**A/N: Day eleven for the July Daily Writing Challenge

I saw the prompt at 6:30 this morning and instantly started writing. Well, it kept me about a minute of running through characters in my head before landing on the Kokoshkas... and THEN the story just flowed out of me. Got it done and posted on DeviantArt by 8:30! Whoot for getting it done super early this time! So what kept so long to post over here? Work at 9am, a long nap, and back to beta-reading for a friend... but it's still up on the 11th, so that's something!**

It's Too Late
ONE SHOT

The door swung open with a thud, followed by another as two suitcases dropped to the floor.

"Suzie, where are you going?" Oskar asked with a whine in his Eastern European accent.

"I- I don't know Oskar," his wife replied as she picked up a cardboard box and carried it outside the apartment door.

"Well, when will you be back?"

Suzie stopped dead, a confused look scrolled across her face as she slowly turned back around, "You honestly have no clue what's going on, do you, Oskar?" She gently placed the box on the ground, placed her hands on the two suitcases, and quickly slid them across the floor so they were outside the apartment as well. "I am leaving you. I'm not coming back."

"But, if you leave who will make my meals and take care of me?"

"See? See, Oskar? That is exactly the problem," Suzie stormed up and started poking him in the chest. "Your wife tells you that she's leaving you and all you care about is how you'll be fed. You don't care about me at all, you only care about yourself. You always have and you always will." Suzie turned away, throwing her hands up in defeat, "I don't know why I ever thought that would change."

"Come on, Suzie, I can change. You don't have to go. I learned how to read, and I got a job, didn't I? Isn't that changing?"

"Yes, it is, but it's not enough. You only finally learned to read because the other boarders were teasing you. I'm proud that you eventually learned, but it was for all the wrong reasons. You didn't want to better yourself; you just wanted to win a bet. And your job is a paper route, and you tried to get Arnold to do it for you!"

"Hey, I do the route myself now. I've learned. See? I'm getting better."

"Not fast enough for me, Oskar. It's too little and too slow. I'm in my thirties and I wanted to have a family. I wanted to be a mother. But I can't even think of starting a family with you when I'm too busy taking care of you. I'm your wife, not your mother."

"But you just said you wanted to be a mother, I was just giving you what you wanted," Oskar gave a soft chuckle.

"This isn't funny!"

Oskar instantly stopped, "Aw, come on. Didn't I show you that I can handle a baby? What about your sister's kid?"

"You hated Baby Oskar. You said so on multiple occasions."

"Yeah, but when he was sick I took care of him and brought him to the hospital to make sure he was okay. I like the kid now."

"But it takes you too long to get to that point. You have to wait until the breaking point before you care about anybody but yourself!"

Oskar took a step towards his wife, his arms open, "I care about you."

Suzie stepped away from him, "You sure have a funny way of showing it."

"I can get better. I'll try harder. I'll- I'll make you dinner, how about that?"

"You mean you'll get Mr. Hyunh to cook dinner and then pretend you were the one who did it," she replied flatly.

"No. I'll do it. I will make dinner. You can even watch me to make sure I'm not doing any funny business." He gave another awkward chuckle.

"That's still not enough. One dinner isn't going to get me to stay with you."

"Then what will? How do I get you to stay?"

"You can't, Oskar. You have to change too much, and you can't." Suzie picked the box back up and started down the stairs.

After taking a moment to realize what was happening, Oskar hurried after her. "Is it about the money?"

Frustrated, Suzie put the box back down as she reached the landing. "Did you seriously ask me if it's 'about the money'? Of course it's 'about the money'! It's always 'about the money' when it comes to you, Oskar! You mooch off me, you mooch off the other boarders, you scheme your way through life, you gamble, you make horrible investments, and worst yet is that you barely make any of your own money! I have to work two jobs to try to keep us in our home, pay the bills, keep food on the table, and attempt to put some away so we can actually buy our own place. But any time I get even the slightest bit of money saved you have to go and spend it, or invest it in some get-rich-quick scheme, or gamble it away."

