It hadn't even been a week since he'd gotten home, they'd done all manner of testing on him to make sure he was healthy before they'd let him leave the infirmary at what he now new was some lab corporation, but he was still having trouble staying awake more than a few hours at a time. Surely it was residual effects of what had happened in the camps...of course it had nothing to do with the fact that somehow in the last month he'd lost everything important to him. It was a short list to be sure, but still, everything he'd really cared for was gone now, and today was just the final nail in the proverbial coffin.

They hadn't really spoken about it, both of them had kind of just accepted the fact that their relationship was over with a kind of quiet acceptance. Lee had seemed to be scarce around the labs and when Tarin did see her, they hadn't spoken a great deal, or often. There were things broken now that couldn't be fixed, the stubborn and unwavering optomism that had always been present when he'd thought about his relationship with Lee was gone now and Tarin didn't know what to do to fill the space it left behind.

They'd spoken briefly once about Lee coming to get her things. It had been so sad, the reality that the moment brought crashing down. Somehow with everything going on in the labs, all the new people like them that they were meeting, the reality of the situation had somewhat faded into the background. Now that he was waiting for Lee to come and get her things from the apartment, the realization crashed down on him again and Tarin put his head in his hands where he sat on the couch in their...his apartment.

Eventually one hand dropped and found its way into his pocket where he was still keeping the ring that Lee had thrown at him. It seemed kind of silly to keep it on him when he knew from the way things had gone and the words that had been said that there was nothing that was going to fix the situation. The problem was, whenever he didn't have the ring, Tarin felt wrong. He'd considered giving it to Lee on several occasions...it was hers afterall, and he kind of wanted her to have it to remember him by. As angry as he was...had been...no matter what had been said, Tarin had a feeling that he was never going to feel the way he'd felt about Lee about anyone else in the world...

The knock on the door came and Tarin almost groaned out loud, laying his head against the back of the couch. When they'd left the labs he hadn't asked where she was staying, the last thing she'd have wanted was his help. Now she wasn't even using the key that he knew she still had. Sighing and steeling himself for the encounter and the way he knew it would end, Tarin stood and made his way to the front door and opened it slowly and much more casually than he felt.

The good thing about being at the Labs after the breakout: Lee had actually been able to used her other powers to get rid of all the energy she had, meaning she had actually been able to fall asleep before her body had completely given out and she passed out from mental exhaustion. The bad thing: she knew that she couldn't stay there forever, and she really didn't have anywhere else to go.

Mind you, Lee had been in that position many times before, having been kicked out of her apartment and having no where to go. However, all those times she had had stuff, at least some clothing and a bit of money. All she actually had was the clothing they had provided her at the Labs. Definitely not enough, especially if she was going to end up on the street, not at this time of year.

The problem was, even though the talk around the Labs was that the Registration Act was being repealed, Lee didn't really want to be around a lot of people, which further limited her options since she knew she couldn't go back to the apartment with Tarin. Though they hadn't actually talked about it in the few, tense conversations they had had, Tarin seemed to understand the fact that despite her being wrong about the redhead, Lee wasn't coming back.

So, having not come up with another solution, Lee had called her brother. After a few days, though, Lee knew she had to do something; her brother's much larger jeans and t-shirts were not going to work forever, and she certainly was not going to owe him for a new wardrobe on top of everything else. Getting her things back was necessary, though not exactly a welcome situation.

Robert was a little too insistent on helping her move out, though. Because of the 'fun' she had had actually moving all her stuff into the apartment, Lee decided that Robert's help would be nice, she still thought it'd be best to keep him and Tarin apart. Robert had never been overly fond of Tarin, after all, and with how some of their recent conversations had gone, Lee thought Robert might decide he had to step in.

So Lee told Robert to wait downstairs as she went up and knocked on the door. With having dropped her purse when she had been captured, she didn't exactly have her keys any more. Or her ID. She was really going to have to look in to see what she could do to get that situation fixed. If there was actually anything she could do, what with having been illegally in the country for over a year.

