Not betad. But I must once again thank arfalcon, who is an honest, thoughtful sounding board in addition to being a good friend.

Prompt: Rescue

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I really wish she wasn't all the way on the other side of the couch, but I give her the space she seems to need. This is the first time in a long time I've wanted to comfort someone other than Maddie and I'm not sure if I should push it or let her be. I'm a little out of my depth and since I can't comfort her with touches, I try words.

"I don't know," I say carefully. "I think sometimes the fairy tale isn't always what we expect." I'm not exactly sure what I'm trying to say. I only know if her life had taken a different path she may not be sitting here right now, and I don't like that thought. At all.

She looks me in the eye for a long moment before she nods. "You're right. But at the time I thought I was in love. That Brady was the pinnacle and I would love him forever." She shakes her head and takes a deep breath. "Needless to say, me having a baby with the help was unacceptable. I was to have an abortion immediately and never see Brady again."

She scrubs a hand over her face and looks at a spot over my shoulder.

"It took them two days. In two days Brady was gone. All I received for him was one email, telling me he had to leave or my parents would make sure his father never worked in the area again. He didn't mention the baby, tell me he loved me or where he was. I tried to respond but the email account was already canceled.

"I don't know how much they gave him, but I guess it was enough for him to abandon us. I haven't heard from him since."

I resist the very real urge I have to punch a wall. Or seek this guy out and teach him a lesson about how a man is supposed to behave. "What about his father?" I ask calmly, though my insides are churning.

"He didn't know anything, as far as I could tell."

She finally looks back at me, her eyes wet with unshed tears. "I didn't know what to do. My parent's threatened to cut me off completely if I had the baby and I didn't know if I could be all alone and give my child a good life."

She looks at me pointedly and I know what she's thinking. It's as clear as the hand in front of my face.

"Not every situation is the same," I say, running a hand up and down my thigh. I want to say the right thing but this isn't a conversation I expected to be faced with and I'm not really sure how to handle it.

"No, it's not," she whispers. "Anyway, I didn't know what to do and Demetri sort of came to my rescue. He was a good friend and he caught me at the right moment and I told him everything. He asked me to marry him on the spot.

"I'd always suspected he had a thing for me and I cared for him, so I thought we could make it work. Any good relationship is based on friendship, right? He seemed like the answer to my prayers. I could keep my baby and I wouldn't have to face the prospect of a life without money or resources."

She bows her head and her shoulders are shaking and I really want to touch and comfort her in some way. But I'm floundering a little bit. For as comfortable as I am around her this is some heavy shit she's dealing with and this is uncharted territory for me.

"Bella?"

She sniffs and wipes her nose and lifts her head, but she doesn't look at me. I sit closer to her, but I don't touch her. "Hey," I say softly. "No more hiding, remember?"

"How can you even look at me right now?" she asks, a fist in front of her mouth.

I'm not a fool. I know what she means. But she's not me and she made the best choices she could. I tell her as much but she just scoffs and looks away.

"What happened to the baby?" I ask, reaching over and grabbing a tissue and handing it to her. She takes it with a soft sigh and wipes her nose.

"My parents were willing to go along with the ruse. We'd tell everybody Demetri and I had been dating and decided to get married when I became pregnant. You see, it was okay for me to be knocked up out of wedlock as long as it was with someone acceptable."

I rest my arm on the back of the couch and put my head in my hand. "So you wound up marrying due to circumstance after all."

She nods. "My mother threw something together and we were married a month later."

She's silent for a long time as she twists the tissue in her hand. Finally she lets out a long breath and looks at me, a few tears streaking down her cheeks.

"I miscarried one week to the day after the wedding."

My eyes widen in shock; I can't help it. I wasn't expecting any of this, and even though this happened years ago, her pain is so real it's palpable. She lowers her gaze and I gently grasp her chin with my thumb and index finger. She looks up at me and that seems to let the floodgates loose. She lets out a sob and before I can question myself, I'm holding her again. She clutches my shirt I her fists and cries in earnest, while I offer her what I hope are comforting words and caresses.

She eventually composes herself pulls slightly away from me, but stays close enough that she rests her head on my shoulder. I grab her another tissue, and she wipes her nose and her cheeks.

"You should know something before whatever it is between us goes any further," she says, lifting her head and looking at me. Even with a splotchy face, runny nose, and red-rimmed eyes, she's absolutely beautiful.

I furrow my brow, wondering what else she could possibly have to tell me. As if what we'd already discussed wasn't enough. I'm not sure how much more by brain and heart can take tonight. But I sit and wait for her to talk since she obviously needs to get this out, and thinks I need to hear it.

"I can't have children."

"I… okay." I scratch the back of my neck and stare at her for a minute, trying to absorb all of this. It's really a ridiculous amount of information to process in such a short amount of time. Still, she's looking at me like she wants me to say something. So I do. I tell her truth. "I haven't been on a date in three years and I haven't been with a woman since Maddie's mother. It's safe to say having more children hasn't been the first thing on my agenda. But even if I wanted a passel of kids, dreams change."

She looks at me dubiously and I shrug and offer her a small smile. "Sometimes the fairy tale isn't what we expect. Sometimes it's better."

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