Thanks to Glamagirl, keepthefaithx, rkofan2012, Team McOrton and xsostarstruck for reviewing. You guys = awesomeness, as my good friend The Miz would say.
I'd say there's about three, possibly four chapters left, so enjoy :)

KISS THE PAIN AWAY

"The answer's C, 1944!" Ted yelled at Regis Philbin on the television, getting a little too competitive at the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire rerun. "It's definitely C."

"No, it's D, 1946." Michelle corrected with a satisfied smile, watching as D was revealed to be the right answer. "After science, history is my subject. I love it. You will not trump me on the history questions on here."

It was a Sunday night and Ted, Natalya, Cody and his girlfriend Michelle were all sat around in the living room, drinking and aimlessly channel flicking. Deciding that staying in and drinking would be much cheaper than going out on a bar crawl, the foursome ordered a Chinese takeout and ended up getting a little too competitive over the game show, resulting in Ted and Cody having to sit on separate ends of the room.

"Right, Darren and I had better get going," Michelle's son was also at the house, but she'd put him to bed in Cody's room.

"Do you really have to go?" Cody whined, taking hold of her hand and letting her pull him to his feet. To say he and Michelle were inseparable would be an understatement; Michelle spent more time at his house than she did at her own.

The blonde nodded. "It's getting late and the little man and I both have school in the morning. You can come with me, if you want." She gave Ted and Natalya a small wave. "See you guys later."

"You know I might just take you up on that offer." Cody wrapped an arm around Michelle's waist as they went into the bedroom to find Darren. "See you guys in the morning."

Natalya finished up her drink before pulling on her cardigan and standing up, "I'm gonna hit the sack too. I've got an early morning yoga class to lead tomorrow."

"Do you even know yoga?" Ted smirked.

"Nope but the yoga teacher can't make it so the gym asked me to run it. Don't stay up too late." She winked, before disappearing into her bedroom.

With Natalya gone, Ted stretched his legs out on the couch, making himself comfortable and turning on Sports Centre. It wouldn't be long until he had to go back to work again and he definitely had that 'Sunday evening feeling' of wanting his freedom to last for as long as possible. He managed to lean across to the coffee table to crack open another can of beer but the persistent ringing of the doorbell stopped him from being fully relaxed.

"Get up off your ass and answer the door!" Ted heard Natalya shout from her bedroom.

"You do it!" He shouted back.

"I'm getting ready for bed, wearing butterfly pyjamas! That's not something our guests want to see!"

Completely reluctant and with a languid sigh, Ted got to his feet and walked towards the door, looking through the peephole to see who was there. It was too dark to get a good look, but even in the black of night, the silhouette of such a beautiful woman was completely impossible to ignore. When he opened the door and the frosted glass was gone, however, it was a different story.

"I didn't know where else to come," She stammered, shivering on the doorstep.

Maryse looked terrible. Clutching her stilettos in her hand, she was wearing nothing more than a body con dress, which did little to shield her from the freezing cold night. The normally impeccable face looked drained but the injuries on it were what really worried Ted. Her lower lip had a fresh cut on it, with dried blood encrusting it and her nose was bruised and bloody. Not to mention her left eye was completely wrecked, a large purple swell surrounding it. But she wasn't crying, despite the fact she looked utterly miserable.

Unsure of what he was supposed to say, he held out his arms and pulled her into them, feeling her cold skin shivering beneath him. They stayed in that way for about a minute or so before Ted pulled away and placed his hands on Maryse's shoulders. "You're freezing," He whispered.

"No cab driver wants to take the girl that's bleeding, selfish bastards." She muttered back, folding her arms in a feeble attempt at producing some body heat. "So I walked here."

"Get in here," Ted took one of her icy hands and pulled it into the house, taking her straight up to his bedroom so they didn't disturb Natalya. Once they were inside with the door closed, he grabbed a sweater from his closet and handed it to her, before asking, "What happened?"

"Mike and I got into a fight." Maryse pulled the jumper on properly and leant against the radiator, instantly inserting some colour back into her cheeks. "He saw me leave a hotel with one of my clients."

"He knows?"

She shook her head. "I lied and told him I was having an affair." Observing the look on Ted's face, she explained, "He can't know the truth. It would break his heart."

"So instead he decided to break your face?" Ted said bitterly, sitting down next to Maryse with his back to the heater. Lifting a hand, he carefully cupped her jaw, taking in each flaw. "How could he do this to you?" He didn't expect an answer.

"It's fine," Turning her head, Maryse felt Ted's hand drop. "I goaded him into it. It was a heated argument."

"That's not a real reason for something to do this to you." He paused. "You don't deserve it. He doesn't deserve you."

"I'm no good, Ted." She chuckled sadly, tipping her head back and feeling the heat radiate against her hairline. "I deserve whatever's coming to me."

"I couldn't think of anything further from the truth," Ted admitted. She was so shaken, he never imagined he'd see her this way. Normally so confident, it was almost eerie to see her so calm and reserved; although he wasn't surprised, considering Mike had hit her. "Has he done this to you before?"

"No, Mike would never do anything to hurt me," The words seemed meaningless once they were out of her mouth. "Well, before this. He adores me." She got up and stared out of the window, watching New York City below her and feeling so isolated from everything and everyone else in the world; she wanted more than anything for Ted to know but her head was telling her that she'd make a big mistake if she did so. "Life with Mike was safe. With him, things are steady. There's a plan. Without him, I'm back at the beginning."