Finally - did it really take as long as it seemed to, or was that because of how awkward this felt? - Tarin opened the door. And simply stood there, looking at her.

Lee tried to force a smile onto her face. Man this was weird. "Hi," she said, her voice somewhat unsure, after a few moments. "Uh, can I come in? It shouldn't take too long to grab my stuff..."

It was almost painful to see Lee standing there in the hallway, and Tarin couldn't help but think about the mirror image to this moment. Moving Lee into the apartment had been one of the best experiences that Tarin could remember. Lee had been so instrumental in picking the place out, the few weeks between him actually signing the lease and her moving in had seemed completely cursory. Now she was standing outside and asking if she could come in and get her things.

Tarin had been in awkward situations with women before, he hadn't ever lived with one before Lee though, and he'd never before had he felt the way he felt about Lee. It was really hard to answer he question, no he didn't want her to come in and take her things away, that was so final. Until this point, no matter how he'd tried to convince himself that Lee wasn't coming back it hadn't seemed all that real.

Lee seemed sure though, and the last thing Tarin was going to do was begg her to stay. Even if Lee had changed pretty much everything about him, he still had some pride. Stepping away from the door so she wouldn't have to squeeze past him and feel like he was trying to make her uncomfortable, Tarin gestured into the apartment.

"Lee, it's your apartment too. Take your time, you're the only one going somewhere, so there's no rush."

Tarin seemed to be just as weirded out and uncomfortable by all this as she was, since he simply stood there awkwardly in the doorway for another couple moments after she had asked to come in.

After what seemed like forever standing there, Tarin stepped to the side and waved her in. Grabbing the empty hockey bag she had brought with her, Robert's hockey bag that she had made sure to spray out with lots of antibacterial and air freshener sprays, Lee stepped inside. Tarin was wrong, though; it wasn't her apartment too. It really never had been. Yes, she had lived there, but it was no more her apartment now than it had been in the first couple weeks after he had moved in when she was simply there all the time.

Lee wasn't going to argue that fact, though. They seemed to have enough arguments now without her purposely starting one.

"I haven't exactly been able to get my energy level to drop back to normal yet," Lee told Tarin offhandedly as she made her way toward the bedroom that had been hers in the apartment. "So if I can manage to burn some of that off, that would help. I don't exactly have a lot of options for how to get rid of it.

"How about you?" Lee asked, though she really wasn't sure she wanted to hear the answer. "Are you feeling better, or are you still feeling it?"

By this point, Lee had made it to her bedroom. Moving to the closet, she pulled the doors open and started loading the clothing into the hockey bag and her own duffel bag that was laying on the floor.

She didn't argue with him and when he moved aside, Lee walked past him into the apartment. She was chattering and Tarin almost smiled...almost. At least she was as uncomfortable as he was, Tarin didn't take comfort in that though, if anything it made him feel worse about the whole situation. Tarin was lost in his thoughts and was startled when Lee directed a question in his direction.

Hands in his pockets as he followed her through the apartment, Tarin shrugged his shoulders as he thought about the question. "I feel pretty much the same way I always feel after....that happens." his face was closed now, slightly haunted by the thoughts. "I am sorry that you had to go through that Lee. I just didn't see any other way to get us out..."

She was stuffing clothes into her bag(s) and Tarin stood in the doorway of her room, leaning against the frame and watching. He wanted to say something, but he honestly didn't know what there was to say. Nothing he said was going to make her take the clothes out of the bag and stay. Everything was just too fresh, they'd been through too much, and too much was broken to fix.

The ring was still in his pocket, and Tarin felt his hand close around it as was becomming a habit. Part of him wanted to simply pull it out and tell Lee to put it back on, that they'd find a way to fix everything. He didn't, he did say something else though, "Where are you staying Lee...you know you don't have to leave...I won't...." he wouldn't what?

Tarin ran his hand through his hair and left it there on the back of his head, trying to figure out what exactly it was he wouldn't do. Instead he just sighed and shrugged again.

