#tw fighting

“Hopefully, the weekend will come sooner and we can all spend some time together.” You try to resort to higher grounds. You want your parents to get along like they used to. A faint smile appears on your dad’s face.

“Andrew, I need you in the kitchen.” Your mom says from the kitchen. The smile disappears. 

“Well, kid, I have to get back to your mom. I hope your test goes well. Don’t stress too much about it. Your mom and I will be happy with whatever you get.” Your dad says, and he leaves your room. 

You stay in your room for a couple of hours, not wanting to hear your parents arguing again. If they ask why you haven’t been around, you just say that you are studying for your test. You have it in a subject that you aren’t too bad at, so you aren’t that worried about it. You just wish that you could get it over with so you wouldn’t have to deal with the stress. 

You come out of your room for the first time for the day. It’s now dinner time, and you regret not taking a snack when you came home. Going to the kitchen, you see your mom, she’s checking on how the food is doing. She hears you come in and looks up at you. Her long ginger hair probably should be up in a ponytail, but she lets it block her green eyes. 

“Hey, it’s you. I thought you were your father. I was about to ask him to take out the trash again. How was your day, honey? I haven’t seen you since this morning.” She says, happy to see you.

“Yeah, I’ve just been studying for the test I have soon. I’ve been worried about it a little. I think it will go well, though.” You say, trying to have a hopeful attitude. 

“Ah, honey, there’s nothing to be worried about, I’m sure you will do great! Dinner will be done in a few minutes. Go ahead and sit down at the table.” You sit at the table waiting for dinner to be over. You almost don’t want to eat, you know that one of them will start picking on the other. 

“Josie, did you pay the water bill yesterday?” Your dad says, coming into the kitchen.

You don't see it, but you know that your mom is rolling your eyes. 

‘Here it goes again. I wish I could leave, but it would make it worse. They just blame each other.’ 

“I told you that you have to do that. I was working when you asked me.” Your dad retorts.

“Doesn't mean you couldn't have done it later. Also, I need you to take out the trash, so you can go ahead and do that.”

‘And it gets worse.’

“Honey, I'm the one who's been at work all day. Why didn't you pay the water bill or take out the trash earlier? It's not like you've been home all day.” He says, grabbing the trash and taking it out. 

“Hey, don't talk to me like that. I do things here on my days off!” She yells at him. 

‘I've been proven wrong. It got majorly worse.’

“Hey, honey, dinner is done now. Dig in” Your mom says, setting the food down in the center of the table. She sits in her normal spot and grabs her portions. Thankful for dinner being done, you take the portions of food you want. 

You hear the door open and close. Your dad appears through the doorway and goes to his spot at the table. Everyone sits together in silence. You feel scared to say anything, so you remain quiet and try not to draw attention to yourself. 

“So, Dad told me that you wanted to have time together this weekend. Is there anything you want to do together?” Your mom asks you. 

You regret saying those words now. I wanted to feel the way you did when you were young, but you know that's not going to happen. 

“Maybe next weekend, I have a different test to study for during the weekend.” 

“Oh, are you sure, kid? I thought you were happy to have some time together.” Your dad tries to get more information from you. 

“Yeah, maybe we can do something like we did when you were young. Maybe we can go to an amusement park.” Your mom backs him up. Now, they are against you. Great, instead of fighting, they are teaming up. You eat faster, wanting to have this conversation over with.

“No, I'm worried about this test too. I need to make sure that I study before the test, probably not a good idea.” You say, now finished with your meal. 

“Okay, kid, if you say so. We'll plan something for next weekend.” Your dad says, and you get up and put your plate in the sink. 

You are grateful to head to your room. The second you are out of the kitchen, your mom is telling your dad how he handled the situation badly. You close your door, not being able to hear the conversation anymore. 

‘I wish I could just get out of here and leave. Would they even notice if I left? They are always so busy arguing that maybe they wouldn't even notice.’ 

The thought of leaving plagues your brain. Once it's in there, it's like a parasite, never wanting to leave. 

