"Keep the change," Alec said as he handed the coffee cart owner a ten dollar bill. Not surprisingly, the guy began to thank him profusely. After all, all he'd bought was a small cup of hot tea. It's not that Alec was feeling particularly generous; he was just too nervous to stand around waiting for change. He hadn't had time to prepare because this was the last place he'd expected to find her. It was the dead of winter, the first snow was on the ground, and she hated the cold like most native Californians. On top of all that, Logan had told him she was suffering from a bad cold, so why would she be sitting in a park improperly dressed for such weather?
Asha was exhausted, miserable, and struggling to stay alert. She was stuffy, feverish, and her chest was starting to ache from breathing the frigid air. Alec hadn't been particularly stealthy, but she was startled when the steaming hot cup appeared in front of her face.
"Sorry, didn't mean to sneak up on you, but you looked like you could use this," Alec said with his right hand up in a universal gesture of peace.
Asha gratefully accepted his offering. He hesitantly took a seat beside her as she warmed her hands against the cup before taking a sip. Peppermint tea with a little honey…she smiled slightly at the fact that he remembered it was her favorite.
"Thank you," she said softly, her voice a dead giveaway of the soreness in her throat.
"What are you doing out here, Ash? Logan told me you're sick. It's 30 degrees out here," Alec said.
"It's just a cold, Alec. I promised our son I would take him to play in the snow today," she replied hoarsely.
"You're sick; you should be at home curled up in bed. Instead you're out here with no hat, no gloves, and a little leather jacket," he said.
"I wasn't planning to bring him out here right after school, but I knew if I went home first I wouldn't feel like coming back out…and why the hell am I explaining myself to you? I'm a grown woman," she huffed, followed shortly by a shiver, a series of sneezes, and a pitiful whimper.
"You're warm," Alec said as he completely ignored her rant and pressed a hand to her forehead to check her temperature. Asha just glared at him. She didn't have the strength to argue with him. Alec shrugged out of his down filled parka and wrapped it around her shoulders. "Give me your hands," he said as he took the cup of tea from her and sat it on the bench between them.
"Alec, I'm fine," she proclaimed. Despite her protest, she held out both her nearly blue hands to him. He cupped them in his own and alternated between blowing warm breaths on them and rubbing vigorously.
"You really should head home and get some rest," he said as he felt the back of her neck. "Your fever is going up."
The situation had become too comfortable, too familiar…too much like a doting husband concerned about his wife, and they weren't there anymore.
"Stop it," she said, shrugging his hand off. "It's not your place to worry about me anymore."
"You're the mother of my child; it'll always be my place to worry about you. How am I supposed to raise a happy and well-adjusted child when I'll have to tell him his mother died of pneumonia just so she could keep her promise to let him play in the snow?" he shot back.
He sounded genuinely terrified that she would indeed die of pneumonia and she had to suppress the urge to laugh at him. Despite what they were going through, she knew that he still cared for her so she decided to humor him.
"Ok, fine, I'll go home," she said.
"Great. I'll walk you," he replied. He could see that she was about to protest so he stopped her before she could get a word out. "I'll make sure Gabe eats his dinner and does his homework and that'll give you time to warm up in a hot bath. He's my son too Asha, no matter what's going on with us. Let me take some of the responsibility."
She really couldn't argue with that. Alec was absolutely right, but it didn't mean she had to like it. Gabe had finally noticed his father's presence and came running over to greet him. Asha had busied herself with gathering up Gabe's lunch box and book bag…which Alec promptly took from her. This was one of the things she missed most. Though it was for the wrong reasons, Manticore had certainly taught Alec to be a gentleman.
Asha flopped limply across the bed as soon as they made it to the apartment, while Alec made Gabe a sandwich and got him started on his homework. When he was sure that it was nothing Gabe couldn't handle on his own, he made a call to Max and asked her to bring over a few necessary supplies, then retreated to the master bedroom to draw Asha a bath…adding in a few drops of eucalyptus oil to help relieve some of her stuffiness.
"Asha?" Alec said, gently patting her back to rouse her from her dazed state. "Your bath is ready. Hurry before the water gets cold."
Her eyes were glazed and hooded as she slowly pushed herself up from the mattress. Alec winced slightly as he watched her pained movements, but he knew that trying to help her would only serve to piss her off. Having to admit she was sick was the only thing Asha hated more than the actual illness. She would deny it until she just couldn't take it anymore, and only then would she allow him to cosset her. He was a little startled when she began to undress right in front of him, though he didn't know why. Despite most people's assumptions about her, his wife had never been timid...often pensive and soft-spoken, but not shy in the least. The Asha he knew was quite audacious, in fact. As she slid her jeans down her long legs, revealing her signature sexy panties, he felt the sudden need to escape the room.
"Oh sorry, I'll get out of here and give you some privacy," he said as he turned to make his way to the door.
"Whatever," Asha said with a shrug as she shed the last of her clothing, "Leave, stay, I don't care…you've seen it all before anyway."
"I need to go check on Gabe anyway. I'll be back in a few," he said.
