ｃｈｒｙｓｓｉｅ

ｔｈｅ ｌｏｖｅｒｓ

"I can't believe it."

"Believe what, flower?" Grayson asked, turning to face his lovely Chrysanthemum. Even with tear-stained cheeks and watery eyes, she was beautiful.

"That you... you both kept that from me for so long. I mean, I would expect it from you - you're always hiding things, but I thought... I though Kingston was someone that I could really trust."

"Oh, love," he murmured, taking her hand and kissing it, though there was the worst sort of unease in his stomach. "It's okay. You're with me now, and I can give you everything that you wanted from him, and more. You don't need him."

"Gray, I don't need anyone. There's a difference between needing someone and wanting a friendship with them. I'm just... disappointed, I suppose."

"Darling," he said. "Don't be concerned with him. His actions were his own."

"Maybe I should give him a second chance. I believe in second chances," she mumbled, obviously not paying any attention to a single word he was saying. "But the thing is... I just... I don't really want to. At least not right now."

"You don't have to. You don't have to forgive anyone."

"I don't need anyone. I don't need anyone."

She was mumbling to herself at that point, looking down at her fingers. They were shaking, and he almost stopped the car because he worried she was having some sort of mental breakdown.

your fault your fault your fault your fault your -

"Chrysanthemum? Love, are you alright?"

Her head shot up at his words, and her eyes were wide. "I don't need anyone. But I need everyone at the same time. I need you, and him, and my mother, and James, and my father, but at the same time, I don't need any of you."

At that point, he did stop the car, but not just for her.

"What is it?" she asked, and he thought her tone quite childlike as he stepped out of the car into the snow-covered road. He wondered what might happen if he walked into the path of an oncoming vehicle, letting his whole life go in the blink of an eye.

But no. He wouldn't leave his flower to brave a world alone - that didn't seem fair, and though nothing was ever truly fair in the game of life, he could at least spare her the trauma of seeing someone being crushed by a metric ton

(or two or three)

of metal traveling at a velocity of whateverthefuck.

He had never been good at calculations, but he could surmise that seeing something like that probably wouldn't be excellent for her mental health.

"Gray? Did I do something wrong?"

"No," he replied, looking over at her. She seemed so frail, standing there in the snow, her hair the only thing keeping her from blending into her background entirely. She swayed slightly in the winter winds, fragility seeping out of her pores, but he knew that looks could be deceiving. Should she break, she could destroy his entire world in one breath if she desired.

but she's too kind for that, isn't she? unlike you, who ruined her most valuable platonic relationship out of fear that she might leave, you piece of fucking -

"You should forgive him."

The words ripped from his chest, and it was the most painful thing he had ever done. It was almost like he was willingly giving her away - tossing her into a cruel, tumultuous world where nothing was certain.