We're in the homestretch now! Only a few more chapters to go! Then what will I write?? I'll figure it out, I suppose. Sorry this took so long to post when I promised it would be up a few days ago. I just wanted to make sure I got it right.

Get off of your knees, get out of my face
Get out of my sleep, get out of my space
How long do I have to show and tell, scream and yell
Get over yourself

"Get Over Yourself"-SheDaisy.

Amber had been forced to stay in the hospital for several days, and when she had finally been cleared for release, Corny had been right there, helping her to his car, and then back to the house. He had been watching her like a hawk since then, even at work, to make sure she had begun eating regularly, and for the first time in a long time, she began to make a real effort to care for herself. That wasn't to say she didn't still get ill, or that the road to recovery wasn't extremely bumpy, but it was a start, and that was really all she could manage right now.

He insisted that she move back in, if only temporarily, and even though it was the closest she'd been to him since their break up, nothing could have been further from any type of a relationship between them. They slept in different beds, stayed in different rooms. Corny insisted that she join them for meals at the table, and that was basically as far as their communication went. She was no longer bitter or angry; more than anything, she was lonely, and terrified of what would happen once she did have the baby. Would he try to gain full custody of the child? She couldn't say she would completely blame him if he attempted to; she'd put her and the baby's lives in danger more times than she could count, and for what? Some sick sort of revenge for her ending their engagement over the fact that she had kissed another man? And if he did gain full custody, what would become of her? Every day at work, she'd be forced to see the man that she knew was raising her child. It would be awful; worse than Chinese water torture.

There was no rest between them; Corny didn't come into the room she slept in at night and speak to her in a soft, warm voice. He didn't try to touch her belly, or speak to the baby inside, the way she'd always seen happy couples do. He regarded her with kinder eyes now that she was eating and taking care of herself, but made no attempt to touch her, or reach out for her. It was as if, by some miracle, he'd impregnated her without even touching her, and they had never had any type of intimate relationship to begin with. Even Sophie noticed the difference in the atmosphere, and no longer made random jokes during meals. She sat quietly chewing her food, waiting to be excused so that she could escape from the palpable tension that the pair of them had created.

"This isn't what I thought it would be like when you came back to live with us," Sophie admitted quietly at dinner one evening, and Amber had swallowed hard, keeping her eyes averted from Corny's.

"Me either," Amber had confessed softly, gripping her fork in her hand. And the truth was if she had known it would be so awkward between all of them, she would have fought him harder about moving back in. Amber had merely been looking for company, anything to keep her from being so desperately alone at home, and here, that loneliness was multiplied tenfold. It was as if there were a great distance between them, when all that really separated them were some paper thin walls that Sophie had once, foolishly, been able to hear their love-making through. The thought of it was more than mortifying.

Still, as Amber lay in her room at night, only yards from Corny and the room they had once shared, she couldn't help but wonder if he still thought about them. If, every night when he crawled between those sheets, he thought about when her body had been next to his, curled against him. She wondered if he thought about the time when Sophie had spent the weekend at a friend's house, and they hadn't gotten out of that bed all day. They had both been exhausted, breathless, but refused to get up. It had been heaven right there, in his arms, and she had always cherished that memory; the fact that he wanted her so desperately that he didn't want to get out of bed. Now, she was a stranger in his home.

It happened on a day that she left work early; though she was taking better care of herself, she often got massive head and body aches from the self-deprivation techniques she'd been employing. Corny had been worried, though not overly concerned, but she convinced him that she needed to return to the house, alone or not. Because she had been complying with his demands to take care, he finally agreed and she headed to the house.

She had been on her way from a hot shower to her bedroom to rest when the knock came at the door. She padded to the door and pulled it open, blinking as she saw him again.

"Link." She swallowed, keeping her eyes focused on him and clutching her robe tighter around her, "What do you want?"

As much as it pained her, she was through being courteous to him. He had taken what had been a relatively perfect life, and had damaged it beyond repair. That was something she could never quite forgive him for, no matter the years of history between them.

"I came to check on you," he took the liberty of stepping into the house, raising his eyebrows expectedly at her, "I just wanted to make sure you're okay." He paused, "You okay?"

She nodded slightly, her eyes locked on his face.

"Yes," she responded dryly, doing her best to force him out the door without actually saying the words. "I'm fine, Link." You can go now, she wanted to say, for good.

He studied her for a moment, edging his way in until he was completely inside the house, standing mere inches from her. She studied him for a moment, her eyes pale and narrowed. She turned away from him, still clutching her robe, and felt his fingers land on the crook of her elbow.

"Are you sure?"