Alec couldn't get out of there fast enough and stopped to make a quick phone call in the hallway before checking on his son. Gabe was done with his homework and even though it was a little early, Alec got him settled in bed. The excitement of playing in the snow had tired him out and he had no trouble falling asleep. Alec's enhanced hearing picked up the faint sound of water sploshing around, so he knew Asha was still soaking. He was dreading the conversation they needed to have and paced the living room nervously. He nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound of knocking at the front door. Knowing who it was already, he hurried to the door and flung it open.
"Here, I got everything you asked for," Max said, thrusting the bag she was carrying toward him, "cough syrup, tissues, acetaminophen, chicken soup, and juice."
"Thanks Max, I owe you one," he replied, taking the bag from her hand.
"No, you don't. I wasn't doing you a favor. I did this because my friend is sick and she needed me to do this," Max seethed. Alec sighed and ran a hand through his hair. No one was on his side.
"Is this how it's going to be between us from now on?" he started, "I fucked up, I know that, but I'm suffering here, Max. The woman I love more than anything in the world can't stand the sight of me right now….and on top of that, the only person in this world outside of my wife and child that I consider family hates me too. It's killing me. Can't you understand that? I'm sorry. All I can say is I'm sorry."
Max sighed and dropped her eyes to the floor. He could see her resolve start to crack. There was sympathy in her eyes and for the first time in a long time he felt relieved. For the first time since this whole mess started, he felt like he had more than an ice cube's chance in hell of getting his family back.
"Fix it," she stated simply. "This could be your last chance. Just—fix it."
With that she walked away. He closed the door slowly and contemplated her words as he stopped by the kitchen to put the soup away. Asha never had much of an appetite when she was sick, so he decided not to pester her about eating in favor of making sure she got some fluids and much needed rest. He then retrieved a glass and filled it with ice, the orange juice Max had brought over, and a straw. With juice in hand, he headed back to the bedroom with the remaining items.
Asha emerged from the bathroom seconds after he arrived looking slightly more coherent, but still miserable nonetheless. He found himself smiling as she crawled beneath the covers in nothing but her own skin. Normally, she insisted on wearing pajamas just in case Gabe decided to bust in on them, but when she was sick she couldn't stand sleeping in clothes.
"Ash, sit up for a sec…you need to take these," he said, holding out the glass of juice and two pills. She downed them quickly with two big sips of juice before lying back down.
Her eyes were drifting closed and his heart was telling him to let her sleep…but he knew it was now or never and mustered up the courage to finally say something.
"Asha?" he called cautiously as he moved to sit on the edge of the bed beside her. "We need to talk."
"Alec, please, I don't want to do this right now," she sighed and sank further into the mattress. "I don't feel well and I just want to sleep."
"I know and I'm sorry, but you won't talk to me any other time. We can't keep going like this. You don't have to say anything—I just need you to hear me out."
"There's nothing left to say, Alec!" she exclaimed as she groaned and buried her face in the pillow.
"Asha I love you," he started. "I love you and I always will."
"Stop it! No, you don't!"
"I do! It's the only thing I've ever been sure of!"
"If you loved me you wouldn't have fucked another woman!"
"I'm sorry! You'll never know how sorry I am that I did that to you-to our family," he said, kneeling beside the bed and grabbing her hand. She tried to pull away, but he wouldn't let her. "Baby, if I could go back in time and change it I would, but I can't. I can't take it back no matter how hard I try."
Hot tears streamed down both their faces as Alec repeatedly kissed her hand and softly begged her to forgive him.
"I love you, Alec, but I don't know how to forgive you," she whispered, her voice cracking. "I don't know if I can. You absolutely gutted me."
"There's nothing I can say except I'm sorry, and I know sorry isn't enough," Alec replied, sounding defeated. "I—I just don't want our family to end like this. I don't want this for our son. I don't want this for us."
"I feel awful right now, and all I want is to curl up in this bed and have the man I love take care of me," she started, angrily, "You took that away from me, so forgive me if I don't give a damn about what you want right now."
"So, is this how it's going to be from now on, Ash? Us constantly at each other's throats? You not being able to stand the sight of me? We have a lot of years left to raise Gabe. I can't stand the thought of him growing up knowing that his mom hates his dad."
"I could never hate you, but you broke my heart and I don't know if I can ever trust you again. A marriage with no trust isn't worth saving."
They were at an impasse; there was nothing more to be said. Alec sighed heavily and raked a hand through his hair. He didn't want the conversation to end here, but he didn't know how to move forward.
"Ash, I don't know where our marriage will end up, but I don't want to lose my best friend. Before we were anything else, we were friends…can we at least agree to try to get there again?"
Asha sighed, she really just wanted this conversation to be over. She just wanted to sleep, but she knew Alec wasn't going to let her do that until she gave him an answer.
"We can try...that's the best I can do," she said softly. "Now, in the interest of friendship, please shut up and let me sleep."
"Thank you. I'll shut up and let you rest now. I'll be on the sofa if you need anything."
He pulled the covers up and tucked them around her shoulders before kissing her softly on the forehead and leaving her in peace. Somehow, despite still being in danger of losing his wife, he felt a weight lift from his shoulders. She'd agreed to try to at least salvage their friendship and that meant he had a shot at keeping her in his life in some form or another. Any little piece of her was worth the effort.
Fin.