Tronnor One-Shots

House of Glass (ii)

A/N: So this is the sequel to my one-shot Big Black Lies. I felt like I couldn't leave it there, so here's part two! (There will also be a part three)

When I told Phoebe I wanted to separate, she said she'd seen it coming. She said I'd been distant, muddled, and that I was clearly pretending to be happy. And I most definitely wasn't happy, and apparently neither was she; not for over five years, she said.

"Feelings...they change. This is for the best." She stated the night I brought it up, late, after Evan had gone to bed. We sat down with a glass of wine, ready to talk it through from start to finish. The big divorce talk, if you will, and she didn't seem to suspect a thing about me and Troye. That should have relieved me, but the way she talked about breaking up, it just made me feel guilty.

She approached it calmly, maturely, like it was a completely mutual thing. It was nobody's fault; at least, to her it wasn't. My stomach churned when she smiled like there was no one in the wrong; she thought she knew exactly what was going on inside me, and I hated that. No matter how negligent she had been to our family, I cared for her, she was the mother of my child, and I suddenly felt abhorrent for lying to her.

Troye had said that leaving Phoebe was for righting my wrongs. For restoring the fairness that had been ignored through my lies. Letting her believe that I've been truthful to her through our entire marriage, I couldn't do that. I couldn't bear hurting her anymore. Troye had made me see the light, and it was time to come clean. "Phoebe, I..."

But she interrupted me before I could continue. "Connor, it's okay." She smiled. "People fall out of love all the time. We managed to get through ten years of marriage without hurting each other, without cheating or lying. We had a good run, don't you think?"

Fuck. Hearing her say those untrue things, those that were true to her blind eyes, made it so much harder. I scrunched up my eyes, rubbing a hand over my face. "Um, about that..."

Phoebe frowned, her posture becoming guarded and regal. "About what?"

"It's just..."

"Do you..." She repositioned herself awkwardly, "...do you regret the past ten years, Connor?"

Connor waved his hands in dismissing. "No, no, no it's just that I...I haven't been completely honest with you. I..." I took a deep breath. "I'm gay, Phoebe."

Phoebe blinked, dumbfounded. "What? Really?"

"Yeah."

"Y-you sure?"

"I am. And I'm so sorry, I..."

"Since when?" She snapped, frustration evident on her face. Her cheeks reddened underneath her freckles, and her brown eyes blackened.

Her sudden anger caught me off guard. "Since...since I was little, I guess." I stammered. "I mean, I think I've always been like this, but it was only..."

"So you married me, knowing that you were gay?" She huffed, her ears turning red. My chest constricted; what do I do now? Do I tell her about Troye? What do I say? I didn't know, so I just listened. "You...you promised to love me forever, Connor." She hissed. "You asked me to marry you, you shared vows with me, when you knew you couldn't even love me in the first place?"

"Now, Phoebs, you know it's not like that."

"Well, it sounds like that to me." She whimpered, tears beginning to fall from her eyes. "I can't believe this. I fell in love with a man, had children with a man who doesn't even like women!" She laughed maniacally, without humor. "Fucking great."