A/N: Incredibly short, I know. Cut me some slack, it was past 4 in the morning.
"Grace! You promised yourself to me! Does that mean nothing to you?"
"Please, Tiernan…!"
He couldn't take it. The situation at hand was unbearable. Grace- his Grace!- was going to marry one of those loathsome O'Flaherty men.
His Grace. He scoffed, kicking up sand as he treaded sulkily across the beach, hands shoved into his pockets. Not anymore, she wasn't.
"Please, Tiernan…"
"No!" he mumbled wearily to himself. "Don't 'please Tiernan' me. You're the one who accepted. You're the one who completely rejected the fact that we love each other. Don't you dare 'please Tiernan' me!"
He stopped himself momentarily, shaking his head and smirking cynically. Now he was talking to himself. Brilliant! He wasn't going mad at all. Mad with anger, mad with jealousy, mad with betrayal, mad with love… no, Tiernan was perfectly sane! In his own little world, that was.
A world that wasn't here. A world where Grace was his and Donal O'Flaherty was nonexistent. A perfect world. But perfect worlds don't exist. In truth, they never had, as much as he willed them to.
"Please, Tiernan…"
Her last words directed to him echoed in his head, which any other time would've worried him, but not now. They mocked him.
"Please, Tiernan. Please understand. I'm running off with a man I don't love for the sake of Ireland. Please try and understand, Tiernan."
"I don't understand, Grace!" he finally shouted, dropping to his knees in the sand and seating himself there. He sat cross legged for a moment, staring at the ocean, then pulled his knees to his chest and folded his arms over them. "I don't understand, and I don't think I ever will! I don't understand because I love you, Grace! And I can't let you marry him!"
Of course, there was nothing he could do to stop the wedding. That had been made perfectly clear. Damn you, Donal O'Flaherty, he cursed to himself. Lord forgive me, but damn you, Donal!
Earlier that night, they had a plan. They had each other, and they had love. Where was it all now? It certainly hadn't faded. For now, Tiernan felt he loved her more than ever.
I can't lose you, Grace. I can't. I would die without you. I will die! You watch!
I love you, Grace. I love you. I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you…
If I could hold you one more time… just one more time…
If I could kiss you once more… if I never had to let go…
His thoughts ultimately snapped back to the impending wedding, and his ultimate downfall. He sighed, exasperated, and leaned his head on his arms. His eyes closed, his breathing deep and even.
Part of him told him to get up before he fell asleep. The rest told him to leave him alone and let him rest. He surely deserved it. It had been an emotionally trying night.
For now, he could imagine he was with Grace. They were looking at the stars together, holding each other close, proclaiming their love to the sky… slowly, the memory faded into the present, and Tiernan's feeble hopes were brutally crushed.
"The choice was hers," he muttered to himself. "It really should've been mine."
"Please, Tiernan…"
"Alright, alright."