"I love you."

"I love you too."

That was a mistake. He knew it, but he couldn't help it. The affection was addicting. She was young, beautiful, she didn't know better. She was perfect.

He pushed himself off of her slowly, letting his eyes linger as she lay there just for him. He paused a moment before retrieving her clothes from beside the bed and pushing them into her arms.

"It's time to go." he said.

"Your wife?" she said, a grin on her face.

"Yeah." He replied, pulling his clothes back on.

"You know I'm better than her." She said playfully, dragging her finger up his chest.

He smiled. "You are. but you know I can't." His sorrow was genuine, but he still moved her to the door and ushered her out into the sharp autumn air.

"Text me!" she said with a wave.

"I will!" he replied, closing the door behind her. Once he saw the headlights of her car vanish he went to take his customary shower.

"Who was it this time?" a woman's voice called from the couch as he emerged from the bedroom, a towel still tied around his waist. She was holding his phone in her hand. Her lips were pulled tight into a line, not a frown, but certainly not a smile.

He didn't answer.

"You can't keep doing this, dear. Don't you know how I feel? How much it hurts?" there was a distance in her voice that gave him chills. It was always like this. He knew he should leave, but doing that was easier said than done...

And so he did what he had always done; He told her everything. She was a student at a college not far out of town. She had amber hair cut short but well styled, nothing special, just another girl he loved.

She exhaled and shook her head.

"I am going to stay with a friend for a while. I expect you to make this right before I return!" She stood and left as quickly as she had come. She wouldn't be back for a few days, that would give him time to find someone new. Hopefully this one would last a bit longer.

Did you have a talk with that girl? She said, walking in from the kitchen and laying her hands across his shoulders. They were cold, and she smelled sickly sweet, like she was trying to banish something from her body that she just couldn't wash off. He smiled, but never looked her in the eyes. "Yeah. Everything's fine now." He spared a glance at his phone, the silence was depressing.

"Then I forgive you!" she smiled and sat beside him, resting her head on his shoulder. Even now her clothes faintly smelled of rust. He sighed.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

He was a cheat, and she was a killer. They were the perfect pair... however;

They did not live a happily ever after, not by a mile.