When Love Breaks Down - by Maro Z

Hi guys! Thank you all SO much for the positive responses to the end of It had to be you. I loved writing it, and lots of you enjoyed reading it. You are all a bunch of romantic buggers though hey? We all love a happy ending though apparently! Wonder if I could ever end a story too cheesily!!???

Mal K - Glad you loved it!

Tavita K - a teen romance? Wow, I'm a bit old for that, maybe....but I'm sure I can go down that route if people fancy it?? Comment guys!

Annie - hope I covered all the bases in this finale!!

Justine.A - SO glad you were pleased with this..I did wonder after tha last chapter. Can't do anymore....less is more in this situation, think any more might kill it all! But hope you like this story.

Ms March Angel - :)....love that name! No sequel at the moment, but am open to discussion. Will consider any suggestions for further stories seriously as i do love responding to a challenge!

Lee - thank you! I'm having such nice comments it's unreal!

Bethanyfellows - this is it! And I'm with you on the happy ending....we all live in hope hey?

K.B.P. - thank you so much! So nice to be appreciated. These stories do cut a chunk in my life so I'm glad that they are appreciated.

Nessa - Again thanks so much! Hope you enjoy this one too!

Emm - you are all such romantics! Glad you enjoyed though!

So this new story.....I'm still unsure of the format it should take. There'll be some jumping back and forth in time. Hope you all follow it.
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So here it goes:

There were tears in Charlie's eyes as she made a final check of the Master bedroom. It was heartbreaking to think that this was all that remained of the last six years of her life - three very large suitcases, half a dozen boxes and a beautiful little boy. She looked at the bed, which had been such a special place for another few seconds, before finally closing the door behind her.

As she bundled the boxes into her car, she paused again to look back at the beautiful renovated farm house that she'd spent years perfecting. It had been more than a project, it had felt like a life's work. Now as she started the engine, she had one thought. How could it have all gone wrong? How could the love of her life, the man who'd promised her everything have changed so much?

Shaking her head and avoiding any more tears, she slipped into gear and drove away.

She stopped at her father's house to pick up her son. She could hear shouts from the garden and paused at the gate, three year old Lucas was currently playing cricket with her father in the garden.

"Hey guys!" She smiled at them from the door. "Who's winning?"

"Who do you think?" her father asked short of breath from all the running around. He turned to Lucas, "why don't you get all the things together and tidy them into the shed, then you can feed the rabbits before you go. Ok?"

"Cool Gramps!" he called out as he disappeared into the distance.

Her father followed Charlie back into the kitchen.

"So how was it?"

She shrugged, "it helped that he wasn't there! I've packed the things we need. I'll leave soon, gives us a bit of time to settle in."

"Are you sure about this?" when she nodded, he opened his arms and hugged his daughter, knowing how hard this was for her, "you're one of the strongest people I know, you'll get through this."

She nodded her eyes filled with the tears she'd been fighting for days.

"But we're there for you if you need us!" another voice added from behind. Charlie spun around to see Pam, her father's fiancée.

"Thanks Pam!"

Charlie's mother had died ten years ago, after a long time of being devastated, her father had found Pam, who ironically had been a High school teacher of Charlie's. She'd brought nothing but happiness to her father's life, and had been like a mother to Charlie.

Lucas bounded in a few minutes later, and so she added him and the remaining bags to her car, before pulling out of the driveway.

Charlie had opened a restaurant four years earlier in a small town overlooking the sea. It was very busy, and she'd thrown her heart and soul into it while she coped with her husband traveling so much. Noah had been away for months at a time, when they first met she'd traveled with him, but the radical change that a child had brought meant that was no longer practical. The restaurant had become her second child. The apartment above had been used for storage, but since her marriage had fallen apart, she'd worked on making it livable. She now had a kitchen, a sparsely furnished lounge and two bedrooms. A big jump from the six bedroom farm house she'd just walked away from.

Stopping in the parking lot outside the two story square building, she took a deep breath, this wasn't going to be easy, and she dreaded the moment that Noah realized she'd left.

She bundled Lucas in first, settling him in front of a DVD. Then was the interminable task of unloading the car and then the boxes.

After pizza for dinner, she managed to get her son into bed, then slumped on one of the lumpy sofas in the lounge, and felt the tears she'd been hiding start to fall.

There was a knock at the door, dragging herself out of her misery she descended the stairs and opened the door. There stood Jack, her business partner and best friend.

One look at him and she burst into tears, hiding his surprise, he pulled her into a hug

"I saw your car, I wondered what you were doing here on a Sunday night!"

She looked up at him through a veil of tears, "I've left him Jack. I couldn't...."

"Sshh!" he stroked her hair, "you don't have to tell me anything!"

Half an hour she was curled up in a blanket on the sofa whilst Jack reappeared with a Chinese take away. As her dished it out, he poured a bottle of wine into two glasses and handed her one.

Charlie sighed, wondering if Noah was back from Australia yet. She'd left him there two days ago, after realizing that Miss Australia had preceded her into his bed. How do you cope when your husband beds a supermodel? And how can you possibly forgive him?

She'd met Noah six years earlier and hated him on sight. Charlie had been working in various bars in Spain for the previous eighteen months since leaving college she refused to think about a career, loving the no-commitment lifestyle, living day to day with no consequence. She'd initially gone on a six week trip to find herself after her final exams, but had found a job and not come back. She'd loved the lifestyle and the people, becoming almost fluent in Spanish very quickly. But she'd come home when her father was ill, and the purpose of a night out to a new nightclub in London with Josh, an old college friend, was to discuss work option he had a PR company and was desperate for help on a 'special project', Charlie knew it was time to finally grow up, and her friend had the perfect job for her.

