Hoping to get this story finished by Sunday! so please cross your fingers! lol

And as you've probably noticed, yes I've changed my username but only because I wanted a new one and my friend Chloe said I was evil for the stuff that I write (this chapter lol) and told me I should call myself SourceOfEvil, so here I am lol.


"What?" Stephanie said as she walked back towards the bed

"I just think it would be for the best, I mean, especially with what's going on between us right now"

"where will I go Paul?"

"You know I wouldn't just leave you stranded, i'll find you a nice place close by"

"I'm supposed to be with you at all times, there's a reason why i'm a stay at home nurse, Paul"

"and I understand that" he said nodding "Which is why I said I would find you a place close by"

"screw this" Stephanie said as she turned around and headed out the door

"Stephanie wait" Paul called out but flinched when the pain hit, he took a minute to himself and then finally got up. She wasn't in her room or in any of the rooms in the house. He grabbed his jacket and slipped on his nike slides and walked outside, but he didn't get too far before he saw her sitting outside on a bench. He slowly walked towards her and sat down.

"don't bother" she said as she angrily wiped away a tear

"Steph…"

"Just shut up" she said standing up "don't worry, i'll be out of your house tonight"

Paul reached up and grabbed her by the arm but she snatched out of his grip, she tried to turn away but he grabbed her again. "Just listen to me"

"you don't have shit to say to me Paul, you want to kick me out? then fine, i'll leave"

"I'm not kicking you out"

"Then what the fuck do you call this?" she asked as she threw her arms in the air

"I'm just trying to put a little space between us, that's all. I mean, you have to admit that things have been pretty tense"

"Yeah, because you made them that way"

"Me?" Paul said pointing to himself

"Yes, you" Stephanie said pointing to him

"No way man, you're the one who agreed to go on a fucking date with me when you knew from the beginning how I felt about you, you've just been playing me from the start"

"You know what Paul, fuck this and fuck you" Stephanie said as she turned around and headed towards the house. Once she was inside she went straight to her room and immediately began to pack her things.

"Stephanie, you are not leaving this house in the middle of the night"

"Oh yeah?" she said looking up at him as she continued to throw clothes into her suitcase "just watch me"

"Where will you go?"

"why the fuck do you care?" she said as she went over and opened the closet, tossing her shoes into another bag

"Steph, can we please not do this right now? let's just sleep it off and we can talk in the morning"

"Fuck you Paul" Stephanie said as she angrily brushed past him and headed towards the kitchen with her bags, she threw them down on the floor next to the door and headed back in the room to get some more things.

"Just stop, please" Paul said grabbing her arm "I don't want you to leave tonight, shit you don't even have to in the next week if you want. I'm just saying we need a little space, that's all. This whole ignoring each other thing is just not going to cut it for me"

"Yeah, because everything has to work around you, huh? you're such an asshole, always have been from the beginning" Stephanie said as she picked up another bag and then turned around and looked at him "you know what Paul, I thought you were different, I thought you were different from all the other guys" she said as she angrily bent down and picked up some items that fell on the floor and tossed them into her bag. "but you're not" she said closing the bag "you're just like them" she said as she went to walk past him but stopped and looked at him. "No, I take that back, you're not like them, not at all…you're worse" she said as she walked towards the door to toss the bag. This time when she turned around Paul was standing in front of her.

"I'm not moving until you agree to sit down and talk to me"

"ABOUT WHAT PAUL!?" she snapped. "I've been trying to talk to you since our date and you've done everything in your power to ignore me, but when I give your no good selfish ass the same treatment you want to fucking kick me out. I can't stand childish people like you" Stephanie said as she pushed Paul, she didn't mean to make him fall down and land on his bad side but she was pissed. Normally she would have reached down to help him, but she couldn't care less at this point, she simply stepped over her and went to retrieve her last bag. "Don't worry about me, i'll be fine" she said in a mocking tone as she grabbed her two bags and placed them on top of her suitcases and walked outside the door.

Paul tried his best to get up and stop her, but the pain was unbearable at this point, all he could do was watch her leave as he laid throbbing in pain on the floor.


"Alright, i'm coming, i'm coming" Patricia said as she walked down the hall tightening her robe when she opened the door, she was surprised to see who was at the other end. "Stephanie, what are you doing here sweetie?"

