I am very bored, so I'm going to try and post two chapters in one day. (:

Recap:

She bit her lip. Did she really want to tell him what she wanted? Her heart betrayed her head as she revealed the only present she wanted.

"You."

Brock nearly choked. Did he hear correctly? "What about me?" he asked timidly.

"I want to be with you for Christmas."

She slowly leaned forward, closing her eyes.

"Reba…" his words were cut of by her soft lips.

They were lost in a world all their own. At that moment nothing else mattered, because life was perfect. It felt just as marvelous as their first kiss more than 20 years ago.

Brock slowly pulled away. "What was that?" he whispered after he finally found his voice.

"I love you, Brock." Hearing the words come from her mouth had lifted an enormous weight off her chest. She was relieved.

"What?" Brock heard, but he could not believe. What kind of woman hangs on that long, what kind of love that must be. "That came out of nowhere." Yep, the mood was gone.

"Not really." Reba's voice was shaky; she was still breathless as she spoke. "I have never stopped loving you."

"Why have you not told me this?"

Reba could not believe what she was hearing. "Why would it have made a difference Brock? You were going to marry Barbara Jean whether I still loved you or not."

"That doesn't mean you couldn't have said anything. Isn't that why our marriage was having problems? Because we didn't communicate?"

"That isn't exactly something you blurt out to your ex husband, Brock!" Reba was terribly hurt. How could such a wonderful evening turn so sour?

Brock turned and walked toward the door without another word.

"Where are you going?" Reba was on the verge of tears.

"I am not the one you need Reba, you deserve much more than me."

"Brock!" her voice cracked against her will. "Why are you doing this to me?"

"Why am I doing what?" he was starting to lose his temper…which was hard for him.

"I just told you I loved you!" she cried.

"And…?" Brock knew how much of a jerk he was being… but somehow, he couldn't control the things coming out of his mouth.

"And…?" Reba could barely speak. "That doesn't deserve an AND!" her temper was rising…which wasn't going to end well for anyone.

"What do you want me to say?" he shot back furiously.

"Tell me you love me too! Say something! Anything but AND."

The room fell silent as Brock avoided her eyes. He knew that if he spoke it would only hurt her more. In this case, not speaking hurt her just as much.

"Brock?" she choked on her words. Air suddenly became hard to find.

"I can't." two words that sent Reba over the edge. The dam had broken. Tears poured freely down her face. She did not want Brock to see her weak. She ran past him to the stairs. She only made it half way up the stairs before she stopped. Tears were burning her eyes, to the point that she could no longer see. She sat on the steps and sobbed.

It hurt Brock to see what he had done to her. She was broken because of him. He knew he shouldn't have led her on the past couple of weeks. Eventually he knew this situation would happen… he just hoped he could prolong it. Now, because of his stupidity, Reba was crying to the point of making herself sick, all because of two unsure words that had come out of his mouth.

Reba composed herself enough to walk to her bedroom. She thought these horrific times were over, but once again, the nights of crying herself to sleep had come back.

Christmas morning had come and the cheerful voices of Van, Cheyenne, Elizabeth, Jake, and Kyra could be heard in the kitchen.

Brock knew that making an appearance at Reba's house would not be the smartest move, but he could not let Elizabeth down. Her Christmas wish was for grandpa to spend Christmas with them.

Brock timidly entered the kitchen. If Reba was in the room, he didn't want to make things awkward.

"Hi daddy!" Cheyenne greeted. Everyone followed with their own greeting.

Everyone seemed to be present, everyone except for Reba.

"Where is your mother?" he asked, almost afraid of what the answer could be.

"She hasn't come down yet." Van answered. "I think someone had a little too much eggnog last night." Everyone laughed.

"I'll go check on her." Brock volunteered.

Climbing the stairs, Brock kicked himself. How did he mange to hurt Reba again? Her heart had been shattered once again. It made him want to vomit, he was a terrible person who was ruthless with her emotions.

Quietly, he knocked on her bedroom door.

There was no response.

He knocked again, this time a little louder. Still, there was no response.

Nervously, he opened the door. He looked to the bed, but it was empty. He looked to the bathroom door, which was slightly ajar. He opened the door to find Reba, soundly sleeping on the floor. It was obvious she had been throwing up.

Carefully, he took the sleeping redhead in his arms, and placed her gently on her bed. Trying not to wake her, he covered her with blankets. It was no use, she was slowly waking up.

Much to her displeasure, the first thing she saw was Brock. She decided ignoring him was her best option, so she rolled over and closed her eyes.

"Reba…" Brock had no idea what he was going to say, but he had to say something.

"Go away." Her voice was cold, but also weak.

He knew she wasn't going to talk. The best he could hope for was for her to listen.

"I so sorry—"

"Sorry doesn't help this time."

"I am so sorry that I hurt you again. I know a speech like this probably won't change the way you feel, but I will try anyway. It seems that the only thing I am good at is hurting the ones I love."

Reba cut him off again. "You said you didn't love me." Her eyes were still tightly closed with her back facing Brock. The best she could hope for is that this nightmare would be over soon enough.

"I know what I said." He continued. "Honestly, I have no idea why I said that. I think I was scared. I just want you to know that it isn't true. I still love you…very much."

Reba turned to face Brock, still lying down.

"Why did you say it if you didn't mean it? You had to of known that it would tear me up."

"I got scared. The thought of us loving each other, and having a happy life again has been in my head for so long. I never thought it would ever come close to reality."

Reba smiled. It was the first time she had not felt defeated and miserable.

"You do seem to hut me a lot." She tried to joke.

It was too early to joke.

"Every time you hurt me, the pain is unbearable, but the love is strong enough to make me forget how bad the pain is."

Brock smiled down at her. "I love you." He whispered.

I really needed to write an unbelievably sad chapter. I think this was it. Tell me what you think (: