"Sollux?" Aradia asked, her voice trembling with fear and uncertainty. "Sollux, will you at least listen to me? I want... a chance."
He whirled around and glared at her- Sollux's multicolored eyes seemed to glow. He was that angry... angry at her.
"A chance? After everything you did? I don't think I can forgive something like that. Not even for you."
"Are you sure?" She asked, barely able to get the words out. Seeing Sol- her Sol- so angry, was breaking her heart. Of course... she probably deserved it, considering what she'd done to his. But... yet... still...
Still, she wanted him to take her into his arms and hug her so tightly they both forgot all the bad things she'd done.
"Oh, I'm sure. I'm sure that I never want to see you, or speak to you, or think about you ever again. You messed up, Aradia. Now it's time to make things right."
"How?"
"By getting away from me. Far, far away. Take Equius and fly to f***ing Hawaii or something. Bring the creepy robot too. I don't want to have to see your face- know that while I was kissing you- you were kissing him. I can't take this. It's killing me."
"It hurts me too, Sol. It hurt me because even after the crap I've done, I still love you."
"You don't get to say that!" He shrieked. "Not after how much you hurt me. I loved you too, Aradia. I loved you so much that- that I thought about breaking up with you, so you could be with Equius and so you could be happy. Because you'd be better off with me."
Aradia looked at him, both silent for merely a moment. Tears were spilling out of her eyes now as she listened to what he'd said. "You'd do that for me?"
"I would've done anything for you, Aradia." He whispered- not meeting her eyes. "But you had to ruin it."
"Can- can I at least tell you why I did it?"
Sollux shrugged, his jaw clenched with anger. "I guess, but it won't change how I feel."
"You said you were going to break up with me, because you thought I might be happier than way. I think it's pretty amazing that you'd be willing to sacrifice your own happiness for mine- but then, I realized, I was doing the same thing."
It was only for a second, but his rage was replaced by confusion. "Huh?"
"I knew I wasn't good enough for you, Sol. Even though you weren't the most compassionate or the best listener, you were still such- still are- a wonderful guy. I knew you deserved better than a freak like me. However, I figured you'd never leave me on your own. You were too good to hurt me like that."
Aradia paused to look at him, trying to see if his madness was dissipating at all. Everything she said was true, straight from the heart- only she hadn't even realized it was true until now.
"So, I guess I decided the only way we could be happy was if I hurt you. I'd always liked Equius a little bit, and it didn't take much for me to become interested in him. Not like I was with you- he didn't matter to me very much, just a means to an end."
"That's cruel, Aradia. To me and to Equius. You used him to hurt me!"
"Yeah, well, my intentions were good- but I still f***ed it up, Sollux. Because I realized I'd never be able to stop caring about you even if you hated me."
He snorted. "This sounds like the plot of a bad romance novel."
"Do- do you hear what I'm saying, though? Do you understand?"
"I understand that you really hurt me. I understand that you did a lot of bad things, and that you don't really have an excuse for them. I understand that our relationship might be ruined now."
Aradia took a step towards him, trembling as she did. "I don't want it to be. I see now I was wrong- no matter what, I love you. I'll always love you. Through the good and the bad and the ugly. Nothing, Sol, can ever change that. I know that about me- what about you?"
There were tears in his eyes when Aradia's love looked at her. This time, though, Sollux wasn't crying because of hurt. "I don't know anything, Aradia. I want you- I still love you- even after the s*** and the h*** you put me through, I still love you."
"Will you at least give me a chance?" She pleaded. "A way to start over?"
"I can't promise you it'll work." Sollux answered truthfully. "I don't know if things can ever be repaired."
"We won't know unless we try."
"Okay, then." He breathed deeply, and took Aradia's hands in his own. "Let's give this a shot."
