"No," I reply stubbornly, "I would never ask you to do that," I add as angry tears spill over my lashes.
                          
"Exactly!" He yells, taking a step towards me and looking almost sympathetic as he lowers his voice, "It's always you giving and me taking. You give up everything and I can't give you the same in return."
                          
"Harry, relationships aren't about sacrifice, they are about compromise!" I beg him to listen to me as I grasp onto his t-shirt and pull him towards me with an aggressive tug.
                          
It takes all of my will power not to crumble to the floor in agony as I grab his left hand and he lets me drag his wedding band off his finger with a whimper under his heavy breath.
                          
I know the risk is he will never put it back on again and it takes everything to not let the grief consume me.
                          
His brow furrows and his lips part in confusion as I angrily throw the metal band across the room with an exhausted huff, the ring clanging against the hardwood floors and rolling to a stop somewhere.
                          
Tears cloud my vision and I know my face is red with emotion as this finally hits him where it hurts and his own eyes begin to well. 
                          
I roughly hold his hand up in the space between us as both of our chests rise and fall far too quickly.
                          
"See this!" I scream, gesturing to the line tattooed on his finger, emotion getting the better of me but I need him to start thinking clearly. "It's permanent, like us! There is no leaving! We can't run when things get hard!"
                          
His breath is shaky as a tear dollops onto his cheek and he attempts to sway me away from the danger of being with him again, softer this time, but still he tries.
                          
"I feel like I'm ruining your life," he admits and his voice breaks with misery and we both give in to the pain
                          
"This is happening to US, not to me, Harry." I whisper, not able to keep composed for much longer as I see the despair in his eyes.
                          
I drop his hand and pull him by his shirt to get as close as I can, his reluctance to hold me or touch me still evident as he fights with himself over what he believes is right and wrong.
                          
"I don't know what to do," he blubbers through his quiet sobs and I'm not sure if he means about us or the situation but I decide to answer anyway.
                          
"Me either, but we need each other."
                          
Sometimes, I think we love each other too much because this is what we always do. We push the other away to try and save them, keep them from pain or suffering, but the truth is we need one another.  It's the only way.
                          
He tugs at his hair again, his internal moral debate still reeling through his shattered heart and chaotic mind. 
                          
I jerk hard at his shirt again until his stomach is flush with mine and lock my gaze to his green eyes, filled with devastating torment, his instinct to keep me safe contradicting his desire to keep me with him.  I know he would do anything for me, even forgo his happiness for my own.
                          
His eyes look into my blue ones, filled with unending strength for him, my own needs not comparable to what I would do for the man I married.
                          
"I'm not going to leave you," I tell him firmly, my fingers gripping the fabric a little tighter. "And I'm not going to let you walk out of here and do this alone. We are in this together. Forever. For better or worse. You know and I know."
                          
A sob breaks through his cherub lips and with a look of excruciating pain etched into his features, he buries his face into my neck as his body collapses onto mine in defeat.
                          
He chokes through his tears that are as suffocating as my own.
                          
"How can we live like this?" He questions meekly into my skin.
                          
"We will find a way," I sob back, not knowing the answer. 
                          
"But don't ever try that shit again... you...asshat," I warn lightly and my heart swells as I hear a single unexpected chuckle break through his lips with a sniffle at my childish insult.
                          
"Thank you... for never listening to me," he jokes, misery still lacing his voice and his face still hiding in the crevice of my neck as we pull each other closer.
                          
A/N:
                          
Poor H&O... but they can't be torn apart not like this.
                          
This chapter dedicated to my girl Ilvhes  who made me laugh with "asshat" in a comment and who believes if you say a word three times it's yours... well.. asshat asshat asshat! (Even if I spell it arse! ) 😂
                          
Loving all your comments, I honestly read them all.
                          
Not many chapters to go! 
                          
Love Ruby 
X