‘All I would have to do is pack and bag, and get some money to get away. Maybe I could take a train, that would get me far faster than walking.’ 

You open your phone up, looking at trains that leave your city. They all leave later in the day, and you don't want to do that. So you look at buses. The next bus leaves your city around 8:00 AM. 

You want to book a ticket online, but you need a card. You think about it for a moment longer. You don't want your parents to know about you leaving before you leave. So you decide you will take the card in the morning. 

You will walk to the bus stop like normal, but you don’t stop there. You will continue walking to the bus station. It isn't too far from your house, so you aren't worried about it taking too long. 

Next, you think about what to bring. You probably want a couple of sets of clothes, your hygiene products, some snacks for while you are on the road, and a thing or two to keep your attention. 

You unpack your school backpack, putting its contents under your bed. And you fill it with everything that you can in your room. While grabbing some clothes, you see a photo that's been hidden in your drawers. 

Pulling it out, you see a photo of your family. It's a Christmas photo of you all when you were young. Christmas lights are up, and there are presents everywhere. You look at your parents, and they don't look too different. However, their smiles are, they seem more genuine. The photo starts to bring tears to your face, and you shove it in your bag. 

Scanning your room, you are happy with what you have packed so far. You will continue with the rest of it tomorrow. For now, you think about where you want to go. You plan on at least leaving the state, but you have no plans after that. You lie in your bed thinking about your plans.

‘Am I really doing this? Can I really just leave and never plan to come back?’

Noises from the kitchen interrupt your train of thought. It sounds like your mom is mad and doing the dishes. You hear a door slam from the opposite side of the house. That must be your dad. They must have started to fight again. 

‘They have been doing this for a couple of years. Who knows if they were doing it when I was a kid, and I just didn’t notice. This just may be how they operate now. What if it will never change?’

The parasite of leaving your parents burrows deeper into your brain. It further solidifies that the fighting and arguing will never end unless you leave. You relish the idea of not having to deal with your parents' bickering. This may not be the life that you planned on having, but it’s better than the one you have been living. 

As you lie in bed, your eyelids feel heavier. The house is now quiet. You feel comfortable in the silence, letting it relax your body as you fall asleep.

You hear your alarm go off. You turn it to turn it off and remember the plan you created last night. You turn off the alarm and pick out the clothes you want to wear today. 

‘I only have one attempt for this. I have to get into my mom’s purse and take her debit card. That way I can take some cash from the ATM and not be tracked.’ 

After you put your clothes on, you go to the bathroom and take out all of the hygiene products that you would like. Heading to the kitchen, you grab some snacks. You haven’t seen either of your parents yet. They must still be in their room. Now is the time to take the card. Looking around the kitchen, you are quick to find your mom’s purse. Just like an inside job, you find the card easily and take it without anyone noticing. 

Going back to your room, you drop off all of the supplies and organize them in the backpack. The backpack becomes full and heavy, which is good because it will replicate your school stuff. Scanning your room one last time, you don’t find anything that you want to bring with you. It feels bittersweet looking around your room. So many memories have been created here, happy and sad. 

Before you can get emotional again, you open your door and leave your room. Walking into the kitchen, there are your parents. Once again, they are talking about the water bill that hasn’t been paid. 

“I thought you were doing it, Andrew. I told you about it twice!” Your mom says to your dad.

“You told me when I was working, and then at dinner when I couldn’t do it. I’ll do it later, it’s still the morning, and I’ve got to get to work.” Your dad tells your mom, walking away from her. He sees you, hugs you, and wishes you good luck for the day. After that, he leaves the house, heading to his work. 

“Ugh, he’s so frustrating. I’m glad he’s gone now. We should be leaving soon, too. Do you have everything for school?” Your mom asks, getting ready herself.

“Yeah, I should have everything. I probably should start leaving, too. I need to get to the bus stop in time.” 

“Okay, honey! I’ll see you after school.” 

“See you.” You reply, walking out of the house. Breathing in the fresh air, you haven’t even left yet, but you still feel free. Walking down the road, you pass your bus stop and head in a different direction so that you don’t run into the bus. 

