See disclaimer and other info in chapter one. Several have requested for me to continue - glad you all like it. Hope you feel the same about this chapter. R and R!
He stood in the shadows, watching her enter her apartment. He could just kick himself for doing the one thing that he promised himself he would never do again, but she was so vulnerable, sitting there in the doorway of her condo that he had to let her know that someone was on her side.
He's not sure what caused him to do it, to kiss her and confess… well, everything. He knew he had to do something. They all had turned on her and she felt she was alone. He knew what that felt like and never would wish that on anyone, least of all her, this woman that had stolen his heart before he knew what was happening.
He had thought that he found the real thing with Maria, but he had been dead wrong about that, as he stood in the hospital, that day as she lay unconscious. He confessed everything to her, knowing that he meant it from down in the depths of his soul.
He had been holding back for weeks, trying to keep his distance so he didn't give in to the one urge he had been having, but holding her while she cried – it all became too much, so he gave in and kissed her. Holding her in his arms, all he wanted to do is to keep the world at bay for a little while, to make her feel that there was some hope left. He remembered every sensation, every feeling he had in those few seconds. She fit perfectly into his arms. He knew she would, so he wasn't surprised when she did. All rational thought left his head in that moment. All he wanted to do was take her to her bedroom and lock the rest of the world out, but she pulled back and told him no. That one little world crushed him more than she could ever know. He had thought there was a chance for the two of them, that they could make a go of this and have a real marriage with real love in both of their lives, but she didn't want him – that she made perfectly clear.
"I won't force her into anything she doesn't want" he said to an empty room. He flipped on the lamp and pulled his cell phone out of his pocket.
"It's Slater. I need a first class ticket to…"
As Zach made the plans to give her what she wanted, she watched him from her front window, wondering if he was having these same thoughts and feelings.