Afraid


"Hey, is Theo in today?" Cassie asked the front desk as she got into work the next morning.

"Yeah, he punched in earlier this morning." Kat, behind the front desk nodded to her.

"Thanks." Cassie nodded, walking into the back of the station, punching in for her shift and looking around for Theo. She hadn't even saw him yet and her stomach was in knots. She'd barely slept all night thinking about having to physically tell Theo about what was going on. The more people found out, the clearer it got, and there was a lot of things she knew she had to think about.

She put her things down at her desk and went on search for Theo, heading to the back of the station where she found him in one of the control rooms, watching an interview taking place.

"Hey." Theo noticed her right away, taking his headphones off immediately and standing up.

"Hey." Cassie smiled, folding her arms and looking on at the monitor, "If you're busy I can… I can come back-"

"No, no… it's fine." Theo waved his hand at the monitor, "It's nothing too important." He said as she nodded, "Did you have a good birthday?" He asked her.

"Yeah, it was ok." Cassie said, "Thank you for the gift. You really didn't have to do that." She told him.

"Well maybe your music taste isn't so bad after all." Theo shrugged as she smiled, "Did you have a party?" He asked.

"Yeah, not out of choice." Cassie said, "Listen, Theo I was wondering if maybe after our shift, we could talk?" She questioned. She saw the glimmer of hope in his eyes. He had no idea about the bomb she was going to drop.

"Yeah, of course." Theo nodded hopefully, "Yeah, I'm out all night but when I get back, sure." He said.

"Ok." Cassie nodded, "Ok, well I'll wait here for you." She said.

"Yeah, ok." He nodded.

"I better go do some work." She laughed a little, backing out of the room as Theo smiled to himself.


"How's Cassie?" Dean asked, shifting some sand bags with Punk at work later on in the day.

"She's ok." Punk nodded, "She's telling Theo today." He said.

"What do you think the verdict will be?" Dean asked.

"I don't know enough about the guy, honestly. But he's been there for Cassie. For the kids." Punk nodded, "And I know she really liked him."

"Well, that's good. At least it's not some random hook-up." Dean shoved Punk positively as Punk looked at him unhappily.

"I don't think she's really thinking about it." Punk said.

"What do you mean?" Dean asked.

"I don't know, she's too calm." Punk shook his head.

"Or she's just… figuring it out, and she's got a plan." Dean shrugged, "She's got a good head on her shoulders, and she's got a good job."

"She's still really young. And I just... I don't want her to struggle or be stuck in a miserable situation." Punk said, "She can't even entertain the idea of trying to work out a relationship with Theo because she's so scared."

"I don't blame her for that." Dean said.

"I don't either but if there was ever a time to take that step, I think it'd be now, don't you?" Punk asked.

"Not all people who have kids stay together." Dean said, "Maybe it might work out for the best that they just… be friends who are having a baby."

"In what scenario does that ever work?" Punk scoffed.

"It could, you never know." Dean said, "I think it's important to remember that it's Cassie's decision. I mean, if she feels better not being in a relationship then that's her choice, man-"

"But she likes him." Punk shook his head, "And she thinks she's gonna be back at work after two months when she has the baby. And I asked her who'd be taking care of the baby whilst she's at work and she just looked at me like I had two heads. She ain't thinking any of it through." Punk shook his head worriedly.

"Or she's still just trying to process it all. Look what your dumb ass did when you found out April was pregnant with Thea." Dean raised brows as Punk rolled his eyes.

"This isn't about me." Punk made clear, "You're right, she does have a good head on her shoulders. I'm just worried about her being on her own, that's all."

"She's not on her own. She's got her family. And Theo doesn't seem like a bad guy. Best case scenario, they make a go of their relationship, worst case… they just decide to be friends and co-parent. He'll still be there to help-"

"You don't know that yet. Who knows maybe he'll want nothing to do with it." Punk said.

"Well then me and you can go have a chat with him." Dean nodded with a small smile.

"Mhm." Punk mumbled.

"Come on, a new baby is a good thing. We need some good things to happen." Dean said positively, "Be confident in her."

"I am confident in her. I know she's capable. I guess it's just more settling when I know the guy a little better. Like Sean and Dominic. I knew them for a few years before any babies came." Punk said, "I just don't want her to be stuck or unhappy." He said, "It's so hard trying to get her to talk about things, too. She keeps a ton in." He shook his head.

"We all handle things differently." Dean said, "All you can really do is be there for her. Give her advice. Help her out when she needs it. Reassure her." He said as Punk nodded, "What's April saying about it?"

"Just the same as me. Worried." Punk nodded, "I don't think it's the baby that's making me nervous, honestly." He said, "It's the fact she's so terrified of letting people get close to her. I don't think she's ever had a proper boyfriend." He said truthfully as Dean looked at him, "And there's nothing wrong with that. But… is it cause she's been scared the entire time?" He questioned, "And why is she scared?" He asked himself. Cassie was definitely the hardest to read and get through to. He could normally pick Thea and Jude's brain pretty easily.

"Some people just… like being on their own." Dean shrugged.

"She's not on her own, though. Is she?" Punk said.

"Well you know how it is when you're in a relationship and you get the fear that… it's going so good that it might be too good to be true." Dean said, "You feel like you're just waiting on something going wrong. Maybe she's trying to avoid that." He shrugged.

"That's just part of life." Punk said, "Sometimes you get hurt. It sucks but you keep going. You know how many times I had to watch Jude cry into a tub of ice-cream because some boy had done something to annoy or upset her?" He questioned.

"Yeah, but they're two different people." Dean reminded him.

"I know that." Punk sighed.

"It's cause she's a cop. Cops are weird." Dean concluded as Punk rolled his eyes.

