Thank you Lauren for betaing this chapter.

Someone like you

Chapter 8

'Lights will guide you home'

"You saved her."

Her eyes traveled over his back, the black leather jacket in place like always. His hair was pointing in all different directions, messy, the way she liked it the most. His head turned softly to the side once he heard her voice, revealing the side of his face. And just by seeing his jaw and the soft skin between his neck and cheek, you could tell he was beautiful, that if he revealed the rest of his face you would forever be burned by him, just like she would forever be burned by his whole being. His soul had left a mark on hers, only to leave a cut when they separated. His body had made itself the owner of hers, possessing and claiming it like no man had done before him. Her heart had found its home with him, only to stay there even after she left him. So she could never love another man again.

"Couldn't let your mom die, could I?"

His eyes didn't focus on her as he spoke; he knew who he was talking to. His body could feel her presence like she could feel his, their souls could touch each other and be complete again, their hearts saw the person they would always love the most but fear because they had been hurt before.

"I don't know how to thank you." She sat down on the bar stool next to him, her eyes pointed at the wooden counter of the bar. "I can never thank you enough."

"Why don't you forgive me for what I said about your son?" He played with the cup in his hand. "That would be a thank you."

"Then I would have to ask you to forgive me for hitting you." She chuckled softly. "That would bring us back to where we left off."

"I deserved it." He sipped his coffee. "You had every right to hit me after what I said."

"I'm studying for the bar." She whispered softly, looking up slowly. "You were right, you can't pass if you don't try."

She swallowed back the lump in her throat when he slowly turned his head to the side, his eyes focusing on hers. Her heart started beating faster as it remembered the moments it had been lost in that ocean of blue, the many nights they had hovered above her and possessed her, made her aware of a world she never dreamed of existing, the days she had been longing to see them again, to hold her captive in his world and hide her from the reality she had been living in.

"Good." He nodded firmly, a shimmer crossing his blue eyes. "You should try it."

"You seem tired." She whispered softly, restraining herself from touching his arm. "You still work too much."

"And you still worry too much." He shook his head at her. "You always did."

"I'm a good girl." She cocked her head to the side, smiling. "I care about people."

"You, a good girl?" His eyes shimmered in amusement. "That's not what I remember."

"You pulled me to the dark side." She smacked his arm. "You always made me do things I'd regret."

"Don't blame me." He laughed, the blue eyes glimmering. "You were always into the kinky stuff."

"I was not."

"Oh no?" He smirked, a devilish grin on his face. "Who was the one that wanted to try anal?"

A gasp left her throat, her eyes going wide. "You cannot say that in a public place!"

"Anal." He sing-songed. "'Lena loves anal."

She jumped off the stool and covered his mouth with her hand as he kept singing the forbidden words. He grabbed her arm and tried to get his hand away from her, only to get his knee kicked. He gasped in pain and started licking her hand to get it away from his mouth. She only pressed it firmer against his lips until he bit down in one of her fingers.

"'Lena loves anal."

"Stop it." She chuckled, holding his face in her hands. "Stop, Damon."

"Anal."

She threw her head back with laughter as he kept repeating the words like a little kid that just discovered a dirty expression. Her arms wrapped around his shoulders while she buried her face against his neck, her body shaking with laughter while she begged him to stop.

He started whispering the words more softly once she stopped begging him and just held his body against hers, remembering how good it felt to have him against her. Her skin tingled when it was reminded of his touch, their pores pressing against each other. She pressed her nose deeper into his skin, breathing him in like she always did, memorizing the scent she had grown so attached to.

She had forgotten how it felt to just hold him in her arms, to let her chest breathe against his and forget all her worries from the past day. It was what she always used to do, holding him in her arms during the night while he slept, stroking his hair back so she could see his face, unveiling every piece of her skin so she could press it against his.

"Feels good, doesn't it?" He wrapped his arms tighter around her waist.

"Too good."

