Chapter Ten: Room to Breathe
A few weeks after New Years, all the kids were back in school, as temperatures dropped and snow began falling all over New York City.
On one particularly cold night, the heat in the loft decided to stop working.
"Fuck!"Roger yelled, slamming his fist into the broken heater. Jason, Becky and Collins were sitting on the small couch, shivering, as Roger and Mark pounded on the broken heater.
"Hey guys, I really don't think bashing the heater is gonna make it work,"Collins pointed out, as he watched his friends insanely beating the poor device. Mark and Roger both let out defeated sighs.
"What're we gonna do?"Roger asked.
"Maureen will probably let us stay at her place for the night,"Mark pointed out.
"She's in the city with Joanne and Benny,"Roger replied. "Plus our phone's out, we can't call her."
"Roxie and Aaron are meeting at the lot. We'll go down and talk to Maureen and Joanne when they come to pick up Roxie,"Becky offered. Mark and Roger exchanged looks, and finally Mark nodded.
"Okay. We'll wait here then,"he said.
"We should start a fire,"Roger added, grabbing the old trash barrel from the corner.
"We'll have Joanne drive by to pick you guys up once she gets there,"Jason assured them.
"Thanks guys,"Mark offered, as he and Roger tossed old papers into the trash barrel. And Becky and Jason were out the door.
"Oh my God, it's freezing in here!"Becky commented as she and Jason walked into the Eleventh street lot, where Aaron, Roxie and Sam were already waiting.
"I know. Aaron, Sam and I just got here, so we're still trying to start a fire,"Roxie explained, her teeth chattering a bit. She began to twirl around the room on her toes, shivering.
"Are Aunt Maureen and Joanne coming soon?"Jason asked.
"They're going to pick us up on their way home from city, and they should be here in a few minutes,"Aaron explained.
"Great. We need to take Uncle Collins over to their place tonight, we lost heat in the loft,"Jason explained. Aaron immediately looked panicked.
"Is dad okay?"he asked. Jason nodded.
"Yeah, he's...okay,"he said, unable to keep the fear out of his own voice.
"Don't worry. My moms will let him come over tonight,"Roxie assured them.
"Thanks Rox,"Jason replied.
"While we're waiting, we might as well try to make some heat of our own,"Becky pointed out.
"Yeah, good idea,"Sam agreed.
"Mid-terms are over, so we can officially burn all my notes!"Aaron offered happily. So the kids went to work destroying Aaron's notebooks.
After a while, they got a moderately sized fire to start. Good enough to give off some heat if they huddled around closely.
"Come on, everyone around,"Aaron instructed. They all gathered around, close together, trying their best to absorb some heat.
"God, it's freezing out,"Becky commented, rubbing her arms. "I need to go to the Harrisons and help them start a fire. They'll freeze out there, it's too cold..."
"Becky, no,"Jason said sternly, grabbing Becky's arm as she headed for the door. She frowned, pulling her arm away.
"Jason, I need to go,"she insisted.
"No you don't. It's freezing out there, you'll get sick,"Jason replied.
"You don't understand, the baby's been really sick-"Becky began.
"Becky, you're with them constantly. You're losing sleep, you're out in the cold too much, this is NOT good for you!"Jason yelled.
"They need me! And I'm going!"And with that Becky turned on her heel and ran from the lot. Jason glared after her, slamming his foot into the wall in anger. Aaron placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Hey man. Chill,"he warned. Jason let out a deep breath.
"She's being crazy, Aaron!"he shouted. "She's not thinking of herself, her health! She's going to get sick!"
"Relax. Becky will take care of herself. She'll be back soon, she'll be fine. She's just worried about that baby,"Aaron said calmly.
"Well does she ever consider how much other people worry about her?"Jason snapped. He stopped suddenly, afraid he had let too much slip. Without uttering another word, he turned, walking away from Aaron quickly.
A few minutes later the group heard the sound of a car horn honking outside. Aaron ran out the door, looked down the street and leaned back in.
"Hey guys! Aunt Mo and Jo are here!"he called. Roxie turned to Sam nervously.
"Back door?"Sam asked. Roxie nodded.
"For now,"she added.
"I'll see you guys tomorrow,"Sam sighed, waving and exiting through the back door, as Roxie and Jason followed Aaron to Joanne's car, in the middle of the street.
"Hey Aunt Jo, Aunt Mo,"Aaron greeted. "They lost heat over at the loft. Do you mind if all of us crash at your place for the night?"
"Not at all,"Joanne replied. "How about Becky? Where's she?"
"She went to help the Harrisons. She should have been back by now..."Aaron said, looking around the streets cautiously.
"It's freezing out! She can't stay out here tonight,"Maureen insisted.
"I tried to talk her out of it,"Jason muttered.
"Well I'm sure she's safe. She must have gone back to the loft or something,"Aaron insisted.
"Should we wait around for her?"Joanne asked.
"We need to get Collins,"Maureen insisted. Joanne nodded.
"Right,"she said, glancing around the street nervously one last time, before driving off.
Mark and Roger helped a very weak Collins down the stairs to Joanne's car. Obviously, there was not enough room in the car for all of them...
"We'll walk,"Aaron offered, as he pulled Jason and Roxie from the warm car.
"What?"Roxie cried.
"Are you sure? It's awfully cold out..."Joanne commented.
"Yeah! It is!"Roxie added. Aaron just patted her head.
"We'll be fine,"he insisted. "Dad needs it more than us."Collins smiled at his son, as Roxie sighed.
"Aaron, you don't have to-"Collins began. But Aaron just shook his head.
"No point arguing, we're already walking!"he called, as he dragged Jason and a very grudging Roxie down the sidewalk with him. Collins laughed, as Joanne's car pulled away from the sidewalk. Aaron waved and Roxie pulled away from him.
"Aaron, I don't even have a coat!"she whined. Aaron wrapped his arms around her.
"We'll keep ya warm!"he teased. Roxie groaned, shoving him off, as Jason laughed. But as they walked to Maureen and Joanne's apartment, they couldn't help but realize how long Becky had been gone...
A/N: Thanks for all your feedback on the last chapter. I'm glad to know so many people are rooting for Jason and Becky! There will be more of them in the next few chapters. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, don't hesitate to bring them up.