Cool Off

"Please, don't get angry yet." She looked up at him with pleading eyes, tears threatening to fall from them. "Just listen to me first"

He looked down at her, eyeing her with his blue orbs before releasing a soft sigh "I'm all ears"

She let out a sigh of relief before taking a sit on the edge of his bed and he did the same, sitting next to her as she looked down at her lap, playing with her fingers. His eyes still glued to her, he was scared if he looked away she would vanish and he wouldn't see her again.

"I don't want to hurt you" she said quietly, almost a whisper but still loud enough for him to hear.

"So do I" he said taking her hands in his but she pulled away and he could feel his heart sink to the pit of the abyss.

"I think we need a cool off" she finally said after a moment of silence.

"W-why?" He asked, his voice almost breaking as he stuttered. "Is it something I did?"

"No, no. You're not the problem" she said, reassuring him but it didn't do any good. He still felt as if world started to shutter right in front of him. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but even though how cliché this sounds it's true. It's me not you"

"What do you mean?" he looked at her

"I'm having a hard time, with myself" she explained "I want to be the Mara I want to be"

"I don't understand"

"Jerome, I love you" she turned to finally look at him and she could see the tears forming in his eyes "but I need to be by myself"

"Okay" he replied simply

"Okay?" She asked "What do you mean 'okay'?"

"I mean, okay" he answered "If you want to be by yourself and need to find yourself then that's fine with me"

"Really?" Mara was beyond shocked

"Yeah…" his voice cracked "I mean, it's not like you don't love me anymore, right?"

He sounded so uncertain that Mara couldn't help herself and she wrapped her arms around his neck and crashed her lips to his. He responded quickly, their lips moved together in perfect harmony and both could feel the sparks between them.

"Don't think I don't love you" she said after pulling away "I love you, I really do but I just need to be alone for now. I'm not sure I can handle a relationship at the moment"

"I love you" he said, still holding her in his arm

"I love you too…"

One year on

Well, here they were. Their final day of high school, graduation day. Life wasn't going to be the same anymore; all of them would be leaving their childhood and entering a new, scary world. A world that no one was familiar with.

It was only then Mara Jaffray realized how everything would be different from this day. She stood in front of her full length mirror wearing a long blue robe and mortarboard, examining her appearance one last time.

This was it, everything was going to change.

"What are you doing standing there?" She heard a voice, an oh so familiar voice say. She looked up at the mirror and saw the reflection of the one and only Jerome Clarke, wearing a similar blue robe his mortarboard in hand. His hair was perfect as always.

"I was just thinking" she turned to face him

"About?" he asked leaning against the door frame

"Things" she answered "A lot of things"

Jerome straightened up and started to approach her, he cupped her cheek in his hand when he was standing in front of her. She allowed her eyes flicker shut for a moment when he did, oh how she missed this feeling. Oh, how she missed him.

They were still friends after she asked for some space but as she expected, things weren't the same anymore and she only had herself to blame.

She was surprised when she felt his arms around her body and found herself pressed against his chest. His scent lingered in her senses and she could feel her legs turn to jelly.

Jerome couldn't help himself; here they were the person he loved the most in his arms but the fact that she wasn't his just made him feel more depressed than ever.

"I've missed you" Mara whispered looking up at him, her eyes sparking because of the tears forming in her eyes. "I've missed us"

"I've missed us too" he answered, he looked down at her before lifting her chin using his index finger and brushing his lips against her lightly.

Mara's eyes fluttered shut again and she could feel shivers run up and down her spine even though their blips were barely even touching.

"Jerome…" she whispered opening her eyes "I'm sorry"

"You don't have to be" he replied, shooting her a small smile, a smile that she'd missed for such a long time. Not a smirk or the fake smile he uses to mislead people but his true smile, his smile that only she could ever bring out "But answer me this."

"What?" she asked, her arms still wrapped around him

"Have you found out who you are yet?" he asked, his features serious as ever "Who are you now?"

She smiled at him and pressed her lips to his again before whispering "I'm yours, I'm all yours"

Wow, I'm not sure where that came from.

Oh well, R&R