A/N: Not Mine. Not making any money. To all my reviewers on my previous stories, thank you! I'm sorry that I haven't responded to everyone, RL is busy busy. I will try and get to you all! I promise!

The Chase

The bar was dark and run down. The neon sign in the window was broken so there was no light. It was like my life before she came into it. It was like my life now. The light was gone. Broken. I drank bourbon in the hopes that it would dull the pain. The bartender came over to me refilling my drink. "You must really love her." He said.

I just scowled and ignored him. Talking wasn't what I wanted to do. I wasn't good at talking. If I was then I wouldn't be sitting alone in this bar drinking. I'd be with her. Loving her the way I was meant to.

I don't know where it all went wrong. The scene replayed in my head again, and again, and again. It was like a record that kept skipping.

She was in my arms, holding me tightly. Love was radiating from her, shining from her bright blue eyes. I rested my forehead against hers. I loved her with every breath. She was the light to the darkness that lived within me. She pushed the shadows back. I wrapped one of her curls around my finger before tucking it behind her ear.

"I love you. I'm in love with you." Her voice was so soft that I almost didn't hear her. My heart swelled up and my mind whirled with a million thoughts. This was everything I'd ever hoped for, and everything I'd ever feared. I felt her tense up and pull away, looking into my face. Whatever she saw there she didn't like.

"Wow." She said, climbing off my lap. "You know what, I've gotta go."

What the hell was going on? "Babe?" I asked, confused.

"No. Not this time Ranger." Tears were glistening in her eyes. "Babe, isn't enough." I could feel panic lance through me. What did she want from me? What was enough? Wasn't my love enough?

"Babe..." Why couldn't I say something other than Babe? Shit. I watched her grab her stuff and head out to the door. I stood up and headed toward her. "What's wrong?" I asked her.

"If you don't know, then I guess I really was wrong." She took a deep breath and I could tell she was trying to keep the tears back. "You won't even let yourself say it will you? You won't even allow yourself to let your guard down long enough to say three freakin' words."

I felt my face go blank. The pain that lanced through me was intense. I'd felt torture that wasn't as painful. "Babe...I'm sorry. You know how I feel. It's obvious. Everyone knows how I feel about you."

"No, Ranger. It's not obvious." She stood there looking at me. Waiting.

I tried to say the words. They were there. Running through my head, screaming to be let out, but I couldn't open my mouth.

"I'm sorry, Ranger. Goodbye." She said, and quietly closed the door behind her while I stood there motionless staring at the place where the only person I'd ever been in love with had stood.

Two days ago I found out she was heading toward Texas. She'd said goodbye to the girls at the bonds office. She'd gone out with my men and said goodbye to them. She never said goodbye to me. Hell, my men weren't even speaking to me, and getting the files from the bonds office had a distinctly chilly temperature.

Now sitting in this run down bar drinking away my pain, my stupidity, the pain runs through me. "You should go after her. Women love that shit." The bartender said.

"She's running." I told him.

"Then maybe you should give her chase?" He replied, wiping the bar in front of me.

I tossed back the remainder of my drink threw down bills to cover my tab and headed out the door. "You can run, Babe...but I'm going to chase you. I love you." I said to the sky as I climbed into the turbo. It was time to chase after my heart. More than time for her to hear those three little words.