Bittersweet Memories

"You know… your brother and I got married on the 6th of January 2007" said Natasha as she began and she sighed, this was going to be a very long story, but Lulu deserved to know, and she needed to know the real version, her version, the correct one.

"Yes I know, I was even forced to be one of your bridesmaids" said Lulu as she laughed and Natasha laughed as well.

"Yes, sorry about that" said Natasha as she laughed.

"No need to be, my mom forced me to, she was like "Blah, Blah, show your support for your brother and Natasha" said Lulu as she mimicked her mother.

"Meanwhile all I wanted was the cake" said Lulu as she laughed.

"You were fifteen, I don't blame you" said Natasha as she laughed.

"I mean, my only regret is that I am frowning in all the pictures before the reception and cake time" said Lulu as she laughed and Natasha laughed, she always liked Lulu's sense of humour, she was someone very easy to talk to.

"Well you still have four other weddings to attend" said Natasha as she laughed, she was talking about Charlie's, Michael, Nine's and Lia's weddings which were yet to happen.

"That is true, although I only want the cake" said Lulu as she laughed and Natasha laughed, she hadn't laughed so much in such a long time, only talking about the simple things.

"So what happened?" asked Lulu as she went back to being serious, it was the truth that she was curious, when everything happened she was only fifteen, no one told her anything at all, they all said that it was an adult matter, all she knew was that she suddenly became an Aunt at fifteen.

"I mean… as far as I knew, you and Dom got along really well, I mean so well, you were the perfect couple" said Lulu as she smiled.

"I doubt that Lulu" said Natasha as she forced a smile.

"Although we did get along very well back then" said Natasha.

"So when did things start to get bad?" asked Lulu as she was really interested now, sure Dom had asked her to do this, but now she was truly interested in the story, to her, everyone had always painted Natasha as the villain, so she started to resent her a little, they were not actually close sister in laws at all, but now that she was sitting down alone with Natasha, talking one on one, to her Natasha did not seem that bad, or even bad at all.

"*Sigh*" said Natasha as she sighed, she had not told this story in a long time, the only other people who knew this story besides for her were her dad and Pete, mostly because when everything truly did get bad, she had no choice than to tell them.

"It's alright if you don't want to tell me Natasha" said Lulu as she could sense that this was a very difficult topic for Natasha, and she did not want her to end up crying, what would she do then?? She never did the consoling, it was always the other way round.

"No Lulu, it's fine, I want to tell you" said Natasha as she forced a smile and Lulu smiled back at her.

"Your brother and I were married for a month, I mean everything was fine, he would pick me up at school, we would go home together, it was actually so peaceful, we got along like friends" said Natasha as she smiled remembering those fond memories and Lulu smiled at her.

"Everything changed for the worse the day after Valentine's day" said Natasha as she sighed and Lulu listened intently.

…

Thursday 15 February 2007

"*Ugh*" said Natasha to herself as her eyes opened softly as she blinked repeatedly, the light from the window shone directly into her eyes.

"What happened?" she asked herself as she felt her entire body aching, and worst of all her head was aching as well, she had woken up with a splitting headache, a terrible one, she felt like her head was going to explode.

"I have this splitting headache" she said to herself as she rubbed her forehead with her right hand.

"Just what was in that wine?" asked Natasha to herself as that was the only reasonable explanation that she could think of, she had prepared dinner for her and Dom last night by herself, and now she woke up feeling like a train wreck, and worst of all her mind was hazy, she could not remember anything from the night before at all.

"Where am I? this isn't my room?" asked Natasha to herself as she realized that she was not in her room, and this was not her bed at all.

"What the h…" said Natasha as her eyes went wide, she just realized that she was naked! She could feel nothing between the bed and the sheets.

"Why am I naked!!" asked Natasha to herself in a mix of fear and panic, the more she tried to remember what happened the night before, the more her head throbbed like a conga drum.

"Alright Natasha, be calm, take a deep breath…" said Natasha to herself as she took deep breaths and she tried to calm herself down.

Her body just felt so weak and tired, and she was all achy everywhere that she could not even force herself to get up even if she wanted to, so she decided to think and see if she could find out what happened.

Natasha took a deep breath as she gulped, she knew that there was another person in this bed, she knew it… and she was scared to turn and face the person because… she did not know what to do at all, voices in her head told her to stand up and run away, but the question was why would she be running when she was just as confused as anyone else who walked into this scene.

"Oh gosh" said Natasha to herself as she knew that she would regret this, but she turned her head to the left as she saw the sleeping black-haired man beside her, and it was just as she had feared.

She knew where she was… she was in Dom's room, and she was in Dom's bed, and she was sleeping right next to Dom.

"Oh good Lord, did we…" said Natasha to herself as she turned as white as a sheet.

"We did…we did it??" asked Natasha to herself as her heart began to beat faster, and not because she was happy but because of fear.

"No, no… but yes" said Natasha as she argued with herself, that was the only reasonable explanation here she was naked, and she was sure that Dom was too.

"This is horrible, just horrible" said Natasha to herself as she felt like crying, they had actually done it, and worst of all she did not know how they got to this point, last thing she could remember was them having dinner they were all smiles and then bam, she woke up in this state.

Their marriage was not a normal one, it was basically an arranged one, to her Dom was always like her big brother, but when Ernest suggested that they get married after all his persuasion, they got married, and they actually got along well, they were like friends, and of course they never slept with each other, out of respect for one another… but now… that rule was broke.

The first thought that popped in Natasha head was for her to get up and leave before Dom woke up, but then she thought that if she did do that, wouldn't that make it seem like she was actually guilty when she was a victim here as well.

It was clear that the wine they had drank yesterday wasn't normal at all, and apart from that, it made them loose all common sense, she did not know why she just could not have snapped out of it before this all happened, she could have stopped this nonsense, she was blaming herself now, seriously, she did not know what to do at all.

And the biggest thought on her mind was what she would say when Dom woke up, or should she just pretend to be asleep? Or should she just run?? Her mind was racing with many thoughts, until she heard a groan that made her freeze as she started breathing heavier.

Dom's eyes fluttered open, he was confused, his head was aching serious as if it had been hit by a hammer, he put his left hand over his forehead as he realized that he was in his room, the question on his mind was how he had gotten here… he looked down, he realized that he was shirtless, but that was not all, he was naked as well.

In all his twenty five years of living, he had never felt this horrible, and worse of all, he could not remember anything at all, it was at that moment that he turned to his right as he saw Natasha and her eyes were open wide.

Warning sirens in Natasha's head told her not to turn to the left, they told her not to look, but he did not listen at all, and she regretted what she did next.

Natasha turned to the left, and as her eyes met Dom's, she could not mistake the look of confusion and many questions in his eyes.

"What happened?" came Dom's voice as it thundered in the room and it made Natasha flinch as she did not expect that, he did not raise his voice, but he sounded so cold… freezing.

"I…I…" said Natasha as she stuttered she did not know what to say? Right now, she was just a confused as he was.

"I don't know" she managed to spit out in a small voice as Dom narrowed his eyes at her.