You Don't Know As Much As You Think (Belle)

[Lucah Ivaskov]

PMS-ing? Little girl? What the hell?! Things had gone from bad to far worse in a matter of days. He'd actually been okay after talking to Lyssa about his encounter with Belle. Things were somewhat good. Until Romeo comes striding into the dorm, straight to Luc's room just to tell him all about what his loving ex girlfriend was saying about him. Belle was supposed to be the girl he'd always have to talk to, someone who understood him even when he was pushing her away. That had all ended in the library when she told him just how disappointed Jez and his mother would be in him. As if she had any idea of who they were as people. She thought she knew him so well, but clearly she didn't.

Believing an asshole like Romeo over a guy who she supposedly loved! What was with that? Okay, so Romeo was some big charmer to the ladies, but still! This was Lucah, the boy who had so many problems with trust and the idea of love that he was insecure about everything. The boy who'd shut himself off to the world and finally opened up to a shy girl with a stutter, just so she could believe the guy who'd pushed him to break up with her. The boy that she knew oh so well. Clearly she didn't know him as well as she thought. Romeo was the one who'd said all of those things to him and pushed his buttons about it all the time.

After hearing enough of what Romeo had to say about his new play thing, Lucah bolted out of the dorm in hopes of cooling off before he had to deal with anyone else. Romeo was lucky that Luc had so much self control. Still, it was bound to slip at any moment. The other boy was just asking for a sock to the eye and maybe a broken nose. Violence wasn't something Lucah liked resorting to, it wasn't gentlemanly, but for Romeo's case, he was more than willing to put the whole gentleman facade behind him if only for a moment. Punching Romeo was high on his list of things to do soon. Another was getting through to his ex that Romeo wasn't perfect. That Romeo was as much at fault as he was. Would she listen? Probably not.

Walking a little too fast for a stroll, Lucah made his way through the courtyard. He'd thought about going to the pond maybe, but not even the coolness of the water could extinguish his temper. This was a flaring temper that rarely passed the surface of his forever expressionless mask. Seeping through every pore was a burning hatred for Romeo and a dark disappointment in Belle for actually believing all of those things; for siding with Romeo.

Finally after finding a secluded area, Lucah stopped walking forward and instead began pacing back and forth in front of a tall tree. "Pmsing little girl?! I'm fairly certain I do not PMS ever and I could very easily show her that I'm not a girl. But Heaven forbid I do that, her purity might burn me. I just love how I'm the bad guy when Romeo was the one who started all of this! And she thinks she knows everything little thing about me! If she did, we wouldn't be in this situation!" A flow of Romanian curse words came flying out of his mouth and once they ended, both hands made their way to his hair and he nearly pulled it all out. From a distance, he looked insane, but up close, he just looked like a very confused little boy. A boy who thought he'd finally found someone who understood, but couldn't get close to.

Now he wasn't sure he could really open up to anyone.

[Belle Harrington]

Belle closed her book and looked around. The sun was beginning to set and she couldn't believe she had spent over three hours sitting out here reading The Hobbit, but she couldn't put it down. Standing up from under a random tree, Belle stretched her arms and legs and let out a small yawn. She wanted to go in now, maybe go get something to eat, and go back up to her dorm room and continue to read. Belle had found her love for books again, and loved the escape from reality they provided for her.

With a smile on her face, Belle tucked her pink hair behind her ears, before she made her way back towards the school, her book pressed against her chest. That's when she noticed the boy in the distance. He was pacing. Like a mad man. At first Belle didn't really pay an mind to the insane looking boy, from where she was she really couldn't tell who he was, and honestly she didn't really care. She just wanted to get some food in her system, and then lock herself up in her room to read some more.

But as she got closer to the pacing boy, Belle began to realize who he was. The very last person she wanted to see today, and she had a feeling her day was about to get ruined. Lately whenever Lucah was around or even mentioned Belle's day would be automatically ruined. It wasn't necessarily Lucah's fault, but Belle just wanted to avoid him. Stay away from the drama and pain Lucah had been causing her recently.

