So... my last couple chapters haven't gotten very many reviews and it makes me sad! If people aren't reading, I don't really see the point in writing. So, if you're reading and liking, please let me know.

BTW::: SIX. DAYS. UNTIL. HAIRSPRAY. ON. DVD!!

And both sides say they're winning
And both sides know they're losing
And neither one knows what they're fighting for

"Uncivil War" - Martina McBride

It had been four days since she and Corny had fought in her apartment, and four days since she'd seen, or spoken to him. Over ninety-six hours since she'd stepped foot in the house that they'd practically shared for almost a year now. It was difficult, not simply because she missed him (which she genuinely did) but because the majority of her possessions were in that house, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to get by with what little she had in her apartment.

She had gone shopping two days after the fight; if Amber found comfort in anything, it was retail therapy. She managed to find new clothes that would disguise the bump, and stared regretfully at it in the reflection of the dressing room mirrors, furrowing her eyebrows and letting herself wonder exactly how her life had gotten to this point. This point of being pregnant, alone; torn between a love that she'd never expected to feel so deeply, and one that simply wouldn't stop nagging her.

It was on this fourth day that Amber decided that Corny was going to forgive her. She was lonely, and tired of sleeping alone in the big bed in which, if she remembered correctly, she and Corny had made love in for the first time. She readied herself, and drove to his house, not allowing herself to cry, or even feel a moment of hesitance as she made her way to the front door. There was no doubt in Amber's mind, even as she stood on the front porch after ringing the doorbell, that Corny wouldn't forgive her. There was absolutely no part of her that expected him to turn her away now, after so many days of being apart. If anything, she expected him to fall to his knees at her very presence, maybe kiss her hands and tell her never to stay away for so long ever again. It wasn't that she thought he was at any sort of fault, of course; it was simply that she knew by now, he probably had already forgotten about their fight. He probably realized what had been happening, and that she'd been telling him the truth all along. Well, at least when she hadn't been hiding things from him.

A tiny brunette head appeared at the door a moment later, and Amber smiled softly back at Sophie.

Amber grinned a little, almost foolishly, wondering if Sophie would be just as excited to see her as she knew Corny would be. It appeared, though, that she had been somewhat mistaken. Sophie stared back at her with dark, unsympathetic eyes that were narrowed into slits of hatred. "Hi, Sophie," Amber said the words slowly.

"Go away." Sophie's voice was quiet, and she made no attempt to move, or to open the door for her. In fact, she kept her fingers tight on the handle, to prevent Amber from opening it herself.

"Just let me in," she requested softly, moving to open the door.

"No. I said, go away." The child twisted her mouth into a pout, her knuckles turning white with the force she held the door shut with. "Just go home, Amber. Nobody wants you here."

Amber's mouth dropped open slightly, her eyes narrowing.

"Sophie! What would your father say if he heard you talk to me like that?" She was defensive suddenly, and grabbed for the door handle again.

"He doesn't want you here, either." She spit the words at her, "He wants you to go home so that he doesn't have to see your ugly face."

Amber felt her cheeks flush, gasping slightly.

"Sophie Anna Collins! You do not speak to me like that, do you understand?" The force with which she spoke surprised both of them, and she curled her fingers around the screen door handle. "Now open this damn door."

Sophie stood on the other side of the door, glowering at her, her tiny face twisted into an ugly pout, her eyes narrowed and unforgiving. Amber could see her clenching her jaw, and she stood at the door for another moment, finally sighing in over-dramatic exasperation, rolling her eyes pointedly at Amber before storming out of Amber's line of vision and down the hallway, slamming what Amber could only presume was her bedroom door.

She furrowed her eyebrows, pulling the door open and stepping inside, suddenly overwhelmed by the drastic change in the house in the few days she'd been gone. Laundry was strewn about the room, empty food boxes cluttered the cocktail table, and Sophie's toys were scattered over the floor. She made sure to watch her feet as she stepped over stuffed animals, Barbies, and papers that Amber could only assume were Sophie's unfinished homework. She sighed, looking around at the house that had been in such neat array only days before; was Corny actually this helpless without her? No, she decided quickly. He was simply too distraught to clean; he had no idea how to ask her to forgive him for all of the incorrect assumptions he'd made on her part. He had been too afraid to admit that he couldn't live without her. Well, she would have to take the first step to reconciliation on their part.

"Corny?" She called his name, poking her head into the kitchen to find it empty. She hesitated for a moment, then yelled for him again as her feet began to carry her to the hall towards his bedroom. He was before her suddenly, his arms crossed over his chest and the plain white t-shirt stretched across his skin. His gaze was hard, and he let his eyes focus on her face.

"Corny," she breathed his name in a sigh of relief, letting a smile pass over her face, "It's so good to see you again. I missed you."

