My final chapter guys.
"Where were you when everything was falling apart?"
"Calm down!" He warns Baz although to be fair, he understands she has every right to be annoyed and as angry as she is.
"Don't you dare Charlie!"
He sighs heavily. He's dragged her into the office and she's pacing. A pacing Baz was never a good sign. He knew that from experience.
"How long has this being going on for?"
He avoids the question, "You weren't supposed to find out like this."
"Answer the question!" She states firmly, and he sighs, rubbing his forehead. He doesn't know how to answer so tells her, "A while."
"A while? What, weeks? Months? Years?"
"Months."
"Before or after the wedding?"
Technically before he thinks but he's about to lie and try and convince her, the affair only started after the wedding. It's pointless because Baz seems to have answered her own question.
"It started before the wedding, didn't it?"
He nodded, and she slapped him hard across the face, "You lying, cheating bastard!"
He grabbed her wrists firmly but not enough to cause her discomfort.
"Stop! Just stop." He sighed and looked at her, "I love you, I really do but I don't love you in the way I love Duffy, I'm sorry. I should've told you."
When Duffy gets in the house, she's aware its painfully silent. Her first thought is the boys and then her second is Andrew. She closes the door behind her and places her keys on her side, before hanging up her coat.
"Andrew?" She calls.
Nothing. She sighs as she walks towards the kitchen. She finds him sat at the kitchen table with a bottle of vodka, half of which is gone.
"Where are the boys?"
"With your mum, we need to talk."
Duffy swallows hard and nods, "Yes. Yes, we do."
She sits down opposite him and he doesn't look up from the glass. Instead he knocks back what liquid remains before refilling the glass. There's an uncomfortable silence until Duffy asks.
"Have you heard?"
"About you and Charlie?" He nodded sadly, "How long?"
"A while, since before his wedding."
"Why?"
Duffy sighs, "I never intended to have an affair. It wasn't my intention to hurt you, or the boys. There's just something about being with Charlie that makes me feel alive."
"Do you love him?"
She doesn't even hesitate to answer the question because she does love him. He makes her alive and she's never, ever felt that way before. She nods her head and Andrew smiles sadly.
She places her hand over the top of his and says, "I love you Andrew, a part of me always will but, but there's something about Charlie that makes me feel different."
He nods but doesn't reply.
He pushes the divorce papers towards her. He'd had the divorce papers a while, since he had his suspicions about her affair. There's a signature already on them.
"The boys?"
"We'll tell the boys together but you're always welcome to see them. I'm not going to stop you from being their father because we're no longer together. I'd never do that Andrew."
He squeezes her hand in silence.
Duffy agrees to stay at her mother's that night with the boys. It's only fair to give Andrew some space. They are now officially separated and despite her wanting to be with Charlie, her separation from Andrew was still tinged with sadness. After all, she did care deeply for him. He was the father of her children. She'd always have a connection with him.
Baz and Charlie talk. Well, Charlie tries to talk to her, but Baz doesn't want to hear it. She storms back of to Birmingham without her wedding ring and no other form of communication happens tonight. Charlie feels like crap. He never intended to hurt her, he did love her. She was Louis' mum.
Duffy sits at a table in a remotely quiet pub in the middle of town. Charlie's agreed to meet her. Neither of them know if it's a great idea or not but they know they need to talk to each other. They need to figure out if they're on the same page or not anymore.
She sips from a glass of wine, aware she shouldn't be drinking in her current condition.
"Hi."
She looks up, "Hi."
She slides the glass of whiskey she'd brought him towards him and he smiles. She remembered his favourite tipple after a nightmare day (then again, he wouldn't expect anything less)
"How did it go with Baz?"
He shrugs and knocks back the whiskey, "We've not got very far talking. What about you and Andrew?"
She smiles sadly and nods, "We're separated."
There's a silence between the two and she's trying to make out if there's a slight awkwardness between them now their affair was out in the open. She put her hand on his.
"Are you serious about us? Am I what you want?"
He looks down at their hands before he strokes the back of her hand with his thumb. He nods and with a bright smile replies, "I love you Duffy, you're the one I want to be with, for the rest of my life."
She nods with a smile before whispering, "Then there's something I need to tell you."
She moves her hand from him and picks up her handbag of the floor. She has a look inside before she pulls out a small photograph. She places it on the table and slides it towards him.
He frowns slightly as he looks at the photograph and gently picks it up. It's not what he's expecting, and he ends up looking at the small blob on the scan for ages before it registers what she's trying to tell him.
"We're having a baby?"
She smiles and nods, "I'm six weeks."
He looks down at the scan picture in his hand before he places it on the table. Then he gets up, walks to her seat and kissed her tenderly. She smiles against his lips.
"You're happy, right?"
"Happy? I'm bloody ecstatic!"
He kisses her again, this time a little deeper and she kisses him back for as long as she can without breaking the kiss. Then as she retreats, he places one hand on her stomach and tells her,
"This is all I've ever wanted with you, I love you."
"I love you too." She smiles as she meets his gaze.
She places her hand over his and wonders how much different her life would be, if she hadn't have read Charlie's text that night.
FIN.
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a/n: Chuffy's love conquers all — I'm inspired to write another Chuffy fic so stay tuned. You may see another one soon. Thank you for the reviews and the follows on this story. All feedback has been greatly appreciated. Kudos. G.