Chapter 2 - Love Hurts

She wasn't sure just how long she had been sitting there - Long, was her guess as the sun was about to disappear behind the bouncy hills in the distant. She took in a breath of air and dried away the last of the tears that had fallen. She couldn't cry anymore, she had no tears to give off - She felt empty inside. Like she just lost a huge part of herself. Well, in a way she did. She sighed and looked to the ground. Her silver sparkling stilettos, that Tess had insisted she'd buy for the wedding was all mudded, just like the end of her dress was.
She took the fabric in her hand and ran a couple of fingers over it. She really wanted this. She really wanted the life that had been ahead of her. She tried so hard to find a reason for it all. To justify what Peter had done but she couldn't. No matter how she looked at it, it didn't make any sense to her. All she knew was, that everything she had ever wanted was slipping away from her and that seeing Peter, ever again, was the last thing she wanted.
She startled as a branch snapped behind her. She turned around to see Alex making his way through the bushes. He was still in his black and white suit, only difference was, that the white shirt had a bunch of red stained marks from his bleeding nose.
"You could have found an easier place to hide, you know?" He said. He tried to joke, as he always did buy Claire ignored him and turned her focus to the hills again. A part of her was angry at Alex for ruining her big day. She knew it wasn't fair to be angry at him, but she was - it somehow felt like he robbed her for everything she had.
"... or here is fine" he continued, even though Claire could care less about what he said. He placed himself on the stump next to her and looked at her. She didn't even flinch. She kept looking ahead, taking no notice of him.
They sat in silence for a moment. Both looking at the sun that was nearly gone. Normally the orange color would have been an amazing scenery, but none of them saw the beauty in it right now. "Claire I'm …" He suddenly spoke but he didn't get to finish. He had barely opened his mouth before Claire turned to him and pushed him off the stump. She wasn't sure why she did it but his presence frustrated her so much and along with everything else she was feeling, he couldn't do that. Not now.
"What the hell Claire?!" Alex stated and looked confused at her. He got on his feet again and dusted off his pants. "What's that for? What did I do?"
Claire ignored his question and got up from the stump herself. She started to walk back the way he came from, she couldn't stay. She was one big mess, every emotion was spinning around inside of her and she didn't know what was up and down - She needed to be alone. But Alex grabbed her arm and forced her to turn and face him. "I've been driving around the past 2 hours to find you. Everyone is worried! The least you can do is talk to me" he said with a firm voice and gave her a sympathetic look. He knew she was suffering, but hiding and running away didn't help anything.
"I don't want to talk! I want to be left alone!" Claire yelled and pulled her arm out of his grip. He sighed and took a step towards her. "We have to talk at some point" Alex stated and looked at her with begging eyes.
"I have nothing to say to you …" Claire said ice cold and pierced her eyes into his. She didn't know where all of this was coming from, she had no control of what got out of her mouth. Alex shook his head and sighed - Should he have listened to Nick and not tell her anything? "You took away everything from me - I was happy!" Claire continued and by now tears was running down her face. "Everything, Alex" she spoke again and started to hit him out of frustration. "Dammit Claire!" he said and grabbed her hands, so she couldn't hit him again. "Would you rather I hadn't said anything? Would you rather have married him and found out after the wedding? I did what I would have wanted you to do for me!"
By now Claire's crying had stopped, surprised by Alex's strong will and harsh words. No, she wouldn't have wanted to hear after the wedding and she would have done the same for him but the thing was - That right now, she'd rather not have known at all. Of course that option wasn't a lasting option, she just had a really hard time understanding how any of this could happen to her.
She shook her head and looked at the ground underneath her feet. The sun was almost gone now and it was only a matter of time before the night came. She looked back up at Alex, a single tear falling to her cheek and eyes telling him she was sorry for reacting this way. He gently shook his head and pulled her head to his chest and hugged her tight. With gentle touches he stroke her up and down her back, her cold skin under his warm hand indicated that the temperatures was starting to drop to a point where the cold would set in. Australia was a weird country to live in at times. It could be warm during day and be freezing cold during the night - but they was heading towards winter after all, so the temperature drop was natural.
"Here" he suddenly said and took of his jacket, covering her bare shoulders with it. Claire snivelled and dried her eyes, probably for the hundred time that day. "No, you'll need it yourself" she said and was about to take it off, but Alex stopped her and gave her a reassuring smile. "That depends how long you plan on setting up camp out here" he joked, forcing a tiny smile out of Claire but it disappeared just as soon as it showed. "I'm fine, don't worry, okay?" he said and placed his hand on her shoulder. She nodded and the same tiny smile appeared. He guided her back to the stump with a hand on the small of her back, and sat down next to her - slowly feeling the wind break through the thin layer on his shirt.
"So, do you hate me?" he asked and pushed to her knee with his. She looked at him and somehow he had managed to draw out an even bigger smile this time. No, she didn't hate him - She couldn't hate him.
"No" she said and shook her head "I don't hate you"
"Then talk to me, will ya?" He pleaded and watched how her smile disappeared and eyes got watery again. "I don't know what to say. Everything's a mess. I .. I don't understand anything, Alex" She said and felt a stream of tears rush down her cheeks. This was why she wanted to be alone, she couldn't even understand things herself, how could she possibly explain it to others?
Alex gave her a comforting smile and without knowing why, he dried away her tears with her thumb. It surprised him just as much as it surprised Claire. They never found themselves in moment like these but his touch made her feel safe, made her feel protected - It made her feel like she could pour her heart out to him and he'd understand.
"I feel so empty inside" she cried and buried her head in her hands. Everything was hurting and she couldn't make it stop. It ached his heart seeing her like this. They had known each other for many years and he had never seen her this heartbroken before - It was almost like he could feel how her heart was slowly tearing itself apart. "Come here" he said and pulled her in making her cry as loud and ugly into his shirt as she needed.
"We'll get through this. We'll figure something out, don't you worry" he tried to comfort her as he stroke her hair.