Pride.
Superbia.
"Nate, I can try!" Her voice rings in his ears, and he winces, because she sounds so desperate.
"I can try, I really can! Please, don't leave me!" She tries to keep in the tears, but knows she can't, when they already run down her cheeks and drip onto the floor. "Tess…" He starts, not really knowing what he wants to tell her, but feeling like he should.
He doesn't dare to turn around, knowing that when he does, he'll be lost, and everything would start all over again. He can just picture the way she looks, her rosy, pink lips turned into a little pout, and her make up running down her cheeks. He can just see the way her blonde hair shines in the moon light right now, but he doesn't dare to turn around.
"Nate, I love you!" She cries, making him flinch visibly, because her shrill voice makes him feel lightheaded and dizzy. "You don't love me, Tess." He murmurs, afraid of her response but relieved that he finally said it.
"Yes, I do! I always did, Nate! Believe me!" She screams back, causing him to snort. He regrets it, almost immediately, he sounds like Shane, and he doesn't want to sound like Shane.
"Just stop fucking lying, Tess. I'm done with you." He turns around, this time, wanting to say it to her face, but when he does, he realizes how much he's changed. She's sitting on her knees, her usually shiny blonde hair not so beautiful anymore and tears running down her face. "It's over." He tells her, letting her hear the pity to make it more believable. "There's nothing left of you anymore, the pride you had is gone. You're gone."
She raises her head, and stares up at him, before she smiles. "Don't you see, Nate?" She starts, making him frown. "You're gone, too. I took you down, just like I took down Shane and Mitchie."
"You're fucked up." He hisses at her, before opening the door to leave. Desperately ignoring the words she calls after him, with the same sweetness that made him fall for her a long time ago.
"I am. But believe me, sweetheart, I'm still Tess Tyler."
She's so deadly right.