The counselor’s words were still echoing in Bethany’s mind.
“Sometimes saving a marriage means both people have to be willing to change.”
But as Bethany looked across the room at Larry, she realized something terrifying.
He didn’t look like a man who wanted to change.
He looked like a man who had already decided he was done.
And before the night was over, Bethany was going to force him to finally say what he had been hiding.
The living room was unusually quiet.
The television was off.
A few papers from their counseling session were scattered across the coffee table, along with a glass of water Larry had barely touched.
Bethany stood near the couch, holding the counselor’s notes in her hand.
Larry sat across from her, staring at the floor.
For several seconds, neither of them spoke.
Then Bethany slowly placed the papers on the table.
“So you’re really not going to try any of it?”
Larry looked up.
“Try what?”
Bethany let out a frustrated laugh.
“The things the counselor suggested. Talking without yelling. Spending time together. Actually listening to each other. Taking responsibility when we hurt each other.”
Larry leaned back.
“Bethany, we just sat in that office for over an hour. I heard everything she said.”
“Then why are you acting like none of it matters?”
Larry sighed heavily.
“Because I don’t think another list of rules is going to magically fix our marriage.”
Bethany’s expression changed.
She had been trying to remain calm.
But now her patience was disappearing.
“It’s not a list of rules, Larry. It’s advice.”
“And I’m tired of being told what I’m supposed to do.”
Bethany stared at him.
“That’s exactly the problem.”
Larry frowned.
“What problem?”
“You don’t want to do anything unless it’s your idea.”
Larry immediately stood up.
“Oh, here we go.”
“No. Don’t walk away.”
Larry stopped.
Bethany stepped closer.
“You keep doing this every time we have a serious conversation. The second I say something you don’t like, you get defensive and act like I’m attacking you.”
“Because you are always attacking me!”
“I’m trying to save our marriage!”
Larry shook his head.
“And I already told you, I went to counseling once because you wanted me to. I never even wanted to be there.”
Bethany’s eyes widened.
“So you only went to make me happy?”
“Yes.”
The answer cut through the room.
Bethany slowly nodded.
“Wow.”
Larry rubbed his forehead.
“That’s not what I meant.”
“No. That’s exactly what you meant.”
She turned away for a moment, trying to hold back her emotions.
“You know what hurts the most? I thought you were finally willing to fight for us.”
Larry looked at her.
“I have been fighting.”
Bethany turned back.
“Fighting what? Me?”
Larry said nothing.
That silence made Bethany even angrier.
“You act like I’m the enemy, Larry. I’m your wife.”
“And you act like I’m a project that needs to be fixed.”
Bethany stared at him.
“I don’t want to fix you.”
She took a breath.
“I want my husband back.”
For a moment, Larry’s expression softened.
But it lasted only a second.
“Maybe I’m not the person you think I am anymore.”
Bethany’s voice became quieter.
“Then tell me who you are.”
Larry looked away.
“Tell me what changed.”
“Nothing changed.”
“Something changed.”
She stepped closer.
“You don’t talk to me anymore. You don’t listen to me. You don’t want to spend time with me. And every time I ask you what’s wrong, you tell me I’m controlling.”
Larry’s frustration exploded.
“Because you are!”
Bethany froze.
Larry continued.
“You want everything done your way. You want me to say the right thing, act the right way, follow every suggestion, and then when something goes wrong, somehow it becomes my fault.”
“Because you refuse to meet me halfway!”
“I have been meeting you halfway for years!”
“Then why does it feel like I’m the only one standing here trying to keep this marriage alive?”
Larry stared at her.
Neither of them spoke.
The silence was heavier than the shouting.
Bethany wiped a tear from the corner of her eye.
“Just answer me one question.”
Larry looked at her.
“Why won’t you even try?”
Larry’s jaw tightened.
“Because I’m tired.”
“We’re all tired.”
“No, Bethany. You don’t understand.”
“Then make me understand!”
Larry walked toward the kitchen.
Bethany followed him.
“Don’t walk away from me!”
Larry turned around.
“What do you want me to say?”
“The truth!”
Larry stared at her.
“The truth?”
“Yes.”
Larry took a long breath.
“The truth is that I’m tired of feeling like nothing I do is ever enough for you.”
Bethany’s face softened.
“Because you don’t give me anything to hold on to.”
Larry shook his head.
