Wilmer didn't say anything as he switched places with Demi and held Isabella in his arms just like he had been doing for the past fourteen years. For fourteen years he had thought that he had done a pretty good job of protecting her from all of the evils of the world, but here she was in the middle of a park in Paris right in front of the Eiffel Tower, crying her little heart out because the woman that was supposed to be her mother had broken it. And Wilmer didn't know how to fix this one. He didn't know what to say to fix this one. All he could do was hold her and rub her back and kiss her forehead as she cried and cried and cried with no signs of stopping.
He hated Rosalie. He loathed Rosalie. Wilmer had never hated someone so much in his entire life but he really did hate her. He always looked at her as the woman who gave him the greatest gift that he could ever receive but it had never been a gift to her. It had been a burden that she had carried for nine months and then carelessly tossed his way when she decided that she didn't feel like dealing with it anymore. There was a pit of rage inside of his stomach that bubbled up just at the thought of her. And now that precious gift was almost on his lap crying like there was no tomorrow because Rosalie had carelessly broken her heart.
"No matter what I'm always gonna be here for you. I'm always gonna protect you and I'll never leave you. And right now, I know it doesn't seem like enough, but I promise that you can always lean on me, Isa. I love you so much," he whispered into her ear as she began to calm down. Her shoulders weren't shaking and her breathing was slowing down a little bit so he wasn't as freaked out about her having an asthma attack. She didn't say anything back to him and she didn't need to. As long as she heard him, everything would be okay.
"I don't want you to get sick because you have that ballet class tomorrow, remember? So let's head back to the hotel." When Demi had first found out about the Rosalie situation and had realized the effect that it was having on Isabella, she scheduled a special two day ballet camp for her with one of Paris's greatest instructors. She knew it wasn't much but she just wanted to cheer her up and knowing how much she liked to dance, she figured that it would. Wilmer would have to remember to thank her for that...and a lot of other things.
Wilmer stood up first and then helped Isabella up, wrapping his arm around her and bringing her close to his body as she clung onto his coat and they began to walk back towards where they had parked. Even though Demi had left, she was nice enough to send Max back for them and he was grateful for that because international cabs were expensive.
Once back at the hotel, Wilmer made sure that Isabella got showered and ate something and was warm enough before she crawled into bed and immediately fell asleep. Poor girl was exhausted from everything that had been happening and he didn't blame her. With a kiss on the head and a little note left on the hotel stationery, Wilmer left the room to go up and talk to Demi.
He knocked a few times and then waited for her to answer. She had once went on a rant about how impatient people were in today's society, even though she really wasn't one to talk. He didn't want to bother her so he waited a few minutes before he knocked again and then took a tiny step away from the door. He heard shuffling and then the door was pulled open a little bit and Demi's right side was revealed. She must've taken her makeup off because he could see deep purple bags underneath her eyes, and even though she had glasses on it was clear that her eyes were red. Deeply red. Like crying for days without stopping red and he wondered what had happened.
"Demi, let me in." She shook her head a little bit and went to close the door but he was faster and his foot kept it from closing.
"I'm worried about you. Let me in. What happened?" Her bottom lip began to tremble as she slowly pulled open the door until her whole body was revealed. At first he didn't see it; how could he? Her head was down. But then she craned her neck a little bit when she turned to walk away from him and he saw the long jagged scar that was practically glowing red, going from the bottom of the left side of her jaw all the way to the upper part of her nose. What the hell had happened to her?
"What happened to your face Demi?" They walked further into the room and Demi almost walked into the bathroom until he stopped her and caressed her face in his hands, causing her to wince and pull away from him, but he still held her close and he was gentle. He wasn't going to hurt her and he tried to convey that with his eyes but she was already crying.
"It just happened so fast," she choked out, placing her delicate fingers over his wrists so that he would drop his hands from her face, but he couldn't take his eyes off of that scar. He would do that to her?
"Nick found the tests and he opened them and assumed that I cheated on him with Kevin. The twins are Kevin's and I tried to explain it to him but he kicked me out of our house and then he just got so angry...it's all my fault. I should've just told him," she cried, her inner angst taking over as she collapsed on one of the couches.
"It's not your fault. He shouldn't have put his hands on you, no matter how angry he was. How long ago was this?" Wilmer could kill Nick...and Kevin. He could add those two to the same list that Rosalie was on. Why did they have to have such shitty people in their lives?
"He left an hour ago. I don't know what to do. He probably hates me and I didn't even get to tell him the truth." How could she be worried about what Nick thought of her when there was a scar from him taking up half of her face. Wilmer chose not to say anything and instead went to the bathroom. He soaked a washcloth in cold water and pulled a first aid kit out from underneath one of the sinks before walking back into the bedroom and plopping down next to Demi.
"How's Isabella?"
