This started out as a prompt from The Fic Lab; a group created by Kate (Hotteaforme) and Me.
If cheating is a hard limit for you; leave now.
If you're on FB; feel free to search for it to join or message me.
It's already filled with so many awesome writers and every week I can't wait to see what these fabulous people come up with.
Thanks to Mel for being the best beta, Pearly for pre-reading and making the prettiest banner.
xo
The alarm blares, and a stifled groan comes from next to her.
She wishes she could stay.
The last few days were amazing, heavenly. The days always were around him. They slept, they ate and they fucked.
Some of those things, a lot more than others. She smiles, knowing which one she liked the most. He's still wrapped around her, the sheets barely covering him, showing her exactly what she was going to miss.
She squirms, the heat already warming her cheeks and the need for him—though always there—intensifies. She tries to move, but his arms tighten around her.
She runs her hands through his messy hair, and his eyes finally find hers.
"I don't want you to go." His voice is gruff, like sandpaper. It does nothing to make her need for him go away.
"I don't want to either, baby." She trails a finger down his arm.
He hums, hands finally touching her; but she knows she has to be sensible; has to keep her head because her heart—it would run wild and free with his heart if it could.
She knows it can't.
Not yet.
"I need to get up."
He doesn't move.
"I have to pack."
His fingers find her most sensitive spot, and she doesn't even try to stop the moan that escapes her.
"I'm not ready to say goodbye to you yet, baby." She feels his smile against her skin, lips kissing her breast, tongue circling her nipple.
"I'm never ready." She finally pushes him away, and she hates herself for having to do it. Only a few more months, she reminds herself.
He watches as she finds her things, hating that she has to leave. He does like watching her move around his place, though; she belongs there with him. He stands, unable to help himself as she bends over to pick up the panties he threw over his shoulder last night.
"Move, please." She huffs, annoyed eyes glaring at him. He smiles at her smugly.
He knows she hates leaving; the pull between them—it was the way the moon pulls the waves, or the way fire burns with gasoline—instant and hot.
He doesn't move; it's only a matter of time before she gives in. He always wants her in the worst way.
"I don't want to leave, and you always make this so hard. Help me pack or get out of the way."
She'd always been so hot when she wasmad, he thinks, like an angry kitten.
"Please."
He nods. It's all a part of their relationship. If it can even be called that.
Always on borrowed time.
She kisses him one last time, and he watches as she zips her bag and walks to the door.
He commits her to his memory as she slips on her wedding band. With one last look from those brown eyes, he knows he can't do this anymore.
He doesn't know why the sight always shocks him back into reality—he stood beside her husband at their wedding, for fuck's sake.
Determined as she leaves, she knows that this is the last time she'll leave his place as a secret.
She's telling her husband tonight.
• • •
Almost one hour later, the knock on the door has him jumping out of bed, barely clothed and the shirt halfway over his head as he opens the door.
He expects to see her, but instead: it's him.
His whole world stops, and the ringing in his ears tells him to be so very careful.
"Liam?" He watches him—his best friend since freshman year in high school—for any sign of anger toward him.
"Hey, bro." Liam scratches the back of his neck; clearly something is bothering him.
He steps out of the way, letting Liam into his home. He pauses for a brief moment, looking around for any trace of her that could give them away.
Shrugging, not sure if there is anything there, he turns to his friend, wondering why he's here and if he's about to get his ass kicked in his own home.
A part of him—a selfish part—wishes there was a huge sign.
Yeah, your wife was here, naked.
"Fun weekend? Still seeing Kate?" Liam questions his best friend.
He laughs, glad he's safe; for now anyway. "Nah, that's been over for a while."
Liam's blue eyes find his green ones and watch him.
Liam decides to just tell him why he's here. Edward was always a straight shooter with no judgement.
"I…I'm leaving Bella."
Liam watches the eyes of his best friend, knowing he'd be shocked, but there's something else there—he just can't place it.
"Why would you do that?" A simple question, loaded even.
He watches Liam as he paces, running a hand through his messy blond hair—mostly talking to himself.
