*Ana POV*
The elevator slows down before stopping fully. In a matter of seconds, the doors slide open, revealing the busy, modern reception.
"Ladies first...". James's unexpected whispers caused me to shudder slightly. I begin walking forwards, exiting the lift, but I am slowed down when I felt a pair of hands land onto my hips.
"James... we are in public..." I tell him, but quietly so that he can only hear me. I noticed heads turning towards us.
There was no answer, the hands lift off my hips before a warm palm greeted mine. Slowly, there was an increase in the grip upon my hand. I look to my right because that is where the hand came from. I am met with James's determined face. His handsome, shaved face is concentrated in whatever is in front of us.
"If you keep on looking at me just the way you are now, I will not be scared nor embarrassed to take you on right here.".
His words cause my cheeks to go to a darker red colour. I see him turn towards me before giving me a smile followed by a slight chuckle.
"You know how to make me blush..." I say.
"You haven't noticed?".
"I have, it is just that...".
"Just what?" I sense how soft his voice is.
"I just never really thought over how much and how easily you can make me blush".
He chuckles.
"You know, your cheeks on your beautiful face are not the only things I can make easily go red.".
I look at him with bewildered expression stretched across my face.
He looks back at me with an even bigger smile patched across his face.
We reach the counter where Liz is sitting at, with concentration written across her face while looking at the computer. I see James walk up to her, so I decide to give him some privacy by backing away a step or two.
Within seconds, he turns back to me before walking over and taking my hand into his.
"If I remember correctly, I still have that surprise to show you...".
I blush at his words once again.
We continue walking towards the exit of his building, right before exiting the building, I turn around. When I turned, Liz's eyes met mine, I give her a small wave and she replies with a smile before waving back at me.
I smile back at her before turning around. I meet an impatient looking James as he is holding the door for me.
I smile at him before quickly walking out the door.
But as soon as I am outside, my mind can't help but head through my thoughts. I walk and think, looking down at the ground in front of me
I am kicked out of my thoughts when two big hands pull me and pick me up, bridal style. I hang my arms around the neck of the person who just picked me up. I look up and my eyes meet James's eyes, filled with anger and frustration.
"I expect you to answer me when I call you, you could have wandered off somewhere and got lost!"
I was too invested into my thoughts that I didn't hear his voice call out call my name...
"Sorry, I... I was... daydreaming...".
His features on his face soften before he lets out an amusing chuckle.
"You know daydreaming and walking don't go hand in hand, ye?".
I nod at him before resting my head against his shoulder, he begins walking.
Suddenly, I could feel a wave of melancholy slowly rolled over me, I let out an unexpected, saddened sigh as my lips turned into a frown.
"Ana?... Is everything okay?...".
I look at him before shaking my head.
He lets me down before taking my hands into his.
"The guilt is killing me... It hurts so much..." I begin, trying so hard to keep the tears in me. "I feel like I have destroyed me. Like I have destroyed us".
"I did something horrible James... and I am so sorry that I did this to you...".
"What did you do?" He asks me.
"I let Liam kiss me. I don't know what when over me. I didn't feel real, I hoped it wasn't real..." I breakdown into tears
Moments pass before he pulls me into a hug, a tight hug.
"I am so sorry for what I did, even though I know that a sorry will do absolutely nothing. I just wanted to tell you that I am so sorry for what I did to you.".
At this point, I let a few tears out onto his shoulder while he soothes me by gently running his hand through my hair.
"Hey... hey, look at me...". I raise my head and look into his eyes. His hands cup my cheeks, rubbing a tear or two away with his thumb.
I notice how he is clenching his jaw... is there something he wants to tell me?
"There is something else I have to tell you, it was stupid of me to have tried to forget about...". I begin to become slightly alarmed, I can sense the regret in his voice.
"Tell me... what is it?".
"I think it will be better if I save it for when we get home if you won't mind.".
"Sure..." I reply.
His hand unexpectedly wrapped around my left hand, I look up at his face just to see a small smile on his lips. His smile causes me to smile back at him.
"My car is not that far away...".
We both begin walking and within minutes we arrive by his black Mercedes.
Unlocking his car, he opens the passenger door to give access me into the car.
When I sit into the passenger seat, a moment passes before James takes his place on the driver's seat.
I turn to him, look at him as he powers up his car. Moments pass before we begin moving. The more I look at him, the more sorrow and regret floods into my heart. He didn't deserve this.
I quickly look away from him, closing my eyes to stop more tears from flowing down my face, along with that, I bit my lip hoping it will do something.