Looking away, Belle hoped to walk past the boy without him noticing her, but with her appearance lately it was hard for anyone NOT to notice the tiny pink haired girl walking around. Eyes on the ground, Belle walked past Lucah trying her best not to draw attention to herself. Her mind was running at this point, what if Romeo had told Lucah what she had said, but Belle shook her head, she didn't care.

She had to find out through Romeo that Lucah, the supposed love of her life, had already moved on. Lucah hadn't had the guts to tell her himself, and he had allowed her to hurt and wonder why he had suddenly dumped her. Because he thought she was whoring herself out when she was actually studying her butt off so she could make him proud of her marks. She had seen how aggressive he was towards school and making good marks, and she had just wanted to make him proud.

Grumbling under her breath now, Belle had to stop herself from turning around and slapping the boy across the face. She knew it wasn't going to help the situation at all, and would only make things worse. So she did her best to stay quiet and try to rush back to the school without being noticed.

That's when Belle tripped and collided with the floor. She had been so lost in thought and trying to be unnoticed that she didn't noticed the rock that tripped her. Whimpering, Belle sat up and held her now bleeding knee, as she looked around for her book which seemed to have been thrown out of her hands.

[Lucah Ivaskov]

Oblivious wasn't in Lucah's vocabulary. It never had been. He saw everything all the time even if he didn't want to. So the fact that a pink haired girl was walking through the courtyard hadn't gone unnoticed by him, but he didn't realize who it was. Not yet. He was far too busy pacing back and forth repeatedly because he couldn't do anything else without someone finding him. He didn't want to be found and he was glad when the girl didn't even approach him to ask what was wrong.

But when she passed by him, he caught a glimpse and that glimpse very nearly made him trip over his own feet. Instead of him tripping, it was her who had tripped. The bloody knee brought him back to when Jezebel had gotten hurt once when she'd tried riding a bike for the first time. She'd fallen off, and Lucah wasn't fast enough to catch her, so she'd gotten hurt regardless. The memory nearly made him break right then and there in front of the girl he'd just been so furious with.

Lucah wasn't a mean person though, no matter what everyone else thought. He wouldn't just scream at her while she was hurt and bleeding. With a deep sigh and a bit of irritation aimed at himself, he knelt down beside her, setting the book that slid over towards him down next to her. He pulled out a tissue, (he carried them around because, well he didn't even know why) and handed it to her. Had the situation and tension been different, he would have helped patch up the wound himself, but he had a feeling it was not the smartest idea. She hated him, and he was still a little irked at her.

"You alright?" He asked trying to make his voice sound just as cold as it had been before. The fact that she was injured didn't help his case. Worry had crept in and warmed his voice and made it much softer than he intended. This was Belle after all, he didn't hate her, he still cared about her a lot more than he liked to admit.

As polite as he sounded, his mind was still working hard. Why should he be so nice to her when clearly she didn't give a shit about him? This was what he saw as weakness, and though he wanted to change it...he knew he couldn't.

[Belle Harrington]

Belle looked up when she heard Lucah speaking to her. When he asked if she was alright, Belle just nodded her head and looked back down to her knee. She hated falling, and even though she was seventeen she was still a big baby when she was hurt. But she didn't want Lucah to see her upset about her injury. Accepting the tissue, Belle patted the blood from her knee, and then placed the used tissue into her pocket.

Picking up her book which Lucah had returned to her, she stood up and looked down again at her knee again. How could she have been so blind? How did she not noticed the stupid rock? All she wanted was to get back to the school unnoticed. She didn't need this right now, and she just wanted to run away, but she knew she couldn't do that now. Not after he came and helped her out.

Belle had noticed that when Lucah spoke he didn't sound as cold and heartless as he had during their run in in the library. He almost sounded normal to her this time, and she couldn't understand why. Why was he being nice to her? Why was he caring? She couldn't understand him. Hadn't he moved on? Wasn't he happy with his werewolf? Belle frowned and looked down at her book, brushing the dirt and grass off of it.

"I'm a-alright" Belle said quietly, brushing the grass and dirt off of her clothes, trying her best to avoid contact with her knee. Tucking her pink hair behind her ears again, Belle awkwardly looked around, and then allowed herself to look at Lucah. Green on blue once again, Belle could feel her heart melt as she looked at her ex.