She jumped as the ringing sound cut through the silence in the bar. She slowly untangled her body from his and opened her purse, finding the phone at the bottom.

"It's Bonnie." She whispered while looking at the screen. "She's watching my son, I have to take this."

"Of course."

"Bonnie?"

"Mommy?" The cries from the boy cut through her like a knife. "Mommy?"

"I'm here, sweetie." She wiped away the tear that escaped her eye. "Why are you still up?"

"Why are you still up?"

She chuckled softly as she heard the teasing voice behind her and turned around, watching him approach slowly between the empty tables of the ballroom. The jacket of his suit was draped over his shoulder, the sleeves of his white shirt rolled up. His black hair was messy and damp from the rain outside.

"Better question." He draped his jacket over one of the chairs. "Why aren't you having hot wedding night sex with your husband?"

"He was drunk." She shrugged. "Let's just say his performance suffers from it."

"Ouch." His face pulled into a mock-pained expression. "Painful."

"So are my feet." She bent down and removed her shoes, draping the skirt of the dress back in place. "I'll never wear those again."

"So how was the party?"

"We were halfway through it when I realized I didn't know half of the people that were here." She swung her arms in the air. "But I guess Giuseppe's associates had a great time."

"I'm sorry." He put his hands in his pockets, looking up at her. "I wanted to be back sooner."

"I got that from your text." She smiled at him, rolling her eyes. "Three hours ago."

"I had to go back in..." He threw his arms up. "There were complications."

"Well… you're here now." She laughed at his cute face. "Finally."

He chuckled and watched her sway in the long white dress, the pins had been removed from her hair and it now hung in loose waves draped around her face. Her makeup was a bit smeared, not the perfect picture anymore like she was a few hours ago when she stood at the altar. Her barefeet were tracing the patterns of the wooden floor, her toenails painted red and shiny.

"I promised you a dance."

She smiled shyly, biting her lip nervously. "We don't have any music."

"Then we'll just have to imagine."

He grabbed her arm, twirling her around and back in his arms. She chuckled as their chests collided against each other, her chin resting on his shoulder. He placed a hand on the small of her back and pulled her closer, pulling their lower bodies together. She placed one of her feet between his and swayed with him to the imaginary music.

"Watch out for my toes." She breathed against his neck. "I'm not wearing any shoes."

"Don't worry." His warm breath made goose bumps run down her spine. "There's a doctor in the house."

"I know all about you. Dr. Salvatore." She laughed softly against his jaw. "I googled you."

"You did?" He looked down at her, an amused expression on his face. "What did Google say about me?"

"That you're one of the best." She let her head rest against his cheek. "That there's no other heart surgeon in the country who's as good as you."

"They lied." He wrapped his arms tighter around her. "The best doctors are the ones who've been doing this for years, they have more experience than any education can ever offer."

"You're always so cocky but when it comes to your job, you're the most modest man I've ever met." She looked up at him, locking their eyes. "Why a heart surgeon?"

"Because of my mom." He let his chin rest on her crown. "She has a heart condition but they can't treat it so I'll have to find something myself."

"You love her." She whispered against his chest. "You're a mommy's boy."

"Don't tell anyone." He smirked against her face. "Especially not my mom."

"Do you miss your father, Damon?" She traced patterns on his white shirt.

"I don't know him." He swallowed back the lump in his throat. "So how can I miss him?"

"I don't know." She shook her head against his chest. "I just know that I would miss my dad even if I never knew him."

"He walked out on me, he didn't want me." His jaw tightened, his muscles stiff in her embrace. "I won't miss him if he doesn't miss me."

"He doesn't deserve you." She looked up, cupping his face in her hands. "You're too good for him."

"Nice plea." He kissed her forehead. "You're going to make a great lawyer someday."

"I mean it." She pressed her nose against his, her lips breathing against his. "He doesn't deserve to know you."

"I never met him, but I don't miss him." His blue eyes bored into her brown ones, his warm breath against her parted lips. "But I would miss you."

