A/N: Thanks for all your feedback on the first chapter, guys! :)

And in response to Cliffy's review: Yes, communication is key! They will be communicating in this chapter and discussing their emotions... The next chapter, however, will be a different type of. . .

Communication ;)

All of Me- Chapter 2

She cries herself to sleep because of me. She's hurting inside and feels like our marriage is falling apart... She thinks she disgusts me or that I'm bored with her; that I want a divorce or a separation.

And why in the world would she think these untrue things?

Oh, right; Because of me and my dumb dysphoria.

"What the hell is my problem?" I mumble to myself, feeling numb to all emotion.

The next morning...

Clare's POV

I slowly descend the staircase, my head pounding with discomfort as a result from my nonstop sobbing throughout the night. As I reach the last few steps, I immediately see Adam sit up in his spot on the sofa. I assume he must have been awake already and heard me coming down here. His eyes wide, he locks gazes with me. "Hey" he says quietly, a look of concern written on his features.

"Good morning", I reply simply as if nothing had happened between us the night before. "How'd you sleep?"

He shrugs his shoulders. "I barely slept"

A feel of empathy washes over me and the pain from last night recedes back into my heart.

No Clare, I tell myself. Be strong.

"I'm sorry about that" I say plainly. And with that, I turn away from my husband and make my way into the kitchen. I hear him rise from the couch and his footsteps resonate, trailing behind me. I don't bother to look back at him and begin to fill the coffee pot with water.

"Do you want me to make the coffee today?" I hear him offer.

I shake my head no, not looking away from the faucet which ran water into the coffee pot.

"Can I make you something for breakfast?" he asks hopefully.

I shrug my shoulders.

He's silent for a moment. I hear him move closer to me, my back facing him, before his voice fills the air, "I want to talk about last night"

I fail to respond.

He continues, "I'm so sorry, Clare. Just please forgive me. Please talk to me"

I hear a certain desperation in his voice that I choose to ignore.

"Clare! C'mon, don't shut me out like this!"

I slam the coffee pot down on the counter- water spilling everywhere- before turning around furiously, ready to yell in his face about how he of all people doesn't have the right to lecture me on shutting people out. However, once I turn around, our bodies are inches apart and I'm forced to look up into his eyes; they're bloodshot along with dark circles underneath them. I can tell he'd been up all night and had definitely been crying...

He just looks so. . . Broken. Something in my heart breaks for him and suddenly I begin feeling guilty about my coldness toward him this morning. He obviously had a good reason behind his actions lately. I just need to know exactly what his reasoning was.

"Okay, I'm listening"

He gives a sigh of relief before nervously gesturing toward the kitchen table. I follow his lead and take a seat next to him. He looks down at his hands as if trying to gather his thoughts and words. However, I assume his words were lost at sea somewhere because he remains silent.

I take his hands in mine causing him to look up at me. "Talk to me, Adam. You know you can tell me anything" I say, realizing the irony of how these words mirrored his own from the night before.

Hr shakes his head in shame, looking away from me once again. I notice a few stray tears now flowing from his deep blue orbs and cascading down his delicate cheeks.

"I don't want to lose you, Clare" he fights to say through his tears while looking directly into my eyes.

My heart aches at the sight of his brokenness. "I don't want to lose you either. But, you've been losing me over the course of these past few months... You've been so distant"

"I leave you at night because..." he begins randomly and trails off.

"It's not just about you leaving me at night, Adam. We barely talk anymore. It's like you're shutting me out... A few months ago, we couldn't keep our hands off each other, let alone talk. Just tell me...what changed?"

He stays silent; I assume trying to will his tears away.

"I can tell you're hurting, Adam... Just tell me what's wrong. Please, let me in..." I beg.

As if he hadn't heard anything I just said, he begins once again, "I leave you at night because... Because, every night I wake up and look at you", he looks at me fondly but with a pained expression as he says this, "I see you holding onto me and... I just feel like you need things that I can't give you. Like you want to be loved but I don't know how"

My heart softens at these words. "Do you mean...emotionally or physically?"

He hesitates. "Both"

"Clare, I'm not disgusted by you or anything like that. I just... I feel like you deserve better; like you'd be happier being married to a real guy. And I know of it wasn't for my dumb insecurities, I'd be able to love you right, I just-" he pauses, gripping the bridge of his nose between his thumb and index finger as tears force their way from his eyes and roll down his face uncontrollably. His face is scrunched up along with his eyes closed tight and a pained expression as he cries.

I know it's not easy for him to cry. He told me once it makes him feel like less of a man. But, I don't care. The fact that he cares enough to cry over our relationship when it's falling apart just reinsures my confidence in his love for me.

I hold onto his hand even tighter, bring up to my chest and close to my heart. "Adam, you are a 'real guy'. You 're more man than any guy I've ever been with" I assure him honestly. "And screw the dysphoria! Don't let those thoughts get to you. They just keep you from me! Do you hear me, Adam? I want you and I want all of you; emotionally and physically... You areable to love me right"

"But, I don't know how" he repeats brokenly through his tears.

"Just be there for me. When you wake up to those thoughts in the middle of the night, don't listen to them. Block them out, go back to sleep and stay with me. That's all I need from you, Adam. In fact, if that happens tonight, wake me up and tell me what you're feeling so I can prove those thoughts wrong. Okay?"

Adam's POV

I nod my head. "Okay" I say trying to rid of any stray tears.

She gives me a small loving smile and I can see her eyes tearing. She lets go of my hand and pulls me into a tight embrace. I bury my head in her shoulder as her touch brings more tears on my part.

"Please Clare, just don't leave me" I beg of her, holding onto her for dear life.

She loosens her hold on me to look at me dead in the eye. "Never", she says cupping my face in her palm, rubbing her thumb against my cheek in a circular motion. "I could never leave you, Adam; not even if I tried... I love you too much" she says with what I assume are now happy tears rolling down her cheeks.

And that was all I needed to hear to be pulled out of my depression and dysphoric thoughts. The fact that she was positive I was all she needed took away my insecurities of not being good enough. I wanted to make her happy and I was goingto make her happy no matter what.

A/N: It's not over yet! One more chapter to go ;)

In the meantime, please leave a review telling me what you thought of this chapter- good or bad. It would really make my day :')