She heard the door shut, the soft latch in sharp contrast to the slamming sound that had rattled the window panes hours earlier. Closing her eyes tightly, she stood up, walking slowly over the window. She wasn't up for another round-not tonight.

Seeing her car in the driveway had sent a wave of relief through his body and seeing the light still on in the living room had given him even more hope, but one look into the living room told him everything he needed to know about how she felt.

"Kelly." Kevin stepped into the room. It had been hours since he'd left, hours since they'd last screamed hateful words at each other, hours since she'd thrown their wedding photo into the flames in the fireplace, hours since he'd walked out the door for what he thought might be the last time.

She stood silently, staring out the window. It was the same old routine. She would ask him a question, he would accuse her of not trusting him, she'd ask him if she had reason, he'd get angry, she'd yell, he'd scream, one of them would storm out, one of them would come back, they'd apologize, make love, and then wait until it started all over again.

This was their dance...this was the way they were together.

He took a step forward, reaching out and touching her shoulder. He felt her body stiffen beneath his fingertips.

"Hey," he whispered, turning her around to face him. "I'm sorry, ok? I'm sorry things got so crazy."

Kelly sighed, reaching up to brush her hair away from her face. The tears had long since dried up. She found herself crying less and less these days as if she was getting used to the drama-the pain-the volatile life she now led.

In his eyes she still saw the man she married. The was so much love there, so much tenderness, so much passion. That had been what had drawn them together in the first place. No matter how much they fault, no matter what he said or did, she never doubted his love-not for a second.

"Say something," Kevin said softly, unnerved by her silence.

"How many times do you think we can do this?" She looked up at him, his eyes softening as she spoke. "How many times can we say horrible things to each other before we start believing them? How many times can I accuse you of drinking or cheating before you prove me right?" She felt her voice begin to shake.

It was a reflex-the desire to stop her, to comfort her, to reassure her that nothing she said or did would ever push him so far that he wouldn't come back.

"I'll always come back," he said softly, touching her face. "I know this was...I said things, but...I'll never leave you. I love you, Kel. You know that, don't you?" Looking into her eyes, he saw the pain there and it broke his heart to know that he was responsible.

"You do know that, don't you? Kel?"

"I know you love me," she said softly. "And I love you, but that doesn't change the fact that we keep doing this to each other. I guess I just want to know when its enough? When have we said enough hateful things to stop this?"

He reached out, pulling her closer to him. "I don't know...I don't know if it's ever enough for us. Isn't that what makes us us?"

He felt her head drop to his chest and he gently lifted her chin with his fingertips. "You think we'll ever build a picket fence, join a carpool, and start hosting book clubs? That's not us. That's not what we do."

She felt the intensity of his eyes as they stared at her. He was right. "But don't you ever just get tired...don't you ever just wish we could be normal?"

A soft laugh fell from his lips. "Normal? Kelly Cramer wants normal? Normal is overrated. Normal isn't us."

He pulled her closer to him, the heat from his body radiated through her.

"Right," she whispered, her breathing already becoming heavy as she felt his lips hovering above hers.

His lips fell on hers and for a moment nothing else mattered. When he pulled away, his hands still tangled in her hair, she stared at him, her eyes wide with questions.

"What?" she asked, fighting for air.

"This is us," he smiled.

His eyes seemed to melt her resolve and somehow all the questions, all the arguments, all the tears-they all faded away. And yet here they were, standing here, staring into each other's eyes.

She stepped back into his embrace, her lips curving into a smile as she felt his arms wrap around her again.

Their relationship wasn't normal or typical or stable, but neither were they. They had issues, fears, and scars, but somehow, someway they were better together.

As she felt his lips on hers once more, she allowed her eyes to close as she silently prayed that their dance would never end.

The End