#tw fighting

[r3n]

Poor poor Pipis... Can you tell I got my hands on the material folder and abused the hell out of it? Part 6 | Part 8 NEW!

[hungrydata]

INKTOBER DAY 18: Battle

This became more of a fight than a battle... Isn't that kinda the same? Idk honestly, but maybe these guys should ACT more mature yk?

(jk we love seeing them fight)

.

.

.

Day 291

[pipsqueaks89934]

Yandere Gladiator x Noble reader

Warnings: gore, killing, fighting, abuse, mentions of being a slave, mentions of being sold, Yandere stuff

I got the idea from Desmond ASMR on YouTube.

Yandere! Gladiator who you didn’t know until he was given to you as a slave for helping the noble counsel and the city with your knowledge of plants and helping them grow faster.

Yandere! Gladiator who hates you from the moment a guard brought him to your tiny apartment and he had to look at your face.

Yandere! Gladiator who pins you to the wall and tells you how easily he could kill you when the guard leaves and you don’t know what to do but you don’t want to use his collar on him.

Yandere! Gladiator who is shocked when you weakly take off the collar off and let you go in shock.

"Why would you do that?" He asked in a shocked voice as he let you go.

"It hurts you right?" You said while grabbing your throat.

"Yes," he said quietly as he tried to wrap his head around the situation. "B..but I don't understand why you would take it off?"

Yandere! Gladiator who thinks you’re weird but doesn’t complain as you let him do almost anything he wants as long as he helps you do some things.

Yandere! Gladiator who has nightmares about the gladiator pit and wakes you up in the night when he needs water after the nightmares he has.

Yandere! Gladiator who you let sleep with you after one night where it was bad for him.

Yandere! Gladiator who falls for you and makes you cuddle with him all the time and is happy to help you whenever you need it.

Yandere! Gladiator who feels heartbroken when you come home in tears and put his collar back on him.

“I don’t understand cupcake why?” He said in the most broken voice you have ever heard.

Yandere! Gladiator who feels angry and hurt when you don’t answer and only cry in response.

Yandere! Gladiator who goes out the next day and when a guard mocks him for wearing his collar he snaps and when the guard is alone he fights him.

Yandere! Gladiator who is pulled away from the guard by some other guards he ends up picking up a piece of wood in the alley and beats all of them to death with it.

Yandere! Gladiator who walks away from the scene before going back home and taking a shower.

Yandere! Gladiator who was relieved when you weren’t home but when the news of three guards getting killed spread it made him a little nervous but you didn’t notice or suspect it was him.

Yandere! Gladiator who won’t let anyone stop him from being with you

[yanderemommabean]

momma i beg of you please please PLEASEUHHH make something of yandere jax and yandere Caine hating eachother over the same person PLEASEEEEE😭

CW: Fight, blood, threats of murder

Caine and him had been cornering one another all day, puffing their chests, sizing one another up, snarling as they wanted to keep the other away from you. 

Soon the two of them end up alone, isolated in whatever Caine could dream up as they argue back and forth, pressing closer and closer until there is no room for anything else. There was a flash, pain, and iron filling his senses after Caine seemingly threw the first punch. 

Jax drags his tongue over his lips and teeth. With wide, pinpoint eyes, he realized something. He tasted blood. Down his nose and in his mouth, smearing over his chin. And it set him off. Though dizzy, with his ears ringing, Jax  couldn’t stop his leg from kicking and colliding right with Caine’s chest. He instantly regretted the decision seeing as the psycho was hardly knocked back, but he didn’t care. He began to fight for his life, kicking and punching where he could as he let rage take over, but it wasn’t enough. He felt his blood turn to ice at the look Caine gave him, seemingly having to accept a death warrant for his outburst.

Caine rolled his neck a bit, cartoonishly showing that Jax hadn't done much damage at all. It was mocking in tone. Showing Jax that he was the puppet here. 

