Emador: Glad you liked it and the cliffy. I liked your review. And you'll find out about the tension between Robbie and Laura soon. (Not this chapter though.) Thanks for the review!
Jenny: Glad you liked it. And Maddie will definitely kick Jack's ass if he's cheating. You'll find out what's going on this chapter. Thanks for the review.
Meadow567: You have a lot of good insights, but you'll just have to raed to find out! Thanks for the review.
Nelliebly413672: Well, I can assure you, this Alyssa is nothing like your friend, cause this Alyssa is a bitch, lol. Glad you liked it though, and the guys will corrupt Izzy even more when they babysit.
Flowersc781: I loved your review, lol. You'll find out this chapter why Jack's with her. Thanks for the review!
A/N: Hope you guys enjoy and thanks again for all the reviews. They all made me laugh a lot. The general consenus seems to be that Jack needs his ass kicked, lol.
Chapter 26:
January 13, 1980
Jack had just left to meet the guys at the bar and Maddie was waiting for Laura and Gail to come over. The baby had just fallen asleep and Maddie was relieved, knowing she would sleep at least four hours or so. Laura and Gail got to Maddie's room a little while later with pizza and snacks.
"So where's Jack tonight?" Laura asked casually.
"He's out with the guys."
"Oh, okay," Laura said, sending Gail a look that Maddie hadn't noticed. On the way up to Maddie's room, Laura told Gail about Alyssa, because she was trying to decide whether to tell Maddie, and what she would even say. Now both Laura and Gail knew Jack was lying to Maddie, because Laura knew he made plans with Alyssa.
The whole night, Laura and Gail tried to being up anything that would trigger the mention of Alyssa with Maddie, but they couldn't. Finally, Laura just asked her straight out.
"Do you know any Lyssa's?"
"Lyssa? Is that even a name?" Maddie asked, joking.
"Well, Lyssa as in short for Alyssa?" Laura asked.
"Nope. Why?" Laura had hoped Maddie wouldn't ask why, but without hesitation, she came up with a response.
"I met this girl the other day, and she said her name was Lyssa. Apparently she knows Silk from BU."
"Well, I don't know half the girls that Silky knows. He dated almost everyone on campus sometime or another."
"Okay, just wondering."
Jack got back before Laura and Gail left, and when he walked in the room, Maddie was the only one to greet him.
"Hey, baby. How was your night?"
"Great."
"Did you all listen to what I said about not partying too hard?" Maddie asked him.
"Well, some guys still had a bit too much to drink. But I'm not mentioning names. How are you two doing?" Jack asked Gail and Laura.
"Pretty good," they both responded, wondering how long Jack was going to keep up his act.
"Well, I'm going to bed. Night girls."
"I better get going too. Buzz is probably home by now," Gail said, getting up to leave as Laura joined her.
"See you soon," Maddie said as they walked out.
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The next night, Maddie was left alone again when Jack went out with the guys. She didn't mind so much, but at times she wished that Jack would stay with the baby once in a while. The past three nights he went out with the guys. Maddie never knew what they really did when the girls weren't there either, and Jack never seemed to say too much. Maddie didn't expect any company that night, so when Laura showed up, Maddie was really surprised.
"Hey. What are you doing here? Robbie said you were hanging out with the team tonight."
"I am. We're going to Bah's room in a little while to watch the game I just wanted to see if you and Jack were coming or not."
"I thought everyone was going out," Maddie said, wondering where Jack had gone.
"Nope. Just hanging out at Bah's."
"Is anyone going out?"
"No," Laura said, and then a look of realization dawned on her face. "Where's Jack?"
"I thought he said he was going out with the guys, but . . . " Maddie trailed off, having no idea where he was, but knew from the look on Laura's face that she just found out something she wasn't supposed to know.
"Why don't we go talk for a minute," Laura said, walking into Maddie's room. "I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this . . . but Jack isn't with the team."
"Do you know where he is?"
