A shorter chapter. But it's emotion heavy. Hopefully it's conveyed as strongly as I want it to be…

Anyway, the climax of this portion of the story. Enjoy.

Serving up revenge cold,

Kelsey

CHAPTER 20: IT'S NOTHING OR NOTHING

"I'll join you girls in a bit. I'm not feeling too well."

Millie, Sarah, and Abigail exchanged glances, ending with a stern expression aimed at Laura.

"Hmm, I wonder why," Millie said airily, mockingly. Her voice trailed off as she and her group of friends exited the classroom quietly without turning to look behind them. Professor Layton was straightening the contents of his briefcase as was typical at the finish of class, but his eyes looked lost, yet not in thought. Laura walked to the front of his desk hurriedly.

"One of the Harrison girls saw me."

"Whatever do you mean, Laurie?" He was putting on his usual scholarly voice, treating her as she was supposed to be and remain being treated: the student. He refrained from looking into her eyes.

"You know what I mean. One of them saw me leaving your house, close to 10 o'clock. Word is either Virginia or Meridith was brushing her hair at the bureau near their window, and saw me exit your house, and leave heading west."

He laughed. "Ah, yes. Picking up your assignment that you left, weren't you?"

"NO ONE IS LISTENING!" she yelled. "Stop playing ignorant and respond to me, damn it!" The Professor looked into her eyes shrewdly, in scorn over her heightened voice and choice of words.

"Ladies musn't forget their manners, Laura, no matter how frustrated they become."

"Ladies this, ladies that!" She lowered her voice and her head, still eyeing him maliciously. "And professors shouldn't take their students!"

He frowned, hurt. "Don't phrase it that way. I didn't 'take' anything. I gave, and I received. There is no taking involved."

Groaning, Laura hung her head in despair. "You know what I mean…Listen, the point is, one of those brats saw me, and the rumors have increased in their raunchiness, as well as the rate at which they are being spread! Millie's up in arms about it, I'm sure she's gone and told the headmaster. Professor, I'm—"

"Call me Hershel."

"You shouldn't be calling me 'Laurie' in public. And I shouldn't address you by your first name anyway! At least something with 'Layton,' it's really not proper, although…I don't know anymore!"

"Either way, I'm not your professor at all." He snapped his case shut, taking the handle in his hand as she looked at him confused. He appeared distressed and was being curt in his responses.

"What are you talking about? Classes aren't finished."

"They are soon. I talked to the headmaster and I'm leaving two weeks early. Your last weeks of class are supplemented with readings, and your final is going to the newest archaeological exhibit at the museum. Your academic excellence as a class is sufficient to spare you all a test or a paper, and I vouched for this."

"But—none of this makes any sense!" She ran around the desk and stood in full view in front of him as he pulled on his brown jacket. "You told me I'm doing terrible in class!"

"It served as a façade."

"Well, you can't just get up and leave like that!"

"I can due to a personal situation that requires me to get back to London as soon as possible. I stressed the importance of this and explained the situation to the headmaster."

"You…what did you tell her? What happened back in London?"

"That one of my dearest friends has been taken ill with a bout of depression and needs my immediate attention, lest that he continue to decline and suffer mentally." He started towards the door. "Laura, please come to my house after classes for a bit of tea, won't you?"

"Answer me now! What is the meaning of this? That sounds like the stupid story you came up with yesterday for my parents!" she shouted, tears starting at the corners of her eyes. She could tell he wasn't being straight with her. His shoddy explanation was laced with code.

"Tea should calm you down a bit. Please stop by later." He gently pushed past her without looking at her or saying good bye.

She looked at her feet, feeling, for the first time, sick about going to the Professor's house for tea. Everything was happening so fast, she couldn't concentrate. She didn't want to finish the day's classes. Not wanting to attract any more attention or to start any more rumors, she collected herself and hurried to the washroom, staring at herself in front of a mirror until her next class started.

