We managed to make it back home without getting caught: a good sign. My relieved mood, however, changed instantly the moment we were inside and Harley came at me, her blue eyes narrowed.

"Red…why did you do that? Why did ya make me leave Mistah J behind?"

I gulped. Harley's face looked so…dangerous. I remember incidents in the past; 'Harley-tantrums' as I called them, could be completely unpredictable as well as hazardous to both Harley and myself.

I opened my mouth but no words came out. Harley's fists were shaking with anger and I was sure that if I said the wrong thing, Harley would be uncontrollable in her actions. Finally, I put on my big-girl pants, stood my ground, and told her the truth.

"He hit you, Harley. You don't need him. He's worthless and he's better off being stuck at Arkham then we are."

Harley twitched, drinking in my words. I stood up taller and tried to place a firm hand on her shoulder, speaking to her as dominatingly as possible.

"Stay with me, Harl. That clown is nothing but an idiotic bastard. He can't take care of you the way I can. You don't need him and he does not need you."

Harley blinked, her eyes darting nervously left and right, as if she were trying to make sense of my words but having great difficulty.

"…Red…"

Her voice suddenly dropped a pitch, becoming more controlled sounding, saner. Was it the voice of the woman she had been before? Did she finally understand what I was trying to tell her? Slowly, I reached for her.

"Harley, I-"

In a flash, she punched me as hard as she could, knocking me to the ground. Her eyes glared down on me with complete, solid anger.

"No, Ivy. You're wrong. You're wrong about my Puddin'. I want to be with him, no matter what. He needs me and I need him. Us…we were destined ta be togetha. From the very first moment I met him I knew that we were destined for somethin' beautiful. You can't change that. Not ever."

I got to my feet, my toxic blood boiling inside of me.

"You're HOPELESS! You can't ever stand on your own two feet. You promise to me again and again that you're off him for good and yet here you are singing his praises after he hurt you! What's it going to take for me to get into your screwed-up little mind that you need to STAY AWAY FROM HIM? He's a waste of life! Mother Nature wiped snot out of her nose and that was him! FORGET HIM."

Harley was crying now, her eyes still leering at me with rage and grief. Suddenly, she raised herself threateningly at me and shouted words that I hoped I would never hear again from her.

"What do YOU know? You haven't seen him the way I did! You're nothing more than a…a LIAR!"

She backed away, moving closer towards the door.

"Go ahead and leave, Harley," I hissed. "If you do, I don't want to see your pathetic face on my doorstep ever again. If you want to go after a worthless jerk who hurts you, then you obviously don't need me. Get out."

Harley flinched, her eyes widening as if she were remembering something from long ago. Her lower lip began quivering.

"S-surely ya don't mean that, Red? Can't ya understand? Don't ya care about me?"

My chest aching, I turned my back towards her, unable to look at her pleading, desperate face. My eyes were moist.

"I…I do care about you, Harley. That's why I don't want to see you again if you leave to go back to a life with him. I care about you…too much."

I couldn't bear to see her expression. She was sobbing as I heard her walk out the door…out of my life in order to pursue the madman that she was so desperately in love with. My vines wrapped themselves around me comfortingly, but not even they could help me fight back my feelings of utter despair.

Our flower…our strange, beautiful flower…had fallen down at last.

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Hey everyone!

Sorry for the long delay. Unfortunately, there's going to be another one: My parents and I are going on a trip to Italy this summer for two weeks. I wonder if Italy is as majestic as they say it is? Guess I'll find out, LOL.

Anyway, thanks to all my reviewers. See you all when I get back!

-CAT