Just wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone who's been kind enough to take the time to leave a review. I treasure each and every one, I really do. This is the first of the brand new chapters, so I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I loved writing it.

'Excuse me?'

'I think you should go now, Rhett. It would be for the best.'

Rhett laughed, a small, reluctant sound void of any real amusement. He was testing her, she knew, playing it off as a joke in the hope it would become one. Only Scarlett refused to join in, and the smile slipped slowly from his face.

'The best for whom, exactly?'

'For both of us.'

'Right. And I suppose you expect me to lap up this latest ploy like a new-born lamb at its mother's teat, do you? Come now, Scarlett. Don't let's pretend. We both know you don't want me to go anywhere.'

'Of course I don't, but it's what needs to happen. We can't go on like this any longer, Rhett. You've said as much yourself.'

'And how well you listened to me! Sneaking into my bed - a bed you haven't seen fit to so much as glance at in years, I might add - the minute I tell you I'm through with you. Ensnaring me back into your web the moment I dare to break free!'

'I wasn't trying to ensnare you, I just wanted to be held!' she cried, horrified by his insinuations. Last night had been the one pure thing in their marriage, a shining oasis of calm amidst the sandstorm. She wouldn't let him sully it.

'Held?' he scoffed. 'When have you ever wanted me to hold you? Shutting me out, pining after your beloved, acting as if my very touch was a canker you needed to slice from your breast - good God, Scarlett, do you have any idea what that does to a man? How worthless it makes him feel?'

'I'm sorry! I've said it a thousand times. I'll gladly say it a thousand more, only it wouldn't be enough for you, would it? You still wouldn't believe me.'

'Can you blame me? The same woman who I've watched lie and cheat her way from the brink of ruin to the height of riches now wants me to believe her capable of truth telling. Well, it won't work, Scarlett. I've known you too long and a damn sight too well to ever trust you now!'

'Then why do keep pretending you want me to come to Charleston?' she cried.

'I'm not pretending!' he roared, but the mask was all but gone now and she could see him better than she ever had.

'Really? So if I agree to accompany you, all our problems will be solved? You'll learn to love me again on the train ride there, will you?'

'Yes,' he maintained, but he would not look at her.

'You're lying,' she said, though it broke her heart to admit it.

'And how would you know?' he accused, taking refuge in going on the attack. 'You don't know the first thing about me. Over twelve years since we met, and you've never bothered to learn. Never cared enough to try.'

Scarlett looked down, feeling wretched. He wasn't wrong and yet she would give up everything, every single thing she owned, every last dollar she'd struggled to earn, if it meant he would open himself up to her now.

It was true she hadn't learnt all that much about him in the years of their acquaintance. Hadn't troubled herself to ask questions, or listened too hard to his occasional revelations. But, by God, did she want to hear them now. Wanted to lay down with him and have him tell her all his secrets, all his memories, no matter how trifling or banal. Wanted to climb inside his chest and live there every day of her life. Wanted to know every last inch of the man. Know it and claim it as her own.

'I care now,' she tried, but one look at his face told her that it was already too late. 'Tell me.'

He grimaced. 'Just go and pack your things. I'll tell you when we get to Charleston.'

But he wouldn't. She knew he wouldn't. She hated him then for continuing on with this ugly charade.

'Ha! You can barely look at me without flinching and yet you expect me pack up my life and follow you without a word? Do you think I've taken leave of my senses? You don't want me to be your wife, you want me to be your prisoner. You'll to hole me up in your mother's house where you can keep an eye on me, calling in now and again when the mood strikes you, and spend the rest of your nights out on the town doing God knows what with God knows who, just for the pleasure of seeing me cry!'

'And what if I do? Don't I deserve to have it all my own way for a change? Years upon wasted years of doting upon you like a pathetic lapdog, begging for scraps and getting nothing back. Isn't it about time the tables turned?'

Scarlett stepped away from him, her worst fears confirmed. He didn't love her. Hell, he didn't even like her anymore. Not if he was willing to treat her so abominably.

'But that's not the same thing, Rhett. You know it's not.'

'How is it the slightest bit different?'

'Because I didn't know you loved me. You never told me.'

'I shouldn't have had to, it was so obvious only a fool could have missed it.'

Scarlett sighed. 'You can insult me all you want, but it won't make it true. I never knew, Rhett. Not once. And you wanted it that way!'