Struggling to sit still during English Composition, Laura finally was able to leave the campus and make off towards the Professor's house. She made sure to be careful in not collecting any curious busy-bodies, checking behind her excessively during her trek. In record time she was already crossing the expanse of familiar green lawn and climbing the cement porch steps. She knocked and waited, wooden floorboards creaking as she anxiously swayed back and forth on the heels of her feet. Layton appeared at the door's windows. He smiled and removed the locks to the door.

She stepped inside. "Your smile isn't convincing."

"It'll have to do for now." He sat down heavily in his favorite chair. Some papers were scattered haphazardly over the top of the coffee table. Nothing new. "Please," he said, motioning towards a chair. She sat down. "I didn't want to mention it to you at the school, but it slipped. I'll be more detailed now, but…"

"You aren't leaving for another person," she interrupted. "You are the one, the dearest friend, that you spoke of."

He shook his head, chuckling. "Admittedly, your cleverness is one of the many reasons I fell for you."

"It's true then!" she shouted, almost hysterically. Layton looked at her quizzically. "I wasn't one-hundred percent sure."

"Still, a clever guess, and a clever method of getting the information out of me. Indeed, I am leaving for myself. Let me explain why. Tea?" She shook her head, not to be distracted. He sighed. "Laurie, this can't continue."

"What?"

"Us. There is no proper way to get around it, there is no proper way to excuse it. I'm at a loss, as I told you before." He sipped his tea as Laura snorted.

"I don't mind faking it, keeping quiet, in public. It's no problem."

"We can't hide it forever. And even if we did, I wouldn't be able to put up with the mental strain of it, what with all the—" He gasped as Laura's hand heavily collided with his cheek. He didn't even notice the spot of scalding tea that spilled from his cup and onto the thigh of his pants. Blinking, he stared incredulously up at the girl now standing in front of him. He was half in awe that he was just slapped, half in confusion as to why. "L-Laurie?"

"Mental strain? Mental strain? You lead me on, all this time—"

"Laurie, I never led you…"

"—spend valuable time with me, talking and doing things completely not class related—"

"And I wouldn't trade it for anything…Laurie, listen to me—"

"—become the only friend I've ever had, make love to me, confess everything you've kept quiet for all these months—"

"—please, just—"

"—and you don't even understand what that meant to me, and now you're admitting everything was basically fake, since it doesn't mean anything to you, to just give it all up, and—"

"And it all meant something to me and it always will!" he bellowed, standing up and sending his tea cup tumbling to the floor. Laura stopped a moment, bewildered that he could muster such a loud voice. Had their emotions not been running rampant, she would have found it comical, but she quickly ignored it for the time being. She started in again.

"You take everything I have to give you—" Her voice began faltering.

"And I wouldn't ever want to receive it from anyone else!" He gripped her shoulders tightly, staring into her eyes with a ferocity he hadn't ever shown before.

"—and then you're just going to…leave me?" She broke away from his gaze, feeling her tears spill over her eyelids. "You just, just-! I…I can't even believe it! I feel so betrayed… It's like you never really understood after all… You really didn't understand, the entire time. What was the point of last night then?"

"LAURIE." He pulled her to him, holding her close, trying to still each sob that racked her body. "Don't assume that it's been for naught. There is nobody on this earth to compare with you. In all these years I've been alive, no one has affected me the way you have. You've opened up a part of me I never knew existed. You made me feel completely human." He held her away from him for a moment, looking into her red face. "I have had the makings of an academic from an early age, and you gave me reason to believe there's more than knowledge and smarts to this life. What's the use if I can't share those things as I have with you? It's not merely standing at the front of a classroom, connecting with students on the surface. It's not all about my goals, my pursuits, my achievements. I have fully embraced the meaning of the word 'intimate'."

