Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me, people - you guys know the drill :)
A/N: OK, so I'm an absolute die-hard Home and Away fan, and when I saw the episode just after Aden and Nicole broke up, I suddenly found myself inspired! This was the result, I hope you guys enjoy it. Reviews are like gold!
P.S I hope I'm not the only one gutted that Todd Lasance has left the show! :(
"Then what is it? After everything we've been through, I think I deserve a better explanation than 'you're dropped, Aden.'"
She almost broke right then - every bone in her body screamed at her to say sorry, to say they could work it out, that they could be together, future be damned. She wanted to forget about Justin, and everything he'd said, and just be happy now. But she couldn't. She couldn't let him base his life on an uncertainty: she didn't know what would happen to them in the future - after Uni, after school, after tomorrow...there were no certainties. The only thing she knew for sure was the pain, the inconsolable grief she felt at letting him go. But she had to. He needed this; he needed to get his life together, to mourn his wife, to bury his past. And as much as it broke her, she knew that need was greater than her need for him.
Love only hurts, just a little.
"...OK! We can get back together but first...I want you to tell me that you love me."
He opened his mouth, but he couldn't make the words come out, the words that she wanted...needed...to hear. And just like that, her whole heart shattered. Because now she realised she wasn't fighting fate by breaking up with him, she wasn't denying herself love...because he didn't love her. Simple as that. She only realised then how much her body had been yearning for him to say it, how much her soul had been been straining desperately to hear those words. She would have thrown herself into his arms and never left them; she would have followed him anywhere, given up anything, left behind anyone just to hear him say that he felt the same way she did, that he loved her beyond all reason. But he didn't. And deep down, she knew. So instead she renounced their future, emotion welling, knowing there wasn't one between them any more. There never had been. He didn't love her, and if she didn't let him go...he never would.
Love only hurts, just a little.
I'm gone.
Anguish swelled up in her like a wave, dragging her down into the endless murky depths of life without him. He was her anchor, her rock, and now he was gone, leaving her drifting, at sea with nothing and no-one to cling on to. She was alone, empty, not even a memory of their happiness to comfort her. After all they had been through, after everything they had faced together...he didn't love her. And she loved him so much it hurt. She had broken both of them, and she didn't see how there was any way for either to come back. She needed to be with him, and he needed to be without her. As another swell of torment swept over her head and pulled her under, she didn't even try to fight it. Instead, she just let herself sink into the only future she had now: a life without Aden.
Love only hurts, just a little.
A/N: Ahhh, so that last "just a little" was totally supposed to be in strikeout text, but my computer won't recognise it for some reason! Grrrr...