So I had a lot of fun writing the flashback. :)

Anyway, so I was originally inspired to write Falling Apart by two different, but similar stories that both have children and abuse in it and are non-teen fiction. I didn't mention this in prior chapters because I was trying to find at least one of these stories. However, I can't remembered the other one, but one of the stories I was inspired by was:

Heart of Gold by LovelyDove43

If you haven't read this story yet, please do. It's not finished yet, but I promise you won't regret it. :)

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I knew Cash was getting annoyed with me, but I couldn't help myself from reacting like a teenager. What straight, sane woman wouldn't? One of Cash's business partners had a brother who was a male model and he was flirting with me. Out of all people, me. I felt special because there were so many other beautiful women around, too.

The truth was that I was flirting back with Christian. It was entertaining, seeing Cash's hand clench around his wine glass or his face turn a little red. There were barely times I saw him jealous because he was so confident in my love for him. And he had right to be, but I couldn't help messing with him.

Christian, the male model, leaned over and twirled a lock of my curly hair around his finger. "Your hair is so silky and soft," he purred in his accented voice. I didn't know what kind of accent he had - it seemed like a mixture really.

A girly giggle left my lips and from the corrner of my eyes, I saw Cash's jaw tighten. Christian's brother, who was currently holding a conversation with a distracted Cash, looked like he was trying not to crack up. I knew why and I bit my lip to hold back my laughter as well.

"Thank you," I murmured, smiling up at him innocently. I ran my fingers down the lapel of his black suit. It molded to his gorgeous body, his brown hair brushing the tips of his shoulders. "You have a great body," I complimented, smirking devilishly.

He chuckled. "It's a must for my job," he replied smoothly, running his fingers from my hair down to my neck where he lifted a necklace that Cash had given me for my twenty-third birthday. "This is nice, Tessa." His hand went lower, but that's when Cash was suddenly by my side and wrenching Christian's hand off of me.

"Don't touch my girl," he growled lowly, his blue eyes flashing heatedly.

Christian raised his hands, palms out in surrended. I glanced around slyly and was glad that nobody had seemed to notice us. I didn't want to cause a scene for a little fun prank. "Touchy," he drawled, chuckling.

Cash shot him a dirty look before taking me by the elbow and leading me away. We walked, moving past the people mingling around until Cash finally stopped at a place that was hidden from view. "What the hell were you doing, flirting with that prick?" he demanded angrily, but under that I could see hurt in his eyes.

I felt bad when I realized that maybe I had hurt his feelings. So I put my palms on his cheeks and pulled his head down, so I could press my forehead to his. "It was harmless, baby," I said.

A frown marred his perfect features. "I don't like it. He's not even that attractive," he huffed.

I giggled. "You're jealous."

"I am not," he snapped, glancing away.

"You are," I laughed. "You're jealous of Christian Woods."

A light blush spread across his cheeks. "Is there a reason I should be?" he asked, trying to get himself out of it. But I knew him. And I decided it was time I finally let Cash know why I let Christian go so far in his flirting.

"I wasn't lying when I said it was harmless flirting, Calvin." Cash's frown deepened. "Christian is gay."

Cash's eyes widened. It was comical. I started to giggle again until I began to full out laugh. "Why do you think nobody was saying anything? If he was a straight man, I would be called so many names by now. Plus, you can tell he's gay. He's very feminine."

When he narrowed his eyes at me, I tried to calm my laughter. It wasn't successful, but I managed to tone it down to a chuckle. His arms came around me and he pulled me flush against me. I gasped softly. "Brat," he muttered.

"I'm sorry," I murmured as his face came closer.

"No, you're not," he growled.

I had to grin. "You're right, I'm not." Then I put my hand on the back of his neck and pulled our lips together.

-

I curled my hair, something I barely did unless it was important. I wanted to look extra good for Pierce today because it was our first date...as adults. I was nervous and a little excited. Where was he going to take me? Our real first date was to a carnival and I remembered Pierce almost robbing all of the cute toys by winning all of the games. But we got kicked out because I wasn't very fond of clowns after watching the movie 'It' and got scared when one tried to shove a balloon animal in my face. Pierce did what he usually did and attempted to beat the poor guy up, but they made us leave before anything fatal happened.