She swallowed painfully. "And you're just casting it aside, leaving me to return to life as usual! This isn't fair, you get to run away and leave me broken! You shouldn't have told me anything! Just let it all die, that's what you should have done! You get to run away…"

"No, I'm not. Laurie, this was doomed from the start, you must realize this. I can't hide myself from society. If our secret is brought into the light, we will be driven out from life as we know it, or, life as we knew it. Outcasts, that's what we'll become. We can't be having this sort of relationship, it's just not…It's just not acceptable. And—"

"You're choosing society over me! I can't bear to leave you, yet you are choosing your previous life! You're choosing your stupid rocks! I've lost to a bunch of broken ruins and the occasional newspaper fame! I'm such a disgrace!"

He shook his head, taking each comment as a mental and physical blow. His stomach was empty, his heart barely finding the energy to pump. "No, I'm choosing what I know is the only feasible option. At this stage, there is no possible way to continue being with each other. It's a bit too late, but I can't take back anything now. I can't keep living in fear whether someone is stumbling onto my property, starting a rumor, listening to what we say. I can't marry you, I can't make love to you in fear of you becoming pregnant, or someone, somehow, finding out about it. Laurie, please believe me. It's destroying a huge part of me to give you up. But…"

"But?" She sneered menacingly. "Don't you think it's a bit late for 'but's?"

"But in order to keep your life in order, have you continue your dreams…"

"I don't have any more dreams!" she screamed, tearing her fingers into the front of his oxford, wrinkling the fabric as she gripped the shirt tightly. "I can't have dreams if you aren't involved in them! Hershel, please! Don't leave me with them!" She sobbed heavily, hiccupping several times before collecting her voice again. The professor ran his hands through her hair. "I can't stay at home. I can't handle them, I can't handle the girls at school, I'm tired of it! You are the one who is for certain giving me up, but not in the genial way you are making it seem! You aren't doing me a service, it's just awful! You aren't even trying! How could you do all those things to me yesterday, and just walk away? It's just cruel! You used me! Why'd you even say anything to me?" She started sobbing again.

"I didn't use you. It really did mean the world to me."

"Well, it means a lot more to me than just the stupid world. A lot more. You can't just have your way with someone and then walk away! It's supposed to mean something! You're supposed to stay! You lied!"

"I did not lie, would you stop accusing—"

"I looked at you straight in the eyes, Hershel, and asked you if this had even the slightest risk of not working, and you made me feel it was real, that there was nothing to worry about. You were so confident it'd work. I trusted you! That's the only reason I felt comfortable, allowed myself to…to have sex with you. I had no intention of going any other path unless it was alongside you, and now here you are doing the exact opposite of the man I was with last night! That's lying!"

She slowly felt herself melting away, as if her sanity was draining, being siphoned off. The cruelty of it, the regret filled her mind until it was all that was contained. She wished she'd only done the bare minimum of the coursework, never went to that damned office for help, never tried on the puzzles, never developed any sort of feelings for the man now standing in front of her, downtrodden and without an answer other than the negative one she didn't want to hear. She felt stupid, miserable, and hopeless.

The Professor blinked, wishing he'd wake up from whatever strange dream he was currently experiencing. "There is no other way. Do you think I'm enjoying this? Do you honestly think I'm enjoying this? I'm going to London and I'm staying out of the educational scene for quite some time."

Laura wiped her eyes. "You can't just give up your career like that."

"I'll merely research and write to advance in my field. I have no other drive right now. It's the most logical decision."

"Take me to London with you. I'm of age. Please." She looked at him with begging eyes, pleading black orbs trying to mesmerize, her last resort. "Just please."

"You know I can't do that, it would be the same situation, just in my flat." He brushed her hair from her face. "Laurie, I'll never be able to view another woman as I have you. You are the only person I've been able to connect with on this level. My only regret is…" He stopped, freezing everything except for slow breathing.

"You wish I was older." His silence told her all she needed to know. The fact of a silly number of years she had been breathing, eating, wasting, growing on the planet was destroying, decimating her emotions, tearing her apart from the inside out. Who cared how old she was? She found a place on the wall for her eyes to focus on. The truth was with her from the beginning, but she thought she could evade it. It all crashed into place, rationality returning. She still felt ruined, mocked. She'd have rather him never admit to anything after all, just let it all die, let it all fade, blend into the elysium of wherever aborted ideas, feelings, thoughts, and desires go to degrade.

