It had taken hard work, years of effort to pass the college classes I had signed up for and tens of thousands of dollars spent on getting the education I needed, money that was from both after school jobs and loans I was still paying off, but it had been worth it. This way, it was something I could claim as my own achievement, rather than something bought with my parents money.

I had even met the man of my dreams while in college, the one who made me feel like I could do anything, be anything I wanted. All I had to do was try. With him at my side, the years of college had passed quickly, soon finding myself standing before the building that held my future inside. All I needed was to go through the door in front of me and pass the interview. Easy-peasy, right?

Feeling a hand grasp mine and give a gentle squeeze, I looked over at Tomas, his encouraging smile making me feel at ease again as I let out a shaky breath. Giving me a quick hug, he turned me back towards the door and put his hands on my back, a soft push starting my walk forward.

"You can do this, Grace, I believe in you. Now go show these people what you're made of!" I felt my heart swell at his words, suddenly ready to take on the world if it would let me keep seeing the same proud smile he'd given me on graduation day.

-

Three years of working for that company and I was still as happy with the job I held as I had been the day I got it. Three years with Tomas beside me, showering me with praise at each raise and promotion I attained. Three years of living together before I found myself looking dazed at the man who was on bent knee before me, asking me to spend the rest of my life with him, nearly begging me to say yes when I was quiet for too long before the shock wore off.

"Oh, Tomas, yes! A million times yes! I'm so happy!" I sobbed out, happy tears gathering in my eyes before trailing down my cheeks as I looked at the man I wanted to spend forever with.

I stood there smiling as he placed the thin, gold band around my finger, a single diamond sparkling in the light as a pair of smaller gems rested beside it. I'd never realized how lovely my birthstone could look until I saw the two sitting so innocently on each side of the diamond.

-

We planned to wait before holding the wedding, hoping to celebrate our first day of marriage enjoying the start of summer rather than the chill that winter was soon to bring. Tomas refused to tell me where we were going, but every time I asked, he would just get this big grin on his face and act like he held all the best secrets of the world.

I worked longer hours, hoping to bring in some extra money so we could enjoy ourselves on our honeymoon, regardless of where we went, although I still remembered a promise he'd made one night when he had too much wine. However, that didn't mean he would remember and I refused to get my hopes up. Anywhere would be wonderful, as long as I had Tomas at my side.

I knew Tomas had enough money saved for the trip but I couldn't help wanting to be able to spoil him as much as he always seemed to spoil me, seeing this as my chance to show him just how much he meant to me. This was my chance to show him how much I loved him, to prove that he mattered to me as much as he showed I mattered to him. It was the least I could do for the man who was making all my dreams come true.

Hearing the beginnings of the song that I always associated with the day Tomas and I first met, I glanced over just long enough to see his name flashing on the screen of my cellphone. Looking back to the road, I reached over to where I knew my phone was resting, grabbing it and bringing it to rest on the steering wheel as I slid my thumb across the screen before pressing the button to place it on speaker.

"Tomas!" I called out happily as I answered the phone, glancing at the screen to see the picture of him I had taken just a few days ago smiling back at me as his laugh sounded from the phone.

Something wonderful must have happened today!

-

In the weeks following the accident that stole so much from me, it was found out that Tomas had left without a word, vanishing after having spent nearly a week in the hospital staring at my unconscious form. In trying to find out what had happened to him, my parents had spent nearly as much time searching for him as they had spent beside my hospital bed. The man who had claimed to love me so much, to want nothing more than to spend his life with me, had finally turned up in a nearby town. When confronted by my father about leaving his fiancee in the hospital, at a time when he was needed the most, he had broken down and spilled everything.

He'd sobbed as he spoke, his face filled with torment, "I can't do it! I can't face her, not knowing that it was my fault this happened! I can't look at Grace and see the woman I loved covered in scars like that! She looks as if Death itself has caressed her body! I... I can't expect her to love me, not the same way she did before. I don't want to see her look at me, her eyes filled with hate as she blames me for what happened. I just... I can't... I'm sorry... I-"

My father had punched him, knocking him to the ground before walking away, his heart heavy with the knowledge of what he would have to tell me. It had been nearly a month since the accident before I woke up, breaking down myself as I found out what had happened, both to me and to my relationship.

I hadn't ever cried like that before, not even when I had been left behind by my ex-boyfriend in high school, him ready to move on to college and not interested in hanging on to 'a simple school crush'. It had taken time but I had gotten over him. But Tomas, I could have sworn that Tomas was the one who would keep my heart close to his, treasure it like I had treasured him.

I know that things would have been difficult for us, but hadn't we been just months away from promising ourselves to each other 'so long as you both shall live?' I'm still alive Tomas, so why am I alone again? Why did you leave me so easily when I needed you most? Were our years together really that easy for you to let go of?

Was I that easy to let go of?

-

It had been weeks before I could leave the bed, still confined to the hospital that had somehow kept me alive after the accident. They still had no idea how I had survived, admitting to me that I had been clinically dead for a moment before my heart had suddenly begun beating again. They figured I must have wanted to live so much that I had refused to let go, keeping myself alive through sheer willpower alone as the doctors rushed to stitch me up and replace the blood that ran from the multitude of cuts tracing my body like a shattered window.

I would never be able to look in a mirror again without flinching at the knowledge that what I see in the reflection could have been prevented. If only I had stuck with my promise never to answer a call while I was driving. But it had been from Tomas and I had never been able to deny him.