"I think he's with another friend," Laura said, then going on to explain everything she knew to Maddie, who was now livid with Jack.
"Well am I going to have a long chat with him when he gets home," Maddie said seriously, but trying to keep it light. She wanted to stay calm in front of Laura.
"Sorry I had to tell you. I hoped Jack would tell you before I had to, but I guess he didn't get around to it."
"No, thanks for telling me. I appreciate it." After Laura left, Maddie sat with Izzy on the couch for a while and then put her to bed while she contemplated what to do.
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Just before two in the morning, Jack walked into the dorm, trying to be as quiet as possible so he wouldn't wake Maddie. Maddie however, was still awake and sitting on the couch, staring at the blank tv screen.
"Hey. I didn't expect you to still be awake. You could have went to bed." Maddie stood up and faced Jack. Jack couldn't really read her, but he thought it was a cross between mad and sad.
"Where were you tonight, Jack?" she asked seriously.
"With the guys," he answered, automatically.
"Don't give me any of that crap. Where were you?" Maddie asked, this time louder and on the verge of tears.
Jack walked over to her and out his hands lightly on her shoulders saying, "Shh, you'll wake up Izzy." Maddie jerked away from him.
"Don't touch me."
"Maddie."
"I want to know where the hell you were!"
"Okay, fine. I wasn't with the guys. I was with an old friend." Maddie gave him an evil stare, telling him that she wanted more.
"I know that's not everything. But I wanna hear you say it. So try again."
"An ex-girlfriend."
"It's two a.m," Maddie calmly reminded him.
"I know. Sorry, I didn't expect to be this late."
"Why were you with her?"
"I haven't seen her in a while and we were catching up." Maddie just shook her head in disbelief.
"Til two in the morning?!" Jack didn't answer, and Maddie walked away.
"Maddie, come on. Don't be mad."
"Don't be mad! Don't be mad? Jack, you were out with an ex til two in the frickin' morning!"
"We were just talking and-"
"Catching up, I know," Maddie said, cutting him off. "But my question is . . . catching up on what?"
"Do you think I'm cheating on you?!" Jack asked, shocked.
"I never said that. I refuse to believe that you would cheat after I gave birth to your child. But I am waiting to hear a really good reason why you were with her the past two nights."
"Two nights? Who told you that? I may have been with her tonight, but not last night too. I was with the guys last night. I swear to God!" Jack said in defense and Maddie could tell he was telling the truth.
"Fine. Whatever. But I still want you to leave."
"What?"
"Go sleep in your room for the night."
"Myroom?"
"Yeah, as in the room you share with Rizzo. I really don't want you here right now, because I don't want to talk about this anymore tonight."
"Are you serious? I'm not leaving."
"Yes you are," Maddie said, starting to push him towards the door. Jack pushed her hands away from him.
"What do you want from me, Maddie? I said I was sorry that I was with her. And I told you why I was. What else do you want?"
"Why is the main reason I'm mad at you?"
"Cause I was out with an ex til two in the morning."
"Wrong. Because you lied about it." Maddie paused for a minute to let her words sink in before continuing. "Now leave. You can talk to me tomorrow."
Jack saw no way of winning, so he did what Maddie said and left. Jack walked down to Rizzo's room and walked in without knocking or anything.
"Hey OC. Nice of you to knock," Rizzo said, sarcastically. Jack looked over at Rizzo and then noticed a girl sitting on his bed.
"Sorry, I'll leave," Jack said, apologizing and starting to walk out.
"No, it's okay. We're just talking," the girl said.
"He can leave, Kelly," Rizzo told her. "I don't know why he's here anyway," he said, giving Jack a look. Jack just half smiled, wanting to find out who Kelly was.
"Kelly said I could stay. That you're just talking," Jack said, sitting down on the other bed. Rizzo rolled his eyes.
"So Kelly . . . it's nice to meet you. I'm Jack."
"Hi."
"Did you and Rizzo just meet?"
"Last week, actually. Tonight we went out for dinner, then came back here because it was still early."