She stared at the ceiling. "There's no other way then. You're saving your career. I've been so, so stupid. For once, I wish I hadn't let my emotions consume me…"

"Please don't expect me in class tomorrow. I'll be returning to London sometime soon, permanently, but I'm ending teaching at Grissom's now."

She nodded, smiling, crazed. "And that's all you have to say. Heh heh heh…hee hee, ha ha ha ha! I love how you keep evading my questions, my comments! You just keep talking all matter of factly, like you're dictating lessons to me." He looked at her, searching for an answer.

"What more could I have said?"

She felt like she couldn't even stand in his house anymore. She didn't know him. "You disgust me."

"Laurie, please, don't—"

"Do NOT call me 'Laurie'," she hissed maliciously.

"Lauri—Laura, please, I'm sorry but—"

"I'm going now."

Layton frowned at her. "I suppose I can't request for you to stay a bit longer? I'd like a few minutes to say goodbye properly." She rubbed her eyes once more, stepping away from him.

"To say goodbye properly? Properly? How could you possibly say goodbye 'properly'? Like to have a go at me again, would you? Is that it?"

"Laura, how could you! I would never treat you like—"

"You've already proven to me you have no social sense."

"Laura, I mean I want to at least give you a heartfelt farewell."

"You already have. Heartfelt. Yes. It has been a pleasure—"

"Laurie…please…"

"—a pleasure meeting you." Her voice faltered and rose in pitch. "I've enjoyed every minute with you, Professor. I've learned so much. I…I will miss you terribly. Every day of my life. Every moment. I will miss our talks, challenges, walks around the yard, passings at the grocery, evenings in town. Whatever stupid things we did together."

"When you say it like that, it's as if…"

"I'm not expecting to see you again, so I hope you do well. I won't hope to meet you again, but perhaps someday, chance will treat us more kindly. If that would be kindness." She snorted and laughed again, this time a bit rancorously.

Layton felt tears in his eyes, something he didn't experience often, yet his relationship with Laura caused many reactions and emotions he never knew he had. Here he was, denying himself the perfect companion. No, it was society. Society wasn't allowing him to keep a stable career as well as be in love with this young woman, to the brim with wisdom, logic, and wit. Society wasn't allowing him to protect her, touch her, call her beautiful. He was a pervert, a scoundrel, a disgusting member of society, cast out. He sniffed.

"Damn it all…"

"So, before it gets too dark, I should be going, Professor."

"Please, Laurie. Call me Hershel…please…"

"And I have a bit of advice for you." Without effort, she stared at him with a malevolence that would have destroyed a normal man's resolve, her eyes boring into his inner core. "Don't ever treat anyone the way you've treated me. If anything drills gentlemanly conduct into your skull, let it be this situation. You're lucky I've retained a shred of rationality during all this. Otherwise… Well, I'll leave it at that."

"Laurie, I—"

"Goodbye. I'll remember you always. Perhaps fondly, perhaps not."

She pulled tightly with two hands at the necklace about her neck, grinding her teeth together as the chain cut into her skin. She gasped as the chain finally tore apart, and she forced the locket into his hands, never looking up at him, never looking in front of herself, never seeing the door, never seeing the steps, the lawn, the trees, the sidewalk. She raced down the street, not even bothering to hold up her dress so that it didn't catch on her knees, not bothering to wipe the blotches of tears that clouded her eyes. She had never run faster, even in physical education. It was a speed she'd reserved for escape from abduction, injury, thieves…

Professor Layton stood coughing from his porch, tear-stained face peering into the dusk. Laura turned at the corner of the street, and was gone.

END.

Now, onward to bigger and better things. Not.

THIS CONCLUDES THE FIRST PORTION OF THIS STORY. PLEASE REVIEW!