'Believe me, Scarlett, I never wanted what little you gave me.'

'Then you should have said something!'

Rhett scoffed, turning away.

'You should have! Instead you lied through your teeth, telling me this marriage was nothing but a business transaction. That all you wanted was my body. You said I made you feel worthless, well take a long, hard look in the mirror, Rhett Butler! How were you ever stupid enough to think treating me like a glorified whore was going to make me fall in love with you?'

Rhett grimaced at her words, but did not answer. Perhaps he had no answer, Scarlett thought sadly. All this time, and they still didn't have a clue.

'Are you honestly telling me that if I'd declared my undying love for you, you'd have thrown off your devotion to Ashley like last night's dress and pledged to be mine and mine alone?'

His tone was mocking, but beneath it Scarlett detected a lifetime of dashed hopes and dead dreams.

'I don't know,' she offered truthfully, not willing to lie to him anymore.

Rhett scoffed.

'Well, I don't!' she argued, throwing up her hands in frustration. 'I never got the chance to find out, thanks to you!'

'In that case, let me let you in on a little secret, Scarlett: you wouldn't have. You'd have held my love over my head like the sword of Damocles. You'd have taunted and abused me with it every waking moment. I'd never have known a minute of peace or joy again.'

'Just like I won't in Charleston! You make out you're so high and mighty, Rhett Butler, when really you're no better than I am. Because you know for a fact that I love you and all you want to do is punish me for it. Well, I won't let you hurt me anymore!'

'You know nothing of hurt!' he roared, advancing towards her. 'Do you know what hurt is, Scarlett? It's loving a woman who doesn't care if you live or die. It's loving a woman who lays in your arms dreaming of another man. It's loving a woman who accuses you of killing your own-'

Rhett broke off, the words too painful for him to speak aloud.

Scarlett felt hot tears streak down her flushed cheeks. Blindly, she reached for him but he grabbed her wrist to stop her.

'I didn't mean it,' she said hopelessly. 'I swear, I didn't.'

Rhett dropped her wrist like it was diseased. 'But you said it. And it killed something inside me.'

'Don't you see, Rhett?' Scarlett implored, moving towards him. 'That's why you have to go. You think I'm playing some sort of game, that I'm trying to manipulate you again, but I promise you I'm not. I love you. I really do. So much that I'd happily follow you anywhere. I'd live in Charleston feeding off the scraps as you put it, and I'd be glad to do it. Any of you is better than none, but it wouldn't be fair. I've hurt you so much. Perhaps too much for you to ever forgive me, I see that now. I'm trying to set you free, Rhett. It'll break my heart to do it, but it's the only way to keep you from destroying yours.'

'The first selfless act of your life? I'm honoured, Scarlett, truly I am.'

The words were cutting but the voice was soft. Scarlett scrubbed away her tears and stared up at him. He looked exhausted, utterly wrung out, and it made her grow cold to know that she was the cause.

'You should be,' she simpered, hauling on her tattered belle's costume to try and erase that haunted look from his eyes. 'There's many a man who would have liked to win that title.'

Far from making him smile, the comment brought back an unwelcome cruelty to his features.

'Ah, so that's what this is truly about? I should have guessed. You want to get me out of the way so you can pursue another man. And just in time too, what with Melanie having exited stage right long before the curtain call.'

Scarlett glared. 'That's a horrid thing to say! Just yesterday I was sat watching her die!'

'And wishing she'd hurry up and do it, I bet!'

Scarlett's hand moved of its own accord, flying up and striking Rhett across the cheek. He grunted, his head snapping to the left.

'Get out!' she screamed. 'Get out and don't ever come back. You're vile, you're horrible, you're-'

'Speaking the truth,' he snarled, rushing forward and clasping hold of her upper arms. 'How long do you plan on leaving it, Scarlett? Will you wait until the funeral's been and gone to spring on him, or is that too much to ask?'

'Stop it!'

'After all, you've been so patient already. She's been gone, what, twelve hours now? Thirteen? Practically an aeon.'

Scarlett ripped herself from his grasp. 'I want you gone!'

'And I want a divorce!' he yelled, turning his back on her and heading for the stairs.

Too stunned to follow him, Scarlett sunk down onto her chair and stared blindly at the remnants of their breakfast, wondering how it had all gone so wrong so quickly.

