Nari:

I walked toward him with a confused look. 

"What the hell are you doing here?" I asked Mark. 

"Probably the same reason as you." He smirked. I scoffed. 

"You followed me here didn't you?" I asked. 

"Who knows, maybe I did. Maybe I didn't." He shrugged. 

"Okay, whatever. I'm going to go now." I said marching away. 

"You couldn't forget... Could you?" He called out after me. I stopped and turned around.

"Forget what?" I asked. 

"Me. Us. What we had." He answered. I marched back toward him. 

"And what did we have Mark? Huh? Tell me." I spat. He didn't say anything.

"Exactly what I thought." I turned around and walked away. 

I found my way to the pier and sat down on a bench. The sun was setting, and it was a beautiful scene. I watched as the waves touched the horizon. 

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Someone asked. I didn't bother to look.

"I thought I got rid of you." I replied. Mark handed me a beer. 

"You can't chase me away that easily." He grinned. 

"Didn't seem that hard 2 years ago." I frowned and I took a sip of the beer. 

"Tell me, why are you so bitter about this? About us?" He asked honestly. I turned to him. 

"Because Mark. You broke my heart. Now what kind of a girl would I be if the man who broke my heart came back and I acted like it was nothing? A stupid girl. That's what I would be. You know why? Because... Because... It would mean falling for you again and making the same stupid mistake. And I will not make that mistake twice." I answered back. Mark didn't say anything for a long time.

"... So what you're telling me is, there's a possibility that you could still love me?" Mark asked. I sighed. 

"Out of everything I told you, that's all that you got? What the hell dude." I rolled my eyes. 

"You could say that." He laughed. We were halfway through our second beer. 

"Tell me honestly Nari... How did you feel afterwards?" Mark asked. I sighed again.

"Honestly, I felt angry, sad, and most of all... Pathetic." I answered.

"How did you feel?" I asked. He also sighed.

"Confused. Angry. Done. I was just so tired of it all... That I just gave up." He replied. 

"I get it. In the end we both just gave up..." I said softly. 

"Can I be honest with you?" I asked turning to him. He nodded. 

"It was unintentional... I was afraid. Afraid that you would hurt me. That if I gave you my all and fell completely in love with you that I would be the one who ended up feeling all the pain. I was afraid that you wouldn't love me if you knew everything about me." I said.

"Afraid? Why would you be afraid? I would never hurt you... Never." He replied.

"It sounds like you're trying to convince yourself of that." I said. We sat in silence for a while.

"What we had... Was it love?" I asked him. 

"... I- I don't know..." He whispered. 

"Then why did we say it?" I asked.

"Because... It felt right at the time." He answered. I looked over to him. He was just as beaten down as I was. 

"It... It was real though right? I wasn't the only feeling that way right?" I asked. He nodded. 

"Nari..." He whispered.

"Hmm?" I asked. 

"I still think you're as beautiful as the first time I fell for you... I don't think anything could ever change that." He said staring off at the ocean. I stared back at him...

Saying "I love you" back then might not have felt right... But right here in this moment, I knew it would feel perfect. But I couldn't say it. I had too much pride. 

"Mark... Thank you." I smiled.

"For what?" He asked. 

"For letting me experience love." I smiled. 

"I don't hate you. I could never hate you. I'm so thankful that you walked into my life. You taught me things I didn't know about myself. I held on to the possibility of us ever working out for so long that it nearly broke me. But now I know how much I can break... And from here I can go nowhere but up. So thank you." I looked over to him. He turned towards me. I was staring back into his light brown eyes that were luring me in. I wasn't sure if it was the alcohol or the warm subtle night by the ocean but I couldn't stop myself. I leaned towards him, our lips losing distance between. I slowly brought my lips to his. I felt all the sadness and pain that had been building up in me disappear. I wanted to stay like this for just a bit longer before it all ended. I pulled away slowly and looked into his eyes. 

"It was great loving you Mark, Thank you." I smiled and stood up. I walked off the pier and headed back to the hotel. This was it. My closure. Our last goodbye as lovers... Without knowing it I began to cry, the tears strolled down my cheeks and my breathing hitched. I made it halfway on the beach before I felt a tug at my arm. I crushed into his chest. I tried to push myself away but he restrained me.

"It's okay... It's okay if you don't want me to see you cry. But please don't cry alone. Don't." He whispered, holding me tight in his arms. I just broke down again. I cried harder than I did the first time when I felt the effects of our ending. He tightened his grip around me. After I finished he pulled away and looked at me and smiled, wiping away my tears. I looked up at him, his eyes were red.

"Were you crying?" I asked.

"I couldn't let you have all the fun crying alone." He smiled. I laughed.

"You sissy." I pushed him away. He grabbed my arms and pulled me into another hug. 

"I don't think I can let you go... I just can't." He whispered. I sank into his arms before I pulled away again.

"I'm sorry Mark... But I don't know if this will ever work out between us..." I said quietly. 

"You don't have to agree to it. Just know that I won't let you go anymore. I'll fight if I have to." He said pulling me back into his arms. 

I smiled. "Pabo."