Hi guys! I'm really doing my best to cram in a bunch of chapters this week because once school hits, it'll be extremely hard for me to update regularly. Here is the sequel to the previous chapter, Ten to One. It's now going backwards and it may be a little confusing, so re-reading chapter 10 might help clear up any confusion.

Once again, all of these chapters are not in chronological order and some of them are not even related to each other. They are all just spontaneous and based off of various things.

I've thought about it, and I think that the previous chapter was more directed to be in May's POV ( haha I'm the author and I don't even know), but this one is still her thoughts- they've just changed over time.

From One to Ten

1. Our goodbye was bitter- no clarity, no explanation. But goodbye doesn't mean forgetting. It doesn't mean that we never see each other again or despise all the memories we made. Goodbye is waiting, waiting for the day we are both strong enough to see each other. The sun will rise and bring a new dawn, then be pulled down once again, allowing the moon and stars to shine above us. As the cycle of skies repeats, waiting isn't that long anymore.

2. Steven Stone is an untamed light, a wild thing that can't be locked up forever. He is a bird, with curiosity and imagination that competes with the limits of the sky. Like all birds, he doesn't belong in someone's cage. Ambitious, euphoric, restless- he needs to be set free.

3. Being enough for someone should not be an obligation. Expectation. Devotion. There is no capacity for how much you need someone and there is not capacity for how much you love them. All the same, love is boundless. It can't be shortened by limitations.

4. We don't have eternity. We don't have decades and we don't have every single hour for each other. But every second we do have, every moment means more.

5. At some point, we all have to go. No matter where the destination or the journey itself, we must go. We only have the simple pleasure of staying in people's hearts as memories. We are with them in spirit. Because the thought of them makes us want to work harder and go home.

6. As cliche as it is, the belief of fate is real. But I believe we control our own fate, making the choices that our hearts direct us to go, doing the things that we'd probably choose. Whether the experience is painful or triumphant, there is no losing in fate. Fate is up to me and I say we belong together. Our paths will always cross.

7. We are alive now. Breathing, experiencing, living now. We may not live to see tomorrow or we might stick around years from today. They say that forever is a long time, but forever is also a lie. Forever is just a whole lot of nows, because experiences don't stop and things have to change. Forever can end in an hour or in fifty years. Either way, I will cherish you in the moments that I have you, no matter what forever claims to be.

8. Your heartbeat is erratic, your heart slamming into your chest, making your whole body vibrate and rumble. It's the vigorous beating wings of butterflies colliding with glass windows or spiky stilettos stabbing into linoleum floors with each stride. It only amplifies and beats faster with each feverish kiss.

9. What we had was real. What we have is real. Because couples share adoring gazes and they hold each other- you feel safe. But the racing hearts, panting breaths, stuttered words, unsaid thoughts, speechless burning touches- they are all there. Those feelings cannot compete with words.

10. The first time our stares locked onto each other, I felt like I saw through you. You were broken, by your fears and by the cruel corrupted world we live in. They molded you into something you weren't- all the sardonic laughter and fake smiles and the forged compliments. You were empty, a lifeless host for a dead soul. I think you were broken and you were trying to put yourself together, but the pieces didn't fit right and you didn't know how to connect them.

But I think I am broken too. I can see the weariness behind my mother's plastic smiles, feeling the pang of guilt for leaving her, knowing my dad never sees her as much anymore. There are nights when I wake up with blocks of anxiety built up in my chest, the pressure and expectations from being Norman's kid, a gym leader's daughter. I wonder sometimes if I am loved or if I'll be good enough for someone to want me, to be wanted. The world is ugly and big and scary and I am still trying to find my place in it.

Somehow, we are all broken, but as broken as we are, we can still operate and be mended by one another. I took your brokenness, looking past your darkness and even beyond that, staring at a light you couldn't see. I know that you take mine too, because we're meant for each other- two broken and lovesick idiots trying to figure out how to be good at living life.

I'll wait to see you, to kiss you, to feel the warmth that lies beneath your skin. I'd wait for you, not because my choices are limited or because I have no one else, but because your brokenness makes you imperfect. It's your imperfectness that makes you into a beautiful person, my beautiful person that leaves me breathless and never ceasing to leave me amazed.

We are two lies, but together, we can become the ebullient truth-something we've been searching for. We'll find it, step by step, from one to ten.

This is a lot longer than I expected it to be, but I was really procrastinating on my work anyways ;) I'm a tad bit satisfied with this one so I hope it was okay! I do apologize for any errors since it's about 3 am at the moment.

I'm going to do my best and post at least 2 new chapters before next week and then my updating will be every few weeks or so.

I'll also be posting a new story outside of this and it'll be some Kalos shipping ( Calem and Serena) from Pokemon X and Y. I'm still thinking of a title, so stay tuned! Thank you for the continued support and patience! Please keep on reading! Ooh and if you have an ideas or suggestions, please let me know- I'd love the feedback!