Right up front, I want to say that story is extremely different from my usual Annie stories. While it focuses on Oliver and Grace, it can hardly be considered a romance and is of a more serious nature. The plot heavily focuses on marital problems such as emotional abuse and infidelity. Most of this was actually written in 2015/2016. I've never posted it because it didn't go along with my usual lighter and fluffy Grace/Oliver fics. I recently did a re-read of everything I had and finally decided to finish and upload. As odd as it might sound, this was my favorite Annie fic to write.

Another reason I hesitated to post: Annie is, after all, a family movie and show and was afraid someone younger might come across it. So please head this warning as it does cover more adult themes and was not written for a younger audience. I'm keeping the rating as T as there will be no M-rated material, however, some things will be strongly implied.

A special thanks to Silvermissstt for encouraging me to post!

"Why do you guys always have to fight?"

Oliver and Grace turned their attention across the dinner table to their fifteen-year-old daughter. With apologetic expressions, they put their personal quarrel on hold and turned back to their suppers. Annie was right, they were always fighting. It hadn't started this way. For the first couple of years there was seldom a harsh word said between them. Naturally, they had their tiffs but nothing earth-shattering. As time went on, arguments grew louder and then more frequent. More often than not the topics were silly. Right now for instance. They were arguing over plans to redo the master bathroom. Grace wanted the new tiles to be one color, Oliver another. To Annie, it was just another excuse to shout. For the frequency of these matches, they must find some twisted enjoyment in it.

However, this was not the case. Oliver couldn't stand it. He argued with nearly everybody else in the world, he didn't want to with Grace. Yet, it continued to happen. For whatever reason these days, a lot of her habits, opinions, or preferences got on his last nerve.

Grace found herself feeling similar annoyances. She figured this all started after their first big fight. What a horrible day that was. During a meeting with an important associate, Grace had pointed out an error in Oliver's plans. Usually, he welcomed his wife's opinion — this was not one of those times. Perhaps it was because he had spent the entire before perfecting them rather than sleeping. The minute the associates left the meeting, Oliver exploded. Though Grace had seen this rage many times before, it was never directed at her. Not at this velocity. Now that it was in her direction, she did not take it well. That's not to say she crumbled and begged for his forgiveness. Oh no, she got even. Never had he imagined her volume could match his. Plus, she had an advantage: While his voice was much lower, she could deafen him with a screech. Since then, their marriage hadn't seemed the same. Grace didn't feel respected — after all, the words 'your opinion doesn't matter' had flown from his lips. Oliver, too, felt less respect. Only in the ways he was treated.

Neither of them comprehended the fact that they never actually worked out their problems that day. After an afternoon of screaming and slamming doors, they fell into bed without as much as an 'I'm sorry' or hint of resolution. By that point they were tired of fighting and intimacy was the only way to put the matter aside without having to admit one or both of them were wrong.

This quickly became their way of handling every argument (or at least the majority). Any joy had gone from the act, and even worse, the love. That's not to say they didn't love each other. The love just wasn't the same as it once was. Now there was no special way to express it. The mere words became routine and devoid of sentiment.

Annie hated seeing her parents drifting apart. She felt helpless against it. Whenever she asked them if there was anything she could do she was told not to worry and that they would work things out eventually. Five months had passed since the first time she'd heard it. Over a year since the arguments began. Eventually seemed to become more and more out of reach.

Oliver and Grace avoided each other as much as possible after dinner. They didn't want to bicker for Annie's sake but neither of them trusted themselves to remain friendly in the other's company. It was getting to the point where they couldn't control themselves. Even in business meetings, they could be found arguing. For all intents and purposes, they'd forgotten how to be civil to one another.

As usual, later that night the argument was forgotten the moment the door shut. For these minor things, they'd made an unspoken agreement to take turns giving in before falling asleep. Tonight, it was Grace's turn to win. Yellow tiles it was. This isn't to say the loser didn't have their annoyance, but it was no longer a debate.

The next morning, the two woke up with Annie's comment at dinner ringing in their ears. Guilt ran rampant. They came to an agreement not to argue that day. At first, they were able to stick to it. Annie was so pleased to have her parents back at breakfast. It almost felt like old times. Oliver and Grace were cheerful and smiling and the conversation was pleasant. Annie was tempted to fake sick to stay home from school to spend time with them...

When she came home that afternoon, she wished she'd never left. Whatever had happened, it was bad. This was far more than one of their silly debates. Grace was in tears (something she usually avoided during a fight) and the vein in Oliver's neck was throbbing. Even the staff looked shaken. Apparently, it was similar to their first big fight. Grace had stated her opinion on a business matter and Oliver did not agree. This lead to him telling her to keep her mouth shut and keep her mind on her own job.

Oliver hadn't intended to snap the way he had. With so much on his plate recently, he didn't have time to second-guess any decisions. Somehow though, he didn't feel all that bad about his reaction. Her tears angered him more than anything. It was almost as if she was doing it with the intent of making him feel guilty. Of course she wasn't. And deep down he knew it, but sometimes it felt good to explode.

"What the heck happened?" Annie asked with bitterness in her voice, dropping her school bag to the floor. "Everything was fine this morning."

Grace glanced at Annie, not wanting to expose her falling tears even though they were already evident. With a shake of her head and no response, she turned and ran up the stairs. It wasn't fair to drag Annie into this any further. She knew how hard these fights were for her, and with her present emotions, she didn't trust she wouldn't say something to make matters worse.

"What did you do to her?" Annie then asked in accusation.

"I can see whose side you're on." Oliver quipped.

"How can I choose a side if I don't even know what you're fighting about? I just know Mom doesn't cry unless she's really upset."

"She was-"

"'The one who started the blasted fight' — I know."

