Scared

"I'm sorry, she's not normally like this." Thea sighed to herself, looking down at Sofia who was hugging her leg, "Baby, mommy needs to go to work."

"No." Sofia shook her head, squeezing Thea's leg tighter whilst keeping her eyes on the lady in front of her. Her new babysitter. Thea and Dominic had to sign Sofia into a playgroup nearby as they had lost the benefit of Punk and AJ babysitting for them after moving. Sofia wasn't a fan of it and refused to part ways with her mother.

"Sofia, my name is Gillian." Gillian said, crouching down as Sofia watched her, unimpressed, "We can have lots of fun. There's other boys and girls here too. You can play with them. We're gonna do some painting today."

"Oh, that sounds fun." Thea encouraged, looking down at Sofia.

"No, I'm staying with my mommy." Sofia demanded, holding onto Thea's leg.

"Babe, you can't stay with me." Thea sighed, crouching down, unhooking Sofia's arms from around her leg as she panicked and instead grabbed onto her arm, "Mommy has to go to work. This is where big girls and boys go. Kinda like James." She nodded, trying to encourage the idea.

"I want Papa Punk… and A." Sofia frowned. They were the only babysitters she trusted.

"I know but they're not here. You can see them soon." Thea nodded.

"I don't wanna go." Sofia cried, rubbing her eyes as she let out a stressed sigh, "Please don't go." She cried, holding onto Thea's hands as Thea sighed.

She did have terrible separation anxiety when it came to people she wasn't familiar with. There was even one time that Sean had taken her home which she wasn't pleased about. She was very set in her routine and Thea felt guilty for having to change it.

"I know you don't, baby but you're gonna have a ton of fun. You love paintings." Thea nodded, "Why don't you make me a nice picture."

"No." Sofia cried, tears mixing with saliva which was getting stuck in her hair as Thea frowned.

"Mommy has to go, baby. Please don't cry." Thea sighed, wiping Sofia's tears and face, fixing her hair back behind her plaid hairband.

"No, I'm not going." Sofia cried, hugging into Thea, not letting go of her as Thea sighed to herself.

"What about if mommy comes in with you and helps you take off your shoes and jacket? And you get to meet all the other boys and girls?" Thea wondered.

"No, I'm not going in." Sofia made clear through her tears as Thea sighed to herself, looking up at Gillian.

"Don't stress, we see this quite a lot." Gillian assured her, "If you just go, I'll take her in-"

"I can't leave her like this. She'll just start screaming." Thea assured her, "I'm so sorry, I'm gonna have to drop her off with my husband at his work." She stood up straight, "I'm sorry-"

"Don't be silly." Gillian shook her head.

"Ok, come on, Sofia. I'll have to drop you off with daddy." Thea sighed. It wasn't ideal, but she couldn't take her to the hospital with her, so it had to be Dominic.

"Ok." Sofia said, brightening up as she realised she'd be in the safety of her father and not a stranger, running back to the car. She was very weary of her safety at all times. At times Thea was glad of that, but times like this she wasn't. It made the big stresses in her life expand and build up.

"I thought you weren't taking me up on my offer." Theo smiled, lying in bed naked as Cassie sat on the edge of the bed, putting her t-shirt on.

"Yeah well… changed my mid." Cassie said after spending another night with Theo, "Still just sex, though."

"Yeah, I know that." Theo smirked, "Works for me."

"Works for me too." Cassie nodded, standing up and putting her pants on.

"Just… answer me one thing." Theo nodded as Cassie looked over at him, "You ever been in a relationship before?"

"No." Cassie said, "And I don't want to be." Cassie nodded, "This works for me just fine."

"I doubt many girls are like you." Theo chuckled, "Girls always want… relationships and cuddles and where is this going and what are we to each other bla bla bla…" Theo groaned as Cassie chuckled.

"What do you know about what girls really want?" Cassie chuckled, "How come guys can just go sleep with whoever they want but when girls do it it's… uncommon. Abnormal."

"It's not I just don't come across many girls who are just interested in the sex part." Theo shrugged.

"Well maybe you should look around you. It's the twenty first century." Cassie said, "Newsflash, women like to have sex too." She nodded.

"Yeah, I could see that… and hear it." Theo smirked as Cassie rolled her eyes, "So what's the deal? You get stressed, you come by here, we fuck." He nodded, "Hope it means we can still be friends." He wiggled his eyebrows.