"I didn't mean for it to happen. Just one night…I hated that Bella had been working so much. I wanted to call you, but it made me feel like a pussy. It happened so fast, and then…it was more."
An eyebrow raised, arms folded.
Liam stops pacing and suddenly says, "Ed, I met this woman. She's amazing. And she's pregnant. I'm gonna be a dad."
The familiar gasp from the door behind them shocks them both to their core.
Bella watches them both: the man she stood by years before and promised to love and cherish for all of her days.
And the man who stood next to them, the one she should have said those things to.
"Bella?"
Liam turns a deep shade of red, wondering just how much she'd overheard.
More importantly, he wonders what she's doing here of all places when she's supposed to be in L.A.?
This could go two ways, Edward thinks to himself.
They could walk away all unscathed or everything could fall apart.
Maybe the ass kicking he deserves may still happen.
Bella's eyes find Edward's for a second—they always seem to find each other—but that's all Liam has to see for the pieces to fit together.
No, Edward wasn't seeing Kate anymore.
He was seeing Bella.
"My best friend?" The words fly out of his mouth before he realizes it, angry and misplaced.
"Yeah, you'd know about disloyalty, wouldn't you?" she accuses, raising an eyebrow.
None of them are in the right, Edward thinks.
There's no telling who is the most wrong.
"A baby?" Bella asks, looking at her husband. Despite the absence of feelings for him, she loved him once. She thought it was enough.
But then Edward one night; while they were out drinking and Liam didn't want to dance with her, Edward did. He held her close, the way he always wanted to.
"I'm so in love with you," he whispered in her ear.
She wanted to be shocked, but instead she let him continue. "You're what I think of when I think of love, Bella."
Since that night, she held onto him and his words so tight her knuckles were white.
She had been frustrated; she wanted a baby, but there was a part of her that didn't want it with Liam. Maybe that's why she had told him that Edward was taking her home; Liam was still chatting, living up the night. It happened a lot.
But for the first time, inside of the house she shared with her husband, she kissed Edward. He pushed her against the front door, and while it wasn't how he'd imagined it would happen; her body against his and her breath on her neck changed everything.
Her world changed completely. The feelings she thought she got over while they were in high school flooded back through a paper thin wall that no one could possibly hold back.
She didn't like being in the wrong or breaking her vows; she did love Liam. But it was nothing compared to how she felt about Edward.
Liam looks down, the weight of today, of everything that's come into the light on this day; it's not how it was supposed to happen, but he is glad she knows the truth. For that, he feels like such a shit. She told him for months that all she wanted was a baby.
"I'm sorry, Bella." He says the words, and he means them.
She watches him, the hurt there; it still stings.
"For what it's worth, so am I."
Liam nods, many questions on the tip of his tongue, but he doesn't know if he has a right.
"I'll stay with…I'll be out of the house tonight," Liam tells her. He doesn't have to say who he'll be with. She knows.
"We have a lot to talk about. I just can't do this today." Liam looks at the both of them now. Edward nods. Bella does nothing.
The door shuts with a soft click, and then they're finally alone.
"Fuck," Bella says, letting out a deep breath and running her hands over her face frustrated.
Edward goes to her without thinking. What a fucked-up situation.
Her arms wrap around his neck, and she tries to quiet the sobs—she doesn't know where they come from—but she can't.
"Hey, I'm here. If that's what you need."
He feels her nod, so he pulls her tighter, before leading her to the sofa.
Of course he's what she needs. She wishes she realized it sooner.
He doesn't know how long they sit like that, Bella in his lap, him holding her.
She pulls away when the light is no longer shining through the curtains. "Thank you." She's forever grateful for him being there.
"I should go…" he interrupts her before she can finish.
"Or you can stay." He watches her, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
She nods and he smirks, realizing she still doesn't get it. "We can go to your house tomorrow. This time? I'll pack every damn thing for you if it means you'll stay with me forever."
And while the three of them have things to talk about and work out, they do just that.
The End
(Unless a prompt speaks to me again...)