A/N: Thanks to everyone still reading and especially to everyone who reviews! It's time to get Jack and Audrey back in the same place.
The next two weeks were productive for Paul. He was making great improvement with walking. For the most part, he did not need his wheelchair anymore. Paul was excited to be back on his feet and even more excited that things were returning to normal for him and Audrey. However, Audrey felt only mildly content with their relationship. She felt like they were falling back into old habits. She was bored. They had nothing interesting to talk about and silences felt unbearable. But, she also felt reliant on their relationship. As if he was the last man who could ever love her. As if she were lucky to have him.
"I've been thinking," Audrey said, breaking the silence between them while they sat on the couch. "We said that once you could walk again that we'd go back to D.C. I think it's time."
"Audrey," Paul started. "It's not like I'm running marathons here. Let's give it more time."
"I just think that you could do the rest of your physical therapy there instead."
"We just bought a house here." Audrey could tell Paul was getting annoyed.
"We can sell it," Audrey said. "I mean eventually we are going back. That was always the plan."
"Well, I really have come to like this place," Paul countered. "There's nothing in D.C. for us."
"Except my job," Audrey corrected. "My dad. My friends."
"Your boyfriend?" Paul asked, raising his voice.
"Don't do that," Audrey said, getting angry. "This has nothing to do with Jack. That has been over for a while."
"And, I'd like to keep it that way."
"And what? You think I'd cheat on you?" Audrey asked.
"Didn't you already?"
"No!" Audrey exclaimed, surprised by the accusation. "Why would you say that?"
"When did he start at DOD?" Paul asked. Paul answered his own question before Audrey could. "A couple weeks or so before you told me you wanted a separation. I like to believe you didn't start sleeping with him until after that but I'm not an idiot."
"I would never do that! We were separated for months before anything happened between the two of us."
"I never agreed to dating other people," Paul told her.
"That's part of a separation. You can be with other people. I even remember talking about it when I left."
"Yeah, you talked about it! Not me," Paul yelled.
Audrey rolled her eyes. "As if you weren't with someone else while we were separated. Can you seriously tell me you weren't?"
"Maybe I was. But, I didn't fall in love with any of them!"
"You definitely can't be mad at me for being with someone when we were separated if you were with people too."
"Look," Paul said, calming down. "I'm not mad. But, we aren't going back to D.C. where you get to see him every day without supervision. How would I know that you aren't sleeping with him again?"
"You would have to trust me," Audrey said.
"Well, I don't," Paul said, firmly. "We are staying here."
Paul walked out of the living room and into the bedroom and slammed the door behind him. Audrey sighed. She missed D.C. She missed her dad and her friends and her job. She missed Jack too but wouldn't admit it to herself. With Paul's jealousy she wondered if she would ever get to go home. She decided she would ask again tomorrow. If he didn't want to go, she would go by herself. She lay down on the couch and started to fall asleep until she felt Paul waking her up.
"Come on," he said, grabbing her wrist and pulling her up from the couch. "It's time for bed."
"Okay," Audrey said, pulling her arm away from Paul's forceful grip. "I'm coming."
Audrey followed Paul into the bedroom and lay down. She was exhausted but Paul kissed her neck while his hands rubbed her body.
"Paul, I'm tired," she told him, knowing what his intentions were. Paul continued to kiss down her neck.
"That's okay. I'll do all the work," he said between kisses. "Okay?"
Audrey relented, not wanting to argue with him, "Fine."
In the morning, Audrey woke to the smell of breakfast coming from the kitchen. She found Paul in the kitchen making pancakes.
"Good morning, love," he said, as she entered the kitchen.
"Morning," Audrey said, yawning. Paul handed her a cup of coffee. Audrey questioningly looked around, wondering why Paul was making breakfast. He usually took no interest in cooking for her. "What's with breakfast?"
"Well, I've heard it's the most important meal of the day," he said. "I thought you deserve it."
"Why?" Audrey asked, wondering what she did right lately.
"Because you're my wife. And, I love you," Paul said. "Isn't that a good enough reason?"
Audrey shrugged and accepted his answer. They started eating and Audrey decided that she should bring up D.C. again before the idea of moving back got completely swept under the rug.
"Paul, I really think we should move back to D.C.," she said.
"Audrey, I just made you breakfast. Let's not fight," Paul said.
"I don't want to fight either. But, I need to go home. I want to leave today."
"And, I already told you that we aren't doing that," Paul reminded her.
"Look, you don't have to come if you don't want to. If you think you need more time here then fine. But, I'm leaving today once I pack up my things."
"No," Paul told her. "I won't let you ruin our marriage again."
"Then, come with me," Audrey said. She couldn't understand him. He didn't want to lose her but he wouldn't move back with her.
"Audrey, you don't get to just decide where we are going to live!" Paul yelled. "You know it's your fault that things didn't work out before and it's going to be your fault again if you move back. You are the worst wife!"
Audrey sighed. She just wanted to go home. She was sick of Paul. He had been so comforting for the past few weeks that she had forgotten what he was really like. Always yelling at her and telling her that she wasn't good enough.
"I'm going to pack my things," she told him.
Audrey stood up from the table and walked towards the bedroom. As she did, Paul grabbed an empty glass from the table and threw it against the wall next to the bedroom door. Audrey jumped as it flew past her head and hit the wall next to her and shattered.
"What the hell, Paul?" Audrey asked, realizing how close he had come to actually hitting her.
Paul was furious at this point and walked across the room until he was right next to Audrey.
"You don't just get to leave whenever you want!" He yelled.
