Author's Note: This story is based off characters from ABC's One Life to Live. I don't own OLTL, ABC, or the characters. This was written for entertainment only!
(This story was written for a 2-hour Flash Fiction Challenge. In this AU story, the events which happened during Spring Fling did not occur. Everything that happened BEFORE Spring Fling is relative to this story. Basically, this story was written to show what may have happened in Todd and Marty's relationship if Spring Fling had never happened. Would they have been able to work things out?)
Warning: This story contains mature subject matter and situations.
~*~o~*~
When Todd discovered he was Victor Lord's heir, he bought a comfortable home in the country. He liked being alone. The fresh country air was soothing to his heart.
He seldom made it into town. He often bought enough supplies to get him by for weeks at a time. He wasn't hiding out, not really. He just didn't like the hustle and bustle of Llanview anymore with it's party scene.
When he graduated from Llanview University, he left all that behind. He settled into his home, making a life for himself. With Victor Lord's money under his belt, he was planning to buy himself a paper. He would make it successful, and he'd prove Peter Manning wrong. He wasn't a loser. Over the years, Todd had learned to respect himself.
It wasn't easy. But she had changed him. Yes, her - Miss Marty Saybrooke. When they were younger, he hurt her deeply when he left her after a one-night-stand. She had asked him to stay, but he had left. Marty hadn't taken the rejection well.
Later, when he tried to make amends and asked her for another chance, she lashed out at him. She pushed him away and left him with his heart crushed and bleeding on the floor. Todd hadn't take rejection well either. He refused to give up on her. Every chance he got, he threw it in her face that they should have a chance together - that they belonged together. He thought that he would eventually wear her down and in time, she would come running back to him. After all, it's where she belonged; in his arms.
But Marty didn't go down without a fight. Her addiction got the better of her and instead of dealing with her feelings for Todd, she turned to alcohol. Her need to get drunk and forget him consumed her. Many nights she spent at Rodi's, partying it up. Todd knew all about it. Somehow he always managed to show up when she was there to keep an eye on her. He didn't want her to get hurt. He didn't want anyone hitting on his girl. She was his and he knew it, although they officially weren't a couple. He wasn't about to give her up on her.
One particular night he approached her after she shoved away a guy who had been fondling her. "You okay, baby?" he asked. He looked her up and down with his expressive hazel eyes.
"What do you care, Todd? It's not like you want me for yourself!" she said angrily.
"I do care," he said. "Are you alright? Did that guy hurt you?"
"No, he didn't. But hopefully I hurt him," she shot back.
"Leave me alone!" she growled as her eyes flashed. "I want nothing to do with you!"
Todd chuckled. "That isn't true. You want me. Admit it."
"I'll admit no such thing!"
Todd was smirking. He knew it was lies. He knew Marty was his. She just hadn't admitted it yet.
"Call me when you're sober," he said before he walked out.
She tried to slap him, but he was too fast for her. He walked out of Rodi's as she approached the bar and ordered another drink. The bartender refused to serve her and she ended up calling a cab.
When she arrived at the Saybrooke mansion and entered her bedroom, the room where she had made love with Todd, she fell down on the bed. Tears soaked her eyes as she thought of his rejection. It still hurt in the deep recesses of her soul. She'd been making him pay for so long now... but in the process, she too had paid. She missed him and she longed for his touch. She needed him.
On shaking legs, she ran over to the phone. She dialed his number with trembling fingers. "Todd," she said when she had him on the line. "I need you."
"Need me for what?"
"I think you know what."
"You want me to come over?"
"Yes, Todd. Please come."
That's how it had started. Whenever she got drunk, whenever she missed him, she would call and he would run right over. Many times, he'd rush over, and they'd make sweet love over and over again.
It went on that way for months, until Todd finally put a stop to it. He told her 'no;' he wouldn't be meeting her anymore. But Marty refused to take 'no' for an answer. When Todd didn't come, she showed up at his place to meet him.
She never came over when she was sober. She never invited him out to spend time with her friends. He was just her fuck-toy... and he hated it. He wanted more, but he didn't know how to tell her. He knew he had to tell her. It was killing him.
"Marty, I love you," he said as he stood outside and watched the sun going down in the horizon. "I love you so much... and I never want you to leave me."
"Todd," he heard a voice say.
He turned around and saw her standing there. He hadn't even heard her car pull up. "I had a taxi drop me off at the end of the lane," she said when she saw his baffled expression. "I needed to talk to you."
"Talk to me about what?" he asked with a heavy sigh. Usually "talk" for Marty consisted of rough, passionate sex, followed by a few moments of cuddling, then she would leave.
"Us," she said softly.
She suddenly had his full attention. What exactly did Marty want? She didn't seem drunk. In fact, she seemed completely sober.
"What's going on?" Todd demanded. "Marty, you haven't been drinking."
"I know I haven't been drinking."
"But you never come over unless..."
"Unless I am drunk and want sex," she finished for him.
He nodded. That's the way it had been with them ever since college. But Todd wanted a different life now. He loved her with all his heart and soul, but he couldn't do this anymore. Their situation HAD to change or he was telling her goodbye. But how could he ever say those words? He LOVED her!
"Marty, I ... I don't think I can do this anymore," Todd said in a voice heavy with pain. "I- I care about you. You... know how I feel."
"No, I don't know how you feel. We never talk about it. We just have sex with each other."
"You're always drunk."
"Not anymore," she said softly. "It won't happen anymore."
"Why not?"
"Because I'm pregnant, okay?!" she suddenly blurted out. "I'm going to have a baby! Your baby!"
Todd was speechless. All the color drained from his face. "Do you mean it? You're pregnant?"
"Do you think I would joke about something like this?! Yes... YES! I'm pregnant."
Todd couldn't believe it. They had been having sex all this time... and he had always assumed that Marty had been usingbirth control. Had she forgotten? Marty was often drunk. In her messed up state, maybe it had slipped her mind.
"Marty, how... how do you feel about this?" Todd asked.
"It's going to change everything," she said. "I have to stop drinking. I can't hurt the baby. Then I got to thinking about you. I'm sorry, Todd. I am so sorry."
She was suddenly crying and in his arms. He held her and comforted her as she cried. "I am sorry I have been such a selfish bitch. My parents died when I was young... and I lost everything; everyone who loved me. I thought I was unlovable. I thought that no one would ever want me. I turned to alcohol to drown my sorrows. I made so many mistakes," she told him. "That night, our first night together, after we made love and you walked away, I wanted to die," she said with a sob. "I just wanted you to come back... come back and hold me."
"I know, babe. I'm so sorry," he said as he caressed her hair. "I love you, Marty. I have ALWAYS loved you. I'm sorry I never told you that before."
"I'm sorry, too," she said as she cried. "Do you think... think I could have another chance?"
"Yes, if you'll give me another one."
"Ohhh Todd," she said as she melted into his arms.
Todd looked at her and a smile played upon his lips. "You're in my arms. You're not drunk... and you're having my baby. What a dream come true for me."
"You mean you're happy about the baby?"
Todd shook his head. "No, I am not happy. I am ecstatic. I can't wait to be a dad."
"I really have to get my shit together, so I can be a good mother."
"You will be a good mother, Marty," Todd assured her. "You and I can give this kid everything you and I didn't get to have when we were growing up. We both had unhappy childhoods, but this kid won't. We'll raise him right... and the three of us will be very happy together."
"Him?"
"Yeah," he said with a grin. "It's gonna be a boy."
"Maybe it will be a girl," she said as she wiped away her tears and kissed him. "Can we really work this out?"
"Sure we can, 'cause I love you."
"I love you, too, Todd."
THE END