Though he hadn't actually said anything about her leaving, at least not in so many words, Lee knew that Tarin didn't want her to go. Thus, she was not overly surprised when he followed her to the bedroom, when he stood there leaning against the door frame as she was packing. He would have heard her question without a problem, so Lee continued shoving things into the bags as she waited for an answer.

What he ended up saying was not what she was expecting, though. They never talked about merges after the fact. Yes, they knew that they had happened, but she and Tarin didn't actually sit down and talk about it afterwards, mainly because of what had happened. It wouldn't exactly be a pleasant conversation when you're talking about how a spirit that had merged with Tarin had tried to kill her, after all.

Lee's hands froze as she heard his apology. He was sorry she had gone through that? Yes, she had been terrified of even the thought of merging, but it really hadn't been as bad as she thought it would be. At least not until they had started killing the guards. Now that[/b] had been horrible it hadn't been Tarin's fault; she had wanted the guards dead. Maybe not those guards in specific, and definitely not the way they had died, but she had wanted it.

Taking a deep breath, Lee forced her hands to start moving again. "You have nothing to apologize for, Tarin," she told him, though she resolutely kept her eyes on the clothing she was packing. She, on the other hand, had more to apologize for than she even knew where to start.

Tarin didn't stop there. When he asked her where she was staying, Lee closed her eyes. "At Robert's," she ended up whispering. In a way, it was a defeat; while she was actually putting forth some effort and actually letting her brother back into her life again, she hated owing him for anything. Tarin knew how she felt about Robert, he'd know what it meant that she had actually gone there.

Another deep breath, and Lee opened her eyes to continue her packing. "After everything, I had to go somewhere," she explained. Why was she explaining? Though he hadn't yet, Lee was still expecting Tarin to make one last effort, one last plea, that she not leave. With knowing where she was staying, he still had that chance, to come to her later to ask her to come back. Lee didn't want that.

Tarin's last words took her somewhat by surprise. Enough so that she was questioning it before she could keep her mouth closed, at any rate. "You won't what, Tarin?" Lee asked softly, leaning a hand against the door frame of the closet, still not looking over at him.

"Oh no you don't..." Tarin said, shaking his head when Lee told him he didn't have anything to apologize for, "I don't care what the end result of all of this is Lee, I own what's mine to own. It was a reckless idea and after what you'd been through in the camp it was a horrible thing to expect you to handle well."

If there had been time for anything while he'd been recovering it had been thinking about what had happened in the camp. Dreaming about what had happened in the camp. Obsessing about what had happened in the camp. Tarin had quickly come to the conclusion that the merge had been a bad idea, and it was still utterly baffling to him how it had worked in the first place. IT wasn't something he really wanted to try again though, and while thinking about it was hard, it had proved a helpful way to pass the time.

Tarin had wanted to bite off his tongue the second that he'd told Lee that she could stay. It had been made extremely obvious that was not what she wanted, and it was even moreso now that Tarin knew she was staying with Robert. She was staring at the clothes in her duffel bag, but Tarin was staring right at her until she mentioned Robert.

Tarin cursed under his breath and let his head fall back against the doorframe. "you could have come home Lee..." he said softly, now the one avoiding eye contact. He'd known she wasn't going to come home, even if she hadn't said it in as many words, he'd still thought that somehow she would though.

This was just impossible. Then Lee asked the question in response to his comment and he sighed, frustrated. "I wouldn't bother you if you didn't want me to...I don't know Lee...I know how you feel about Robert..." Tarin let the words trail off, this was way more difficult than even he'd thought it would be. He sighed, and held a hand up before she could answer, "Nevermind Lee...I'm sorry about that...you'd have never gone to Robert if you weren't sure."

"You have your opinion, I have mine," Lee said simply. No matter what Tarin said, Lee wouldn't think that he had anything to apologize for. Too much of it had been her fault. Even if he should apologize for something, hers outweighed it. "We already knew we had differing thoughts."