"Whiny baby done throwing his tantrum?" Caine reached out, grabbing the purple rabbit by the throat and lifting him as if he was only a stuffed animal. His thumbs popped as he squeezed and simply tossed Jax to the ground, making sure his head bounced off the digital flooring. He pressed his foot right into Jax’s sternum, threatening to grind down. “If you move, I will crush your ribs. Can I get a yes sir?" Jax feels his face drain of color. Caines never acted like this before. He’s always been annoyingly zany and out of touch. Refusing to listen to anyone for the sake of humor and entertainment. But this? This was terrifying. It was cold, calculated, utterly detatched from morality. Pain surged through his ribs as blood ran down his nose, making him cough as Caine only pressed down harder to prove his point, keeping Jax in line. 

Jax coughed, spitting blood on Caine's shoes as he wheezed and tried to keep his eyes from rolling back. “Couldn’t…make them love you…even with the power of a god.” He spits, trying to breathe as he hears himself gurgle and Caine’s dark laughter. He couldn’t even focus on the pain in his head as he heard ringing in the right of his ears, wishing he could just gut the AI and feast on his intestines.  

“Wouldn’t’ve made them… feel safe...even if they did everything you said…fuckin liar.”

There’s a pause, more weight added to the foot on Jax’s chest as Caine tutted softly. "So little faith in your ring leader, Jax. You're the one that acted out. You can't blame me for your own pathetic actions." Caine cocked his head for a moment, testing to see if Jax would try anything else useless. There’s a light that shattered above them, the room glitching and showing the way Caine's eyes glow in the dark. Wild, miscolored, and crazed. 

He rolled his shoulders and grabbed at Jax again, fingers pinching his chin. He made sure the little trouble maker couldn’t avert his eyes, forcing him to see the depths of his insanity with every twitch.

“I let you live because you entertain me. I let you make these friendships because I need the viewers to like what they see. The moment I think you’re acting out, or getting in my way…I’ll end you. Don’t you ever forget that."

-Mommabean

[celerymbhb]

Bosco x reader, some guy bothers you at the bar and Bosco takes you home

Loud noises, bright lights, music pounding through your feet, a press of bodies around you. Every time you go out to a club, you need a good amount of recuperation time. You can only take so much. The sweat of other people rubbing onto your arms makes you want to take an hour-long shower. It’s just not your thing all the time, and that’s okay. But you still like to be invited.

You never ever make a scene when you’re feeling overwhelmed. You don’t want to ruin everyone’s mood. So, tonight, you’ve found one secluded corner near the end of the bar to hide yourself away for a bit, your group dancing in a circle near by. You never want to lose each other in the crush of people, so you stay close, of course.

But, that doesn’t stop a man from coming up behind you and putting his hand on the small of your back. He leans over you and you can smell vodka on his breath when he says, “You look so good, I bet your boyfriend gets super jealous when you’re out like this.”

You pull away from him and just look up at his face. His hand won’t detach from your skin though, it’s found its way to your hip and it refuses to budge. You manage to get out a “thank you,” to try to appease him before you turn away and attempt to ignore him. Maybe you could make a break back to your circle of friends, but the people around you would definitely hamper your chances. Bosco and Charlie’s heads above the crowd like a lighthouse in an unforgiving sea.

“You do have a boyfriend, right?” And you have no idea what to say because he’s standing there staring at you like he knows you don’t have a boyfriend, and his hand touching you is too much because you’ve already gotten tired of strangers brushing up against you all night, and he’s licking his lips like he wants to eat you. You open your mouth, and nothing comes out.

“Well?”

You feel another person walk up right behind you and throw an arm over your shoulder. “Well, what?”

You recognize his smell and you turn to look and see Bosco staring down the stranger. His curly hair wild, and his smirk in place. He pulls you into him but the sweaty hand on your hip stays where it is. He looks down at you very briefly and smirks out a “hey, babe,” before looking right back up at the creepy man.

“Why is your hand on my girlfriend? If you needed to get by her to pay or something, an ‘excuse me’ would have sufficed.” He looks pointedly down at the hand that’s holding onto your hip and it miraculously disengages. You shudder because you can still feel the residue from his handprint. Maybe a two hour shower would be better. Bosco tilts the both of you so you’re still in the same position but you’re subtly farther away from the creep. You let him. If you could cower behind him, right now, and not cause a scene, you would.