"So he asked you out?"
"No, actually I asked him out. Sort of. Last week at the bar, his friend told me that he thought I was cute but was too shy to ask me out. I thought Mike was so adorable that I decided to ask him out myself." Rizzo turned red and Jack decided to make things even worse for him.
"Aww, that is cute," he said, trying to be funny. "My shy, little Rizzo." Kelly laughed and Rizzo turned an even brighter shade of red.
"Well, all of this talk about how we got together is really interesting, but I'm sure hearing why you're here will be even more interesting," Rizzo said, trying to put the spotlight on Jack. Jack stopped laughing immediately and knew he had to explain things.
Once he finished explaining Rizzo spoke up almost immediately.
"Is ass your middle name?" he asked, then went on to continue telling Jack how stupid he was. Kelly even threw a few comments in herself, and she barely knew Jack. Jack actually considered himself lucky that Kelly was there though, because if not, Rizzo may have tried to kill him. Once Rizzo and Kelly had finished bashing him, Jack went to bed.
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That afternoon, Jack had yet to talk to Maddie and was on his way back from practice when Laura came up behind him.
"So, how's Lyssa doing?"
"So you're the one that told Maddie," Jack realized.
"Only because she's my friend and I'm concerned."
"Well, nothing's going on."
"I didn't say anything was. I simply told her that she might want to ask her fiancee who Melissa is."
"It's Alyssa."
"Oh, I forgot. You always call her Lyssa, so I couldn't remember her real name." Jack rolled his eyes. He knew Laura didn't really forget her name. "Which is another point I have to bring up. Lyssa? You're not dating anymore. Start calling her Alyssa."
"I've always called her Lyssa."
"You're engaged, Jack. You really shouldn't have a cute little name for your ex. Whether you've always called her that or not." Jack knew Laura had a point but he kind of changed the subject.
"Well, thanks to you, Maddie's pissed at me."
"Don't even try to pin this on me. I may have mentioned it, but only because you lied to her. And trust me, if you keep lying, I'll tell her everything else too."
"What else is there?"
"Like you don't know. I saw her this morning at the store. We had a little chat. Apparently, you're seeing her again this weekend. Possibly getting back together. And I'll also inform Maddie what you really think about her."
"What?" Jack asked, clearly confused.
"You didn't even tell Alyssa about Isabelle. And according to you, you'd love to hang out again, because you only have a whiny, clingy girlfriend."
"Wait a minute! Almost every other word out of my mouth was about Izzy. And I never said that Maddie was whiny and clingy," Jack said, outraged that Laura would even think that.
"You didn't?"
"No. That's what she told you?"
"Yeah."
"Well, Alyssa's never been one for telling the truth."
"I don't believe her," Laura said, really mad. "She's such a bitch!"
"And for the record, I never made plans to see her again. I invited her to come and meet Maddie and see the baby, but she acted really weird about it."
Laura wasn't really paying attention to anything Jack said after that, because she was so furious with Alyssa for lying about everything, and wished there was a way she could get her back.
Jack decided to go clear things up with Maddie right after talking to Laura. He knocked on her door and she answered it almost immediately.
"Hi. What do you want?" Maddie asked.
"I came to talk to you."
"All right."
"Can I come in?" Jack asked, because Maddie hadn't moved from the doorway.
"Sure," she said cooly, walking into the room.
"Hey Izzy," Jack said walking over to the swing where Izzy was sitting. Jack gave Izzy a kiss and rubbed her tiny hand. "I missed you, baby girl."
"Jack," Maddie said, trying to remind him why he had come over. Jack stood up and walked over to the couch to sit next to Maddie.
"Maddie, I'm sorry for lying to you about Alyssa. I shouldn't have. It was immature and stupid. I guess I was afraid that you would get mad and jealous, but wouldn't tell me how you really felt and I don't know . . . I just thought it would be easier not to tell you."
"Jack, if we're getting married, we need to trust each other and tell each other things. Especially things like that."
