Welcome to my first Ariadne and Arthur story. Though I am also a Dom and Ariadne shipper, after reading "The End Is Not The End" by musicchica10, I decided on making this one-shot or two-shot, depending. I don't need a disclaimer because I'll never own anything like the amazing movie this was.

Cry

They were happily together for three years. The first time they realized their feelings for each other – and the Fischer job doesn't count in either of their opinions – was when Arthur had called her the first time, checking in and talking to her through the night. Even when Arthur said that the only purpose that he called to check on her was to make sure she wasn't having nightmares afterward like the rest of the team had experienced when they all did their first job. However, the topic had changed when he first asked Ariadne if she had plans for her future. She replied a short and simple "yes" and talked about this guy she had met at her college and how he asked her out on a date Saturday afternoon. And the next thing she knew, Arthur was at her doorstep the following day after and he – his own way – begged and pleaded her not to without ever breaking through his got-it-all-together kind of attitude.

Arthur had stayed around in Paris the next few weeks and, every now and then, came over to Ariadne's apartment to…"check in" and Ariadne did the same. The next week, Ariadne felt like blushing every time he was near her because he had kissed her. Not the way he did on the job – a quick, simple peck – he meant it. It was the kind of kiss you give someone, once you fall in love; it was tender and she felt like her heart stopped beating for a few quick seconds. She encouraged him to continue when she had grabbed at her hair but his hands came up and pulled them away before anything more inappropriate happened. He returned to his house a short while after, apologizing for his behavior, and left behind a dumbfounded Ariadne just standing there.

She sure was surprised when he didn't even announce to her that he was leaving for another job – though she figured that at first it was an excuse to escape her because he didn't want to have anything to do with her at all anymore – and, oh boy, did she regret that. He returned to Paris two months later and was standing, at her apartment door, with his luggage and he apologized for what he did. Arthur kissed her once again and this time he didn't bother apologizing for it because he knew that he loved her deep down.

Afterwards, it had all been great. They were both happy with each other, they got engaged and married, and she found out she was going to have his child. Ariadne always placed her head on his chest every time they slept, she always woke up in his arms and she always tried to wiggle out of his arms and go prepare them breakfast – she always failed, however, because he was an insanely light sleeper and instantly reacted to her, pulling her tighter and closer to him –, and the both of them found a way that they could spend every afternoon together after working. The two of them had thought everything was going amazing, no holes or gaps within their relationship.

Until now.

Arthur told her he had to leave once again, another job he had to do with the team and he told her over and over again that he would regret this decision for the rest of their lives together. He meant it. With a short kiss to her forehead, he left without a single word left for him to say to her because he – the got-it-all-together man he was – would, for the first time, break down and let a stinging group of tears leave his eyes.

Ariadne cried that night and just kept seeing that same scene over again – him kissing her forehead quickly and he left. Ariadne was facing herself for the worst every night that he was away and every night she always thought, I love you, and, please be safe. She didn't know that she would here the worst words of her life later that night.

Eames' voice still rang through her ears and it has been four years.

"I'm terribly sorry, darling."

"You could have protected him!"

"There wasn't a thing I could've done. Cobb and I were tied up and we didn't know where Arthur was."

"You could have been better prepared!"

"We didn't know what they were going to do to him."

"It's your entire fault!"

"I didn't know it wasn't a dream so, I-I shot him. I'm so sorry."

Ariadne held back tears every time she saw this in her mind over and over again. She shouldn't have blamed Eames for everything but he should've checked his totem, dammit! She had tried to pull herself together and collect and restore the broken pieces that she had faced with the months without Arthur. Ariadne ended up giving birth to her – his – beautiful child about a few months later. Nobody to hold her hand while she went through the pain, nobody there to help name the child, and nobody there to say how much they loved her and how well they did together. The child was a boy and Ariadne – with her new baby in her arms to be the only symbol that he was still with her somewhere – she named him Arthur Jr., for is was the only (beautiful) name that she had wanted to give their beautiful child.

Even though she still wanted Arthur back, Ariadne was forced into marrying someone. She just couldn't take care of thei- her child by herself. He needed a father to be in his life which is when she met Brian. Brian was also an architect and she loved him, they married, and they both took care of Arthur Jr. Their marriage wasn't as loving as hers and Arthur's had been; the two of them rarely ever got into fights but, when they did; they apologized and kissed a few times for the meaning of it. Her and Brian always got into fights and when they apologized, he was on the opposite side of the room, working on his drawings. She felt like he was rather talking to them instead of her most of the time and she wished Brian would pay more attention to her sometimes – most of the time.

"I'm not the type to get my heart broken,
I'm not the type to get upset and cry,
'cause I never leave my heart open,
never hurts me to say goodbye,
relationships never get deep to me."

-~-

So, this will probably be a two-shot story. I'm sorry if this was similar to someone else's story, I just wrote it and it kept going (this was originally, in my head, about 300 words. xD).

Sorry for cheesiness, boringness, crappiness, etc. in this chapter.

-Anna-