Glass Slippers

two

"Now we're picking fights and slamming doors
Magnifying all our flaws
And I wonder why, wonder what for
Why we keep coming back for me."

- Scared to be Lonely 

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Mira pulled on the sleeves of her jacket. Sighing, she rubbed her hands together, trying to warm them up. The early Sunday morning was cold. And the beach, it was still fairly empty. By mid-morning, the day would be warmer and the beach, it would be packed.

It was the one thing she loved about living so close to the coast. Early morning walks, at the beach. With Aaron.

She glanced behind her, glancing at Aaron as he trailed her, just a few steps behind her. His hands stuffed in the pockets of his joggers, his messy bed hair. He continued kicking the sand, stopping only after she sent him a glare.

Ignoring him, she continued walking. She didn't want to deal with him right now, deal with his childish behavior.

"Mira?" Almost carefully, he spoke. Like always, he tiptoeing, again. Because of how fragile she was.

Mira barely glanced at him as she stopped walking. She looked away, watching the blue waves instead.

Looking at him hurt. 

It was the only reason she didn't like looking at him.

Because whenever she looked at him, all she saw where the mistakes he made. The mistakes she'd made. 

So she didn't look at him again. Nothing as he finally caught up to her, standing a few inches away from her.

"Do you remember when we were in high school and we...we'd always go get strawberry milkshakes from the ice cream shop. And my mom, she'd always yell at us for drinking something so sugary in the morning." 

She nodded faintly, barely acknowledging him. 

Her eyes danced around, darting from the sparkling ocean to the ice cream shop instead. The many small shops, but the ice cream shop, she could easily tell apart. 

"I hated the strawberry milkshake." She smiled slightly, turning to face Aaron. Her eyes, they were full of sadness. "You or Ryan would end up drinking all of mine anyway."

Hesitantly, Mira didn't say anything. She just nodded as Aaron smiled at her, his smile soft, still sad. 

She wanted to ask him about the divorce. 

But right now, as he stood next to her, he looked happier. At least a little more happy, a little more content, maybe carefree than he had been in the past year. 

Biting her lips, she looked back out to the ocean. Instinctively, her hand placed over her stomach as her eyes blurred with tears. 

It wasn't supposed to be like this. They weren't supposed to be like this.

"And that one time, you got sick after we went on the roller coaster right after you ate French toast for breakfast." 

Mira nodded again. She didn't know what he was trying to do. There was no use in reminding her of all their memories. 

Maybe he was trying to convince her that he still loved her. Or maybe he was trying to convince her not to file for a divorce. 

But she knew better.

She had been the foolish girl for long enough.

Far too long.

There was no fairy godmother to grant her a wish, a wish to start everything all over. Because Mira wished they could start all over. And maybe, this time they both wouldn't make the same mistakes.

There was no prince charming. Aaron was far from that. He'd broken her heart, even though he'd said he wouldn't. He'd broken her heart. He wasn't supposed to but he had.

And Mira, she wasn't a princess. No, she wasn't. She was fragile, she was broken and she was struggling. She was struggling to pull herself together, to keep herself from falling apart.

Cinderella was just another stupid story. A stupid story that her mother used to tell her every night as she tucked her into bed. 

Mira glanced up at the sky. The bright blue sky, not a single cloud, but still Mira nodded, once again.

She needed to grow out of her little fairytale obsession. She needed to, long before she ended up the way her mother had.

She jerked as Aaron reached for her. His hands on her waist as he pulled her closer, his lips brushing against her forehead despite her attempts to pull away from him. 

"Aaron." She gritted his name, trying to push him away. But his hold on her, strong.

His eyes blazing into hers as he let go and grabbed her hands instead. Holding her hands in his, he looked down, playing with the ring on her left hand. His ring.

Standing this close to him, Mira could see how sad and broken he was. The smile he'd offered her a few minutes ago was long gone. And instead, he looked like the Aaron she'd come to know in the past year.

The one who came home drunk and slammed doors when he was mad at her. The one who ate his dinner in silence, never offering her more than a few words. 

This Aaron, she barely knew him. 

"Mira." His voice gentle. Begging her to love him. Because the one thing Aaron didn't understand was why she wanted to leave him so bad. Because he still couldn't understand where it'd gone so wrong.

His voice wavering, full of nervousness as he asked the one question that had been bugging him for days. 

"Do you really want the divorce?"

Mira's eyes wide, brown and dull, swirling with emotion and her lips parted, but still she didn't say anything. She looked at him, like she wasn't too sure herself.

"The divorce, do you really want it?" His voice was quieter this time. Truthfully, he didn't want an answer to that question. "I mean, why something so final? Why throw everything away so easily?"

Aaron squeezed her hands, reassuringly, almost begging her to not give up so easily. To not throw away their marriage so easily. 

"I know the last year hasn't been the best between us. But...but I still love you. And I want this to work. I want us to work. I love you, Mira. More than anything. And I don't want a divorce." 

"Can't we just try? We can try counseling or we can take time apart. I don't know. Anything. Something. Anything but a divorce. I just. Please? I still love you and I..I don't want to lose you." Aaron softly cupped her face in his hands, his thumb brushing her cheeks.

"I love you Mira. I don't know how many times I have to tell you that. But I do. I love you, more than anything else." 

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Why does Mira want a divorce so bad?