Snowflakes

He always thought she was beautiful, even when she was crying. Her wet eyes with the clumped lashes, the slightly red cheeks, and her fully, pouting lips. Even then she was beautiful to him.

Yet, at the same time, he couldn't stand to see her crying. For, most of the time, she was not shedding tears of joy, but those of pain. Even more, half of the time, it was him causing him the pain to her. Not to say that he was always the cause of her tears, for many other people that she came in contact with had hurt her much, much more. But, he also hurt her often, and he admitted, that he didn't always realize it at the moment of it's effect.

Sometimes it took awhile; until the first tear ran down her cheek, until she began to bite her lower lip, or until her voice began to quiver and crack. No matter how beautiful she seemed to him when she was pouting, giving him the excuse to be extra sweet to her, and caress her face, he couldn't stand it. He loved her much more when she was smiling that smile she claimed was only for him. He looked at her, and the way her eyebrows bent down towards her nose as she sniffed. What could do he do to make it better this time?

He didn't always love her as he should, and he knew this. But, he was only a man, and every man was bound to mess up nearly all the time when it came to the woman they loved the most. He didn't want to hurt her anymore though. He never wanted to see those tears of sorrow ever again. Yes, he said that every time she cried, and each time he made her cry more.

But, this time, he was serious. He really meant it. Never, ever again would he find a reason to make her tear up; he would try his hardest from now on. He reached out, touching a clump of the hair covering her face, touched her cheek, wiped away her tears with the back of his hand. He reached out, and with one arm, drew her slimming body towards him, and pulled her tightly to his chest, his grip getting tighter with each choked sob that came from her mouth.

Never again.

He kissed the top of her head.

Ever.

She wrapped her fingers into his shirt, crumpling it, and letting her knuckles turn white.

No, not one more day would pass where she would cry on his account.

He lifted her head up, staring down in her big, blue eyes, another tear somehow finding its way out from her ducts. He swore by it, for he loved her more than life itself; she was his goddess; the most perfect thing ever to walk the face of the Earth, he was sure of it. He kissed those pure, full lips softly, lovingly; with all of the love he'd ever held in his life, that which he'd given her, and that which he had yet to give her, and her sobbing stopped.

He wanted to believe that that would happen when he would break the news to her. Yet, he realized that it wasn't going to go that way when she came marching in to their apartment and slammed her book bag onto their dining table.

Ned Nickerson asked his wife, "Umm…Nancy?"

Nancy looked up angrily and demanded, "What?"

Flinching slightly, Ned whispered, "There is something I have to tell you." Widening her eyes, Nancy looked at Ned in shock and muttered utter nonsense to herself. Catching some of her rants, he looked surprised, "You knew?"

Nancy widened her eyes and her eyes started to brim with tears, "So what Bess said was true? You are cheating on me?"

Ned was speechless and tried to figure out the right words to say. Nancy replied, "Mm. Guess the truth hurts so much to tell." She grabbed her coat and slammed the door behind her, not before exclaiming, "I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN!"

She was out of his life before he could even say goodbye. And they both knew it was for the best.

-------------------------------------------

Nancy rubbed her hands on her arms as she shivered on that Christmas Eve. She really was not in the mood when she came home, but when she found out that her marriage was a lie for three years, she couldn't help but feel unwanted. She was sitting at the frozen ponds and watched nothing but silence. She muttered to herself, "I was such a fool to have believed that Ned loved me."

A voice commented, "Trust me, Nan, you are not the fool, he is for leaving you." Nancy turned around and saw her best friend, Frank Hardy.

Nancy smiled weakly and replied, "So I guess you found out, huh?'

Frank nodded as he came to sit by her, "Yeah, Bess and George told me everything." They were silent for another couple of minutes before he asked, "Are you alright, Nance?"

Nancy looked at Frank as if he had asked her the most obvious thing, "Do I look alright, Frank? My husband of 3 years has been cheating on me and you're asking if I'm alright?"

Sighing, Nancy fell into Frank and sobbed hysterically. Frank sighed, thinking of how Ned was a jerk for hurting his precious Nancy. As he rubbed her back, he thought three years back how he felt the world crumble on him when he found out Nancy and Ned were going to get married. He remembered the day he was the best man instead of the groom for Nancy. He sighed as he whispered into Nancy's hair, "Now you realized that there is someone much better for you out there, Nance."

Nancy heard it and smiled and looked up, "I know." She closed the small gap between the two as she leant forward to kiss him. Frank smiled against her lips and sunk into the kiss. After minutes of kissing, they broke apart to take breaths.

Frank looked down into Nancy's blue eyes and whispered, "Merry Christmas."

Nancy smiled as she fell into Frank's arms again, "Merry Christmas."

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Forgiveness is the scent that the rose leaves on the heel that crushes it.

-Rosefire