It was quiet in the apartment. Tarin hadn't had the TV or stereo on when she got there. So it was quiet enough that when she said her brother's name, she heard Tarin's curse, and the thunk as his head hit the door frame.

"No, I couldn't have," Lee told Tarin, her voice still a whisper, as she started packing again. If she had felt she could have come back to the apartment, she never would have even considered going to stay with Robert. Even when she had been taken there against her will, she had only stayed for two days, and at least 24 of those hours she had been all but oblivious to the world because of a combination of her broken collar bone (among other injuries) and the pain killers. She would not have gone back if she had felt she had any other option.

Tarin got to that exact point when he continued speaking. She had been right, for once. He knew exactly how she felt about Robert, knew how big of a deal it was for her to actually go to him.

This was so much harder than Lee had thought it would be, though. Why did Tarin have to just stand there in the doorway, watching her? Couldn't he leave her alone, at least for a few minutes? Couldn't she simply have a couple moments away from everyone so she could actually cry?

She was almost done, though. Maybe she'd be able to get away from Robert for long enough once they got back that she'd be able to cry for a bit. Picking up her bags, Lee tossed the duffel bag over toward her small dresser as she carried the hockey bag to the bed that had been hers so she could pack her coffeemaker and alarm clock. Those were necessities, more so than most of the clothing actually.

Once she had all that packed up, Lee took a quick glance around the room. And realized just how difficult this was going to be. On top of the two large bags, there were still the two guitar cases, one that had been buried in the bottom of her closet, the other that was leaning against the wall. How the hell was she going to get all of that out and to Robert's, especially without him coming up? "Did you want to keep that?" Lee asked, her voice slightly hesitant, as she indicated the guitar actually out in the room.

Tarin just sighed when Lee argued the point that he didn't have anything to be sorry for. Normally he would have been arguing right back, doing everything he could to convince Lee that this whole thing had been his fault from day one. Maybe that was part of it though, he didn't really want to admit it. It was far too easy to let Lee foot the blame for what had happened, both in the shop and at the camps. Whatever the reason, Tarin's mouth stayed shut as he stood in the door way of Lee's bedroom and watched her gather up her things.

She couldn't have. Tarin felt a lump actually rise in his throat when Lee said that. Most people would have expected more of an explanation, but that was enough for Tarin and he nodded slowly as he turned his head away from Lee as she moved to gather the things off of her night stand. If she was desperate enough to get away from him that she would stay with her brother, Tarin knew Lee was sure, and he wouldn't push her any further.

There was a lot to carry and with a slight pang of bitterness Tarin realized that he was probably going to have to help Lee if she was going to make it in one trip. Who said irony was nothing but a literary device? Lee gestured to the guitar on the floor and Tarin sighed, remembering a day when they had played....well....Lee had played and Tarin had tried to play. He almost laughed at the irony of that though...the Poison song that he'd played that day was strangely fitting to the situation at the present time. Every rose really did have it's thorns...

"I don't know what for Lee...we never got around to you teaching me how to play...I'm still not very good...nowhere near as good as you...but if you want rid of it I'll keep it."

The truth was that Tarin wanted something...something he could look at without automatically thinking about this moment in his relationship with Lee. The guitar could provide that comfort that the ring, still in his pocket, never would. That made Tarin think for a moment and he reached into his pocket and held the ring out towards Lee and did the hardest thing he'd done since meeting her on that unseasonably warm autumn day that seemed so long ago.

"Lee...I know you're going to want to get out of Robert's place as soon as you can...." Tarin paused and averted his eyes again as he fought a rush of emotion, "I know this wasn't extravagant, but it is yours and I want you to have it...please. I know it wasn't expensive by any great means...but maybe it will get you out of a tight spot if you ever find yourself in one."

Not able to find any more words, Tarin swallowed hard, his hand still extended as he tried valiantly to swallow the lump in his throat and to continue to avoid eye contact. Take it....Please take it.... he whispered fervently in his head as he waited for her reaction.

