The Vow: Saving What We Have
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, just the au version I am creating :)
A/N: I just re-watched The Vow and wanted to try my hand at an alternative story following Paige and Leo's conversation at her sister's wedding reception. I hope you enjoy! Also, I am still working on my other two unfinished fanfics, they're just a little elusive right now, lol.
"That's not fair? I see the way you look at him. I know, because you used to look at me that way." Leo said, his voice filled with emotion. Paige was trying to sort through everything she was feeling, the frustration, the anger, and the something that was sitting just out of her reach. She knew she liked Leo, must have loved him at some point, but she wasn't there anymore, she couldn't be the woman she kept seeing him look for when he looked at her. "Leo, I..."
"No," he interrupted, eyes downcast, "I think we just need to start being realistic." Making eye contact, what she saw in his face broke her heart. "Your memory's not coming back. The fact is that I'm still just a stranger." The words rang true, but she could see how heavily the truth sat on his shoulders. Part of her wished she could remember, to love him the way he loved her. Feeling her heart break, she tried to offer him what she could.
"I'm not trying to hurt you. But I'm just...I'm so tired of disappointing you." Tears were slowly making their way down her face; this was not how she had imagined the night going.
"I know." He seemed to be gathering himself, distancing his heart from their conversation.
"I'm so sorry," she said.
"I'll apologize to Gwen and Ryan," he said, and she remembered why they were having this conversation.
"No, it's fine. Wedding disasters have a way of turning into great stories...eventually." She smiled, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. Taking a breath, she saw him turn serious again, emotions waring on his face.
"How do you look at the girl you love and tell yourself it's time to walk away?" The pain in his voice made something inside her twist and she turned away. Taking a shuddering breath, she turned to see him begin to walk away.
"Leo," he stopped and turned back, "I hope one day I can love the way that you love me." She took another breath, shaking her head, tears still in her eyes.
"You figured it out once, you'll do it again," he said, tears unshed in his eyes, a small, sad smile tugging at his lips. And then he walked away, a heaviness settling on his shoulders, his head downcast.
This was not how he had imagined the night going. He knew it would be awkward and that it would probably go as well as that night with her old friends. He was the odd man out, the person who didn't quite fit, someone that no one wanted there. Sighing, the reality of his situation hit him full force. No one included him or spoke to him, unless it was to convince him to get a divorce and/or flaunt in his face about what he didn't have. Paige was preoccupied, trying to fit back into a life that she couldn't remember leaving, she didn't want to make room for him here. Maybe he had been wrong to presume that she would. Maybe he had been wrong to hope that she'd remember him, that she would want to remember him.
His heart couldn't comprehend how her heart could forget him, forget them. Man, he missed her. Her smile, her laugh, her creativity. But he also missed her being happy. He used to know how to make her happy, but everything he tried now just made things worse.
Hearing her voice when she had woken up in the hospital had been the best sound in the whole world, but her words had cut him deeper than he'd ever thought possible when she had called him her doctor. He'd been elated that she was alive and there were no casualties that night, but as he walked away from her now it hit him hard that there had been a casualty that night. Their relationship had died, and with it, his heart.
As he walked through the city, he didn't see the Christmas lights, or hear the traffic, his mind was replaying their conversation over and over again. The cold night air was an afterthought. Awareness of his surroundings was the farthest thing from his mind. It wasn't until the knife was pressed against his back that he realized his mistake.
"Empty your pockets, man!" The guy behind him yelled in a hushed voice, pressing the knife a little harder. He flinched as the tip pierced through his shirt and dug into his back. Two other men approached him from the front and forced them all into the small alley.
"Yeah, yeah, anything you want," he said, his heart accelerating, hands shaking from the rush of adrenaline. He'd lived in the city for five years and never had a problem, tonight just wasn't his night.
"Pass it here, slowly." One of the guys in front of him roughly grabbed his wallet and keys, the other grabbing his jacket.
Looking through it, they scoffed at what little money he had on him. "Dude, this is barely enough for one beer."
"That was my rainy-day fund, but the drink is on me," he said, unable to keep the bitterness out of his voice.
"He thinks he's funny, don't he?" One of them sneered, "I'll show you funny," and the left side of his face exploded in pain as a fist caught him on his cheekbone.
Falling to his knees, he found himself breathing out a laugh in disbelief as he braced a hand on the wet ground. One of them bent down in his face, alcohol strong on their breath, "You're all dressed fancy, why don't we help your clothes match your face?" A shove from behind sent him sprawling, mud and dirt splashing as he impacted the ground.
With a groan, he pushed himself back to his knees and rubbed at his jaw. Huffing in disbelief and pain, the reality of his situation sunk in. For the second time this night, his reality sucked. No one knew where he was, his only family didn't want him. His heart panged at the thought. He was just a stranger to her; she wouldn't miss him or think to look for him. She didn't care, she didn't love him. He had no one, he wasn't wanted by anyone.
His mind flashed back to the first few weeks after his parents had passed. That same loneliness sunk its cold, hard claws into his heart again and this time he wasn't sure he'd survive it. He'd wanted to love her for the rest of his life, he'd wanted to grow old with her. She was his everything. How do you reconcile being nothing to the girl who is your everything?
Lily might miss him at the studio, but they all knew he was working on pursing Paige and wouldn't think anything of his absence. Shaking his head carefully, his cheek throbbing, he looked around the alley as he worked on how to get through to these men. Their expressions were clouded with intoxication and anger as he moved to raise his hands in a placating manner. He soon recognized that his efforts were futile as one of them hurled another insult at him and his right side was impacted by a solid kick. He felt his ribs give way to the heavy boot of his assailant and again found himself face down in the mud.
Laughing at him, they jeered, and another boot came down on his shoulder, dislodging his joint with a loud crack and tearing a yelp of pain from his lips. That sound was all it took for them to really go crazy. Laughing and yelling, they rained down kicks from every direction. He tried to curl in on himself and protect his head, his breathing shallow as they stumped and kicked and yelled at him. Spots danced before his vision, even with his eyes closed, and breathing became harder. Gasping for air, he barely noticed the ringing that had begun in his ears.
Every impact added to his agony. The skin above his eye had split from a glancing blow and blood made its way down his face to fall into the dirt that he was being pounded into. He could feel the bruises forming and the tightness of his face from where they had slipped past his defenses to land solid blows. As a lack of oxygen and pain finally took its toll, he felt darkness creeping in, his grasp on consciousness failing. Seeing her smile in his mind, replaying her laugh, everything suddenly ceased as pain burst in his head from a solid kick and he was thrust into oblivion.