I've decided to skip the steamy details and jump to the morning after, I'm not sure if I am ready to write like that just yet…its honestly why Something I Need hasn't been updated lately. I hope you enjoy this chapter! AEW owns those you know, some own themselves and I own the rest! Enjoy!
Jessica's POV - The Next Morning
I woke up with an overall soreness that I hadn't felt in a long time. It was almost as if I hadn't had sex in 7 years. Phil and I had gone at each other well into the night and after just a couple hours of sleep had gone again when I woke up and realized he was still awake. I slowly turned in bed to face Phil…who was not there. I sat up and looked around the room with a pout. How after a night like that could he leave me alone in the bed?
I got up and grabbed my underwear and headed to his dresser to find a shirt. Opening the first draw, I rummaged around his draw when my hand hit a small hard box. I froze. When I said I wasn't ready…I meant it…and yet it somehow found me…
But…what if it's not mine?
Phil kept all of our things when I left…what if he did the same with April?
Now I have to know.
I pulled the box from the draw and flipped it open. I let out a loud exhale when my engagement ring looked back at me. I stared at it for awhile…I truly did love the ring. It was simple and elegant yet had some nice sparkle to it. I closed it and put it back into the draw and grabbed a shirt from another draw. I put it on and headed out of the room and down the stairs where I could now hear Phil banging around the kitchen while on the phone.
"I don't think its a big deal." I heard him say.
"Phil, you should still say something…so she's aware." I heard Renee say back. He had her on speaker phone. I stayed back on the stairs and continued to listen.
"But it's being taken care of. My lawyer is already on it." He said back. Lawyer?
"The order is protecting you…not her." Who is this her she is talking about.
"If April reaches out to her, I'm going to jail…I'll tell you right now." Phil said. I could feel his anger from the stairs.
"Just warn her, so if it does happen she's not caught off guard. Don't start your new relationship with a secret Phil." Ah, so I'm the her. I began to walk down the rest of the stairs and into the kitchen making my presence known.
Phil turned around and stared at me as I crossed my arms.
"Renee, I gotta go…the love of my life is awake." He said, giving me a small smile. I pressed my lips into a line.
"Bye, Phil!" She said quickly and hung up.
"So, what is it you don't want to tell me?" I asked right away.
"It's not a big deal…" he started.
"Enough for you to get an order of protection, apparently." I said, cutting him off, he sighed.
"April has been bothering me the past few weeks…I didn't want to worry you." He said walking over to me.
"Well according to Renee, she thinks April will bother me." I said, as he placed his hands on my forearms.
"I will call my lawyer and have him add you to the protection order." He said placing a kiss on my forehead. I stayed silent, "Crisis adverted…?" He said, starting as a statement but finishing it like a question. Before I could say anything, we heard my phone ringing from the living room. I pulled away from Phil and went to go get it silently cursing to myself when I saw my brother's name.
"Not quite." I yelled to the kitchen. I answered my phone and braced myself.
"Hello?"
"Why is there an x taped to your door?" He asked, not even bothering to say hello.
"Max." I said.
"Well, can I take it off to talk to you? I think we're over due." He said, adding the last part a little softer than his earlier statement.
"Uhhh, no." I said, walking into the kitchen. Phil had gone back to fussing over breakfast.
"Why not?" He asked.
"Because I'm not in the room." I said, wincing.
"If the room is taped how are you not in the room?" He asked as I put the call on speaker looking at Phil. He came over and put my phone on mute.
"Tell him, you caught an earlier flight…you went home…you put the tape back when you opened the door." He told me, I nodded unmuting the phone.
"I ended up catching an earlier flight, back to the city." I said uneasily into the phone.
"Then how is the tape still up?" He asked me.
"I re-taped it, so Max wouldn't harass me if he came by." I told him, grabbing a mug and filling it with coffee.
"Oh…if its this bad…why do you stay in his group? The Inner Circle treated you way better." He said.
"Chris…I promise I'll tell you soon…its just now…I can't." I said defeated.
"Jessie…" he started.
"Listen Chris, now isn't a good time for this conversation. We'll talk Wednesday." I said.
"I'm going to hold you to it…Wednesday." He said hanging up. I sighed as I placed my phone down on the counter.
"Just tell him Wednesday…it will make things easier." Phil said, handing me a plate of food.
