"She came to the shop and you didn't even fucking tell me?" Fred flipped over the chair in their flat and let out a loud scream as George shrunk back into the kitchen. It was a month after Emerald had showed up in the shop and George was just now telling his brother. Needless to say, he was less than happy. He hadn't mentioned the fact that Kent had been with her, but he had a feeling that that would only piss him off even more.

"I figured that you didn't want to see her…" George muttered. Fred lunged for him, but George pushed him back so that he didn't get punched.

"You're the one that convinced me to move on!" Fred pushed George away. "Why don't you try thinking about somebody other than yourself?" George furrowed his brow together.

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

"You sent her away because you didn't like us being together." George's jaw dropped.

"She's married, there's not a whole lot that you can do for her!" Fred lashed out to punch his brother, but George ducked and miss Fred's fist by mere centimeters.

"It's your fault that she left!"

"Don't go blaming me for your shit."

"I blame you for everything!" Fred screamed. "If it weren't for you, Emerald would still be here with me!" George scoffed.

"You don't know that for sure."

"But I would know if you hadn't kept screwing us over!" George's blood started to boil.

"Shut your fucking mouth!" He said, pointing at his brother square in the nose. Fred stared at him for what seemed like forever, his eyes narrowed and flaming.

"You raped her, you're lucky that I'm even talking to you." He muttered. "I could have turned you in and watched you go to jail without any regret…you didn't even tell her that you were sorry."

"Why should I apologize? It wasn't like she hadn't been fucked before…"

George felt a sudden stabbing of pain in his stomach. It was guilt, guilt for saying something so vile. Had he really become that kind of person that would sink so low as to violate somebody and then feel that he had been justified in doing so? Emerald was a person, not to mention the one girl that his brother had ever had feelings for. Oh God, when had he turned into such an ass?

The words had slowly sunken in, but all Fred could do was stare. He saw his brother, the mirror image of himself in appearance, but something so drastic had changed between them. It was as if they weren't brothers anymore, but rivals fighting against each other for completely different goals. He shook his head and pulled on his coat with his keys already in his hand.

"I'm gonna leave, and I'm not coming back…sell the flat, rent out the extra room, I don't care…" He muttered, not bothering to pick up any of his things to take with him. George furrowed his brow together.

"What the fuck? We can't even live together now?" Fred just shook his head.

"I'll come back later and get my stuff." George searched his mind, trying to find something that would make his brother stay.

"Have you finished Hamlet?" He suddenly asked just as Fred was reaching for the doorknob. He stopped and looked over his shoulder.

"What?"

"She…Emerald wanted to know if you finished Hamlet." Fred's face went blank.

"Why?" George thought back to that day, trying to remember exactly what Emerald had said.

"Because…she left something in there for you…in the book…at least I think that's what she said…fuck it happened so long ago." Fred rushed to his room and went to his bookcase where Hamlet sat on the tallest shelf. He flipped through the pages and shook the book cover, watching his own bookmark slip from the pages. After a few more shakes, a small envelope fluttered to the floor. On the front, in beautiful cursive, was his name. He instantly scrambled to pick it up and ripped open the wax seal. The pages had been pressed together for a very long time and the ink had faded slightly. There were only two pages written in Emerald's hand, the lettering small just as he had remembered. He sunk down to his bed, slowly reading every word that had been written so long ago.

'Congratulations, you've finally finished Hamlet! I'm so proud, but very sad that I won't be there to see this glorious moment. Not only because you've finished it, but because you actually managed to finish a Shakespeare play by yourself.

'So if you haven't guessed, I've left. I'm sorry Fred, I just can't stand to see you and your brother always fighting and jumping down each other's throats over me. I'm not worth it; I'm not worth all of this fighting so I'm going to fix the problem. I hope that you'll forget me. Not that I want you to forget me, but I know that you need to forget me. I know it will be hard, but you must try, for me. I want you to move on with your life because I plan to move on with mine to the best of my abilities. I know that this all seems rather dramatic, but sometimes dramatic problems call for dramatic solutions.

'I want you to read it from me before you hear it from anybody else: after I finish school, I have every intention of accepting Kent's proposal. It is not because I love him. After I leave you, I see no point in even trying to find somebody else. I love you so much and it breaks my heart to do this, but family is far more important than me. Because in the end, family will be the one thing that you'll have in this world who will never judge you and never take you for granted. You have a beautiful family Fred, please, don't give them up just for me.

'Know that I'll never stop loving you. I only marry somebody else because there is no point in ever trying to find another love like you. You are the most treasured person in my heart and I will cherish you forever.

'I love you,

'Emerald.'

With shaking hands, Fred slowly folded the letter and tucked it back between the pages of Hamlet. His breath was shaking and he felt like he was about to pass out. George stood in the doorway, his brother completely aloof to his presence.

"So what did she say?" He asked quietly. Fred pursed his lips together, keeping his mouth shut and working hard to gather his thoughts.

"You sent away the one person in the world that I love more than life itself…and you expect me to just talk to you as if nothing was wrong?" George swallowed a lump in his throat, hearing the deadly tone in his brother's voice.

"Um…"

"Just do me a favor George." He muttered as he slowly stood up with the book clutched in his hand. "For the next few days, don't talk to me." George quickly nodded as his brother stalked out of the room.

"Yeah, we don't have to talk, whatever you want."