Chapter 12

The next three months of Fallon's life were strange, to say at least. She lived by herself in New York. She hadn't been back to Atlanta since she left at the end of June. She hadn't seen Liam in that long, either. Sam and Steven had visited a few times, and Fallon allowed them to bring Monica, Kirby, and even Adam. Blake, Alexis, and Cristal still had no clue where Fallon was or what had happened.

Luckily, she'd been able to run Fallon Unlimited remotely. Allison had stepped up and started running day-to-day business at the office. To thank Allison, Fallon had started paying her rent for an apartment closer to the office.

Fallon's life in New York had been...ok? It definitely hadn't gone the way she had wanted it to go. Her pregnancy had been good. She hadn't had any complications, and she actually wasn't as big as she thought she would be. She'd decided to wait to find out their sexes. She was still holding onto the hope that Liam would change his mind and decide he actually does want kids.

Of course, she wouldn't know if he had changed his mind. She hadn't talked to him at all in the past three months. He'd called and texted several times in the first two months, by the middle of the second month, he'd stopped trying. Fallon, being the psycho she was, couldn't help but think he'd moved on from her. He'd found another woman. She was just waiting for the divorce papers. They hadn't come yet, but the first fifty shoes had already dropped, when would the fifty-first shoe drop?

"Mon, I'm telling you, a baby shower's really not necessary. I don't need you guys to come to New York and shower me in gifts." Fallon said, having had this conversation with Monica five times to date.

"Fallon, it's not about you. It's about the babies." Monica responded over the phone, hoping to change Fallon's mind.

"They don't need it either. It's not like I can't buy everything they'll ever need or want by myself."

"It's not about the fact that you can buy everything for them, it's about the fact that your friends and family want to buy it for you and the babies."

"Look, you, Sam, Steven, Kirby, and maybe Adam can come up here and visit, but no one else, and you better not bring any gifts with you."

"What happened to the old Fallon who loved a good party?"

"I don't know, maybe she died when her marriage did."

"Have you heard from him?"

"He stopped reaching out a month ago."

"When's the last time you talked to him?"

"At the hospital. When he told me he didn't want kids and I told him to leave. I guess when I said that, I didn't expect him to leave forever."

"Well, I know this won't be a consolation, but I figured you should know. About a month ago, he was spotted with Ashley Cunningham. He's been spotted with her a few more times since."

"Trashley? Are you fucking kidding me? Our marriage isn't even cold yet and he's already moving back to her."

"I'm sorry, Fal."

"It's, um, fine. I just wish he would've at least sent the divorce papers before he moved on."

"If you're so adamant on getting divorced, why don't you send him the papers?"

"I don't want to get divorced, Monica. I still love him. I still want us to be married and have kids. I thought he wanted those things, too, but I guess I was wrong. I don't want to do anything until he makes the first move."

"And if he doesn't?"

"Then maybe he's still holding onto hope."

"Him moving on back to his ex after only a few months of you two being broken up doesn't exactly scream hopeful."

"I have nothing else to go off of, Monica. Maybe he's not hanging onto hope, I don't know. Either way, there's something stopping him from filing for divorce."

"If I had to guess, I'd say the bitch has something to do with it."

"Probably. And Laura, too."

"So, back to what we were talking about. When can we come?"

"This weekend, if you want. I have nothing to do."

"Ok, I'll tell everyone. And I'll try to find out what's really going on between Liam and Ashley. Just hang in there." And with that, Monica hung up, leaving Fallon's apartment in silence.

Fallon didn't like being left in silence. It gave her too much time to think about how shitty her life was. Just a few short months ago, she'd been a happy wife, mother, coparent, and expecting mother of twins. That had been the happiest she had been in a long time. Now, all she had were her twins. She'd been forced to leave her daughter, and her husband left her. If you had told her five years ago that her life would be this fucked up, well, Fallon five years ago probably would've believed you. She had to face the facts. There was no way this was ever going to work. Her life had been one mess after another since she was born.

She should've never believed it would magically change when she got married. She'd always been a mess, and adding another person to her life would certainly not change that.

