Falling

Steel City: Part 2

I really wanted Link and Noah to have a more playful interaction. There's always something looming, of course, but they're human and deserve that. This chapter has some of my favorite moments. Enjoy!

Song for this chapter is Taylor Swift- Delicate!

Link stared at his left hand for a long time, sipping the coffee he had made and picking at the bag of chips he had left over from his flight the night before. The silver of his wedding band glinted in the sunlight streaming through the little kitchen window behind him, a flashy reminder of the past 15 years of his life. He thumbed the band, a habit of his, twisting it around the finger that Christy had slipped it on the day they'd gotten married.

He had thought about this moment for a long time; when the urge would hit him and the moment was right, but he'd never dreamt it would happen like this. He'd never thought it would happen under these circumstances, with things getting messier by the minute. Last night had been one of the worst of his life, but he had never been so sure about anything before.

With a deep, slow breath, Link pulled the band off, holding it between two fingers before laying it on the wooden table with a small 'tap'. His finger looked naked, his hand looked foreign without the piece of jewelry and he couldn't help but study the pale strip of skin under where the ring had sat. He had thought it would kill him, make his heart seize up and knock the winds from within his lungs but...he felt fine. In fact, Link felt like a weight had been lifted from his chest, or from his finger.

He closed his eyes, taking one more deep breath before cracking his bare knuckles and a small smile.

He had called his Mom when he had woken up, told her everything but where he was and who he was with, and dealt with her questions and concerns. It wasn't that he didn't want to tell her about Noah, but they hadn't talked about what they were yet and this whole thing seemed so fragile, so new.

He supposed they were sleeping together, at the very least, but they had professed their feelings for one another the night before in the only way they knew how and everything had shifted. His being with someone other than Christy was a very real possibility and even though he needed some time, if it meant losing Noah he would reconsider everything.

Just thinking of the redhead still asleep in the other room made his chest buzz with warmth. The fact that she'd shown up because she couldn't stay away, the fact that she'd missed him, admitted she all but loved him, had been his rock and shining star for months, it all made him dizzy in the best ways and everything worth it. He had been hit with this realization that she was real, that she was what his heart had always needed and even though the timing was off, he was beyond grateful he had found it at all.

Yeah, he would eventually tell his Mom about Noah, the world if he could. He was sure of it. The girl was his future if she wanted to be, and boy did he hope she wanted to be.

The soft groan of a person stretching awake in the other room caught his attention and he looked toward the open doorway in front of him before checking his phone for the time. It was almost 11:00, and he saw the text notification from Christy glaring at him in a faded notification box over the clock. His confidence, the strength he had felt, it all faltered just a little as his thumb hovered over the text box before clicking it open. He couldn't avoid this; couldn't avoid her and what had happened.

C '10:57am- I know you won't answer if I call. Sue told me you went back to California until tomorrow, and then she told me I should be ashamed of myself. We need to talk. The kids keep asking me about you and I made a mess of everything. Call me. Please.'

Link threw the phone on the table, heat flaring up his neck to his head.

No shit you made a mess of everything.