AN: Happy Valentines Day! I decided to post this little mini-series a day early. It's four parts and an epilogue that I'll be posting over the next five nights to celebrate Snowing and Valentines Day. This is a little modern AU I came up with a while ago, so I hope you enjoy. Please review and let me know what you think.

AnonSnowing: Thanks! Glad you like it!

Sexystarwarslover: Thanks! Yeah, this is going to be a short, but sweet little modern AU. Glad you liked it. :)

Sweeter Than Fiction

Chapter 2: Heartache

Mary finished helping Ruth with the morning chores. It had become routine for them in the last six months. Morning chores with Ruth was a routine she enjoyed, but she had to admit helping David in the field with the flock in the afternoons was her favorite chore, though it wasn't something she would call a chore at all.

She was sad today though, for she had heard her step-mother had hired mercenaries to hunt her down, because she didn't think the police were doing a good enough job. That raised the stakes in a frightening way and she knew she had to leave. Her heart broke at that though, for she had fallen deeply and irrevocably in love with David. Which was exactly why she had to leave in order to protect him and his mother, whom she had come to love as well.

"You okay?" David asked, interrupting her thoughts. She quickly hid her tears and put on a brave face for him.

"I'm fine," she lied, as they headed out into the field. As per usual, there was laughter and banter along with their work, as Wilby, David's dog, trotted along with them.

As dusk fell, they lingered in the field, while Wilby did his job and herded the sheep into the pen.

She blushed under David's stare, as she did most days, for when he looked at her like that, her heart did back flips in her chest.

"You're staring," she teased. He pried his gaze away and smiled shyly. Oh, how she loved his smile.

"Sorry...I just feel like I was barely living before you came into our lives," David said, as he took her hands in his own.

"I love you Mary," he confessed. Her breath hitched and her heart flipped again.

"Oh David…" she uttered.

"I know I am so beneath your station…" he started to say.

"Never…" she said in protest.

"No, I am...I'm just a shepherd. I have next to nothing to offer you other than this farm and you...you were practically a princess," he continued.

"David...there is nothing just about you. And the best thing you have to offer me is you," she stressed.

"I love you too," she confessed. He felt like a weight was lifted from his shoulders and beamed at her.

"You love me?" he asked.

"I love you," she repeated and then yelped, as he picked her up and spun her around. Any thoughts she had faded away, as he kissed her passionately there in the field. When their lips finally parted, she hid her sadness. She loved him...so she had to leave to save his life.

"I'm going to go gather a few things I left in the barn for your mother," she lied. He smiled and kissed her quickly again.

"Don't be long...it's almost dark. I'll see you at dinner," he said, before placing a kiss on her forehead. She closed her eyes and relished everything about him. His handsome face...the calloused hands and the way they made the heat rush through her body. His soft lips and strong arms. His masculine scent and his beautiful smile. Her heart broke in two, as she furiously scribbled the note to him and left in on the hay bale, before gathering what few belongings she had and running toward the woods, tears streaming down her face and sobs racking her shoulder.

When Mary didn't come inside, David went out to check on her. So when her son came back into the house holding a letter, his face stricken with sadness and fear, Ruth knew something was terribly wrong.

"She left…" he choked, as he handed her the note. Ruth didn't need to read much more than the first few lines to know that Mary had left to protect them.

"She's scared...she loves you. This is her way of protecting us," Ruth reasoned.

"I don't want protection!" David cried, as tears fell down her cheeks.

"I want her! Why wouldn't she just let me protect her?" he cried, as Ruth put her hands on his arms.

"She's just scared...she's not thinking. Go after her," she urged. He sniffed.

"I can't leave you and the farm," he said dejectedly.

"I will be fine and damn the farm! Son...most people never find true love. But you have and you must not let it slip away," she said.

"If I go...I don't know if I'll be able to come back. We might have to run for a very long time," he warned. She smiled.

"And I know that you will be happier running for your life with her than you will ever be here, alone and safe. I will be fine as long as I know you are happy and together," Ruth told him. David hugged her tightly.

"I love you Mother," he said. Ruth cupped his face in her hands.

"I know...now go. Pack what you can and go. Find her!" she urged. He hurried to pack a few things and Ruth gave him a satchel with provisions.

"Take Wilby...he can track her," she said. He nodded and kissed her cheek.

"Find her. Keep each other safe," she said with a teary smile.

"I love her...and I will find her. I will always find her," he promised, as he took off toward the woods with Wilby running alongside him.