Oh, how I wish I had denied him this once. After all, it seemed it wasn't that hard for him to deny me, no matter how much I thought I needed him. Each time I thought of him, I knew I still had yet to get over his abandonment of me.

How many times could a broken heart break before it was no longer capable of mending itself?

-

I had to learn how to walk all over again, my legs atrophied from having been bedridden for so long as I healed. I still remember how much it hurt, the first time I tried taking a step and falling to the ground. I'm not sure what hurt more though, the pain of muscles stretching again for the first time in weeks or the pain of humiliation that everything I went through could have been avoided.

However, the pain I felt during those days would never match the agony on the face of the mother who had to bury her son because of me. It had shocked me when I found out about her, the newspaper crumpled up in my hands as I felt the sobs rip through me, my cries filling the air as nurses rushed into the room with my parents right behind them.

Seeing the newspaper that was slowly becoming wet with my tears, my parents hung their heads in shame at having tried to keep the truth from me. I was not the only one who paid for my carelessness. I just paid the lesser price.

-

After I had finally healed enough to leave the hospital, it seemed like I was set for another period of painful events, the young man's mother hearing that I had returned home and coming to confront me. I don't know what was worse, her having come all this way to face the person who inadvertently killed her son or the look of horror on her face when she finally caught sight of me. I could still hear the cut-off scream she had given before shakily telling me that I deserved what had happened to me, even as her eyes said nobody deserved this.

It was the tears that escaped her eyes before she could turn around and leave that made me flinch, thinking to myself that I didn't deserve her tears, something that should be saved instead for the son she had lost.

-

I hadn't realized how much I would regret letting Tomas into my house, filling it with memories that seemed to plague me in the weeks following my return home. It seemed I couldn't even enter a room without seeing something that made me think of him. A picture that I hadn't removed yet from its frame, a book we had read together, or the table we had eaten dinner together at on those rare times he hadn't talked me into going out to one of the restaurants he liked. The list seemed to go on and on as I began to feel less like I was in my own home and more like I was trapped in a maze of memories, seeing him there to haunt me no matter where I went.

It got to the point that I couldn't eat or sleep if I was in the house, finding myself crashing at a friends house after making a list of excuses or staying over at my parent's home after 'staying too late' and telling them I didn't want to drive at night after the wreck. It was a cruel excuse to make but I couldn't find myself telling them the truth, for fear that I would look even weaker than I already was in their eyes.

When they came together and confronted me on my strange behavior, I couldn't deny it any longer and the truth came spilling out, leaving me crying as I curled into my parent's loveseat. I could feel their eyes on me, waiting for them to tell me that I needed to move on already, to act like the grown woman I was.

I was not expecting them to tell me to actually move, to leave that house and find a new one to start over in. It was something that hadn't even entered my mind, having worked so hard to find a place that I had once thought of as perfect. With their words opening my eyes, I realized that no, it was no longer a perfect house I had always dreamed of.

Tomas had turned it into a house of broken promises.

-

"Are you sure about this?" I asked, looking at my parents with worry in my eyes. I know they had insisted but I couldn't help feeling that I was putting too much burden on them.

"Yes, dear, we are both sure! Everything that is left to do can be handled while you are away, so please take this chance to enjoy yourself for once! I want my baby girl to be able to smile wholeheartedly when she moves into her new home, so go on that trip you always wanted to take and come back with a lighter heart," my mother, my dear sweet mother who always looked out for me even now that I was a grown woman, spoke softly as she rested a hand against my cheek. I couldn't help the flinch I gave as her fingers brushed against some of my scars.

I hadn't planned on going anywhere while the builders fixed up the areas of the house I had bought that needed it, mostly the kitchen which needed some new counters and the bathrooms which both needed to be completely redone. Poor seals around the edges of the bathtub and shower had lead to minor water damage in each bathroom, as well as a bad case of black mold. It was fixable but would take time and money to resolve. In addition, I had decided to have the carpet removed from some of the rooms, especially after I had seen the hardwood floor that had been hidden beneath the ugly green shag that the previous owner had put down.

Thus, I had at least a couple weeks to spend elsewhere, my parents talking me into letting them be in charge of the minor remodel of my new home while I went on a trip that I had been dreaming of since I was first introduced to Greek culture by a neighbor who had moved next door to my parents when I was 8. I had fallen in love with everything Greek shortly after and had always wanted to go see the country for myself.

It was were a drunken Tomas had once promised to take me should we ever travel.

Shaking my head to remove all thoughts of him, I refused to let him ruin this chance for me. He had already stolen enough of my happiness from me and I wouldn't let him take this, too!

-

The plane ride had been shorter than I had expected but felt much longer than it was and was very uncomfortable for me as I tried to ignore the whispers of the other passengers that came any time one of them happened to glance my way. It took a flight attendant taking pity on me and bringing me up to First Class where I could have at least a semblance of privacy before the whispers at least eased up to the point I could ignore them.

After hours of sitting on the plane, taking a nap for a while after having watched a movie on my tablet, I finally had the chance to stretch my legs as I carried my luggage off the plane. Not much later, I was sitting in a taxi and on my way to the hotel that I had booked. It felt strange to be the only person in sight who wore long sleeves and a wide-brimmed hat to help hide my face, but I didn't want a repeat of the plane ride so soon after arriving.

It was at times like this that I wish concealer was all it would take to hide these scars.