"Were we friends before?" Cassie wondered.

"Sure." Theo shrugged.

"How do you know I'm stressed?" Cassie folded her arms.

"You just seem tense." He said, "I mean just cause we're fucking doesn't mean you can't talk to me. I am a terrific listener." He nodded.

"Oh, really? So even though I tell you I drink decaf, I somehow always end up with regular?" She folded her arms.

"Well that's just because anyone who drinks decaf should be shot down and locked up immediately." Theo shrugged as Cassie nodded to herself.

"Right." Cassie said, "I just got some family stuff going on, that's all." She said.

"You can talk to me about it." Theo nodded.

"I'd really rather not. Let's just keep this simple." Cassie shrugged. She figured if she could find a small part of her day to escape from absolutely everything, without having the complications of a relationship, she may as well take it whilst it was there. She trusted Theo, not that she would dare tell him.

"Ok." Theo shrugged, "So… just to clarify… we are friend fucking?"

"Call it whatever you want." Cassie nodded, grabbing her jacket and putting it on, "Just don't tell anyone."

"Why? I thought it was the twenty-first century?" Theo questioned with folded arms.

"Shut up. I prefer you when you don't talk." Cassie nodded.

"Yeah, likewise." Theo fake smiled, "Don't be late tomorrow. I'm sick of reporting you-"

"Shut up!" Cassie called as she left the room and headed out of the apartment whilst Theo smiled.

"What are you doing?" AJ asked, lying in bed that night reading her book, tilting her glasses down a little as she watched him shaking pills out of a tub.

"Oh, just turning into my mother." Punk nodded, swallowing the pills over with some water as AJ sighed, sitting her book down.

"Phil, you must really be in pain for you to be taking pills." AJ sighed worriedly.

"Yeah, I am really in pain." Punk agreed, sitting the tub down.

"You should go see a doctor-"

"They won't do anything. It's ribs. They heal with time." Punk said, "I've had my ribs broken before, it's fine." He shook his head as AJ sighed, "What you reading?" He nodded.

"Jane Austen." AJ nodded, "Not getting very far with it, though." She sighed, "Can't concentrate."

"What's with the weird literary books? You used to be a crime fan." Punk noted, sitting down on the bed beside her, taking the book from her and looking at it.

"Well I was going to tell you that… well I was gonna start taking classes." AJ said.

"Classes for what?" Punk asked, holding his ribs painfully as he turned to her.

"School classes." AJ nodded as he looked at her.

"You… You passed all your school exams." Punk shook his head with confusion.

"Yeah but just the ones I needed to. And I rushed it all so much just to get into college." AJ said, "I sit in work at lunch with colleagues and they… they talk about their high school memories and… what they read in English and silly things they did with boys-"

"Ok, are you telling me your taking classes or… doing things with other men?" Punk teased as she pinched his arm, smiling.

"I'm just saying that… I feel like I missed out. Ok?" AJ shrugged, feeling slightly embarrassed, "I mean they sit and talk about all that stuff and I… I have nothing to say."

"Sure you do. Remember when you smashed that girl's head off the mirror in the girls toilets?" Punk nodded, "Because she asked me out."

"That bitch knew we were dating." AJ shook her head angrily as Punk smiled, "But yes… clearly, you see my point." She said.

"I didn't know you felt like this." Punk admitted truthfully, "I mean you… you're so successful. Boss lady." He smiled.

"I know and I'm grateful. I have an amazing job that I love but it's… it's not about the success." She shrugged, "I was actually… I was gonna…" She played with the spine of her book as Punk watched.

"Have I to guess the end of that sentence?" He smiled.

"I was gonna ask if you wanted to… take the classes with me." She shrugged, "And then this stuff with Thea happened and it became less important. It began to feel like my actual high school experience again so… makes sense I guess." She nodded.

"You wanted me to do the classes with you?" Punk smiled a little as she shrugged.

"If you wanted to." AJ shrugged modestly, "It's kinda on hold for now, though." She said, "I know it's… it's embarrassing and you're obviously not interested but-" She paused as he took the book from her.

"Who is this Jane Austen?" Punk asked her, "She famous? Tell me about her." He nodded, flicking through the pages as AJ smiled.

"Phil, we have… way more important things to think about right now." AJ nodded, "It's ok." She shrugged, taking the book from him and nodding as he watched her.