She wanted to be mad at him. She wanted to hate him, but she couldn't. Not when he stood infront of her. Not when he was so close to her. Belle just wanted to break down and cry and beg for his forgiveness about how she had talked about him to Romeo. She wanted to fall into his arms, and cry about how she was hurting and how she had missed him, but she had to stop herself and stay strong.

"Th-th-thanks L-Lucah," She said with a small painful smile, tears coming to her eyes, as she turned around and started to limp back to the school.

[Lucah Ivaskov]

Lucah couldn't help but think of Jez whenever he was with Belle. They were both so painfully optimistic and innocent. They both had a firm grasp on his heart even when he tried so hard to let go. So, seeing Belle injured and on the verge of tears made Lucah's irritation evaporate into thin air. It wasn't exactly fair to him. He had every right to be frustrated with her and mad, but then again so did she. Why was it so complicated to just stay angry and distant with her?

Considering he'd helped her and she hadn't thrown a fit was a good sign. Hell, maybe they could work it all out and be friends. That was all he wanted. No, it wouldn't be the same as before, but it was better than what was happening now. Both of them were bad mouthing the other and trying so hard to forget each other, but the best thing for both of them would be staying in each other's lives. Lucah needed someone who understood him, Belle needed a protector and Romeo was definitely not suitable.

When she spoke, Lucah couldn't look at her. He wanted to keep the shred of irritation there so that he could confront her about it. They needed to talk about all of this. He needed to tell her about Alyssa and she needed to understand that Romeo was probably the worst friend for her to have. Maybe if he could get through to her things would be better. No more drama between them, just friends.

He met her eyes as she looked up and the irritation started slipping. She had this expression on her face that always made him feel so awful. Guilty even. He had no reason to feel guilty though, did he? Yes, he'd found Alyssa and all, but that was after he'd broken up with her. He hadn't cheated. He didn't even expect to look at another girl for months. So was it his fault that he'd stumbled across a girl with a beautiful voice and a story close to his own? He didn't think so, but would Belle?

She thanked him and turned to walk away, tears filling her eyes. Just like that she was leaving? That wasn't how this was going to go, she couldn't keep running away from him every time something happened. He reached out and took a hold of her wrist, not forcefully, but just enough for her to stop, "Belle we have to talk. I know what Romeo said to you and I know what you said about me..." Luc's voice cracked at the end and cursed silently to himself. Great way to show just how much this was costing him.

[Belle Harrington]

Belle stopped when Lucah took hold on her wrist. She wanted to just viciously pull her hand away from Lucah and slap him, but she took a deep breath and turned around tears streaming down her eyes. "Y-yeah. I f-figured you kn-kn-knew," She said with a frown, as her gaze fell on their hands. It wasn't what she wanted, their fingers intertwined, but at least he was touching her.

Belle glanced back up to Lucah's face, and the anger rushed back. "Wh-wh-what do we n-need to t-talk about L-L-Lucah?" She almost hissed at the boy. "Y-y-you have th-that w-w-w-wolf now, why d-do y-you n-need th-this me anymore?" Slowly her words went from understandable to drowned out by her cries. All that could be understood as Belle cried were, Romeo, Wolf (over and over again), Bird, and heartless. She felt like she was losing her mind. Why could she never have a happy day? One full day of just being happy. It never happened anymore. She was always said, always hurt. And he was the cause of it. This blue eyed boy infront of her who had torn out her heart and broken it.

Taking a deep breath to get a hold of her composure, Belle pulled her arm away from Lucah. "Y-you th-thought I was whoring my-myself out when I-I-I was st-studying to m-make you p-proud of my g-g-grades... Y-y-y-you moved on a-and found y-yourself a werewolf t-to be with, a-and you d-didn't t-tell me anything, e-e-ever. You n-never t-told me wh-when J-Jez left e-either. Wh-wh-why do y-y-you want to t-t-talk to y-your b-bird now?" And with that Belle spread out her wings.

