And You Lied to the Angel

They loved each other. That had been established even before the two men officially became an item, before we, us, and ours occurred. Eames and Arthur loved each other. With all their hearts, even. Eames' brass nature infuriated Arthur, and Arthur's uptight temperament irritated Eames to no end. But they loved each other. They knew one another like the back of their own hands and, though there were some things they didn't particularly enjoy about each other, they were in love.

Things started falling apart shortly after the one year marker. The problems were so small and few at first that they seemed almost inconsequential. Eames stayed out later after work. Arthur went to bed earlier, before Eames got home. They argued over small things (for Arthur it was things like Did you leave the soda can on the counter? and for Eames Why didn't you wait up for me last night?). Small things, yes, but life was getting harder for the both of them.

Eames was the first to feel that things were off. He saw the miniscule things things that had always been there but had never been noticed for what they were. He knew that things were headed in a bad direction.

But they didn't realize they were breaking until it was far too late.