'I'm filing for one as soon as I disembark in Charleston,' he shouted, striding up the stairs. 'And you'd better find yourself a new lawyer, Scarlett, because old Henry won't be up to the fight I'm about to give you. Enjoy your luxuries while you can, my dear, as I will take great pleasure in stripping away every last one!'

Left alone with only the echo of his hateful words for company, Scarlett's eyes flickered towards the brandy bottle that sat waiting in the corner of the room. Her fingers tapped against the table, beating out an anxious rhythm as she willed herself not to give into temptation.

She wouldn't let him drive her back to drink. Wouldn't hide from her problems under an amber veil anymore. Tucking her hands under her armpits, Scarlett stood up and paced the floor while waiting for Rhett to return.

He came marching down the staircase in a few minutes later, Panama hat on head and suitcases in hand. Scarlett braced herself for more biting insults, but the man who came to stand before her in the hallway did not look angry, only determined.

Dropping his bags to the floor, he made his way over to her.

'Come to Charleston with me,' he murmured, wrapping his hands around her waist and pulling her into his chest.

Taken aback by his sudden change of demeanour, Scarlett offered no resistance.

'Rhett-'

'Come with me, Scarlett,' he pushed, bringing one hand up to cup her cheek. 'Not for punishment, but for pleasure.'

Taking hold of her chin, he tilted her head up and silenced her protest with a kiss. Scarlett let herself sink into it, losing herself in his lips and happily pretending his touch was inspired by passion rather than persuasion.

She reached out when he pulled back, reluctant to let the moment end. Slotting their lips back together, she kissed him as he'd used to kiss her, once upon a time. She kissed him as a person longs to kiss the one they love most in this world, pouring what was left of her bruised heart into his open mouth.

Rhett's fingers clutched at her back, hauling her against him as he relaxed his jaw and let himself be worshipped. It wasn't until a salty tang reached her tongue that Scarlett realised she was crying. She felt Rhett notice it too, his body stiffening as he pulled away.

Rhett ran his fingertips down her tear tracks, erasing them with the gentleness of his touch. Taking a deep breath, he bent to rest his forehead against hers.

'You're not going to come, are you?'

Scarlett stifled a sob. 'I can't.'

Rhett's eyes fell shut. He clutched her closer to him, as if afraid she would slip away.

'Why not?'

'Tell me you love me,' she begged.

'I...I can't.'

Scarlett grimaced. 'That's why not.'

Rhett sighed, pulling back to look at her. 'So where do we go from here?'

'I don't know. I just... There's been so much hurt between us recently and I...I love you, Rhett. I know you don't like me saying it...'

'I have no problem with you saying it, Scarlett. If you only knew how long I have waited...no, it's not the words themselves I'm struggling with, but believing that you mean them.'

'I do!'

Rhett chuckled, drawing her into his chest and leaning his chin against the top of her head. 'Unfortunately saying something more loudly only works with the hard of hearing, my pet, not the hard of heart.'

'Don't say that, Rhett. You're not unfeeling, if anything you care too much, like with poor Bonnie.'

With her head pressed tight against his heart, she could hear the way it thumped at the mention of their daughter's name.

'Then why, Scarlett?' he asked earnestly.

'I just don't think we're ready to love each other properly yet.'

'You mean you don't think I'm ready.'

Forcing herself to move away from the comfort of his embrace, Scarlett stared him straight in the eyes. 'Am I wrong?'

Rhett stayed silent for so long she feared he would never answer her. Then, dropping his head as if unable to hold her gaze, he admitted softly, 'You're not wrong.'

She'd known it in her heart, but still the confirmation crippled her.

'Do you...do you still want a divorce?' she stuttered, the words sticking in her throat.

'Would you grant me one if I did?'

Scarlett considered the question. 'Yes. If I thought you really needed one and weren't just doing it to spite me.'

Rhett regarded her with wide eyes. 'Then you're a better person than I, Scarlett. I never could bear to let you go. Even when I knew this sham of a marriage was killing us both, I clung to my noose of a wedding ring like it was a life raft.'

'I wouldn't want to go through with it,' she hurried to reassure him. 'I'd be itching to rip the papers up the moment I signed them, but I'd do it. There's no need to rush into such a big decision, though, is there? Perhaps we should take some time apart to think it over.'

