I'm counting the lives

Feeling the strain

To get right with you

Can't be this hard to do

Henry blinked, refusing to believe the words he had just heard.

"What?"

Madeline sighed and slid into the chair across the kitchen table from him, lacing her fingers through his.

"They offered me the job." She repeated quietly. "And I'm taking it."

Don't save in the stay

My chance slips away

These words overdue

Won't stop me from losing you

He dropped her hand and stood up, pacing angrily to the counter.

"Were we going to talk about it?" He demanded. "Damn it, Mad, you just expect me and Shawn to pack up and--"

He stopped when he saw the look on her face. She was shaking her head slowly, tears starting to form in her eyes.

"Oh, God, Henry. Don't make me say it." She pleaded, her voice almost cracking. "Don't make it harder than it has to be."

"Say what?" He asked, though he already knew the answer.

But he wasn't letting her off the hook that easily.

Not this time.

He was going to make her say it.

"I don't want you to come, Henry. I'm…leaving."

And it's lonely, lonely, lonely by your side

And I've nowhere, nowhere left to hide

And it's lonely, lonely, lonely by your side

And I've nowhere, nowhere left to hide

Every muscle in his body died.

He leaned against the counter, bracing himself so she wouldn't see.

But, of course, she saw.

She always saw.

She stood up and slowly walked over to him, resting her hand of top of his.

"Henry, you're miserable." She said quietly. "You've been miserable for years. I've been miserable for years. I can't do it anymore. And neither can you. You know you can't."

"What about Shawn?" Henry demanded.

"He's graduating this year…then he'll be off to college. It's the right time for this. I stayed for him as long as I could…but what would we do after he moved out? Without him around…"

She paused, letting the thought linger in the air unfinished for a moment.

"There's no us without him, Henry." She concluded quietly.

"Isn't he enough?"

"Of course he's enough." Madeline sighed. "He's always been enough…but he's not going to be here forever. He has his own life, Henry. It's not his job to keep us together. That's not fair to him, and it's not fair to us. We both deserve better than that."

No time on our side

Can't open my eyes

It hurts me to see

You long for some purity

For all of the years

A slave to the tears

Another reason to cry

The last time for you and I

She looked into his eyes, waiting for him to say something.

But he didn't have anything to say.

Not this time.

He returned her gaze with a piercing scowl, his jaw setting stubbornly.

Finally, she gave up and turned around, slowly walking back towards the door.

Henry watched her leave, for a moment refusing to make a move to stop her.

If she wanted to walk out, he couldn't stop her.

He wasn't going to try.

But as she crossed the threshold of the kitchen into the living room, he suddenly had something to say. He followed quickly behind her, reaching the bottom of the stairs just as she reached the landing halfway up.

"Mad." He called, looking up at her.

She paused and slowly turned back around, gazing down at him with moist eyes.

"What?"

"If you asked me…I would have gone."

She smiled palely.

"I know, Henry." She whispered. "I know you would have…that's why I didn't ask."

And it's lonely, lonely, lonely by your side

And nowhere, nowhere left to hide

And it's lonely, lonely, lonely by your side

And I've nowhere, nowhere left to hide