It Takes Two (Katy Perry)

Part 4

December 25th, 2011

Katy sat in the passenger seat, silently staring out the window, as Russell drove to Santa Barbara. It was Christmas morning and Russell had agreed, albeit reluctantly, to go to Katy’s parents’ house with his wife. The couple had called a temporary truce, wanting to enjoy Christmas, but Katy was unsure how long it would last if Russell tried to bring up the topic of wanting a child again. On top of that, she was still emotionally fragile and extremely confused after being taken advantage of by her husband the other night.

“Babe?” Russell asked tentatively, reaching his hand over to rest on Katy’s thigh, watching as she flinched involuntarily at the contact. He knew Katy was still upset so he was treading lightly, afraid to say something that would set her off again, especially today.

“Mmm?” replied Katy, still looking out the window.

“I love you,” said Russell softly, trying to reassure his beautiful wife.

She turned her head to look at him, a tear threatening to slip down her face. She wiped it away impatiently, cursing her emotions. “Do you?” she asked blankly.

Russell’s eyes opened wide. “Katy, I love you so much. Please don’t ever doubt that! I married you because I love you and I want you to be the mother of my child. I just want what’s best for you, baby!”

Katy snorted. “What’s best for me? You say that, but you’ve been practically trying to force me to have a baby.”

“Because I think you would make an amazing mother, Kate!” pleaded Russell, temporarily forgetting about the truce and arguing back. “You have so much love in your heart, and I know you love me, and you would love that child even more than you love me, I know it!”

“It’s not about whether I would love the child or not Russell! I know I would love it to the moon and back, but I’m not ready right now! And if you still don’t understand that and aren’t willing to accept it, we have a big problem! Actually, we have a big problem anyway, because in case you’ve forgotten, you raped me the other night, and you’ve refused to speak about it or apologise to me. I’ve never felt so fucking ashamed of myself as I did then, Russell.”

Russell didn’t respond, concentrating his eyes on the road ahead, and Katy huffed, pushing her husband’s hand off her thigh where it had been resting during their argument. She went back to looking out the window, trying fruitlessly to prevent the warm, salty tears from wetting her cheeks. The atmosphere in the car was tense, and neither of them spoke until they arrived.

As they pulled up in Hudson’s driveway, the door opened and Keith and Mary enthusiastically greeted their daughter and her husband.

“Katheryn! Merry Christmas sweetheart!” Mary said, opening her arms and giving Katy a big hug. “You too, Russell,” she added.

“Thanks Mary, Merry Christmas!” replied Russell, kissing her on the cheek. “Merry Christmas Keith,” he shook Katy’s father’s hand firmly with a smile.

Katy repeated the sentiments and followed her parents inside the house without a backwards glance at Russell. He sighed and trailed behind the group, hoping that Katy would forgive him soon. He hated being ignored by his wife, he wasn’t used to it.

Russell knew they had been fighting a lot for the last couple of months, and it always seemed to be his fault. He loved Katy with all his heart, but things weren’t going as he’d planned when he’d married her. All he wanted, more than anything, was for Katy to give him a child, someone he could be a father, a role model to. He hadn’t counted on Katy being more independent and strong willed than he’d originally thought. He knew she was a strong woman and admired her for that, but when she refused to give him a child, he was unable to let the subject go until he got what he wanted. Which didn’t seem likely anytime soon. And internally, he was berating himself furiously for what he’d done to his beloved wife, taking advantage of her when he was drunk. He was unable to talk to her about it or apologise, even though he knew she was expecting an apology, but he was too angry at himself to even think about it.

A/N: This chapter was getting way too long so I had to chop it in half. Which is why the ending is a little abrupt haha. I'll post the next part tomorrow sometime :) thanks for reading!