What did you think of Pierce? Like him? Hate him? ;) He's a very very important character in this story. 

The dedication is for XxSPMxX for making me a cover of Falling Apart. It's to the side. :)

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"When did you realize you loved me, Cash?" I asked curiously as I lay on my back on the couch in our beautiful home, my hand absentmindedly rubbing my swollen stomach.

Cash was holding my feet on his lap, massaging them because they were swollen and making me feel extrememly uncomfortable. When I asked my question, he glanced up, his hands still working wonders on my foot. "Huh?"

"When did you fall in love with me?" I asked again, watching him as he bit his lip, looking lost in thought. His brown hair was flopping over his forehead for once instead of being in its signature faux hawk. And he wasn't wearing something formal, going for a tee shirt and shorts intead.

"I think...," he paused, looking over at our wedding photo. "I think I fell in love with you the day I woke up to find you making breakfast for me," he said, finally. I raised an eyebrow as a silly smile touched my lips. I remembered that day - we made love for the first time and I woke up earlier than him, so I decided to make him some breakfast.

"Why then?" I asked, laughing a little. That was one of the sweetest things he'd ever said to me.

"Because I've had a lot of girlfriends and none of them ever made breakfast for me," he said, gently pushing my feet off his lap and crawling over my body, so his face was leveled with mine.

I beamed and cupped his cheek. "Am I the best you ever had, Cash?" I whispered.

"Definitely." Then his lips covered mine.

-

On the way to my parent's home, I was lost in thought, wondering what was so dangerous about Pierce. What had made Paige hate him so much? Pierce was always troubled, that much I knew, but dangerous was going too far.

Pierce had been from the bad side of town. His father was abusive drug addict and his mother was a prostitute. If that was supposed to be a secret, the Alexander family had done a poor job of hiding it. A secret didn't stay a secret in a small town like ours. However, even though Pierce had come from some a bad family, he was the object of fascination in our school. Everyone was scared of him because of his lethal appearance and the rumors circulating around school about him.

Even though that was the case, we'd still been friends. I'd gone to preschool with him and we'd been in all the same classes in grade school. Then middle school came and we made our own groups, but we still occasionally hung out after class ended. High school and the drama started, but our friendship still stood strong.

Paige and Pierce were on different side of the social spectrum, but I remained friends with both of them. Even though they hadn't exactly been friends, they had managed to get along for me. Then, I had gone through countless boyfriends that were wrong for me until one day, at a back-to-school party one of the jocks at school were holding senior year, Pierce kissed me...

I was shocked to the core because he had been the bad boy slash player all the teenage girls dreamed about. So when he pulled back from me after the kiss, cupped my cheek and whispered "I love you" I truly thought I was dreaming. Since when had Pierce Alexander, the gorgeous teenage boy that all the girls wanted, fallen in love with me?

Our relationship was a secret for the first two months of senior year, but then one of his ex-toys caught us kissing in the back of the school. She, of course, told everyone. Nobody really expected us to last and we did break-up a few times in the course of one year, but I loved him and he loved me. We always managed to get back together.

Pierce wasn't my first kiss, first boyfriend, or first love but he was the guy I had lost my virginity to. He used to like smoking, drinking and doing drugs, but he was always insistent I stayed away from that. And he wasn't always affectionate in front of others or said sweet words, but that fierce protectiveness he had over me showed me that despite his silence, he did love me. Plus, it helped that my father actually approved of him.

We broke up for good before I left for college though. It was out of state and Pierce didn't want to go back to school. He worked on a garage, the last time I was here and that was the last time I heard of him.

But now I was back and Pierce was here, still as gorgeous and seductive as I remembered. Though there was that glint in his eyes that told me that maybe he had just changed a little bit. But I wasn't going to scared off by that - I had changed too.

Absentmindedly, I parked the car in front of my parent's house and got out of the car. When I was near the door, I was instantly hit with the sound of wailing and desperately pleas to stop crying and attempts at singing, cooing and shaking rattles. I gave a little laugh and opened the door, stepping inside. My parents both looked up at me at the same time and the relief that crossed over their features were hard to miss.

"Oh thank God," Mom breathed. "Tessa, Tanner hasn't stop crying since he woke up. We've tried feeding him, bathing him, changing his diaper, everything, but he still won't settle. Please help." She looked so desperate. I'd never seen my mother like this before. It was strangely endearing and I liked the fact that she at least needed me for something. Even if that something was taking care of my son.

I couldn't help, but laugh a little. "I thought children loved you, Mom," I noted, walking over and lifting Tanner out of my father's arms. His shoulders sagged in relief and he wiped a hand down his face before walking out to his study.

"They do." She sighed and collapsed on the couch as I soothed my sniffling baby. "But Tanner seems to hate everyone, but you." There was hurt in her eyes. "Maybe I should've stayed around longer after he was born. Then I wouldn't have been a stranger to him."

"Oh, Mom." I sat down beside her and wrapped an arm around her middle back, the other holding Tanner. I pressed closer to her, taking in her warmth, her comfort. "Don't blame yourself."

She smiled at me, but it didn't reach her eyes. "I'm not, darling."

"Yes, you are," I argued. "And I don't like it. Give it a week and Tanner will get used to you like you have been in his life since the moment he was born," I promised.

"Alright, love." She kissed my cheek. "I'm going to start on dinner, okay?"

I nodded and watched her leave. Then I tilted my head down so I could look at Tanner. I ticked him under his chin and he laughed, a dimple appearing on his right cheek. Tears instantly welled up in my eyes. That was the dimple he had inherited from Cash. Swallowing thickly, I pressed my face to his hair, inhaling the scent of baby powder and let Tanner's crooning drown out all the memories of Cash temporarily.