The fond memory brought a smile onto my face. Pierce was so lovable, even with all his flaws. That made him more perfect in my eyes. And I had to admit, I loved his edgy side. He had the bad boy appeal, but he was a sweetheart under that rough exterior.

Glancing at the mirror, I looked over my reflection and smiled in approval. Even though I was a mother, I didn't see why I had to start dressing all perfect and modest. I was still young, only twenty-four and had a body good enough to flaunt. So I wore a blush pink, sprapless, Grecian dress that flaunted my curvy yet slim body.

I didn't know if this was too formal, but Pierce had told me to dress nice, so I decided it was fine. But as I looked over at the clock, I realized that I was dressed way too early. So I just made sure my make up was perfect and went to Tanner's nursery, only to remember a minute later that I had dropped him off at my mother's.

It was still six thirty, so I went to my bedroom, went all the way to the back of my walk-in closet and found an album. I knew there was no reason why I should be looking through these pictures especially since I was going to go on a date with Pierce in half an hour, but I couldn't help myself. The urge was overwhelming.

Opening the album plunged me back to all those beautiful memories of my wedding day. Truthfully, it wasn't that extravagant. There weren't many people. It was mostly made of Cash's relative's since it had always been just my mother, my father and me.

But I looked so happy walking down that aisle, my hand on my father's arm, eyes alight with happiness. I was wearing a simple strapless goddess wedding dress that was a grayish-white and framed my slim torso to perfection, falling in a beautiful curtain around my legs with a short train. My hair was in a gorgeous updo and there was a diamond headband, that was one of our family heirlooms, keeping it in place.

The photos on the album were almost the size of the whole page and the entire book was dedicated to my wedding. When I saw a picture of Cash reaching out a hand towards me as my father handed me over to him, I zeroed in on the expression on his face. My breath caught because that emotion playing on his face, the complete and utter awe, pride and love, it could not be faked. He had to have felt something for me. It couldn't be all about the money.

I traced his face and willed myself not to cry and ruin the make-up I had taken thirty minutes to perfect. I kept turning the pages to the album and smiled despite my sadness because the photos showed how much fun it was at the reception. Cash's cousins, uncles and aunts, they were all hilarious. Andi, one of Cashs cousin, the one I liked the most, was tracing icing over my nose and the photographer had captured our moment perfectly. The incredulous look on my face was comical.

Then there was another one where Cash had actually gone under my dress to take my garter off with his teeth. My cheeks were red in embarrassment, but everyone was getting a kick out of that and were laughing. Anyone could see the mischievous twinkle in his eyes and amusement on his face.

I loved the last picture the most. It was my favorite out of the entire album and had encased it in a heart frame at the end of the album. After all, the best should always be saved for last. In the photo, it was Cash and my first dance and my arms were around his shoulders. He was gripping my waist gently and to indicate we had been moving was the billowing of my pretty dress. It had flew up around my ankles right after a spin and my eyes were staring up into Cash's. It was like we hadn't even noticed anybody else in that dance. It was just me and him.

The doorbell ringing brought me back to reality and I put the album back where it was at the back of my closet, hidden away from view. I put on my heels, determined to not look like a dward compared to my date and walked to the door as gracefully as I could. When I opened the door, I was met with Pierce, looking as gorgeous as ever, my favorite flower of all time in his hands.

He had brought me roses. But it wasn't just plain red like most guys brought for their dates. I counted every single color of roses. There was orange, yellow, red, pink, white, blue, purple, those roses that were a mixture of colors and even a black one!

My face brought out into a huge smile and I carefully took the roses into my hand. "Wow, Pierce. This is...wow."

"I took the thorns off for you," he said, smiling at me sweetly. "And I know roses aren't the only flowers you like, so I got this, too. Just in case." He took his other hand away from his back and I beamed at the sight of the red, dendrobium orchids.

"How did you manage to get all these roses?" I asked, sniffing the sweet fragrance. He followed me into the house as I looked for a vase to put my flowers in.

