Alright...I'm going to start off by being completely honest. I have no idea what I'm doing. haha This is only the second story I have written, or in this case, started writing. The other one I haven't uploaded yet. I, obviously, have been playing GTA 5 and for the last month have been coming on here reading stories that were based on Michael & Amanda. I was surprised that they were actually somewhat hard to find! The majority of the stories I've found on here seem to write Michael/Trevor slash, which I can't get into at all. Maybe because I never got that vibe from Michael on the game, I don't know. There's very few that focus on Michael and Amanda as a couple and explore their relationship or different scenarios that happened in the game. The ones that ARE on here are AMAZING and I've read them multiple times over. SO...in the last two days I have been very bored and just sat down at my computer and started to write. I have never written anything before, other than songs or poetry here or there. So I will just apologize in advance if this is terrible. I will tell you right away that my stories might seem out of character because I'm not comfortable writing the language that GTA generally utilizes and I try to show a different side to Michael and Amanda. After finishing the game and seeing the way the two interact after they decide to try to make it work, well, they seem much sweeter with each other then. hahaI know I suck at conversational type writing so a lot of what I have written is based on what is going through the character's mind at the moment. I have no idea if I'll write any other stories than the two I've already finished/begun but I decided to upload the start of this one. I'm not asking you to lie and say it's good, but don't make me cry. haha I'm not even sure where I'm going with this one after this first part but we'll see. Ok...now that I have warned you all that this might be terrible...feel free to continue reading if you wish. :)

Amanda tried to hide her smile as Fabian came up behind her to demonstrate the final move. She mentally prepared a countdown to when Michael would explode. It should be any time now. She risked glancing up at him and was surprised that he hadn't moved from his mat. She watched as the realization dawned across his face that she had been sleeping with Fabian too. He had went off the deep end with her tennis instructor so she had been anticipating the same type of reaction this time.

She watched with amusement as his face turned into one of fury and jumped out of the way when he lunged towards Fabian.

"No, stop!" she yelled halfheartedly.

She was surprised when Michael froze. He was holding Fabian's neck in one hand and had his other in a fist that was drawn back to punch him. Instead he just stood there, frozen in that position, for what felt like several minutes.

"Michael?" she said his name cautiously.

He was silent and completely still. This wasn't what she had been expecting from him. What she saw on his face scared her more than the screaming of profanities and the threats to kill her lovers. What she saw was defeat as he put his head down. He gave Fabian a slight shove that resulted in the man landing in the pool behind him with a splash.

"Alright...you win" he said softly.

"Excuse me?"

"You win Amanda...I'm done. I can't do this anymore."

"Do what anymore? Yoga?" she feigned confusion as fear rooted itself deep in her stomach.

"This. Us. Whatever this is. You want Fabian, you can have him. I'm not going to fight you any more. But you can't have us both Amanda. I'm not going to stand here and continue to look like the fool while you're screwing him." he sighed as he ran his fingers through his hair.

Amanda was so shocked that she just stood there in silence, her mouth hanging open.

"Why act so surprised?" he smiled sadly, "this is what you wanted isn't it? Well...you want him...you've got him. I'll grab a hotel for a couple of days while you get your things together."

He turned to walk slowly back into the house and disappeared behind the glass doors.

"Fantastic baby, this is everything we were hoping for and my life wasn't even in danger like you had warned. Well...I did fear for it for a few moments..." Fabian's voice trailed off as he massaged her shoulders.

She shook him off, still too stunned to put together a coherant thought, let alone sentence.

"Amanda? What is wrong? Isn't this what you wanted? Now we can move in together and not hide our love any longer" Fabian furrowed his brow in confusion.

"I...I...I can't talk right now Fabian. I think it would be best if you leave. I'll call you later" Amanda stuttered.

He sighed and leaned in to kiss her but she turned her head slightly, allowing him only her cheek.

"I will talk to you later then?" he asked as he made his way towards the steps.

She absentmindedly nodded, still thinking about Michael and what he had said.

She made her way over to the poolside chairs and sat down.

This WAS what she wanted wasn't it? How many times had she told Fabian that she didn't love Michael anymore? That he didn't even seem to notice her or appreciate her anymore. It didn't matter if she cut her hair or wore a skimpy new dress...nothing seemed to hold his attention or draw his affection. In fact, the only ounce of emotion she had gotten from him in the last few years had been those moments when he realized she was having an affair.

It had been satisfying to see him fly off the handle when he had found her tennis coach in their bed with her. She supposed that sounded sick and disturbing but it had been satisfying because she finally had felt like he cared. He wanted to kill someone over her...that meant he loved her right?

She buried her head in her hands as she felt hot tears forming in her eyes and trickling down her cheeks.

The Michael that she had seen a few moments ago scared her. It wasn't like him to stay calm like that. It wasn't like him to give up and walk away. It was completely out of character for him in fact.

She didn't understand her own emotions. She had convinced herself that she hated Michael for what he had done to her and to their family. Why couldn't he have just kept it in his pants? Why did he have to cheat on her? They had been happy for so many years, or so she thought. It was his fault that she had cheated with the tennis instructor and now Fabian. Why did he have to be so arrogant and act like he had done nothing wrong?

She heard tires screech as a car left the driveway in a hurry. She didn't need to walk over to the steps to know it was him leaving.