Did Lee want rid of the guitar? She didn't really know. It would make getting her things out of the apartment that much easier, one less thing for her to carry. But did she really want it? And while she had been using it a fair bit before she was taken to the camp, that had been to work out a song she had been writing, a song she was going to play for Tarin for his birthday, when she was also going to start teaching him how to play like he had asked. Yeah, maybe it would be best for Tarin to keep the guitar. He didn't know about those plans of hers.

Lee wasn't exactly sure that she trusted her voice, though, so she simply nodded, yes she wanted Tarin to keep the guitar. Hopefully he'd understand that. And if he didn't, she was pretty sure he'd understand when she left the guitar there.

Lee had turned back toward her bags to zip them up when she heard Tarin's voice again. Yeah, he was damn right she was going to want out of Robert's place as soon as she possibly could. She needed money first, though. Needed to find herself a job, and a cheap place to live.

That wasn't the end of what Tarin was saying, though. Not by a long shot, and Lee's heart felt like it had jumped up into her throat as she slowly turned around to look at Tarin. Who was standing there, not really looking at her, as he held the ring out toward her. The same ring they had gone shopping for after she had asked why they didn't just get married already. The same ring that she had hurled at him after she thought she had caught him cheating on her.

All Lee could do at first was stand there, staring at the ring in Tarin's outstretched hand. He wanted her to have it, not because it meant they were together, not because it meant they were going to get married, but simply because it was hers. At least he wasn't looking right at her as he waited to see if she'd take the ring, as she felt tears prickling in her eyes. This, at least, was something she could do for Tarin.

Nodding, trying to blink the tears out of her eyes, Lee reached forward carefully. Her fingers hesitated for a moment over Tarin's hand, but then she took the ring, using extreme care to make sure that she didn't actually touch his skin as she did so. Then, because she didn't exactly trust the pockets in the pants she was wearing, Lee slipped the ring onto her right hand. Onto a finger that it had never once been on, a finger that, before she had been caught, she had never thought the ring would ever be on.

As soon as that was done, Lee turned back toward her bags in an attempt to hid the increase in tears that had sprung up. Taking a minute to make sure that her bags were done up, Lee hoped that her voice wouldn't sound teary. She did not need that on top of everything else.

"Well," Lee started, then paused when she heard how her voice sounded. She swallowed. "I think that's almost everything. I guess I should get going."

Tarin saw Lee reach for the ring out of the corner of his eye, and it almost broke his emotional resolve to see her slip it onto her right hand. He wanted to yell at her, plead at her, tell her that the ring obviously didn't belong there and that she should put it where it belonged and just shut up about it. He didn't though. It seemed that the 'consequences be damned' attitude that had so benchmarked the beginning of his relationship with Lee was gone. So Tarin just watched, still careful to avoid eye contact as Lee took the ring from his hand.

It didn't escape Tarin's notice how careful Lee was not to touch him when she took the ring, not an easy feat considering it was laying in the palm of his hand. She managed it though. Finally Tarin looked up, planning to meet her eyes and see what was there, but by the time he managed to pull his eyes from his hand and her hand, she was turning and gathering everything up.

Lee spoke and Tarin could hear the emotion in her voice. It was so obviously that neither of them really wanted this, why was it that they were carrying through with it anyway? He wanted to ask, wanted to find out why, but everything had already taken too much of a toll and Lee and no matter what had happened Lee was still determined to leave.

Tarin was blocking the doorway where he stood and as he Looked at Lee there with the bags in her hands, he couldn't think of anything appropriate to say. It wasn't exactly a Halmark moment, what do you say to the woman you love when she's leaving you and neither of you know exactly why?

So, instead of speaking, Tarin just moved to the side, shoulder propped against the outside of the door frame. She'd have to walk past him to get out, maybe even look at him. Tarin was okay with that, he had to look at her one more time.

Tarin wasn't saying anything, Lee couldn't help but notice. She had prepared herself, at least as much as possible, for him asking her to stay and he hadn't. Though, with how much harder this had all been than she had expected, it was probably a good thing.

