Those three quiet words lifted Percy's soul. They painted a beautiful picture of their future together. A small home full of love and happiness. Children, her's and their's, running through the house. Quiet evenings when the household had gone to sleep and Maggie remained up with him in the parlor passing the hours. Nights like this one, locked in a loving embrace.

Percy knew then that he couldn't go back, that walking away wasn't an option. Maggie's firm words, telling him she couldn't lose him. "You don't have to." He told her gently, his fingers tilting her chin up to look in his eyes, surprised at what he was willing to do again after thirteen years.

But then Maggie stirred from his grasp, her voice quiet and clearly upset. He stiffened at the words. They were the words he had been dreading, what he had hoped to steel his heart from. He shifted, echoing her movement, "I told you before, I don't care about that. I never have." The words from their earlier fight coming back to him as did part of the anger. She was making decisions for them both again, giving him no room to stay anything. "It's my life to ruin, Maggie. Not your's to decide what I do with it." He couldn't help but add, his voice tense.