Ellen
How to be brave?
How can I love when I'm afraid?
Ellen threw the magazines to the other side of the room and let her tired body fall on the bed. She searched for a pillow to bury her face in and let out a scream.
How had this happened? How was it possible that her life had completely turned into nuts? Two days before she had been lying almost naked on a beach, completely happy and relaxed in the arm of the love of her life, her body tired after what had been quite possibly the best orgasm of her life. And now, she was in her bedroom - her stylish, Californian, blue and brown bedroom, crying over a few magazines, her husband's reaction and her life being a total hell.
The words of the articles - all over the most famous US magazines: People, Hello, E! - mixed with Chris' words in her ears, dispelling the very little self-control she had left.
Rumours confirmed after 10 years.
Real reason why Grey's Anatomy star Patrick Dempsey left the show.
Ellen Pompeo and Patrick Dempsey's secret affair.
Most shipped couple of TV-shows had a hot rendezvous in Italy.
"You're a bitch, a dirty, lying bitch."
"You were fucking him, again, like a filthy whore while I was here taking care of your daughters!"
"You are worthless, Ellen. As a lover, as a wife, as a mother. Even as a actress."
"I loved you, I married you, and you threw my heart away."
"You've always been lying to me!"
Her phone kept on ringing, but she couldn't bear herself to raise her head from her pillow and look at the screen. Anyway, she was sure she knew who was calling her. It was Patrick - and she had been avoiding him for days, except for random text messages. After the magazines, it was even worse. She was sure he was worried about her, maybe he wanted to check on Chris' reaction, he probably even wanted to rescue her. Rescue her. No one could rescue a woman who had always been taking care of herself. She didn't need him, she didn't need Chris. She could do it alone, she could face a Hollywood scandal, she could protect herself from her husband. She had raised herself after losing her mother at the age of three, all of this was bullshit compared to it.
"Mommy?" a flebile voice asked from the door, and when she forced herself to raise her head she saw Stella and Sienna, holding hands and checking worriedly on her.
She didn't need anyone - she just needed her girls. Her girls were everything to her - they were her strength, her backbone, her courage, the light of her life, her world. With them by her side, she felt like she could overcome any difficulty that came her way. They were her precious little jewels - she would be completely lost without them.
"Princesses," she breathed, faking a smile and immediately drying her tears with her hands. She could easily tell that Sienna wasn't feeling well, but Stella was six - she started to understand things. A lot of things, actually. "Come here," she encouraged, gently patting the blanket next to her. The girls smiled and ran to her, cuddling their little bodies to her.
"Mama 'urt?" Sienna asked, putting her little, pale hand on Ellen's cheek.
"Mommy's fine," Ellen assured, kissing her moist hand. She was fine - she had to be. She wasn't going to have her children suffer for any of this. She was willing to pick them up in the middle of the night and move to Alaska to actually protect them.
"You're crying," Stella objected, raising an eyebrow.
"I'm not," Ellen giggled.
"You is!" Sienna screamed, clapping her hands and nodding to her sister.
"Do you love mommy?" Ellen asked, gently caressing Sienna's blonde hair.
"Yes!" the little girl yelled.
"And you, Stell?"
"I love you lots, mommy!" Stella grinned, revealing her toothless smile.
"I'm not sad, I'm perfect."
She pulled her girls close to her, each one of them on a hip, letting her tired boy lay down, trying to gain the nerve to face all of this.
She was ok. She had to be.
"Mommy?" Stella asked after a few minutes of cuddling and giggling. "Me and Sienna wanted ice-cream"
"Sienna and I," Ellen gently corrected, stroking her daughter's cheek.
"You can come too, silly mama!" she giggled.
Ellen laughed and kissed each of their heads. "Go get your shoes".
The girls ran out of the room, and Ellen took a deep breath, trying to calm down. Her iPhone buzzed next to her and she reached out for it to read the text message, being sure it was from Patrick. But she was wrong, it was Kate.
Kate Walsh was an hundred and eighty centimetres of beauty, along with a pair of legs longer than the Highway and long, perfect red hair. She had starred in Grey's years ago - as Derek's wife, actually! - and her funny, carefree and kind nature had won over both Ellen and Patrick.
Shonda Rhimes had wrote for Kate's character a spin-off at the end of season three, but she and Ellen had managed to keep in touch through the years. She was always happy to hear from her, Kate was always able to bring a smile back on her lips. But now she was completely terrified that her text had something to do with the magazines: Kate was capable of asking about it directly, instead of avoiding the subject, thing that anyone considered well education.