And the ring felt weird. Lee had never really worn a whole lot of jewelry, normally at most a small necklace and earrings. Jewelry cost money, money which was more often than not better spent of things such as food and coffee. Her engagement ring had pretty much been the exception. Yes it had taken a few days after the very casual proposal to actually get the ring, but once she had had it, it had never left her hand. Until the day she had thrown it at Tarin. Now it was back, but on the wrong hand.

Grabbing the handles of her bags, and staggering ever so slightly under the weight, Lee moved back to the closet to grab the case that held the black guitar. Oh, this would have been so much easier if she had more energy. Then she'd be able to actually carry the bags so much easier. But almost more so than ever before in her life, Lee wasn't liking her powers. She had been avoiding actual physical contact more than ever; how she had been careful taking the ring from Tarin's had was pretty much how she had been treating everyone since getting out of the camp. No, actually since she had gotten into the camp, since then the contact was accompanied by pain.

Lee knew she never actually use the guitar she was taking, probably wouldn't even ever open the case, but she also knew that she couldn't leave it. The other guitar, that was fine, but this one wasn't hers to give up.

Now this was going to be the very hard part, Lee realized as she looked at the hockey bag, duffel bag, and guitar case she was going to have to carry out of the room. If she'd had more energy, it'd be no problem, but that hockey bag was big.

Finally, Lee came to a decision, leaving the duffel bag on the floor for the moment. She'd go pack up her jackets and shoes from the front closet, then come back for the duffel.

Heaving the hockey bag back up into her hands, Lee turned to the door to see that Tarin had stepped to the side. Not completely out of the way, not out of sight, but enough that she'd be able to at least get out of the room. That might have been a bad idea at that point, the whole looking at Tarin as she made her way to the door. Biting her bottom lip slightly (hopefully he'd think it was from the bag, she had staggered when she carried both of them a mere five feet) Lee walked through the door.

Her mouth decided to run away on her again, speaking before she was able to stop it. "I'm sorry," she told Tarin softly as she passed, averting her eyes as the words came out. "For everything." With that, she made her way to the front closet to pack the last of her stuff up.

Lee was uncomfortable walking past him, Tarin knew she was and in a small way it made him feel a little better about the whole situation. At least he wasn't the only one having a hard time with this, not that he really thought Lee wasn't having a difficult time. It just made the whole thing a little bit more surreal.

She picked up the bags that were on the floor of the room and walked towards him. Tarin wondered what was going to happen, she looked up at him for a few moments, and Tarin looked back at her. He was just getting ready to stay something...maybe things didn't have to end this way, maybe there was still something to be said...
But then Lee reached him and dropped her eyes. As she walked past she apologized, she actually apologized. Tarin hadn't been angry in days, not since they'd argued in the infirmary at the labs they'd ended up staying in. He was mad now though and he inhaled sharply as she finished speaking. What did Lee expect him to say to that? Did she expect some repetition of the same sentiment. The phrase, "Sorry don't make the hurt go away..." was on the tip of his tongue, but Tarin held it back.

Lee went past and Tarin turned to look into the bedroom, planning to avert his gaze until she'd left. That was when he spotted the bag on the floor of the room. She hadn't gotten everything? That's when Tarin realized that Lee was quickly and quietly taking her things out of the front closet of the apartment...thorough...wasn't she?

Bitterness surged through Tarin and he almost said something to Lee about it. Almost told her how stupid this whole thing was, almost starting throwing blame in her direction again, simply because he needed something to channel his anger at if he wasn't going to lose it. Lee didn't deserve it though. As much as what was happening sucked, and as much as he really didn't want it, Tarin knew that it was the only option for right now. What had happened, had happened, and there was no healing, but that didn't change the fact that if he stayed he was going to have to watch her walk out the door.

Tarin's mouth twisted bitterly as he thought about how hard it had been to simply watch her walk out of the room...and she'd left a bag behind then. What was going to happen when she actually left for good, with that ring on her damn right hand?

