A few nights later
Louis
I lay in bed, scrolling through my phone as Grace lies next to me watching TV. She's not normally this quiet, which leads me to believe that something is going on inside her head that she won't tell me. Either that or she doesn't know how to say it.
I set my phone on the nightstand beside the bed and shift my body to face her. "What are you thinking about?" Her eyes remain focused on the television.
"What makes you believe that I'm thinking about something?"
"You're rarely this quiet. What's going on?" She sighs and grabs the remote, turning the TV off.
"You're going to think I'm crazy for bringing this up now."
"Grace, we started dating after knowing each other for a day and got married on the same day your ex fiancé got sent to jail. I'm clearly fine with crazy."
"Obviously if you put up with me." She sighs, her eyes still not focusing on me.
"Hey, I love you. I chose to be with you, and I'm very happy with my decision. I couldn't think of anyone else that I would want to spend my life with. No matter what happens, I'm here for you. I don't plan on changing that either."
"You can't deny that I do tend to go a little overboard with things."
"Some things need a little extra attention, and that's completely fine. There's nothing wrong with that." I really don't know where she's going with this, and I'm not sure that I want to find out.
"Do you remember not too long after we met and we went to the tattoo shop?" My eyes glance down to the rose tattoo on my wrist that I got that day. The same day she got her tattoo symbolizing strength, which is the one that she now says 'was a dumb thing to do because everyone has one now.' She says that she wants to get it covered up with something else, but claims she hasn't had the time.
"Yeah." I say quietly, swallowing thickly. I have a small feeling that I know where she's going with this.
"The day you got mad at me for asking about your tattoo."
"I wasn't mad at you.."
"Louis, you can say it. I was annoying you and I shouldn't have repeatedly bothered you about something personal to you. I didn't realize it then but I do now."
"Where is this coming from? Why are you thinking about this?"
"I was thinking about how much I struggled to keep anything that I did private from Aaron. How much he would drive me absolutely nuts trying to get things out of me, and I know that I didn't like it. But he didn't just do it verbally."
"You don't have to continue.."
"If I don't continue, it'll just stay bottled up inside me. One day, I'm bound to burst and I don't want to go off on you. I'd rather not explain my situation to a stranger, they would just put me on medication and tell me I'll be fine. I don't want to be fine. I want to know that he's nowhere near me and getting what he deserves."
"Grace." I pull her body close to mine, wrapping my arms tightly around her. "He's locked away in jail. He's not going to get you. You're safe with me."
"What if he gets out and comes for me? What if he tries to get the twins?"
"Listen, I will do anything to keep the three of you safe. No matter what it is, I'm going to make sure that you guys aren't in danger. I will not let anyone hurt you the way he did." I can feel my shirt beginning to get wet as the tears fall down her face and I pull her closer.
"He asked me a year ago today...I don't even know why I was stupid enough to say 'yes'. I should've just left then."
"Just think about this. If you never said yes to him, there's a big possibility that we wouldn't be in the situation that we are now. We wouldn't be married, we wouldn't have two adorable little babies running around the house. Who knows where we would be if that never happened? Everything happens for a reason, Grace, and that day brought us together. You should've never had to go through what you did to get to this point, but you made it. Do you know what got you to this point?"
"You." She mumbles into my chest and I smile slightly, resting my hand on her shoulder, on top of the tattoo that she has grown to hate.
"I was actually going to say strength but that too." I kiss the top of her head and rest my head on the pillow. "Both strength and I are going to continue pulling through the rough patches of life."
We lay here in silence until we both eventually end up falling asleep. Thankfully, the twins made it through the night and allowed us to sleep a full night for once. I know that we both needed the extra rest, as our sleeplessness has been leading to unwanted memories and nightmares.
Hopefully, the memories will remain as they are and not come back to haunt us once again.
//
this is really short but I wanted to get an update up since I haven't had many ideas lately and I thought of something quick. thank you so much for all the reads, votes, and comments on both this and new girl lately ♡
- ilovemusic_143