With tears filling her eyes, and her jaw visibly twitching from how tightly she had it clenched, Suzie turned away from the man she once loved, picked up the box, and carried it the rest of the way down the stairs. "I'm exhausted, Oskar, and you just weigh me down. I'm done."

"I know I don't do well, but I try to get more money." Oskar's voice got soft and sincere – a sound rarely heard, "I know it would help us, and so that's why I always try to get more. I'm sorry that you have to work so hard."

"Don't give me that, Oskar. You aren't trying to get more money for us. You're getting more money for you. If you cared about us you would use your own money and leave mine alone! You would get a better job, or at least another one so I wasn't the only one tired all the time. If you just worked honestly for once, instead of trying to con money out of everyone, perhaps we'd actually have something to show for it." She shook her head and bit her lip, choking down the whimper growing in her voice, "And just when I'm about to finally get us out of the red, I find out that you took the money for our bills and spent it on- on- on that stupid butter thing!"

"It's a cool invention. You press the button and a slice of butter falls out!"

"Or you can just use a knife since you'll need one to spread the butter anyway!" Suzie placed the box next to the front door of the Sunset Arms boarding house and passed Oskar on the stairs as she headed back up for the suitcases.

"I'm sorry I took the money. I thought this would be good for us."

"So not having money for our bills is good for us now?"

"Suzie-" Oskar lazily followed her back upstairs, a little irritated in the forced exercise.

"No, Oskar! I'm done! I am done. You are not sweet talking me in to staying this time." She picked up her suitcases and headed back to the stairs.

"Mr. and Mrs. Kokoshka? What's going on?"

A soft voice broke in to their argument, stopping Suzie from continuing down the stairs. "Oh, hello, Arnold. I'm sorry if we bothered you," Suzie whipped around to glare at her husband, "It won't happen anymore."

"You two are fighting again, aren't you?" Arnold was just as used to the routine as Oskar was. Suzie would threaten to leave, or to kick Oskar out, but in the end they would make up.

"This will be the last time you'll hear us fight." Suzie kneeled so she was even with the nine-year-old, and gave him a hug. "Goodbye, Arnold. It was wonderful to watch you grow in to such a fine young man. It's good to know that there are still gentlemen in the world." Suzie glared at Oskar and then stood back up. "Tell your grandfather that I'll give him a call later to talk about the room."

"Mrs. Kokoshka, you're not seriously leaving, are you?"

She gave Arnold a soft smile in response. "I know you've tried to help Oskar become a better person, and I thank you. It's rather pathetic that a grown man has to have a nine-year-old as a mentor, but I am grateful. I just can't stay in this relationship anymore. It's not healthy, and if there's one thing you should learn, Arnold, it's to not stay in unhealthy relationships."

She carried the suitcases past Oskar and down the stairs.

"Suzie, what if you can keep the money? I won't touch your money any more. I will use my own money. Will you stay then?"

"I'm sorry, Oskar. I want to believe you. I want to stay. Lord knows that I still love you for some reason. But we've had this argument too many times. You've sworn you'd change too many times. I can't trust that you'll actually do what you say. You've lied too many times." She shook her head and again choked back tears as she opened the door.

"If I do change, will you come back?" Oskar pleaded, "I don't know how to be on my own. I don't know how to be without you."

Suzie placed the suitcases on the front stoop, picked up the cardboard box, and balanced it on her hip; placing her free hand on the doorknob. "You're going to have to learn. I won't be back. Even if you do change, it's too late. I can't waste any more of my life with you. I'll have my lawyer send divorce papers by next week."

Her body slouched as she looked away from Oskar and Arnold, making sure neither saw her start to cry, "I'm so sorry, Oskar. Goodbye."

**A/N: Man, was Suzie mad!

I have no clue how I feel about this. Her arguments in "Arnold as Cupid" seemed more "WE'RE SOOOO THROUGH!" than mine, and Oskar was so much more of a scam artist in that episode... Yet she took him back simply by saying "You keep the money" So how is it that Oskar improved over the series and NOW is when Suzie finally breaks...?**