"I know. I'm sorry. I never meant to lie to you. But trust me, Alyssa is one of those girls that I know you wouldn't like very much."
"I'd give her a chance." Jack raised his eyebrows. "Okay, maybe I wouldn't have," Maddie admitted.
"You wouldn't have. She tall, blonde, thin . . . she's pretty, okay. I admit it. But she's not you, cause you're not just pretty, you're beautiful."
"Jack, we've still got three more weeks," Maddie said with a laugh. Jack smiled.
"Want me to tell you who Alyssa is? Aren't you curious?"
"Yeah."
"We dated Senior year of high school. Things got hot and heavy pretty fast, and we were really close for a while. Our relationship only lasted about ten months though. Neither one of us wanted to be tied down in college, so we broke up. Sort of."
"Sort of?"
"Well, it was more implied than anything. She was going to BC and-"
"BC as in Boston College?" Jack nodded and smiled. He knew Maddie hated BC. "I didn't like her before, but now I hate her," Maddie said.
"Anyway, even though we would have been close enough to keep the relationship going, we didn't really. Occasionally we'd still hook up at parties though, which went on until I started dating you. After that, I cut off all contact with her and thought I'd never see her again. But then I ran into her at the bar a few nights ago. She had a few drinks with us and it seemed to me like she changed."
"Changed into what? Just being a bitch who tries to get into bed with other people's fiances instead of a slut and a whore who tries to sleep with taken guys?"
"Maddie," Jack said with a sigh. "When she asked if I wanted to catch up, I thought she really wanted to know how I've been doing. I was way wrong on that one though."
"Thanks for telling me."
"Are we okay?" Jack asked.
"I guess I can forgive you. But you better make everything worth it in three weeks."
"You know I will," Jack said, leaning into kiss Maddie. After a few seconds, Jack and Maddie pulled apart, both thinking the same thing. Why wasn't Isabelle crying like usual when they kiss? They looked over at the swing and Izzy was fast asleep. Jack and Maddie smiled at each other, then went back to kissing.
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In the meantime, Laura went to the bar to meet a few of the guys. They all made promises to Maddie that they would stay sober because of the game the next night, but they still wanted to go out. When Laura walked in, she got a big surprise. At the table with the guys and sitting next to Robbie was none other than Alyssa.
She was laughing and put her arm on Robbie's shoulder, and Laura knew her little game. She was clearly flirting with him, and Laura knew Alyssa knew that she and Robbie were dating. Laura stormed over to the table.
"Who the hell do you think you are?" Laura yelled at Alyssa. Alyssa pretended to look innocent. "Don't play dumb, you know Robbie is my boyfriend. But you just want what you can't have, right? Since Jack's engaged and you failed at getting him, you thought you'd steal my boyfriend. Well, you're wrong."
"I'm not trying to steal your boyfriend. Maybe if you weren't such a bitch, you wouldn't need to worry about getting dumped."
"That's it! I'm sick of you," said Laura, getting closer to Alyssa as she stood up. They were inches away from each other.
"I only speak the truth."
"And I only give people what they deserve," said Laura, slapping Alyssa across the face. The guys, who had been watching in silence, gasped in horror. "And sluts deserve to be slapped."
Alyssa, who looked like she was going to cry, stormed out of the bar. The guys began laughing. Laura sat down where Alyssa was previously sitting and looked around at the guys, who were still shocked and amused at the scene she caused.
"I never knew your girlfriend was that outspoken," Silky said to Robbie.
"Neither did I," said Robbie, still looking somewhat horrified.
"Don't worry. It's not like I'm mad at you. After all, you weren't reciprocating the flirting."
"Yeah," said Robbie. "Which is a very good thing."
"Yes it is," said Laura laughing. Laura never felt that good about slapping someone before, partly because she never slapped anyone before, but also because Alyssa really deserved it.
A/N: Does anyone still want to punch Jack in the face? Hope you all like it. The next chapter will be the MSG game! (I think) I hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving!