Kris and Junior sat together on a bench as Tim played with a few other kids on the playground. Junior's arm was around Kris tightly as she leaned into his side, comforted by his warm, firm body. He turned to look at her for a moment and then turned his attention back to the field of well-kept trees and grass, contemplating how to say what he wanted to say. He thought for a moment and then noticed his leg bouncing nervously from fear. He put his hand on it and it stopped long enough for him to utter the thing that had been haunting him for the last eight years.
"Kris?" Junior asked her in a small, quiet, comforting tone.
"Yeah?" She said in response to him, turning toward him so that their eyes locked.
"Would you have married me if I hadn't left?" he asked her quietly, scanning her face.
There it was. That question. He had planned, before the entire Matt saga, that when she broke up with Matt he would ask her to marry him. That they could just leave this town and never come back, starting a new life together. But then, she had prolonged that relationship and tortured him, causing him to leave. This had been on his mind every day for the last 8 years. When he was alone in bed, his mind was bombarded with thoughts of what could have been. Dreams of a married life for forever with Kris. Nightmares of Matt coming and destroying that. He had even imagined having children with Kris, three to be exact, and raising them as perfect kids. But now, it was all out in the open, the question that he had always wanted to ask her after he had left, but couldn't because of the damage done to their relationship. But now, he could ask, and he did. All he had to worry about in the present was her answer.
"I-" Kris began. She had no clue where this had come from. They hadn't talked about the past too much in the last few days, and now, all of a sudden, Junior sprang a big question like this on her. She pulled herself out of his warm grasp and stared ahead, mesmerized by the yellow finches flitting around as she thought about this. She really wasn't sure, but she couldn't tell Junior that. She knew that he wanted to hear that she would have, but he would also expect her to tell the truth, for they had always been completely and utterly truthful with each other.
He patiently waited. It had startled him when she pulled away. He didn't think he would receive an answer from her. He thought she was going to go get their son and leave, never speaking to him again. As usual, Junior had expected the worst. But, instead, here they sat, a somewhat uncomfortable silence falling over them as Kris stayed quiet.
"Junior, I don't know how to answer that. I didn't want to hurt Matt or your guys' friendship, that was why I didn't break up with him," Kris said, hoping maybe that would satisfy him. No such luck.
"You're not answering my question, Kris." Junior ruffled up his hair in controlled frustration. "I just don't understand why you're avoiding it."
"Avoiding what, Junior?" Kris made an attempt to hold his hand, but he pulled away from her, scooting a few inches toward the end of the bench.
"Avoiding the question. I just want to know, Kris."
"Junior, that was eight years ago. It doesn't matter anymore," Kris said in response.
Junior turned on her, a blazing fierceness behind his normally calm, caring eyes. She jumped slightly at this side of Junior. It scared her. She never saw him angry, but knew from stories that Dani had told her that it was best to stay away from him when his temper flared. He didn't let that happen too much, but when it did, it was on overload.
"It matters to me," he snapped out, a biting anger to his voice. He wasn't sure why what she had said had made him so indescribably angry, but he just needed an answer.
Kris was taken aback and gave him a confused look as she backed away from him a little.
He glanced over at his parents to see how they were doing. What he saw surprised him and he continued to watch them interact. Instead of hugging each other and watching him, they had spread apart and looked upset. His mom looked scared, but his father looked angry. He froze, standing at the top of the slide, and stared at them, wondering what they were talking about.
"Junior, I don't know what to say here. I know what you want to hear, but I'm not completely sure if thats how I felt. I guess- I don't know. I suppose I would have said no. But only because we were young. Junior, all that matters is now. How we feel right this second." Kris reached for his hand and he let her hold it for a minute before he pulled away from her.
"I'm gonna go play with Tim for a little bit," he said staring straight ahead. He was beginning to feel tears burn at the back of his eyes and didn't feel like crying out in the open right now. He didn't feel like showing Kris his emotions either. He was just in a crabby mood and he thought maybe his son could fix that. He thought wrong.
"What happened?" Tim asked him as soon as he got within hearing distance. He sighed heavily and went to push the swing that he was on.
"Everything's fine," he said as he watched Timothy fly high in the air. His son thought otherwise. He dragged his feet on the ground and ran away from his dad, over to his mother, who was sitting on the bench alone, staring away from him.
It only took Junior a moment to catch up to Tim and they both walked over to Kris. Junior noticed tear stains on her face and immediately sat down next to her, rubbing her back. He regretted deeply what had happened earlier and wished there were some way to make it better. But he knew that when Kris was upset, it took a while for her to forgive.
She jerked away from his touch as it sent chills down her spine. She looked to her son who had a frightened look on his face at the fact that his parents might be fighting. For his sake, she went back into Junior's grasp and let him comfort her. She knew it would be hard on Tim if they fought a lot, and they normally didn't, so she just decided to let it go this time.
A/N: Sorry the ending sucked everyone. I think the whole chapter sucked and I just kinda felt like I needed to post a new one so I did. I think the idea was good, but the writing was crappy. Please review and try to be nice! Thanks and I'll try to make the next one better..