shy girl: I'm so glad you like it! I always strive for intriguing cliffhangers, so I'm relieved that I succeeded :) Thanks again for being such a consistent commenter - no other reader of mine has ever commented on every single chapter! You have no idea how much I appreciate you :)

EHO: Thanks so much for taking the time to comment! I hope this satisfies your demand XD. But if it doesn't, I do have a prologue written ;)

She stood at the mouth of a wind-battered cave, positioned on a cliff overlooking rough waters. Far to her right there was a lighthouse, providing the only pinprick of light for miles. Marella dropped her luggage and began to fumble through her pockets, finding her home crystal in the hidden pocket next to her heart. The next second, she was whirling through the dim light again, leaving everything behind.

She materialized in the entryway of her home next to her father, who jumped and dropped his book. "Oh, Marella-" he saw her tear-stained face and paused. "Are you alright?"

"Maybe," she said cryptically, taking the stairs two at a time.

She paused momentarily at the hallway that led to her bedroom - no, she couldn't wait, she couldn't worry, she just had to know. She cleared the steps to her room and stopped at the threshold.

The room was empty.

She slid limply down the wall and landed in a heap on the floor, her despair increasing as the adrenaline pumping through her veins calmed and her heart slowed.

She'd imagined it all. There was no ring. There was no Tam.

There was no peace left in the world for her.

With her face buried in her skirt and her arms wrapped around her head, the voice was distant, as if sounding from underwater, and she knew it was in her imagination.

"Mar!"

Mar. That was his name for her. No one else called her that. Not even her parents, who respected her put-on hatred of nicknames, just one of the many barriers she had put up to protect herself from others. If they can't get familiar, they can't hurt you. Only Tam had seen through that ruse.

But it wasn't him. It wasn't him, she told herself desperately, clenching her fists and pinching her eyes tightly shut. She was imagining it, just like she'd imagined the ring, just like she'd imagined his look yesterday, just like she'd imagined that he could ever love her.

But it was so hard to convince herself that the arms around her were fake, and that her head wasn't resting on his shoulder, and that he wasn't holding her gently, breathlessly carefully, yet with an intent and passion that blazed through every finger that touched her hair, every whispered word that found her ears, every precious touch of his lips on her face.

She was sobbing, and she didn't care, and the whole thing couldn't be happening, but she didn't care about that anymore either. All that mattered was that Tam was there, Tam was real to her; even if he was a figment of her imagination, even if she was insane.

And because she knew she was crazy, and because she believed she would never have such vivid dreams again, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him full on the mouth. She felt the quick gasp in his chest as he moved against her and wondered at her brain's capacity to pretend. She felt him grasp her waist and pull her more securely into him, his mouth firm against hers and yet breathlessly gentle, and appreciated that her imagination had made this madwoman's first kiss everything she'd wished it would be. And as he held her in his arms, cradling her close to him, she buried her fingers in his ink-black hair and kissed him with all the passion and love and desire locked in her heavy soul. She kissed him until she couldn't breathe, and then she kissed him again, wanting to give and feel everything she could before the dream's inevitable end. Before she woke up to a cold heart and empty arms.

The dream went on and on, and still she held her lips to his, as if she would drink every last drop from the wellspring of his heart if it killed her.

Finally, Tam pulled away, wiped her face clear of tears, and kissed her forehead instead, holding her like a child in his arms.

Marella, thinking this signaled the end of the dream and knowing that the secure arms around her would melt into oblivion soon, wrapped her shaking hands around his neck and kissed him again, her pale lips moving against his in a slow, hopeless dance.

Tam, confused and worried at the sight of Marella's gaunt face and pale features, placed his hand gently over her mouth to stop her, alarmed when tears began to seep from her still-closed eyes and down her face.

"Mar. Mar, love, I'm here, I'm here; you can stop - please stop. What's wrong?" he pleaded, feeling uncharacteristically helpless. "Please tell me what's wrong," he whispered, watching her sob silently in his arms.

"I…" she began; she got no further due to the wild sobs that reared up in her chest and galloped through her weak body.

"What, dearest?" Tam whispered, wishing with the very depths of his soul that he could protect her from the monsters on the inside as well as the ones without.

"I… I love you," she cried, her heartbreak sliding down her cheeks in the form of tears.

"And I adore you," Tam whispered.

"But you're not real," Marella whispered, feeling what had to be the shards of her heart pressing against her chest, restricting her lungs. "I made you up." She screwed her eyes more tightly shut and buried her face in his tunic.

"Mar. Look at me," came the gentle command. But Marella did not dare to obey.

"No," she cried. "Stay with me. Don't go yet."

But the gentle hand that cradled her chin defied all resistance, and, slowly opening her eyes, she found herself looking into the face of the person she'd dreamed of for years.

In disbelief she touched his jaw, his cheek, his forehead. She stroked the bridge of his nose, brushed her thumb against his eyelashes, and finally fitted the curve of his mouth to hers, thinking no longer of her imagination and instead of the genuine love that shone through his very real eyes.

He wrapped her up in his arms and closed his eyes, an unconscious sigh emanating from his lips.

A disturbing thought occurred to Marella, and while she refused to break the kiss, it ate away at her until Tam broke it instead, saying calmly and without opening his eyes, "What's wrong?"

"Tam… are you engaged?"

Now he did open his eyes, and such a disgust shone in them that she felt a wave of relief wash over her.

"You think I would come to you like this if I were? I hope you think better of me than that."

"I do!" she protested. "I'm sorry. I just… when did you...?"

His face grew solemn. "When she asked me."

Although she wouldn't have it any other way, she couldn't imagine the pain of being rejected in front of everyone. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

"Don't be," he said firmly. "She didn't talk to me first, she simply expected me to go along with it. I, for one, don't plan on marrying a girl I haven't even dated for a year." He added, as an afterthought, "Also, don't worry about her being rejected in front of a crowd of four hundred people. I made them leave first."

"How did she take it?" Marella asked curiously.

"She'll be fine," Tam said cryptically. "I'm sorry it had to come to this - I literally never thought she would propose. I should've known," he murmured, drawing his hand over his eyes. "I could've spared us both so much pain…"

"It's not your fault," Marella gently reassured him. "It's not really anybody's fault. It was just… a lack of communication."

"Sounds like another recent event you might've heard of," Tam said, amused.

"What do you-" she started to ask, until it dawned on her that he was talking about their discovery that they loved each other.

Tam grinned at her, and she started laughing, and he kissed her gently, and she kissed him back.

THE END

Comment if you need a prologue!

- RJ Cadigan