A/N: This is posted a few days early because of Christmas. There will be a bonus chapter posted on Christmas but that one won’t be vital to the story. This chapter deals with more of Montgomery’s over drinking and the fallout from that. Feedback is always appreciated. Much love. - Em
I held my gaze on Justin, ignoring Clay. He made a protesting grunt but before he could say anything, Justin spoke again. He was firmer this time. “Get. Out.” I heard Clay shuffle as he got up and avoided his gaze as he passed. His eyes burrowed into me while he took in my appearance. I must look a mess.
When we were alone, Justin pulled me close and held me for a moment. He pulled me into the room and directed me towards his bed. I sat down and pulled my sweater around me. He watched me as though I was a scared stray cat. Like he was ready to grab and corner me, the second I jumped and thought better of being here. Thought better of being alone in his room, rather than at home trying to fix things. I backed up from the edge of the bed and when I felt my back hit the wall, drew my knees up towards my chest. He grabbed his pillow and motioned for me to make room, “scoot.” He sat against his headboard and I moved down the wall, closer to the end.
“He came home.” I mumbled into my knees.
“I figured. What happened Addison?”
“What do you mean ‘nothing’?” When I didn’t respond, he reached out and grabbed my arm to pull me over to him.
“I mean nothing. We got literally nowhere. He is still convinced that I’m upset about the picture frame. No matter how many times I tried to tell him it wasn’t the stupid picture, he just wouldn’t hear it. It’s like….” I trailed off.
“Well what else happened?”
“He told me he talked to Scott about it. Like that made everything better. That he had discussed it with his best friend. And we both know that Scott wasn’t the enabler in this situation.”
“You fought about Bryce?”
“Kind of? He wouldn’t really listen. And it isn’t Bryce I’m mad at necessarily. I’m mad at Monty. Then he accused me of telling him he can’t be friends with him anymore. Which I didn’t do. His friends are his choice. And he is the one who made decisions that would cause problems. Not Bryce.”
Justin smiled sadly at me. “Addison. I know you. I know you better than anyone. Are you going to sit here and tell me that this is a Bryce issue, expecting me to believe you?”
“What are you talking about?” I asked. I knew deep down what he was talking about. I just didn’t want to face it.
“Addy.” He prompted with a pointed look. I sighed heavily and adjusted my position. My head was now resting in his lap. He stroked my hair in an attempt to be comforting. I was quiet for a long time. I didn’t want to face the reality of what the issue was.
“It scares me.” I said softly. The two of us sat with that statement for a while. “I know he would never hurt me. But it still scares me when he comes home like that.”
“I don’t think I’m the person you need to tell that to bubs.”
“I know. I just don’t know how to tell him that without crushing him. Or ruining our marriage or something.” I fiddled with my rings absentmindedly. “Wait a second. Did you just call me ‘bubs’?”
“I think not telling him or waiting to see if it gets worse, would be more likely to ruin your marriage. You don’t need to be aggressive about it or anything. If you sit him down and explain how you feel, I don’t see it doing any damage to your relationship. It will probably hurt him. But it might be the kick in the ass he needs for him to change.”
I sat up and faced him. “When did you become so insightful?” I asked with a tilt of my head.
“Rehab and months of meetings?” He offered and then laughed.
“Fair point.” He shot me his best cheeky lopsided grin and I couldn’t help but melt and grin back. Clay’s knock on the door pulled us back to reality and out of our private little bubble.
“Can I come in now?” he called.
“Yeah, sure.” Justin answered. He opened the door and walked in slowly. When he looked at me, I smiled. “I’m okay.”
“Okay. Mom said you can stay for dinner if you want. They made pot roast.”
“Um….” I hesitated. Just then, as if on cue, my phone dinged.
Hey, I know you’re still mad, but I need to know if you’re coming home for dinner so I know if I have to fend for myself tonight or not? I couldn’t help the slight roll of my eyes. Clearly talking to him about this anymore would need to wait until tomorrow. I turned to Justin and showed him the text. He scoffed quietly. “Do I go home and face the music?”
“Better question. How long do I want to sit in silence in my own home again?”
“That is a better ques-.” Justin started but was cut off by my phone dinging again.
Can I get an answer please?
“Looks like I’m joining you guys for dinner.” I said, as I opened his text.
I’m staying here. He left me on read. I rolled my eyes again and shook my head.
“What did he do?” Clay asked.
“Something stupid.” Justin stated. He wasn’t going to elaborate anymore, and neither was I.
The Jensen’s were wonderful to me as usual. Secretly, I think they were just happy that someone other than Jess was spending time with Justin. Dinner was delicious. I was still upset so I didn’t eat as much as I usually did. Clay raised a curious brow at me. I shrugged at him. He shared a curious look with Justin. To get them off my back, I took a particularly large second helping of mashed potatoes. I managed to keep my mind off the tense silence that would undoubtedly await me at home through all of dinner. I politely refused dessert, citing a need to get home and finish some homework. Mr. and Mrs. Jensen do not need to know about this issue.
I thought about what was waiting for me when I got home for the whole drive. Thankfully, his Jeep was still in the driveway. I took a deep breath as I fiddled with my keys at the door. This is still your house too Addison. Just go inside. You can deal with tomorrow, tomorrow. Justin is right. This won’t be something you can’t go back from. I shook my head to clear my thoughts. It was my turn to awkwardly look around the room and greet my husband.
“Yeah. Leftovers in the fridge if you want.”
“Okay.” I wasn’t sure what to do, so I went and grabbed my laptop and a pair of pyjamas from our room and shut myself away in the guest room. I fell into a fitful sleep a few hours after abandoning my computer.
