She Lays Down [h.s.]

Nine

It's their anniversary today and Mary has no idea what to expect because Alec has become a touch and go kind of guy and she's not even sure if he'll come home for her. She's been thinking about what he asked her on Valentine's Day and she wonders if he even listened.

He hasn't said a word to her since then, only texts, and she's still angry with him for not answering her calls when Ember was in the hospital. The least he could do is answer when she calls. She never calls him anymore and he should know that she wouldn't unless it's an emergency.

What bothers her the most about it though is the fact that he didn't come to see her and he didn't mention it. Ember asked for her daddy a few times but after a while she stopped because she knew that he wasn't coming. But Harry was there and he brought coloring books and he colored with her and taught her what she was missing in school and that seemed to make up for it.

Mary doesn't know what she wants to do about all of this. She knows that she should leave Alec, but for some reason she feels like she hasn't tried hard enough to keep him and maybe it's her that's pushed him away. She knows that he's still the man that she married, he's just not that man for her anymore.

But maybe he can be if she gives him one more chance and that's what scares her. If there's some part of him that still loves her and just needs a little push, she doesn't want to give that away. And that's reasonable she thinks because he's been her first everything: her first kiss, her first date, her first love, her first husband. And he's given her Ember, the most precious first anything that she's ever had.

On the other hand, there's Harry. He treats her like her husband should, better even, and he doesn't just want her for her body. Ember loves him like she should love Alec and he's so good to the two of them. Harry's been there when she feels like she wants the world to stop turning and he has always managed to make her feel so much better and change her thoughts from monochrome to bright colors.

And she really likes him. She feels like she's a teenager in love for the very first time again every time that she's with him and she's sure that he feels it too. But that also scares her because she used to feel that way with Alec and that clearly went away.

She's a mess of emotions and this time nobody can help her but herself.

Alec hasn't been home and he hasn't talked to her all day and she's not sure if he's just spending his last moments with Elena because she asked him to leave her, if he's just staying with Elena and avoiding her, or if he's actually planning something sweet for their anniversary.

More than anything, she wants him to actually listen to what she wants and stop cheating on her. But she has a feeling that he won't because he practically lives with Elena now and she's certain that she's taken a hold of his heart.

She wants to be okay with him moving on because it justifies her feelings for Harry, but he's still her husband and she's sad that he's moved on in the first place and she hasn't stopped loving him yet.

It's the middle of the day and she's not quite sure what to do because she's got the day off from work and Ember's at school. She'd text Harry because she likes talking to him, but he's also at school because it's his job.

She's tired of watching movies and she's not really in the mood to read. So, in honor of her anniversary and possibly moving on, she decides to take a walk down memory lane. The photo albums haven't been touched in years because she just hasn't had the heart to look at how great things were and how quickly they'd gone downhill.

She starts with the oldest album that's just of her and Alec when they were dating. He was so sweet back then.

"I'm not letting you go until you say it."