Ted stood behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder, "There's nothing wrong with starting back at square one. Sometimes all we need is a fresh start."

"I'm sick of fresh starts," She laughed. "They never work out how you want them to."

"Maybe you just need the right person to start a fresh with."

Maryse turned around and realized she and Ted were stood dangerously close. "You can't rely on other people to make you happy. The only person you can truly rely on is yourself."

"You can rely on me." Ted rested a hand on the back of Maryse's neck, feeling her tip her head back at his touch. "Why else did you come here tonight?"

With the softest of kisses, Maryse pressed her lips against Ted's, minding her cuts. It was the briefest kiss because her mouth hurt too much, but Ted was so sweet. She was sick of fighting against it; in that moment, she was lonelier than ever and who was she to deny this man that longed for her? More to the point, who was she to deny herself?

In fact, the only thing sweeter than that kiss on Ted's lips were the soft kisses he placed on her face, so careful moving around her bruises; across her forehead and the ridge of her eyebrows, down the bridge of her nose and stopping before the cut, kisses on her soft cheek. It was blissful for Maryse. Snaking his arms around her waist, he found the zip on her dress and slowly undid it, until it fell to the ground.

"Are you cold?" Ted pressed kisses against her ear so his voice was muffled. Maryse managed to shake her head in response, as she backed towards the bed and pulled Ted down on top of her. Once the rest of their clothing was shed, Ted's kisses moved down Maryse's neck, from shoulder to finger, and then along her slim abdomen. Instead of closing her eyes, Maryse made sure they were wide open and when Ted caught her gaze, he smiled a smile no man had ever given her before. It didn't matter that she was dying; she'd never felt so alive.

As he hovered over her, Maryse raised a hand and ran a hand through Ted's hair, before placing a kiss on Ted's lips once more. "Why do you care about me so much?"

"Because," Ted leaned down to press an even smaller kiss again on Maryse's lips. "You don't know how lovely you are."

How was she supposed to react to that? Maryse was speechless. Why did he do this? She did nothing but push him away and yet here he was, making her feel so special. Ted deserved so much better. "I don't want to hurt you," Maryse admitted, turning her head so she wasn't looking him in the eye.

"Then don't." He offered a small laugh. "Maybe in the long run, you will hurt me but until then, we have tonight." Standing up off the bed, he sighed. "If you don't want to do this, then you're free to leave. It's your choice."

That was the last thing Maryse wanted. With a smile and a shake of her head, Maryse said. "Come back to bed, Ted."

Before when she and Ted had sex, they didn't know each other. It was pure lust. Now they shared something deeper that neither one could ignore. The connection between them was undeniable and finally, after years of pain, Maryse felt content.

Ted didn't take his eyes off of Maryse. As he lay next to her in bed, they both raised their entwined fingers and he stared at her, intense concentration on her face as she examined their hands.

"What?" The blonde turned on her side to look at Ted, a grin forming and instantly brightening up her battered face. "You're staring at me."

"Is that a crime?"

"Only if you start following me everywhere I go." She giggled, resting her head on her hand as she propped herself up on her elbow. "Do you have work today?"

He nodded. "Those finance figures are calling my name."

"I'd quite like a job at a bank. I could wear smart shirts and pencil skirts, moan about a heavy workload-"

"Well, the only heavy workload you have to worry about right now is mine."

"That's not a bad joke actually." Maryse snorted. "Maybe I should apply for a job at the bank."

"What about The Dollhouse?"

"It's a long story but to cut it short, I won't be going back there for a while. Let's just say they weren't particularly happy with me hitting you and The Dollhouse has a strict no-violence policy which didn't go unnoticed in my circumstance."

"I forgot all about that," Ted laughed, falling on his back. "You've got a pretty good right hook. Perhaps you should consider boxing."

"Thank you, thank you." From her pile of clothes came the sound of Maryse's buzzing phone. "Do you mind if I get that?"

"Go ahead." Ted watched as Maryse got out of bed and scrambled around the pile until she triumphantly pulled out her phone. Her eyes stayed glued to the screen as the smile that was once on her face quickly faded. "What's up?"

"I've got to go." She began putting on the dress she'd been wearing the previous night urgently.

"What's going on?" Ted put on his own clothes. "Is everything okay?" He came up behind her and placed his hands on her waist.

Maryse sighed. "Mike wants to meet with me." Ted's hands dropped from her frame, before he took the phone out of Maryse's hand and read Mike's message.

We need to talk. Starbucks in 20. M x.

"You can't go." Ted threw the phone down onto the bed. He believed if he could place the tiniest seed of doubt into her mind, he could stop Maryse from leaving. "What reasons could you possibly have for going?"

"I have to hear him out."

"No, you don't!" Ted exclaimed, taking hold of her hands. "Maryse, I can look after you-"

"Ted-"

"-I care about you so much-"

"Ted-"

"-and I just want to take care of you-"

"Ted!" Maryse snatched her hands away, raising her voice. "I'm not a child. I don't need 'looking after' or 'taking care of' so just..." Her voice disappeared. "I have to go."

And with no more words, she was gone.

"Fuck!" Ted yelled, throwing himself back first onto the bed. As he did so, however, he felt something hard digging into his spine. Rooting around underneath him, he pulled out Maryse's cell phone.

Hope you enjoyed. Please leave a review :)
Just a heads up, the next chapter will be a flashback... DUN DUN DUN. And let's just say, it will reveal a lot ;)