Kenny & Lucas

"You don't know how lucky you are," Lucas stated, looking at him outside his apartment. "You have an amazing wife and an adorable daughter. She loves you."

Kenny glared at him. "You don't know anything."

"I know one of my oldest friends is pretty devastated over her failing marriage. That she never expected the man she married to treat her like crap. Her abortion? We were 16. She was fighting with her parents all of the time, my mom was just diagnosed with cancer, we were juniors in high school, and there was no way…she sobbed afterwards. We sat in the car all night and cried. We loved our baby and each other enough to…we talked about running away together. Raising a family. We were too young. Her abortion has nothing to do with you and you have no right to be doing this to her."

"What do you want with her now?"

To go back, he thought, to not let her leave all those years ago. No, if she can fix her marriage… "We're friends…and you really hurt my friend."

"You were touching her. Holding her hand. You looked like you were going to rip her clothes off."

"Oh, and I hugged her. Your wife? She's angry, sad, hurt…she needed…if you want to fix you marriage? You need to let this go. I'm not the problem in your marriage."

"You're in love with my wife."

I am, Lucas thought, I wanted to take her home with me and…she's married. Ah, I think she feels the same way. Or she doesn't know what she feels…she's all over the place. "How I feel doesn't matter because she loves you. And she is going to leave you."

"Stay the hell away from her."

Max

"Hey, Kiddo," she said, sitting cross-legged on the bed with Taylor. Divorce. A broken home. Gulping back the tears pricking in her eyes, I thought we…where will I go? We can't work together if…our house. Taylor. "Oh, you are the best thing I've ever done."

I could run, it's not like I don't have the money. Start a new life and…stop it. I can get divorced. Co-parent with Kenny. Move on with my life. I'm okay. My parents at brunch, Sarah with her family…just me and Tay. Jumping a bit at the door, she snuggled Taylor close to her, as she made her way downstairs. I'll do anything for her. Freezing at the peephole, she rested her head against the door for a long moment. I can't…the bruises. Taylor. "Kenny, I want you to leave."

"Max, please."

She squeezed a squirmy Taylor tight. "You bruised me. I don't want to see you right now."

"I want to see our daughter. I want to talk to you."

"She's sleeping," Max lied, willing Taylor not to cry or make a peep. "What else is there for us to say?"

"I love you. I need you. Please, we need to talk. We can't throw us away."

Damn it, she thought, damn it. No. Not alone. My body hurts from him throwing me around. "I'll meet you in a public place."

"With Taylor?"

She pressed her lips to her daughter's head. "Yes."

Lucas

Ah, look at us, he thought, flipping through those old photos. My preppy princess in some lacy dress at the freshman dance with me…I did like the blue and purple hair later on. Her rebelling, finding herself, us growing up together. We were so young. Why did I push her to go? I can't stay away from her now…or ever.

Max & Kenny

Kenny looked at his daughter in his arms before back at a wary Max. She's afraid of me. It's why she brought Sarah. At least it wasn't him. She isn't with Lucas…but she wants to be. And he wants her…it's how he talked about her. It's how Max is with him without saying a word. Even if she's not sleeping with him…she likes him.

"You two made a pretty baby," Sarah said looking at her tense sister. "Seriously, my niece is sweet."

"She's pretty great," Max said evenly. He won't hurt me. He won't ever touch me again. "Oh, I think she…She is a poop monster."

"This angel?" Sarah said. "I'll change her. Order me an omelet?"

Max bit her lip as she watched her sister take her daughter. Public place. I'm safe here. "Sure."

"We did make a good baby."

"We did."

"Come home, Max."

"Not with you. Not ever again."

"I didn't mean to hurt you. I'm sorry."

"Until next time I'm not who you want? When you toss me around, call me a whore, pin me to a bed so I can't move. I'm not going home with you."

"Taylor is."

She looked at him with that. "I talked to a lawyer. They took pictures of the bruises. Taylor needs me…you'll never treat her like you treat me."

"You're not taking my daughter away."

"You need therapy. I don't feel safe with you or having our daughter alone with you."

"Stop making excuses so you can be with him."

"He's my friend. My ex. Nothing more."

"You are full of crap."

"You're jealous of the guy I dated in high school."

"The guy you never mentioned. The person you ran to the minute things got hard with us."

She looked at him with that. "You made how you feel about me perfectly clear. I can't live with these expectations, Kenny. When I'm not who you want…when I'm not who you expect me to be. I'm not this…I have a past. Why is this so hard for you? I was 16. Scared. I wasn't ready. I never told anyone before and…I thought you loved me…but…only if I'm who you want me to be."

"I love you, Max."

"This isn't love. No one should be treated how you've been treating me."

"Max," he pressed, reaching out and grabbing her hand as she stiffened at the contact. "You…you never told me. You did this…it was a big thing and…"

She heard the change in his voice. "It was a big thing. A hard thing."

"Why didn't you tell me? You can tell me anything. We were trying to have a baby, struggling and…you knew you could. You were sick, and…you still hid it from me."

She bit her lip and looked at him for a long moment. "I didn't know how. I never told anyone."

"Why not?"

"We were 16. It was our secret and by the time we got older? Why would we? I grieved for that child. I have wondered about if it was a boy or girl. If Luc and I kept it. I look at Taylor and…I was ready to be a mom. I wasn't at 16. I could have told you, I know that, I just… I didn't want you to know, to have you look at me this way."

