*Vanessa's pov.*

I had been working my ass off the last couple of weeks and I had managed to get through everything I had to do, so I got to go home a lot earlier. I got on the A train feeling exhausted. It was 1 pm and I wouldn't have to pick the kids up until 3 pm, so I was excited to have some time alone with Lin.

As I opened the door with my keys I was greeted by a complete mess in the apartment. The furniture was everywhere and bottles of whisky and vodka, as well as multiple beer bottles, were laying loose on the ground, all empty.

"Lin! Are you home?" I asked, confused by the state of the apartment. Suddenly he stumbled out of the kitchen towards me. I gasped as I took his sight in. He could barely walk, his eyes were red and puffy, his clothes were ragged, his hair was all messed up and he reeked of alcohol. He was screaming, although his words were slurred.

"I can't Vanessa! Listen to me! I'm gonna kill him! I'll kill him! You hear me! LISTEN TO ME!" He walked towards me as he said this and grabbed both my upper arms, squeezing them hard, I winced in pain. He continued screaming and shaking me. I flinched away. Even though he has never ever raised a hand to me, in this moment I genuinely thought he was going to hit me.

"Lin! Let me go, you're hurting me!" I pleaded. The look on his face changed and he seemed taken aback, clearly not wanting to hurt me. "What happened!?" All I got for an answer were some more slurred words. I sat him down on the couch and went to grab a glass of water to sober him up. As I looked around the apartment and saw how many empty bottles were laying around I was surprised he hadn't passed out yet. When he finished I went to make a coffee to sober him up even further. This is unlike Lin. I needed to know why he did this.

After a lot of water and coffee he was pretty sobered up, but completely exhausted now. I let him sleep on the couch. I texted my parents, who lived nearby, asking them to pick the kids up and bring them to their place. I told them everything was fine, but that I just needed to have a private conversation with Lin. They realized it was a no questions asked situation and so they didn't. I started cleaning up the apartment. I put all the empty bottles in a garbage bag and cleaned up the several places where Lin had thrown up.

After a solid two hours I was done cleaning and was about to sit down when I heard him calling me.

"V, what happened? Why are you here? Where are the kids?"

"They're with my parents." He reached for his head wincing.

"Yeah, I'm sure that hurts." I said, my voice cold. He looked extremely confused. I went to grab the garbage bag in which I had dumped all the empty bottles. It was a huge bag. I placed it in front of Lin and opened it up, making sure he could see what was inside. He didn't understand it at first, but it suddenly seemed to dawn on him.

"I drank this?"

"All of it, in just a couple of hours. You should be happy you woke up here instead of at the hospital!"

"V, I'm so sorry. What time is it? Weren't you supposed to come home a lot later?"

"My boss let me go earlier. I was excited to spend some time with my husband, instead I found him drunk off his ass and coming up to me screaming and grabbing me painfully."

"What!?"

"You kept yelling at me while you grabbed my arms and shook me around."

He started shaking his head in panic. "No, no, no. That's not possible!"

"Well it happened Lin. You scared me. I've never seen you so drunk and you've never gotten violent. I didn't even know you had it in you. You were unpredictable and saying all of these weird things. For a moment I thought you were gonna hit me!"

"Please tell me I didn't?" He looked incredibly desperate now and I started feeling bad for him.

"No." He let out a relieved sigh. "But you scared me Lin. Why did you do this?" All of a sudden his face changed. He seemed on the verge of tears. "What is it?" I was becoming truly concerned.

"Sara."

He told me the entire story. I was shocked. "How could she do that. Don't get me wrong what you said wasn't very nice, but I get it. How can she catch feelings for him again after one phone call. He punched her a week ago. That's insane!"

"I know." He then proceeded to tell me about what happened afterwards.

"I just wanted it to stop V! I couldn't think about the consequences. All I could think about was drowning the thoughts out. I'm so so sorry! I can't believe I hurt you!" He was full on crying now. I guided him to stand up and engulfed him in a warm hug. He started crying harder and I gently stroked his hair. We held each other for a while and he seemed to calm down.

"You thought I was going to hit you." He stated softly, his chin resting on my shoulder and his voice filled with disgust. I took his head in my hands, softly stroking his cheek with my thumb.

"I told you I did. And that was true, for I second I really thought you would. But what I didn't tell you was that when I asked you to let me go because you were hurting me, you immediately stopped. The rage in your eyes disappeared within seconds. Even in such a drunken state, the idea of hurting me scared the shit out of you. That's when I knew I was safe."

"I love you so much. I promise I won't let this happen ever again!"

"I know sweetheart, I know."

We laid down on the couch and simply held each other. I laid my head against his chest and he kissed the top of my head repeatedly. I felt safe.