A/N: Thanks to Thunder903 and Smart One 17 for reviewing.


Mel and Roman

Melinda Halliwell couldn't remember a time in her life before she and Roman had been together. For the past three years it had been like they were practically married. As she sat facing him now she didn't know how things had gone from that to her barely being able to tolerate him. Maybe the fact that they lived on opposite sides of the country because of her being away at school had something to do with it, but absence was supposed to make the heart grow fonder. That wasn't the case with them though it seemed that all they did anymore was fight.

Roman ran his hands over his face and sighed. "Mel, I don't even know what to say to you anymore. Nothing I do is ever good enough for you. I know that we don't get to see each other as much as we would like to, but we shouldn't fight this much because of it." He reasoned with her.

"Roman, despite what you might think I don't enjoy fighting with you. I don't know why we fight so much anymore, but I'm sick of it. Like you said we don't get to see each other a lot and I hate like hell that every time we are together all we do is fight." Mel replied softly.

"Mel, if you were unhappy with me you would tell me, right?" Roman asked her. He really didn't know what to think anymore. They had started things off hot and heavy and it had only gotten better from there until recently anyway.

Mel took a moment to really think about what he was asking her and the part that scared the shit out of her was that she didn't know the answer to that question anymore. There had been a time when she could have answered that without having to stop and think about it. "Of course I would tell you," she said finally.

"Well, are you unhappy with me?" Roman asked. That's the only thing that he could think of. Maybe they had been together for too long.

"I know that this isn't what you want to hear at the moment, but I honestly don't know how to answer that. I guess if we were together more we wouldn't have the problems that we're having now." Mel replied honestly.

Roman smiled sadly at her. "Long distance relationships are hard work and I know that we have both put everything that we are into making this one work." He stated evenly. He didn't want to give her something else to be pissed at him about.

"You and I both always give everything our all." Mel threw out there.

"I know that we do, I'm just starting to wonder if that is enough anymore." Roman admitted.

"For what it's worth, I do love you." Mel told him.

"I love you too, I hope that you know that much by now." Roman responded taking her hand in his. "I just don't know if love is enough."

"I've been wondering the same thing myself." Mel agreed with him.

"This could just be a phase that we're going through." Roman suggested. They had been together a long time and time had a way of taking a toll on any relationship.

Mel closed her eyes and sighed deeply. "It used to be that I wouldn't dream of even looking at another man, but now I find myself flirting back when they flirt with me. Don't misunderstand me, I would never cheat on you, but I'm not going to lie and say that the urge isn't there, because it is."

"I get it, the same thing has been happening to me lately." Roman informed her.

Mel knew that this next part was going to be hard but she had to ask this question anyway. "Did you maybe want to start seeing other people? I'm not saying that we have to break up, I'm just saying that we don't have to be exclusive anymore."

"Do you want that?" Roman asked at this point he would agree to anything as long as he knew he was making her happy.

"I really don't know what I want. On one hand I can't imagine not being with you, but on the other hand I'm only twenty-one and I've only ever had two serious boyfriends." Mel replied.

"I'm older and I at least got to experience life before we got together. The only thing you really know is being with me and that has to make you get curious about what you're missing out on sometimes." Roman told her.

"What are you saying?" Mel asked him.

"I'm saying that I think maybe we should break up. It wouldn't be fair for us to keep stringing each other along the way we have been. The best way to do this is to make a clean break." Roman suggested.

"I don't know that I want to break up with you." Mel replied.

Roman shook his head. "But, you don't know that you want to be with me either. Mel, if you have to stop and think about it then you have your answer." He reasoned.

"Ro, I'm sorry, you have to know that I never meant to hurt you." Mel told him gently.

"You could never hurt me, you should know that by now. I think that you and I both need some time to think about what we really want, or in your case you need to experience life a little bit more before you settle down." Roman spoke gently. The last thing he wanted was for her to feel bad.

"Are we sure that we want to do this?" Mel asked him with tears welling up in her eyes.

Roman had tears pooling in his blue eyes. "Mel, we have no other choice in the matter. It wouldn't be fair for us to keep this charade up. Let's be honest we love each other, but we haven't been in love for a long time."

"How did we let this happen?" Mel asked at a loss for anything else to say.

"I don't know, I just know that if it's meant to be then we will find our way back to each other." Roman said just saying those words caused him a great deal of pain. He really didn't know how to live without Mel in his life.

"Right, this doesn't have to be forever, we just need a break right now." Mel agreed half-heartedly. One part of her needed to experience new things, but another part of her was screaming at her not to let him go.

"I need you to know that I will always love you no matter what you decide from here on out. If there ever comes a time when you think that you're in love with someone else know that I will fight for you. I'm only walking away now because it makes the most sense." Roman explained to her.

"As much as I hate to do it I know that I'm going to have to let you go. I just need some time right now. I can't commit to you without knowing who I am." Mel replied taking a shuddering breath.

"I understand, I don't want to force you into anything until you're ready. I think that we both knew in the back of our minds that it was going to come to this one day. Hell, you even offered to break up with me the spring before you started school here. You just need some time to experience life. This doesn't have to be the end of the road for us, it just has to be the end for right now." Roman spoke with wisdom.

Mel closed her eyes and the tears that she had been fighting off started to flow down her face. She walked over to Roman and sat on his lap before pressing her lips to his. "I really do love you, I just can't be with you right now." she told him.

"I love you too, and like I said I totally understand." Roman assured her. He was crying now too.

"I know that we said we needed a clean break, but I need you to make love to me like it's the last time it's ever going to happen." Mel pleaded with him.

"You know that I can't refuse you anything that you ask for." Roman said. He picked her up with very little effort and carried her to her bedroom. He very gently laid her down on the bed. "Just this one time let me do this." He begged when she sat up and started trying to help him get her out of her clothes.

"Ok," Mel whispered her voice was laden with lust. She raised her arms to assist Roman in getting her shirt off. She moaned when he started by kissing her lips and then downward over every spot of exposed skin. He stopped only briefly to undo her bra; he had gotten rather adept at it in the time that they had dated.

Roman took the nipple of her right breast into his mouth and sucked it until it was as hard as a pebble. He repeated the process with her other nipple before he kissing his way lower. He very deftly pulled off her pants and then her underwear when they got in his way. "My God, you are so damn beautiful." He marveled as he looked down at her naked form. He kissed up one of her legs and then the other, by the time that he got to his intended target she was wet with anticipation.

Mel let out a husky moan when his tongue came in contact with her clit. "Oh God, Ro, right there." She called out in the heat of the moment. She tangled the fingers of her left hand in his dirty blonde hair. She had to admit that he was damn good with his mouth and she was going to miss this.

Roman didn't come up for air until he felt all the muscles in her body go rigid and heard her call out his name. He smirked thinking that he was damn good. "You ready for me to rock your world?" he asked with a cocky tone in his voice. He was hovering above her supporting his weight on his arms.

Mel couldn't help grinning up at him. "Don't be retarded." She laughed at him and then she moaned when she felt him enter her. The two of them together had always felt right and this time was no different. She hesitated for a moment; she couldn't believe that she was just throwing this relationship away for something better that she might find. But, she knew that she had to let him go now if she wanted any chance of being happy with him later.

A couple of hours later Roman quietly slipped from the bed and he quickly located his clothes. Once he was dressed he looked down at Mel's sleeping form and bent to kiss her gently on the forehead. "I know that we need to do this so that we have a chance later, but it doesn't make it hurt any less. I just want you to know that I will always love you no matter what." He whispered to her before slipping out of the room and more importantly out of her life for the time being.


A/N: Here is the next chapter I hope you guys enjoyed it.