She couldn't tell if it was the question, or the way he felt he had the right to touch her at all that suddenly hit her, but she felt her face flush and she spun on her heels, glaring at him before jerking her arm out of his touch.

"What are you, a broken record?" She hissed the words at him, and his blue eyes darkened, "Damnit, Link, how many times do I have to tell you I'm fine before you start believing me?"

"I'll believe you when you start telling me the truth," he shot back, catching her wrist with his fingers. She stopped, letting her eyes fall down to their point of contact before glaring back up at him.

"Let go of me," she whispered each word as a threat, and he kept her gaze before finally dropping her wrist, then crossing his arms over his chest. "You need to leave right now."

He made no effort to move, and instead tilted his head to the side.

"Are you sleeping with him again?" He demanded the words, his voice hard. She squinted her eyes at him, her lips parting slightly in shock before answering.

"What? No, you have no right to ask me anything like that. You're not my keeper."

"Oh, that's right, I'm not Corny," he rolled his eyes stupidly at her, "How could I have forgotten I'm not the middle-aged man that keeps you tied up like a dog?"

She groaned loudly, taking a step away from him.

"What exactly do you want from me? What do you want me to say? I'm so damn tired of playing this game with you." She crossed her arms over her chest tightly, still watching him, "What in the hell are you trying to get from me?"

He was quiet for a moment, then let his tongue dart out to wet his lips before taking a small step towards her.

"I want you to tell me that he is not what you want," he said quietly and honestly, keeping her gaze.

She narrowed her eyes at him, swallowing hard.

"No," she refused.

He tightened his jaw, jiggling his foot against the floor for a moment before letting his eyes graze the ceiling and looking back down at her. Obviously, that wasn't what he had wanted to hear.

"God, how can you…" he shook his head before looking at her, "Come on, Amber, after everything you've accomplished in your life, and everything you've worked for, do you really want the little house with the white picket fence and kids in the yard?"

And then, as if she hadn't been having this internal struggle for the past few months, it was clear. Clearer than she'd ever realized it could be. Her entire life, everything she had worked for; it had all been in vain until she'd come back to Baltimore after college. She'd spent the majority of her life vowing never to fall in love, never to have a family, and when those things took her by surprise, she hadn't really had a chance to protest. It was difficult to explain, but from the moment she'd seen Corny at that studio when she'd walked in as station manager, she had known that he would be the one to break her of her ways. He didn't know it, of course, but she had enjoyed her bachelorette ways just as much as he had enjoyed his days of freedom before Sophie. In turn, and for his daughter, Corny had demanded that his relationship with Amber be stable and healthy, and so perhaps, in a way, it was Sophie who had broken both of them.

"Yes," she found her voice after a moment, almost astonished that it all suddenly made sense, "Yes, I do."

His eyes were dark and narrow suddenly, and he frowned at her.

"You're not the same girl I thought you were." He made no effort to move.

"Yeah, well, you're not the same, either," she shot back, "God, Link, when we were teenagers, you used to be a little vain and selfish without really ever hurting anyone else, and now you're a bulldozer; you destroy everything that everyone else has built up, simply for your own personal amusement."

"Oh, you'd like to think that, wouldn't you?" He glared at her, "You'd love to be able to blame all of your personal problems on me, and that's pathetic, Amber. Don't pretend that your life was picture-perfect before I got here. That's just like you, to blame all of your problems on other people."

She scoffed suddenly, her pink lips slipping open as she glared at him.

"You're kidding me, right?" She stared dumbly at him, "I don't know why you decided to breeze back into town at the exact moment you did, but let me tell you this." She took a step closer to him, poking her fingernail into his chest, "Your coming back here was a cataclysm." She narrowed her steely gaze at him, "Out of everything I've been through, seeing you again was the single worst thing that has ever happened to me."

He narrowed his gaze at her, his hand moving up quickly to grab her hand, capturing her fingers in a tight hold.

"You're a brat," he sneered at her, "I don't know why I ever wanted you. Any man that has to put up with you sure has a pain in his ass."

She gasped, taking in a sharp breath.

"Screw you, Link."

He smirked at her, "You would have. You know it. You would have that night at your apartment, if Corny hadn't shown up at the door." He was still gripping her fingers, tighter now, still watching her with that dark look in his eyes.

"That is not true, you arrogant bastard." With her words, she tried to pull her hand from his grasp, though her struggle was in vain. He held her tighter, then pulled her to his chest in a quick motion, his hands moving to the sides of her face, holding her head still. Before she had a moment to realize what was happening, his lips were pushed against hers, one hand still holding her head, forcing her to remain still while his tongue began to search her mouth. His other hand had begun to dip lower and she felt his fingers brush the skin just beneath her silky robe. She let out a groan of protest before mustering all of her strength to push him away, her blue eyes shining with anger as he stumbled back.