The walk to the bus station and ATM is uneventful. Luckily, the ATM is right near the bus station, so it’s like you were making a single trip. Entering the bus station, there aren’t many people there, so you can buy your ticket without any problems. You still have a few minutes until the bus takes off, so you wait until everyone else gets on. 

Once you see the crowd start to board the bus, you join them. Since you didn’t have a destination in mind, you picked the one that went furthest out. Now that you know where you are going, you need to book a hotel for the night. You take your seat in the bus, not wanting to be in the front or back, you choose the middle. 

The bus takes off, and you feel free. You know the area that the bus is driving, yet everything feels so new and fresh. You take pleasure in this feeling for a while. It feels so freeing and exciting. You hope that you will feel like this forever. 

Coming back to reality, you book your hotel near the stop. You also think this is a good time to block your parents, after all, you won’t need them again. You will probably want to get a job as soon as possible. However, you want to get away faster, so that is the priority. The rest of the bus ride, you imagine what your new life will look like. Will it feel as magical as you feel right now? 

Getting off the bus, you have yet to run into any problems. So you take the short walk to the hotel and check in. You have an easy time getting through and go up to your room. In the room, you eat a couple of your snacks and look for more buses to take. The hotel is just for the night, you couldn’t find any overnight buses, so you had to wait a night. 

‘I wonder if they have even noticed yet. Surely they saw the charge from the ATM and the hotel. It’s too bad that I couldn’t have paid cash for that. Hopefully they don’t notice and I can leave by the morning.’ 

Booking the next bus for the morning, you take a shower and get ready for bed. Taking the bus made you feel a little gross. It feels better than being at home. You plan your next day, but you know that it will be almost as boring as this one.

Your alarm wakes you up once again, but this time you are in a different town. You get dressed for the day and head down to the free breakfast. The food isn’t great, but this isn’t the time for pickiness. So you try your best to finish all of the food. Looking at your phone, you see that it is almost time for the bus to take off. 

You leave the hotel with your bag, not bothering to check out. At the bus station, you buy another ticket, picking one that is even further from your parents. You pay in cash and board the bus. Just like yesterday, you booked another hotel in the next town. You are surprised to see that it accepts the charge. 

‘Maybe mom and dad are that clueless, I bet they don’t even know that I’ve been gone. They probably just think I’ve been studying for the test in my room.’

Little do you know, the charge that you made for the hotel has been adjusted. It has gone from one bed to two beds. You continue to be oblivious to this fact as you are on the bus. You remain oblivious that your parents have noticed that you left, and have been planning things ever since you left. 

Just like yesterday, you arrive at the bus station and the new hotel with no issues. Going up the elevator, you locate your new room for the night. You open the door with the keycard and notice there are two beds, not one. You thought you booked a room for one bed. You think about the likelihood of them upgrading your room for free. 

‘Maybe I should ask for a room change, saying that I wanted a single bed instead. Would that make them suspicious?’ 

You think about it further, now thinking about getting a different hotel altogether. You feel like that would be the most logical thing to do. You look up directions to a nearby hotel, calling them to see if they have any free rooms. They have rooms free, so you decide to gather your things and head out. 

Going to the elevator, you press the button to go down. The elevator takes a moment to open up, but when it does, you are met with your parents looking at you. 

“What have you been doing?! We’ve been looking for you everywhere!” Your dad says. 

“We’ve had to call off work for this! Why did you want to leave us?” Your mom says. 

You are overwhelmed with emotions and questions. They continue to question you in front of the elevator, not caring about blocking it. You don’t answer their questions. You just stare at them. You guess this happens for too long because they take you to the hotel room with their own bags. 

You sit on the bed you were expecting to sleep on, while they lock the door and sit on the other bed facing you. The emotions in the room now aren’t as high. The energy still feels tense. 

“Honey, why did you want to leave us?” Your mom asks you in a calm voice. 

You try to come up with words, but it is difficult. You want to say so many things about them not getting along, but you don’t know how to string them together.