She felt the blush rising in her cheeks at even being this close to him, and suddenly tried to block out the awful things he'd said to her during their fight. It wasn't important now, that was for sure. She was attempting to swallow her pride, and to be the woman that even her mother had never been strong enough to be; the one who accepted defeat gracefully, and apologized for wrongdoings. As she took a step towards him, she was grateful that he didn't move back, but also made no move to embrace her or her presence.

"What are you doing here, Amber?" He sounded neither pleased nor excited to see her again. There was no catch in his voice, as if he'd been crying over her. Not even a little shakiness; simply the strong, firm, stubborn Corny she'd always known. In a way, it was good. His conviction was back, that was for sure. He was no long unsure of himself, and that made her happy. Still, as long as he was standing so obviously closed-off to her, she couldn't erase the unease in the pit of her stomach.

"I'm here…" she needed to use the exact right words. She didn't want him to know how sure she was of his confidence, of the fact that he was dying without her. "I'm here to apologize."

"Apologize for what?" His response was sharp, his gaze still hard.

Amber blinked.

"For everything." She hesitated. Had he really forgotten their entire fight? Had he blocked out all of those painful things they'd said to each other, and pretended it had never happened?

"That's a lot to be sorry for," he said the words after a brief moment, but she nodded along with him. "But if there is anything you are, Amber, it's definitely sorry."

His words hit her suddenly, and she felt a lump growing in her throat, her eyes narrowing at him.

"Excuse me?" She was literally too shocked to say anything else; this definitely was not the homecoming she'd expected from him. He was still watching her with dark, narrow eyes, unwavering stubbornness.

"You heard me." He turned away from her, beginning to walk back into his bedroom. "I told you I needed time to think things over, Amber. You can't just decide when you should be forgiven, and come here and expect to make things okay again. You just can't."

"Well somebody has to!" She spit the words back at him, "If it was up to you we'd end up never speaking again."

He turned on his heels, glaring at her suddenly.

"Well at least one of us has a little self-control then." He shook his head at her, "God, Amber, what happened to you? You used to be this strong, vibrant, independent woman. You used to not give a shit what other people thought of you, and now what are you? What is this thing that you've become?" His words carried a harsh edge, and she knew that the point of civility was over.

"I've become everything you've turned me into." Her words were quiet, but not nearly pleasant. She took a step closer to him. "You've turned me into everything I've never wanted to be. A wife, and a mother; a maid, and a cook, and a chauffer. You've forced me to become this woman that I never wanted to be. You've ruined every part of who I am, Corny." She swallowed hard. "You got me pregnant. Whether or not you want to take credit for it doesn't matter. This," she gestured to her stomach, "Is your fault, Corny."

She knew her words were harsh, and somewhat untrue. She didn't mind being any of those things, not in actuality. What she did mind, though, was Corny having the upper hand in this fight. She hated letting him know he had control, especially when he was using it to fight against her.

"My fault?" She was back to the moment quickly, and he was gaping at her like she'd just confessed a murder. "What the hell do you mean, my fault? It isn't anyone's damn fault, Amber, it's a baby!"

"It isn't a baby," she shot the words back quickly, "It's a useless lump of nothing inside of me." Immediately after she'd said the words, she felt horrible about them. Still, though as much as she didn't want to admit it, part of her believed them to be true. She hadn't grown emotionally attached to this fetus at all, hadn't tried to think of baby names, or nursery decorations. She hadn't even bothered to make follow-up doctor appointments.

Corny's eyes flashed dark suddenly, and he sneered at her.

"You heartless bitch," he spit the words back at her. "You know, I used to think it was just an urban legend that Von Tussles don't have hearts, but now I know it's true." He glowered at her. "You know, Amber, I think it's now safe to say that you're a worse mother than even Brenda was."

She scoffed loudly.

"And you would know, right?" She yelled back at him, "Since you were there with her during her pregnancy? Were you there helping her raise the little brat that you abandoned? Damnit, Corny, you didn't even meet the kid until she showed up at your door! How in the hell can you preach to me about good parenting skills?"

"Leave Sophie's name out of your mouth," he directed her harshly, "believe me, Amber, you don't need another enemy right now."

She laughed loudly, mostly from irony, and glared at him.

"Enemies? Is that what we are now, Corny?"

He said nothing in response to her question, but kept his eyes focused on her, his face focused and angry.

"Well, we're certainly not friends, are we?" His voice was quieter, but still hard. She opened her mouth to speak, but honestly had no idea what to say. She glanced down at her left hand, glaring at the diamond on her ring finger.

"So I guess the promises we made each other are null and void?" She glared up at him, tears burning in her eyes. He looked away from her face, and Amber glanced back at the floor, letting the fingers of her right hand slip protectively around her left ring finger.

"You don't even know what a promise is." The voice was quieter, softer than Corny's and Amber realized it was Sophie, turning to look at her.

"What?" She wasn't even completely sure she'd heard her right. Sophie stared at her, her hands on her hips, glaring up at the blonde woman.

