One Last Time

Prologue

There was another woman, and the other woman was her.

Her grandmother would be turning in her grave at the sight of this, but she couldn't bring herself to quit.

It went against her morals, her beliefs, and everything she stood for, but when it came to him, all sense and morals flew out the window.

He had a way of making her question every decision she had ever taken. If she were given the chance to choose again she would walk right back into his arms, defying all that is defined as 'right.'

Does she regret it? Maybe not.
Does she want to continue with this? Definitely not.

"This isn't right, to me, to you, even to her. She has feelings too and I know how it feels to not be wanted."  Her voice quivered as she spoke, a sign that she was on the verge of tears.

"Just let me go," A single tear slipped over her cheek. "Please."

"I can't." He hated that he made her cry, he hated seeing her cry, but for the love of God, he couldn't bring himself to let her go. She was in his skin. Like a drug. An addiction, he craved her. "I can't let you go, I don't want to. Please stop crying, baby girl."

"Don't!" She flinched as if the pet name physically stung her. "Don't. It's not about what you want, or what I want." Her voice dropped in pitch as she talked, till it was nearly a whisper. "It's about what's right."

Maybe it was hypocritical of her to be speaking of the 'right' thing now, but the fairytale was over and it was time for them to step into the reality they had both foolishly been ignoring. It had cost them, and she daresay, it cost her more.

He didn't want to have this conversation. Not right now, not later, not ever, because she was right. She was always right, and they both knew it. He sighed.

"You should go," She stepped back, trying to create reasonable distance between them. He didn't like that, but he let her have it. "You really should go."

"We both know that's not what you want." He took the will right out of her conflicted heart. But she already made it clear that it was no longer a decision to be made based on either of their wants. 

Their 'wants' had created enough mess for them.

He pinched the bridge of his nose, something he did when he felt very frustrated, and not having control of this situation immensely frustrated him. He felt helpless. He looked at her like she was his everything, his salvation, but she knew she wasn't the one who could save him, she also needed saving.

She dropped her head, suddenly finding interest in the bright red color of her peep-toe leather shoes. She couldn't bring herself to look up, to stare into his cloudy gray eyes. If she did, she feared she might break, or even worse, she might want to keep him. How much more bruises can her fragile heart take?

"Baby girl," He paused, treading cautiously, he didn't want to push her away. However, this time she didn't flinch, something else flipped, she took a challenging step forward, and he was almost tempted to take one back. She was angry.

Not at him, but at herself, because even in all of this, she still wanted him badly. Why wouldn't he just leave her alone?
Maybe if he turned away first, she could turn away too.

Maybe.

But one of them had to take the first step and she's too much of a coward to even properly 'think' the thought.

"This is no longer up to us," She poked at his chest with her freshly manicured fingertip, confirming what they already knew.

"We have no choice, we can no longer continue with this and you know it," she poked. "what more do you want?" she poked again.