Sun Mote Copse lots of people like to make believe they're living.

He'd been afraid of this moment, when she would finally make her choice. Somehow, he'd always known that it wouldn't be him. No one ever chose him. Crow had left. Sugar Glider had left. His parents had left. He'd always been the one left behind, so he'd tried to break the trend by being the one to do the leaving. It had worked, for a time. But here they were, and though she hadn't exactly said it, all Penn had heard of her words were the ones that were always haunting him in the dark corners of his mind that he liked to pretend didn't exist.

Just because you don't have a family.

Penn had never really been angry with her before. She was a pain in the ass. She was rude, she was blunt, but she was perfect to him. This time, he was angry because this time he was hurt. He stared tight-lipped at her as she told him to go, stood still as glass as she turned and walked away. It didn't even occur to him to go after her because his prophecy had been self-fulfilled. He would never be someone's choice. They would always leave him. He would always have no one.

He too turned and left.