Title: Unfaithful
Author: Flashes09
Rating: T (suggestive themes)
A/N: Just a slittle one-shot that was bouncing around in my head that I had to write out. It is set maybe ten years in the future.
Unfaithful
The man sat up, the bed sheets falling around his waist. He leaned back against the headboard and watched the woman next to him sleep. His own sleeping habits were interrupted whenever she was around. Her presence, her smell, her beauty, was so unfamiliar that he lost the ability to sleep. She was intoxicating, and that led him to want, to need, to spend every waking moment with her.
He was always scared of losing her and when she did leave, it was almost unbearable. Whenever that happened, he could only hold on to the fact that she would be back and he had to wait for it.
The woman stirred, blinked, and looked up at the man. She followed his example by sitting up.
"So, what now?" she asked softly. The man glanced at the clock. Its bright green numbers read 2:33 AM.
"I don't know." He replied, his voice as soft as hers. He pulled her to him in a fierce hug that she returned, glad for his strong embrace.
"When does he get back?" The man asked, looking down into her eyes.
"Tomorrow." She spoke so softly the man almost did not hear. She did not want to leave, but she knew she had to.
The man threw back the covers and strode over to the window. The moonlight bathed him in an ethereal glow, outlining muscles and scars, casting his distorted shadow along the floor. The woman joined him, fingers tracing those same muscles, lips kissing those same scars, her shadow melting into his. Suddenly, the man turned, grabbed the woman's hand, and looking deep into the woman's eyes.
"Leave him." He said, voice full of raw emotion.
"I can't." They'd had this conversation before and it always ended the same. He asked her to leave her husband, she refused, and they kept going as they were. But this time was different. This time he persisted.
"Yes you can. Come live with me." She shook her head. "We'll go anywhere, anywhere you want."
"I don't want to go anywhere. I like it right here." She said, molding her body to his side. "But I can't leave him."
"Why not?" He demanded to know, stepping out of her embrace.
"Because I can't!" The pair were silent for a moment before the woman spoke again. "Why should I leave him?"
"Because he's never there for you! Because he doesn't care about you!" the man's voice dropped considerably lower. "Because he doesn't love you."
"And you do?"
"Yes." The answer rang out louder than anything before. It hung in the air until long after the sound had faded away.
"Did you mean that?" The woman asked, breaking the resounding silence.
"Yes." Was the answer, quieter this time, but with more force behind the word.
"I love you, too." This statement was punctuated by a long pause, with both the man and the woman contemplating. "But I can't leave him."
"I know," the man answered, resigned to fight another day. It was late and they needed sleep.
Warren took Layla's hand and led her back to the bed, wrapped her in his arms, then drifted off to sleep.
So, what did you think? Review!