'I think that sounds mighty sensible,' Rhett agreed.

Scarlett sagged with relief. She'd been terrified he meant to go through with his threat of drawing up the documents the minute he got to Charleston.

'I propose a temporary separation of sorts, just to see how it feels. And time away would be good for me. I find myself in desperate need of the comfort and healing sanctuary that only one's childhood home can provide.'

'How long do you think you'll be gone?' Scarlett asked.

Smiling gently, Rhett replied, 'I think it only fair that you get to decide for once, don't you?'

Overcome by a swell of affection for her husband, Scarlett almost suggested some obscenely small period of time, but her instincts were tempered by the knowledge that this could be her one and only chance to make this marriage work. She could not afford to rush.

'Six months,' she said finally, 'and not a day more.'

Rhett nodded his head in approval and said quietly, 'I can't promise you that my feelings will change in that time, Scarlett. Love is not a tap to be turned on and off at will. Either it will find its way back to me, or it won't. I fear I may be too old and too damaged to learn to dance to its tune again. But for your sake I will keep listening out, in the hope that it's sweet music will warm my heart one last time.'

Scarlett felt her emotions soar and plummet as he spoke, unsure whether she should be comforted or devastated by his words. He might never be able to love her again, but at least he was promising to try. That was all she could ask of him now.

'If...'

'If what, my dear?' he prompted when she fell silent.

'If at the end of the six months you decide that you don't...that you can't love me again, I want you to write to me. Don't tell me in person.'

'Scarlett-'

'Please, Rhett. To spend all that time hoping only to have you come back and look at me with unloving eyes...I couldn't bear it. I just couldn't. I'm begging you, spare me that at least.'

He frowned, seemingly reluctant to agree. Scarlett dared to hope it was the thought of never seeing her again that stayed his tongue.

'If it would make you happy-'

'It would.'

He nodded. 'Then so be it. But if my love should return...'

'Then you will return with it.'

'Here?' he asked uncertainly, lifting his eyes to take in their home.

Scarlett shook her head. This house had become a mausoleum the day Bonnie died. The ghost of their daughter hid around every corner. She could not wait to be free of it. 'Tara.'

Rhett smiled. 'Ah, so I'm not the only one hankering for home.'

Scarlett shrugged, wiping away the last of her tears with her sleeve. 'You always did say we were alike.'

Rhett's smile softened. 'So you were listening to me, after all.'

'Sometimes,' Scarlett simpered. 'When I had nothing better to do.'

This time Rhett delighted in her teasing, holding her close as he chuckled warmly into her ear.

'Vixen,' he breathed, before his head fell against her shoulder and he sighed with all his body. 'If I don't take my leave of you now, I'll never be able to drag myself away.'

The words sent a chill through Scarlett. Her fingers clenched against his chest, aching to cling onto him and refuse to let go.

'I don't want you to leave,' she whispered.

'I know, honey,' he said, stroking his hand through her hair. 'But you were right, I have to go. It's our only chance of doing this right.'

Forcing herself to nod, Scarlett drew upon the last of her strength to step away from him. She shivered as the air rushed up to cool the places his body had made warm. Wordlessly, she'd trailed him out into the hallway, standing awkwardly by as he picked up his bags and opened the front door.

Crossing the threshold, he spun back around and reached for Scarlett's hand, drawing her in for one last kiss. It started chaste before quickly growing indecent, Scarlett's hands gripping onto his shoulders as Rhett plundered her mouth, the suitcases lying forgotten at his feet.

Breaking away, Rhett whispered roughly, 'Promise me. Promise you'll wait for me to come home to you.'

Nodding her head so fast it was a blessing her neck didn't snap, Scarlett replied, 'I promise.'

'No getting yourself entangled with yet another husband,' he warned. 'Or I shan't be held responsible for my actions.'

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Scarlett had to laugh. 'How am I supposed to get married, Rhett? No church in the land would have me when I'm already bound to you.'

'If anyone can find a way around the law, I'm certain it would be you. I'm serious, Scarlett. No new husbands.'

'No new husbands,' she repeated solemnly, placing her hand to her heart.

In all her life, it was the easiest promise she'd ever had to make. There was no one but Rhett for her now.

Satisfied, Rhett pressed his lips to Scarlett's one final time, tipped his hat in farewell, and walked out of her life.