It's You: Book Two

Chapter Twenty Three

It took about an hour to get both kids back down, and then I went into the bathroom and took a long shower. I had told Aiden I wanted to be alone, and now I'm sitting on the edge of the tub in one of his sweatshirts and a pair of panties, inhaling his scent off the sleeves.

My mind is full of so many thoughts, but the only thing I can think about is my own marriage.

My parents seemed so in love, just like Aiden and I are. What if one day, everything changes for us, too?

I mean, we got into a fight today. We haven't even been married for a year yet, and we're already fighting.

I've poured everything I thought I knew about marriage into my own marriage, and now it feels like a lie.

Everything feels wrong, and I just want something to feel right for a few moments.

I hear a gentle tap on the bathroom door.

"Lex? Baby? Can I come in? You've been in there for a while. I just want to make sure you're okay."

I hastily wipe my eyes, as if it's going to magically make the fact that I've been crying disappear from my face.

"Yeah." I call.

The door opens and Aiden walks in wearing his underwear.

"I heard the shower shut off a while ago," he says softly. "Want to come lay down with me?"

What if we don't lay down together ever again? What if we get into a fight tomorrow and that's it?

"What if we end up divorced?" I whisper. "My parents were always so in love. Now they're getting divorced. What if we end up divorced?"

"That will never happen." He says.

"Aiden, we took forever to finally get together. We fought today. We haven't even been married for a year and we fought today. And what about before we were together? What if something happens, something bad, and you get scared to tell me? What if you keep something from me? Or I keep something from you? When stuff like that happens, we don't talk for a long time. Life can change in a split second. You never know what's going to happen. We didn't talk for seven years." I put the sleeves of his sweatshirt over my mouth and look down, my shoulders shaking as I cry.

I feel his hands on my bare thighs.

"Look at me." He murmurs.

I force my eyes up, looking into his warm, gentle blue ones.

"I am not going anywhere." He whispers. "Married people fight. When my parents fight, they scream. We barely fight, honey, we most just disagree and go back and forth until we have a solution. As for the whole keeping things from each other thing, I won't be doing that again, but you already know that." He smiles at me and reaches up to wipe my tears. "And if you were to hide something, or something happened and we got into a really bad fight, I'm still going to show up. I'm not letting you get away. I love you too much. We can work through anything. I know our past makes you fear for our future. I know that's why you stayed away so long when I told you about Dalia, but if we already made it this far after all that, do you really think there's something out there that can rip us apart?"

"Cheating." I sniffle.

"I would never cheat on you. I know you would never cheat on me." He smiles gently. "I promise you I'm not going anywhere. I promise you I'll never leave you. Until death do us part."

I lean down, put my hands on his face, and kiss him.

He kisses me back, and then I pull away.

"Now let's get in bed, okay? It's been a long day. You need to rest."