"Don't touch me!" She screamed the words at him, her face burning in mortification and shame, "You son of a-"

"Bitch," he spat the word at her, and before she could catch herself, her hand was up, her fingers splayed across his cheek in a swift motion. He grabbed his face instinctively, scowling at her.

"Don't talk to me like that," she sneered at him, and he smirked.

"What are you going to do, princess? Fire me?" He was watching her with a self-satisfied grin on his face, and at his words, she knew there was nothing else she could do. It made perfect sense. She had created this problem with him, and she would be the one to destroy it.

"Actually," she let the word slip from her mouth, as easily as if it had been her own idea, "Yes. I am."

The smug smirk faded from his lips, and he kept his eyes locked on hers. She kept her lips pursed together, crossing her arms over her chest. He glared at her.

"No you're not," he shook his head slowly, though she wasn't quite sure if he was trying to convince her or himself. "Amber, you don't have to do that. I have done nothing to be fired for!"

She took a step back from him, her eyes widening.

"Oh, right. Okay, well, then, I'll let you pick which reason I should fire you for. Let's see…we have the fact that you kissed me against my will, called me a bitch-"

"You kissed me, too," he stepped closer to her, his eyes dark and narrow, "How quickly you forget all the stupid ass mistakes you make."

"I could cite you for sexual harassment," she shot back at him, and he scoffed.

"I could have you fired for the exact same thing, you prima donna. It would be my word against yours, and the entire city of Baltimore knows the kind of person you are. They were around when you were a teenager, Amber, don't think that you've fooled everyone with this little reformation of yours."

Her eyes narrowed at him. That thought hadn't occurred to her; technically, he could claim sexual harassment against her. She had, after all, kissed him, and he was manipulative enough to make people think she had forced him to return her affections. She couldn't, however, dwell on that now. She was far too angry to think rationally, and gritted her teeth, glaring at him.

"I said get out. You're fired."

He watched her again, shaking his head at her.

"Your ratings will plummet."

"I don't care," she clutched her robe again, her face burning in anger and mortification. "If I have to tell you again, I will not hesitate to get the police involved. Now get out of this house, and get out of my life."

He stood staring her down before finally waving a hand dismissively at her and turning to go.

"You're not even worth it, Amber." He kept his eyes focused on her, his feet carrying him toward the door. As he reached for the door, it opened and Sophie rushed in, nearly colliding with him. She stopped, glanced up at him, and furrowed her eyebrows. Link pushed past her wordlessly and onto the porch, nearly knocking Corny over in his hurry. Amber moved quickly, slamming the screen door behind Link as he and Corny made eye contact.

"You know, I feel sorry for you," he glared at him, "Because she can't accept the fact that even you don't want her anymore."

They stood silently, watching as Link made his way from the house, Amber clenching her teeth, her fingers still gripping the screen door handle tightly.

"Where's Link going?" Sophie asked, coming to stand beside Amber, her hands linked in the straps of her backpack. Amber stood watching the dim reflection of the glass, then took a step back.

"He's just going." It was all that was really necessary to say.

She let her eyes graze Corny's, and he finally made a motion to step into the house, joining her and Sophie.

"Is he coming back?" Sophie's eyes were still following Link's long-gone shadow.

"I hope not." It was all Amber could really manage before turning, forcing her feet to carry her back to her bedroom, and pausing before she went inside. She walked back into the living room, where Corny and Sophie were still standing, unsure of what had just transpired before their arrival.

"You've got your job back," she told him flatly, her eyes cold and dark, before returning to her bedroom and shutting the door behind her. Her head was aching worse than before, her stomach churning, though only for one reason. She had been aware of her stupid mistakes all along, but she had finally realized that only she was the one to blame for them, and there was no fixing them. Link was right about that; not even Corny, the one person who had always managed to be able deal with her, wanted to be around her. She was only here because of his concern for their baby.

She crawled into her bed, the silk of her robe brushing against her skin, and closed her eyes. She heard the clatter of pans in the kitchen, and knew that Corny was preparing dinner. She hoped he didn't force her to eat with them tonight, and part of her knew that he wouldn't, if only because he was still trying to figure out what had gone on between the two of them.

Her mind was spinning with thoughts, but she had nearly begun to drift to sleep when she heard Sophie's voice, tiny and far away, though only mere feet from where she rested.

"Daddy, do you love Amber more now? Since she gave you your job back?"

The question was so ridiculously blunt and unapologetic that Amber scoffed loudly, the sick feeling in the pit of her stomach increasing as she shifted, burying her head in the pillow and pulling the blankets over her head.

She was too afraid to listen for Corny's reply to the question.