Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Revenge, I Just Love It

Chapter 3: Door Marked Exit

"Seems like you had a nice chat with Emily" Victoria said callously as she looked towards her son from her prized chair in the living room.

"Isn't that what you want?" Daniel replied irritably.

"What I want" she replied looking at him with narrowed eyes, and using that overbearing yet somehow ridiculously elegant voice of hers, "is for you not to forget what she did to you."

"What she did to me, what about what I did to her?" he said tensely, shaking his head in anger.

"You've fallen for it already, haven't you?" she said disdainfully.

"Fallen for what?" he asked tiredly, as he walked over to the liquor table.

"Her innocent act" she uttered,

Daniel didn't reply, he ignored his mother and poured himself, a generous amount of liquor, taking a long sip and wincing as the sharp, strong liquid, slid down his throat.

Is this what it came to now, alcohol in the morning? God, how did he get so low, what had Emily done to him, so that he had to jeopardize his liver and his mind, to stumble through the day?

"Daniel for goodness sake, how many times are you going to let that girl manipulate you?" she further pursued, "Emily's recovering not dying, and as far as I'm concerned she's a nuisance in our life, not something for you to pity out of guilt."

"You're telling me I shouldn't feel guilty for shooting my wife" he hissed, his voice low and sharp.

Victoria laughed bitterly, "Wife, god knows that women upstairs is not your wife, that marriage was not genuine, she trapped you into it, forced you by her lies by preying on your integrity, isn't that why you shot her?"

Why you shot her? Why you shot her? That kept repeating in his head, why had he shot her that night? He had been terribly drunk, he had been angry that she had lied, he had been scared that he'd nearly lost Sarah which he wrongfully blamed on her, he had been hurt that she'd betrayed him and he had been maddened that she had fooled him so easily. He had been a lot of things that night, especially...

Shaking his head he avoided his mother's question which was no doubt rhetorical anyway, and sharply said, "What integrity? I was sleeping around with another woman behind her back, while she was planning our wedding."

"So now, Sarah's just another woman, God you're hearts just as fickle as your father's and easily swayed." Victoria replied bitingly, purposefully using his father as an analogy, who she knew he was currently in a feud with.

Daniel shook his head, "I Love Her!" he shouted furiously, his voice shaking with the whirlwind of emotions he felt.

"Which one, Emily, Sarah... Oh don't tell me it's Ashley now?" she said sneeringly, her lips curling up into a malicious little smirk.

Daniel glared at her and began to walk out the room clearly infuriated. Truth be told he didn't know who that was intended for, it had just instinctively slipped out of him.

"Just remember Daniel, for all the things Emily is not, one thing she is, is clever and she'll play you till your eating putty out of her hands, if you fall for her act. Her injury is not an excuse for what she did to you. She remembers everything except the shooting, which means she remembers what she did to you, has she showed you any remorse? Has she admitted to it or apologized? No! Yet she's asking for your affection... Just like she did with her fake pregnancy, this time she's using her injury to reel you into her, and God, dear son are you making it easy."

Whipping his head around, Daniel looked at his mother with dark angry eyes, and sharply said, "I know you have a heart of stone mother but don't sit there and assume she's the same type of person as you. I'm confused and I'm torn and...all I know is that I loved her and yet I hurt her more than she ever hurt me. So don't tell me what to think or don't tell me what to feel, because you simply do not have the capacity or the compassion to understand."

With that Daniel Grayson stormed out of the room, gulping down the rest of the liquor in his hand. Leaving the empty glass precariously on the edge of the cabinet, he cursed himself for not taking the whole bottle. Oh well he thought aloofly, he'd just buy a new bottle.

Climbing up the winding staircase, Daniel grabbed his jacket and wallet from his bedroom, then proceeded to go back downstairs when he felt the urge to peep in and check on Emily.

Slowly opening the door, he saw her fast asleep on the bed; she looked so peaceful, so innocent, like the princess Sleeping Beauty. If he kissed her would she wake up, or was he no longer her one true love, her Prince Charming?

Slowly moving closer to her, reluctance and reservation in his gestures, once he got to her bed, he bent down and placed a gentle kiss on her soft rosy coloured lips.

He knew it was only a fairy tale but he couldn't help feeling downhearted, when he didn't see her eyelids flutter open, revealing her deep brown, chestnut colored eyes that used to hold so much love for him.

Drawing up a chair towards her bed, he sat down in it, and reached out for her hand, holding onto it as he began to quietly murmur, "I'm so sorry Emily, that I hurt you like this and caused you so much pain. I never would have thought in a million years that we would end up like this. I still remember the first time that we met; you spilled your drink on me at the Memorial Day party. I remember turning around and seeing you this beautiful girl in front of me, and I had felt incredibly lucky that my $1500 suit had been sullied with alcohol. You had seemed so embarrassed though, and honestly I found it really endearing. I offered you a drink next, and you accepted, and we sat down in one of those chairs, just you and me and held light conversation for quite a long while. You were enchanting, your smile, your laugh, your personality, your composure. Just everything about you I found refreshing and captivating."

"I'm not sure if you remember but I vividly remember saying to you that day, I've got to admit, it's nice meeting someone who didn't know the old me, You had smiled understandingly and softly agreed. I had meant that at the time, but now I can't help feeling that the old me was a saint compared to who I am right now. Back then, before you, I had been stupid and reckless but at least I had a good heart, not anymore, now I've been infected with cruelness and the cold, now I'm hardly better than my parents. I'm so sorry Emily, when you remember it was me, you're going to be heartbroken and in even more pain then you are now. I wish I could take it all back, or transfer all your pain to me but I can't, I don't even believe I can ever make this up to you so... I hope you hate me Emily ".

Giving her hand a gentle squeeze before he let go and stood up, he quickly walked out of the room, not looking back as he shut the door softly behind him.

As the door closed shut, Emily's eyes flew open brimming with tears, and as the first one dropped silently down her cheeks, the rest followed suit till she was no longer quiet but sobbing softly on her pillow.

She had heard it all, she had woken up, after feeling his lips on hers, and she had waited, pretending to be a sleep to see what he would do next or whether he would say anything which he had.

She had heard every word, but it neither helped comfort her, nor strengthened her resolve, all those words did were inflict such torment in her heart and mind.

Daniel knew running away was cowardly and wrong, he knew that the least he could do for Emily was stay by her side until she remembered. But he just couldn't face her anymore, maybe his guilt should have strengthened his resolve to be the best man he could be for her, but all it did was weaken him and he didn't want to cope. What was the point anyway; in the end she'd just hate him, no matter how regretful he felt, she would hate him like she should.

And if Emily would never forgive him, he didn't see the point in trying to sort things out, it seemed hopeless and painfully exhausting. He should let go of the hope that somehow they could go back to how they were the summer they met, or last summer. Their love was gone, tainted so wasn't it just best to move on? Wasn't it?...because he desperately needed something to feel the void.

"Danny" Sarah said looking at him with earnest brown eyes as she walked into his arms "I am so sorry" .

This is what he wanted now, Sarah, she was his door marked exit, his escape and so he would take it, even if it meant sacrificing what little virtue he had left.

Yes it was wrong, but he loved Sarah, only weeks ago he was willing to break off his engagement to Emily to be with her, so surely he loved her didn't he?

Daniel wanted to move on and forget Emily so that all the guilt and pain that came with it would subside, so he hoped that if he could whole heartedly devote his heart to Sarah that she could make him forget how he had loved Emily. And if not at the very least, he needed Sarah as a distraction.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, please comment/review, it would really make my day =D