#ms01

Loving Marc Spector had never been easy.

Maybe it wasn’t the right thing to say about your husband, but false pretenses had never had a place in the El-Faouly/Spector marriage. No false pretenses, it is, except for those when he had lied about being present when her father had been killed. No false pretenses except when he had vanished without a trace, serving her papers and -- No. Layla knew their trials and tribulations without having to rehash them constantly in her head. She knew how to compartmentalize and move on. Marc was flawed: he was secretive and guarded. He didn’t trust easily. He was hers, as much as he could be. Layla knew him and still learned something new every day. 

She loved him -- all of him.

Did Layla love Steven Grant? That was complicated. As it has been said, she loved all her husband. Steven was part of Marc but now entirely his own. The two were entwined and Layla was learning how to maneuver the dynamics that came from having a husband with two identities -- four, if you counted moon knight && mr. knight.

What mattered is that they were still together. There was a wariness that hung over them both, but they hadn’t drifted apart. Layla had, instead, followed him to America. She had looked into Khonshu, Taweret and generally kept herself busy. Maybe Khonshu really was done with Marc and he was free. Layla wanted to believe it and she was trying to. Somethings just didn’t sit right with her.

Tossing the keys to the apartment they were renting into the bowl by the door, Layla peeled off her vest as she entered fully. “Marc? Steven?” It was safer to call to both of them. She was good at telling who was out and who was being internalized, but without seeing them it really was a crapshoot at this point.

“I don’t hate you... I just hope you find a friend just like you one day.”