Chapter 4

Jackson arrived at Angie's apartment and knocked on the door. Angie opened the door and Jackson came into the apartment.

"Okay," Jackson said freaking out. "I guess I'm prepared for fatherhood! I mean I am 26! Most of my friends have children already!"

"Jackson," Angie said.

"I mean no one is ever prepared to have a baby!" Jackson said. "We can do it! I mean, we have jobs! So, we're good on money I guess!"

"Jackson," Angie said.

"We'll be great!" Jackson said.

"I'm not pregnant!" Angie shouted.

Jackson looked at Angie.

"You're not?" Jackson asked.

"Right before you got here, so did my period," Angie said.

"Okay," Jackson said. "Sorry for the freak-out."

"Are you kidding me?" Angie asked. "I'm so not ready to be a mother."

"But you do want to be someday?" Jackson asked.

"Of course," Angie replied.

"I really do want children too," Jackson said. "But hopefully that won't happen until we're happily married."

"So, you see us as married in the future," Angie said.

"Yes," Jackson replied.

"So do I," Angie said.

AUSTIN, TEXAS

Vince came into Judd and Grace's living room to see Judd, Grace, Owen, Mateo, Marjan, Paul, TK, Carlos, Tommy, and Nancy sitting down.

"Hey everybody," Vince said. "I have some wonderful news! I put a deposit down for an apartment today! I move in next week!"

"Vince," Grace said. "This is an intervention."

"An intervention?" Vince asked.

"We just want to help you," Owen said.

"Yeah, man," TK said. "We care about you."

"Why do I need an intervention?" Vince asked.

"You're running away from your problems," Marjan said.

"I am not!" Vince shouted.

"Calm down," Mateo said. "There's no need to shout."

"Okay," Vince said calmly. "Why do you think I am running away from my problems?"

"Vince," Tommy said. "I understand the pain you're going through. I just lost my husband."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Vince said. "But I don't have time for interventions."

Aaliyah came into the living room.

"Listen to them, Vince," Aaliyah said.

"What are you doing here, Aaliyah?" Vince asked.

"I've come to take you back home," Aaliyah replied. "Your real home."

"I'm not going back," Vince said. "I live in Austin now."

"I lost my best friend this past year," Nancy said.

"I lost my whole 126 family," Judd said.

"I see where you're all going with this," Vince said, with tears falling down his face. "This is where you tell me that you me that no matter how painful losing someone is, I shouldn't run away! And this isn't just about Will!"

"Vince…" Judd started to say before Vince cut him off.

"My father was murdered right in front of me!" Vince shouted. "We were just going to the bank because he needed to get money to take me to the State Fair! A bank robber shot him right in the heart in front of me! I watched my father bleed to death on the bank floor! I was 8-years-old, and I watched my father die!"

"Vince," Grace said. "I had no idea."

"My mother was so heart-broken, she took her own life!" Vince shouted. "She overdosed on sleeping pills! My mother didn't care that she left her only son! She just didn't want to live anymore without my father!"

Vince broke down crying.

"And then my aunt and uncle took me in," Vince cried. "They raised me. I loved them so much as if they were my parents. Then they died too! They overdosed on opioids!"

Vince angrily knocked down a lamp and broke it.

"Then a few months ago, my cousin almost dies in a car wreck!" Vince cried. "And then on top of all that, my best friend, who I should've been dating instead of my captain, dies of an aneurism caused by head trauma from a freak hailstorm!"

Everyone stayed silent.

"So, excuse me if I want to run away from my life!" Vince sobbed.

Vince looked at everyone and then looked at the shattered lamp.

"I'm so sorry," Vince cried. "I will buy you a new lamp."

Judd got up and walked over to Vince. He then hugged him tightly.

"Don't worry about a silly lamp," Judd said softly.

Vince continued to cry as Judd held him tightly.

"I know," Judd said softly. "I know. It's okay."

Aaliyah walked over to them.

"Vince," Aaliyah said. "You are my best friend. Everyone misses you back at Station 37. Please come back."

"I don't want to," Vince cried. "I don't want to go back. And I don't want any of this right now!"

Vince broke free from Judd's embrace.

"Screw all of you!" Vince shouted before storming out of the house.

"Well," Mateo said. "That didn't end like I thought it would."

Everyone looked at Mateo.

"What?" Mateo asked.