With a slightly trembling finger, Ellen unlocked her screen and read the text: Hey, beautiful blondie! Crappy day, uh? Wanna meet? Sure u need a friendly ear & some cookies. No judgment, u know me. xx K.
She typed a reply quickly. Taking the girls for ice-cream, wanna come along? Just remember to code-talk! ;) See u in 15 - E and she added the address.
If she was going to let someone in, it was Kate. She knew her, she knew Patrick, she loved them both. And she was mature and intelligent in every advice she gave. Ellen needed Kate too, maybe.
She smiled slightly, trying to see some light in a dark day. When the iPhone rang in her hands, she unconsciously replied.
"Hello?"
"Ellie."
Oh, crap. It was him, his voice tired and distant, as if coming from miles away.
"Hey."
"Hey? You've ignored my calls for days and now you reply with hey?!"
"What do you want?" she snapped back. She wasn't going to deal with him too, today. She was in this mess because of him. Because of the hair, and the... scent, and his amazing blue eyes and... What the hell had he been doing in Italy and at the same wedding she was at?! Karma. Karma was a bitch!
"I'm worried about you. I wanna talk to you - and...and I miss you like crazy."
Always him. Always like that. He came, he threw a bomb on her and she was done.
I miss you.
She missed him too - she did. But she couldn't - not anymore.
"You left," she hissed, lowering her tone. She didn't need Sienna and Stella to hear any of this. "You left me in that trailer, then you came back after five months and told me a lot of things - things I don't need! Not now, not never! I have a husband - okay, I don't know if I still have a husband but I have two adorable princesses and I don't want them to have a mother who fools around with a man with perfect hair. You wanted to fuck me, Paddy? I hope you are happy with what you got. You got in my pants and now you can leave me alone because you are unreliable and I don't need a man like you!".
She ended the call and threw the phone on the bed. She was going to have ice-cream with her children and her friend and she didn't need her iPhone. And Patrick could go screw himself.
***
"Yes, Sienna. Like that. You finish this and I taste the strawberry," Kate said to Sienna, sitting with her in her lap on a swing, Stella next to her. The girls loved Kate. Ellen had spent half an hour giggling, laughing and eating and she had to say she was definitely feeling better.
Kate had everything under control: she fed the little girls, wiped their dirty hands and sent them to play. She gave Ellen the time to call after Stella "Watch your sister" and then said with an inquisitive pair of eyes, "Spill".
Ellen took a deep breath and let it out; the wedding, Chris' reaction, the phone call with Patrick.
"I still don't understand. He loves you..." Kate replied softly.
"No, he doesn't. He doesn't."
"He did. Oh, El, please! He's always loved you, everybody knew it. Everybody knew that you two were in love with each other, except you two."
"He left me."
"You can't forgive him because he walked away. But he offered you a way out, right? He did."
"He talked about a stupid cottage in Maine! Stell, watch out! A stupid cottage, Kat! Who the hell does he think I am? Some sort of Hollywood princess?"
"Yes, pretty ridiculous. But still."
"He just wanted in my pants, that's all."
"You slept with him? I mean, in Italy, and never during Grey's?"
"I've never slept with him. We just... We did things, we... He - he tasted me."
"Holy crap! So proud of you two!" she squealed and Ellen hit her arm. "Shut up, bitch, I don't need other crap on the magazines!"
"Sorry, blondie, sorry."
"It's just - Ten years, Kat... I got to kiss him for the first time after ten years and that's what I got from it!"
"What? No. You've kissed him before."
"Why don't you believe me? I said I didn't!"
"It's not that I don't believe you, it's that I've seen you two kiss before!"
It had been an impossibly hot day which had turned - no one knew how - into this fresh, warm and nice night.
The Grey's cast had been reunited to celebrate People's Choice Award 2007 in Shonda's villa and almost everyone was there. Every member of the cast, every member of the crew. It was impossibly busy and everyone was impossibly happy - especially Ellen, who had felt on top of the world for a week now. She had held her award up in front of a theatre full of people. She still couldn't believe that she had won Best Actress. A good part of the public believed she was the best actress on tv, or something like that.
Something like that because she wasn't sure how many cocktails she had had and her brain was starting to feel slightly fuzzy. She was carrying her impossibly high heels in her hands, dancing on the terrace, alone. She loved to dance alone, especially when she felt so... complete. The day before yesterday, she was doing cocktails on a beach in Miami and now she had just won one of the most amazing awards in Hollywood. Good job, Pompeo. She giggled to herself, eagerly sipping at her frozen margarita.