Shaking his head, Tarin moved forward and grabbed the duffel bag, Lee was leaving now, to go to Robert's. Lee almost disliked Robert despite the fact that he was her brother, she didn't have a job and she didn't have any money saved up because they'd never thought to give her an actual salary at the shop. That simply wouldn't do. Knowing that openly handing her money wouldn't work, an idea struck Tarin and he moved silently from the room with the bag, avoiding Lee's notice.

Into his own room he took the bag and grabbed a post-it and pen from his nightstand, scribbling a quick note. Then it was to his closet, where he grabbed the social distortion jacket he'd worn on so many cool nights out on the town with Lee. A quick idea struck Tarin and he reached into his back pocket, removing his wallet. The card given to him by the assassin in the shop was still there, never used. Tarin didn't think he'd ever use it, and there was probably enough on there that it would be helpful. . It was the least he could do.

Shoving the card and the note into the pocket, Tarin stuffed the whole thing into the duffel bag and made his way out to the front of the apartment where Lee was getting her things.


"I'll leave this at the bottom of the stairs so you don't have to carry it down." he said as he pulled open the door and she looked up, he walked down two stairs then stopped and half turned, "You'll know where I am Lee." he said, then made his way down without waiting for her to reply.

At the bottom of the stairs, Tarin saw the last person in the world he wanted to see. Lee hadn't mentioned that she had actually brought Robert with her. Making a disgusted noise in the back of his throat, Tarin dropped the bag and made his way to the back door of the shop that was situated below the apartment, the last thing he wanted right now was a confrontation with that jerk who'd hated him from day one.

It was a little easier to think once he was out in the spring air and sunshine and Tarin made his way through New York, towards the huge landmark which had always doubled as a great place to brood.

Lee was just rearranging things in the hockey bag to fit her last jacket in and still be able to close the zipper when she heard Tarin walking up behind her. A large part of her wanted to turn around and look at him, but Lee knew how much that would hurt; just as much as it had every time she had looked at time so far that day. So she fought the desire, kept her eyes on the bag in front of her.

That was, of course, until Tarin had pulled the door open beside her and started speaking. Her eyes shot up to Tarin in shock. Him actually carrying her bag down, helping her to move out, was the last thing she had expected. As far as Lee knew, Tarin didn't want her to move out, so why was he helping her?

The door hadn't closed yet, and Lee was still staring after Tarin, when she saw him turn around on the stairs. She'd know where he was? Immediately, Lee pushed that thought out of her mind as she felt a lump form in her throat. It didn't matter if she knew where to find him. She wasn't coming back, she couldn't come back, so it didn't matter.

And then the door shut and Tarin was gone. Lee let out a shaky breath, then another. Tarin had to have made it to the bottom of the stairs by that point, probably be part way back up by now. A minute passed, then another without him coming back in the door. He was gone, he had left her alone to finish packing like she had wished he would while she had been in her room. Another, even shakier breath, and Lee sank to the floor beside the bag, tears welling up in her eyes.

It was over, really over, with nothing left to do once she walked out of here with her things. Her tears spilt over and Lee let herself start crying; she was alone now and able to, she wouldn't have another chance to until Robert went to bed that night, and then she'd have to be careful not to wake him, so she let herself fall apart for a few minutes.

Once the sobs had started to subside on their own, Lee wiped at her eyes, trying to stop the crying. She still had things to do. Taking a deep breath, Lee stood and made her way into the bathroom to grab the last of her things. It didn't take long after that, and a couple minutes later, after taking a quick look in the mirror to check that she didn't look too bad after her crying, Lee picked up the bag and guitar case and made her way down stairs, seeing where Tarin had left her duffel bag for her.

"Here," Lee said to Robert once she had opened the door to the street, holding the hockey bag out for him to take. Though she hated having him help her, she knew she had more stuff to move than she had ever had to before, that's why she had asked him to come with her in the first place. Picking up the duffel bag in her now free hand, Lee stepped outside. "This is everything, let's go."