For all the protest that suddenly rose in her brain, refusing to be embarrassed, and refusing to be shamed, a deep flush rose to her cheeks, and Sookie shook her head vigorously, feeling herself dig her heels as far into the ground as she could. Everything about Mitchell that she'd seen in the past few minutes jarred with the impression that she'd had of him over the past year. The worry in his eyes, when she'd returned from dinosaur territory. The way he'd tried to intervene when Caliban had draped himself over her at a party, before she and Mitchell had started dating in the first place. Lazy Sunday mornings spent rolling in bed, when even kisses pressed to his jaw couldn't wake him before his time. She knew that people could act, deceive, but the sudden slash of cruel words was still surreal to her, and seemed more the act than the other side she'd seen.

"No." Ultimately, her choice was only one half of it, but whether or not it was the selfish thing to do, she couldn't be the one to let go. Not then, not so soon. "No, Mitchell, I'm not goin' anywhere."