Two silhouettes sit together on the riverbank. One reaches for the hand of the other.

"Don't," a girl's voice objects as she pulls away.

"Why not?" This voice is male, and he is confused.

"Don't," the girl repeats. She turns away. "Just don't."

"What's wrong, Anna?" He makes no move to touch her hand again. He doesn't even try to get her to turn around.

"I don't want to fall in love with you," the girl whispers. Then louder, more forcefully, "I can't fall in love with you."

Now his voice is quiet. "Why not?" He makes no attempt to hide the fact that he is hurt by her words.

"Nothing good ever lasts. Either it dies, or they run away."

"You don't really believe that?"

"It always ends. And I'm tired of dealing with the hurt." She turns to face him. "If I stay distant, it won't hurt when it ends. Because what never began cannot end. If someone you never loved walks away, it makes no difference. I don't want to hurt anymore."

The man stares at her. "I won't leave you."

"You say that now. But you can't know."

"I do know. And I promise. I will not leave you. Not now, not ever. And if that's not enough, that's okay. I can wait. I will wait as long as it takes me to convince you that you are wrong."

Anna stands. "You will be waiting a long time." She walks away from him.

He doesn't follow her. He remains at the river until the sun has set and the darkness has settled.

Well there you have it. The prologue. I own Anna but not the man. This story is going to draw on the lyrics from 'Runaway Train' by Soul Asylum

This story is the first in a long time that I will be posting without having the next chapter written beforehand, so the length of time between updates is likely to be totally random. Also the chapter lengths are likely going to be drastically different.

Please review!