"I'll go." His voice was sure. His voice was steady.

Burke stepped down the stairs, looking at his guests, yet averting his eyes all at once. He was not embarrassed that Cristina was not coming. He was not hurt. He knew that his Cristina needed the extra push. He knew that his Cristina would marry him. He knew that she would not fail him.

He was sure. He was steady.

His eyes focused on the doors where just beyond his bride stood. She was nervous, it was just pre-wedding jitters. She would be fine once they were at the altar. She loved him. He continued onward, he would provide her the reassurance that she need.

She would be sure. She would be steady.

As he neared the door he felt his step falter a little. Perhaps she would be sure, and perhaps she would be steady, but would she be happy? She loved him more than he ever thought that she could. She had changed and bent to his will. She would do anything for him, and she had proved that more than once. After all that she'd done, he knew that she would marry him.

Even if she wasn't sure. Even if she wasn't steady.

He felt a lump quickly growing in his throat constricting his airway. He could make her be sure, he could make her be steady, he could make her marry him- he could do all of those things and she would do It because she loved him. He fought to take in a deep breath as he neared the doors, feeling as though he was struggling for every breath.

Burke knew what he had to do. He knew that he had fallen in love with her what seemed to be ages ago. He knew that he needed her like the very air that he was fighting to take into his lungs. He knew that sleeping without her in his arms was a necessity more than it was a luxury. He also knew that she would be happy some day.

Even if it wasn't with him.

Somewhere along the way she'd lost herself and that was his fault. She'd given up so much of herself that the Cristina he'd fallen in love with had shifted. He still loved her for who she was, but at the same time he feared that he loved what she could be more.

He wanted so badly to lay his heart in the palm of her hands; he wanted to utter those vows to her that he'd worked so hard to perfect. But he knew that he couldn't give himself to her if he didn't know who his heart was beating for- the woman that he fell in love with or the woman waiting behind those doors. He knew that for her to be happy, for her to be truly happy that he would have to let her go.

He was sure, he was steady.

It was with sadness and hope that he pushed the doors open. Sadness that this chapter of his life was over before it ever began, sadness that he would have to adjust to waking without her in his arms, sadness knowing that this would hurt her before it helped her. He held hope though. He held hope that she would heal quickly. He held hope that she would find herself quickly and get everything out life that she needed and more.

He held hope that when they decided to try again that he would be able to appreciate her for who she was. He knew that there would be another day for them to build their relationship. He knew that as he let her go that he wasn't letting her go forever.

They would be together again.

And of this he was sure. Of this, he was steady.