"I just hope she actually tells him today and doesn't put it off." Punk said.


Cassie waited in the station at the end of her shift later on that night. The station was quiet, barely anyone around in the back office space. She was sat at her desk, waiting on Theo coming back, hoping he hadn't forgot.

She had been jittery all day at the thought of telling him. She wasn't sure how to even get into it. Telling him meant addressing all those unanswered questions about how she felt, and what she wanted with him, if she wanted a relationship, if she didn't. Her head was pretty overloaded.

She sat up when she watched him walk into the station, holding his nose and tilting his head up as she realised his face was burst open.

"God." She groaned, watching as he stood at the front desk getting some paper towels and first aid.

She stood up as he approached her desk, "Sorry, I'm late." He said, still holding his nose with some paper towels.

"Are you ok? What happened?" She shook her head, watching as he sat down at the desk across from her.

"Got into a fight with a witness." He said, wiping his bloody nose, scrunching up the paper towels.

"God, your nose looks broken, let me see." Cassie stood up, walking over to him, taking his head gently with her two hands as she looked at his nose.

He looked up at her, watching as she looked at him closely, standing in between his legs.

"It'll be fine." He assured her.

"You might need to go to hospital and get it set." Cassie said, stepping back a little from him.

"It's not broken, it'll be fine." He assured her, "Trust me, I know what a broken nose feels like." He said, tossing the paper towels into the trash, running his hands through his hair, "Have you been waiting long?" He wondered as she sat back down on the chair behind her desk, looking over at him and shaking her head.

"No, no I finished about twenty minutes ago." Cassie nodded to him.

"Busy day?" He asked her, watching her as she shook her head. He had given her the space she asked for her. He hadn't bothered her. A smile here and there in passing at the station was all they'd really given each other in the past month. He wanted to give her the time to figure out where her head was at. He figured he owed her that.

"There's something we need to talk about." She nodded to him as he looked across at her.

"What's up?" He asked her, moving back and forth on the office spin chair across from her in the middle of a basically empty police station. He only assumed she was finally a good headspace to talk to him about where she was at with their relationship. If there even was a relationship.

"I'm pregnant." She nodded, watching as he paused on the chair, looking over at her.

"Huh?" He raised his eyebrows.

"I'm pregnant." She repeated as he looked at her blankly, "You're the father." She nodded as he looked at her, not being able to process what she was telling him.

"You're pregnant?" He questioned as she nodded, watching as he leaned forward, leaning his elbows on his knees as he stared off in a trance.

"I know this was probably the last thing you expected me to say. And it's the last thing I expected for us to be… talking about but, I'm seven weeks today." She nodded, "Before you say anything, I just want you to know that I'm not asking you for anything. You can be involved as much or as… less as you want." She said, "I'm not expecting us to go buy a house, get a married or figure all of this out in seven months. Odds are, I'm probably gonna stay with my parents and-"

"Just… stop talking for a second." Theo interrupted as Cassie nodded slowly.

"Sorry, I'm nervous." She admitted, scratching her hands as he watched her.

"You just found out?" He asked as she looked at him.

"Well… no, not exactly." She said, "I found out in Puerto Rico." She nodded.

"Puerto Rico? That was like… like a month ago?" He screwed his face up, "You've known for a month?"

"Well I just didn't know what to say to you and-"

"You've been walking around here, smiling at me, whilst knowing that?" Theo shook his head, "A month, Cassie?"

"What difference does it even make?" Cassie shook her head with confusion, "I'm telling you now." She said.

"How can you even be pregnant?" Theo stood up, his heart beating the fastest it had ever beaten, he was sure.

"It happens pretty easily." Cassie nodded as Theo ran his hands through his hair, "I know this isn't what either of us wanted. And for the majority of these next few months we're probably not gonna know what to do, or how it's gonna work out but… this doesn't mean you gotta stick by me. I can handle this on my own." She assured him as he looked at her angrily.

"Why do you say shit like that?" Theo asked.

"What?" Cassie said.

"Why are you so desperate to be on your own?" Theo shook his head.

"I'm not, I just don't want you to feel any kind of pressure just because I'm pregnant-"

"It's not pressure. I care about you… what part of that isn't registering with you?" Theo questioned.

"I care about you too but I don't think we should rush into things just because there's a baby coming." She shrugged as he looked across at her.

"You're still trying to push me away." Theo shook his head with confusion.

"I'm not pushing anyone away." Cassie defended.

"Yes, yes you are." Theo said, "It's like you don't even want me to be involved. Like you'd be happy if I split and left you on your own." He said as Cassie looked across at him.

"That's not true." Cassie said.

"This is fucking bullshit." Theo shook his head.

"What is?" Cassie shook her head.

"This. You. This whole thing." He shook his head as Cassie raised her eyebrows.

"Well go on then, don't hold back Tell me how you really feel." She challenged.

"I don't know." Theo shook his head to himself, "I don't know, I need some air or something." He said, not being able to digest such insane information. Something he didn't expect to hear.

"I haven't figured much out yet but… I think I'm going to stay with my mom and dad, probably with the baby." She nodded as Theo looked at her with confusion.

"And what am I? The nanny?" Theo shook his head.

"No, you can be there as much as you want-"

"I need to go for a walk or something." Theo shook his head, grabbing his things.

"Theo, we need to talk about this." Cassie said.

"Sounds like you got it all figured out." Theo shook his head, "I tell you what, Cassie, you tell me when you want me to come visit you. Maybe make up a little schedule for me when you're free and when you want to see me." He said.

"Don't be a jerk right now." Cassie shook his head.

"I'm not the one being a jerk." Theo said, walking away from her in shock and disbelief as Cassie sighed to herself, running her hands through her hair. It somehow had gone worse than she'd expected.