"Hey baby... I didn't expect you to answer, that's okay. I'm believing one day you'll give me another chance and pick up... No pressure though... I'm just, uh... I'm not calling to make things worse, darlin', I'm just hoping that with time you'll change your mind. I was just calling to tell you how much you mean to me. Since you've been gone, I've realized how much you changed my life. I miss you so much, baby. I know it's gonna take you a while to believe what I'm saying, and even longer to trust me again, that's okay too. You don't have to make your mind up right now, baby. However much time you need to come back to me, take it.... And I just wanted you to know that I'll never meet another woman like you, I know that, and I know I brought this on myself. So take your time, don't rush. I love you. I don't wanna spend my life with anyone but you, baby. Please come back to me."
You pulled the phone away from your ear, pressing 7 to delete the message left in your mailbox the night before. That was the 10th one in the week since you'd been gone. You clapped shut the burner flip phone. You had taken one of Tig's many cheap prepaid phones when you left Charming to stay with your best friend for a while.
You sighed as you studied the phone in your hands.
You had left the number with Gemma to reach you if there was an emergency, but you should have known better that Gemma would do anything to help Tig get you back. She continuously told you that you were the best thing that had ever happened to him, but you didn't know if you could come back now...
Tig had done the one thing he promised he wouldn't do anymore once you got with him, he got arrested.
You weren't an idiot. You knew who you were in love with: An outlaw, a biker, a criminal. You were certain he wouldn't avoid arrest entirely, but the promise was to TRY to stay clear of the police.
If you were honest, you could have lived with it if he had been arrested for something normal.
Of course the topic of discussion was Tig Trager, so his charges were always going to be anything but normal.
Public lewdness.... A charge that got not only himself locked up, but also the croweater he was caught with.
You felt betrayed when he called you from the jail asking if you'd drive 2 hours out to Reno to post his bail, but when you got there and realized what his charges were, you turned around and left without getting him out, stopping by Gemma's once you made it home with the bail money and your cell phone number.
You told Gemma that her or Clay could post his bail if they wanted to, but you were done.
Gemma, of course, tried to talk you out of it. She told you Tig had made a mistake and you should stick around and talk it out, chew him out, but try to forgive him.
Unfortunately you knew that sticking around wouldn't get through to Tig... At the very least you needed time away.
What Tig had done may have been excusable to some old ladies, you knew some who let their men run wild. Other old ladies, like Gemma, probably would've been pissed, electing to stand their ground and rip their old man a new one when he got home. You understood the theory, he was on a run, after all.
But in the relationship the two of you had, it wasn't excusable.
You knew you couldn't stick around to fight with him about it right now.
You needed to get away.
He had to know it wasn't okay.
He had to feel it with your absence.
And if he didn't learn his lesson then you'd just stay gone.
He had broken your trust.
You guessed Gemma or Clay had posted his bail because this missed call was from his cell phone. He was right, you had changed his life, but he had changed yours too. You loved him with the entirety of your being, and a part of you knew you'd end up back in Charming eventually, but the other part of you wanted to be strong, stay gone, make him pay for how he humiliated you.
A knock on the front door roused you from your thoughts as you took a sip of your tea and looked across the room to your best friend who shrugged and stood to answer the door. As soon as she opened it you heard him, Alexander Trager, asking if you were here.
You couldn't believe he drove the 100 miles away from Charming to get to your friend's place just in the hopes that you'd be here. You hadn't told anyone where you were going, so there was no way Tig could've known for sure this is where you were.
You rolled your eyes, although secretly impressed at his initiative, and stood from your seat as your friend stepped aside letting him walk in the door. He pulled off his sunglasses and stared at you for a moment in awe before you scoffed and walked into the hallway and towards the spare bedroom you were inhabiting. The soft padding of boots on the carpet behind you told you that Tig was following. He stepped into the room just as you sat yourself down on the edge of the bed.
He closed the door, walking to the bedside and getting down on his knees in front of you. From the look on his face, the dark circles under his eyes, you knew he hadn't slept much, if at all, the last couple days.
"Baby I–"
"Save it, Tig..." you sighed, "I've heard it before."
"Not from me," he countered.
He was right, you had been cheated and lied to by other men in the past but never Tig. He was always so honest with you, but that just made what he did sting even worse.
"Oh okay so I'm supposed to be okay with it because this was your first fuck up?" you huffed, shaking your head and closing your eyes.
"No, baby. No. I know I messed up and I know I will never deserve you.... But I need you, (Y/N). I'm sorry and I need you."
His voice cracked when he spoke the last sentence, making you open your eyes again and look up at him. Your sweet man was torn up, you couldn't bear to see him hurt, not after all he'd been through in life before God brought him to you.
His head was hung, staring at the floor in front of his knees, silent.
"Hey," you whispered, his head slowly lifting to meet your eyes, "We have some stuff to talk about..." you trailed off, reaching out to touch his cheek. He instinctively leaned into your touch, closing his eyes and placing his hands on your thighs.
"... But I forgive you," you finished, pulling your hand back to rest on top of his.
"Oh baby," he shook his head as relief washed over his face and he pushed himself up to his feet, pulling you up with him and into a hug.
"I love you.... Never again, Alex," You murmured against his chest.
"Agreed. I love you (Y/N)," he spoke softly as he held you tightly, swaying side to side with you gently in the small bedroom, "Let's go home."