"Max."

She gulped back her tears. "It was the hardest thing I ever did before…before this."

"This?"

"Leaving you."

"Stay. We can start again. You, me and Taylor."

She gulped. "Why do you even want me?"

"You're the love of my life, Max."

"You can't even look at me. You hurt me emotionally and physically."

"And you didn't trust me enough, ever, to tell me something that shaped you, was a huge deal to you."

"What if I did tell you? Years ago? When we were just friends?"

He looked at her, so beautiful, so sad, he thought, my wife. She wasn't alone in it. She had him… Lucas who she never mentioned. Lucas who she loved. I see how he looks at her, and how she held his hand. How easily they talked, his arm around her… My Max. "You and Lucas?"

"I loved him. I wanted to marry him."

"Why didn't you?"

"We grew up. Apart."

"That isn't how he looks at you."

Max gulped at that. "You aren't the only man I ever loved."

"You're the only woman I have ever been in love with."

She looked at him with that. "Kenny."

"I mean it. I didn't now what love was until you."

"And we hurt each other so much."

"Come home, Max."

She gulped at that. I don't know what to do.

"Why is he here?"

"What?" she asked, seeing Lucas walk in. "It's a diner."

And he is still looking at her like…a casual wave and that smile on her face. My wife. She likes this guy. And Sarah, holding Taylor, talking to him. Taylor smiling at him…my family. I'm losing them to him. No. "Sarah seems to like him."

"She's my sister. The perfect daughter…she did everything right, while I…we were jealous of each other. Me that she had my parents love and support and her that I didn't seem to care and did what I wanted."

"Of course, you cared."

"Yeah. It hurt…but I had someone who loved me too. Someone I could talk to."

Kenny stared at her. "You still love him."

"No."

"You paused."

"I did not."

"Be honest."

She looked at her husband with that. "I love you. I married you. I had a child with you. I should have told you. If you wanted to marry a saint? I was the wrong choice."

"No. You're the love of my life. Without you and Taylor I'm nothing."

"Damn it, Kenny."

"I love you. Come home," he said, hating Sarah and Lucas with Taylor. No, I can't be jealous… That expression on her face when she looks at him. We need to go home. "Please. We deserve another chance. I want to make it right."

She looked at her hand in his. Ignore Lucas, and this incredible pull I have to him. What do I want? I can't throw away my marriage…I need to try. I made a choice to marry him. To be his wife. I need to see it through. "Let's try again."

Sarah & Lucas

"Adorable baby," Lucas said, looking over at Max. "How is that going?"

"I don't know. She really hasn't said. You saw the bruises where he grabbed her? Why aren't you two together? Seriously, Max loves you. Don't you love her?"

Ah, I do. She makes me smile, laugh, and I want to gather her up in my arms and never let her go again. "She's a married lady with an adorable baby."

"That wasn't the question."

"I've loved your sister for 20 years. We had our chance."

"Does she look happy?"

Tense and stubborn, he thought, she's caving to him. She wants a family, she always did. Ah, Darlin. "If she wants to save her marriage, we have to let her. She has a life back in Wisconsin that we don't know anything about."

"It doesn't change how she feels about you."

Max & Kenny

"How about we spend today together? With Taylor?" Max said finally. "See how it goes."

"I'd like that. What are you doing?" he asked, as she slid out the booth. "Really?"

"What?" she asked. "I was getting the check and our daughter."

"You want to try again and the first thing you do is go to him?"

She stared at him for a long moment with that. "You're unbelievable."

"And you're full of crap."

I can't, she thought, I can't do this. And he's right…Right to Luc. Moth to a flame. She sat back down. "I just wanted to get Taylor, so we could go. You have to trust me, Kenny."

"I trust you. Not him."

She let out a long breath. Why am I drawn to Lucas? There is just this ease, connection, he gets me, I feel it right now. "Okay."

He took her hand and squeezed. "I love you, Max. I love that you're my wife."

She looked at him with that. I can do this. "I love you too. Why don't we get our daughter and go to the park? There is a lot I'd like to show you here before we go home."

"I'd like that."

Max & Sarah

"Stop," she sighed, as she finished packing. "He's my husband. We had a nice day together."

"Do you not see the same bruises I do? You're a police officer. What would you tell another woman?"

"Kenny doesn't abuse me."

"Bruises. You said he called you a whore."

"I know you are pretty pro-Lucas Cooper."

"You're couple name could be Lux. I like it better than Mucas."

Max groaned at that. "Is this middle school?"

"No because the Max I knew and looked up to wouldn't put up with anyone treating her like Kenny treats you."

"You know I had a lot of trouble getting pregnant?" she said quietly. "I had a rough pregnancy, Sarah. I was talking to my doctor, after I was put on bed rest and…he overheard and was really upset."

"About you having a bad pregnancy?"

"No. That I had an abortion at 16."

"What?"

"I was pregnant, and Luc and I went to Canada. We talked about keeping it, running off, getting married…we just."

"You were too young."

"Yeah."

"Max, you could have told me."

"I know. You're my baby sister. It was private and…Kenny reacted really badly. He wouldn't talk to me, touch me, he was sleeping in the guestroom. He's very Catholic and hurt that I didn't…I could have told him, but…I hurt him too."

"What do you want to do?"

She let out a long breath and looked at her sister. "I've known all along."

TBC