Their fights were getting far too frequent. How many times now had she left the house in a fit of rage?

Grabbing a glass and a bottle of his favorite aged scotch, Sterling was bent on forgetting the night's fight. He plopped down at the kitchen table and poured himself a serving. Getting hammered was probably not the best way to deal with his crumbling marriage, but, at half past midnight, he didn't have many other options. He wanted to call Nate and explain what was going on, but he was asleep. Plus, he was certain that Nate still didn't know that he was even married. It probably wouldn't be the best idea to dump a problem on his friend when he didn't even know it existed.

He downed the contents of the glass, enjoying the burning sensation it left as it traveled down his throat. As soon as he set the glass down, he poured himself another serving.

A little whimper sounded, making him pause as he was bringing the refilled glass up to his lips. That couldn't have been him. He hadn't drank enough to start making sounds like that.

At the archway that lead into the kitchen, Olivia appeared, rubbing her tear stained eyes.

Sterling glanced back at the clock. 12:42. "Olivia, what are you still doing awake at this hour? You have school tomorrow. You should be in bed."

Olivia let out a little sob. "I'm sorry, daddy," she squeaked.

Sterling's expression softened. He got up from the chair and walked over to his daughter. He picked her up and cradled her against his chest. She's gotten so big, he thought. "There there," he cooed, stroking her hair. He walked into the living room and sat on one of the couches, seating her on his lap. "Now tell me what's wrong, darling."

Olivia sniffled. "I'm scared, daddy."

"Of?"

She buried her face into his shirt. "The dark," she whimpered.

He wrapped his arms around her. "That's quite alright, love. You know, I was afraid of the dark, too, when I was your age."

She looked up at him. "You were?"

He nodded. "Yes. And of a couple of other things, too." He wiped away some of the tears on her cheek. "But do you want to know what I'm not afraid of?"

"What, daddy?"

"Being afraid." He picked her up once more and began heading to her room. "I'll tell you what. Why don't you sleep with your little lamp on?"

"Okay, daddy." She looked around the hall before they entered her room. "Daddy, where's mommy?"

Sterling clenched his jaw. What was he supposed to say? That they had yet another fight and that he was starting to think that, one day, she'd leave and never come back? "She had to go... get something," he lied.

Olivia let out a yawn.

He placed her in her bed and tucked her in. "You should be more worried about getting some sleep." He turned on her little bedside lamp. "Now try and get some sleep."

She nodded. "Okay, daddy."

He kissed her forehead. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

He left her room and shut the door. As he did, he heard a noise coming from the living room. His curiosity overpowering the need to sleep, he returned back to the room. His wife was standing by the door, unbuttoning her coat. Her eyes grew hard at the sight of him. "You're still awake?" she asked.

Sterling nodded. He pointed down the hall, to Olivia's room. "Olivia... She came to me, complaining that she was afraid of the dark, so..." He rubbed the back of his neck, letting his sentence awkwardly trail off.

She hung her coat on the coat rack by the door. "James?"

Something about the way she said his name made his stomach churn. "Yes?"

She let out a breath through her teeth. "James, I want a divorce."