"Sorry for banging so loudly on your door, may I come in? it's just for tonight"

Patricia looked down and saw that Stephanie had her bags packed and she immediately felt sorry. "Oh no" she said softly as she shook her head "come in" she said as she gently grabbed Stephanie's arm. "Sweetie, what happened?"

"He kicked me out" Stephanie said as she headed towards the stairs

"Oh, he's about to get a piece of my mind" Patricia said as she headed towards the home phone

"No" Stephanie said stopping her "It is what it is, just let it go"

"I can't believe he would leave you stranded in the middle of the night!" Patricia said as she could feel herself becoming heated

"he didn't, I decided to leave when he asked me to move out"

"Why would he do that?"

"he said something about wanting to put space between us, listen, i'm sorry to intrude on you so late at night but i'm really tired, can this just wait until the morning?"

"Of course" Patricia said nodding

"thank you, and goodnight" Stephanie said as she headed up the stairs.

"What in the world is going on between you two?" Patricia said to herself as she watched Stephanie go up the steps


"Hey, have you seen Stephanie?" Paul asked his father as he walked past him the moment his dad opened the door.

"No" Paul sr said confused "Why would she be here?" he questioned

"I don't know" Paul said placing his hand over his head. "we got into an argument and she left last night"

"Wow"

"Yeah" Paul said walking towards the stair case and going up a few before his father spoke.

"Well, I don't think she's here son, i'm sure I would have seen her by now and your mom definitely would have mentioned it"

"Right" Paul said to himself as he headed back down the steps "just let me know if you see her" Paul said as he turned around and walked out the door.

"ummmm, okay" his father said as he stood there scratching his head trying to figure out what was going on

Stephanie was upstairs finishing up her shower, she had no idea that Paul had just arrived looking for her, and thank god he didn't know she was up there. She would have been in no mood to fight or to even talk about what happened last night. But she had to admit that she did not get much sleep, especially with him calling her phone every two seconds and leaving messages. She was just in no mood for what she felt like was all a big game. She dried her hair with the towel and then put on a red tank top with white shorts. She threw her towel over the pillows and laid down, enjoying the cool breeze from the ceiling fan that ran through her damp hair. She took this time to close her eyes and just take a few minutes to herself before she would have to go downstairs and face a million questions from Patricia.

"Hey, Paul was just here" Paul sr said as Patricia came in through the back door

"really? why didn't he stay?"

Paul sr shrugged. "I don't know, something about looking for Stephanie and seeing if she was here"

"Oh" Patricia said sitting the groceries down on the counter. "she is, has she not come down yet?"

"what is she doing here, is that who was banging on the door so loudly last night?"

Patricia nodded. "Yes, and I don't know, Paul asked her to leave and apparently she did"

"he asked her to leave? what for?"

"damn it Paul, I don't know alright?"

"Jeez, don't have to get an attitude with me"

"I'm sorry dear" Patricia said as she walked over and gave Paul sr a kiss on the cheek. "but don't worry, I plan on getting to the bottom of this"

"detective pat"

"damn right" Patricia said as she continued putting the groceries away

A few minutes later Stephanie walked down the stairs and headed towards the kitchen, as she got closer, she could hear Paul's parents laughing and talking. "Good morning" she said softly as she took a seat next to Paul sr on one of the bar stools.

"Good morning" they both said in unison

"Smells good in here" Stephanie said as she leaned against the island

"Got some eggs, bacon and toast ready for ya" Patricia said as she brought Stephanie a plate and sat it down in front of her

"Thank you" Stephanie said as she picked up a piece of bacon "So, let's kill the elephant in the room, huh?" Stephanie said as she took a bite of her bacon

"Which is?" Paul sir asked

"Oh, don't play coy, you're both wondering why i'm here" Stephanie said as she took another bite.

"Well, we'd be lying if we said other wise" Paul sr said as he picked up his glass of orange juice and took a sip

"Long story short, Paul and I got into a huge argument because he asked me to move out. He asked me to move out because he said we needed space between us since everything has become weird since our date. I flipped out, cursed him out and then started packing, he tried to stop me and I pushed him down, and now i'm here" Stephanie said as she scooped up the eggs with her fork. "any questions?" she said as she placed them in her mouth

"you pushed him?" Patricia asked

"I didn't mean to, but I was angry"

"How did you get here?" Paul sr asked

"I rented a car a while back, figured I might need one in case Paul left and I needed to get around the city"

"Oh, that's nice"

"Is he fine?" she asked

"He didn't get up, so it hurt him for a while I assume"

"But" Paul sr said cutting in to make sure Patricia didn't lash out at Stephanie "He's fine because he walked in here as if nothing ever happened."

