Title: Before the Storm

Rating: T

Summary: Sometimes, Love just isn't enough. PuckxSabrina

A/N: The angst monster really threw me down the wishing well this time. Wow, I don't think I've ever written anything this teen!angsty before...first time for everything, I guess.

Thanks, once again, to my wonderful BETA, EcpliseTheVampire (who's probably wondering when I'll put these two oneshots up because she BETA'd them, what, two weeks ago? IDK, it's been a while)

Word Count: 1,205

Disclaimer: I really don't own this. Believe me, I am incapable of creating awesomeness such as Sabrina and Daphne Grimm.

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Trying to keep the lights from going out
And the clouds from ripping out my broken heartWe always say a heart is not a home,
Without the one who gets you through the storm
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Sabrina blamed the storm for her current unhappiness. How could she have missed it? How could she have ever been so in love with Puck she never noticed the black, lightning edged clouds threatening to blow everything away?

It had never been what either of them wanted—to fall in love with the other. It had never been their plan to fall in love as much as they had. It had never been their plan to get to the point where they needed the other person.

They'd never thought it would get this far—but it had, and it was hard to turn back the clock and fix it. Impossible, even.

Sabrina sighed, as she sat in the window seat. When it had started, it had been so simple—holding hands, stealing kisses, trying to keep Dad from noticing…

But then slowly, it had gotten harder. It had been less Sabrina-and-Puck and a lot more Sabrina-and-Puck-and-Someone-Else. And then it had just been trying to hide it from everyone else, and then it had gotten to the point where they weren't even Sabrina-and-Puck, just two people who didn't have anything in common.

It was easy, earlier in their relationship. And now, simply put, it wasn't. It was an effort to pretend they loved the other, even as they truly did. They'd been twelve when Puck kissed her for the first time, fifteen the second. They hadn't had to worry about rent or public images, hadn't had to worry about anything but just living and being together.

It wasn't the same, any more. The love was there, but the driving force that had kept them together wasn't, and they just began to drift apart.

Sometimes, Sabrina thought she could walk in covered with blood and Puck wouldn't even notice, they were that far apart now. She'd give anything for it to change, for him to look at her with that light in his eyes again.

But those days were gone, and she had to move on. They both had to move on, no matter how painful.

Neither of them wanted to lose the other—neither wanted to give up and let go.

Just one more chance, Sabrina would beg. We can make this work.

Come back inside, Puck would ask. We can fix this.

But they never could, and the cracks were becoming more and more apparent.

It was painful, their entire relationship. Painful enough that maybe it wasn't worth fixing, but even more painful was the knowledge they hadn't been strong enough to hold on, or delicate enough to glue the pieces back together.

And it all wound back to storm that broke them.

An argument was enough to destroy everything, and Sabrina couldn't believe she'd been so stupid to have missed the looming storm clouds.

There was electricity between them, and with each touch, a strike of lighting seared a memory into their skin, into their minds, and as they screamed and yelled and fought, each memory bubbled to the surface, raw and angry as if they were brand new.

They screamed at each other for what seemed like hours on end as thunder began to crash, as rain started to fall, as lightning started to flash.

It just wasn't worth keeping up their relationship—and every single worry, hatred, irritation or issue that either of them had had since the beginning of their relationship poured out in one torrentous downfall.

The door slammed behind her as she left.

He ran out after her.

"Is it over, Puck? I need to know. Because if it is, there's an apartment in New York waiting for me, and you'll never have to hear from me ever again." Tears streamed down Sabrina's face, intermingling with the rain. "I need to know, Puck. I need to know."

"Do you think we should give up?" he asked, and she closed her eyes.

"I need to know if it's over, Puck. I'm not sure if I can handle everything in our lives and you. Maybe it's not worth it, Puck. Maybe we weren't meant to be." She inhaled sharply. "Maybe we should give up. Maybe we should just let this fade to the past and go on with our lives."

Puck nodded once, but didn't move. "I don't want to let it go, though."

Breaking his heart broke hers, and the pain was so tangible. But she knew it was over—he'd never hold her like he had before.

Even if she forgave and forgot, it would never be the same. There would always be the worry. There would always be the sting of betrayal. Better to hurt now than hurt later—better to move on and waste less of her life. It would be better to end it while the love was still there—end it while the memories could still be kind and sweet, not bitter and broken.

And it wasn't like they hadn't tried to keep it together - because they had.

They'd tried, so hard, to keep the love there, tried to keep the storm from coming and tried to keep their hearts intact. But sometimes, trying just wasn't enough—actions spoke louder than words, and words couldn't move a mountain.

They'd promised to remain together always, but a promise was just a series of words, and sometime in the past years, that particular series of words had become meaningless.

A little bit of her would always be with him—a little bit of him would always be with her. Their hearts would never be whole without the other, but it was time for it to be over and it was time for each of them to find someone new.

Sabrina needed someone stronger to help her through the storm, and Puck needed someone less tangible and more imaginative.

But the fact remained that they'd never be whole without the other.

And they could never be together.

Sabrina thought she should have seen it coming, should have known it before, but in all honestly, it was when they were standing in the rain, both fighting tears, both wishing that it wasn't but knowing that it was, when they realized it was really, truly over.

The knowledge nearly broke Sabrina's heart even further—a kick when she was down. But it wasn't worth fighting for anymore.

"I think we're over," she whispered, and the look in his eyes hurt almost more than the knowledge it was absolutely over. "I have to go."

Sabrina turned to leave, and Puck caught her hand.

"Please. Please don't leave me alone," he whispered, trying to get her to look into his eyes. "Sabrina, I need you. We can forget this, and everything can go back to normal. Please, Sabrina."

The hardest thing was that it would never be the same. She'd always love him, always, but even if she agreed and came back inside, she'd always hate herself. It wasn't right. It wouldn't ever be right.

"No," she said in a small voice. "It's over. Goodbye, Puck."

And she turned and climbed into her car and drove away, wiping tears as she went.

Sometimes, the things you thought were most perfect just weren't meant to be.

Because sometimes, love just wasn't enough.

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I'm flooded with all this pain,
Knowing that I'll never hold you,
Like I did before the storm

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R&R?