Sydney spoke the truth - he had fucked up, even more than he'd thought possible. He'd doubted himself and his worth, sure, but he'd never guessed that her love for him would cease merely because he said the wrong thing. All her promises, everything they'd been through together - gone, and for no reason other than his own insecurities.

"I was falling in love with her, Sydney. I knew she was the one," he said. "I wanted to marry her." There was a lingering "but" in the air, but he could find the words to explain just what had gone wrong. He didn't know - not exactly, really - what had gone wrong. He had no clue what in his words had compelled her to remove her locket, kiss him goodbye, and disapparate on the spot. He only knew from her expression that it was him.

"I think - no, I'm certain - that it was because I couldn't let go of the past," he admitted, swaying his glass back and forth to create sloshing waves with his drink. "They teach ladies to look forward without glancing over their shoulder when they walk. I wonder how they do that," he continued, clearly too far gone to keep his mouth shut at this point. "How do you keep moving forward without worrying about what's behind you? It makes no sense from a survival standpoint. You're always supposed to be alert."

And then, just as quickly as he started on the subject, he ended it.

"How did you break a girl's heart, anyways? Aren't healers supposed to fix things?"

---