“I just didn’t want to with all of the fighting anymore. I thought if I left, there would be no fighting to deal with. So I just left. But now you are here, and I’ve caused you guys to fight. I don’t want any more fighting. You guys have been fighting for a couple of years now, at least. I can’t remember if you did when I was young. But I don’t want it anymore, I can’t handle it anymore.” You say, the words just fall out of your mouth. You didn’t expect to say everything you just did, but you did. 

A couple of moments of silence pass. Your vision gets blurry, and you didn’t realize that you started crying until now. Wiping the tears from your face, you look at your parents. They both have faces of sorrow and utter horror. 

“I’m sorry, kid. I didn’t realize that acting like that affected you.” Your dad apologizes to you.

“We won’t be doing that anymore. If we have a problem, we will just talk to each other about it. Now we just need to have time together to reconnect. From now on, we will have family time twice a week.” Your dad continues.

“I am sorry too, honey. I didn’t realize that our problems were affecting you. We will be better parents from now on. If you have a problem with us, you have to tell us now. I agree with the family time, we need time to get to know each other again.” Your mom adds on. 

“Guys, all of this sounds great, but I don’t think I can do this. I want to be on my own. What if you guys fight more? I don’t want to be in that situation again.” You rebel against them. You still feel like they are about to argue, regardless of what they have to say. 

“Kid, I promise you, no more fighting. I will not say a thing to either of you if I am upset. I will wait until the tension is down to talk about it.” 

“I agree with that, too, honey. We want what is best for you, so we will do what you like.” Your mom adds on to your dad’s statement. 

“Whatever, guys, I’m going to bed.” You say, grabbing your bag and getting ready for the night. You don’t speak to them when they talk to you. You just lie down on the bed facing away from them. 

You hear them whisper to each other as you lie there. You don’t understand what they are saying, but it doesn’t sound like they are fighting. You hear them get ready for bed as well. You think about leaving them in the middle of the night. But you are too tired. The conversation you had with them has made you exhausted. Your eyelids get heavier as you think about it more, and you fall asleep.

You feel slight bumps when you wake up. Opening your eyes, you see your dad’s car. You are in the backseat with your seatbelt on and a blanket in your lap. You see your dad driving and your mom in the passenger seat. They must have woken up before you and brought you to the car while you were sleeping. 

“Oh, hey, kid, you’re up! Are you hungry? We skipped free breakfast to get home faster. We got some snacks here for you. Or if you would like, we can go to a drive-thru of your choice.” Your dad says when he notices you are up through the mirror. 

“Um, yeah, I’ll take some fast food.” You say, giving them your restaurant and order. 

Your dad pulls in the drive-thru and orders all of the food. Once the food is ready, your mom hands you the food you requested. You munch down on the food, feeling more energized that you have food in your belly. Your dad parks in a spot so that he can eat too. 

“So, honey, your dad and I were talking while you were sleeping. I think it would be nice if we went out to the amusement park next weekend. You wanted to have some more family time, so we thought it was a good idea. We could even get your face painted like you did when you were a kid! Do you have any suggestions on what we could do?”

“Yeah, I’m just throwing this out there, too. We could go to an arcade if that suits you better.” Your dad adds on. 

Looking up from your food, you see both of them looking at you. They have an expectant looks on their face, but there’s something different there, too. Analyzing their face more, you see the faces that you saw when you were young. Genuinely happy and caring faces. No more frustration and anger. 

“Yeah, we can do both of them.” You say, feeling happy that this might work out. 

“You look too happy to have gotten your way.” He said, sipping his coffee.

“It’s the small victories.” Rose smiled over at him. She clicked her nails against the mug as Paddington played on the TV. She wasn’t paying attention to the film; her mind was wandering away with her.

“Why the fuck would you let a bear into your house?” Jack huffed at the TV.

“Are we ever going to talk about that night?” Jess blurted out. Jack stilled for a moment, put his coffee down, and turned to face her.

“I had a moment of weakness. I was having a panic attack and I wasn’t thinking. I took advantage of you and your kindness. I shouldn’t have done that.” Jack said, his hands folded in his lap like he was reading a script.

