PROLOGUE

SNOW VILLIERS

"You're leaving!?" I asked, my heart pounding hard behind my rib cage. I watched her turn around, her light pink tresses swinging like a silky curtain. She held tightly onto the silver necklace I gave her as a gift, and just from that I knew she really didn't want to.

A heavy silence hung over us; only the sounds of the trees rustling near the beach, and the ocean crashing against the soft sand took place. I took a step towards her, and reached out to touch her shoulders, but she spun back around to face me and stepped back just in time for me to grab the air from which she'd once been.

"I have to!" She said, her soft voice no longer the voice I found myself falling asleep to just yesterday. "Light needs me, and... and I... I..." Her eyes darted around, and she clutched the necklace even tighter in palm. It must've hurt.

"I...?" I asked, urging her on. We both paused as a cluster of girls passed us. And then, she looked up at me, her soft, gentle face giving me chills. I was surprised that I just saw that face in pleasure so many times before. And now she was trying to end things.

She shook her head side to side. "I can't be with someone like... you."

I paused. And then, I flared. "Is it because of your sist-"

"No!" She shouted. Some people looked at us, but she ignored them all. "It's not only my sister! I have a mind of my own, too, you know!"

"Yeah!?" I took a step forward. "Well, most of the time you don't act like it!"

She looked crushed, as if I just struck the wrong chord, and looked away again. "You're not well in the head, Snow."

"Not... well in the head?"

She looked at me with her wide, beautiful eyes. But, all I felt was crushed and deserted. How could she just leave me like this? After all I've given her; After all I've done for her? I tried to revisit the memory of just yesterday- she was acting as normal as could be. Her cheeks were flushed a shade of pink, her eyes sparkled- in fact, her whole body glowed. She was like a beautiful dream that I thought would never come true.

"Your old town... Lightening and I took a visit there about a month ago..." She said, looking down. Her tiny hands finally released the necklace; the shape of the twirls and tiny balls hanging off of it left a carving into her red-flushed palms. She didn't dare finish her sentence, and I kenw exactly why.

It was a mistake to let her deep into my past; I knew that. But, my love for her was so great that I felt I was shoving her out of my life by holding it to myself. My eyes narrowed and jaw tightened at a now-blurry image of her uncertain, frightened face. She had all the right in the world to be scared- she went places where she shouldn't have, and now my mind was made up.

"Why?" I asked, quietly at first. She flinched, even at the soft tone I was using. I could sense her emotions a mile away- she was afraid the same fate as the others would come upon her. But, no. Not yet. Maybe not ever. I didn't want to drag my past along with me and make it my present. I wanted to shove it all away. Shove it all away forever, and I knew exactly how. My mind was made up.

My mind was certainly made up.

"Lightening," she said in a soft whisper, her hands in fists and to her chest. "Lightening," she repeated, and then looked into my eyes, daring herself to see what was in them. What she saw she didn't like, so her eyes returned to the sandy ground. A breeze came, as if someone up there was trying to calm me down. Her red mini-skirt billowed, revealing a small snippet of her upper thighs. I only glanced down at them for just a second before turning my back to her. I took a deep breath, letting in the ocean air. It was a familiar scent- the scent I breathed in every morning from the confinements of my beach house. The house that held me away from the world. I guess I was afraid, too. Afraid just like she was. Afraid someone will find me; catch up to me. Someone from long ago.

This was dangerous. Too dangerous for me to handle just by staying here. My beach house could confine me no longer. I could no longer let it. It was time- the time that I've been fretting my whole life. I turned my head 90 degrees, eyes still narrowed, jaw still clenched.

"Where will you go?" I asked. She was back to holding the necklace.

"To... To Pulse..." She muttered, nodding her head sharply as if she had no other choice. As if that was her final decision.

"Pulse, huh?" I stuffed my hands into my trench coat pocket, eyes squinting up at the burning sun. "That isn't very far from here at all."

She was quiet.

"I won't follow you or anything; It's probably best if you went." I slowly turned to face her again.

She parted her lips and widened her eyes, wanting to say something so, so badly. So badly, in fact, that a soft sound came from deep down her throat. But, she looked away and decided on something else instead.

"I know that..." She said. "I trust you."

We both were silent for a bit. I took another ocean-scented breath. Her boots dug into the sand. A grin pulled at the ends of my lips.

"...You trust me, huh..." I muttered. "Who do you trust more: me or Lightening?"

She grew quiet again. I didn't dare look back at her, knowing that any other answer than "Lightening" was a lie. I've know that for a while now, but was so love drunk that I didn't dare let it escape my lips. I wanted to shove my pride, my dreams, my career-everything away for her. That was one week ago. Not now. Not ever.

"You know the answer to that, Snow..." She said. I guess I did. And the answer will never change, no matter how much of my heart I gave to her. No matter how much I threw away. My chest was in excruciating pain; it was hard to breathe. I never knew this realization would hurt so much.

"I do," my voice was strained, and I nodded a bit sloppily. Biting my bottom lip, I turned away again. "Thank you for everything. I love you."

She was quiet.

"I love you." I repeated.

"You don't." She said. And then she forced a smile. And then she turned away. And then I watched her leave.