Note: I didn't write this, credits to the writer
Summary: People say that time heals all wounds. In your case, time made it worst. You've been married to Chris for five years, but his absence spoke louder than his words. After 5 years of trying, you've decided that you've had enough, and you left him. But Chris doesn't want to let you go; he doesn't want to give up on your marriage.
Would he be able to fix what you consider irretrievably broken?
Warning: None
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Denial is the worst kind of lie... because it is the lie you tell yourself.
- Michelle A. Homme
Usually, the first thing Chris does when he comes home is search for you. Since you work from home, he usually finds you in the study. But tonight, Chris was so tired that he didn't even notice the house's deafening silence. He didn't notice that your room was in perfect order, which was never the case. He didn't see your many skincare products missing from your bathroom when he goes to wash his face.
After two extreme months of filming his new movie, Chris only wants one thing, to sleep in his own bed.
It's the sun that woke him up the following day. That's the first thing that confuses him. You hate sleeping with the curtains opened. Chris even remembers a night you spent together in Paris. He rented a hotel room with a view of the Eifel Tower, but you closed the curtains as soon as you were ready to go to bed. He explained that it would be amazing to see the Eifel Tower with the sun rising, but you didn't care. It was unthinkable for you to sleep with opened curtains; you felt too exposed.
Chris smiled at that thought. He reached out to your side of the bed, but it was empty. The clock on his side of the bed signals 9 AM. That was the second sign that something odd was happening. You were not a morning person. Chris always teased you about that. If it was up to you, you would stay in bed until noon. You were most productive after 8 PM. That's why he didn't overthink it when everything was dark yesterday. He knew you and how focused you tend to be when you were closed to a deadline.
The last thing that made him think was the fact that Dodger was nowhere to be found. Usually, he would be staring at him, waiting patiently for Chris to wake up. It wasn't the case today. Chris was alone in the big bed, without his wife and his dog.
Then he remembered you texting him that Dodger would be staying with his sister and the kids. It made sense. When you were under stress, you always feared that Dodger would feel alone or that you would not be attentive enough to his needs. Deep down, he knew you were overthinking it. You loved Dodger, maybe even more than he did, but he understood your need to be safe. That was one of the first things that attracted him to you. You felt safe; you felt like home.
He took a quick shower, deciding that it was time for Dodger to come home. When he went downstairs after his shower, the house was still lifeless.
"Y/N ?" Chris shouted, trying to find you
You weren't in your study, which again made him raise an eyebrow because of how organized the place was. Chris loved you more than anything, and you had a lot of qualities, maybe too many for your own good, but organized was not one of them. You always described your office as an organized mess necessary for your imagination.
Today the study was pristine. The brown oak desk was spotless, with not even one paper out of place.
Chris was now beyond confused. Something was wrong. Maybe you had writer's block. It had to be it. He didn't have time to overthink about it because his sister texted him that he could come and get Dodger now.
He would ask you the questions later. He was even sure that seeing Dodger would cheer you up.
"Uncle Chris!" Stella screamed as soon as she saw Chris
"Are you Stella?" Chris Jokes before lifting her up. "Who is this grownup, and what have you done with my tiny niece Stella?"
Stella laughed. "It's me, Uncle Chris!"
Chris lifted her down and greeted his nephews. Dodger began to bark as soon as he saw Chris entering the room. He was frenetic, making sounds that made the whole family laugh.
"I know Dodge', I know," Chris said, accepting the leaking and the barking.
"How are you?" Carly asked him when the euphory had passed, and everybody had a chance to greet Chris.
Chris knew his sister, and the expression on her face meant something was wrong.
"I'm good. Tired, but I'm okay," Chris answered.
"Do you..." Started but got interrupted by Scott
"Look who we have here, a ghost from Hollywood!" Scott said before hugging his brother
"You're not funny Scott, you should really stop trying" Chris joked.
After the children came and ask Scott to help them do something only Scott would accept to do, Chris turned back to his sister.
"You were about to say something"
Carly smiled. A smile that looked somehow sad. "We can talk about it later, or whenever you're ready"
Chris frowned, confused. He didn't know what his sister was talking about. He was too happy to be with his niece and nephews to think too much about it.
It was later that day, when they were ready to eat, that everything started to unravel.
"I made your favorite," Carly said, referring to the dish in her hand.
Chris smiled. "As tempting as it is, I have to decline. Y/N is surely waiting for me to eat too"
Now that he was thinking about it, he was surprised that you hadn't been calling. He'd been at Carly's for hours now. He confirmed what he was thinking, you had to be focused on your work, so much that you weren't even thinking about eating.
"Maybe I should bring some home. Knowing Y/N, she's still working" Chris added.
Carly looked at Scott with the same worried look she had the whole day.
"What? What's going on, Carly?" Chris asked
For some reason, his heart started to beat quicker. It was as if he knew something was wrong from the beginning but refused to admit it to himself.
"Carly, tell me what's wrong"
"Chris... when was the last time you talked to Y/N?" Scott finally said
Chris frowned. "Hmm, a few days ago... I mean... the last week of filming was crazy, but I texted her... I ..."
Chris stopped when he realized that he couldn't remember the last time he had his wife on the phone.
"She texted me... she told me Dodger was with you"
"Chris... Dodger has been here for two weeks now" Carly whispered.
Chris didn't know what to say. He needed to sit down. Chris didn't understand what Carly and Scott were trying to tell him. He didn't want to understand.
"I need to go home. Y/N, I haven't seen her since..."
And then it hit him. He hadn't seen you; he hadn't seen you at all since he came home. He didn't see you yesterday, and he didn't see you this morning.
It hit him. It wasn't that he didn't see you; you weren't there at all. You weren't too busy yesterday when he came back, you didn't suddenly become a morning person, you weren't in another room when your office was empty. You simply weren't there.
Chris fell down, the gravity of the situation punching him in the stomach. "Oh my God," he murmured.
Carly sat next to him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Chris... she left"
Chris closed his eyes, the word echoing in his head again and again. Deep down, he knew something was wrong, but hearing it, it hit differently.
He sat there in silence with his sister and brother by his side, not saying a word. There weren't words to be said anyway.
His wife, his love, Y/N, left him.