Sunday morning was just as awkward as Friday morning had been. We were still walking on eggshells around each other. Both of us afraid of saying the wrong thing and messing this up further. The house was eerily silent. It wasn’t very big so it’s not like we could avoid each other forever.
Around noon, I decided I had had enough. We needed to discuss things and handle them like adults. Walking into the living room after my shower, clad in an old gym shirt and a pair of shorts, I stopped and watched Monty reading for a few moments. He must have felt my eyes on him, because he muttered a “hmmm?” as he turned a page.
“I was going to ask if you wanted to talk, but if you’re busy….” God you sound pathetic. He doesn’t get to be busy right now. A stupid book can wait. This can’t.
“Do I get a choice?” he asked, sighing. He was obviously still frustrated. And did not want to talk. Too bad, so sad buddy.
“Not really no.” I watched him blink slowly and take a deep breath.
“We need to talk about this.”
“I was under the impression we already had.”
“You mean when we were yelling at each other yesterday?”
“Yeah. Before you left to go spend your day talking to Justin.”
“Seriously? You’re going to give me shit for talking to Justin? You talked to Scott and acted like that fixed everything.”
Montgomery sat up and ran a hand through his hair. “Yeah. I talked to Scott.”
“So, you can’t say anything about me talking to Justin. I’m not going to do this if we are going to go in circles again. It isn’t about the picture.”
“I know. You’ve said it enough. I get it Addison.”
“I don’t see what your issue is. Is it that I’m friends with Bryce? Because that isn’t going to change Addison.”
“You still don’t get it, do you?”
“Obviously not.” He shook his head and stood to go to the kitchen. I followed after him.
“You are an adult. If you want to have shitty friends, who do shitty things, or encourage you to do shitty things that impact your relationships with people you care about, then more power to you. That isn’t the problem.”
“I’m glad you have such a high opinion of my friends. Just because I’m not friends with Alex Standall and Clay fucking Jensen, doesn’t mean my friends are shitty people.”
“No Montgomery. The fact that you have some friends who are shitty people, makes those friends shitty people. Your friends still aren’t the problem.”
“Then what is the problem?”
“The problem is that you don’t communicate with me. I understand that having someone you actually have to be accountable to is going to take time to get used to. But you don’t get to just come and go as you please. Yeah, I knew you were at Bryce’s place. But I had no idea when or how you were getting home, if you were coming home at all. I didn’t know if you were safe or not. I know you think Bryce is this great guy and everything but trust me. He would just as soon push you under the bus as he would use a wad of cash to fix a problem you had.”
“And how would you know anything about that?”
“Because he did it for Justin. Someone he was arguably just as close, if not closer to, than you. He let you drive home when you were so drunk you couldn’t stand up. Does that sound like something someone you claim is your brother would do if they actually cared about you?”
“I’m not Justin.” He stated, indignantly. Sure, just ignore the rest of my statement.
“I know. But like I said, this isn’t about Bryce. I don’t care if you’re friends with Bryce Walker. I care that you communicate me. I care about knowing if you are okay. I care about you engaging in behaviour that is detrimental to your safety and wellbeing. I care that you come home drunk. If you had sent me a text or called me or sent a carrier pigeon or had one of your friends call or text me, we probably wouldn’t be having this conversation.”
“Okay, I’m sorry. Next time I decide to go out, I’ll assign someone to tell you where I am, every minute I’m gone.”
“Jesus Montgomery. That isn’t what I’m asking of you at all. I just want to know if you’re coming home.”
“Fine.” I was quiet for a bit, not sure how to proceed and bring up my quiet revelation with Justin yesterday. Monty had begun unloading the dishwasher. “I can hear you thinking. You clearly still have more to say. You might as well say it.”
“I… I care that you come home drunk Monty.”
“You said that. Multiple times, actually.”
I sat down at our island. “I care about you.”
“Okay. Given that we are married, I would say that’s a good thing.”
“What Addison? You what?” he set a bowl down harsher than he meant to and I flinched slightly. He didn’t appear to notice. He went on unloading the dishwasher.
“It scares me.” I said, quietly.
“Hmm?” He muttered, not having heard me. I took a deep breath.
“It scares me.” I said louder as I stared at the design in the marble. He didn’t respond but I could hear him continue moving. “It scares me when you come home like that.” I continued, “you scare me when you come home that drunk.” His movements stilled. I felt tears fill my eyes. One beat, then two, then ten, went by and he still hadn’t said anything. I just ruined everything. Justin was wrong. All I could focus on was the sound of the blood rushing in my head.
I looked up and suddenly Monty was beside me. It looked like he had tears in his eyes. I knew he was trying to hide them. “Are you being serious Addy?” He asked softly. His voice cracked a little about mid-way through his sentence.
“I know that you would never hurt me. It’s just… when I see you like that; I never know what I’m going to get.”
He pulled a stool closer to me and sat down. “Why didn’t you say something before?”
“I don’t know.” I muttered, playing with the hem of my shirt. He reached out and placed his hand on top of mine. I stilled my movements but didn’t look up at him. “I guess I was afraid of how you would react? Or maybe I was afraid to admit it to myself?”
“I had no idea you felt that way.” He pulled on my leg to turn me towards him. I peeked up at him and he was staring at me intensely. I sat up to look him in the eye. “You need to know that I would never do anything to hurt you like that Addison. And I would never lay a finger on our kids.”
“I know. I know you wouldn’t Monty.”
“I can’t promise I’ll never say something stupid or hurtful when we fight, but I can promise you that I will never physically harm you.”
“I know. I can’t promise I won’t say something hurtful in the heat of the moment either.” I wasn’t sure what else to say. I had admitted what the real issue was. Where do we go from here?
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