Her eyes welled up with tears as her fingers tangled in his hair, the same emotions running through her veins. Her eyes looking into his, imagining a life without him, how impossible it seemed to not have him there anymore. Her mind couldn't create an imagine anymore where he was not there beside her, not there to dare her and tease her, not there to push her to be stronger and chase her dreams. It had taken a marriage to realize which man was supposed to be standing beside her in ten years, which man she wanted to be there.

She had to marry another man to realize that ever since she met him, her life wasn't empty anymore. She got up in the morning with the prospect of seeing him a few hours later; her body would tingle in joy whenever he was around, her own skin felt like home again since he had arrived. But from all the changes, there had been one she didn't miss. The children in her dreams did no longer have green eyes and blond hair but were instead replaced with ocean blue eyes and chestnut hair like her own. An image she savored so desperately.

Her lips trembled against his for a second, before she pushed her body forward and collided them together. She could feel the shock in his body, the way his muscles stiffened underneath her palms, his lips frozen underneath her warm touch. Her breathing was shaky as she waited for him to answer, her fingers already clawing his shirt in her fists. Her mouth pressed a soft kiss against his lips, feeling them respond softly, gently. And when she pressed another kiss against his mouth, he met her more demanding, his lips pressing longer against hers. She pressed her chest into his as his lips melted under hers, his kisses getting more demanding with every movement. A growl left his chest when his hand tangled in her hair and grabbed it in a fist, his other hand cupped her face, holding it in place for him to posses her properly.

And for the first time in her life she felt what is was like to be consumed by someone, to drown in them and lose yourself in them. How it felt to push your soul in someone else's body and let it obey to their every demand. Her heart started beating faster into her chest as it met a fire it had never felt before. Her body arched into his, every curve in her body fitting exactly into every curve of his. Her fingers and nails clawed on his clothes to get more of him against her, for the first time in her life understanding the word need. She now understood the people that needed their lover to breathe properly and to get through the day. Because she felt like there wouldn't be another day she could live through without him being there, without being able to breathe him in and lose herself in who he was.

"Elena." He whispered huskily, pulling his lips away from hers, pushing her body away from his. "Go to your husband."

Tears rolled down her cheeks as she pulled away from him, keeping their eyes locked while she stepped backwards. She was married now, someone else's wife, someone else's property and someone else's lover. Her heart had been given away before it had met the feelings it was supposed to know. It had been given to another man because it hadn't known feelings like this before he made her feel it.

"Damon..."

"I think it's better if Caroline preps me for the case from now on." He bit his bottom lip gently, like he was still tasting her.

"This is what happened yesterday, isn't it?" She held her own chest, hugging herself. "That's why I have these images in my mind, it happened before."

"You were drunk, it didn't mean anything." He shook his head. "I didn't want you to worry about a stupid mistake."

"But you let me get married while you knew I cheated on my fiance." She placed her hand on her forehead. "How could you do that?"

"It didn't mean anything." He turned around and walked to the chair, grabbing his jacket. "We should both forget about what happened and move on."

"Damon..."

"Go to your husband, Elena."

Her arms fell limp beside her as he started walking away from her, swinging his jacket back over his shoulder. Her heart drummed in her throat when the door slammed shut and seemed to slam right through her core. Her knees started wobbling and gave out from under her, making her fall on her bare knees, her palms spread on the wooden floor underneath her. Tears ran down her cheeks, sobs left her throat as the reality of her actions hit her. But one reality cut deeper than the other ones; the prospect of living without him, to face a life without him. She was scared in a world without him.

"I'm scared without you." His young voice cried through the phone. "I don't want to stay here."

"It's okay, sweetie." She whispered into the phone. "You've known Auntie Bonnie your whole life."

"But I want to be with you and Granny." He sobbed into the phone. "I'm going to fix her."

"Sweetie, Granny is going to be all right." She exchanged a look with Damon.

