Chapter 3 - How Could He Do This?

"I'm sorry" Claire said and looked at his shirt as she pulled away from his arms. He had held until her crying stopped and when it started again - She didn't know how long that was, but long enough for her to feel like she had used up all her tears, at least for know.
He looked down his shirt covered in black, wet spots from her crying and smiled at her. "Don't worry. An idiot bled on the shirt anyway" his comment made her laugh. "I'm sorry about that too" she said and suddenly remembered the fight between him and Peter. They had been out there for an hour, maybe more and she hadn't even thought about asking how he was feeling.
"Your nose, does it hurt a lot?" she asked and studied his face, seeing how bruises already had found their way to his skin. "Nah" Alex said and shook his head. "I've gotten worse hit in my life so far and probably will again"
"That's not comforting at all" Claire said and couldn't help but snort and laugh a little. "I suppose not" he answered and joined in on the laughing.
"Are you ready to come back with me?" he asked as their laughing started to wear down. She frowned and felt a lump in her throat. Going back meant she had to face reality, face Peter and she wasn't sure she could do that just yet. She sighed and looked out in the night sky. "I don't know if I can"
"Claire …" Alex said and took her hands in his. "Peter won't be there waiting, if that is what you worry about"
She looked at him with tears in her eyes. So much for not having anymore tears to cry. "Alex, I left him on our wedding day and all the guests .."
"You are not the first bride to change her mind, and no ones there" he said and gave her a comforting smile but all she did was look away. She couldn't face any of them. "Hey" Alex said gently and forced her to look at him. "You are not alone, Claire. We all have your back"
His words made a single tear fall from her eye. How did he do it? How did he make the biggest of problem sound like nothing. "Okay?" he asked, waiting for some kind of response from her. She nodded. Okay, she was going back to face her problems and sort out this whole mess.
They walked down the narrow path back to the cars. Alex making sure to clear the way in front of her until they reached them.
"Here" Claire said and took off his jacket. He took it, surprised when she turned around and walked towards her own ute. "Wait, you driving back yourself?" he asked.
"I can't just leave the ute here" she said and looked back at him, as it was the most obvious thing in the world. "But, I thought I'd take you back - I mean, can you drive and all?" he asked, carefully not to step on her toes.
"I'm capable of driving, Alex. I have a broken heart, not a broken leg" she answered a bit too defensive and regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth. She sighed and looked down herself. She was being too hard on Alex, he had afterall spend an hour in the freezing cold with her. "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that"
"It's alright. Just .. Stay in front of me, okay?" he asked, wanting to have her in sight at all times. She smiled at him and nodded. He was sweet when he was being protective.

The moment she drove down the driveway, everything started to feel much more real and she instantly regretted coming back with Alex. She didn't feel ready to face it all yet.
She parked the car the same place and stopped the engine. She took in a heavy breath, trying to gather every strength she had in her and get out of the ute - but every cell in her fighted her in it.
It wasn't until Alex came to the side and opened the door, that she came back from her miserable thoughts about the whole day. He looked at her with the same comforting eyes as he had back at the stump - but it wasn't enough to make her feel safe anymore.
"Come on" he said kindful and gave her a gentle smile. She got of the ute, not quite sure how she managed to fight the urge not to but she did. She looked towards the kitchen and saw Tess waiting for her at the door - Right now, she was grateful to see Tess and all she wanted right now, was to hug her sister and let her tell her everything was going to be alright. You could say a lot about Tess, but she could make things a little better in her own way - Something Claire hadn't thought would be possible, when she first came around but that quickly changed and she couldn't imagine not having her sister around.
As soon as they got to the door, Tess embraced her in a loving hug, which led Claire to tears again. "Thank you" she heard Tess say. She could almost see the smile her and Alex exchanged between them. "Anytime" he said and stroke Claire on her back, before making his way back to his car.
"Let's get you out of this" Tess said and pulled herself away from Claire with a comforting smile. She looked down herself and got reminded that she still had the dress on, and instantly her body got filled with all these mixed emotion. "What have I done?" she asked almost desperately, and started to cry even more. Tess wasn't sure what to do or say, so she smiled at her yet again and took her in her arms - Hating every inch of Peter for doing this to her sister.
"Are you comfortable?" Tess asked and crawled into bed with Claire. She nodded and adjusted one of Tess's many pillows she kept in her bed - Who needed that many pillows to sleep anyway?
"So today really happened huh?" Tess said and turned to face Claire. She looked at her with the saddest eyes Tess had ever seen and with a sigh she opened her mouth, but nothing came out. "I ..." she was fumbling with the words. "I don't know what to do to feel okay again" she said and started to cry. "Claire …" Tess said with a comforting voice and pulled her in. "I really did love him" Claire cried in her sister arms. She loved Peter more than anything, she thought he was the one. "How could he do this to me? I don't understand it" She asked through the tears of pain and looked at Tess - But she didn't answer, cause she didn't know. She had a really hard time understanding how someone could put someone through a lie like this. And why would he lie about it, if him and his wife was separated when him and Claire met? She felt a burning anger starting to consume her, the more she thought about what Peter had done and even though Claire was devastated, she was thankful that she didn't marry him - She deserved much better.
She squeezed Claire tighter and stroke her gently on her arm, they didn't say anything. They just laid there - Claire listening to the steady heartbeat from Tess and Tess, listening to Claire's sobbing until both of them fell asleep.