“What the fuck?” Rose snapped; she felt like she had just been slapped. A rage took over her face, a look Jack had never seen before.

“Rose, I’m sorry-”

“Shut the fuck up.” She barked. “Stop spewing whatever rehearsed bullshit this is. I don’t want it. You didn’t take advantage of me. Why would you say that?”

“I compromised our friendship and-”

“Stop talking like that! Stop talking like a therapist! Fuck you, Jack. I meant what I said. I thought you did too.” Rose turned away from him as the tears started to bubble up.

“Rose.” He reached for her, but she flinched away.

“I love you, Jack. I do. If you actually don’t, if you didn’t mean what you said, that’s fine. I can handle it. But don’t lie, not to me. I can’t stand that shit! And if you think you’re protecting me, that’s worse!” Rose felt the emotions swirling like a hurricane in her chest, far above her control.

“I’m broken, Rose. I’ve got too much to deal with. I don’t want to burden you with me when you’re about to have a baby to worry about.” Jack hung his head, unable to meet her eyes.

“Wow. You think so little of me that I can’t handle this? That I’m weak!?”

“That’s not what I-”

“I’m going to stay with Dana for a few days. Maybe you can figure out what you want. I know what I want.” Rose hissed as she stood up.

“Rose, please.” Jack jumped up.

“If I say I can handle it, I mean it. Maybe start meaning the words that come out of your mouth.” She hissed as she stomped upstairs. Jack wanted to run after her. He wanted to grab her and scream how much she meant to him, but he couldn’t bring himself to move. Her footsteps came thundering down the stairs.

“Call your therapist. Tell them how you fucked it all up by being an idiot.” Rose spat as she left, slamming the door.

“Shit!” Jack collapsed onto the couch, his head in his hands.

Rose stood on the porch, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. Her thoughts driving her crazy. She just couldn’t understand any of it.

The door opened to a surprised Dana.

“Rose?”

“C-can I stay her for a few days?” The tears came fast and hard. The sight of the only person, besides Jack, that took care of her, making her walls break down.

“Oh, sweetheart. Get in here.” Dana pulled her into the house, grabbing her bag.

“I’m sorry for dropping in like this. He just…I need some space.” Rose wiped her face.

“Okay, first off, no apologizing. Second, you can always stay here. Let’s get you settled, and you can tell me how he fucked it up.” She said, guiding her to the guestroom.

Rose sat at the kitchen table, a steaming cup of coco in front of her, watching Dana take banana bread out of the oven.

“Mom, I’m going to Sarah’s.” One of her daughters came waltzing in, eyes glued to her phone.

“Are you staying over?” Dana sighed, hand on her hip.

“Yeah. We’ve got a big project for AP chem and we want to take the weekend to work on it.” The girl smiled.

“Sure. Just don’t get into trouble. If you get arrested, don’t call me.” Dana shook her head.

“Rose! Hey, wow you’re like really pregnant.” The girl laughed.

“Hey! That is not how you speak to a pregnant woman!” Dana scolded.

“She’s not wrong, I am really pregnant at this point.” Rose chuckled.

“Sorry. You’re glowing or whatever.” The girl smiled as she walked off.

“Kids these days. You sure you want one? Could’ve just loaned you one of mine.” Dana huffed as she sat across from Rose, putting a slice of banana bread in front of her.

“Dana, I love you so much. I love your baking, but if you don’t get that banana bread out of my face I will paint your kitchen with vomit.” Rose gagged.

“Oh, shit! Sorry, hun. Forgot about your banana thing.” Dana said as she grabbed the slice and put it on the counter. “I couldn’t stand strawberries with both girls. Thought they’d be born hating them. They love them. Still get put off by them, myself.”

“Thank you for letting me stay.” Rose sighed as she sipped her coco.

“Course. You’re always welcome here, you know that.” She smiled, watching the anger and grief fight across Rose’s face. “You want to talk about it?”

