AN: Have another 'Boring' update (as decribed by a guest reviewer). Also side note; I know there is a lot of angsty chapters but I refuse to write such a large/complex storyline such as 'a divorce' without spilling every single detail. Do you think divorces are without heartbreak in real life? Nope.

Anyway; Enjoy...

Chapter Twenty Eight - Placing the Blame

Elizabeth sat at her dressing table fiddling with her earrings as she prepared the final touches of her attire for the wedding. A part of her felt unsettled and in truth she was still praying for any reason to not attend, desperately waiting for her kids to ask her to join her leftovers, or for a small national crisis, at this point she was willing anyone to sneeze so she could assume they were sick and remain at home, but nothing came.

She watched in the mirror as Henry buttoned his shirt in the reflection, her mind drifted as her eyes cast over his movements, her breathing slowed as she closed her eyes, the pain of the distance between them creeping into her core. Elizabeth hoped that tonight would have been an opportunity for them to embrace the love they are going to be surrounded by, but something told her it wasn't going to happen, in fact as she watched Henry get dressed It dawned on her that they had barely exchanged more than five words to one another since Mike B managed to convince him to attend to the wedding seven days ago.

'Could you help me?' Came the dry request from Henry. She shook herself from her daze and smiled through her mirror at him. She turned around and walked over to his side, she giggled softly as she took the tie from Henry.

'You've always struggled with these' she offered softly, allowing her fingers to linger on his shirt as she helped him.

'Well I need to make sure it is perfect, wouldn't want the headlines to be full of your sloppy husband's tie now would you. It can't be good for the optics' he moaned. His harsh tone bit through at Elizabeth and she sighed in response.

'You know I think that's the most you've spoken to me in days and that's the sentence you want to go with?' She raised an eyebrow. Her firm tone cut through all the tension, a clear signal that she was no longer in the mood to tolerate the low blows. A silence fell between them, Henry knew in that instant he should apologise for what he said, however he had recently resigned to the fact he always apologizes when she called his behaviour out, rendering her apologies meaningless; therefore he opted for silence and vowed to apologise to her sincerely later.

Elizabeth stepped back from his close space and smiled sadly at the situation between them. The silence and tension felt louder than the love they once shared.

'That dress looks lovely on you' he broke the silence and smiled lovingly at her. Elizabeth looked up and smiled back, the softness within his eyes signalling that he was being honest with her. Her body was covered in a strapless mid-length prom style dress. The deep blues of the dress highlighted her tanned skin tone, and the soft blond waves fell gently down her shoulders.

'Thank you, although my heels that match are the ones which hurt my feet, so I don't think I'm going to look that lovely all night' she joked and Henry chuckled in response.

'Why can't you just wear the black ones that you like?' He shrugged as he picked up his suit jacket and slipped his arms in. Elizabeth sat on the bed and slipped her feet into her nude heels, grimacing at the thought of the pain which she was about to endure.

'I think Daisy will have a field day, she spent nearly all week picking this outfit out.' She paused and stood, with a simple brush down of the dress she turned to face Henry, 'You do look good in a tux' she bit her lip as a warmth attempted to wade into her core. Henry struggled to receive the compliment from her, he had of late convinced himself that Elizabeth was no longer interested in him and as a result had shut himself off from her at present. He nodded firmly and cleared his throat

'Shall we?' He nodded towards the door and watched as she silently walked out and down to the motorcade. He watched her from behind and it was true, she did look beautiful in that dress, and seeing her in blue often set his core alight, so why was it different? Had he stopped being attracted to her? Henry shook the thoughts away and followed her downstairs, mentally preparing himself to play the role of a happy couple, just so the press wouldn't find out how deeply unhappy they both were.

— MS —-

A few hours later and the wedding after party was in full swing. Henry was sitting at the bar ordering himself and Elizabeth another drink when Blake came and sat next to him.

'Dr McCord Evening, Have you seen the Secretary?' He asked, smiling instinctively looking over the crowd trying to locate his boss. His expression changed when he looked down at Henry, who's eyes were struggling to focus and his hand gripped around another tumbler or whiskey.

'Woah, how many of them have you had?' Blake laughed but Henry groaned in response

'Not enough' he slurred and took a large swig from the drink. 'I don't know where she is. She went to talk to some foreign advisor and told me to stay here. Hey Blake did you know I am too drunk to mingle with her colleagues' he scoffed, echoing Elizabeth's earlier words.

'I hate to say it but you do look like you've had a few. Perhaps we should order you a coffee' he grimaced and turned to the bartender

'No!' He snapped 'No thank you' Henry retracted his harsh tone and looked apologetically at Blake.

'Blake… Can I ask you something?' His words tumbled from his lips as his body swayed lightly.