"So it's not my fault?" His voice pitched. "I didn't do anything wrong?"

"No, you didn't."

"But then why did she get sick?"

She sighed into the phone, looking for words. Her eyes searched through the room, locking with the blue ones in front of her.

"Why don't I let someone explain it to you?" She gave Damon a look, smirking. "I'm sure he can tell you what went wrong."

"Okay."

"Here." She put the phone on speaker and extended it to him. "Explain to him what happened."

"What's his name?" He took the phone from her, scanning her face.

She swallowed back the lump in her throat. Could she tell him that she had called her son after him? That she couldn't stand the thought of him belonging to anyone else so she named him after him to remind the people that knew whose son he was.

"Liam." She whispered, adverting her gaze from his. "His name is Liam."

He arched his eyebrow at her, a small smile on his lips while he held the phone in front of him. Her heart started beating faster as she for the first time realized how much she actually wanted to hear him talk to their son, how much she wanted to see Liam in his arms and snuggle into his chest. Those two pairs of blue eyes staring up at her with the same smirk on their faces.

"Hi Liam."

"Hello." Her son's timid voice made her chuckle. "Who are you?"

"I'm Damon." He smirked at her.

"Hi Damon." Liam chuckled softly. "Mommy says I can't talk to strangers."

"And she's right." He rolled his eyes. "But I think you can talk to strangers when your mommy gives them her phone."

Her son's warm laugh came out the speakers. "You're smart."

"Yes, I am."

"Good job, Liam." She muttered under her breath. "Stroke his ego, exactly what he needs."

"Do you know what happened to Granny?" Liam whispered quietly, the hurt notable in his voice. "Was it my fault she got sick?"

"No buddy." Damon's eyebrows knitted together. "There was a clot in her coronary artery that closed the vein off so the blood was blocked in front of it and made the artery pop open so the heart didn't get any blood or oxygen anymore."

"Oww..." Liam breathed into the phone. "I'll let Mommy Google it."

"You do that."

"So it's really not my fault?" His voice was more excited, more alive.

"No. It was that clot's fault." Damon chuckled softly. "You had nothing to do with it."

"But the clot is gone?"

"The clot is gone." Damon nodded.

"Where is the clot now?"

"Uh..." He arched his eyebrow at her, frowning. "At the hospital."

"Can I kick it?" Liam growled. "It hurt my granny!"

"That's going to be difficult." He bit his lip, shaking his head in amusement. "The clot isn't really there anymore."

"Did they put him in a corner like when I do something bad?" Liam gasped.

"Yeahh.." Damon chuckled softly. "Something like that."

"Can I talk to Mommy?"

"Sure." He looked at her and back to the phone. "She's right here."

"I'm here Liam."

"Mommy, do I really have to stay?" He whispered into the phone. "I want to stay with you."

"Liam, how did you even call me?"

"Speed-dial." He answered like it was the most normal thing in the world. "You're number two and Auntie Care number three and number one is some crazy lady that said I had to stay calm and they would find out where I live but I just asked for you, they don't need to find out where I live."

Damon spit his coffee out, shaking with laughter.

"Liam." She gasped in shock. "You can't just push random buttons on the phone."

"But I got it right the second time."

Damon waved his phone in front of her and smirked. "I'll take care of that."

"Just don't do it again, okay?" She sighed and nodded her head at Damon. "If you wanted to call me you should have asked Auntie Bonnie."

"Okay." He whispered defeated. "But do I really have to stay here?"

"It's four am and it's snowing, Liam." She rolled her eyes. "You should have been asleep long ago."

"Please, Mommy?"

"You think you can stay awake for another hour?" She pinched the bridge of her nose. "It's going to take a while before I get there."

"I'll stay awake." He yawned. "Bye Mommy."

"Bye sweetie."

Damon's blue eyes were focused on her as she ended the call and dove back in her purse to put her phone away. He smiled softly, his eyes scanning her face. A sigh escaped her when his smiling turned into laughing.

