-Shudders- please don't kill me. I know this took awhile and its short, but I tried. Thank you for all the reviews.

She kissed his cheek. "I love you," she whispered quietly in his ear and left the room. Those words, that usually warmed the heart of any person who heard it, burned in Numair's with guilt. Daine loved him so openly, and he was preparing to do the worst to her as a repayment. He forced his mind to go completely blank. Everything that he thought of some how seemed to find a way to relate to Daine. So he blocked it all out. Over the years Numair seemed to grow progressively better at making his mind blank. In this state, everything was okay. No one was trying to take the love of his life away from him there. No one in his blank mind was telling him that being with his student was wrong. It was simple there. Calm. He longed to stay there forever, knowing deep down he couldn't.

"Numair?" A melodic voice penetrated his calm world. Daine stood at the door, looking worried. Numair's eyes opened, and Daine saw a world of pain behind their dark exterior. "I think we need to talk. I... Is everything okay? With us?"

"I wish it was." And with that Daine sat on the opposite side of his bed. Pretending that everything was fine, even though the hurt in his eyes tore her heart.

"So we do?" She said, her voice cracking.

"I... I'm just not sure. I'm sorry Daine, I'm used to having the answers. This time I just... don't." The hurt in Numair's eyes morphed into an agony beyond anything that Daine had seen before. She knew that his heart was breaking, and her own heart shattered.

"Answers? Numair, you're not making sense. Answer to a question? What is this unanswerable question?"

"Us," Was his quiet reply.

"Us? What about us?" Daine coxed gently.

Numair sighed deeply. This is going to be hard. "Daine, we've been pretending. Pretending this is real. Pretending this could work. Pretending that it's ok!" He forced the words out. What the hell am I saying? I love her. I need her. I never want this to end! The part of him that controls love screamed violently, desperately trying to force the truth threw him. You have to protect her! She matters too much to you to put her in pain. You're love can't shield her from the judging eyes and the harsh whispers. If you do what you want, you'll ruin her! The supposedly logical side of him shot back venomously, winning over his mind. He continued.

"Pretending has been killing me the whole time. Its been killing us. This is wrong. It can't happen" He tried to sound like it was a matter of fact, but inwardly he was dying a slow, painful death.

Daine felt as though she'd been slapped. She tried to take in what he had said. "This isn't real to you? And it's wrong?" She fought the sudden tears in her eyes. "So, you lied to me? Every time you said you loved me?" Hate started to create pressure in her chest. What? So he just used me! "Was I just a fling? Or and experiment? Was I just for fun?" She emphasized the word fun, dripping hate onto it.

"How could you think that?" Numair spat the words like poison. "How could you think I would use you? That I never loved you! I love you Daine. I always have. But this can't be! I'm... I'm your teacher! I am like your father! Gods know I'm old enough to be! Everyone will find this wrong! We just have been blind. Love has blinded you Daine. It has blinded me! We've done something horribly wrong because we were blinded by love! Please try to understand... I love you so much. I... I love you Daine. So I won't hurt you by letting this go on." The stinging in his eyes became unbearable, but Numair willed himself to stay calm.

"Something horribly wrong." She stated numbly. That hit her hard. "You say you love, and you don't want to hurt me, but your saying I'm wrong and horrible!" She murmured painfully.

"Daine, I care so much about you. When you came here you wanted a new start. You wanted people to accept you, to love you. So many people respect you. I will not change that. I will not be the one to bring you down again. I'm sorry, Daine. But this... can't be. I wont let it. I wont let you sacrifice all you did for me. I love you too much. It has to end." Numair was done pretending everything was okay. Heavy tears spilled from his soft eyes.

Daine watched Numair cry, like he was the one being hurt. She almost took pleasure in those tears, after all he had said. Trying to keep herself together long enough to get to the door, she shifted to the edge of the bed, touching her feet to the cold ground beneath her. She picked up her hazardously thrown clothes, considering her next words for long seconds. "I… I think I'm the one that loved you too much." She picked up Kit, waking her. She started to screech, but the look one Daine's face silenced the young dragon immediately. "I hope your speech does better you then me. Now that I've been humiliated and taken advantage of, I think I take my leave. I'm sorry to leave so early, Master Salmalin. I'll see you at the next meeting, I assume." She said, with a bitter politeness then reached for the shining door handle, her freedom.

Numair watched her leave, crying silently. He realized that he watched the love of his life walk out of the door. Numair lifted his limp body out of bed, and used the strength that he'd been saving for a week to run to the door.

In the hallway, Daine collapsed against a gray wall, letting her tears go. They fell on Kit, who barley noticed. She gave worried chirps, trying to comfort Daine. Daine heard Numair at the door, groaning with the effort. Not wanting him to see her cry, she bolted down the hall. She tripped a couple yards away from the door, splaying her and Kit against the hard stone. Her world crashed with her. She fell apart, piece-by-piece. Her sobs shook her entire body. Her heart turned black and felt as thought it had stopped beating in her chest. Bile filled her throat, burning her mouth. She couldn't hear Kit screaming her worry, nor did she want to. Her palms had been ripped open. They blazed where her skin had been pulled apart. Blood trickled down her arms as she wept, leaving red pools along her clothes. She savored the feeling. It felt good to have physical pain. It covered her inner turmoil.

a/n: What did you think? Please review! Like before, I would like constructive criticism.

Bounty Hunter Jango, Lady Knight 1512, and Heather-Marie: -blushes- Thanks. My computer said it was spelled wrong, so I fixed it without thinking.

Lady Knight 1512: Your right, Kings don't jump on beds. –scratches it out-. All better! Thanks for pointing it out!

Everyone: Muha! I did update –points up-. Sorry its so short, and well, badly written…