The cold, drizzling rain pretty much captured the essence of Katherine's terrible mood. She should have been happy to be meeting Mason, but her stomach had dissolved into a mess of twists and turns and knots. What had once been nervous butterflies was now just pure stress and anxiety.

About fifteen minutes ago, she'd come to face the facts that she was a liar, and basically a cheater. She was cheating. Well, was it really cheating when she didn't want to be in this other relationship in the first place? It probably was by definition, but Mason wouldn't think of her like that... she hoped he wouldn't think of her like that. It would ruin her. To know that Mason was upset and angry with her. Actually, she expected for him to be angry and upset, she would be if he suddenly told her, 'oh, by the way, I am engaged.'

She started pacing, pulling her coat tighter around her arms and burying her chin into her scarf. It was cold and rainy. And just gross. Not the sort of day she wanted to break bad news to her boyfriend. He was too good for this, for her. She was a mess. This whole relationship idea was a stupid idea to begin with.

And so she waited, just outside the bustling little town where happy couples were prancing about. She was going to wait for Mason to show up, and then they were going to find somewhere to talk, even if that place was right here in the chilly drizzle. At least it was tucked away from most prying eyes.

Mason was shaking with excitement, he couldn't wait to spend time with Katherine in Hogsmeade, he had a few extra sickles and a dozen knuts to spare, so he walked into Honeydukes, bought a small box of fudge for them to share and transfigured a dead branch into a yellow daisy, it was a pop of color against the overcast, drizzling sky. Sonny never minded rain, especially when he wore his hat that caught all the little water beads in the wool. He started walking briskly towards their meeting place Katherine had picked out.

He saw her in her adorable coat and her adorable scarf and everything fit her perfectly. He scampered through a few puddles as he approached her from the side, swinging his arm over to show her the yellow daisy. "I know you like blue, but the daisy changes it up a bit, don'tcha think?" He revealed the box of fudge, tied with a green and orange ribbon. "I got fudge too."

He fingerless glove reached for hers, "You wanna find a bench?", he wanted to kiss her so badly, but there were people, and where there were people, there were eyes watching them, eyes that turned to mouths that whispered into the ears of the kids up top, Alexa and Rohan.

Katherine looked up from the ground when she heard Mason running towards her, she tried to smile through her overly negative thoughts, and was having quite a hard time even trying to start to keep up her happy charade. She took the daisy from him gently, and looked down at her hand as he grabbed it with his own.

She immediately felt uncomfortable, even if the gesture would have made her happy before. She hid it as best she could though and started to nod, before she thought better of the situation. Mason needed to know. He needed to know about everything.

"Mason, there's something I didn't tell you when I came back from holiday." She said, softly and delicately, as if each word was breakable. "I'm really sorry that I didn't tell you before now, but... well, Alexander proposed. And I had to say yes."

She looked up at him, her eyes shining. She let go of his hand and tore off the sleek black glove and showed him the evidence. The ring. Simple yet elegant, it looked like it fit perfectly, but the tears rolling down her cheeks said otherwise. "I'm sorry, Mason. This wasn't what I wanted to happen."

Mason's smile slowly became a straight line, he let go of Katherine's hand. The box of fudge landed with a small wave into a puddle, the rainy water soaking through the crisp, clean cardboard and turning it to a grey mush. "What?" Sonny asked rhetorically, he'd heard what she'd just said, but he wasn't sure if this was really happening to him right now.... Katherine? Engaged? Mase's eyes widened as he stared at the ring, it twinkled at him, winking and mocking him as it sat, curled around Katherine's elegant finger.

So many thoughts rushed into Hawkin's head. She's only a kid, what the hell are her grandparents thinking? What's this Alexander guy anyway? What does he want from her? Why didn't she tell me sooner? Sonny took a deep breath, "Wow, engaged, that's uh... big news..."

He really didn't know what else to say, it's not everyday when you find out that your girlfriend is engaged, to another dude. "When did he propose?" Mason suddenly had the sickening urge to sit down. He took a step back away from Katherine, searching with his hands to find a way to sit up against, but only finding a pole to lean against. The freezing cold of the metal felt like a dagger in his back.

Should he be mad? Should he be sympathetic? Glad for her engagement? Or should he leave without saying a word?

"It is... it's big news." She said sadly, hiding the ring away underneath the protective sheath of her glove. She felt like she'd just ripped off a band-aid, it was efficient and stupid. She didn't do that right, but there was no taking back her words now. No big, surprise! Just kidding! I love you and let's go celebrate Valentine's day now!

Nope. This was serious. Katherine was engaged, at seventeen, to her childhood best-friend who was now bending over backwards to please her. Except this whole thing where he'd been sending letters to Alexa, that was a bad move. Any positive step forward had now been erased with that little action.

She gave up on trying to wipe her tears away, and just turned away from Mason for a minute, taking a few steps away and taking a deep breath. She had said it. She told him. Why did she still feel so absolutely terrible? "Christmas day. I was going to tell you right then and there but that would be rubbish of me to put it in a letter." She said, turning back to face him, to face her current inner demons. "And I just, I never had the courage to tell you because I didn't want to hurt you but I... I can't keep lying to you and pretending that everything is alright because nothing is alright." She said, her voice was squeaky and she just sounded plain heart-broken.

