P.S. *BARELY EDITED*

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     The phone was ringing.

       And without even looking at the screen, I already knew who it was. The same person who had been blasting my phone for the past week. And even when I knew better than to answer the call, I found myself unable to not do so.

        "James," I whispered loudly, mindful of Sebastian who was asleep on my bed next to me. "What do you want?" I asked and waited as nothing was said. After a few seconds, I sighed and slowly made a move to get off the bed without waking up the kid who squirmed while moving to his side. I watched him and prayed that he wouldn't wake up because that would have been the third time since he had fallen asleep.

         "I'm coming back home, Charlotte." I heard coming from the phone on my ear. For a second, while I concentrated my attention on a sleeping Sebastian to make sure he was alright, I had forgotten that James was still on the line, quiet until now.

         I sighed, got off the bed, walked out of the bedroom and slowly closed the door after me before walking down the stairs.

         "No, you're not." I replied simply. James and I needed some time apart, although he was quick to disagree with that statement, it was needed for my own well being. I needed him away from me so that I could figure out what I wanted to do, so that I could heal.

        I wasn't happy to have our family apart, especially with Sebastian's Asthma attacks being as frequent as they had been lately. So no, I didn't want him away from our home, the home we built together, our little family, but James had hurt me when I had told him never again, when I clearly had warned him that I wouldn't take it.

         "Charlotte, it's been two weeks. I need to come home. I need you to let me come home so that we can deal with this together."

         I shook my head even knowing that he couldn't see me. I opened the balcony connected to the living room and walked outside. The darkness of the sky made the stars seem even brighter. I took in the chill air of the night.

          "Charlotte."

         "I don't think it's a good idea, Darcy and saying my name repeatedly won't change that." No words. So I waited....and waited...and waited. Until,

        "Charlotte, I'm coming back home right now."

         Something in me was tired of fighting as I was emotionally exhausted and physically, well, this pregnancy hasn't been the smoothest, added to it was Sebastian's health which was harder to deal with when you yourself wasn't feeling particularly well.

         So yeah, I was at my breaking point. The point of giving up and letting all go. But what sort of life would will be living if I was to just swallow my pain and anger and resentment just so that I wouldn't have to go through this back and forth with him.

         I wanted my happy ending with James, I deserved it. Isn't it how it happened in every single romance books out there? But how much was I willing to endure to make that happen? A woman can take so much before she finally falls apart and breaks, and I will be damn if I let that happen to me.

          "I'm sure you know I won't let that happen. And now, I'm hanging up the phone so that I can try to find some much deserved sleep. See you tomorrow for the doctor's appointment. " And without giving him some time to reply, I hung up the phone and took a deep breath. A breath that I needed so desperately.

         I could keep asking myself, how did we end up here living separately when this time should have been the happiest of our lives. We had a baby on the way, something that we had thought about since getting engaged.

         For the first time in my life I knew that my life meant something. I was happy, truly happy to have been blessed with a life that for a moment, I didn't think I deserved. I've had made many mistakes in my life, there were things that I needed to learn.

        No one was ever perfect and I certainly wasn't, that I learned the deal with and was content with the fact that we accepted each other's strengths and weaknesses. Things were good, really good and I let my guards down.

        Maybe that was where the mistake was made on my part, letting my guards down was a mistake that I was now paying the price for. I should have known things were too good to be true. I should have known better than to believe that once in my life, I could have it easy.

        Things had never come easy for me, I've always had to fight for everything in my life and for the longest time, I had even resigned myself to that. Some people had it easy in life, I wasn't one of them and I had to accept that.

         Maybe this was why Darcy and I fit so well. Two broken souls who found refuge in each other. I loved him not because he was as broken as I was, but because I knew there was more to him than his fucked up past.

         I knew that within that darkness, there was something bright and beautiful. And that, that was what I fell in love with. That was the reason why when he stood at my door that night so many years ago now and begged me to take him back, I knew I wouldn't ever not do so. I knew that I would never say no again. This, I thought, was the beginning of our happy forever.

         So how did we end up here? Well because my fiance was a lying bastard. And deep down, I was still trying to come to terms with what this all meant and how to deal with it.

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        "Charlotte?"

         My heart skipped a beat the second I heard my name being called out. I stopped dead in my tracks, unable to take another step or move a muscle. How could I? Forget the ringing cellphone that I was digging into my purse for.

         I could recognize that voice anywhere. The voice of the last man I had made love to before Darcy and I had gotten back together.

         I turned around, and there he stood, all six feet one inch of him.

        "Chris." Our eyes met and for a second or an eternity while we stared at each, standing merely a few feet from one another in the hospital I worked at, nothing else mattered and all I could see and focus on was him.

         And then everything came crashing down. Things that I wasn't particularly proud of, things that I've tried my hardest to forget, things I've forced myself to explain my way out of in order to not feel so shitty.

        I shook my head slightly as I caught sight of him approaching me. No reason to dwell on the past now even if my past was literally staring me right in the eyes. I took a deep breath and plastered a smile on my face, hoping that this could hide how nervous I was.

        "Fancy seeing you here," He chuckled but I could tell there was an air of nervousness about him. At least I wasn't the only one feeling this way. "It's been..."

         "Too long." I replied.

         He nodded in agreement, a smile on his face while his eyes still held mine. He still looked as handsome as ever, nothing really had changed about him except for the nose ring and the fact that he was hundreds of millions of dollars richer than when we last saw each other, Thanks to the social networking app that he had launched a few years ago.

         Life had been good to Chris and I couldn't have been happier for him. And even though we had lost touch, I never could completely let go of him.

         "Yeah, too long." We both knew damn well how long it had been, no reason to start pretending as if he hasn't had a clue.

         "So, how's your mother and sister?" I blurted out when the silence between us stretched far too long, becoming awkward and most definitely uncomfortable.

        He chuckled, though I failed to see the humor in this whole situation or what I had said. "They are both great, thanks." He replied. I nodded.

          "I'm happy to hear that, though I'm sure I'm not their favorite person." I grimaced. Just the thought of those two women hating me made my stomach churn as I've always loved his mother and sister greatly.

         He shrugged and I took it for what it was. "So, I'm guessing you work here?" He asked and it took me a second to remember that I was still wearing my scrubs which I hadn't had time to change out of because I was late.

        "Oh, yeah," I smiled. "I'm just getting out of work now."

        "I see," his hands tucked away in his pockets. This could not be any more awkward. I wanted so badly to have this end so that I could leave and never again mention it, but neither one of us was willing to make the first move. And while I silently prayed for a way out of this uncomfortable mess, I hadn't expected that way out to be Darcy. Behind me, I heard the swoosh of the automatic doors as they opened.

         "Charlotte," I looked behind me as Darcy, dressed in one of his blue suits that I loved so much, was approaching me.

         "Oh hey look, the guy you left me for a day after I asked you to move in with me."

          Well, fuck me!

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