"Pride will be the death of us."

Their fingers interlocked together, fitting perfectly. The biggest regret had to be only finding each other just now. What brought them together to be so happy with simply being in each other's company? Whatever it was, it just felt so right.

But not anymore.

"Hey babe!" The woman was slowly being drained of her energy, but she wore a smile anyway. "How was work?"

But she knew the answer.

It was the usual sigh followed by silence. Again.

"Make me a cup of coffee." His deep and smooth voice didn't make her knees go weak anymore. Now it was just filled with stress and coldness, maybe even a bit of irritation. If anything, it made her memory of loving his voice fade away.

Like a good fiancé, Ariel listened, and made him a cup of coffee like she usually did every time he got home.

Sasuke and Ariel had been engaged for nine months now. They had planned to get married earlier, but the opportunity never came.

But what did come was a great job. It provided a generous pay, health insurance, even vacations provided by the company. Although it was a dream job for most people, it only made Ariel and Sasuke miserable.

Ever since Sasuke started to work, he came home late and didn't get enough sleep. When he wasn't working at the company, he was working at home. Ariel would sometimes wake up to see he's not in bed. Does that mean he never came home or he just left early for work? She never knows, he became more like a mystery to her the past few months.

Her slender fingers grabbed a hold of the coffee mug and walked over to her already working fiancé. Weirdly, holding the coffee mug felt almost…Nice. Memories of the couple when they were younger ran through her head. That was before he had this job. Before he was too busy to even glance over to her.

When she placed the cup on his desk, he didn't say anything.

No thank you, not even a hint of him acknowledging her existence.

'I guess he's too exhausted…'But she told herself that every day, hoping that he would prove her wrong.

"…Did you make reservations for tomorrow?" The question made the young Uchiha stop typing on his keyboard. "You said you would, right?"

And she saw it. The uneasiness in his face, the way his lips pulled back whenever he was uncomfortable.

"No, I have to work all night tomorrow." Then he continued working.

Her jaw dropped, appalled at how casual he was about this. It was their four year anniversary of being together as a couple. Was it not as important to him as it was for her?

The two were slowly breaking down.

Sasuke was physically deprived.

Working long hours in front of a computer sucked the life out of him. There wasn't a second in the day where he could just sit down and relax.

But Ariel was mentally deprived.

At first, she just cleaned and did chores around the house, waiting for Sasuke to get home. Now, there wasn't a speck of dirt to be found anymore. If she polished the floor anymore, the wood would probably disintegrate. Since she had nothing to do, all she did was think.

And thinking led to crying.

"So we're not going out tomorrow?" He shut his eyes and leaned back in his chair.

"We can't."

The silence was different this time. There was tension, and Ariel could tell he was getting a little annoyed by her little questions.

"Can't you take the day off?"

She kept pushing on purpose. What did she want to get out of this? Ariel just wanted his attention. Even if it was bad, she longed to have him just throw her a simple look.

But it wasn't a simple look. Irritation could be read all over his face. "No, Ican'ttake the day off."

This kind of attitude was new. Sasuke never snapped like this, at least not to her.

"Then we're just going to forget about tomorrow?"

"That's exactly what we're going to do." His expression didn't falter. Forgetting about tomorrow didn't bother him at all. Or that's what Ariel thought anyway.

Having Sasuke at home made her feel even lonelier. When he was at work, he didn't have a choice but to be away from her. When he is home, he chose to ignore her.

She'd rather have him work at the office all day so she could make up an excuse as to why he didn't talk to her.

"By the way, I'm going on a business trip soon."

"A business trip? When?"

"Monday." That was two days from now.

"How long are you going to be gone?" Couldn't he face her just once? His eyes remained glued on the screen, brushing Ariel off like she wasn't important.

That's what she felt like every day, not important and just a bother to Sasuke.

"How long are you going to be gone?"

A week. Two months. Six months. One year. All of the possibilities ran through her head, wondering which one he'll throw at her.

All the possibilities and outcomes are what made her cry when she thought about things in solitude. What if he wasn't working, but cheating on her instead? A month from now, would they still be together?

"Two months." He said, emotionlessly.

Tears ran down her face and then onto the overly polished floor.

When she noticed this, she quickly wiped her tears away. But that was after Sasuke noticed.

"What are you crying for? I'll be back before you know it."

All she did was blink, dumbfounded by how heartless he was.

And then her eyes drowned in tears again, threatening to fall in drops.

"What the hell got into you?" If it was Sasuke's attention she wanted, she sure got it. He even turned to look over to her.

"I knew you would make a big deal out of it." She thought she had seen a hint of concern on his face, but that was just something she was hoping for.

"I wouldn't make such a big deal out of it if you acted like you cared about us!"

"Look, I'm working my ass off. Who do you think that's for, just myself?" He stood up from his chair and slowly approached the slightly frightened Ariel. "I'm working for us Ariel!"