"I've always loved that sound," a voice - a soft, warm voice right beside her confessed, and she looked up, surprised.
"Paddy," she giggled again, her emerald eyes meeting his blue ones. She loved his eyes. His smile, his hair... His arms. She loved him. She spent most of her lucid time stressing herself on whatever she was really feeling for Patrick Dempsey, but now, right now, happy and drunk, without a reason to worry in the world, she wasn't afraid of admitting it: she loved him. Always had, always will be. "You told me," she reminded him.
He leaned closer, an arm gently wrapping around her waist. She let her head rest on his shoulder, the great amount of tequila in her veins making her feel bolder than usual. When she was lucid, she tended to over-analyze every move she made around Patrick. Maybe because she wanted to ignore how good it felt to be around him.
Being with him like this was especially nice. She hummed contently when she felt his fingers in her hair and she unconsciously nuzzled her face into his neck.
"You happy?" he breathed in her ear.
"Very." She giggled. "And almost as drunk"
"You deserved it". His hand travelled to her face and raised it up by her chin. "You deserve it all". And just like that his lips closed on hers. His arm brought her body closer to his as their mouths fused together, their tongues melding. It wasn't a brief kiss, but the contact, since they had wished for it for years, seemed too quick to both when a voice calling for them came from the inside...
"Oh gosh," Ellen breathed, cupping her head with both hands. "I've kissed him before and I can't remember it...".
Kate caressed her back, trying to calm her down. "It's ok," she murmured. "It will be ok, I'm sure of it. But blondie, you need to call him.."
"No..."
"You have to. You need to meet him and talk things out."
"Left the iPhone at home."
"No problem."
Kate grabbed her own phone from her bag and typed a quick text to Patrick, whose reply came almost immediately.
Tell her she can come over now. Or whenever she wants. And tell her I love her.
"I'll be watching the girls," Kate added, smiling widely.
-
Patrick
But watching you stand alone
all of my doubt
suddenly goes away somehow...
One step closer...
Patrick sat on the deckchair in the back porch of his house in Venice Beach, waiting impatiently for Ellen to come. Kate had texted him about half an hour ago, informing him that Ellen was coming over to talk to him. And while the prospect of seeing Ellen again excited him, Patrick was also furious about the way Ellen had talked to him on the phone earlier. He had just called to check on her, because he fretted about her, he cared about her - he loved her - and she had snapped at him. She had practically told him to fuck off when he had tried to express his concern for her. No wonder that he was beyond mad. He had every damn right to be mad. And he definitely wasn't planning to let her off the hook easily, especially when she didn't consider his case either.
However, Patrick all but jumped out of his chair when he heard a car's horn in his driveway. No matter how mad he was at Ellen, he couldn't help but get excited and eager to see her. He collected himself though, and sat in what he hoped was a casual manner in his chair, waiting for Ellen to come out on the porch.
"Paddy...?" Ellen called out for him from the living room in a tentative voice.
"Out on the porch," Patrick called out in reply, and flexed his fingers anxiously as he heard her footsteps.
"Hey," Ellen all but whispered as she came out on to the porch, and Patrick had to suck in a deep breath as his starving eyes raked over her lithe body. All his previous anger immediately dissipated as his thirsty eyes drank in her form.
She looked as stunning as ever, with her blonde tresses loose on her shoulders and a pair of sunglasses perched on her head. Her eyes, however, seemed to have lost a bit of the sparkle they usually possessed, and she was not smiling that radiant smile of hers. Her mouth was, in fact, set into a thin line.
"Hey," Patrick replied and watched Ellen lower her gaze coyly under his appreciative gaze. He stood up from his chair and after a moment of dubiety, leant forward to wrap both his arms around her slim body.
Ellen tensed up a little at his touch, but then she relaxed in his arms completely. What was it with Patrick? Whenever she was with him, she lowered all her inhibitions and just let herself free. He made her feel whole – he made her feel free as a wild bird, free to do as she pleased. Only if it were true. Ellen sighed wistfully and melted into his warm embrace, wrapping her own arms loosely around his torso.
"How are you?" Patrick whispered as he buried his nose into her hair, inhaling her unique scent. "How did...How did Chris react?"