"Wh-what is th-there to talk a-about L-Lucah?" She asked tears streaming down her face, and flapped her wings getting ready to take off. "I-I-I'm not J-J-Jez, L-Lucah. Y-y-you don't n-need to protect me a-a-anymore. I-I'm no longer y-your burden. I a-a-am sorry f-for what I s-said to R-Romeo but I-I-I was so up-upset. I-I-I had to f-f-find everything out f-from him." Belle yelled over the sound of her flapping. She was so ready to go, just fly away from everything and disappear. But she knew she couldn't. She couldn't just leave Lucah, she knew they needed each other. She understood him, no matter how much he didn't think she did, she did. And he protected her, and her innocent mind.

Stopping her wings, Belle fell onto her knees and cried into her hands. She couldn't run away anymore, Lucah had won. "Wh-wh-why L-L-Lucah...?" She asked tears running down her face, as the soulless green eyes looked up to him. "Y-y-you have the w-wolf. Wh-why m-me?" She whimpered, and looked down to the floor. "I-I l-l-lost everything wh-when you l-left. A-and I-I'm trying s-so h-hard to j-just forget. A-and you m-make it so hard. Wh-why L-Lucah? Wh-what is th-there to t-talk about a-a-anymore?"

[Lucah Ivaskov]

Unfair. Completely unfair. How was this even close to being fair?! She was crying and angry and hurt and stuttering. Wtf? Lucah could only take so much. He couldn't figure out whether he wanted to be angry or guilty or defensive. So all three came pouring out before he could even begin to think about what he was saying. She brought up Alyssa which made him angry, she asked him why he needed her which made him feel guilty and all the while he was on the defensive. Just pick one and stick with it.

He settled on anger at first, "That wolf? Belle you don't even know her! She didn't do a damn thing to you, I did. Leave her the fuck out of this. I get it. You're angry, you're hurt. What about me? How do you think I feel about all of this Belle?! To find out from my roommate who I have a mutual hate relationship with, that my ex girlfriend is talking shit about me behind my back after she tells me that my mother, whom she's never met, is disappointed in me! How the hell am I supposed to handle that Belle? How about this, you can go to someone who actually knows me better than that prick Romeo before you start assuming things." His hands were trembling at this point and his voice kept cracking. "You have no idea how hard this has been for me."

She yanked her arm away from him and proceeded to go off which only fed into his anger and his pain. "I didn't think you were whoring yourself out Belle, Romeo put that shit in my head because he's an asshole like that. I was in a bad place and he just kept feeding into it. I didn't tell you about Jez leaving because I didn't want to bother you with MY problems. I had to deal with it on my own Belle, but it would have been nice if you came out of your room every once in a while. I understand studying, I do, but that was excessive. It's not like you're dumb!" He screamed surprised by the outburst of her wings. It didn't bother him though. He just kept shaking violently as his anger and frustration peaked. It was only a matter of time before he broke right there in front of her.

As the tears streamed down her cheeks, he dropped his eyes and let her speak. No, she wasn't Jezebel, but he wouldn't believe that she didn't need protection. The fact that she trusted Romeo's word told Lucah that she needed protection from jerks like that. She was never his burden, he'd never seen her like that and where she got the idea from he couldn't figure out. "You should have came to me Belle. If you were so damn worried about all of that shit, you could have talked to me! I didn't tell you about those things because the last time we talked wasn't exactly the best place for a conversation like this." His control was slipping and he tightened his hands into fists, clenching and unclenching as the tremors passed through him.

She fell to her knees, and Lucah's composure crumbled to the ground with her. Luc knelt down beside her and took her hands in his icy ones. His eyes bright and watery. "Because Belle, I don't want to lose the only other person who knows me like you do. I'm sick of being so cold and cruel. I can't take it anymore. I don't want to lose you Belle..." His voice cracked as her name left his lips and he released her hands, stood up and turned to walk away. He'd said what he had to, she clearly didn't want to hear it. "I'm sorry for causing you so much pain, but you won't have to see me much longer. As soon as I graduate...I'm out of here."

[Belle Harrington]

Belle felt like she had lost her mind. She was jumping all over the place, crying, screaming, stuttering. It was just a mess, and she was grateful they were outside doing this rather than in the library where they had met before. Her wings were out and she was so close to just flying away and leaving this world behind her, but she couldn't bring her feet off the ground. Inside she knew she could never leave Lucah alone.