"We're not talking about her right now...we can talk about her later. Right now, it's about you. Okay?" Demi nodded as Wilmer poured a little bit of rubbing alcohol onto the washcloth. It was gonna sting but he really needed to clean that cut out before it got infected and she wouldn't be able to cover it up for a few days.
"Ouch," Demi hissed as the washcloth made contact with the cut and Wilmer began to dab along it, Demi's teeth slowly unclenching and her grasp on Wilmer's arm loosening as he finished. He dabbed a little bit of Neosporin along the cut. It wasn't that bad after he had gotten it cleaned and everything but it shouldn't have been there in the first place. Wilmer didn't care how angry Nick was or what he had just found out. You don't put your hands on a woman, or anyone else for that matter.
"I don't know what I'm gonna tell the twins. Nick doesn't want anything to do with them...or me. Everything is falling apart. I should've just told him right after it happened and none of this would be happening right now. My family is gonna fall apart and it's all my fault." Demi began to sob again and Wilmer still had no words for her. Comforting people wasn't his thing. All he could offer was some cuddling and support and Demi looked like she needed a little bit more than that. But that didn't stop him from pulling her into his arms, just like he had done with Isabella, and rubbing her back until she started to calm down a little bit.
What was happening to both of them was just so unfair and Wilmer didn't know how to fix any of it. Isabella's heart was broken by her own mother and Demi was crying in his arms with a scratch on her face from her own husband. It just so messed up, all of it was, but what was even more messed up was that the only thing that Wilmer had to offer them was his unwavering support. And right now, that just didn't feel like enough.
"Sorry," Demi suddenly said, breaking the silence in the extravagant suite.
"What?"
"I'm sorry for ignoring you. I really am. I just thought that if I focused on my marriage then I would forget what happened..." so she had been thinking about it as well. Wilmer knew that it wasn't as easy as she made it seem, to just forget about all of her problems and focus on other things. She was just ignoring him because she didn't want to face what happened and that made him feel a little better about it. Just a little bit.
"I mean, you're married and you have all of this stuff going on. It's not like anything could happen anyways," Wilmer said after he had cleared his throat a little bit. He was upset at the words that were coming out of his mouth but they needed to be said. This was their reality. Nothing between them would ever work out so why try to begin with?
"Yeah..." she trailed off as she sat up a little bit and faced him. She had never told him this before but he was so handsome to her. He had a type of rugged beauty to him. His facial hair needed a bit of a trim but it suited him. And his eyes, she loved his eyes. They were so dark that they were almost black but they had so much depth in them, like he had seen the world, the beautiful parts and the ugly parts, and he had allowed it to shape who he was today. He was the total opposite of Nick, and maybe that's part of the reason why she was so attracted to him, but it wasn't just his looks. It was his soul. It was his very being, his comforting personality, that annoying smirk he wore, the amazing father that he was to Isabella; it was everything all packed into one and that's why she couldn't forget what had happened in that garden.
Wilmer should've stopped her when he noticed that she was starting to lean in towards him a little bit. He should've reminded her of the reality of their situation and then abruptly left because it was the right thing to do. Maybe she didn't realize that she was insanely close to his face and if either of them moved a tiny bit then their lips would faintly brush against each other's. Maybe she was a little out of it when her soft yet cold hands caressed his face, and she sat up on her knees so that she was really face level with him and she was so close that her breath was directly blowing onto his face. Strawberries...she had eaten some strawberries.
Whatever it was, Wilmer didn't push her away. Instead he moved closer to her and wrapped his arms around her waist, slowly, just to make sure that it was okay. She didn't protest so he assumed that it was. And then her forehead was resting against his and both of their uneven breaths were colliding against each other in the small space that separated their mouths and her eyes were closed and it looked like she was fighting the same battle that he was: to pull away or to not pull away?
Finally, after what seemed like a century in that position, her lips were on his and at first he kept his mouth closed but when her tongue ran over the seam of his lips, he willing opened it. And then their tongues were intertwined and his fingers were in her short locks, pulling her closer as they hungrily kissed each other. She was on his lap in an instant, deepening the kiss and pushing his limits as she released a breathy moan into his mouth. This woman would be the death of him, but if this was how he would die, he didn't mind.
But they were interrupted by a shrill cry from the next room, probably one of the twins. And that was their wake up call, their signal from reality that their time was up and it was time to get back to the real world despite how much both of them didn't want to. They didn't pull away until another cry sounded from the room along with "mommy" and Demi finally untangled herself from Wilmer's arms and stood up. She combed her fingers through her hair and licked her lips as Wilmer straightened his clothes out and stood up as well.
"I'll see you later." He didn't know if it would be appropriate to kiss her again, if he could even handle kissing her again, but it would be weird if they hugged it out or something, right?
Before he could ask, Demi stood on the tips of her toes and kissed his cheek. It lasted seven seconds longer than it needed to, and with a goodbye from her, he was out of the room.