"Can you come out? I'm already waiting."

Gabrielle sprinted out of the house letting the wind cover her with raindrops. It was bouncing from every hard surface, leaving nonsimultaneous noises along with neon glow from the street lights. The water hit her skin as it would go straight through, instantly making her soaking wet.

He was already waiting. Water running down his face created a much more appealing image than ever. She felt her heart jump a little when they crashed into each other's arms. It felt like home. Where they both always belonged.

"You're so wet," she giggled brushing away sticky hair strings away from his perfect shaped face.

He kept silent, expression hard to read: not because the wet mist was blurring it. The pale sharp face was colliding with secure arms around her. The whole presence was more than confusing: she couldn't help but sense only emptiness flowing from his embrace.

Gabrielle stood on her toes trying to make herself same height as him just to be hit by a blank stare. She examined his face, searching for any hint clarifying all the doubts shadowing that beautiful image. The coldness crept under her clothes, spreading across the skin.

"Is something wrong?"

His fingers moved up her cheek and returned the smile but for a brief moment. The roughness of his skin felt almost like lacy ice: even though his thumb moved along with the traces raindrops left, it still felt distant. Meaningless motions scared her, forcing the body to react with shivers. His hand was colder than the water but she let it stay no matter what.

"Do you remember the one manager which helped me to record my first songs?" his whispers were as cold as the weather ."Charlotte introduced him to me and we worked together for a while. I spent night after night creating my future in the studio. You were there. Do you remember that huge studio?"

Gabrielle nod in agreement: how could she forget? His breaths were full only when the recording nights feathered his wide wings for a thrilling flight. It was clear, that his soothing yet powerful voice was nothing but music and grace. That was the time she learned what true happiness meant to him. It replaced her customary noble grin into a radiant smile, showing exploding emotions she never thought she had.

"The songs have hit the radio stations. It made such a huge jump so fast. Probably the best thing that happened to me since you."

Her smile found a narrow way back to her lips, willing to share everything he was about to pour out like they always did. As others were creating conspiracies, of his pride growing without notice, she stayed by his side.

But now, when she looked him straight in the eyes she saw nothing. Each drop of love was hitting the ground with the rain, blending with the feet growing into the ground. His arms accepted her only for a brief time: he grabbed her shoulders and placed her steadily in front. Gabrielle froze. The lightning struck revealing sharp facial features and she shivered.

"Gabrielle...Charlotte offered me a contract with the same manager. I don't know how long it will last. Could be months. Could be years. I would have my own recording room. My own team. I could create something beautiful...You know it's everything I ever wished for," his eyes were flashing with sparkles and it raised Gabrielle's pulse. She knew there was no place for her in that blunt excitement. "I can get it if I want to. And I do. Very much."

Her heart beat like a drum notifying about a panic attack. The lungs became a steel trap, paralyzing the body as it felt numb with his fingers sinking into her shoulders. As it applied more pressure, she could see her body levitating and crashing hard into the same ocean as him. But she was the only one who was drowning with no escape while he was ready to swim further.

"If I say yes, she will take me to him. And I'll get all I want. With a price," he took a small pause to lock his look to her so she sees every small flinch in him as the words flow. "I must go with Charlotte to England. It's where the studio is placed. She is his assistant and would be mine as well. That is why she must come with me and stay for the whole contract time. The studio has the equipment and everything a starting singer would need. England would a place for me to bring dreams into reality."

"What are you saying?" Gabrielle whispered already knowing the answer. His plain face announced the verdict mutely and she felt the first piece of her being ripped out. "But...What does this mean for us? You know I can't go with you. I have school, I have a family, I have..."

"I know."

The deadly silence laid on her skin like a poison. It seeped under her skin paralyzing the brain, traveling into the limbs as he released her. He wasn't there anymore to save her feelings, to refill the void with affection and appreciation. Now he just wanted to disappear fast, at the same time memorizing the details of her image. Gabrielle started at those already so dark eyes as her heart fell silent: she couldn't will the lips as if she would be stuck underwater.