"I n-never WENT to R-Romeo, he c-came to me!" Belle screeched at Lucah, taking offense in his accusation that she had gone running to Romeo. "And f-forgive me f-for w-wanting to m-make you proud!" She was screaming now, and no longer had control over it. The pain was so real and it hurt Belle's very core. Her heart felt like it was breaking over and over again.

When Belle fell to her knees she expected Lucah to walk away, she was done. She was broken. There was nothing left inside of her. She felt like her soul had left through her tears and she was just an empty shell of pain and tears. She couldn't take it anymore. With her face in her hands Belle cried. She cried over the loss of love between the two of them, she cried over the anger they now shared, and she cried over all the lost memories. The two of them had spent such wonderful times together, absolutely and ridiculously in love with each other. But it was over. Lucah had moved on, and Belle was stuck in the past and having her heart broken day by day.

That's when Lucah knelt down beside her and took her hands into his. A chill ran up Belle's back. His cold hands were still the same, so perfectly chill that they could cool you down when you were melting. Belle loved them. Belle's eyes met with Lucah's and seeing the tears in his eyes she could feel her heart break again. This was all too unbearable for her. She sat in silence as she listened to Lucah explain that he couldn't lose her too.

When Lucah got up and started walking away from her, Belle sat there and watched his back. At first she was just going to sit there and let him leave, but when she heard he was running back to Romania once he graduated Belle stood up, she wouldn't allow him to do that. She knew how his life was over there, and the person he would become. Her wings falling down her back, Belle chased after Lucah. Grabbing his hand, Belle stopped Lucah.

"T-tu i-i-iubesc, m-more than I-I did be-before and I'm sorry it's th-this way. If y-you ask me, I w-will stay. I'll al-always stay." Belle said softly as tears continued to run down her face, as she had started reciting parts of a poem she had written to Lucah in her diary. "I-I need you L-Lucah... No one c-can t-take your place. I-I never w-want to l-l-lose you, and if I-I-I had to, I would ch-choose you. So s-stay. P-p-please always st-stay L-Lucah. You're th-the one I hold onto, cause m-my heart w-would stop without y-you... "

Belle leaned forward and cried into Lucah's back her hand still holding onto his. "I will stay." Bringing her other hand, she gently grabbed onto Lucah's shirt. "I'll a-always stay." She knew she had to put her broken heart aside. Lucah needed her, and she was always going to be there for him. It broke her heart that he had moved on already, and it would continue breaking her heart knowing that she loved him so much, and he was with someone else. But Belle knew what she had to do. She decided she would stay by his side. No matter how much it hurt her, she just wanted to see Lucah happy.

"I'll always s-stay..."

[Lucah Ivaskov]

Lucah tried containing his anger. He knew it wasn't doing any good to yell and scream, but he had been dying to scream for so long. All the pent up anger and frustration and pain and stress...he needed to let it out and that meant a lot of yelling. It wasn't that he enjoyed being cruel to Belle like this, he really didn't, but he couldn't figure out a way to keep her in his life without bringing her down with him. Alyssa was tough enough to deal with him. Heck, she'd taught him one hell of a lesson after he got jealous once and more or less called her a walking STD. Belle would never be able to handle those types of situations. It was a wonder Lyssa still talked to him after that.

All he was trying to do was protect Belle like he said he would from day one. That day in the library when he saw her crying and he offered her protection from the cruelty of this world. He never thought he'd be the one she needed protection from, but since they first started dating he'd always been protecting her from himself. He knew that one way or another he'd hurt her and he was just getting it out of the way before the both got too attached. Luc needed a girl with a certain strength that could easily go off on him instead of buckle underneath his harsh remarks. He needed a girl who would fight with him at all times. Belle was finally fighting, but it was too late now.

"I don't give a fuck who went to who Belle! You still trusted him over me! That's always been our problem! First Rumor, now Romeo?!" He threw up his hands in exasperation. "Believe it or not Belle, I've always trusted you, even when Romeo filled my head with that bull shit. He wasn't the reason I broke up with you. I just couldn't keep walking on eggshells." His voice softened at the last sentence and he ran his shaking fingers through his hair. He'd finally said it, but the guilt still felt heavy in his stomach.

