I'm sorry.

How many times had she heard it already? How many times did she loathe hearing it? How long had she been sick of that sentence? When did she even start hating it?

Maybe when her father had first said it to her, after he 'accidentally' backed up and hit her dog Spike in the garage. Maybe when her perfect little sister 'accidentally' broke her favorite stuffed rabbit. Maybe when....

Fuck.

Even she couldn't remember the exact amount of times people had apologized to her. But she remembers the pain she feels when they say it. The hurt and mix of raw negative emotions that build up in her system. It makes her want to throw up.

They say that apologizing is an easy way to reject someone.

If so, how many times had she been rejected already?

She could practically hear the words they wanted to say. Their words they tried to mask with guilt, shame, sadness...

You might wonder, how can she know this? Is she psychic?

No.

She could see the words they wanted to say, etched clearly into their eyes. Those eyes that looked down on her so many times.

- le awesome timeskip courtesy of Dylan air -

He is holding onto her love letter. The one she had taken so much time pouring out her heart and soul into. The one she wrote for the very first time. She never had any experience in love. She never even wanted to fall in love anyway. But he made her want to. He made her. He was the first. But now, she could see it plainly in his face. The discomfort in his frosty orbs, the way he ruffles his blonde hair, the way he nibbles lightly on the scar he got when he tried to eat a stapler, the way he adjusts his gold rimmed eyeglasses.

"I've never expected something like this, you know?"

"..."

"This is the first time, I've gotten something like this..."

She fiddles with the ends of her cream blouse.

"..."

He laughs with no happiness in it, awkwardly, mechanically. She remembers those little robots, that Valdez boy enjoyed making.

"I'm sorry."

There it was again. She smiles bitterly.

"Do you know why I fell for you, Jason Grace?"

He tries to answer but she cuts him off.

"I fell for you because I thought you were an exception, you were different. You made me feel like this."

She looks up, meeting with his piercing blue eyes.

"Of all the sorrys I'd heard, why is yours the only one that hurts me this much?"

She breaks down.

"Why is your sorry the only one I have a hard time accepting," she asks, her tears now come out in thin rivulets of salt water.

"Why do I love you this much, Jason Grace?"