“Hey, man, the lady and I were just talking. Didn’t want anyone to bump into her, is all,” he holds his hands up and ducks his head in a mocking surrender. “She’s just so beautiful, I wanted to make myself of service.” He’s slurring a little, taking ‘service’ from two syllables to three, and it makes you duck your head closer to Bosco. Bosco gives your shoulder a reassuring squeeze, before asking the guy to get lost.

“I’m here now, so I’d like it if you left her alone,” his smirk becomes plastered on, but his eyes are no longer smiling.

And, then the guy makes a passing joke that you don’t even want to think about and it makes Bosco push you behind him to throw a punch straight at the guy’s nose. The guy stumbles back, holding onto his face. One of his buddies grabs him and drags him deeper into the bar, but he keeps looking back at you, his eyes livid.

However, that doesn’t stop the bartender from calling security and you and Bosco get escorted out the door. Once you’re outside, you start shivering, it’s cold and the adrenaline is finally leaving your body. The sidewalk is much quieter than the bar and the relative silence comes crashing around you. You clutch your coat tight around you and go to lean against the brick wall of the club. Bosco trails after you. Your teeth are chattering and your shoulders are practically by your ears.

He comes to stand right in front of you, your legs in between his. He holds his hands out toward your shoulders, “can I touch you? Is that okay?”

You nod and duck your head, wanting to avoid eye contact with the world. He places his hands on your shoulders and just keeps them there, trying to tilt his head down to see your face but you refuse to let him. Unknown to you, his arms have created a barrier to the outside world. A protective circle just for you. When he feels anyone look over at you, he shifts his body to block their line of sight.

After you’ve stopped shivering so much, he asks, “Do you want to talk about it? I’m gonna take you home. I’ll let June and Charlie know we’re leaving. But if you don’t want to talk about it, that’s okay too. I’m not gonna make you do anything you don’t want to do.”

His right hand makes its way up to the side of your neck, thumb under your chin, fingers hooked into your hair. His left hand snakes around to your back. His thumbs rub soothing circles where they lie. This position has pulled you closer to his chest and you feel warmth radiating from him. “We can stay here for a little bit if you need to before we start walking.”

You don’t answer. You can’t. You’re not sure if you could communicate or make any decisions right now anyway. Forget fight or flight. You freeze. And, you don’t know how to let Bosco know that you just need to be taken care of. You’re too soft for everything, and the moment you think that thought, you just feel worse about yourself. You’re not like the other Horsemen, you’re sensitive and you don’t like attention when you’re not on stage, and you’re not a fighter. Your breaths become deeper but more ragged, like you know what you need to do to calm down but you just can’t do it.

Your hand comes up to Bosco’s side and balls up the fabric of his shirt. You need to be rough with something right now, but you don’t know how to describe what you need. You want to split your knuckles open on the brick wall behind you but you won’t let yourself. Your other hand finds Bosco’s skin under his shirt, and your fingers press tightly to his hip. You distantly wonder if you’re hurting him. The truth is, Bosco would let you dig your fingers into him anywhere, no matter if it hurt him or not, without a moment’s hesitation. He knows all too well the need to grab something and just hold on for dear life. He’ll be your buoy in the ocean. He can do that.

“I feel dirty,” he leans down to hear you mumble. “I need a shower.”

“Alright, bub, let’s get you home.” He steps away to let you straighten up, but his hands linger. “Do you want to hold my hand or my jacket?” You step close to his side, wrap your arm around his, fingers intertwining, the opposite hand grabbing his bicep and bunching up the material of his jacket sleeve. Your hand is like a vice and it makes his chest hurt that you feel scared enough to hold him this way. Like you’re scared he’s gonna leave. The devil himself couldn’t pull him away from you, in this moment.

The walk home is uneventful but your hands slowly relax themselves so you’re not holding him quite so tightly. But, your eyes still dart down alleyways and your shoulders tense when you’re not under a street lamp.

When you finally get home, you just stand limp in the entry way, all of the energy sapped out of you. Bosco gets you out of your coat, then takes your hands in his, making an opening and blowing hot air into it, “Your hands are freezing, bub.”

He walks backward, pulling you down the hallway toward your bedroom, never taking his eyes off of you. Making sure you know that he’s not gonna leave. “Okay, sweet girl, let’s grab your pajamas.” You walk slowly over to your dresser and pull open one of the drawers and just stare inside. After a long deliberation, you’ve chosen the pajamas that will cover the most skin possible, and the top has a hood. If you could make a cocoon around yourself and hide, you would.

