God, but he couldn't tell her things like that! Because she was only fifteen years old, and so hopelessly in love with him that she would willingly shed every last drop of her own blood just to spare him the slightest bit of pain. She clenched her fists beneath the covers and curled into a tight ball, fighting not to beg him to stay.

"You said--" she finally ground out, voice trembling but not yet breaking, "--you said that we shouldn't. That we couldn't. Because being together is dangerous. Someone would get hurt, again." Her head ached, but not nearly as much as her heart.

A sob finally escaped, and her tears gave way. "...Nikki...you know I don't want you to go!"