"It's not that easy…I have to ease him into this." I said, sitting at his counter. He grabbed a plate himself and we sat in silence eating…each of us mulling over different things. While I feel bad that I'm lying to my brother, I get why he doesn't want me with Phil. He's just looking out for me and my best interest…I have to break down his walls about Phil before I even mention that we're back together. My phone ringing broke the silence again…this time…Max.
"I'm answering." He said.
"You will do no such thing." I said, snatching my phone. Just before I answered the call Phil spoke again.
"I'm going to get Larry from my sister's then." He said placing his fork down. Larry…my baby…after 7 years. I opened my mouth but I couldn't speak…Phil stood up and walked back upstairs to change. I could tell from his demeanor this was not how he expected our first morning back together to go.
"Hello?" I said with a dead voice.
"Why the hell aren't you answering your door?" Max asked sternly.
"I got an earlier flight." I said as Phil walked out the door.
"The tape." He said.
"I put it back…figured it would buy me time before you annoyed me."
"Well, we have a victory party to plan for next week!" He said, mood lifting. I rolled my eyes.
"Yay." I said with the least amount of enthusiasm.
"Well, since you're so excited…you'll dress as a show girl next week!" My jaw dropped.
"No." I said.
"You don't have a choice! Don't worry, you'll look fine! I mean…you'll probably look like an old weathered show girl compared to my girlfriend who will be the other girl."
"You have a girlfriend?" Flew out of my mouth before I could stop it.
"Yes, that shouldn't be so shocking." He said, an edge to his voice.
"I mean…someone loves you?" I said again without thinking.
"Just for that…things will be even worse for you on Wednesday." And with that Max hung up. I groaned as I put my phone down and headed upstairs to shower. I grabbed some fresh clothes and sighed a content sigh when I entered the bathroom….I designed this bathroom when I moved in with Phil…I made sure we had a large shower head and a bench. There was also a steam setting that I was very sure I needed at the moment. Figuring Phil wouldn't be far I decided against it and just enjoyed the other features. When I was done, I decided to let my hair air dry, threw on a pair of jeans and one of Phil's hoodies and just some quick eyeliner. I made my way back down, poured another cup of coffee and made myself comfortable. I wondered if Larry would remember me…if he knew I was his first mom…his real mom, not April. The doorknob began to jingle and I knew they were back. I heard the sounds of Larry's tags as he ran into the house and straight into the living room. He stopped when he saw me and we just looked at each other.
"Hi Larry," I said getting off the couch and crouching to his level. I put my hand out for him to smell, "Do you remember me?" I asked hesitantly. I knew Larry could get very nervous and it could lead to aggression…it took Phil and I awhile to get him to trust us when we adopted him. Larry came forward and sniffed my hand…he jumped back hesitating a bit, but came back and sniffed my hand again. Phil stood off to the side watching…his energy the same as before.
"It's okay Larry." I said as he came closer. All of a sudden the realization hit, and he got the zoomies. He began to run around the living room, grabbing random toys and dropping them by me before leaping into my lap with soft whines. I hugged and pet him as he licked me all over.
"I know boy, I missed too…I'm so sorry I left." I said placing kisses on his head, I turned and looked up at Phil, "Can we take him for a walk?" I asked hopefully.
"I did it already." He answered flatly, plopping himself onto the couch. I frowned, it amazed me how quick we went from so much love last night, to exactly 7 years ago the next morning…I was not letting this happen again.
"What's bothering you?" I asked him, picking up Larry and sitting a cushion away from him.
"Nothing." He said.
"Phil…don't make the same mistakes…we don't need to go down the old path." I said, as Larry snuggled into me.
"We're not."
"You're already pushing me away." He sighed.
"It's just all morning we've disagreed on everything…from April…to your brother…to Max." He said.
"Babe, it's going to happen…as long as we talk through them we're fine…there's no reason we can't move past them."
"I know, I just felt that we just couldn't catch a break this morning." He said looking at me.
"It was rough, but April will go away, Chris will accept us again, and Max will be gone before we know it." He nodded, "Now, can we enjoy our first week together?" I asked him. He chuckled moving closer and wrapping me and Larry in his arms. Larry groaned, as Phil disturbed his slumber. We both laughed.
"I know, buddy…you missed your Mommy…I did too." He said pulling us closer. We stayed like that for a moment before Phil broke the silence again, "What did Max want?"
"I'm dressing like a show girl on Wednesday for his celebration."
"WHAT?"
Definitely a bit of a filler, but I didn't want to jump to next Wednesday again…that'll be next chapter! Jessica and Chris will finally talk, and Jess takes the ring as a show girl…how will Phil handle it?