Title: Our Time is Temporary
Spoilers: none
Disclaimer: I own Melony. WWE owns the rest.
Authors Note: Some characters may be..I repeat, may be out of character. This is after all a fanfiction not a biography of the persons used.
Pairings: Melony/Shelton, Jericho/ Torrie, Miss Jackie/Christian...for now.
"Call it what you want Shelton, but I'm not staying in a marriage where I feel unwanted, unloved and unappreciated. Need I go on?"
Shelton crossed his arms over his chest and watched as his wife of less than a year emptied the contents of her dresser drawers into a suitcase.
"Look, you don't have to leave like this Mel. Where are you going anyway?"
"None of your business." She huffed.
"Don't be so angry. We both know this is for the best."
She slammed the suitcase shut. "For the best." She mocked. "It may be best for you. But what about what's best for us Shelton?"
He grinned arrogantly and took a few strides across the room so that he stood opposite her, the bed separating them.
"Thisis best for us. You said it yourself, I'm not the man you married and you're right I'm not. I have my whole life ahead of me. I don't want to be tied down."
"Is that really how you feel?" She was dumfounded. She knew they were having problems but Shelton had always been the type to work things out. This was so unlike him. But she called his bluff and there was nothing left to do but leave. "Is that how you truly feel Shelton?"
He avoided direct eye contact, knowing he was walking on a thin sheet of ice. "Yeah Mel... that's how I feel."
She felt like she had been slapped across the face only it hurt in her heart.
"What do you expect me to say? We've been through this a hundred times before. You need more than I can give right now."
Mel picked up her suitcase and headed for the door. "I expected you to help me save what we have... had. What we had. I guess I expected too much. You really should have considered all this before you proposed, before you stood at the altar...before you took those vows."
"I tried to tell you we should wait to get married. I was all for a long engagement. I was happy with things but you kept forcing your wedding magazineson me. You kept shoving samples of cake and china patterns under my nose.You kept pressuring me to set a date. You didn't leave me much of a choice."
Her mouth fell open in pure shock. "Are you saying Iforced you to marry me?"
Shelton shook his head. " It seems that way. You wouldn't listen to me Mel. All you had on your mind was your dress, flowers and all the preparations for our wedding."
Mel stood lingering in the doorway not knowing how to respond to that. Now she had all kinds of questions. " Do you love me Shelton?"
" What kind of question is that?"
" A damn good one! "
He averted his eyes once again, mentally kicking himself for being so harsh. Things weren't unfolding quite like he thought they would. This wasn't the what he had planned. He knew they were in trouble but he didn't realize they were in this deep. His pride stood in the way of correcting his faults and he didn't know how to deal with being a failure in his marriage. The only thing he could do was push her away before he failed even worse, if that was at all possible. In Mel's eyes he had neglected her. Despite their being on the road constantly together they never spent any 'quality' time together and once he looked back on it.. it was his fault. He was too busy with his career. He didn't know when he started to focus his attention more so on training than on her. But she wasn't entirely free of blame. She was constantly demanding his time, always fussing that they never did anything together anymore, it was borderline overbearing. She was right though. But he had a list of priorities and over the months they seem to have changed drastically. In the beginning he did want to be a family man. That was before he landed a WWE contract though and now he wanted to put his career first. And he didn't see anything wrong with that.
"Of course I love you Mel. I just want to focus on myself for awhile. I need to build my career then I can focus on other things. I don't need the distractions."
"So that's all I am to you... a distraction? You don't love me! You love yourself, your career! You aren't the same man I married, you're a jerk!"
Shelton sat on the edge of the bed. There was nothing more he could say or do. He wasn't convinced of his choices as of late as it was. He certainly wasn't going to give up his career to save a marriage that had more problems than he could solve. And somehow sacrificing a marriage for his career didn't exactly feel right either. But what could he do?
"Mel... I don't know what to say." He raked a hand over his hair and met her gaze. If looks could kill he would have died a thousand deaths on the spot. He normal shining blue eyes turned a cold gray as they glistened with tears.
"You've said enough Shelton. I want a divorce." She spat before turning and walking out leaving him to contemplate his decisions in life.