i don't need to be rescued.

        he doesn’t want to lose this. he doesn’t—but it has been slipping through his fingers for so long that he doesn’t know how to get a better hold on it, how to pull it back to some kind of safety again. something that feels solid, and complete, and worth it. but it is, isn’t it? he loves her. he loves his son. without them, and the band, what else has he got? it might be hard to sit here, and look at julia, and see all the hurt of the past few months, the wide-open wounds and the blood still staining the floor…but they have to get past it. there has to be a way forward — and it starts here, with this.

        maybe it’s a vow, more important than the ones they said on their wedding day. maybe it’s a promise. he doesn’t know—but donny knows he can’t hold a grudge forever. where has that gotten him, so far? there’s only one person in this room he doesn’t like, most of the time, and it ain’t julia.

        ❝ i’m still here. ❞ he always has been. even when he’d built a wall higher than the empire state building around himself, he’s always been here. losing julia is…impossible. it has to be impossible.  ❝ i believe in you. in us. julia, i do. ❞

            an  ache  sits  deep  in  her  chest,  but  for  a  different  reason  than  before.  these  last  few  months  have  been  hell  for  the  both  of  them,  there’s  no  denying  that  any  longer.  but  they  can’t  just  sit  around  &  ignore  each  other  anymore.  they  can’t  pretend  that  this  didn’t  pull  them  away  from  each  other.  for  a  while,  julia  had  wondered  if  they  made  the  right  decision  to  get  married.  she  wondered  if  michael  would  always  play  too  much  of  a  role  in  their  relationship  for  them  to  work,  despite  the  deep  love  she  held  for  donny.  their  fighting  didn’t  give  her  any  reason  not  to  believe  it.  (  she  sees  it  now.  she  sees  that  no  matter  what  stood  between  them   ------   michael  or  her  depression   ------   julia  knows  they  didn’t  make  a  mistake.  they  could  get  past  this. . .  they  had  to.  )