'Oh boy,' Blake muttered and rolled his eyes.

'How is Elizabeth?' He hiccuped. Blake pulled back and blew a little attempting to ride the smell of Henry's intoxicated breath.

'She is ok…?' He looked puzzled at her husband

'Is she really? Does she seem unhappy to you? Angry at all? Unsettled?' His words sloshed around like the liquor inside his stomach. Blake watched on utterly confused by Henry's questions and shook his head

'I am sorry Dr McCord but I don't know what you're asking me? I haven't noticed anything unsettling about the Secretary's mood, other than a few extra stressful days when her memory wasn't the best, but of recent nothing unusual?' He explained and questioned if that was the response Henry was looking for.

Henry's heart sank, she clearly wasn't taking this breakdown as hard as he was considering her close staff hadn't noticed any change in her. Henry knocked back the rest of his whiskey and left the bar. He patted Blake on the back and slowly attempted to walk towards the restrooms. Blake looked on nervously, in truth he hadn't noticed a change in Elizabeth, but had gathered things at home were not great given Henry no longer visited for lunch breaks as frequently as he did, and that she often opted to look for work in the evenings rather than go home. He turned back to the bar and picked up his drink, about to head off when Russel and Conrad joined him, swiftly followed by the woman in question.

Henry came out from the restroom moments later and staggered back towards the bar in pursuit of another drink. He stopped in his tracks as he watched as Elizabeth laughed happily along to Conrads joke. Her hand covered her mouth as her laughter spilled uncontrollably, Russell and Blake both laughing along and commending Conrad on how funny he was, Elizabeth holding onto Conrad's shoulder for support as she pushed herself back with her laughter. Henry watched as Conrad's arm reached around Elizabeth's back, softly supporting her as he thought she was going to fall, and his hand removed once she was steady again. Henry's core flooded with anger. A surge of rage flooded his entire system as he looked on at the scene before him. He felt his fists ball as he grinned his teeth, unable to contain his emotions any longer he marched over to them.

'Oh Henry you're back' Blake smiled but Henry ignored him, he pushed straight in-between Blake and Elizabeth, shoving her slightly as his eyes fixed on Conrad, his chest rising and falling heavily as his veins coursed with inferior.

'Everything ok there Henry?' Conrad asked a little concerned

'You tell me you son of a bitch' He spat.

'Henry!' Elizabeth whipped her head around and glared down at her husband, but he continued to ignore her.

'I think you and I need to have words, don't you Mr President' He continued to speak through gritted teeth as the venom poured from him, his green eyes monster released into the open.

'Henry don't you dare' Elizabeth warned once again, she placed her hand on his arm attempting to offer a form of comfort, and apologetically looked over to Conrad and then to Blake for help.

'Oh that's it, support him once again' Henry shrugged her off and pushed his way past her once again, this time getting closer to Conrad, until Russell stepped in-between them.

'Henry, why don't you back down before the President's security gets involved, that's the last thing we want' Russell spoke quietly and glanced to the side of Henry checking on Elizabeth who was visibly upset at the scene before her.

'Oh yes that's right, I can't play up it doesn't look good for the optics' he mimicked and turned to face Elizabeth

'Always about the optics see' he teased spitefully.

'Blake call the motorcade' she ordered as she looked disgusted at her husband's behaviour.

'Going so soon?' He laughed and she shook his head.

'No we're going. You're drunk and I do not want to be here anymore.' She bit down on the inside of her cheek in an attempt to control her own anger with him. She watched as Matt gave the signal in the distance that the car was ready.

'It's time to go' She hissed as she moved away from him. Lingering by Russell as she knew her husband, she knew he had to have the final say. Henry staggered past them and turned to Conrad once again.

'This is all your fault you know, you and your stupid Secretary of State Job. You ruined everything.' He spoke resentfully. Elizabeth Grabbed Henry's arm and pulled him closer to her, pulling him towards her DS agents who offered them a bit of protection from prying eyes and walked towards the motorcade.

Once outside she let go of him and walked past all the press with her head down, leaving Henry to drunkenly stumble out of the venue on his own. She was mortified by his behaviour. She sat as close to the other door as possible, attempting to put as much physical distance between them as possible. Henry practically fell into the car and chuckled to himself as he tried to sit on the seat, he noted Elizabeth's silence and rolled his eyes.

'You know the silent treatment won't work, you have to speak up' he stifled a laugh at her silence.

'Oh trust me, as soon as we get home it won't be silent between us anymore.' She threatened as she folded her arms and locked horns with him. Her insides tormented with anger and rage, all of which she was about to let spill over.

LilacMarmaid Prompt used - Madam Secretary Prompt: "You're drunk and I don't want to be here.