"Stop it." She punched his shoulder. "He's just a little boy."

"Well, I called the emergency room and they canceled the ambulance." He shook his head. "You have to give the kid some credit, he's smart."

"He's like you on caffeine twenty-four hours a day." She sat down on the stool again. "He pulls off a lot of stunts but he's a good kid."

"He seems like a good kid." He motioned the bartender for another coffee.

"Another one?" She arched her eyebrow. "You drink too much coffee."

"I tell all my patients to stop drinking coffee so I have to make sure the economy doesn't suffer from it." He shrugged indifferently.

"Deep down you're good person, Salvatore." She shook her head at him. "Very deep down."

"Come on." He accepted his coffee from the bartender and got up. "You don't want to be stuck with me in a bar all night."

"I would survive." She rolled her eyes. "It's nothing I haven't done before."

He smirked and started walking to the exit. She sighed and got up, walking after him. A shiver went down her spine once she got outside and felt the cold air against her skin, she pulled her jacket tighter around her and walked next to him, falling into pace with him.

"So Liam?" He turned his head around, smirking at her. "I always knew you wouldn't forget about me."

"I liked the name." She shrugged, glaring at him. "I always have."

"I know." He nodded more seriously.

"So..."

"So..." He repeated, biting his lip. "Elena, I have to tell you something."

"What?" She looked up at him, her eyes searching for his.

"I didn't save your mother." He paused in his step, turning his body to her. "I just bought her time."

Her eyes welled up with new tears, the foundation of their relationship made its presence known again, the thing that had formed the cement between them, honesty. He didn't lie to her and she knew he would give her the harsh truth when everyone tried to keep it away from her. He didn't sugarcoat and for some reason that had been one of the things she loved the most about him.

"She needs a new heart." His mouth pressed into a hard line. "And soon. Like yesterday."

"How much time?" She whispered. "Weeks? Months?"

"I don't know." He shrugged, letting out a hard laugh. "It depends on her heart, she can die tomorrow or she can live for another five years."

"But can't you fix it if this happens another time?" She looked up at him with wide eyes. "You were able to fix it now..."

"It's not that simple, Elena." He rubbed her shoulder, squeezing it. "The next time I won't be able to save her unless there's a new heart available."

She nodded slowly, her eyes finding his again. "But will you try? Even if you know you can't save her?"

"You know I will." He pushed one of her brown locks behind her ear, his eyes boring into hers.

She placed her hand above his, pushing his skin against her cheek. Her eyes losing themselves in his ocean blue ones, sharing every thought with just one look, words overrated when it came to baring your soul to the one that held the other half. They never needed words; one touch would explain everything she felt, with one look he knew exactly what was going on in her mind. Her core was like a book to him, he read every paragraph and memorized it, living the storyline with her.

"I'm so proud of you." He stroked her cheek with his thumb. "You're so much stronger now than the first time I met you."

"I had to be." She pressed a kiss in his palm. "You weren't here anymore."

"I curse myself every day for what happened." His thumb rested on her lips. "I miss you so much."

"I miss you too." Her lips parted under his touch. "But you broke my heart, I can't trust you anymore."

"It scares you, it scared you five years ago and it still does." He smiled softly. "You're scared to love that much."

"I'm not scared." She pulled her hand from his, letting it fall limp beside her.

"Then say it." He pulled his hand back, his blue eyes boring into hers.

"Say what?"

"I still love you."

"I don't." She shook her head, crossing her arms. "I stopped loving you the day I left you."

"You can't just walk away from it, Elena." He rolled his eyes. "You can run from it but it catches up to you."

"Then I'll just have to run faster." She started walking away from him, clutching her bag to her.

"It already caught up with you." He came after her, fastening his pace. "I'm here again and we're back to where we were five years ago. We're tiptoeing around each other and waiting for the moment one of us throws themself at the other."

