What We Always Knew

Chapter One

"I really wish you would give that
disgusting habit up Link. It's not good for your health!"

"Christy, how many times do we have to go over this! It's not like I ask you to
smoke! You don't have to be near me
when I do it either! I'm literally at the
bottom of the garden!" I even have my own shed, so I would never feel the need to smoke inside the house! I picked up this habit years before I met you! I even asked you about it on our second date! And do you know what you said?"

Link was getting pretty tired of having the same argument with his wife about the same damn thing. 'I really wish she just dropped the subject already! God, she's so stubborn sometimes.' He thought to himself as Christy was giving him her response, he didn't need to listen, he knew exactly what she was going to say.

"LINK! OH MY GOD! YOU'RE NOT EVEN LISTENING TO ME ARE YOU?"

"I DON'T NEED TO LISTEN! I KNOW
EXACTLY WHAT YOU'VE SAID!" Oh, it's ok, Link. I really like you, so I don't mind that you smoke.

"Can you quit being so childish, Neal!
You're setting a bad example to the
kids!"

"I'm not the one who came out here and told you how to live your life!"

"Well, I thought maybe... maybe if I keep pushing, you'll change, but you'll never change, will you... God I'm so fucking stupid!"

Christy sat down beside Link, covering her eyes with her hands, no longer able to hold back her tears. Link felt guilty that he upset her so much that he put his cigarette out and tried to comfort his wife, but he's never been good at this type of thing.

"Hey, baby, it's ok. Look, I'm sorry for not listening to you and acting so childish, but hey, you love me for it, don't you?"

"That's just it Link. I do love you... and I'm so sorry... I shouldn't have tried to change you. you deserve to be happy."

Christy looked at Link with both love
and grief as she gently put her hands on Link's face as Link stared back with sympathy and confusion.

"Baby... are you... are we..."

"It's ok darling, you can ask me. I'm
ready to talk about this."

Christy was seriously scaring him now. He almost didn't want to ask.

"Are you... are you still talking about my smoking habits?"

"No. I'm not Link. Every time we have
this argument, it's never really about
you smoking. And I'm never mad at
you. I'm mad at myself... I thought... I
thought maybe in time I could change... change you. But I was being selfish Link. I only thought about myself. and what hurts the most is the fact I've dedicated 20 years of my life trying to... trying to..."

"Trying to what Christy... wha... what are you trying to say?"

"You really don't have an idea what I'm trying to say, Link? I guess that's my fault as well, because I've made you pretend for so long that you're scared to admit it... even to yourself."

Link's heart was beating so fast that he swore that he might kill over any
second. 'She can't possibly be saying
what I think she's saying? Omg she is!
She knows...'

"B... Chris..."

Link had hardly any time to try and say what was on his mind, what he always wanted to tell her but couldn't bring himself to before Christy jumped up and outright said what they both knew.

"YOU... YOU HAVE NEVER BEEN IN
WITH ME HAVE YOU CHARLES!"

"I... I..."

Link suddenly felt himself on the verge of tears. 'Christy doesn't deserve this... and neither does...' Again, his thoughts were stopped as Christy began to speak again, in a much softer voice.

"I'm so sorry Link... I... I shouldn't have snapped. It's not your fault. You were born this way, and there is nothing I can do or say to you that is going to change that. It's ok, darling... you can let go now. Say it baby... Go on."

"I... I'm... I'm gay Christy."

Link felt a huge weight lifted of his
shoulders as Christy stood there with
the proudest look on her face. She
gently took her wedding band and
passed it to him.

"Now... You don't need to say anything
more darling. I'm not gonna ask any
more questions. Because we both know who this was meant for. So go tell him that."

"What... what about..."

"Dont worry about me darling. I'll be
fine, as for the kids... well, we can figure something out once you have
everything sorted. I'll tell them that
you're gonna away for a few days for
now, they'll be fine darling, they love you more than I do."

"But... I promised myself I wouldn't..."

Link fell to his knees crying, his heart
breaking not for the first time. But for
an entirely different reason altogether. Christy knelt down beside him and held him close as she tried to sooth her soon to be ex-husband.

"Shhhh... Darling it's ok... Please don't cry... You're not walking out on them, Link... you're just going to find out who you really are. Then I promise nothing will change between your relationship with our children. You can come and visit us anytime you like, even stay for a bit more if you have anywhere else to go. But before all that happens, Link..."

Christy gently put her hands on Link's
face, making him look her in the eyes
before she continued her speech.

"Link, you have to tell him how you
feel, do you feel like you're ready?"

Link couldn't bring himself to speak, but after what felt like an eternity, he slowly nodded his head, christy gave a gentle smile and kissed him one last time on the cheek, stood back up and said with a slight laughter in her voice.

"Then get out of here, Neal! Go and find your love."

Link slowly got up and hugged Christy
with all the gratitude he could muster.

"Thank you so much... I... you're the
most amazing woman I've ever known... I'm so glad that out of all the women in this world that I could've pretended to be in love with for the past 20 years... I'm glad it was you... I love you Christy White... I do... I know it's not the kind of love you've been dreaming of... or the love you deserve, but... you're a fantastic mother, and you deserve love too..."

"Link, please... don't make this harder
for me, then it already is just go please..."

Link slowly removed himself from
Christy's arms took his wedding band
off, and handed it to her.

"Here... I want you to have this. Do with it what you please, keep it... sell it... chuck it in the river... it's yours."

Christy held the ring tight in her hand as Link kissed her on the cheek and gave her one last smile before sprinting to his car and drove off into the night."

Please be kind. This is my first story and fanfic. Stay tuned! There's more to come! Please give it a vote and comment your thoughts.