"Paul was here?" Stephanie asked as she dropped her fork on the plate, the noise echoed throughout the kitchen

"Yes" Paul sr said nodding "But only for a minute or two, he was looking for you."

"Did you tell him I was here?" she asked

"No, I didn't know you were until about 10 minutes ago. You have a very loud knock" he said jokingly as he drunk some more orange juice

"Sorry about that" Stephanie said as she looked down at her plate and then over at Patricia who was quiet "Have I upset you?"

"No" she said bluntly as she opened one of the drawers to look for something.

"I'll leave" Stephanie said as she got up

"No, i'm sorry" Patricia said as she walked around the island and grabbed Stephanie's hands "It's just, i'm very protective of my boy and the thought of him being hurt just…"

"I know" Stephanie said softly "and i'm sorry"

"It's okay dear" she said as she placed her hand on Stephanie's cheek "I know you wouldn't do it on purpose" which made Stephanie smile "Finish your breakfast" Patricia said motioning towards the plate of food.

Stephanie nodded as she walked back over to the island and took a seat.

"He asked me to let him know if I saw you….do you want me to go against his wishes or…"

"It's fine" Stephanie said cutting in "Your house, your rules, I plan on being gone before dinner"

"where will you go?" Paul sr asked

Stephanie shrugged "I saw a few hotels close by when Paul would drive us over here, they seem nice"

"you're not staying in a hotel, Stephanie" Patricia said as she walked over to them.

"No, it's fine, really" she said taking a bite of her toast "besides, I don't want you or Paul to feel like you're picking sides"

"You're adults, whatever problems you two are having i'm sure you'll work them out, there's no favorites here" Patricia said as she walked over to the refrigerator "more juice, dear?" she asked Paul sr.

"Yes, please" he said holding up his empty glass

Stephanie watched as Patricia walked over and filled Paul's glass with more juice. She smiled as she watched him try to reach out and tickle her only for her to slap his hand away and him pretend that it hurt. She then grabbed it and gave it a little kiss and he acted as if all the pain had went away. Their love was absolutely fascinating to her, she wondered how a couple could stay together for as long as they've been together and still have a love so strong. She had seen it before with her parents, but it was when she was younger. Now it just seems as if they tolerate one another, there's not doubt that the love is still there, but you can tell it wasn't as strong as it was before. She always wanted to ask why, but she didn't want to stir up any trouble in case it opened old wounds that she had no idea about, so it would be best to let them do things their way. But with Pat and Paul, things were totally different, you could tell that if they had a problem they probably fixed it right then and there, or if their love started to fade they would do everything in their power to get it back and stronger than ever. A love like that is truly beautiful, but why couldn't she find it?

"How do you do it?" Stephanie blurted out on mistake as she was caught up in her thoughts.

"do what?" Patricia asked "pour orange juice?…well, um you take a glass…"

"No, no, no" Stephanie said shaking her head "This" she said motioning towards them "like, just…just have this undying love for one another…how do you do it?"

Patricia exhaled. "Well, for one we trust one another"

"We communicate well" Paul sr added

"We work out our problems the moment we cool off"

"We don't let the little things get to us"

"We strive to be better everyday"

"We promise to love each other for eternity" Paul sr said as he gently massaged Patricia's hand with his thumb

"And every time we tell the other we love one another, we mean it" she said as she smiled at him

"That's beautiful" Stephanie said nodding "It truly is"

"Thank you" Patricia said as she leaned her head against her husband's.

"Besides" he said "she couldn't get rid of me if she tried"

"Oh, stop it, you" Patricia said as she laughed and playfully punched him on the arm to which he once again acted as if he hurt. They started talking but their words became murmurs as Stephanie once again zoned out and began to envision a life of her own with a love as strong as theirs.

Why can't I have that? she thought to herself as she continued to watch them.