For the first time, he saw his wife attempting to do something for herself. Something she wished to do and take part in. He didn't by any means think his children had weighed her down, but for the longest time, especially when he was gone, he knew she hadn't really lived for herself, and he hated that the first time she'd found something she wanted to do, it had to be put on the back burner again.

"Ok, so… maybe we do." Punk nodded, "I'm not long off the phone to Thea. She sounds terrible." He nodded truthfully, "Stressed out her mind." He said as AJ nodded, "But we're gonna help her. I'm… I'm gonna go to the cops, tell them everything about this circle." He said, "And then I'll leave it up to them." He said as AJ nodded.

"You're in no condition to help anyway." She scoffed.

"When they get these scumbags… we do these classes." He nodded to her.

"Phil, you don't have to just because-"

"I want to." Punk nodded, "Does it mean I gotta take the STDs?" He asked her as she chuckled, shoving his face away as he laughed.

"SAT's, idiot." AJ shook her head as he smiled, "And you need to show up with a bookbag." She nodded as he looked at her with worry.

"Seriously?" He asked.

"No, not seriously." AJ chuckled, leaning into his arm for comfort as he smiled. Her smile slowly faded as she brought herself back into reality, "I'm worried about her." She gulped.

"Thea?" Punk asked.

"Yeah." AJ whispered, "She thinks it's all her fault."

"We're there for her-"

"I don't feel like we are. I want to see her." AJ sighed.

"I don't wanna give these people any way to find out where she is." Punk said, "I'm gonna go to the cops tomorrow. They like me a little better ever since Cass started working there, and they love busting drug rings, trust me." He nodded, "It'll blow over." He nodded.

"I hope so." AJ hugged into him tightly.

"T, I can't have Sofia at work with me." Dominic shook his head, walking into their bedroom, "I gotta do a job and then I gotta keep my eyes on her and then she's in my toolbox and-"

"I had no choice, she wouldn't go to the playgroup. She just cried and held onto my leg. I couldn't leave her." Thea shook her head, folding up laundry on their bed.

"Well she's gotta learn. What happens when she's going to school? She gonna do the same thing?" Dominic asked.

"She's three years old. She's still a baby." Thea said, "And we've moved her away from everything she knows and loves. James hates school now. He has no friends-"

"It's been a couple of days, Thea." Dominic sighed, "James is doing fine. I spoke to his teacher today."

"The cute blonde?" Thea looked at him as he laughed a little. He realised 'back against the wall' Thea was coming out.

"I know you're stressed but don't be stupid." Dominic nodded.

"I bet when you see girls like that you realise you picked the wrong one." Thea nodded as Dominic looked across at her, "Bet you wish you had a simple wife with the white picket fence, who takes the kids to after school clubs and joins the PTA group-"

"Boy do you know what guys want." Dominic shook his head with confusion, "Don't be ridiculous."

"Well it's true." Thea shrugged, "Look what I've gotten us into-"

"Thea, you've not gotten us into anything. You've not done anything wrong." Dominic reminded her. He believed she was forgetting that, "You made some mistakes as a kid. We all do. Yours just… were with the wrong people. And now they see you've moved on and you've got a good life… that's an easy target for them." Dominic said, "Nothing about this is your fault."

"It feels like it." Thea nodded, "And I thought if I… if I moved out here it'd all go away but instead it's… it's now becoming everyone else's problem." She said, abandoning the laundry, "And that is the last thing I wanted. All I've ever done is drag my family down with me-"

"Thea-"

"No, I have. I did it to my mom when I was a kid. I was horrible to my sisters-"

"Your sisters love you." Dominic shook his head, "You were a kid. A kid who… saw her dad get arrested in the kitchen and taken away for eight years." He said, "So you made a few mistakes. Sometimes they come back to haunt you, I'm pretty sure if anyone will understand that it's your mom and dad." He said.

"It's all my fault." Thea shook her head, tears in her eyes as Dominic sighed. She wasn't a crier, which told him she was really upset, and he didn't blame her.

"Hey, don't do that." Dominic sighed, walking over to her, wrapping his arms around her, "This is not your fault. We're gonna fix this. Those guys will go to prison. They're taking nothing and no one from us." He assured her as she hugged him tightly.

"I'm just scared." Thea sobbed as Dominic nodded, kissing her head.

"I know." Dominic said, "But we're gonna be ok." He assured her, "It's all gonna be ok."