"The only thing I'll be throwing at you is..." She shook her head, thinking. "A cake, a really, really large cake. Right into your face."

"Fine." He grabbed her arm, turning her to him. "Just not one with fruit on it, okay?"

She stared at him, noticing the smirk on his face, the shimmer in his blue eyes, his hand that rested on her arm. She started shaking her head slowly, with every movement her laugh became louder and warmer. Her brown eyes focused on him again as she let her laugh escape in the cold night air.

The day she left him, she didn't just lose her lover or the future she had planned out. She lost her best friend, the one that could make her smile when the world was falling down on her, the one she shared her most intimate thoughts with. She never kept any secrets from him, not in her mind or not in her body. He knew every piece of her and that was exactly why they had been stronger than any other couple she knew. She couldn't stand the thought of keeping a secret from him, it didn't feel safe when he didn't know what was going on in her life so he became her rock, the one she always counted on and sought support in. He became her guide, the one that led her through life and helped her get over the bumpy roads. He became her savior, the one that was able to pull her away from everything she didn't want to be.

"How could we ever work?" She chuckled, shaking her head. "We always fight."

"That's what we do." He squeezed her arm, rolling his eyes. "We fight, we make up and have sex."

"Not tonight." She shook her head, searching in her purse. "I have to pick up my son."

"That's fine." He shrugged, smirking. "We can reschedule."

"I'm married, Damon." She sighed, finding her keys. "Whatever happened five years ago, will not happen again."

"One day you're going to wake up.." His blue eyes bored into hers. "..and you're going to realize that you're living a life you never wanted to live."

"I have to go Damon." She looked up, swallowing back the lump in her throat. "You should get some sleep, you look tired."

"I have another operation in an hour." He chuckled softly. "I thought this was going to be an easy day."

"I'm not sorry that Caroline called you." She shook her head at him. "Otherwise I wouldn't have my mom anymore."

"She was right to call me." His eyes scanned her face. "You should have called me the second you found her."

"My dad said he trusted the doctor." She shrugged, defeated. "But then we heard they were going to give up on her."

"If she had been any other patient, I would have given up on her too." His eyes filled with remorse. "I never thought I would be able to pull her through it."

"But at least you tried." She extended her hand to touch his cheek. "You didn't give up on her and you gave us more time with her."

"She's not going to be the same, Elena." He shook his head. "Her heart is failing, she'll be tired all the time, probably in pain, her body won't be able to fight diseases or infections."

"But she'll live." A smile came across her face. "And maybe we'll get lucky and there will be a heart for her."

"I really hope so."

"I have to pick Liam up." She pulled her hand back and adjusted her coat. "He's impatient enough as it is."

"You shouldn't be driving in this weather." He arched his eyebrow. "The roads are probably blocked."

"You know what they say, a mother does anything for her child."

"It suits you. Being a mom." He smiled softly. "I always knew you would be a great mom someday."

"I always knew you would be a great dad." She locked their eyes. "You should start your own family, Damon."

"When you're ready to leave your husband, I will."

Her body froze, her eyes boring into his until he smiled softly and with a nod he turned around, walking away from her. Her heart drummed louder and louder in her ears as she watched him walk away in the dark night, his form lightened by the street lights.

"Damon."

He turned around, his eyes locking with hers, her eyes looking at him. He was thirty-five, going to thirty-six and still there would be models half his age who would kill to have his looks. Those blue eyes that could bore into your soul and get to the deepest of your core just with one glance at you. The messy black hair that teenage boys tried to accomplish with gel, came natural to him, like he was born with it and owned the hairstyle. His body muscled and his hard stomach held abs that made women swoon.

She had been too young and too naive when she met him, to realize that she would never meet someone more beautiful. Her eyes hadn't known how to see beauty, how to appreciate and worship it. It was after she left him she started realizing how perfect he really was, how any man would be less than him, even her own husband. The husband she had loved in high school and thought to love forever.