Ellen let out a long, exhausted sigh as she rested her cheek on Patrick's strong shoulder. No matter how much she tried to fight him, he always found a way back in. Always.
"He didn't take the news well..." Ellen trailed off, remembering her earlier run-in with her so-called husband.
"What the fuck is this, Ellen?" Chris yelled as he barely made his way through the foyer.
"What is what?" Ellen said innocently, unaware of the situation. "And please mind your language, Chris. I won't stand anyone talking to me like that," she said harshly.
Chris let out a sarcastic laugh and pulled out a couple of magazines from the pocket of his coat. "You want me to mind my language, Ellen? Fine, I'll mind my language once you explain what this is," he said as he brandished the magazines in front of her.
Ellen's eyes widened and her mouth fell agape as she read the headlines on one of the magazines. It read –
"Adulteress Pompeo? Grey's Anatomy star Ellen Pompeo involved in extramarital affair with former co-star Patrick Dempsey."
"You still want me to mind my language?" Chris said with a sneer as he watched the horror spread out on Ellen's face.
"Chris...This...I...It's..." Ellen stammered, fumbling for something to say.
"Out of answers, are you, you fucking whore?" Chris bellowed out, causing Ellen to gasp in shock.
"Chris!" she exclaimed loudly, placing a hand on her chest. She couldn't believe that the man she had once loved was speaking to her in such a manner.
"What? You are allowed to go and fuck that son of a bitch Dempsey behind my back, and I am not even allowed to label you as the whore that you are?" Chris asked rhetorically. "I always knew that there was something going on between the two of you. You filthy, lying, cheating whore!"
Ellen's eyes filled with unshed tears as she tried to speak. No one had ever talked to her in that way – ever. Coming from her own husband, it was a huge blow. This was the man she had thought that she could spend the rest of her life with. He hadn't even waited for an explanation from her. Patrick would have never talked to her that way, no matter how mad he would have been.
"Chris," Ellen finally said in a low but threatening voice, "Keep your voice down, you'll wake up the girls. And don't you dare call me a whore again. Because if you do, I'm going to kick your fucking ass out of my house! Do you understand?"
Chris threw the magazines away and took one step closer to Ellen. Catching her arm heavy-handedly, he said in a low whisper, "Oh, so now you are threatening to kick me out of the house, Ellen? You are the one who went behind my back and cheated on me and I'm the one who should be kicked out of this house? Tell me why you did it, El. Were you unsatisfied? Was he better than me in bed, huh? Was he a better fuck?"
Ellen shook her arm free from Chris' forceful grasp and took a step back. "Shut the fuck up, Chris! You'll never understand what I and Patrick have," she whispered, a single tear rolling down her cheek.
Chris laughed a bitter laugh. "That's amazing, Ellen. I am your husband, and you tell me that I'll never understand what you have with another man? What the fuck, El? What happened to what we used to have – to our love, huh?"
"Our love was gone before it even started, Chris. At one point in time, I did love you, but you...you killed all feelings of love that I ever had for you. You are a fucking control freak! You want to control every bit of my life, and I don't give you the right to do it! That's your fucking problem."
"And that son of a bitch lets you own your life, doesn't he, El?" Chris asked, looming dangerously close to Ellen. "I'm telling you – once he gets in your pants, he won't give a damn shit about your freedom. He'll want to own you too. Every guy is like that El. You are just too free-spirited to be a woman."
Ellen bit her lower lip to prevent more tears from spilling from her eyes. She knew Patrick – he would never...he was nothing like Chris. With Patrick, she felt free – he made her feel free. He would never want to control her life like Chris did.
"You don't know a damn thing about Patrick," she said in a firm voice. "He...I...we...what we have is special, and you and I don't even come close to it."
"I knew it!" Chris exclaimed in a loud voice once more. "I knew it was about the fuck! Wow, Ellen! I never thought you'd cheat on your husband just because a dreamy asshole with perfect hair gave you better sex...I'm telling you – he is gonna leave you again, like he did five months ago," Chris yelled and then stormed out the door, leaving a weeping and shaken Ellen in his wake.
-
Ellen finished giving Patrick a recount of the entire run-in and let out a heavy sigh. She and Patrick were now sitting side by side on the deckchair, Patrick's arm draped around her shoulders loosely.
"What?!" Patrick exclaimed loudly. "That asshole said that to you? I swear I'm gonna kill him, El," he said in an exasperated tone.
"Paddy, please keep a control on your temper."
