In Rhy'din it was four years. In the Abyss, it was twenty eight. The flow of time wasn't the constant that so many believed it to be, needed it to be. From one plane to the next, the differences ranged from barely there to hugely noticeable.

When a day in one place was a week in another, noticeable was noticeable.

In Rhy'din it'd been four years since she'd lost him, and at times the hurt was still fresh and new enough to nearly bring her to her knees.

She'd still find herself reaching out in the night, expecting to find him. She'd still wake abruptly, her throat closing when she realized that it was that which was missing that jerked her out of sleep. The lack of the triple beating of his hearts under her cheek that threw her back into the waking world.

Four years, for some it wasn't all that long, for others it likely felt like an eternity. For Thorn, it was a combination of both. An occasionally sweet, occasionally painful blending of the two that served as a reminder.

Reminded the redneck that she was just as capable as the next of loving and being loved. Reminded her that loss was as natural a part of life as breathing. Reminded her of, entirely too much.

Yanked her attention around at times and shoved her face in the pure and simple fact she preferred hiding from rather than facing.

She was lonely.

Surrounded by friends and family, with offers on the table for the possibility of more, she was lonely.

Even with the heart family she'd slipped into and built, even with the friends and acquaintances she'd gathered, even with the lovers she'd taken, there was still a hole in her heart that couldn't, wouldn't be filled.
And with the knowledge, didn't come assurances or easing.

It never occurred to her to blindly rush to fill the void. Nor did it occur to her to accept whichever offer hit the ground first; were she to do a thing it would be done with the all of her. She'd not short change someone just to make herself feel better. Not again.