The Neverending Hangover

Chapter Four

In the morning, Brad woke well before Paige and continued to lay next to her, watching her sleep. She was so perfectly beautiful.

Before Paige, Brad would say he had a type. Tall, long legs, blond, unattached. An attractive and frivolous woman he could enjoy after a night of drinking or when he decided to give her a call. He felt very little affection and never any love.

Paige had blindsided him.  Any man would look at her and say she was gorgeous but it was more than that. He was instantly intrigued by her personality and captivated by her eyes.  He felt like when he talked to her, he was getting an understanding of who she was in the deepest parts of her soul. Over the couple hours they had spent in the car together, after their initial meeting, he learned enough about her personality and her heart to be hooked. He also opened up to her as he hadn't done with another human since his parents were alive and he had been best friends with Steve.

He hadn't known until they arrived at Steve's that she was his fiancé. She hadn't worn any rings, and he had been thinking really positive thoughts about getting to know her better, when that curve ball had been thrown at him. However, he wasn't giving up on her, on that immediate connection he felt. He was drawn to her like gravity, and he had never felt anything like it. By the end of the first day, he was confident he was in love with her, even if he wasn't able to verbalize it yet.

Over the next few days, he learned that she had intended to leave Steve before she found him, and she had brought him to Steve in hopes of reconciliation and a source of support when she was gone. She was right in assuming Steve was going to lose it, but she hadn't banked on moving right from Steve to him.

Brad affectionately thought back on those first few weeks of getting to know her. Then, shortly after, finding out she was pregnant with Steve's child, and all four of their worlds turning upside down as Steve had begun dating Bre by then.

Paige was different during pregnancy than she was initially, and she was also different now. He was constantly learning more about her, trying to please her, trying to be her support.  He loved her more all the time. The key aspects of her personality which had attracted him to her at first hadn't changed, but there was more depth and maturity to her now. She was easier to rationalize with. She made better choices. He was thankful for all that but not for the path that had gotten her there...

A difficult pregnancy led into the loss of her only child while he was in Japan. Steve finally filled him in two weeks later after she tried to kill herself. The absurd thing was, even though Brad hadn't been informed about anything that was going on, he dreamt it and felt it when she was going through it. He had nightmares about her being in trouble and dying. He had shocking cold sensations like a ghost walked right through his body or punched him in the gut. He had unknowingly called to check on her during Drew's funeral and while she was trying to kill herself.

They were connected, there was no doubt. He loved her more than he thought was humanly possible, and he wished he could adequately express it. He wanted to build a house for them, and he wanted her to marry him, but she had only been released from the mental health clinic three months ago, and he was worried about changing too much too fast. Especially when she was involved with Bre and Steve's wedding, and Andy and Kendra's baby was on the way in a few months.

He did have a plan. He was going to talk to her about the house sometime in the fall. He would see how she responded to that and decide what to do about marriage.

He knew she had freaked out a little with him getting her access to his bank account but it made sense to do. He knew she didn't want to be dependent on him, and he didn't want to control or domesticate her. That wasn't his intent. He simply wanted her to be the best version of herself, and right now he didn't think she could do that with a nine to five job. He had also memorized her social security number from the bank appointment, and then used Andy's financial advisor to take out a large life insurance policy on himself, making Paige the beneficiary. He had never thought much about his future before, maybe because he hadn't had much to look forward to, but he was dead set on making sure she would be taken care of. Hence, the house. He was itching to get going on it but he didn't want to plan without her. That would defeat the purpose of her feeling like it was their house instead of his house.