"No, El, no...No one gets away with talking like that to my El, okay? I'm gonna beat the hell out of his ass. Did he...El, tell me the truth. Did he hurt you? Because, I swear, if he dared to lay a finger on you, I'm gonna –"
"Patrick, calm down. Chris didn't touch me, I swear. I wouldn't have let him go if he had dared to touch me. I'm Ellen Pompeo, and he may be my husband, but no one can touch Ellen Pompeo against her will," Ellen said, causing Patrick's lips to stretch out into a small smile.
"That's right," Patrick said, shaking his head. "I forgot just how sassy my girl is," he said with a chuckle.
His statement elicited a small giggle from Ellen. She giggled like that after what seemed like ages. God, Patrick was just...How did he always manage to make her smile and giggle like she didn't have a care in the entire fucking world?
"Your girl?" Ellen asked with a playful quirk of her eyebrow. "Do you know how caveman-ish that sounded? I'm not anyone's owned property, Paddy," Ellen said, clucking softly.
"Oh, yes, right. I am sorry, I didn't mean to say it like I owned you or something..." Patrick said in a grave voice. "I just...I meant that..."
"Relax, Paddy. I was just jerking your chain," Ellen said in a light-hearted tone, "I can be your girl, if you want me to be..." She trailed off, her lips quirking up.
"Oh really? Is that so, huh?" Patrick said with a smirk, leaning towards her involuntarily.
"Mmmhmmm..." Ellen hummed as Patrick leant ever so closer to her.
"God, El..." Patrick said in a husky voice, "Do you know how sexy your hum is?"
Ellen's breathing turned shallow as she lowered her gaze to his thin lips and dragged her own tongue across her lower lip, thinking of the delectable taste of his mouth.
That was the straw that broke the camel's back. Patrick closed the short distance between their mouths and covered her lips with his own. Ellen immediately responded to his passionate kiss as she kissed him back with just as much love and passion. It had been several weeks since they had kissed like that – it had been several weeks since that blissful night in Italy.
Patrick bit down on her bottom lip, causing Ellen to moan loudly in his mouth. He swept his tongue across her slightly parted lips and begged for entrance inside her honey-sweet cavern. That was when Ellen came to her senses and pulled back from the kiss abruptly, as if she had received a jolt of electricity.
"El...What?" Patrick gasped out, clearly upset at the sudden interruption of their heated kiss.
"Patrick! What are we doing?" Ellen asked in a loud voice as she stood up from the chair in an exasperated way. "Gosh, I can't believe it! I was doing it again! The same thing!"
"What same thing?" Patrick asked cluelessly, causing Ellen to throw her hands up in the air in frustration.
"Patrick!" Ellen exclaimed, "This – this thing. Between us! The whole kissing and fooling around thing! The very thing I came here to talk to you about! The thing that caused this whole scandal! Us!"
"El..." Patrick said in a cool voice, "I know you are upset about the whole scandal, but what does it have anything to do with us? They are just rumours – they'll die down a few days later on their own. They don't have any confirmed report, like photos or anything, do they? Why are you getting so worked up, then?"
Ellen stared at Patrick, wide-eyed and open-mouthed, for a minute before whispering, "And all this seems meaningless to you? Really, Patrick? How can you be so calm and cool about this whole deal?! The entire media is out for our blood; my family is in jeopardy, my marriage of 8 years is in jeopardy, and it means nothing to you?!"
"Of course, I am worried about you," Patrick said in a frustrated voice, standing up too. "I am worried about how this will affect your image, and mine. But...Why are you so worried about your marriage? I thought you are not in love with Chris anymore?" Patrick demanded.
"I – uh – I am not!" Ellen said, starting to pace. "But that doesn't mean that I am ready to throw my entire marriage away! I have my daughters to think about...and Chris...He may not be the man I had once loved anymore, but I spent eight years with him, Patrick! Eight fucking years! I can't just forget that so easily! You have to understand."
Patrick caught Ellen's elbow gently and stopped her frantic pacing. Placing his hands on her shoulders, Patrick looked deep in her eyes as he said, "Ellen, what are you saying? What exactly is going on in your mind? What do you want? Do you love me? Do you love me like I love you, El?"
Ellen looked into the pair of cerulean pools, her resolve fading for a moment. But then, Chris' words rang in her ears. He is gonna leave you again, like he did five months ago. What if Chris was right? What if Patrick did leave her like he did five months ago? She couldn't put her heart on the line like that.