She suddenly felt so tired. Was this really what her life had become? A desperate parade of affairs to make her husband notice her? To make him remember that he loved her?

She let out a bitter, humorless laugh. Well she had sure succeeded there hadn't she? Oh the irony. She had convinced herself that she hated him while she was trying to make him jealous, relishing in the results when he fought for her. Then realizing how much she still loved him when he finally gave up and told her it was over.

She didn't hear the footsteps approaching until she saw the petite feet appear in her line of vision. She looked up into the face of her daughter watching her with concerned eyes.

"Mom? What's going on? Dad just left in a hurry and wouldn't tell me anything but I've never seen him look like that before. He looked..." her voice trailed off.

"Like what honey?" Amanda replied wearily, "happy? relieved? like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders?" Her voice had taken on a sarcastic, bitter edge.

"No...broken" her daughter whispered the words softly, tears welling up in her eyes.

"I..." Amanda couldn't stop her own tears from spilling, she didn't know what to say. How do you tell your daughter that you thought it was finally over between her father and you? That just like her parents before her, she was going to be the product of a broken home?

Her tears turned into sobs and Tracey quickly sat down beside her and wrapped her in a hug.

They sat there like that for several minutes before Tracey finally asked...

"It's Fabian isn't it? Dad finally realized you're sleeping with him?"

Amanda looked up in surprise to see her daughter rolling her eyes.

"Oh please, you can't seriously think you actually hid that from anyone. You wanted Dad to find out. You made it so obvious that Jimmy and I would have to have been blind not to have seen it too. I think even the maid and pool boy probably knew about it."

Amanda felt her face flush as she thought about what her daughter had said. Was this really what she had wanted to become? Probably the source of gossip for the people who worked at her home? If you had asked her 10 years ago where she thought their lives would be at now, this would not have even been in the conversation.

"Mom...you're not going to just let him go like that are you?"

"Who Tracey?" she was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she wasn't sure if her daughter had been talking about Fabian or Michael or if Jimmy had somehow snuck into the conversation.

"DAD! Who else would I be talking about? You surely can't think that I would be encouraging you to stick with Fabian."

"Tracey...I..."

"Mom!" her daughter interrupted her, "how long have you and Dad been together now? You're just willing to throw that all away? Did you ever even love him? Did he matter at all?"

"Of course I love him! How could you even ask me that after everything that we've been through? All of the crap that he's pulled and I've stuck by his side! And where is all of this coming from Tracey? Aren't you the same daughter who screamed that she hated her father just a few days ago? Who sweet talks him when she wants something from him and tells him she wishes he wasn't her father if he doesn't comply?"

Amanda knew she shouldn't have said it but she was tired and her head hurt and she felt completely lost so she let her frustrations out on her daughter. She had realized half way through her outburst that she had said love...not loved. She massaged her temples as she felt the migraine coming on full force.

"This isn't about me and Dad" her daughter replied cooly. "We can scream at each other as much as we want but we can't divorce and go our separate ways. It's funny Mom, I remember you always telling me 'the grass isn't always greener on the other side,' but yet you keep trying to check out the neighbors lawn. I hope you're happy on that side of the fence because once you're over there you're going to realize what you had over on this side."

She got up in a huff and started to stomp back towards the house.

"Tracey...I...it doesn't matter what I want. Your father...he's done. He said so before he left. He doesn't love me anymore. I...I'm not sure he has for a long time." Amanda stated quietly.

Tracey stopped and glanced over her shoulder.

"Mom...if you think Dad doesn't love you anymore then I guess you're as blind as you thought Jimmy and I were to your affair." and with that she disappeared into the house.

Amanda stood, surprised by how much her body suddenly felt like it had aged. Wasn't it just yesterday that she had been bragging about having the body of a woman half her age? It sure didn't feel like it anymore. Of course nothing felt the same now. It didn't seem natural that things could change in just a few minutes did it? She looked up at the dark clouds that had started to form and now blocked out the sun. She laughed...it wasn't funny...but how fitting. The sky had changed just as fast and rather symbolically she might add. Today had started out all sunshine and roses. Now it was growing dark with the storm clouds that had formed. Just like in her life.

She walked silently into the house and up the stairs into hers and Michael's bedroom. She couldn't stop the tears from crawling down her face as she looked around at the pictures of them at their wedding...they looked so happy. They HAD been happy then. She looked at the giant portrait of her on the wall. Michael had insisted on having that made and hanging it in their bedroom. He had said it was so he could always look at her and how beautiful she is even when she wasn't in the room with him. What had happened to that Michael? The one who seemed to love her so much that he had pictures painted of her and explained away with cheesy lines of love? What had happened to the girl in those pictures? The one who only had eyes for her handsome husband. The one who couldn't wait for him to get home every day because he took her breath away.

She shook her head and tried to shake the memories with them as she threw her suitcase on her bed and started throwing clothes in it. She wasn't sure what she was going to do yet, she just knew that Michael had made it very clear that he expected her to be gone before he got back. Thinking about moving in with Fabian now made her stomach turn. Funny how just yesterday she was convinced that she was in love and wanted to travel the world with him. Now he suddenly seemed like a stranger that she wanted nothing to do with. A toy that she had gotten bored with. No...she wouldn't move in with him. Instead she'd find a hotel and stay there until she figured out what to do.