Lucah knew that everything he said today wouldn't mean much. They'd go on hating each other, she'd continue hanging out with Romeo, Romeo would end up hurting her and Lucah would finally hit him. Nothing would change, no matter how much he said. She didn't care anymore and she thought he didn't either. It was heart-breaking to know that Lucah, as cold as he pretended to be, still cared so much for her. He was the type of guy who cared about few, but those few people were more cared for than most and he would always care about them despite everything that happened.

Once he stood up and began his trek back to the dorm to face the boy who caused more frustration than most, he lost all of his hope. Would Jezebel be able to help him at this point? He wasn't entirely sure, but he would hopefully find out soon. That was when he felt a hand reach out for his. A familiar hand that had fit into his own for several months before. He couldn't look at her. He couldn't face her. The hope had drained from his eyes, hope for any sort of friendship.

She spoke and the familiarity of a Romanian phrase made his throat tighten with home-sickness. As she continued, the pain in his stomach only worsened and his chest began to ache. Why was she doing this to him? Why did she have to love him so much? It wasn't healthy and it made him feel so guilty it was literally causing him pain. "Belle, stop," He whispered in desperation. The tears in his eyes had began to fall and his voice was clearly broken. "Please, I can't. You deserve to move on, if you stay around me...there's no hope for that. I'll end up getting in your way and you need to be happy."

He turned around and placed his hands on the tops of her arms, "Look, I want a friendship for us...more than you know. But Belle you have got to get over me, it's the only way that this will work." Luc's fingers shook as he tilted her chin up so he could look down at her, "Find a guy. Someone who is worth your time. Someone who isn't Romeo preferably. I'll be here whenever you want to talk or vent or if anything goes wrong. But first and foremost, you need to move on. I can't keep hurting you just by being around, it kills me to know that I've caused you so much pain already." He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into a close hug, his tremors slowly coming to a stop. "I'll always care about you and I'll always be here."

[Belle Harrington]

Belle continued to softly cry into Lucah's back as he began speaking. He told her to stop, but she couldn't. Then he started telling her that she needed to move on, that there was basically no hope for them, and that she needed to be happy. Didn't he understand that he made her happy? That she still loved him, and she knew that deep down somewhere inside of him, he still loved her too.

When Lucah turned around and placed his hands on her, Belle stood there quietly and starred up at the blue eyed boy. She didn't know what to say anymore, after everything they just went through, after her making the decision to stay by Lucah's side for when he needed her, he was now telling her to move on. All he wanted was friendship, and though she wished will all her might they could be friends, she didn't know if it would happen, not with how much she still loved him.

He continued telling her about moving on, and Belle couldn't stop the tears that streamed down her face. Trying to look away, Belle allowed Lucah to tilt her chin up with his shaking hands, so the two could remain in eye contact. But Belle felt dead inside. She knew he saw her like Jez, as someone to protect and care about, but she didn't want that. She felt like she could protect herself now. She wanted him to love her like he did once.

Standing there in silence Belle even allowed for Lucah to wrap his cold hands around her tiny waist and pull her into an embrace. She even allowed for herself to hug him back, but she felt like she was going to explode. "I-I-I've t-tried moving on. I-I can't..." She cried and spoke into Lucah's chest.

Taking a step back, Belle shook her pink head. "Y-y-you love h-her already?" She asked timidly, eyes on the floor. She needed to know, obviously there was something about this girl that kept Lucah away. "Y-you love h-her m-more than y-you loved me?" Belle's green eyes raised from the floor and met the blue eyes. "T-tell me the t-truth. D-do you l-love this n-n-new girl m-more th-than y-you love me?" The tears continued down Belle's face, "T-t-tell me you l-love her m-more th-than me, a-and I'll m-move on. I-I-I'll leave you t-two a-alone."

This was it. The final stop, she needed to know if he loved the new girl, and if he did already she was gone. She would graciously move on, happily and excitedly, but Lucah would probably no longer exist to her, at least for awhile.

