Hurts Like Hell ˚ E. Lehnsherr [3]

Prologue

A/N: This may or may not be confusing, if you have any questions feel free to ask!

Italics = Memories/Explanation from Riley

Normal = Currently happening 

"Now why don't you tell me a little bit about why you're here?" Edward Haines said gently, knowing the woman in front of him was currently emotionally unstable.

"You know why I'm here." Riley said from her spot on the couch across from him. 

"I do, you're right." The man paused, flipping his notebook open and pulling a pen out of the drawer in his desk. "But I'm more interested in hearing it from you." 

She looked up at him for the first time in ten minutes, her eyes red from crying and lack of sleep. "What do you want me to say?" She scoffed, shaking her head slowly. "I'm here to get help, not give a summary of my life." 

"I promise you, that's not what we're doing. Please, just tell me about it." Edward assured kindly, reaching his hand over to hold hers, only to have her snatch it away quickly. She sighed, looking up at him with tired eyes. "Now, will you tell me Ms. McCoy?" 

Riley nodded slowly, her hands clutching the bottom of the cushion nervously. "I... We were-..." She sighed once more, running a hand through her hair roughly. "Everything was fine until..."

...Erik's eyes looked over Riley's sleeping form slowly, stopping at her growing stomach. He gently brushed his hand over it, placing a kiss to her forehead before sliding out of the bed slowly. He sighed, making his way into the living room while he ran a hand through his hair.

Riley immediately noticed the lack of warmth by her side and opened her eyes, sitting up when she saw she was once again alone as she had been most nights now. She stood and carefully made her way through the darkness, seeing Erik's silhouette sitting on the couch like he usually did. She sat next to him, not saying a word for a few moments. "Same one?" Riley asked quietly, her hand finding his.

"What?" Erik jumped at the sudden contact of her cold skin, his eyes barely making out her form in the dark living space.

"That nightmare you've been having lately." She explained, scooting closer to him as she did so. "It won't happen, Erik..."

"How could you possibly know that?" He asked in a hurt tone before standing up quickly.

"We are not going to lose this baby, Erik." She paused, taking his hands in her own. "I promise."

"Did you-"

"Did we lose the baby?" She interrupted. "No." 

Edward tilted his head, not fully understanding. "But your file says-"

"That we did." Riley scoffed. "We lost her... But not when...Not the way we thought." She looked up to the Brit, her eyes clouding with more tears. "We thought everything was okay. That we had nothing to worry about..." She trailed off, eyes moving to the picture of Edward's family that was on his desk. 

"What happened, Riley?" He asked confused. 

Riley's eyes snapped back to him and she gave an emotionless chuckle. "I don't know. I've thought about it... Time and time again." She closed her eyes, her mind going back to that day.

"Erik!" Riley screamed in panic, her eyes flooding with tears. "Erik, help!" She screamed again, her whole body going cold. He ran into the nursery, his eyes instantly meeting the pale form in her arms. "E-Erik..." She cried, her eyes meeting his. "I-I don't know what happened! She was sleeping a-and I came in to check on her and-" Riley cut herself off, another sob escaping her throat. 

"She was dead when you found her?" Edward's voice brought her out of her memory, his eyes softening upon meeting hers. "I'm so sorry, Riley-"

She shook her head, a smile on her face that didn't reach her eyes. "The sad part is... That's not the worst of it all." 

He swallowed thickly, unsure of how to go about this. "Would you be able to explain for me, Ms. McCoy?" 

"After we lost our girl..." Riley paused, using her hands to wipe away rogue tears. "Something in him changed... When he showed up at my door he... It was like all of that crazy stuff with him had never happened. It was as if we hadn't met the way we did." She explained. "But after losing our baby, something in him snapped and he just..." 

"Did he hurt you?" Edward asked curiously.

Riley's head shot up, her mouth agape. "No! Never! What kind of question is that?" 

"I apologize-"

"Not physically." She cleared up. "But he hurt me emotionally... The day when he disappeared from my life..."  

Edward stood, walking over to Riley slowly and taking the seat on the couch next to her. He took her hand in his own. "I'm sorry for opening the hatch on this..." He whispered, pulling her into him as she began to cry harder. 

After a few moments, Riley pulled her head up to look at him, her tears still flowing. "I'm not..." She whispered, her hand pulling away from his slowly. "Maybe that was what I needed." She pondered, her hand now making it's way up his stomach to his chest. "You know, to get over it." 

Edward nodded slowly while a shiver ran up his spine from her touch. "Well, that's what my job is..." He breathed out, suddenly noticing how close they were. He cleared his throat and stood quickly, straightening out his jacket and pulling his glasses off. "Same time next week, Ms. McCoy?" He asked, not waiting for an answer as he left the room. 

And so the story begins...