“See? That’s exactly what I mean.”
“What?”
“I say I’m hurting, and somehow we end up talking about what I’m doing wrong.”
Bethany became silent.
For a brief moment, both of them seemed to realize how far the argument had gone.
But the tension was still there.
Unresolved.
Unforgiving.
Bethany slowly sat down on the couch.
“Do you even love me anymore?”
Larry looked at her.
The question seemed to catch him completely off guard.
“Bethany…”
“No. Don’t give me another speech.”
Her voice trembled.
“Just answer me.”
Larry looked toward the window.
“It’s not that simple.”
Bethany’s eyes filled with tears.
“It is simple to me.”
She stood again.
“If you love me, you fight for me.”
Larry looked frustrated.
“That’s not how it works.”
“Then how does it work?”
Larry had no answer.
Bethany shook her head.
“I’ve defended you to everyone. I’ve stood beside you. I’ve forgiven things that I never thought I would forgive.”
Larry looked down.
“And now, when I ask you to make an effort, you act like I’m asking you to become somebody else.”
Larry’s voice became cold.
“Maybe I don’t want to keep doing this.”
Bethany stopped breathing for a moment.
“What did you just say?”
Larry looked away.
“Nothing.”
“No. You said something.”
She walked closer.
“Say it again.”
Larry remained silent.
Bethany’s voice became louder.
“Say it!”
Larry finally snapped.
“Maybe that’s the problem!”
Bethany froze.
Larry’s chest rose and fell heavily.
“You keep trying to save something I’m not even sure can be saved.”
Everything went silent.
Bethany stared at him.
The anger on her face slowly disappeared.
What replaced it was pain.
Real pain.
She whispered.
“So that’s how you feel?”
Larry didn’t answer.
“You don’t even know if you want this marriage?”
Larry looked at the floor.
“I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t have to.”
Bethany stepped backward.
She looked like someone who had just been hit by something she never saw coming.
“I have been fighting for us while you’ve been deciding whether we’re worth fighting for.”
Larry finally looked at her.
“That’s not fair.”
“Fair?”
She laughed through her tears.
“What’s not fair is me waking up every morning wondering if my husband still wants me.”
Larry said nothing.
Bethany pointed toward the counseling papers on the table.
“She gave us a chance tonight.”
Larry looked at the papers.
“And you couldn’t even promise me that you would try.”
Larry’s expression hardened again.
“I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”
Bethany stared at him.
“Of course you don’t.”
Larry walked toward the television.
“Larry.”
He stopped.
Bethany waited.
She desperately wanted him to turn around.
To say something.
Anything.
To tell her that he loved her.
To tell her that he was scared.
To tell her that he didn’t mean what he had just said.
But Larry simply picked up the remote.
He turned on the television.
The bright screen filled the room.
Bethany stood behind him, completely stunned.
“You’re really going to turn on the TV right now?”
Larry didn’t answer.
“After everything we just said?”
Still nothing.
Bethany slowly shook her head.
“I can’t save this marriage by myself.”
Larry stared at the television.
Bethany picked up the counseling papers.
Her hands were shaking.
She looked at Larry one last time.
“If you’ve already given up on us, then have the courage to tell me.”
Larry remained silent.
Bethany walked toward the hallway.
Then she stopped.
She turned around.
“But if there is even one part of you that still wants me…”
Larry finally looked at her.
Bethany’s eyes were filled with tears.
“Then you better tell me before I stop waiting.”
She walked away.
Larry remained on the couch.
The television continued playing.
But he wasn’t watching it anymore.
His eyes stayed fixed on the hallway where Bethany had disappeared.
For the first time that night, his anger seemed to disappear.
He looked down at the counseling papers.
One sentence caught his attention.
“Both partners must choose the marriage.”
Larry slowly picked up the paper.
His face changed.
Then his phone buzzed on the table.
He looked at the screen.
A message had just arrived.
Larry read it once.
Then again.
His expression suddenly turned serious.
He quickly locked the phone and looked toward the hallway.
Bethany was still there.
She had no idea what had just appeared on his phone.
Larry stood up.
He took one step toward the hallway.
Then stopped.
Whatever was on that message had clearly changed something.
And now, for the first time, Larry seemed ready to make a decision.
But was he about to fight for his marriage…
or finally tell Bethany the truth she had been afraid to hear all along?