"I want all of this to go away." She confessed, "I don't know what to do anymore. I want all of it to disappear. I wish I had stayed here for the holiday. I never should have gone home."

Mason wanted to comfort Katherine, he really did, but he was still in shock, he wished it would all disappear too, so that it could just be them in their little work of poems, blue ribbons, and comic books, but there was no way that was possible now. Sonny's back was now frozen through this thin coat, and now the icy chill in his back began to ebb away into total numbness that spread across his entire body. He was in a relationship with another man's fiance.

"I'm glad you told me." Mase tried to put on a brave face and smiled a bit. He peeled himself off the pole and took a step towards her, then another, until he was face to face with her, in all his gawky awkwardness, he still managed to be taller than her. "Is this the end of us now? Is this how our story ends?" He took down at their feet. Hers so petite and delicate, his were clunky with his shoes that were too big.

Katherine crossed her arms, feeling uncomfortable just leaving her hands at her sides. The ring on her finger felt like it was constricting her, burning her; even though it was all in her head, she was still on the verge of having a minor meltdown. She wiped her cheeks and her eyes with her scarf, and went back to crossing her arms; hugging her sides tightly. If she let go, she might fall apart.

She looked up from the ground and gave a small shrug, he wasn’t glad she told him, that was completely obvious. He was upset, shocked, nervous; and she didn’t blame him. This was a fault on her end, she should have been a little less harsh and maybe she should have actually planned out what she was going to say. For a few days, she had gone over it in her head a million times, but when it came to show time; she just gave up and blurted it out like an idiot. Well handled, Katherine, well handled.

“It’s probably the end. It has to be. Alexa threatened to send one of your letters to my grandparents, and Alexander knows all about us.” Katherine said, looking behind her, she had the odd feeling she was being watched. “It needs to be the end.” She said, “I’m sorry, I don’t want to do this but I have no other option.”

Mason couldn't deal with the emotional turmoil he was feeling right now, he made a straight face, looking around at his surroundings, not at anything or anyone in particular. Mason's breath mixed with the rain. Alexa had really crossed the line, and Sonny knew how much family meant to Katherine, and he couldn't ruin it for her and get her in trouble. He knew it took a lot of courage for her to tell him, and he appreciated it, but his throat was still tight.

Every epic romance must have an epic ending, the curtain was poised to close, and it was Mason's line. Another foggy breath escaped his slightly chapped lips and he swallowed his heavy heart and started writing the end of their story.

"There's no doubt you really care
But it's your heart you can never share
And though you tried your best to love me
It's just not meant to be and so I set you free.

It's hard for me to let go
But it's the only way I know
To spare you from suffering
And to save my heart from dying."

Mason finished his monologue, and took another step towards Katherine, taking her hand that was pure of a mocking engagement ring. Mase kissed the back of her hand, savoring the softness and warmth of her delicate fingers. "Thanks for being the best heroine in my story." Sonny let go of her hand and took a step back, not sure if he should walk away or wait for her to go. A line from one of his favorite plays came to mind, and he wrinkled his nose slightly, no happy with the thought.

A glooming peace this morning with it brings;
The sun, for sorrow, will not show his head:
Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things;
Some shall be pardon'd, and some punished:
For never was a story of more woe
Than this of Juliet and her Romeo.

She could just feel how much she was hurting him, and she could see it in his eyes as well. Katherine was awful at this sort of thing, considering it was the first time she had ever done it. One boyfriend, one break-up, and already engaged. Things were looking pretty good for Katherine in the romance department. At least, the romance department strictly influenced by what others want for you, which is never what you want for yourself. Did somebody say unfair?

She bit her lip, rather hard really, as he wrote the end of their story. She stopped when she could feel the acidity of her blood swell from the now-open wound on her lips. Typical, nervous Katherine. She hadn't noticed it before, but as she started to internalize Mason's words, she realized her headache was growing worse by the second, and that was always a good time.

Her arm limp, she let him kiss her hand before she dropped it to her side and considered taking a few steps back. But she reached up, on the very tiptoes of her silly looking rain boots, and kissed him gently on the cheek. It was a goodbye kiss; it felt like it, looked like it, and was just that. This was goodbye, maybe for now, but probably for forever. She nodded her head slightly and turned away, walking slowly at first but then briskly. If she didn't leave now she wouldn't be able to leave, and all that courage would be for nothing.

God gives his hardest battles to his toughest soldiers. Katherine told herself, This is a tough battle, and you are a tough soldier. Someway, somehow, Katherine was going to make it out of this situation alive; and she was going to be tough and she would stand her ground and take what the critics gave. Alexa could do whatever she wanted, Mason could end up making her feel as bad as he wanted, but she was going to do what she wanted. And that was to be strong and to show people that she wasn't so easily pushed around. She would rebound from this and it was going to shock the world.

Or, her world anyways.