-

A few days later and I still hadn't heard from Pierce. It was hard not to feel dissappointed because I had been really looking forward to seeing him again, but I swallowed it back and worked on fixing up my new house.

Paige and I had been talking a lot, but she worked as a third grade teacher, so she was currently busy. And me? Right now, I was assisting the two teenage boys who were helping me move around my heavy furniture.

I'm sure they were annoyed at me by now because every two minutes, I asked them to set the couches, TV and coffee table in a different place. It just didn't look right to me. Kale and Marty, the teenagers, probably would've left if I hadn't promised to pay them extra, so I finally decided to put the loveseat against the windows. The television was in the corner and the longer couch was beside the loveseat, successfully creating a broken L shape.

When they were done, I gave them thirty bucks each and stood back to look at our handiwork. The heavy lifting was done and the furniture was put into place. It looked nice. Now, all I needed to add were the decorations and I would be set.

I checked the time on my watch and was surprised to see it was three in the afternoon already. I hadn't even eaten since breakfast. Between taking care of Tanner and fixing up the house, I barely had any time for myself. I made sure Tanner was sleeping peacefully in the crib, turned on the baby monitor, then left to the kitchen, so I could make myself a sandwich. I was starved.

My meal was half done and I was about to take a sip of my orange juice when there was a knock on my door. I stopped, my eyes narrowing as I wondered who it could be. My father was at his office, my mother was at her boutique, Paige was still at the elementary school and I couldn't think of anyone else who even knew I lived here.

Pushing my plate that contained the half-eaten sandwich away, I got up reluctantly to go answer the door. Unfortunately, there was no peephole, so I couldn't see who it was. I unlocked the door and pulled it open, peeking my head out the little crack. But as soon as I saw who it was, I stepped back and threw open the door.

"Pierce!" Happily lunging myself into his embrace, I wrapped my arms around his torso, holding myself tightly to his warm, comforting body. "I'm so glad you're here!"

"Are you?" he asked teasing as his fingers stroked my loose, blonde hair. His big hands then found their way to my shoulders and he grasped it before pulling me apart from him gently. "How are you?" he asked, gazing at me with those gorgeous, icy, blue eyes.

I smiled at him, reaching up to cup his cheek. His skin was smooth this time and there was no trace of the stubble I had traced on his jaw that time I saw him in the mall. "I'm great, especially now that you're here." His eyes sparked and I realized that maybe I seemed like I was flirting with him, but I was being completely genuine when I said this. Pierce had always been great company and I doubt that had changed.

His fingers slipped down my arms and circled my waist, head dipping low to press a sweet kiss to my temple. He was so tall, he made me feel like a dward. He couldn't have been less than 6'4. "Aren't you going to invite me in, Tessa?"

I couldn't help, but shiver at the way he spoke my name. It always came out as a purr when he said 'Tessa', voice a dangerously, seductive lull that made me want to strip down to my underwear within a minute. Mentally shaking my head at the inappropariate thoughts, I stepped aside and grabbed his hand to drag him inside my new house. "Yes, of course." I laughed lightly.

Pierce grinned at me, a mischievous look in his eyes that made the butterflies in my stomach evolve into swooping falcons. "You have a beautiful home, Tessa. How long have you been fixing it up?"

I flushed with pleasure at the compliment. "Just a few days. I still have a lot more to do." I led him through the living room to my kitchen, where he had no problem instantly leaving my side to vacate my spot at the kitchen island. He picked up my half-eaten sandwich and took a bite. It was such a Pierce thing to do, coming into my home and eating all of my food. The action held so many memories, so I didn't even argue with him about the fact that he was eating my lunch.

After he swallowed, he leaned his elbows on the countertop, watching me with amusement. "You usually protest when I eat your food without your permission, Tessa."

A twinkle entered my eyes. "I thought I would just be nice to you for now because it has been six years since I've actually got to talk to you again."

"For now, huh?" he teased.

"You don't expect me to let you get away with stealing my food all the time, do you?" I asked in mock surprise.

Pierce threw his head back and laughed and that ridiculous feeling of utter joy enveloped me as I heard that merry sound. I had honestly missed his laugh. It could bring me out of the darkest of moods I might be in and had never failed to make me smile. The way his eyes lit up when he laughed and that those light, barely noticable dimples appeared.

"You haven't changed, Tessa." The corners of his eyes crinkled as he smiled at me. "I'm glad."

Only if he knew. But I still returned his smile, resting my chin on my palm and staring across the counter at him. He was looking back at me, his hard features softening and I could feel that familiar fluttering inside of me that only Pierce had managed to arouse. God, I had missed him. More than words could express.

I don't know how long our gazes were locked. We must have lost track of time - Pierce and I managed to do that a lot, forgetting everything and everyone when we were in just our own bubble. But the next thing I know was that the grandfather clock in the living room was indicating that it was four o clock and Tanner was screaming at the top of his lungs.

Pierce's eyes widened and he stood up, looking towards the nursery. "What the hell is that?" he asked.

I didn't bother correcting him that it was not a what but actually a who. I only spun on my heels and made my way towards the nursery, the crying gradually becoming louder. But I could still faintly hear Pierce's footsteps following me.

Tanner's crying grew quiet when I came into his view, but he was still sniffling, chewing on his fist as he stared up at me with moist eyes. I picked him up and pushed back my hair, shoulders stiffening because I knew Pierce was watching. Cradling my baby, I slowly turned around to stare into his enraged, blue eyes.