"I have my ways," he said mysteriously. I looked over my shoulder, but he just winked at me and I bit my lip, deciding to let it go. I was just glad he had thought of me and bought me flowers. I remember Cash used to bring me flowers everytime he used to visit me, a different flower each day, but that seemed so long ago. It was around the beginning of our relationship. Eventually, he just stopped doing that and only got me flowers when it was a special occasion.

When I finally found two vases, I filled them with water and put the flowers in seperately. Putting the roses on the dining table and orchids in the living room, I walked back to Pierce and wrapped my arms around him for a hug. "Thank you so much."

"Don't thank me yet," he teased. "This date hasn't even started."

I grinned as I met his blue eyes. The iciness seemed to have melted from them and were completely happy and carefree. "So, where are we going?" I asked curiously as I finally noticed his choice of clothing. A suit, which was a shock to me because the only time he ever wore one was at senior prom, when he went with me. And he had borrowed that from my dad since he didn't want to waste money buying a suit he'd only wear once. Chewing my lip, I realized how hard it was to tear my eyes away from his body - he was definitely not that tall, lanky boy I had grown up with. No, he was all man and he looked delicious. Edible.

Pierce grabbed my hand and led me outside, only pausing for me to turn off all the lights and lock the door. "Well, I was thinking dinner and then go on a boat ride."

My eyebrow shot up. "Boat ride?"

"I have a friend," he said vaguely. "After dinner, I want to take you out to the lake for a while," Pierce explained.

I bit my lip. That sounded appealing. "I'd like that," I said shyly, smiling up at him.

There was a soft look in his eyes. He leaned down to kiss me lightly. "Good."

A light blush covered my face. "I thought we weren't going to kiss until after the date?"

Pierce chuckled. "I couldn't help myself," he admitted, then helped me into his car. He walked around to get into the driver seat and started the car, glancing at me and running his eyes over my body briefly. "You look gorgeous, Tessa."

There was never any reason for me to ever be insecure while I was with Pierce because he never failed to remind me of how beautiful I was to him. Plus, he didn't look at any other girls beside me. His attention was always undivided and fully on me.

"You look great, too." I ran my hand over his suit. "Can't believe you wore this. It took me a month to get you to go to prom with me and wear a suit," I reminisced.

"Well, since it's technically our first date, I thought I'd wear something nice," he laughed.

Chuckling a little, I glanced out the window, watching the scenery go by and we remained silent, but it wasn't one of those awkward ones. We were both content listening to the music on the radio and I couldn't help, but start to sing along softly to Usher's Scream.

I felt Pierce's eyes on me and turned my head towards him. "What?" I asked.

"Nothing." He looked away and parked the car in front of an expensive looking restaurant I wasn't familiar with.

"New?" I questioned. He nodded and hopped out of the car, running around to open the door for me. I giggled and his large hand covered my small one as we walked side by side into the restaurant.

"Reservation for Alexander," Pierce told the host and she nodded, leading us to our table by the window. It was private which I liked, but what I didn't like was the flirtatious looks the woman was giving my date. But I ignored it and was glad to see her go.

Pierce pulled the chair ot for me and then took his own seat. "You're adorable when you're jealous, Tess."

I rolled my eyes. "It's impossible to avoid flirty and jealous girls when I'm out with you," I grumbled.

"You're not the only one jealous," he admitted. "I don't like the way guys stare at you. Never did. But they don't approach because come on, who can compete with this?" he waved his hand up and down his body and gave me a cocky smirk that I knew was just playful. He wasn't one of those cocky, arrogant type of guys.

"Shut up. Nobody is looking at me," I replied, turning my head down. Stop blushing, Tessa. You're twenty-four. Not sixteen.

Pierce laughed heartily. "Yes, they are. You look perfect in that dress. Your body is....," he trailed off and licked his lips as a flame ignited within his eyes. If I was standing, I probably would've fallen over because my legs felt like jelly.

A waiter came by just then and coughed to get our attention, his face flushed. He was a skinny guy, probably only sixteen and obviously very shy by the slight shifting of his feet. I was sure that Pierce's words and that look of lust on his face was probably making the kid uncomfortable.

