I move my hand towards the strawberries and smirk as he pulls his back. Not touching each other is nearly as maddening as touch is intoxicating and we send Gregory fingers the edge of his napkin and watches as I catch the liquid chocolate off the tip of the ripe fruit with my tongue.

"What did you do today?" He runs one finger lazily across the table a breath away from my left hand.

"Went shopping." I reply softly as I slide my hand teasingly over closer to his. "I wanted something new for tonight."

He nods and refills his glass of Bordeaux. Gregory's always had such a fondness for it. "I knew I didn't recognize that blouse." He teases softly as he fingers the stem of his glass. "You look amazing in that shade of yellow."

I'm so caught up in his devastating smile that I miss the dangerous drop of chocolate heading for my new blouse. Gregory's quick hand closes down on my right breast, stopping the chocolate with the back of his hand. It remains there, sending a tingling sensation through my chest. I stare down at his hand as it doesn't move. The chocolate remains liquid on his skin and his fingers instinctually sink into the softness of my breast.

"Thank you." I whisper as I try not to think about the weight of his hand or the glimmer in his eyes.

Gregory lifts his hand, offering the stray chocolate to me as he winks playfully. "Would be a shame to have let you ruin your new blouse."

"I only bought it to have dinner with you, it served it's purpose." I lick chocolate from the back of his hand and he brings it back to his lips to kiss the place I touched.

"Are you saying you're done with dinner?" He barely waits for me to nod before he's whisking me away to the sofa. That sofa was one of few things we kept when he moved me to this awful house.

"Yes-" He pulls me down next to him, threatening my knee with his hand as I bit my lip. "I guess I am."

Gregory reaches for my face, catching his fingers on the back of my neck to bring me close. His lips part slightly, wet and wanting.

"Wait." I turn away just before he can kiss me and he sighs away, leaning back into the sofa, disappointment etched on his face.

"What?" Gregory does his best to quell his annoyance but his desire is still hot in his eyes. "What's wrong?"

I remove his hand from my neck and drop it to my lap. His fingers are naked tonight, Annie's wedding ring is somewhere far away. Just like her. I lick my lips nervously and remind myself I'm not going to get a better chance to tell him. "I have to-" I pause, looking away from those burning brown eyes. "You need to-"

Dammit Olivia. I walk my eyes up his chest and feel his strength as Gregory squeezes my hand. He knows already. It's just a formality, but I want to say it. I want it in the open between us. "I love you."

Both hands grab my chin, tilting it up as he closes warm lips over my own trembling ones. I collapse into his chest and we cuddle back into the sofa cushions. The hurry's gone from our movements, we have all night together. Gregory rests his head over mine, fingers toying with the collar of my blouse as I feel him take a fortifying breath. "Liv-"

"You don't have to say anything-" I try to spare him, in case he isn't ready, in case I've gone too quickly.

"I love you." He starts to relax as soon as the admission is out of his mouth. "And I did have to, Olivia, I don't think I've ever told you enough that I do- I love you."

Neither of us heard the door. Neither of us heard the footsteps that advanced on us. We jolt off the sofa as soon as we hear the crash of ceramic and stone.

Annie's in a blaze of fury in front of the open doorway. She lifts the other decorative vase and smashes it on the floor at our feet. "Bitch!" Her shopping bag drops at her feet and she throws an expensive high-heeled shoe at my head. "Get out of my house!"

The other shoe sings past Gregory's shoulder and she chooses a more dangerous weapon. The heavy silver candle holder would have hurt terribly if Gregory hadn't pulled me out of the way. He puts me behind him as he runs to keep her from throwing the other candle holder. Crushing her arm to her side, Gregory squeezes her wrist until she lets it go. Annie can't stand to have him touching her and she pulls back her hand to punch him across the face.

She connects with a crack of knuckles against bone. Gregory winces slightly, but Annie's the one who recoils in pain. Clutching her hand to her chest, Annie's obviously in pain as she starts to cry furiously. "How can you love her?"