“We got home from the hospital and he had this breakdown. Crying about how this should be his baby. How he saw them as his own. But that it hurt that it wasn’t real. I told him it was. That I wanted that too. I was his.” Rose cleared her throat, trying to control her emotions. “He kissed me. Like really kissed me. I mean, I have never been kissed like that in my entire life.”

“Abbot’s got game. Who knew?” Dana chuckled.

“But the next day, he just went back to normal. I tried to bring it up, but he’d change the subject. Today, I had enough. I wanted to talk about it and he says he shouldn’t have said anything. That he “took advantage of my kindness” and compromised our friendship. Said some stupid shit about being a burden to me like I can’t handle it. He spit this rehearsed bullshit at me like a robot. I just couldn’t look at him anymore. I told him I meant what I said and he needs to figure out if he meant what he said.” Rose cried.

“Oh, honey. I’m so sorry.” Dana scooted her chair closer so she could wrap her arms around Rose.

“I don’t understand why he would ruin everything like this.” Rose sobbed.

“Men are idiots, they never know what’s good for them.” Dana rubbed her back.

“I love him Dana. I love him and I don’t know what to do.” Rose buried her face in Dana’s chest like a child.

“You have to make a decision. If he comes back groveling, do you give him a second chance? Right now, just drink your coco, cry and go to sleep.” Dana said.

“What would I do without you?” Rose sighed, sitting up, a sad smile on her face.

“You’d figure it out. But it wouldn’t be as nice.” Dana smiled, wiping the tears from her cheeks.

Once Rose was asleep, Dana made her way to bed herself. Her husband sat in bed reading. Dana let out an exacerbated sigh.

“She okay?” Benji asked.

“Yeah. She’s tough. He won’t be.” Dana whipped out her phone and started texting.

“Lord help him.” Benji laughed to himself as he went back to his book.

Jack was sitting on the couch, head in his hands, when the doorbell went off. A small part of him hoped it was Rose and that she had forgotten her key and wanted to come home. His more logical side knew it wasn’t her.

He opened the door and groaned at the sight before him.

“Dana sent me a very interesting text. ‘If you don’t go over and smack some sense into Abbot, I’ll have to do it and I won’t be so nice. Tell him to grow some balls.’ Which is a hell of a text to get with no context. She let me know that you had lost your goddamn mind.” Robby growled as he pushed into the house, slamming the door behind him.

“Look, brother, I-”

“Don’t. You don’t get to call me that if this is how you’re going to act. I’ve put up with a lot of your shit and you have with me. It’s our weird symbiotic relationship. But this…self-sabotage at the expense of one of the best people we know, I won’t deal with that.” Robby crossed his arms.

“Oh fuck off! I’m saving her from a life of my shit.” Jack said.

“That woman might be the only one who can deal with your shit and wants to. Why would you push her away like this? After finally telling her you love her?”

“She deserves better! She deserves an easy life!” Jack shouted.

“No one is guaranteed an easy life. She deserves the life she wants. She wants it with you, you idiot!”

“I’m broken!”

“So is everyone!”

“I made a mistake thinking I could be just her friend. That she could come into this house and make it feel like a home again and I wouldn’t fall in love. It was stupid. I hurt her and I’ll never forgive myself.”

“Stop punishing yourself for crimes you didn’t commit. Stop making yourself miserable because you’re scared. This isn’t going to end well for you. If you think anyone will be on your side, you got another thing coming.” Robby spat. “Man up. Go apologize. She is stronger than you are giving her credit for.” Robby turned and left.

Jack stood in the hallway feeling like he’d just been hit by a truck.

Rose slept like shit. She was at the point in pregnancy when you don’t really sleep well. But it was more because her mind wouldn’t shut the fuck up. She could smell someone cooking bacon downstairs and decided to give up on sleep.

She walked into the kitchen to find Dana doing the crossword and sipping coffee while her husband cooked breakfast. It was a simple, domestic scene. It was peaceful. She felt herself getting choked up again.

“Morning, Rosey!” Benji smiled once he noticed her presence.

“Morning.” She forced a smile as she sat at the table.

“How you feeling, sweetheart?” Dana put her crossword down.

