Redhawk Caldera Take your fears and let them go

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Seems they'd misunderstood each other again. Bridget caught the anger and instead of igniting her own, it just made the sadness deeper. She wouldn't blame Teya but would not accept the blame onto herself as well - she had nothing to be ashamed of, in seeking to give Teya space. Her friend had been mated and Bridget had been here, all along, with no certainty delivered on where they stood. Love didn't equal partnership.

I meant that I didn't want to be an affair. It was blunt, and her ears tilted slightly though her voice remained soft. And now I guess it means I don't want to be a fallback. You said you were giving Reyes another year. I had no right to push myself over that.

It was telling, maybe, that neither of them had been willing to make that final step. Bridget because she was unwilling to risk the friendship they shared, Teya because - she couldn't know. She never would.

That isn't the way this works. You don't get to choose to stop hurting me. She added quietly, but there was no argument behind the words. If Teya would throw them aside in this way, for something easier, then she had her answer. They would be friends and nothing more. You can pick what's easier. And I'll hurt worse, knowing that I wasn't worth the effort of a chance. But I'll get over it, not because you chose to ignore it, but because I know what I'm worth. She kept herself trained on Teya, prepared to accept the brunt of her anger if she needed to. I won't lie to you. But I won't say it again unless you ask.

That was it. She deserved better than an "I love you" from a woman who chose a mate in another and refused to chase her own happiness out of fear. She deserved better than silence and avoidance, even after all of her requests for openness, from a friend who claimed to be thinking of her.

It hurt like hell. How could it ever have done anything else?