Misty shut the door quietly behind her, leaning against it suddenly exhausted by her exit.

"Count to ten," she whispered to herself, "ten seconds and then you need to start packing."

One.

She took a deep breath, holding it until she got to four before letting it out slowly.

Five.

Her hands went up to cover her face, allowing herself to let out a choked sob.

Eight.

She ran her thumbs under her eyes wiping the stray tears away before they rolled down her cheeks.

Ten.

Misty pushed away from the door and walked unsteadily toward the closet. She opened the door and stepped inside silently mourning the loss of the walk-in closet. Her small hard shell suitcase was sitting in the corner as it had been since her first day here. Reaching up, she grabbed as many hangers full of her clothes as she could, and the suitcase handle in her other hand and dragged it all out into the main room and threw it on the bed.

She walked back to the closet and grabbed the rest of her clothes, jumping when she heard the door shut from the other room. Misty walked to the doorway of the closet, locking eyes with Asher briefly before continuing, brushing past him and tossing her armful with the rest.

"You're leaving?" he asked quietly his eyes looking everywhere but at her.

"I already said that, I did what I came here to do. I need to go back to my life," she sighed folding her clothes as quickly as she could and setting them haphazardly into the case.

They fell into a tense silence, both with questions on the tips of their tongues but not wanting to be the one to speak first. Finally he walked over so that he was standing next to her and began helping her fold her clothes quietly.

"You look good with dark hair, Mist." he finally spoke, his voice so soft she hardly heard him.

"You took the antidote." Misty didn't intend for her statement to come out so accusingly but didn't apologize. She wanted him to know that she was angry, and disappointed though she wouldn't fully admit that.

"Can we talk about it?" he sighed.

"What's there to talk about, Ash? I think I've said everything I need to say, and with an audience too."

"I haven't gotten a chance to explain, you owe me that much."

Misty laughed meanly, "I owe you? I don't owe you anything." he opened his mouth to speak but she cut him off.

"You left me. I was happy, I was under the impression that everything was fine and you left. Without word, without explanation. Then you call me days later and now, years after the fact you have the nerve to tell me that I owe you?"

"You're right, you're absolutely right. But please, let me explain why. At least let me explain why I took the antidote."

She didn't answer but sat down on the bed and looked at him expectantly.

"Staying brainwashed, staying here, it was the easy choice. It wouldn't have been hard to get you to stay with me despite what you said back in the conference room, you could have even gone back to work at the gym. But I want you. And you deserve," he paused to gather his thoughts, "you deserve the hard way. I owe you a fight, I need to show you how much I want you."

"And what if I don't want you?" she looked away from him so that he couldn't read her expression.

"I thought you might say that, so I came with a peace offering." Ash put his fingers under her chin, forcing her to look up at him.

"If you insist there is no way you can allow me back into your life as I am, I will happily march back downstairs and take the injection."

"You would spend the rest of your life brainwashed?" Her expression remained blank, her voice held no sign of hope or disbelief.

"I just want you, under any circumstances."

Misty was quiet for a long time, looking down at her hands in her lap. She ran through an endless list of pros and cons.

"This isn't a decision for me to make, I can't be the basis for the rest of your life." she sighed.

"I wouldn't trust anyone else with my life."

She stood up moving as far away from him as possible while still occupying the same room, "Don't you understand how badly I just want to go back to being left alone? This isn't fair, it feels like I just got my life back together without you in it and now it's like you won't let me escape again."

"I'm telling you that you don't need to escape," he protested.

"So I can let you hurt me again?" she snapped.

"I won't hurt you," he whispered.

Misty laughed softly as Ash stood helplessly across the room waiting for a response. Her laughter continued while tears rolled down her cheeks until she shook her head and wiped them away.

"All you've done for the fifteen years that I've known you is hurt me," she began. "Sure, there were good times. Just enough happiness peppered into an otherwise emotionally charged situation to give me hope, make me think it might all be worth it."

"And God help me, I love you despite it all," Misty's voice rose as she met his eye. "There has to be something fundamentally wrong with me that time after time I come back to this completely toxic relationship like it's something to aspire to. Like this is the height of romance."

"Misty, I-" he started but she shook her head.

"No, Ash. My answer is no, it has to be no because I know, deep down, that I deserve better than this."

"I can be better," Ash pleaded closing the space between them and taking her hands in his, "give me a chance to prove it to you. I've been miserable without you, Mist, I need you."

Misty surprised them both by leaning forward and kissing him deeply, her hands moving up the sides of his face and his to her hips, pulling each other as close as they could be without becoming one person. Truthfully, she was glad for his tight grip on her because she felt like her legs were about to give out beneath her. He moaned against her lips and she took her cue to break away from him, pushing gently on his chest until there was space between them again.

"That's always what it comes down to, isn't it? What you want, what you need."

"What do you want?" he panted attempting to catch his breath.

"I want space," she exhaled pushing her arm the rest of the way until he was out of reach.

"You've had three years," he smirked as he sat down on the edge of the bed, realizing this battle had been lost for today.

Misty walked back over to her suitcase, she finished putting her clothes into it and zipped up the sides waiting for Ash's next barrage of 'I love you's and reasons why he was sorry but they never came. She knew him well enough to know that he hadn't given up but was instead wondering what his next plan of attack should be. She made the mistake of looking over at him and locking eyes briefly, he smiled winningly at her but didn't say anything.

She cleared her throat pulling her suitcase onto the floor, "I'm sorry, Ash."

"No, I'm sorry. You're absolutely right, about everything." he sighed. "Can I tell you something?"

"I don't need to hear anymore convincing," Misty raised her eyebrow at him.

"Just one little thing," he stood up and walked over to her placing his hand over hers on the suitcase handle.

"You know the night you went out with Asher? The night where everything shifted? He overslept that day, I overslept that day. It's weird to talk about him like he's a different person."

"What's the point Ash?"

"There's a twenty-four hour period where the pills work. I slept past that. On the date, it was me, not him."

Misty was quiet for a long time. She wasn't surprised by this revelation, she had actually suspected as much herself once the lovestruck haze had worn off and she was able to think about that night objectively. She thought about all the time she had spent pushing her feelings down and lying to herself when it came to Ash. She thought about how much she had grown since her First Big Love and First Big Heartbreak and that she deserved to be happy. She deserved to at least give herself a chance. Maybe they could never fully go back to what they had been, but she had to try. She had to at least give their friendship a chance.

"Does your mom still do Sunday dinners once a month?" she asked, looking up at him finally.

"Yeah, last Sunday of the month," Ash frowned slightly, confused at the change in topic.

Misty nodded and started toward the door, pulling her suitcase behind her. He watched her leave without a word knowing that if he went after her he'd ruin everything.

She made it to the door before turning to look back at him, "I'll see you then."


And that's all she wrote.

Open ended, just the way I like things to end.

Thank you to everyone who read this and reviewed or even just read it and kept coming back.