“Okay.” Rose sighed.

“You up for some bacon and eggs?” Benji asked.

“Please. I feel like I’m never not hungry. A bottomless pit.” Rose huffed.

“Yeah, I remember that. Just wait till you’re breastfeeding. It gets worse.” Dana chuckled.

“Don’t scare the poor girl.” Benji nudged Dana with his hip as he placed a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon in front of Rose.

“You didn’t even ask how she wanted her eggs.” Dana scoffed.

“She’s pregnant! She can only have them fried or scrambled and she looked like a scrambled girl.”

“He’s not wrong.” Rose smiled as she took a bite. “Wow, these are really good eggs.”

“The key is a shit ton of butter.” Benji winked.

“Noted.” Rose nodded as she shoveled the food into her mouth.

“We’re going for our walk soon, you want to come?” Benji asked.

“She’s supposed to be on bed rest, Ben.” Dana scolded.

“She knows her body. Ease up.” Benji sat down next to Dana.

“Thank you for the offer and sticking up for me. But I’m tired. I’ll hang back.” Rose felt warm for a moment. The sound of the doorbell ringing made her jump.

“I’ll get it.” Benji jumped up.

“He’s sweet.” Rose said as she sipped the tea Benji had prepared her.

“Yeah, I like him. I’ll keep him around a while yet.” Dana chuckled.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, man.” Benji’s voice caught both women’s attention.

“Come on, please!” Jack’s voice hit Rose like a truck.

“She’s not feeling great right now. I don’t want you making it worse.” Benji stood his ground. Rose got up and went to the door.

“It’s okay. I’ll talk to him. Thank you, Benji.” Rose put a hand on his shoulder.

“Thank you.” Jack breathed as he moved to walk into the house, but was stopped by Rose’s hand on his chest.

“Nuh uh. You aren’t coming in here to ruin their peace. You want to apologize you do it on the porch in front of god and everyone.” Rose snapped as she stood in the doorway.

“O-okay. Okay.” Jack cleared his throat. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have walked back on my words. I meant them. I really did.”

“Why do it? Why act like you changed your mind?” Rose crossed her arms.

“Honestly? You scare the shit out of me.”

“Fuck you.”

“I mean, in the sense that I feel so much for you, and the last time that happened, I lost everything. Now, I have twice as much to lose. I couldn’t survive it this time.” Jack’s voice cracked.

“What am I supposed to say to that?”

“Nothing. You don’t have to say anything. This is about me groveling on my knees and begging for forgiveness. And If I could get back up, I’d be on my actual knees right now. I’m sorry. I hurt you, I hurt me. I put you in a vulnerable position. I made you think that I wasn’t your safety net. I need you to know that I always was, I’ll always be. I’m sorry.” Jack was out of breath, his chest hurt. Seeing the pain in her eyes, the pain he caused made him want to throw up.

Rose stood silent, contemplating. She wanted to pull him into her and cry into his shoulder and tell him to take her home. But she didn’t want to feel like she was giving in too easy. Her stubbornness and her love for him were at odds. She looked over her shoulder at Dana who shrugged and gave a grimace and a nod.

“You’re talking about this with your therapist.” Rose demanded.

“Yes. I have an appointment this week.”

“I’m not doing this again.”

“Never. I swear. I’m sorry.” Jack breathed a sigh of relief. Rose smiled, but it quickly fell.

“Ow.” She huffed, her hand going to her belly.

“Rose?” Jack rushed forward, his hands on her shoulder.

“Ow, it hurts…” She grimaced.

“Benji, get the keys.” Dana barked as she ran to Rose’s side. “Come on, honey, let’s get you checked out.” She said, wrapping her arm around her waist and guided her to the car. “Jack, get the door.”  He ran over and opened the Van door. They got her settled into her seat and everyone jumped in.

“It’s probably just Braxton-Hicks.” Dana tried to reassure her from the front seat.

“You’ll be okay. She’ll be okay.” Jack rubbed her shoulder.