The darkness that shrouded them both was far more than just an absence of light. It was thick and heavy, almost unnatural and yet the most painful. It hung in the air like a suspended moment before a falling glass shatters on the ground and Gabrielle desired to catch it.

"No...You can't leave me..." her voice cut the air stepping closer to him. With each step coming closer, he stepped back. "You can't leave me like that...We have to figure something out...Just don't walk away like that, please..."

Rain and tears mingled on her face, salty tracks blending into the flesh leaving fresh cuts. Everything was blurry at this point, her eyes only recognizing his perfect shape. Her insides felt as raw as if the winter wind would blow right through her skinless body. Her fingers reached for his elbow, already physically feeling the heartbreaking into two aching pieces yet still sorely beating. It still craved for even the smallest taste of his presence: as it could collect the fading particles, remember how they feel, how his scent lands and remains on her skin.

"Please stay..." her fingers slid up his arm but he pushed away like an irritating insect.

"We leave early in the morning. I have packing to do. I just came here to say a fast..."

The words cut through his throat as he couldn't finish the sentence, leaving the burning taste on the tongue. Gabrielle desperately looked for any signs of compassion, a glimpse of same pain but even if it was there. He masked it perfectly. Each emotion was pushed from her being, leaving nothing but spasming sadness: where once was love, now is an aching hollowness.

"You can't simply walk away like that! You promised you would stay if this happens! You promised..."

It was difficult to decide what hurt more: to see him walk away or to recall all the times he guaranteed that he wouldn't. The thunder mixed with turbulent salty water, slowly filling her with the bitterness she can't control. No longer she felt the ground under her feet, the mind devoid of the light he had given. Her thoughts fell into an endlessly repeating loop of questions and made promises that were broken within a minute.

"You promised...You said you would love me no matter what...you said you would..." words could barely leave her mouth not wanting to admit the truth. "You don't get to break those promises! You don't get to say you love me and then walk away! Is this all I mean to you? Don't I deserve a better reason?"

He still looked at her with the same blank expression and it was punching Gabrielle more than echoing words he left her with. She let out a scream like it would hurt him as half bad as he was hurting her now. As it would make everything better or at least easier and threw herself at him: tiny fists containing great pain should have destroyed him until he is as ripped as her. But it was no use. Muscular hands caught it with no effort and pressed it hard. He forced her to face him and she saw nothing but rage which would have frightened her since he never looked at her that way. But she wasn't afraid. There was no place in her heart for fear. All the feelings were stolen from her, piece by piece until she was nothing but a deep dark void. He kept the look firm and straight, challenging her to search for a spark of regret.

"You are going to regret this very much. I promise you, one day you will look back again but I'm not going to be there." she naively waited for a response but there was nothing but haunting silence. In a time of a second she made the same decision as he. "If you walk away now, I'm not going to chase you. There will be no us again," all the worst ideas were crossing her head banging into her doors. The unreasonable explanations were waiting and she let them in. "Just please promise me...Promise me it's only the studio, music. Because if Charlotte plays a bigger role here than you tell me..."

The face was now petrified and the mute answer was more than enough to eliminate the oxygen in Gabrielle's lungs. Charlotte entered her mind, burning all the memories and dreams, turning everything into nightmares. It came in crashing waves, with one second promising a pleasing relief, and the other hitting with toxins.

His fingers released letting her hit the ground, but it wasn't as solid as his silence. Only a lover could cut so deep. That was the greatest heartache, to know he is the tool to her overwhelming pain. Any other torment would come and go and she would still bounce right back. But he accomplished to do far worse with just a few sentences. A part of her knew he didn't mean them, but in a way, it all made worse.

"One day you're going to remember me and how much I loved you. And then you're going to hate yourself for leaving me like that," the cries overtook the storm looking straight to him. "I promise, you're going to look back at me and wonder why you walked away!"

He stood still watching her shaking and bleeding from fresh wounds. For a moment she thought she saw that spark of qualm, ready to melt her icy heart but it was gone within the second. He turned away leaving her broken into a million shards. The devastation was absolute, forcing the raw pain as his shadow disappeared taking her happiness in his pocket. Gabrielle stained the ground with salty water, choking on the air as her head hang low, heavy as the thoughts of him.