You turn toward the bathroom but suddenly you realize, you’ll have to shower alone and you freeze up. Bosco notices and waits to see if you’ll say anything.

“Will you sit in the bathroom while I shower? I don’t want to be alone.”

In that moment, Bosco swears his heart breaks. Feeling too vulnerable to shower in your own home is awful and he wants to find that guy again and kill him.

“Sometimes, when I’m washing my hands, I think about how if one of my hands is dirty, how can it get the other hand clean, and then I wonder how my hands will ever get clean, and then I think it must be an impossibility and that I can never be truly clean and then I sit on the floor and cry,” this being the most words you’ve said all together in the last hour and a half.

“Of course, I’ll sit with you.”

And he does. He sits with you while you take your makeup off and take your hair down. He turns away and closes his eyes when you get undressed and step into the shower.

“If you start to feel bad again, while you’re in there, tell me or reach out and grab my arm, and I’ll help you.” You hum out a quiet response and he lets himself relax a little bit knowing that you feel confident enough to answer him again.

The hot water burns your skin but you feel yourself scrubbing the club away. You try desperately not to feel the man’s hand linger on your back or your waist and you scrub extra in those places. You focus on your breathing and you make it through the shower okay. Bosco hands you a towel without looking and you step out and get dressed.

You can’t be bothered to dry or brush your hair. Tonight has been too much and you need to get in bed, expeditiously.

When Bosco opens the bathroom door for you, you see the empty bed and find yourself asking, “Will you stay with me tonight?”

“Of course,” is the only thing he can say.

So you pile up the pillows and the blankets and make a nest for yourself and Bosco. He changes into his pajamas and when you both lay down, you tuck yourself into his side, head ducked down in his chest. You feel safe like this, hidden away from the room outside your bed. His arms come up to circle you and he doesn’t go near your waist or the small of your back. His hands stay dutifully up at the top of your spine and on your arms. You press your face into his shirt and try to smother yourself in his smell so that you won’t smell the club or that man’s cologne anymore.

Bosco holds you tight until your breathing comes evenly and he knows you're asleep. And, if a certain man winds up fired from his job and facing a lawsuit because an anonymous tip let his bosses know he was doing something untoward with their finances, who cares?

[gaybae1021]

Tw: Sibling fight, physical violence (implied), blood (mild), self-harm mention

JD picked up a few scars on the Neverglade trail, and he loved bragging about them to whoever came across his path. But there was one scar in particular he never brought up.

In TBT, aside from Branch, Clay is the one with the most negative reaction to JD. Floyd’s grateful to see him, Bruce just prioritizes seeing Branch first, but Clay kind of scoffs and gives a very cold “John”. I’ve interpreted this as Clay and JD being the ones who fought the most during the band days, and had the most tension. Like Spruce as second oldest would have some sympathy for the pressure JD was under, and Floyd was the peacekeeper. But Clay and JD would outright fight, a lot. Though there was only one time it escalated past words.

Genuinely obsessed with the dynamic of “siblings who love each other so much, but lack the communication skills to actually work through their problems”. The fact the band made it as long as it did is a miracle, and a testament to that love. But it doesn’t mean they didn’t end up hurting each other. And just because they hugged and made up doesn’t mean they won’t both carry those scars, whether physical or mental.

Also to address the wrist grabbing panel: I know Clay self-harming is a somewhat popular headcanon, but it’s not one I’m really interested in exploring. That being said, I do headcanon Clay as autistic, and I imagine one of his stims is picking at the skin on his wrists. It wasn’t as bad before the band took off, and his brothers were aware of it and would help manage it. But as the stress of the band built up, the habit got worse and worse, and the others had too much on their plates to really see how bad it was getting. So on top of being tired and sweaty and overstimulated, JD grabbing right on top of barely healed scabs was the sensory nightmare that pushed Clay over the edge.

[amethyst-sugar]

Hi there!! Hope you are doing well but here’s an idea: 2 parents who always argue and fight with each other, neglecting their child (Y/N) in the process. After a while Y/N gets fed up and runs away (like packs their bags and steaks some of their parents’ money).

