I finished this chapter before you all hunted me down! Yay! Chapter four, baby! (But you do realize the whole plot I planned has only seven chapters and an epilogue, right?)

Dang, Pixii, you are a good guesser! DX

I'm dedicating this chapter…to…C.I.A.D, who's free to start the hunt now! (evil laugh) After you all read this chapter, you might just want to, too. You all should vote on the should-Marc-die poll now…though I'll give you one more reason to hate him…in chapter six…

And I also need one more Eevee, for next chapter. I already have one (winks at Will) Sorry ESP, I'm saving Hakumei for the epilogue, okay? (Why do you PM me about it, if you can?)

Chapter Four

Broken Hearts

"There are things that we don't want to happen but have to accept, things we don't want to know but have to learn, and people we can't live without but have to let go…"

I could live through this.

So often I hear stories of people who have been through worse-that their family died, they were thrown out of their homes and packs, all their friends died, having death and hatred loom over them constantly…

I was lucky, compared to them.

I snorted as I realized the futility of trying-and failing- to convince myself.

I was going to talk to Marc.

And nobody was going to stop me.

Yesterday had only strengthened my resolve, and I have the scars to prove it. I was determined on this. I knew he still cared about me, somewhere, deep down. I saw how he carefully avoided the subject on…what happened…around Iron, Twire, and Point.

Yet I really don't care if Marc doesn't want to hear my words, the truths that have made me so upset over the past couple of days. He was going to listen to me. He was going to face me like the man I thought I had known he was. There was to be no more lies.

No more.

I already knew Marc was going to be-all adult Eevees that hadn't found a mate yet were required to do services for the pack. He (and Iron, Twire, and Point, unfortunately) were assigned today to dig a burrow for a soon-to-be couple. Some two people I didn't care to know but nevertheless envied…

I came into a small clearing, where Eevees were bustling around, working hard. It was roughly around midday, I think. No one spared a passing glance. Which was all just as well, as the looks were always…yes, you know what I mean…

But there was only one person I was really focusing on.

Marc was in the center of all the hubbub, turned slightly to the side, his stance relaxed. He occasionally barked out orders in that beautiful voice of his-clearly he was in charge of overseeing it all.

Seeing him only added to my distress, though.

I reminded myself of what I was here for.

I nodded firmly to myself and tightened my muscles up, holding my head up high for the first time for a long time. I was Valentina Azalea Petal, and I was not backing down from this. I marched over in my best friend's direction. He heard my footsteps and visibly straightened, his eyes narrowing, and turned to me.

"Can I help you?" He snapped angrily.

I stood my ground and glared back into his eyes. "Actually, there is, Marcus Victor Icebir. I suggest you start talking. That might help."

"I'm only helping you if it is helping you go away." Marc replied coldly.

"Maybe if you answer some questions first!" I spat.

"What do you WANTfrom me, Valentina?" He hissed, flinching. Our argument received some glances now, and one or two Eevees stopped to watch us.

"What is your problem, Marc?" I asked desperately, dropping the anger charade. "What happened to the two of us, together? What happened to this friendship we've shared since we were babies? How was it all wiped away in one instant? I thought we were inseparable…I thought…I thought…"

I broke off, searching his eyes urgently for some kind of warmth, for that Marc I still knew was still in there somewhere. For the real Marc, my Marc. But there was only that ice, that anger I had seen the past few times I had looked into his eyes. The ice and anger that had been forced there since that first day I made my decision…this wasn't him.

"You thought." Marc repeated mockingly.

The circle around us slightly grew.

"Marc…" I whispered.

"Leave me ALONE, Valentina!" Marc sighed, glaring. "You've changed into this clingy new person now! I don't know you anymore. I'm trying to make this easier on both of us, so I'll say it plain and simple: Please…just get out of my life."

"Marc…" I shook my head. "I know that you're upset…I know I did you wrong…I know that you want me to pay for all the pain I've caused…but in the end, it all comes down to just one thing…It's you and me…"

"You and me don't exist anymore. You are not my friend, Valentina. We may have been friends a long time ago, but I am a man now, and you are a child. I already explained this to you." His eyes were hard. "I'm higher than that."

A long time ago…I thoguth. Three days must be the new forever. "Marc, I know who made the mistakes…I did…can't you stop your foolish pride and come back to me?"

"That's not possible." laughed a snide voice from behind me. "Why don't you tell her why, Marc?"

Fury flooded my veins.

Iron batted me aside as easily as if I was a piece of paper. "Move it, freak." He said in a bored voice, even those his movements showed how enthusiastic he was. As usual, his sidekicks Twire and Point followed his every move. "Man, there's a simple solution to all of this. Just tell the little freak about Isabella and we can get her off our backs."

Twire and Point snickered, but I didn't notice, for two things happened simultaneously in that moment.

First, Marc inhaled sharply, but only I seemed to notice; only I looked at him. The cold pretense had dropped from his eyes-I could see the real Marc again. But there was unbearable agony in them he tried to hide as he glanced at me, shaking. I knew him well enough to tell that this was something he had tried to hide from me.

His act of not caring was just that…an act.

And second, my heart was shattered in millions and millions of infinitesimal pieces and blew away in the wind, and I knew no amount of time was ever going to heal me.

"I, uh, y-you know, was saving the a-announcement for, er, the p-proper time…" Marc stuttered anxiously."This, uh, i-isn't really the t-time…"

"Oh, come on, Marc. The little freak deserves some reality." Iron bared his teeth and grinned at me from Marc's side. The quite large circle around us nodded cruelly. "Apparently she didn't learn her lesson yesterday…I could take care of her, if you want…" He added eagerly, leaning forward.

Marc looked at me again, the pain clear in his expression.

"Isabella…" He murmured furtively, closing his eyes. "Oh, Rose…"

I cringed.

Now he was calling me Rose…

"Rose…ah…there's no easy way to tell you this…this burrow…is being built for me."

I couldn't catch my breath.

"Yes, it's being built for me. My parent's arranged this couple, I had no choice at all in this…oh, Rose…me and Isabella…you remember her? From our year group? Well…Isabella and I…we're pretty much mates now."

I blinked, my first reaction.

They could take everything I loved away, and they knew it. They could limit me in more ways than I could count.

Now I'd lost the only thing that ever mattered to me. I had nothing else to lose.

I may not ever fly-but I WOULD DIE TRYING!

"I'm through accepting limits 'cuz someone says they're so…" I sang, pulsing with hate and rejection, backing away. "Some things I cannot change, but till I try, I'll never know! Too long I've been afraid of losing love I guess I've lost…Well, if that's love, it comes at much too high a cost!"

The pain was swept away from Marc's eyes and replaced with the ice and outrage.

"I'd sooner buy defying gravity! Kiss me goodbye, I'm defying gravity!" I shrieked, turning and running, away, away from Marc, away from my shattered heart.

"FREAK!!" I heard him screech behind me.

" And you can't pull me down!" I screamed into the sky for the world to hear.

H/P