Gregory's expression turns to stone and she beats his chest with her good hand. "She killed your baby!" There's danger in his face. He's never looked at me like that and I think I'd fear for my life if he did. "That whore got drunk and killed your baby! How can you possibly-"

"Dammit Annie! I would never hurt Trey." Everything stops, even Annie's tears. She starts to cover, babbling something ridiculous, but Gregory knows better. He knows that instinct never lies.

"Trey is our son-" Gregory's always been too smart for his own good.

I wasn't going to tell him. Our fledgling relationship isn't ready for that kind of revelation, but it's out now. The last secret. Suddenly my head's spinning and I sink into the sofa. I wasn't going to tell him.

The door to the house slams. "Annie, you'll have to get a hotel room." Gregory yells at her through the door. "I'm not dealing with you now. You're just going to wait."

She screams, railing against the door, shouting profanities at both of us. Something slams into the door and then it's quiet. Miserably quiet because he's coming after me. I can't look up from my hands. Seeing his face will make it all real and reality is the farthest thing from this moment.

Annie's signed her death warrant. Caitlin's going to lose her baby all over again and Gregory's not going to let sentiment hold him back. The world's coming to an end and no one warned me.

When I finally look up from my hands, I'm back in that terrible cabin again. Feeling the touch of his hand on my shoulder as if he's a ghost, I can't look at him. All I see is the dingy ceiling above that bed. "I wanted you." I shake my head slowly, fighting back tears as the memory of the pain floods back. My stomach clenches down in a mockery of labor. His hand finds its' way into mine and I cling to it.

"I begged her for you." My breath catches in my throat, and I can smell the dust in the cabin. The strange old smell of the sheets on the bed fills my nose. "I needed you."

Gregory's arms close tight around me, but even the rich smell of his cologne can't drown out the memories. "I passed out and the baby-"

"Shhh..." The ghost of Gregory's presence whispers in my ear as another contraction rips across my stomach.

Annie's eyes are so cold as she pulls her hand away from my grip. She's impatient, her forehead furrows as she watches me. What does she want from me?

"The baby started coming." The phantom pain resurfaces again, burning through my stomach. I crush our hands down against it, trying to remind myself that it's not happening. Memories can't hurt me but this- This isn't a memory now. "Annie wouldn't let me go."

Something's wrong. The contractions aren't changing, the baby should be close by now. "It hurt. It hurt so much, and I couldn't get away from her."

I can feel hot rush of amniotic fluid down my thighs and the sudden release of pressure. "She had to break my water."

Gregory's free hand runs over my head and I can almost feel him in the cabin with me. Holding me as Annie delivers our son. I'm covered in a thin sheen of sweat, just like I was then. I can even feel the slow, hot trickle of blood down my leg. "She let me hold him. Gregory, he was so beautiful." Our baby's angelic face stares up at me from the blanket Annie wrapped him in. In that moment, everything was perfect.

"He was so beautiful-" She should have killed me. It would have hurt less than watching her take our baby away. I can hear the door shut behind her, and I can't stop sobbing. "And she took him away."

Gregory holds me even tighter, chasing away the ghosts of the cabin. The sound of his voice gradually becomes clearer over my grief. "I'll get him back." Gregory promises in a whisper. Holding on to him is the only way I have to hold on to the present. Everything blurs together. Annie's face telling me to stop whining and Gregory's hands on my shoulders seem to happen in the same moment. I'm empty, numb as I was when Annie disappeared through that doorway.

Gregory's talking to me. It's soft and comforting but I can't find words in it. It's enough to know it's his voice. It's enough that he's here. "You came." I whisper softly as I realize I'm not sure where I am anymore. Maybe it's all been a dream and I'm still in the cabin.

He picks me up, carrying me out to his waiting car- or is it upstairs? My eyes and my mind disagree on where I am, so I stop trying to know. He's here. His hands are carefully removing my earrings and setting them aside. My shirt comes off of my shoulders as he undresses me. I'm sitting somewhere else, but I don't bother to open my eyes. I don't need to know. Gregory's going to make everything all right. He slides something over my head, tucks me into his bed and crawls in next to me. The one thing I'll remember him saying echoes in my head through the din of memory. "I love you."