I quickly ordered, not even bothering to read the menu and just pointing at a picture that looked incredibly delicious and then looked back at Pierce. He was messing with his tie and I laughed a little, leaning over to straighten it for him.

"Thanks," he murmured, gazing up at me with those smoldering blue eyes.

I stared back and gently ran my fingers over his completely shaven jaw. He shuddered under my touch and breathed out softly. "Your welcome," I said softly before sitting back down.

Pierce cleared his throat. "Anyway, Tessa. I want to know about how college was for you," he told me with a sad tone to his voice. I glanced away briefly before gazing at him. Then I began speaking.

I told him all about my roommates, where I worked, how my classes were like, how the campus was and my friends. I even told him about my boyfriends, although I was a bit reluctant. They weren't really serious and I didn't have very deep feelings about any of them. Most of them, I still remained friends with after breaking up.

After we were done eating, Pierce paid and we got back into his car again. I was totally full and we had stayed at the restaurant for a few hours, so it was dark already. "Still up for that boat ride?" Pierce asked.

Nodding, I leaned back against the seat of the car and we listened to music again as he drove us to the dock.

Pierce's friend's boat was fairly big and clean, which I appreciated. I didn't really know boats, so I didn't necessarily care what type it was and let Pierce help me up onto it. I slipped off my heels and put it somewhere easy to find and leaned against the railing, looking over at the dark water, the light of the moon highlighting the ripples.

"You know how to steer this thing?" I asked, looking over my shoulder at Pierce.

"Of course." Then we were off.

We were mostly quiet, speaking only some times as Pierce steered and I lounged around, staring at the scenery. The lake was huge and surrounded by the forest and I could barely make out the beach. It was beautiful out here in the night.

We stopped and it felt like I was right under the moon, in the middle of the lake. Pierce came over towards me and wrapped his arms around my waist from behind, his chin on my shoulder.

"What are you thinking about?" he whispered, sweet breath washing over my skin.

I gripped the railing and stared out at the water. "It's so beautiful out here at this time of night."

I felt Pierce nod and his head leaned against mine. "It is," he agreed and he sighed softly.

This felt so intimate and I suddenly remembered the look of complete and total desire on his face when he mentioned my body. And it probably was way early for anything like this since this was just our first date, but I reminded myself that this was Pierce and I had known him for my whole life anyway. It wasn't like this was a stranger.

I turned around in his arms and he looked at me with surprised. Pierce opened his mouth to say something, but I brought his face closer and pressed my lips to his. There was a low groan rumbling up from his throat and he kissed back softly before pulling away.

"Tessa, don't you think we're moving too fast? I thought you wanted to take it slow?" he asked, breathing heavily.

Slow was impossible with Pierce. I grabbed him by the tie and kissed him again, but more passionately than before. He groaned a little and his tongue swept into my inviting mouth as his hands ran all over my body. I sighed contently and let him lead me away from the edge and gently lower me onto the boat floor. I didn't mind that it was hard and a little uncomfortable because being with Pierce made me forget everything.

"Are you sure, Tessa?" Pierce asked when we were both naked and there was no barrier between us.

I nodded, completely sure of myself. "I want you, Pierce."

"There's no going back. After this, you," he kissed my neck, "are" - another kiss - "mine."

Moaning softly, I wrapped my legs around his waist, pulling him closer to me. "No going back," I agreed.

Pierce sucked sensually on my skin. I was sure that was going to be lovebites all over me when I looked in the mirror tomorrow. He was ready to push in, but then he suddenly froze. I groaned, but in frustration. "I don't have a condom," he muttered.

I grabbed onto his shoulders. "Why are you making excuses? Do you not want me?" I asked, feeling a little put out and hurt.

There was disbelief in his eyes. "I want you so much. But you can get pregnant."

"You can pull out or if you forget, I'll get the morning after pill," I mumbled, then blushed because I felt like a whore, begging for sex. "Nevermind." I tried to move out from under his arms, but Pierce held me in place, his lips capturing mine.

"Love you," he breathed and I felt complete pleasure as he sunk into me. Closing my eyes, I held onto his bare, broad shoulders and let him take me higher and higher until we were both lost.