Luckily for Fallon, she was pulled out of her dark, self-deprecating thoughts by a knock at the door. She carefully got up from her bed and padded over to the front door. When she opened it, she never, not in a million years, would've expected to see the person she saw standing there.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Fallon demanded from the person on the other side of the door.

"I don't know. Maybe this was a mistake." The person said, starting to turn away. Fallon grabbed his arm before he could, though.

"You've come all the way here, there's no way I'm gonna let you leave." Fallon pulled him into the apartment and closed the door.

The person sat down on the couch in the living room and waited for Fallon to sit down with him. When she didn't, he started talking.

"I don't even know where you want me to begin."

"How about you start with why you're here, Liam?" Fallon prompted.

"Monica called me and basically threatened me to come a few days ago. I didn't know if you would want me here, and that's why it took me three days."

"It took a threat from Monica to come see your wife? Wow, Liam."

"You're the one who told me to leave. I figured you wouldn't want to see me."

"You're really gonna turn the blame on me? You wanted to leave. You made that much obvious. If you didn't, you would've fought harder to stay. This is not my fault."

"I know that, Fallon. It's not your fault. It's mine."

"Is there something you came here to tell me, or did you just come to tell something I already know?"

"I don't know. I guess I came to apologize."

"I don't want an apology, Liam. I want you to get to the point. Did you suddenly decide to change your mind on kids, or not?"

"I don't know."

"Then what do you know?"

"I know that I love you."

"Love isn't gonna save this marriage, Liam."

"What do you want me to say?"

"Nothing, if you're only gonna say what I want you to say. I want you to say what you really feel."

"I don't know what I feel. I know that I love you, and I love our marriage, but other than that, I don't know."

"If you really loved me and our marriage, you wouldn't have crawled back to the Wicked Witch of West Village."

"What are you talking about, Fallon?"

"You and Ashley. Don't even try to play stupid right now."

"My mother told Ashley about what happened. She sent Ashley down to Atlanta to try and seduce me, or whatever. Other than having lunch with her a few times, nothing happened."

"Why would you tell your mother about what happened to us?"

"Because as much as you hate her, and as annoying as she is, she's still my mother. And you told Monica, and I'm sure plenty of other people."

"Yeah, but I didn't tell Alexis, Blake, or Cristal."

"Other than you, my mother's kind of the only person I have."

"Well, if that's all you came here to tell me, then you can leave."

"I don't know what else to say. My mind hasn't changed on kids."

"Fine, that's fine. You can go back to Atlanta, file for divorce, and we can be done. I will stay here in New York, raise my kids, and you can live whatever life you want in Atlanta, or wherever the hell you want."

"I don't want a divorce, Fallon."

"And I don't want to stay married to someone who doesn't want their own kids. If you don't want kids, then we are done, Liam."

"I'm scared of losing you!" Liam blurted out.

"Well, you better get over that quickly."

"I mean, I'm scared of losing you and having to raise kids all by myself."

"You don't even want kids, Liam."

"I do. I want to be there to help you raise our kids. I want to watch them grow up. I want to be there for everything. I'm just scared that I will lose you, and be forced to watch them grow up all by myself. The car accident made me realize that I could lose you in an instant. In less than a second, my whole world could be gone. I never want that to happen. I thought distancing myself from you would make that fear go away, but it only made it worse."

"You made me believe you hated me and wanted a divorce for three fucking months because you're scared?"

"I'm sorry, Fallon."

"No. Sorry doesn't fix this."

"I know. I don't know how I'm supposed to earn your trust back, but I'm gonna keep trying. I love you, Fallon, and I never stopped. I never stopped wanting happily ever after with you."

"That's great, but that doesn't fix anything. I think it would be best if you went back to your hotel, or wherever you came from, and gave me time to think."

"I'm gonna let you push me away again, Fallon."

"I wouldn't have to push you away if you had just stayed in Atlanta and let me believe you were done with me and us."

"I thought you wanted me to come here and tell you I changed my mind?"

"I don't know what I want anymore, Liam. Just, go away. Give me time to think."

"Fine, but I'm not leaving New York. I'm not leaving until you're with me."