Through her blurred vision, she could still see the dark bags under his eyes. His once snow white skin was now a dull shade of yellow, almost like he was sick and slowly dying. Maybe it was just her imagination, but he seemed skinnier. He was just a mess.

"I don't think there's an 'us' anymore Sasuke." Emotions poured out. Everything she had kept in for the past months, she just let them loose.

It left Sasuke speechless.

"And what exactly do you mean by that?" The corner of his lip curved up, almost as if he was daring her to say it.

"Maybe we should…" Breaking up never crossed her mind. No matter how hard things got, being with someone else made her sick. "Maybe living together wasn't such a good idea."

But was she really with Sasuke? It seemed like they were strangers just living in the same house.

"No, you were going to suggest we take a break right?"

Yes.

"No!" But Ariel hated being read like an open book. "Why? Doyouwant to take a break?"

Her tears disappeared, only leaving pure anger in her body. They might be polar opposites, but they had one thing in common. They were both too prideful.

Whenever they fought, neither of them would apologize. Even though their friends around them said it was just a stupid fight, they wouldn't give in. In the end, they were forced to be together and muttered a 'sorry' to each other. That's how they made up every time.

"Sure, let's take a break." Sasuke leaned closer. "Maybe then you'll have your head screwed onto your body correctly."

Then the battle began. Ariel rested her hand onto her hip and pointed to him with the other. "Oh please. You're the one that needs to take a good look at his self. Honestly, I don't even know who you are anymore."

"I'm your fiancé, and I'm here to tell you that you're insane." Deep down inside, Sasuke didn't like the way this was heading. Break ups always start with'I don't even know you anymore'or'I just need time to think'. But would Sasuke give in so easily?

"But you're not the man I fell in love with, I can tell you that much."

His hands curled up into tight fists. "Then you obviously were lost in your own little world for the last four years." No, he wasn't going to lose. He never loses.

"Doyoueven know yourself anymore?" But Ariel wasn't going down without a fight either. She never loses either. "What happened to the Sasuke I knew?"

"Funny, I've been here for all four years." Sasuke took his finger and tapped the middle of Ariel's forehead. "Get that through your head."

Then Ariel decided to bring out the big guns.

"Let's just face it Sasuke, I'm your soft spot." Now, Ariel was the one taking steps towards Sasuke, and he was the one moving back. "Are you afraid to admit it because…" She tilted her head and raised a brow, almost as if she was teasing him. "It'll make you weak and vulnerable?"

"No way in hell do you make me weak and vulnerable." Color crept onto his face, knowing this was completely true. Even people around him commented on how much happier and friendlier he became when Ariel stepped into his life.

She stuck her nose in the air with triumph and eyed his expression. "I don't know, you're blushing." She added a little giggle to push his buttons. "Is it because what I said was true?"

"Mark my words Ariel, you haveneverinfluenced me." Sasuke saw her face fall a little. "All your words sound like bullshit actually."

"You know, these past months were what you call 'bullshit'." With her fingers, she placed air quotes around the word. "Wouldn't you agree?"

"Yeah, I would." But that wasn't the answer Ariel was expecting. "You lost interest in me, that's it right?"

Her jaw dropped, and she wondered how he could turn the blame onto her. "Ilost interest in you? You're the one that lost interest in me!"

"Alright, get out." He pointed to the door. "I'm sick of this."

But he was begging for her to stay. Why couldn't he just tell her to stay, to never leave his side again?

"If you let me leave," Ariel bit onto her tongue to hold the tears back. "I don't want us to ever see each other again."

"Is that a promise?"

With that Ariel sped over to the door, opened it, and then shut it. She threw her back onto the door and slid down, letting the emotions free. People always say you don't feel the full impact of breaking up until the next day, when you wake up completely alone.

But Ariel felt it.

The tugging on her heart as it beat faster. Knowing she won't see Sasuke tomorrow threw her body into panic. She sobbed silently, not wanting Sasuke to hear her. Her weak legs try to hold her up but she ends up collapsing, sitting on the concrete stairs again. Her body won't let her go.

"Stupid legs…" She mumbled, completely frustrated by this whole situation. "Why are you beating so fast?" With her small hand, she placed it over her heart.

Meanwhile, Sasuke just stared at where Ariel was standing, and then to the now closed door.

Done. It's over.

"If you let me leave, I don't want us to ever see each other again."Sasuke's strong hands gripped onto the glass cup. Suddenly, it broke, leaving cuts all over his hands.

"Son of a bitch!" He kicked the stool, sending it flying across the room.

He held onto his head with his hands and leaned onto the island. It didn't feel like a regular migraine. First, only his head hurt. Then the pain spread all through his body.

"Why didn't I stop you…?" When he felt what he had never felt before, he placed his hands over his eyes.

Drip…Drop…

The two, who were separated only by a thin door, wept alone, not knowing the only thing on their minds were each other.