"Watch me!" Audrey argued. Audrey had never seen Paul quite so angry before. She decided it would be better to leave her things and go. She slipped past him and headed for the door. She grabbed her purse and reached for the doorknob. Paul slammed the door shut just as she cracked it open. He grabbed her by the forearm and pulled her away from the door.
"Let me go!" Audrey yelled. Paul listened by releasing her arm and throwing her to the ground. Audrey grimaced in pain as she landed hard on her right shoulder.
"Now, just listen to me," Paul said, still angry but trying to use a calm, rational voice. "We are happy right here. You can do your work here and you can go visit your dad and your friends whenever you want. But, this is our home now."
Audrey stood up, holding her shoulder which hurt badly. She didn't dare make a move for the door with Paul that close. She nodded at him in agreement. He kissed her and she kissed him back.
"Is your arm okay?" he asked. "Let me get you some ice."
"Okay," Audrey said. She watched him carefully as he went to the kitchen. She took a deep breath knowing that she would need to act fast. As soon as he was out of sight, she grabbed her purse and ran out the front door. She hopped into the car they had been renting and locked the doors. She saw Paul walking quickly out of the house and he slammed on the window of the car as she started it and drove away. She felt relieved as she drove away. She was lucky that he was still working on running again in physical therapy otherwise he definitely would have stopped her. Audrey drove with one hand on the wheel to the closest airport while she held her injured arm as still as possible. When she got to the airport she took the next flight to D.C. which was in only twenty minutes. She was happy to be heading home.
Jack was immersed in paperwork when Cassandra came into his office towards the end of the day.
"Hey, I'm leaving," she said, sadly.
Jack looked at the clock which said it was only four o'clock. "It's not time to go yet."
"No, I mean that today's my last day," Cassandra clarified. "I guess Audrey is coming back."
"Really?" he asked, not sure how he should feel about that. He had to admit it would be hard to work with her everyday knowing that he couldn't be with her.
"I guess so," she said. She cleared her throat. "Anyway, I was thinking that since we won't be working together anymore maybe we could go out sometime."
Jack considered it for a moment. He did like Cassandra. And, with Audrey coming back he would need to get over her quickly. She was with Paul now and he didn't want to interfere.
"Okay," Jack agreed.
"Really?" she asked, excitedly.
"Yeah, how about dinner? Friday night?" Jack asked her. Cassandra happily agreed, excited that it was only two nights away. After she left, Jack started preparing himself to see Audrey tomorrow. Her coming back felt sudden. Then again, he wouldn't know since he had taken himself out of her life. For all he knew, her and Paul could have been planning to come back for weeks now. He sighed. He had no idea what to say to her tomorrow.
Audrey looked herself over in the mirror. She wore a black skirt with a light pink blouse. She checked to make sure that the bruises around her forearm and the larger bruise on the front of her shoulder couldn't be seen through her shirt. She was upset that it was her right shoulder that hurt, as it would be much harder to keep it still. She decided that everything was hidden and went off to work. As she pushed the call button for the elevator in the main lobby, Jack came up to her. She immediately remembered that Jack was consistent. He showed up to work at the same ungodly hour everyday just as she always did. Nothing had changed.
"Welcome back," Jack greeted.
"Thanks," Audrey said, stepping into the elevator with Jack. They were the only ones in the elevator, of course, since it was so early. After a few seconds of unbearable silence, Audrey spoke up.
"Think you could catch me up to speed this morning?" Audrey asked, trying to show Jack that as long as they focused on work there wouldn't be anything uncomfortable between them.
"Of course," Jack said. He started filling her in on the details of what they were going to be working on. They found themselves back in the swing of things. Work conversation flowed naturally between them as they grabbed their coffees and headed to Audrey's office to continue. Jack noticed that her body language seemed to be a little rigid but he ignored it since he figured she was just nervous about being back here with him. He knew that he was nervous being around her. By ten o'clock, Jack had managed to fill her in on everything.
Jack looked at his watch. "We have a meeting with Secretary Heller."
Audrey followed Jack down the hall to her father's office. As they walked in, Heller hugged his daughter, happy that she was finally back. Jack couldn't help but notice how Audrey winced in pain as Heller hugged her. Jack wondered if she was okay. He was about to ask but Heller started talking business and Audrey returned to normal so he let it go.
For lunch, Audrey met up with Olivia. She purposefully sat down at the table before Olivia could get up and hug her, remembering how painful it had been when her father hugged her earlier.
"Alright girlfriend. Time to tell me everything," Olivia said.
"Not much to tell," Audrey said. "Paul got shot. I went with him to help out. Jack broke up with me. Paul can walk again. I'm back."
"Oh, come on," Olivia said. "You've been gone for so long. I need details. I mean are you and Paul back together?"
Audrey shook her head no. "We were for a little while but not anymore."
"Why? What happened?" Olivia asked.
"Just the usual things," Audrey lied. "Mostly, he didn't want to move back here. But, he is still just the same jealous, stubborn, and rude guy that I left a year ago."
"So, it's finally over?" Olivia asked. "You're not going back to him even if he comes back here with flowers and romantic plans?"
"It's really over," Audrey said, rubbing her forearm with the bruises.
Olivia smiled, "So, now you can make up with Jack?"
Audrey rolled her eyes. "I don't think so."
"Why not? Are you over him?" Olivia asked. "Because I think you two are so good together."
"Liv, he didn't want me. I think I just need some time alone," Audrey said.
"He did want you though," Olivia said. "He just didn't want you to want Paul."
"Like I said, I just need time to figure out what I want. I love Jack. But, maybe I jump into things too quickly."
Olivia shrugged. Audrey had a point. Maybe slowing down would be a good thing for her. She just hoped that Jack didn't move on by the time Audrey was ready.
A/N: Thanks for reading. Please review!