co-written by RatedrKjErIcHo

Amber sat down at the table while dinner was cooking trying to get her mind off the fact that Holly was away. Something wasn't adding up about her story and she hoped that she was just overreacting. She was startled out of her thoughts by a knock on the door. She walked over and was shocked to see Alex's godfather standing there.

"Can I help you, Mr. Lauranitits?"

"I was hoping you knew where Alex was. I've been trying to call him" He said as he stood there. "I need to speak with him about some family business and I thought Holly might have told you where they were."

"They went away for a few days. Corpus Christi I think. Whatever it is, can't it wait till they get back?"

"Well, since they are away for a romantic weekend, it can. Thank you for telling me." He said turning to go.

She shut the door and locked it. He just gave her the creeps. She shuddered and walked in to check on dinner. Teddy would be home soon. And she would be glad when he got there.

John got into his car and headed home. He had to make a plan. He had to get Alex back in the plan. He thought about driving to Corpus but he wasn't sure yet. First he had to figure things out. Alex wouldn't ruin everything he had built. Everything he'd worked so hard to get

Alex looked over at Holly as they sat on the balcony at evening looking out at the ocean. It was so peaceful and he could tell she was peaceful. It was one of the reasons he choose this for their getaway. He knew the peace of the ocean would help her as the ocean was her favorite place.

"It's so peaceful here." Holly said as they sat there.

"Yes it is." He replied. "I know you love the ocean."

"Yeah, I do." She replied.

"Holly, we can get through this right? I mean you aren't thinking about leaving me are you?"

"No."

"Then you forgive me."

She sighed. "I can't just forgive you. It will take time but I love you. And despite what you let happen to me, I know love me too." She looked over at him. "Alex, I just don't understand how you could let that happen. You're my husband and you're suppose to protect me from things like that. But you watched and you didn't do anything. You ignored me asking you to help me and not let him do that. But you walked away. Explain it to me. Explain why you did nothing. If we are truly going to get past this and be a married couple, I need to know."

He closed his eyes and sighed. "I let John and Wade and the pressure of the situation get to me and I have wished a thousand times I could go back and change it. But I can't. All I can say is I'm sorry and I know I'm sorry isn't nearly good enough. Just know that I love you and nothing like that will ever happen again."

She sighed. "You promise me that nothing like that will ever happen again. Promise me."

He moved closer to her. He leaned and kissed her gently. "I promise nothing like that will ever happen again. I promise."

"And John is out of the picture?"

"Yes, John is out of the picture. This marriage is you and me. I still have to work with Wade. But there will be no more of what happened." He looked at her. "I promise you."

She leaned and kissed him. "Alright. Then we can past this and I forgive you. But it will take time to forgive you completely."

"I can deal with that." He smiled. "So, what are we going to do now?"

"There is plenty to do in Corpus."

"That's not exactly what I meant." He said kissed her. "I want us to make love. I want to give you a good memory to replace an awful one." He moved closer and pulled her to him. He moved his hands over her body as he kissed her.

"Alex..."

"Please Holly? I need to do this to make this up to you. Please? You know you want it." He kissed her again as he started to unbutton her shirt. He moved and kissed her neck. He felt Holly tense up as he did. "Holly, I know you want to do this."

He kissed her again and removed her shirt. "Let's take this inside." He said as he got up. He took Holly's hand and led her inside. "I promise I will make you forget."

"Alex...maybe...maybe we should wait. I'm not..."

He looked at her. "You're not what?"

"I'm not ready to be intimate with you."

He pulled her too him. "You have to get over that fear. I'm going to help you erase that bad memory." He kissed her. "To make a new one." He pushed her down on the bed. He removed his shirt and joined her on the bed. "Just relax and remember I love you." He had their clothes off of them in no time and gently pushed himself inside of her.

She tried to relax as he moved in and out her slowly and gently. She didn't want to think about what happened but she couldn't stop it from coming into head. "Alex…" She said softly.

"It's okay baby." He said leaning down and kissing her. "Relax. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm going to erase that bad memory. Just let yourself relax and enjoy this."

She felt her body reacting to him and she wanted it too. She wanted to relax and enjoy this with her husband. But her mind kept going back to what happened. She felt herself getting closer and she knew he was too. He leaned down and kissed her as they came together. He pulled out and laid down by her.

"Are you okay?" He asked her as they laid there. "Holly, you have to replace a bad memory with a good one."

"I wasn't ready for that." She said as she got up and grabbed her robe. "Why didn't you stop? I told you I wasn't ready." She sighed and walked to the bathroom and shut the door.

Alex sighed and got up as well. He walked to the bathroom and knocked on the door. "Holly, please let me in and we can talk about this."

"Just leave me alone Alex. Please?"

"We need to talk about this." He said as he stood there.

"Please. Just let me be for now." She said softly. "Please just leave me alone."

He sighed and sank down by the bathroom door. "Holly, please. I'm sorry. I just thought by being with me, you could erase that bad memory. I didn't mean to hurt you." He rested his head against the door. "I love you so much. Please let me in and we can talk about this."

"I need sometime to myself Alex. Please just...just go away for a little while okay?"

He sighed. "Alright. I'm going to work out in the hotel gym." He got up and threw some clothes on and headed out.

Holly sighed when she heard the hotel room door shut. She was glad that Alex had gone. She turned on the shower and got in. She stood there and let the hot water flow over her and let her tears fall as she did. He couldn't understand. He'd never be able to fully understand how she couldn't just let go of what Wade had done to her or how Alex had stood by and watched. It would forever be in her head and it would take time for her to get over it and be comfortable being intimate again. She wished Alex would realize that.

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