[Lucah Ivaskov]

He couldn't do this anymore. As soon as this was over, he wouldn't darken her doorstep any longer. Lucah knew when to back off and when he just needed to give someone space. Is presence was what made it so hard for Belle to move on and the guilt it put on him was excruciating. Sure, he'd see her around Hammel for the next two months or so, but he wouldn't make small talk and he wouldn't say hi. She'd be invisible to him and hopefully he'd become invisible to her as well. That was all he wanted, some closure.

Her crying was making it pretty difficult to keep a clear head though. Crying girls were his weakness, as he'd found out so many times before. The way she clung to him made him want to fall off the face of the earth. It wasn't right. It wasn't healthy. She had to move on. He didn't love her anymore. Or did he? He couldn't even think of that. If he thought back to how happy he'd been with her, he'd break and they'd be miserable together even with the facade of being happy.

But he did love her. He always would even if he denied it every time someone asked. He loved her more than anything.

"Belle you have to. This isn't healthy, you can't keep depending on me. It's not good for either of us and you know that. You're a smart girl, a very smart girl. You have to see that this wouldn't work out like w-" He cut off for a moment and quickly picked up on the sentence so that it wouldn't seem as if he were stumbling. "Like you want it to."

She asked him the question that he'd been thinking about for a while now. Did he love Lyssa already? Was it even possible for him to fall in love so quickly; or at all for that matter? "Belle...I don't know. I don't know if I love her and if I don't know if I love her then I sure as hell don't know if I love her more than I love you." His eyes slid shut and he gritted his teeth against his mistake. "More than I loved you. It doesn't matter either way, you and I are done and that's what matters."

He pulled back from her and shoved his hands in his pockets, "Just be sure to find a good guy, kid. You deserve a hell of a lot better." As he said the words, he turned around and walked back to the dorm. Tears were fresh in his eyes and he walked faster just so he wouldn't get caught by her again. If she stopped him again...he wouldn't be able to say no anymore. He'd crumble and tell her how much it killed him not being with her anymore.

Lucah's feet moved faster until he broke out into an all out sprint.

[Belle Harrington]

Belle stood there her head pressed against Lucah's back as she listened to Lucah talk. There was nothing she could say anymore. She had said all she could and all she could do now was listen to Lucah tell her what was best for her. He didn't know. She knew, and she knew that Lucah was what was best for her. But there was nothing Belle could do, if Lucah didn't want to be with her, then he didn't want to. There was not enough begging and crying Belle could do to change Lucah's mind. So she just stood there and listened.

She listened to him tell her that what she was doing was unhealthy, and that she no longer should depend on Lucah. As Lucah spoke, Belle could hear him stumble and this caught Belle's attention. Had he meant to say "we"? Did he mean to say that things wouldn't work out the way they wanted instead of just her? Did he want it too? Did he miss her too? But Belle just stood there in silence. She knew there was nothing she could do. When Lucah's mind was set on something, it was almost impossible to get him to change his mind.

Belle had been here before. Many months ago, when the two first expressed their love for each other. Lucah had panicked and ran away in fear. He was scared that he would just hurt her, and did what he thought was best for the both of them. And this was exactly what Lucah was doing again. He was freaking out, and he was scared, and he was trying to push her away to keep her safe.

As Lucah continued to talk Belle just stood and listened, she didn't want to interrupt Lucah, especially when he had so much to say. That's when Belle caught another slip up; he still loved her. Even though he tried to correct himself, Belle knew it was true. He still loved her, no matter how hard he tried to fight it and lie, deep down inside he knew that he still loved her.

But that's when he pulled away from her, and told her that things were done between the two and that was all that mattered. And Belle knew at that moment that even though she still loved him, and he still loved her, if Lucah no longer wanted to be with Belle than she had to move on. As Lucah walked away she could hear him tell her to find a good guy, because she deserved a lot better. But again, how did he know? Belle thought to herself. But she stood there in silence as she watched Lucah's walk turn into a jog and then a full out sprint.

Belle sat on the grass in silence as she watched Lucah run out of her life. That's when Belle cried harder than she ever had in her life. The heartbroken girl sat there for hours just crying as the world became darker and darker around her. It wasn't until Belle checked her phone and realized the time that she made her way inside and started writing.

((FIN))