A/N This is set in the future, sometime during Dino Thunder. It's not very happy, but lets face it, all romances have a dark side at one point or another. I promise that the next one will be much happier. :)

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Scars

He always knew there was something different. In fact, things hadn't been the same since that day; the day that he knew would change him for the rest of his life, not only emotionally, but mentally as well. He would never look at a woman quite the same again. There would always be that nagging question at the back of his mind, the one that kept him awake at night and tortured him during the day at the most inopportune moments. Did she really like him, or was she just biding her time until 'the right one' came along and swept her away?

He remembered it all so clearly. The day had been warm and bright. The birds were singing happily in the trees and all was right with the world. It was a perfect day for a disaster.

The letter arrived with the daily dose of bills and junk mail and was waiting on Tommy when he arrived home from school. Eagerly snatching it form the pile he ran upstairs to his room to read the latest from Kimberly, but what he got was earth shattering news. It was a Dear John letter if he had ever seen one, and a horrible one at that, not that he had ever read any good ones.

Tommy's life was forever changed after that. It took him a while to come to terms with the idea that Kim had moved on and found someone else. To realize that she didn't want him anymore, that she was perfectly happy in someone else's arms.

Looking back on that day years later, Tommy realized two things. One, that his life hadn't ended that day, he had moved on, prospered, and that he was happy with how his life had turned out. Two, he had become more introverted; He no longer wore his heart on his sleeve for all to see. It wasn't very easy for people to look at his face and tell what kind of mood he was in. He guarded his heart, so much so that he had been accused of building a wall around it that kept everyone out.

There were still days when Tommy relieved the coming of the letter, but those days were few and far between. He had come to realize that he no longer hated Kimberly for what she did to him. Perhaps it was because it had been so many years ago or perhaps it was because he was more mature, but Tommy had even come to forgive her. His only hope was that she was happy where she was, and that one day he would see her again. But nonetheless, her letter had left its mark upon him. Only his scars went beyond that of the flesh, they weren't visible on the outside; no one could see them shiningly like angry welts upon his skin. His scars were the invisible kind, and only someone who looked deep enough into his soul could see them written there.