I Didn't Know I Could Break Your Heart

"We should really... stop this," Tyler breathed out without sounding anywhere near convincing. His deep blue eyes stared across the bed at Marrietta, a smile spreading across his lips. "It's been..." He glanced down at his watch and yawned, "About a week."

Marrietta giggled and kissed him lightly on the lips. She stared at him in silence, her fingers lightly tracing his lips before saying, "It's just that I feel so much safer here than I do at home. I feel like... nothing bad could actually happen while I with you because then the universe would have been lying to us for years."

Tyler smiled and kissed her again, this time harder. He pulled her body into his and whispered, "Then why the hell would you ever go home?"

"Because eventually I'm going to have to. I mean... Rodger thinks I'm on a business trip... my work thinks I'm sick... I can only take so many sick days," She murmured, her nose touching his, "I'm going to lose my job."

"That's not really that big of a loss now, is it?" He replied, a small smile set on his face. "And as for Rodger... well, I think we both know what the solution to that problem is." He looked at her, but she stayed resolutely silent, "You can dump him."

She shook her head, sending her red hair flying everywhere. Tyler caught a strand of her hair and pulled it lightly, almost playfully, but the look on his face was cold. Biting her lip, she murmured, "I... I can't do that, Tyler. I mean, the two of us, we're such an unreliable couple that dumping the only guy who's ever really stood by me no matter what would be... stupid."

Snorting, Tyler responded, "He's also the only guy you've ever been with that you don't actually love."

"I love him!" Marrietta said indignantly.

Tyler gave her a look.

"I do."

"Really?" He said, almost conversationally, "Because when you love someone, you care about them more than anything else in the entire world. And you would never dare to lie to them, because, let's face it, they would be able to see right through you. And you know, that if you hurt them... you'd really just be hurting yourself. Which leads me to my last point, if you love him, why the hell have you been in bed with me all week?"

Marrietta blinked at him, dumbstruck. "It doesn't matter. We... we don't have the kind of stability it takes to be in a real relationship and that's what I need. That's what I have with Rodger and I'm going to marry him if you can't get your act together, because he is what-"

"Marry me."

"Excuse me?"

"Marry me," Tyler repeated slowly. He took her hand before she could pull away from him and pulled her even closer. "Marry me, because then we'll never be unstable again. Marry me and then you can get rid of him. Marry me and do the one thing that you've wanted to do all your life. Marry me and be with someone you're actually in love with."

She licked her lips cautiously, "But I'm with-"

"Forget about him," He interrupted softly, "This Saturday we'll drive to Vegas and get married. Please."

"Nevada is all the way across the country,' Marrietta stated firmly, "Even if we started the drive on Saturday we wouldn't get there by nightfall."

"Then we'll take a plane," Tyler whispered, kissing her again, "We'll take a plane in the morning and we'll get married by Elvis in Vegas. Just say you'll marry me and we'll end all of this instability. Please marry me, it's all I've ever wanted."

Marrietta nodded slowly, "Okay. I'll... I'll marry you. I will. I've just go to go home... straighten some stuff out, maybe... ummm... Saturday. We'll get married on Saturday," She said distractedly as she slipped out of the bed.

Tyler bit his lip as he watched her dress. She was at the door when he said, "You're happy with this, right, Marrietta?"

She smiled at him, "Yeah, yeah, of course... it's just... I'm screwing over so many people."

Tyler laughed, "Yeah, if you're married to me, you better get used to that."