after meeting the wonderful Katima, and just when he was going to go seek his partner out to try and connect again and keep his word to Katima about telling Henry his secret... he walked up the stairs just in time to seeing them kiss and the door shut. Soon after that, Avalon was forced out of the house, Josh in tow, for fear for his own sanity. It wasn't Katima who he had a problem with though, it was Henry.

At this point in his life, Avalon hasn't known much; not in comparison with other kids his age. He's never had a girl (or boy) friend, he's never driven a car. He's never really had a best friend, or a group of peers to belong to. He was born into slavery, and spent the first half of his life taking orders and doing as he was told. he was beaten and forced to do a multitude of things that should have broken him.

Hope was, and is, what keeps Avalon alive. Hope for a better future, hope for a brighter tomorrow. Hope that, in the end, all will turn out as it was meant to be. Right now, however, Henry Jordan has all but broken this Blue Lantern's ability to find that Hope, no matter how black the night might get.

There is something that Avalon has experienced now that he has come to Earth for the first time, and that is heartbreak. It is the heartbreak that drives him to leave the house to go flying with little more than three word to Henry. With those three words he was off into the dying light of the day, his wings spread wide and his face turned to the sky.

Those wings on Avalon's back aren't just for show. He is an accomplished flier, and fast to boot. In the dim light, he doesn't fear being seen, all he cares about is flying. Flying until the wind and the rush of blood in his ears erases everything else. Flying until his lungs feel like they are about to explode and he's going to fall out of the sky if he doesn't find a place to rest.

Avalon has been this far out before, and knows the area somewhat. He finds a clear area to land out in the boonies away from where there were any lights, and found himself groaning aloud as he lands. Fool. What a fool I've been. he thinks to himself, a hand coming up to rub at his face. Days later, he still can't get the sounds of Henry and Katima out of his head. It's not really the act it's self that bothers him so much, but the fact that.. well.. that his world revolves around Henry Jordan and Henry Jordan barely even knows that he exists. ANd it's terrible, and gut wrenching - especially when Avalon thinks about how he flew across thousands of sectors to be on Earth, to turn his back on his whole planet and come here to be Henry Jordan's partner.

Maybe it was a mistranslation from the ring, but the direct translation for the English word partner roughly meant mate to Avalon. The belief systems and structures and laws are completely different on Nalor. On Nalor they don't recognize married or engaged or just living together or dating. You are either partners with someone, or you are not. To take someone on as your partner was a very big undertaking.

And Avalon had done all of this willingly, with an open heart and a foolish dream that everything would work out. Well it wasn't working out, and Avalon's aching chest is damning proof. Avalon knew he has made a mistake. He was in love with an idea, a notion that he had dreamed up to make himself warm at night. Something easy to believe when the world was seen through rosy blue tinted glasses.

Well. No more. Avalon finds himself refusing to let his heart be stomped on - especially by someone so thick headed and arrogant and oblivious as the great Prince Henry. No. Henry will not now about this pain, and neither will anyone else - especially the wonderful Katima. Josh and Katima are the only bright spots in all of this for Avalon. In all honesty, were it not for his sacred duty to the Blue Lanterns and the oath had taken, he just might have been considering calling things quit and going home.

All of this is what's running through his head though, keeping him nice and distracted from his surroundings. He doesn't realize he's not exactly alone.