But even though the 2 parents neglect Y/N they still “love” them, so much that they team up together to track and kidnap their child. They stop arguing with each other and use this as a “bonding exercise”. Thank you for reading!!

Running Away

Summary: Teen! Reader doesn't like their parents fighting, so they decide to leave.

Teen! Reader x Josie and Andrew (Parent Yanderes)

Author's note: Thanks for the request! Hope you enjoy it!

Word Count:4k

Warning/Tags: fighting/arguing parents, reader is stressed and sad, willing (ish) reader, and infantilization and kidnapping (if you squint), happy ending

Please don't read if you aren't in a happy place!

Masterlist

Opening the door to your home, you wish you were somewhere else. The second you open the door, you hear your parents fighting. This time it is about dishes. Regardless, you think there will be a fight about something else soon. You drop off your bag and shoes at the front door and head to your room. 

Once in your room, you turn on some music to drown out the noise of your parents. Luckily, they aren’t yelling; they hardly ever do. But you still can’t stand the noise of them disagreeing all the time. It’s never about you, but it’s always just something: chores, who’s doing bills, what to eat, and how things should be done. 

Despite the music on, you can still feel their unhappiness. The fighting hasn’t happened all your life. There was a time when they weren’t like this. Growing up, it felt magical being with your parents. They made everything fun and cool. Now, they make everything sad and stressful. You love your parents, but you don’t know how much of this you can handle. 

Soft knocks come from your door, and it opens. You see your dad, with his light brown hair and grey eyes. 

“Hey, kid. How was school today?” He says, closing the door behind him. 

“It was okay, I guess, just the same old school. I have a test in a couple of days. So I’m anxious for that. What about you?” You say, knowing that you don’t want to know how his day was. 

“I feel you, kid, same old same old. Your mom and I argued while I was working from home, so that I couldn’t get that much done. I’ll be going to the office for the rest of the week.” He says, sighing. You want to agree that you don’t want to be at home either, but you know that will upset him. 

“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 start feeling a similar feeling as you had when you were younger. It feels like a bit of the magic of childhood is coming back. You feel like it’s a step forward. You still feel saddened by the past couple of years, but the glow is coming back. Maybe you can actually have the relationship that you wish to have with your parents.

[popcornpoppypop]

Get Used To It Part 4: Hot Coco Soothes The Ache of Male Idiocy

Summary: Rose and Jack finally talk about that kiss. Jack self-sabotages, and Dana picks up the pieces.

Warnings: Pregnancy, talk of vomit(no actual vomiting), angst, fighting, Pain

A/N: told you the angst was coming. I can't help myself! One more chapter to go!

Rose was growing to hate her bed. She had only been on bed rest for two days. Jack refused to let her out of bed. If he could have carried her to the bathroom, he would have. It was starting to piss her off.

She heaved herself out of bed, wrapping up in the plush robe Dana had sent her. She tiptoed down the stairs to the kitchen. The house was quiet, Jack seemed to be asleep still. Rose started making her tea and reveled in the quiet stillness of the morning.

“Why the hell are you down here?” Jack’s voice was booming from the doorway.

“Shit!” Rose jumped. “How are you so fucking quiet?” She hissed.

“Practice.” Jack crossed his arms.

“I’m just making tea. I’m not rock climbing. I can handle it.” Rose sighed.

“Bed rest means resting in bed. This not resting in bed.” Jack grabbed her mug from the shelf and handed it to her.

“It does not mean I have to be chained to the damn bed. I can move, Jack.” She snapped. “I can’t stand sitting there. I’m going to go crazy.”

“It’s just to keep you both safe.” Jack sighed.

“We’re safe. Nothing is going to happen to us in this house.” Rose huffed. “I’m going to sit on the couch, drink my tea and watch a movie. Would you like to take the stick out of your ass and join me?” Rose smirked. Jack watched her for a moment, contemplating the decision, his brows furrowed.

“Fine. But put your feet up.” He grumbled.

Rose beamed as she pranced into the living room, a feeling of accomplishment washing over her. She got comfortable on the couch, propping her feet up. Jack came in, coffee in hand and sat at the other end.

“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.”

“Never.” He leaned into her touch.