She'd slipped off to the bathroom well into the evening as she realized she was drinking far too much, too quickly. When she passed the bar, she heard her phone ringing, so she stopped to rummage in her pocket for the phone, glad of the fact that she didn't believe in handbags, and located the ring quickly. Stepping back towards the wall, she felt something cold hit her back, and spun around.

There was a man glowering at her, a large patch of red wine adorning his white shirt, knowing it was the same liquid she could feel running down her back. He was tall with floppy blonde hair drooping over beautiful blue eyes, he was both good looking and familiar. She was mesmerized for a second by his intriguing looks, then she spotted the harsh lines around his mouth, the frown framing his eyes and stepped back rapidly. As she opened her mouth to say sorry, he launched at her.

"You stupid bitch! This shirt cost a fortune! Can't you look where you're going?"
She kept stepping backwards, anger replacing her initial fear, "It was an accident! Do you think I backed into you on purpose? Are you that egotistical?"
"Worse things have been orchestrated!" he snarled facing up to her.
Shaking her head, she squared up to him, "well this, much to your disappointment, was an accident, and nothing more. So get over it and yourself!"
With that she turned and left the club. Her anger hadn't faded the next day when she met Josh at his office to discuss the job offer.

"Where did you disappear to?" Josh asked hugging her. "There were so many people I wanted you to meet!"
"You know me Josh. If I have too much then I just need to head home. Me being drunk is no advert to your business."
He chuckled, "so, you'll do it? Be the PR agent for five months, travel, organize hotels, interviews and stuff?" He handed her an itinerary that was jam packed. "The buck will stop with you, I need you to keep the clients out of trouble, make sure they attend all the scheduled meetings, and deal with any flak that comes your way?"
She nodded, "I'm quite looking forward to a challenge!"
Grinning he swung open a door, "well come and meet your new project?"
Smiling she followed him into the other room.

"This is Noah Fleet!" he announced, sweeping an arm in the direction of the man seated in the room, then spinning around to grin at her.
Sat there was the guy who'd insulted her the previous night.....the irony, and the ridiculousness of it all wasn't wasted on Charlie and the ear to ear smile on Noah's face faltered as he recognized her, Charlie was never one to back down quietly.
"Is this some form of joke?"
Josh seemed stunned, "Charlie? This is Noah Fleet! He's the singer and guitarist with Ebony Smile?"
She recognized the name vaguely, but her three years in Spain meant she'd lost touch with the British music scene, had no clue who he was.

"You're saying that this job is five months virtually in the pocket of an egotistical prick like this?" Turning to the man she despised so much, she almost snarled.
Josh gasped, but Noah roared with laughter, "I love her Josh! Where do I sign up?"
And so despite her protests, they'd agreed terms, she met the rest of the band and headed on a promotional tour to the US. Against her better judgment.

After Jack left, he'd already delayed his hot date to make sure she was ok, she went to bed. She was lying there when Noah phoned.

"What the hell is going on?"

She sighed, he was drunk. "Noah, please. You can't expect me to stay after Sydney, you really can't."

"It's not what you think!" He sounded desperate, but she couldn't waiver on this.

Charlie sighed flopping down into a chair, "please, don't so this. I came out to Sydney to apologize." She'd suffered a miscarriage earlier in the year and become rather aloof after it, partly because she hadn't been ready for another child and the guilt when she'd lost it had overwhelmed her. After he flew to Australia to tour and promote their new album she felt bereft. She missed him, she'd knew she'd pushed him away, lashed out, hurt him.

So she'd left Lucas with her father and rushed to Sydney, a long trip, but she surprised him at his hotel room. The reunion had been spontaneous, powerful and so so pleasurable. But as they were dressing for dinner something didn't feel right. And for some reason, some instinct, she checked the bathroom. There she'd found two champagne flutes, one caked in lipstick, as well as a pair of torn lace panties.

"It wasn't...."

"We had the most amazing reunion Noah, it's been a long time since we've both been like that. I mistakenly thought your enthusiasm, your devotion was because you'd missed me so much....but it was guilt! How could you?"

"We can work this out Charlie!"

She sighed, "Noah! You spend at least three months of the year traveling, all over the World. Before Lucas I could travel with you, now I can't! I needed to trust you, that was everything. How can I ever relax again?" She started to pace, the phone still at her ear, "and then at the airport, photos of you and 'Miss Australia' were everywhere. You broke my heart Noah, ripped it out and ran all over it. I don't see how I can ever forgive you!"

"You can't take Lucas!"

She laughed, "I'm not leaving him with you. You're not reliable, he's a child. Do you need any more reasons?"

Then like a switch he flipped, "You are a stuck up bitch. Always were. I don't know what I saw in you!"

She laughed ironically, "and there it is! Since we lost the baby all you've done is drink! You're unreasonable and I can't talk to you when you're like that. I can't put Lucas through this, surely you can see that?"

"And you were always controlling and moralistic. Well I hope you're lonely up there on your high horse!"

With that he'd hung up and Charlie had to rationalize all that happened. Her world had crashed around her, and she hoped she had enough energy left in her to climb out of this great big hole.
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So what do you think?

I'm still unsure of this is the right format for this story.....it may be two stories in one!! Will see how it goes!

MZ.