But she had never really known love until five years ago, when he forced it on her and made her addicted to it. She started craving it more and more, and every time she left him even for a few hours, she would notice the withdrawals, the way her heart screamed for him, the way her body longed for his touch, how her soul begged to re-collide with his.

He burned her with his love and she carried the scars in her heart, only to realize five years later that those scars could only be healed by him. She had lost a part of herself the day she left him, only to find it again when he showed up on her doorstep. Her heart had been alone, drowning in a pool of loneliness until he gave her his back and saved it from sinking.

"He still can't do it."

And they both knew what she meant, the one thing that really separated him from all other men. He could make her skin tingle with just one breath, make her heart beat faster with just one touch, possess her like no one else ever would. He knew she loved it, she made him do it countless times because she loved being owned by him, to feel the power he had over her and revel in it, her body knew the feelings because it had become home.

He held his hand out to her, standing in the snow that fell next to his feet, his body in the street light. She swallowed back the lump in her throat and walked slowly to the middle of the street, feeling the snow squeak beneath her feet.

"Because he isn't the one for you."

He pulled her in his embrace, pressing her tightly against him, his hands rested on her back while his cheek pressed against hers, his warm breath on her skin. He kissed her neck gently, nibbling on the soft skin; a tear escaped her eye as he stroked her hair back and pressed his lips against her pulse point, her cold body immediately warming up under his touch. She buried her face against his neck, breathing against his cold skin, her arms wrapped around him, pressing herself firmer against his chest.

"I know he isn't."

Tears rolled down her cheeks as he made her feel what only he could make her feel, torture her with those feelings and own her with them. A sob escaped her while he only kissed more of her skin, his lips placing open mouth kisses on every pore. She clawed him tighter against her, feeling the familiar warmth again, the feeling of coming home after being away for such a long time.

"I have to go." He whispered huskily in her ear.

"I know." She nodded her head, squeezing him more tightly. "I have to go too."

"Be careful on the road." He kissed her forehead. "I wouldn't want anything to happen to you."

"My father is still at the hospital." She looked up at him, locking their eyes. "You should talk to him, I think he could use his buddy right now."

"I will." He nodded, untangling their bodies. "I guess my brother is still there with him."

"I don't know if Stefan is still there." She shook her head. "Maybe he already went home."

"Does he even know I'm here?" He arched his eyebrow at her. "Did you tell him?"

"I told him about the trial and why I lost my job." She shrugged. "But he would only worry if he knows you're here."

"Does he have a reason to worry?"

"We both know he has." She took a step backwards, leaving the comfort of his body. "We were never just an affair."

"So you do remember."

"How could I ever forget?"

She turned around, holding the keys of her car in her hand. Tears welled up in her eyes again as she drove away from him, leaving him standing in the cold for the second time in her life.

"Can we visit Granny tomorrow?"

"I don't know if they'll let us with her, Liam." She smiled as he struggled with the seat belt. "But we'll call the hospital tomorrow morning, okay?"

"Okay." His blue eyes went back to the road in front of them. "Mommy, who's Damon?"

"He's the heart surgeon I told you about." She tapped her fingers on the steering wheel. "Do you remember?"

"Yes." His eyes went wide. "Is he really a heart surgeon?"

"He's the real deal." She chuckled.

"Can I meet him, Mommy?" His blue eyes focused on her. "He sounded so smart."

"We'll see about that." She started tapping more impatiently. "Aren't you tired?"

"A little bit." He yawned, his blue eyes fluttering. "I just couldn't sleep until they fixed Granny."

"You can sleep now, she's going to be fine." She stroked his hair as his head leaned against the car seat and his eyes fell shut. "Daddy saved her."

"Good." He whispered softly, his voice sleepy, too tired to register the words she had just spoken.

She put the car in gear and drove forward as the light turned green. Liam's blue eyes flew open as soon as they both heard the heavy horn, the impact of the truck shaking their bodies, the cries of her son filling the spinning car.

"Mommy!"

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