Forever After All

by Catharina Maura

No one has ever triggered his protective instinct like you always have, even when we were younger. He could have easily waited a couple of weeks or months to formally marry you, but he locked you in the second he could.

Alec is never impulsive, but he wanted you. I doubt he even realizes it himself.”

She’s my wife, yet it’s my brother she has a nickname for. The worst thing is that it’s my own fault. I’m the one that took away her rights to my nickname in a childish fit, telling her we weren’t close enough for her to call me Alec.

“Alec. From now on, you’ll call me Alec at all times.”

I’ve somehow managed to push my brother so far away that he trusts my wife more with his secrets than he does me. And my wife… I’ve accused her of disloyalty over and over again, when I couldn’t be more wrong. It’s her loyalty that kept her from telling me the truth, when that would have resolved all our issues. She kept the promises she made to Lucian, even as I made her suffer for it.

“Lucian, you’ve done nothing to be ashamed of. You’d never disappoint me. If anything, I’m the one that has disappointed you.”

“Fuck the photo,” he says. “It has no place in our bedroom. I should have removed it the day I married you. I’m sorry, Elena.”

“What Elena needs is none of your concern,” I tell her. “It’s mine. She’s mine.”

I see the pain in her eyes, and it kills me.

All I could think about was you and wanting to come home to you.”

If anyone deserves to be loved, it’s Elena. I hate that I can’t give her what she needs, and part of me worries that one day she’ll go looking elsewhere for it. “I’m giving you all I can, Elena. All I am. All that’s left of me.”

I see hope bloom in her eyes, and it kills me. It kills me that this is all I can give her. That I can’t promise her the one thing she wants most.

“No,” she snaps. “I was trying to be polite,” she says, looking around at the countless faces turned toward us. “But since you can’t take a hint, let me remind you of the words you spoke when I left home, and then again when I begged you to help me save my mother’s life: I’m no longer part of your family. And quite frankly, I’d rather eat shit than sit with people that’d happily let my mother die.”

“You really don’t remember? I’ve called you that since you were about six and you were obsessed with The Powerpuff Girls.” Her cheeks turn bright red. “You’re kidding me, right? You named me after the most violent one of the three? I don’t have a violent bone in my body. I’m clearly Bubbles.” I smile at her outrage. “Buttercup is also the bravest and the most headstrong, baby,” I say, pacifying her.

I see her outrage when she finds out she’s programmed in as Buttercup Kennedy. I chuckle as she changes it into Wife.

Besides, you’re my wife. Whatever is yours, is mine. You are mine.”

She looks away, but I see the way she forces a smile onto her face, and the insecurity she tries so hard to hide. I worry that I’m the one that put it there, and that the damage I’ve already done is permanent.

Then fx it asshole

“And that’s where you went wrong,” he says, yanking Sebastian’s hand off mine, his anger overflowing. “Don’t fucking touch my woman. Don’t look at her. Don’t speak to her. Don’t even fucking think about her. If you ever come near her again, I’ll do worse than sink your fucking share price.”

I loveeeeeee him

Elena can’t stop staring at her engagement ring, and I can’t stop staring at her.

She presses a kiss to her mother’s cheek, and I narrow my eyes at her. It takes her a good minute to even notice me, and my mood drops even further. Sarah looks at me and laughs, and I cross my arms over each other. When Elena finally turns to look at me, I’m full-on sulking.

You’re my little miracle, Elena.”

I don’t even know what to say, because I agree with every single word she just said. Yet when it’s Elena uttering these words, it makes me feel horrible. It makes me want to protect her from every bit of pain she’s had to experience, every single thing she’s had to witness, everything that made her lose faith.

I glance at my wife, my amazing wife. Never once did she give up on her mother. She fought for a scholarship and worked three jobs in an effort to afford the exceptional care Sarah received. She did that—a woman that grew up filthy rich. All for her mother.

“It’s not love that did this to me, honey. It’s the absence of love.”

“Alexander,” she says, her voice trembling. She slips off my desk and straightens out her clothes, her head hanging low. “I’ve spent my entire life loving people that didn’t love me back. I won’t do it again. I won’t. Not even for you.”

“There’s no way that boy doesn’t love you, Elena. He looks at you like you hung the moon. Every time you were in pain because watching me relearn how to walk was difficult, he was hurting right along with you. And don’t get me started on the way he helped you regain everything we lost. Alec took every one of your pains personal, every grudge you had, he settled. Every step of the way, he’s been trying to mend your heart.” She smiles and brushes my hair behind my ear. “Now, don’t get me wrong. The boy is stupid. Too stupid to see just how much he loves you. I can’t even blame him, because he’s been burned so badly, and it can’t be easy for him to admit to himself that despite his best efforts, he fell for you. But he did, Elena. Alec is so in love with you, and he doesn’t even realize it.

I’m tired. I’m done. I’m done coming second to the memory of her.”

“Elena, I don’t know if I’m ever going to be good enough for you. I don’t know if I’ll ever be what you need. All I know is that I love you. I would rather spend a year with you than a lifetime without you. I’m willing to give you everything, Elena. I’m willing to give you my heart, and trust that you won’t break it. But even if you do, baby, even if you tear my heart apart, you’re worth it. You’re worth everything.”

“I swear to you, Elena. I’ll love you till the day I die, and I’ll spend the rest of my life proving that to you. I promise you all of me, forever.”

“Baby, you’re underestimating how far I’ll go to catch a single glimpse of you,” he says, his voice soft, pained. “I can’t sleep if I don’t see you before bed, and my days don’t start right if I don’t get to see you before work.”

“Above all, I want you to be happy. I won’t be selfish with you, no matter how badly I want to. I won’t chain you to me when you chose to leave. You’re not one of my belongings. I can’t decide your fate. I can’t tell you what to do, who to be with. You’ve made your choice, and it wasn’t me. I’ll respect that, Elena. I don’t want to, but I will. You deserve true happiness, you deserve everything you’ve ever wanted. I was never good enough for you, and I never will be. I’ll do as you asked, Elena. I’ll let you go. It’ll kill me to do it, but I’ll sign the papers. I’ll set you free.”