"Come on, just pick up the phone already" Paul said as he tried dialing Stephanie again "straight to voicemail" he said to himself as he ended the call and tossed his phone on the bed. He paced across the room for a while before he finally gave up and fell back against the cool crisp sheets. He exhaled softly and just stared at his ceiling for a moment. He truly wished he had never asked her to move out, he didn't even think she would, he just thought it would lead to a conversation between the two to where they could work out all of their problems and maybe she would consider giving them another go. But boy was he wrong in that approach, looking back, it would have been easier to have stopped acting like a kid and just talked to her, but he was both angry and hurt and just couldn't face her. Not to mention the fact that he almost cried in front of her that night when he told her that he couldn't live without her as a part of his life. Maybe that's what made her run off so fast, maybe she didn't see things the way that he did and him asking her to move out gave her a way out of this. But then again, if she wanted out, she wouldn't have flipped out the way that she did. There were so many unanswered questions between them and he desperately needed to talk to her.

After a while, Paul got sick of sitting in his house all alone, normally he would be used to it and would prefer it that way, but ever since Stephanie moved it, she had a way of making it feel like their home and not just his, and now that she was gone, he couldn't take it. He knew right then and there if he couldn't accept her being gone for a day that there was no way in hell that he was going to survive her leaving him for the long haul. He grabbed his keys off of his nightstand and decided that he would head back towards his parents' house, even if he only stayed five minutes, he just needed somewhere to clear his head and get some sound advice.


"Honey, please stay" Patricia begged

"I can't, I just feel I would be doing something wrong"

"Doing something wrong how? by staying with people who care about you? listen, just sleep over another night so you'll have more time to think about it. You haven't even been here a full day."

"I know, I know" Stephanie said patting Patricia on the hand "and I really appreciate everything you've done, but I really must be going now, I just need to clear my head. See the city or something"

"Okay" Patricia said nodding, "I understand, but will you at least stay for dinner?"

"Pat.." Stephanie said softly, realizing what she was trying to do

"Please"

"I can't"

"Please Stephanie, I never beg anyone for anything"

"She's right you know" Paul sr said as he walked past them and sat in his lazy boy "she usually just beats it out of you"

"Shut up" Patricia said as she walked over and slapped the back off his head and then walked back over to Stephanie "please"

"alright, alright" Stephanie said holding up her hands "I'll stay"

Patricia smiled.

"But if Paul shows, i'm leaving"

Patricia nodded. "Understood, he's not supposed to be coming over today, at least not that I know of unless you invited him dear"

"I didn't" Paul sr said as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Good" she said smiling "But Lynn and the kids are coming over"

"that's fine" Stephanie said as she started to head towards the staircase but turned around "doesn't Paul usually come over when the kids are here?"

"Most of the time, but not every time" Patricia said as she walked over and sat on the couch

"Well, if you hear anything, you'll give me a heads up right?"

"Of course" Patricia said as she picked up the remote "care to join us?"

"Oh, no thanks, i'm just going to go check a few e-mails and things"

"Alrighty, i'll call you down when dinner is ready"

Stephanie nodded and headed upstairs. After a while, the kids and Lynn had arrive and they were all talking and playing. Dinner was great and so was the conversation. Lynn hadn't bothered to ask Stephanie anything about Paul so Stephanie figured that Patricia must have filled her in on what was going on and not to ask anything. Stephanie didn't mind, after all it would be weird to her if she was in the same position, but she if didn't ask any questions, then she had no problem keeping everything to herself. The doorbell rang and Stephanie stood up "I'll get it, Peter probably needs help bringing those bags in" Stephanie said as she walked from the living room and towards the door. "I told ya you couldn't do it buddy and that you would eventually need my help" Stephanie said as she opened the door.

"Steph…What are you doing here?" Paul asked as he stared at her with his arm wrapped around Peter's shoulders.

Stephanie stood there and shook her head. "I should have known" she said as she turned around and walked towards the staircase.

"Hey, where ya going?" Lynn asked

"Thanks for the heads up Pat" Stephanie said as she rolled her eyes and went upstairs

"What is she talking about?" Patricia asked

"Hey, where did Stephanie go?" Paul said as he walked into the living room.

"Oh" everyone said in unison

"what's going on here, what is she doing here?" Paul asked, but before anyone could answer he saw Stephanie's luggage setting by the stairs and headed that way.

"At least we didn't have to explain that" Paul Sr said as he flipped his newspaper to the next page

"Hey" Paul said as he walked into the room.