"I said you don't know what a promise is," she repeated herself, her stare hard. Amber rolled her eyes.

"Sophie, this doesn't involve you. This is about your father and me." She waited for Corny to back her up; to send Sophie to her room, but he stood silently, his eyes watching his daughter.

"No it's not, Amber," Sophie's voice was annoyed now, "Not everything is always about you, you know. There are other people living in this house, too."

"Fine!" Amber turned to her suddenly, glaring down at her, "What in the hell are you so angry about?"

Sophie clenched her jaw, staring at Amber with squinted brown eyes.

"You missed my dance recital," her words were eerily quiet, "You promised me you would go, and you didn't. Daddy had to go by himself, and now everybody makes fun of me because I don't have a mama or an Amber, like I told them I did."

Shit. That had honestly and completely slipped Amber's mind. She had been too absorbed in her shallow self-realizations that she'd completely neglected the fact that Sophie's dance recital had been two days ago. Still, there were more important things to tend to than something as trivial as a performance.

"There will be more," Amber concluded in her defense, and Sophie shook her head.

"That doesn't matter. You're not gonna be there anyway, because you're never invited to anything of mine ever again." Sophie's face was burning red now, and Amber snorted.

"I guess I'll have to learn to deal with that, won't I?" She rolled her eyes at the child, and Sophie made a loud exasperated noise, stomping her foot on the carpet.

"You don't know anything!" Sophie yelled suddenly, "You're so stupid, Amber!"

"Sophie!" Amber said her name loudly in a desperate attempt to halt the child's words, "You can't-"

"You're such a mean, nasty, horrible person!" Sophie went on without interruption, "You don't even know what it means to be in a family, and you're too selfish to even care about anybody but yourself! You don't even know how to keep a really important promise!"

Amber was slightly taken aback.

"I told you I-"

"You promised me that you would come to my recital, and you promised my daddy that you would love him, and then you kissed Link! I never told anybody about your secret kiss with Link, because you made me promise not to!"

Amber sucked her breath in, her face burning red suddenly. This was it; the snowball effect. Things had begun their downward spiral, and there was no chance of resuscitation. She turned slightly to look at Corny, but he was looking away from her now, his hard gaze focused on anything but Amber.

"You're supposed to love us!" Sophie yelled the words at her, and it made Amber's heartbeat pause for a moment. "You're supposed to love Daddy with all your heart and soul, and more than the stars in the sky and the starfish in the sea! You promised that you would do that, but you don't! Daddy says you don't even love your own baby! And you don't love me." Sophie paused for a moment, wiping the tears that had slipped from her eyes, "And I don't love you, either."

To say that her words had affected Amber would have been an understatement. She found herself gasping for breath slightly, her heart pounding in her chest. All of that; all of those truths from the unbiased view of an eight-year-old. Amber felt the hot tears on her face suddenly, and raised her fingers to her cheek, touching the tears as if she'd never cried before, and this was all new to her. She took a step back; retreated from both Corny and Sophie, and let her mouth open slightly, in order to defend herself, or to protest. She wasn't completely sure why, but those words, the ones from Sophie, had hurt more than anything else. She felt as if the wind had been knocked out of her, and shook her head slowly. Her fingers were still unconsciously encircling her engagement ring, still clutching onto it as if it were the secret of life. And maybe, in some ways, it was. It was the one thing that had tried to show her there was more to life than work, more than business and loneliness. It was the one thing that linked her to something, and not just Corny, but an entire family, and a future.

She separated herself from the moment as she pulled the ring from her finger. It was the first time she'd taken it off since Corny had slipped it onto her finger all those months ago, and without the cool silver against her skin, she felt naked and unprotected. She clutched it in her palm for a moment, not bothering to wipe the lingering tears from her cheek. She sniffed loudly, studied the ring silently for a moment, and then spoke, her voice trembling.

"Well, if you both think I'm such a horrible person, I guess I have no reason to keep this." She clutched Corny's hand suddenly, turning his open palm up, laying the ring in the middle of his large hand, and curling his fingers over it. She let her eyes meet his again, letting her shoulders droop slightly. "If you don't trust me, and your daughter hates me, I can't marry you. I'm not spending the rest of my life like this."

She fully expected him to fall to his knees now, insist she take the ring back. Instead, he narrowed his gaze at her, and turned, slamming his bedroom door behind him as he entered the other room.

And then her feet were carrying her out of the house, down the front steps, and into her car. She sobbed loudly as she slammed the car door shut behind her, burying her head into her hands and crying for a moment before finally realizing that it would be much easier to break down about this in private.

She drove to her apartment building, and pulled open the front door. Her legs carried her up a few steps, but then she collapsed against the landing in the staircase, her body wracking with sobs. More than any of the hurtful words Corny or Sophie had said, Amber could not stop thinking about the fact that he hadn't even tried to chase after her.