“Braxton-Hicks, go away. This won’t stop.” Rose said through gritted teeth. “Fuck. What if it’s placental abruption!?”

“Don’t work yourself up. There’s an easy explanation. Focus on nice, deep breaths.” Jack did his best to keep them all calm.

The van screeched into the ambulance bay. Jack and Dana helped Rose out of the car. Thankfully, Ahmad saw them pull up and alerted the nurses. Perlah came rushing over with a wheelchair.

“What’s going on?” Robby came running over.

“Sudden onset of lower abdominal pain.” Rose gritted out. “No breaks, steady and consistent.”

“Right. Let’s get her into a room, please, and page OB. Grab me the ultrasound.” Robby barked out orders as they wheeled Rose into a room. “Has your water broken?”

“Not that I know of.” Rose groaned.

“Alright. Let’s get you in a gown and I’ll do a quick ultrasound until OB can get down here.” Robby said. “Perlah, give her a hand?”

“You got it.” Perlah nodded.

“Jack and I will be outside.” Robby nodded.

“What?” Jack snapped.

“Go, Jack. We’ve got her.” Dana pushed him.  Jack stumbled out of the room with Robby.

“Why the fuck did you pull me out of there?” Jack growled.

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because she probably doesn’t want this to be the first time you see her naked. Maybe I wanted to give her a little dignity.” Robby huffed.

“Fine. Fair point.” Jack ran a hand through his hair.

“Just take a breath. We’re going to help them. She needs you to be steady, you can’t panic right now.” Robby said.

“You’re right. I got it.” Jack took a deep breath.

“She’s ready, when you are.” Perlah popped her head out.

“Great. Perfect timing.” Robby said as a nurse rolled the ultrasound over to him. Jack rushed back into the room. Rose had a sheen of sweat on her forehead as she tried to focus on her breathing.

“It faded away for a minute. But it came back.” She said, her voice shaking.

“Okay. Probably just practice contractions. No panicking yet, everyone.” He addressed the room. “Let’s have a look.” He put the probe to Rose’s belly and started to scan.

“She’s going to be okay.” Jack took Rose’s hand.

“She has a nice heartbeat. Anatomy looks good.” Robby hummed as he scanned. “I’m not seeing any placental abnormalities. Amniotic fluid levels look good to me. I think you’re just having some very intense Braxton-hicks contractions.” Robby said.

“You’re sure? It felt too long for that.” Rose felt her hands shaking.

“I’m confident. But we’ll have the OB take a look to be safe, check dilation. They can be long in some cases. If you’re dehydrated, it can make them worse.” Robby noted. “Just try and relax, we’ll get you a bottle of water and wait for the OB.”

“Okay.” Rose sighed, her head falling back against the bed.

“I’m going to go find Benji. Make sure he isn’t hyperventilating somewhere.” Dana smiled down at her.

“Tell him he’s got a future in ambulance driving if he wants it.” Rose smirked. Dana laughed as she left.

“Here ya go, hun.” Perlah handed her a water bottle. “OB should be down in a few minutes. Hit the call button if you need anything.” She smiled and walked out.

“Sorry, I panicked everyone for no reason.” Rose sat up in bed.

“Nothing to apologize for. Any pain during pregnancy needs to be checked out.” Jack nodded.

“You were scared.” Rose looked up at him.

“Fucking terrified.” Jack nodded.

“You hid it well. Good job.” Rose let a smile tug at her lips.

“I’ve been in a few scary situations in my time.” Jack shrugged, looking down at her with complete adoration.

“Water is helping. I guess we should have tried that before rushing in.” Rose sipped her water.

“You’ll come home tonight, right?” Jack couldn’t wonder anymore, it was eating at him.

“Buy a girl a drink first.” Rose chuckled.

“I can’t sleep without you in the house.” He hung his head. “I was so worried about you. I knew Dana would call if anything happened. But she can’t read you like I can. I hated that you were alone and upset because of me.” Jack said.

“Jack, you beautiful idiot.” Rose sighed, reaching up to cup his cheek. “I’m coming home. Don’t put us in that situation ever again.”