"Don't bother, i'm leaving" Stephanie said as she grabbed the last of her things and threw them into her string bag

"Is this where you've been? I've been trying to contact you all day"

"I don't know why" Stephanie said as she looked around the room for anything she might have forgotten "I have nothing to say to you"

"Well, I have plenty to say to you"

"So now you want to talk?" Stephanie asked as she placed the bag on her shoulders. "Well, its a little too late, don't cha think?"

"Please, Stephanie"

"I've arranged for a nurse to be sent here to replace me, she should be here in the next week, you can take care of yourself until then." Stephanie said as she walked towards the door that Paul was currently blocking. "Move" she demanded

"So thats it, huh?" he asked

"you made it this Paul by not talking to me!"

"I was pissed! alright? I was clearly not in a talking mood"

"But you didn't have to treat me like shit to get your point across!"

"Look, i'm sorry, alright? i'm sorry. And I miss you and I want you to come back. Not having you home made me realize a lot, Stephanie. I need you, okay? I need you" he said as he reached out and grabbed her hand.

"I can't do this, i'm not going to do this" Stephanie said shaking her head and she removed her hand out of his and walked past him.

"Is everything alright?" Patricia asked when Stephanie reached the bottom of the stairs "I heard yelling"

"Thank you guys for everything you've done" Stephanie said as she quickly hugged Patricia "but I really must be going now"

"Steph, wait" Paul said as he came down the stairs

Stephanie walked over and quickly hugged Paul Sr, Lynn and the kids. "you two be good, alright" she said to them, to which they nodded.

"don't go, i'll miss you" Neysa said as she hugged Stephanie

"Oh, sweetie, i'll miss you, too" she said kissing her head

"Do you gotta go?" she asked

"yes" Stephanie said softly

"No, you don't" Paul said as he walked up behind her

"Bye everyone" Stephanie said as she grabbed her bags and headed towards the door.

"Steph" Paul said as he grabbed her arm. "I wanted this to be private, but at this point, I really don't care who sees or hears. Look, i'm an asshole, I admit that, there's a lot of things I do wrong, but one of the best things I have ever done in my life was fall in love with you. I know I can be tough to be around, I know I do a lot of things wrong and I throw fits here and there but you're the only person in the world that can deal with me and that can make me feel better. YOu make me want to be a better person Stephanie. Please, please, let's just go home and work this out, please. I need you in my life Stephanie. I love you, okay? I love you. Please tell me you feel the same way"

Stephanie stood there staring at the door taking in everything he just said. She felt as if her entire chest was going to cave in, she slowly turned around and stared at him as he stared back at her awaiting her response, so did everyone else. But what was she supposed to say? she knew what she had to say, it was the only thing that she could use to get away from him, she just needed to clear her mind, this was all too much. She looked down at their hands, he was holding hers the way his father had held his mother's earlier.

It's too much, it's just all too much! I can't take this! I can't deal with this. What is happening? Why here, why now? why not when I wanted to talk, why do I feel like he's giving me ultimatum? Why do I feel as if I have no choice but to say yes? But don't I love him?….Don't I want to be with him? isn't this my fairytale? why is this all happening right now? I'm not ready…i'm just not ready. Stephanie thought to herself as he she finally looked up at Paul.

"Steph" Paul said softly "Say it, tell me you love me, too….tell me so we can work this out. I know you love me Stephanie, I know you do….baby please, please don't leave. Steph…you love me, too, don't you?"

Stephanie finally came out of her daze and looked at him, and then she looked around the room at everyone who was staring back at her, clinging on to her response as if their lives depended on it. Then she slowly turned her attention back towards Paul and finally answered his question. "….No" she said softly, but it was loud enough for Paul and everyone else to hear. "I don't love you". Her response left everyone stunned, but no one was more stunned than Paul who slowly released her hand out of his grip without even realizing that he did it. His eyes were wide and his mouth was slightly open as if he was going to say something but couldn't get the words out. Just a pure look of disbelief and anguish covered his face. Stephanie just stood there and shook her head before looking at everyone else. "I'm sorry, i'm so so sorry" she said to them as she turned and looked at Paul who stood there frozen with the same look on his face, he hadn't moved a bit. To stop herself from crying she quickly grabbed her bags and walked out the door. Once outside she tossed her bags into the car any kind of way, not caring how they landed, she just wanted to get out of that house, this city, this state. She got in the car and sped off, heading to the only place she would find peace…home.


Just…just don't kill me okay? *ducks*

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