"Ugh, I don't know!" Ellen said, yanking at her hair. "I don't know what I want, Paddy! Because no matter what you say or do, it doesn't change the fact that you left me five months ago. You abandoned me, Paddy!"
"How can you still hold that against me?" Patrick said, his own voice sounding furious now. "You know why I left. I even gave you an option to leave with me. What else do I have to do to earn your forgiveness? And if you want to talk about why you are angry with me, then let's not forget the way you talked to me earlier on the phone today," Patrick said, running his hand through his hair. He was getting exhausted now. Ellen was going round and round in circles. He had no idea what she was thinking or feeling, and she was refusing to let him in at any cost.
"What have you done to earn my forgiveness?" Ellen fired back. "You asked me to go and live in a cottage in Maine with you. That's not giving me a way out – that's being irrational and foolish. And my conversation with you on the phone – I was upset! I was upset about the whole thing and I...I..."
"And you took it out on me, as usual," Patrick finished for her. "Ellen, why do you have to be so damn confusing all the time? Why can't you just tell me what you have decided? Am I a toy to you? Are you just using me?" Patrick asked, his voice breaking at the end.
"Of course not!" Ellen cried out. "Of course not, that's not – that's not the truth and you know it, Paddy. You know how much I care about you. I wouldn't have done what I did in Italy if I didn't feel anything for you. But...but...there are my girls...and there is Chris...and there are you...I am just so confused that I myself don't know what I feel anymore!" Ellen cried out, burying her face in her hands.
Patrick's expression softened as he gazed at Ellen, and his anger faded away for a while. He stepped towards her and wrapped his arms around her frail body, pulling her into his loving hug as she wept softly.
"Shhh...Don't cry, El," Patrick whispered as he stroked her hair and rested his cheek against the side of her head. "I am sorry...I didn't mean to make you cry. I – your Paddy is stupid. Sorry...Please, don't cry. You know how much it hurts me to see you cry," Patrick said in a soothing voice. It was the truth. The sight of Ellen crying broke his heart and made his heart ache. She always looked so beautiful while smiling and laughing – she deserved to be happy all the time. She deserved to be treated like a princess, and yet, both he and Chris were treating her so harshly. Patrick chided himself mentally as he gently stroked Ellen's blonde curls. He needed to keep his temper in check while he was with Ellen. She was like a small, scared rabbit – fragile and shaken up. He had to treat her with care and gentleness, otherwise he would scare her away.
All of a sudden, Patrick was forcefully reminded of his alter-ego, Derek's condition in Grey's Anatomy season 2. His condition had been somewhat like Ellen's too - he had loved Meredith but he had chosen Addison, his wife, out of the sense of moral obligation. No, Patrick wouldn't let that happen in his real life too. He was not going to let Ellen choose that damn asshole - Chris, who called himself her husband - over him. He would show Ellen that she loved him - Patrick, not Chris. He would show Ellen what lay ahead for them - their future filled with happiness and joy. Ellen deserved all the happiness and joy in the world, and Patrick would show her that he was willing to give her all that and more. He would show her with his words and actions; there was no other way. He would be her strength when she needed him, he would be her solace, he would be her everything. He was willing to walk through fire for her. She had to choose him, she just had to, because her and her daughters' real happiness lay with him. He loved her, and Sienna and Stella to death, and he would do everything in his power to show her that.
"Shh...Ellie," Patrick said once more in a feather soft voice, "I'm here. I am here for you. I will always be here for you, whenever you need me. I'll never leave you alone again, I promise. We'll get through this mess, and together." The determination in his voice made Derek tighten her arms around him and she lifted her face from his chest.
"Really, Paddy? You'll be there for me, always?" she asked in an impossibly vulnerable tone. Her eyelashes were long and wet from the tears, and her eyeliner had been smudged.
"Yes, El. Your Paddy will be right here for you, always. Scout's honour. Where else would I be?" Patrick said.
Ellen's face lit up with the brightest smile in the entire fucking world as she replied, "Were you even a Boy Scout?"
"I was," Patrick said with a wide smile of his own. When Ellen was smiling like that, he couldn't help his own smile either. "Eagle scout," he said, pressing a chaste kiss to the crown of her head.
"Good. I'll hold you to that promise, then," Ellen said, pillowing her head on his strong chest as he held her ever so lovingly in his arms and the sun went down below the horizon.
The long-awaited chapter is finally posted! We'll update again if we get 10 comments on this chapter! Cheers! :)