Oliver's brow furrowed. "Enough of this. Go to your room and work on your schoolwork until dinner is called."

"Fine," she said, walking back to where she dropped her bag. After picking it up, she hurried upstairs.

What was happening to her family? This was the question on Annie's mind as she sat in her room. Homework wasn't going to be done with so much on her mind. She never expected being part of a family to consist of constant happiness. She herself had more than a few arguments with each parent, but this was ridiculous. A pencil could roll off the desk and Oliver would figure out how to blame Grace. Grace would then list off every reason why it wasn't her fault and cleverly rid herself of any blame. More often than not, Annie found both at fault. When a fault was wholly one or the other, she knew which one was telling the truth. While she knew next to nothing about today's fight, she already sensed it was Oliver's doing. What was next, she then wondered.

Dinner came and Annie found herself alone at the table. While this wasn't a first, eating alone didn't happen often, therefore she knew this fight would go on through tomorrow. Most likely Grace was avoiding Oliver and vice versa. Worry grew when Drake informed her that Oliver had gone out for the evening. This bit of information was unsettling. If he went out past 4, he told everyone. Typically, evening outings were with the whole family.

Much to her relief, Oliver returned a couple of hours later. Her concern caused her to run to him once she'd heard the car rumble up the driveway. There was no doubt he'd been drinking. He wasn't so much tipsy, rather stoic.

"Where's your mother?" he asked upon his entrance.

"I don't know..." Annie answered. The truth was she knew Grace hadn't left her room since the afternoon. She didn't want Oliver finding her while he smelled of liquor. The last thing this argument needed was the addition of alcohol. She thought fast. "Before you go and find her, could you please help me with some homework?"

"Should have been done hours ago."

"I know, but no one has been here to help me with my arithmetic."

"You've never had much trouble before."

"I'm having trouble now. I can't show up to school tomorrow without my equations done."

Running a hand down his face, Oliver replied, "All right, but let's not make a night of it."

Annie rushed to her room and hid her already completed math homework and grabbed her textbook. She stalled for as long as she could, hoping Oliver would sober up. It wasn't clear if he was drunk, but she didn't want to take any chances. Once she saw Oliver's frustration with the problems an hour and a half later, Annie let up. As far as Oliver was concerned, she miraculously understood the questions. Before he left, he asked again if she knew where Grace was, and again Annie said no. His first guess was the bedroom. He went down the hall, ready to put the afternoon behind them. A couple glasses of scotch really did the trick.

Grace was indeed in the bedroom when he arrived. She was laying down on the bed with a blank expression on her face.

"Grace?" he said as he entered.

Snapping out of deep thought, she replied in a monotone. "Hello."

"Wondering where I was?" he asked in a somewhat taunting tone.

"Not really."

"Oh," he said, surprised. "I was at the bar."

"Sounds fun." The blank expression made a reappearance as she broke eye contact.

"And you don't care that I was gone?"

"Why should I? Any time we see each other we're at each other's throats."

"We're just going through a lull."

"A lull?" she said as she sat up. "Oliver, a lull is when we barely say a word to each other and when life has become mundane and boring. We have a serious problem here. For some reason we're fighting, and we need to do something about it before our family completely falls apart."

"Oh, come on, Grace. You're being melodramatic. So we're fighting... we'll get bored of it eventually."

"I can't believe you're not more concerned about this. We aren't playing a game. I can't speak for you but I hate arguing. I can't go on like this."

He now moved closer, eventually reaching the bed. Sitting down beside her, he took her hand and began kissing her neck. "Then let's forget about today."

Grace remained still for a few seconds as he continued caressing her neck and cheek with his lips. Then, she slid away from him and stood up. "You know something? I don't enjoy this anymore."

Aggravated, Oliver asked, "What's gotten into you tonight?"

"Some sense, apparently. Can't you see that our marriage is on the line?"

"You're still being dramatic."

"Damn it, Oliver. I'm not being dramatic. Listen to me. We need to work this is out. Our fights haven't stopped. They've gotten bigger and more frequent. The more I think about it, the more I realize we resolved a single argument. The minute we're alone we pretend to put it behind us. Obviously, the bitterness still lingers which is why we find more reasons to quarrel."

Hearing her reasoning, Oliver knew there was some truth to her words. However, there was no way he was going to give her the satisfaction of being right at this moment. "You're over thinking this."

"All right, so you're completely fine with the yelling and screaming and crying? You're fine with going back and forth 'winning' arguments after sex that no longer means anything?"

"I'm not saying I like how things have been. I'm saying that it won't go on forever."

Grace stared at him, appalled by the continued lack of worriment. A few more seconds passed. Then shaking her head, she said, "You're right, it's not going to go on forever."

Turning away from him, she strode to the door. Just before she reached for the knob, Oliver rose to his feet. "Wait a minute, where are you going?"

"We can't fight if I'm not here." Opening then slamming the door behind her, she was gone.

"Grace!" he called after. Half expecting her to be waiting for him outside the door for him to come running after her, he sat and waited. When a minute passed, he felt a twinge. He convinced himself that she was being stubborn, so he slowly walked to the door. When he opened it, Grace was nowhere in sight. His breath halted at this realization. "She wouldn't..." he said aloud.

"Grace!" He called again as he ran down the hall and down the stairs. At the bottom, she still wasn't to be seen. He went for the door. Once it was opened, he saw the DuPont leaving the gate. There was no use in trying to catch her with this much of a head start.

Oliver slumped against the door frame. What had he done? That was his first thought. His second was innocence. He merely tried to move past the argument. Trying to work it out would have been no good as his words from earlier hadn't changed. Eventually, he concluded that she would be home sooner than later, she had no luggage with her. What's more, she would never leave Annie. So what was he afraid of? This was only another dramatic display.