"Ana...".
His voice causes me to turn towards him.
He briefly turns to me before looking back at the road.
"I want you to know that I still love you.".
His words cause more tears to roll down my face.
"Why?... If I were you, I would dump me... I would kick myself out of your life... I- I...".
"I am not going to do that... I will never do that to you. I can't bear losing another person that I love. We will get through this obstacle because we and James and Ana, we are people who are madly in love with each other. Since the moment I laid my eyes on you, I never felt in any way different about you. That is because I love you, I love you so much. I will do anything to keep this what we have between us alive because you are the first woman who made me feel happy about being me. You love me for who I am, not for what I am. If I have to give up my old ways to be with you, I will do that...".
I keep my eyes on him. His body tenses up.
"James. Tell me what is it that is bugging you...".
His grip upon the steering wheel gets tighter as shown by the whitening of his knuckles.
He takes a deep breath.
"A lot of crap has happened while you were back home, in Belgrade and I was here in Los Angeles. My company began to crash down, money was slowly becoming a huge issue basically all the business shit has begun happening. I tried my best to solve the problems, but nothing was working. Along with the fall of my company, I fell back down too. I began drinking again but along with that, I have developed another nasty habit...".
I can see and hear the discomfort in his voice. His face was saying the same story.
"We can and we will resolve that together. You are not alone, James. I am here with you and I always will be. Why didn't you tell me this earlier?" I can feel another lump form in my throat.
"That is not the full story..." James adds a couple of seconds later. "While I was here, I missed you so fucking much, you don't know how much I have missed you, Ana. I... I couldn't control myself, Ana... I am so sorry..." I hear James sniffle, as a tear rolled down his face. "I tried so hard to keep myself in line, I tried so fucking hard...".
"Tell me what it is?... Did you do something bad, did you hurt someone?".
"I didn't kill anyone if that is what you asked..." he replies.
"Then what happened?".
"Gabrielle..." he growls out.
"She was one of the factors that caused me to give up and go back my nasty habits.".
"What did she do?".
"She made all hell break loose. All I remember is I was at a party and then the next morning, I was in bed with her.".
He took another breath.
"She caused me to build up a nasty habit of hooking up... All I tried to do was I tried to fill up that void I felt, to fill up that gap that only you could fill. I missed you so much...".
"Once I began, I found it difficult to stop." He adds a few seconds later.
"She did that to you?" I look up at him.
"I did that to myself, I had a choice and I picked the wrong one...".
I keep my eyes on him.
"Why were you hiding this from me?" He looks so vulnerable so I try to keep my voice soft and soothing.
"I think it's pretty obvious... isn't it?" He asks me as he parks into the garage of his huge mansion.
I wait until he stops the car before wrapping my arms around him.
"I would never leave you because I know you would never do anything to hurt me. I just want you to know that I would never do anything to hurt you. I have made a very stupid decision..." My voice trails off.
"Can you forgive me?" he asks me through his tears.
His question causes me chest to ache with pain. I nod my head, "yes.".
"Do you forgive me?" I ask him.
He nods his head against mine, causing more tears to spill out of my eyes and down my face.
We slowly sway side to side while still in our tight embrace.
We part a minute later.
He looks at me with a smile on his face.
"Thank you for telling this to me.".
"You deserve to know... I am sorry for hiding all of that from you," He replies.
"You had your reasons why... You had a tough past. I am just really glad that you told me about this".
He smiles at me before lowering his head down.
"Hey... we are going to get through this together, okay? You are not alone...".
He nods his head.
"Thank you, Ana...".
As I was about to exit the car, his voice stops me.
"Ana, I have to tell you something else...".
"Yes?... What is it, James?".
"I went to the doctors a day before you were meant to arrive here, in LA... and I got my results from the appointment on the day that the earthquake hit." I hear his voice quiver ever so slightly. To give him more reassurance, I pick up his hand, placing it into mine, I hold his hand tightly.
There was silence, I watched his face as it expressed pain.
"I don't think I have ever told you, but, I have always wanted to become a father, I dreamt about becoming a father...".
I nod, to show that I am listening.
I see him beginning to bit his lip.
"The tests have shown that I'm infertile...". Tears gently roll down his face as he sniffles ever so slightly.
I gently wrap my arms around him before giving him a warm hug.
"I'm sorry..." he whispers to me.
"There is no reason you should feel sorry," I reply.
"We are going to find a way where we will make our happy family, okay?".
I feel him nod against my head.
"Thank you, Ana...".
"You are welcome," I whisper back, gently petting the back of his head.