After All This Time

Chapter 12

Easton's POV

I head up to our bedroom and Margot is folding clothes. "My mom sends her love." I say quietly and she doesn't respond, but I know she's just building to say something.

"Why did you tell me she was just an ex?" She asks and take a deep breath. "Because I didn't want to give her more power over me than she already has. I thought that if I just said she was an ex I wouldn't feel the way I did."

"Was she the reason you couldn't do anything for the past month?" She asks and I don't say anything. "God Easton!" She yells and throws the laundry at me.

"I'm sorry Margot, I thought I was over her. I haven't thought about her in years before we got pregnant with Spencer. Then she was at the championship game and memories and the feels hit me like a dump truck." I explain as I walk towards her. "Did you sleep with her?" She asks and I immediately answer, "No."

"Do you still love her?" She whispers and I hate to say it but I answer honestly. "Yes I do."
"Do you still love me?" She asks and again I answer honestly, "Yes."

"Just not enough to stop thinking about her." She answers and not as a question.

"I'm sorry." Is all I can say and I didn't realize how close we got. She has her hands on my chest now and I look into her eyes. I can see hurt but something else I can't figure out. She stands up on her toes and presses her lips to mine. I kiss her back but she pulls away, "I can feel you the difference when you kiss me now. I'm not fully in your heart anymore."

She lightly pushes me away. "I'll just pack a bag and get a hotel." I say but she doesn't respond. So I turn and grab one of my travel duffels. Packing some of my clothes and my toothbrush.

"I can get Spencer from my moms and we will work something out while we figure this out." I say and she says, "Yeah, okay." With that I walk out.

Two months later...

I'm back at home with Margot we've been trying to work this out. We've been seeing a marriage counselor and I stopped all contact with Lizzie. After spending the night apart I picked up Spencer and took her home and I decided to try and work on things with Margot. She's my wife and I still love her. Tonight was a particularly hard night at counseling.

**Flashback**
"He's still not opening up to me Dr. Fisher." Margot states and I don't even bother defending myself.

"Easton? Is this true?" Dr. Fisher asks and I shrug my shoulders. "I just don't know what she wants me to say." I say and glance over at her.

"Easton, it's not about what Margot wants you to say. You just need to get open with your feelings so she knows where you are at." She says back and I take a deep breath.

"I feel that she will never forgive me for kissing Elizabeth. I stopped all contact with her and I hardly even contact Mary Kate anymore because she's worried Elizabeth. I know what I did was wrong and I've apologized and apologized. It's just never good enough." I say with frustration.

"You hurt me Easton. Telling me you still love her how can I just let that go." Margot explains and I look down in defeat.

"I love you Margot! I want to stay with you and work on us!" I raise my voice but Dr. Fisher puts her hand up to calm me down.

"Now Easton, let's just take a breath. Now Margot I understand you're upset about what Easton did but if you at all want this to work you need to be more open to forgiving him and not blame him. And Easton you need to really focus on letting these feelings for Elizabeth go."

"Believe me, I've been trying for years." I say and with that our time is up.

**End of Flashback**