Unhealthy


"So that was a fucking disaster last night." Dean said the next day in work as he and Punk clocked in.

"Well maybe if dad had told Lydia a little more than hi my name is Jack but people call me JC, then it wouldn't have been such a mess." Punk said, "I got laid, I don't care." Punk shrugged.

"How? You were fighting?" Dean shook his head.

"Yeah and we made up." Punk shrugged, "In the kitchen." He winked as Dean pretended to boke.

"Don't go any further." Dean put his hand up as Punk just chuckled, "Anna hit the eight month mark today." He said as Punk smiled.

"Yeah?" Punk smiled, "Excited?"

"Yeah, well… I wanna meet her but like… I need at least another year to be prepared." He said as Punk laughed a little.

"You'll never be prepared so, she'll come when she comes." Punk nodded, "Any names yet?"

"We've got a few we like but we're not saying anything yet." Dean said, "Not until we really decide." He said as Punk nodded.

"Well what are the few you like?" Punk asked him.

"I'm not telling you." Dean scoffed, "You didn't tell me Keala's name when I wanted to know." He said as Punk just rolled his eyes.

"Fine. I trust you won't name her something stupid." Punk said as Dean just nodded, turning around when he saw Sam come out of his office.

"Can I see you both?" Sam asked simply as Punk turned around too, "Just about the rota." He said as Dean and Punk both nodded and walked into the office, "Just check it over and make sure it suits you." He said. It was the only time they ever had to make contact with each other. Sam had been put in his place, and he didn't go near them unless he really had to.

"That's good for me." Punk just nodded.

"Not good for me." Dean said, "I told you I needed this week off. Anna is due then." He said, pointing to the rota in a few weeks.

"Oh, shit yeah." Sam nodded, "This week?" He pointed on the rota.

"Yeah." Dean said.

"Ok, that's fine." Sam said, "Thanks." He nodded to them both as they left the office. He then grabbed his phone from his pocket and opened up the texts he had, sending a new one to his cousin.


"I got in! I got in!" Vanessa squealed, running up the stairs holding a letter, running into the bedroom and jumping on the bed where JC was lying, "I got in." She smiled, jumping up and down on the bed.

"Let's see." JC said, sitting up and pulling her down, taking the letter from her and reading it.

"See, look… they are happy to confirm my place." She pointed to the line which she was only interested in, "And I didn't even have to pretend that I had a six month old baby." Vanessa said, "Maybe they felt sorry for me." She frowned suddenly.

"Shut up of course they didn't." JC said, "You got in because you're smart and they liked you." He nodded, "Brains and the beauty of this relationship." He said, continuing to read the letter.

"Well." Vanessa smiled modestly.

"When do you start?" JC asked her.

"September." She said.

"Are you excited?" JC smiled to her.

"Yes, of course I am. I didn't think I stood a chance." She shook her head.

"Well you did." JC nodded, "Well done, you're a star." He smiled, leaning over and giving her a kiss as she kissed back.

Things had been going well for them. Their home seemed more like a home, their son was doing great, JC had a steady job which he was trying his best not to get fired from and Vanessa had just got accepted into nursing school. It was the best few months they'd had so far and Vanessa knew they could keep it going.

"You should make me breakfast." Vanessa nudged him as he laughed a little.

"Should I?" He said as she nodded.

"I guess maybe I could." JC nodded, getting out of bed as she smiled, watching as he threw a pillow at her as she smiled and sat back against the headboard.

"You could cook it naked to really treat me." Vanessa nodded as JC laughed.

"Get a hold of yourself, woman." JC smiled, pulling some shorts and a t-shirt on as they began to hear Phil cry from next door.

"I'll get him." Vanessa nodded, "You go on down." She said as he nodded and left the bedroom to head downstairs.

She got up out of the bed, stepping over the clothes on the floor to get out of the room. They were still just eighteen year old kids who were trying to make a living on their own.

She walked into Phil's nursery and over to the crib, picking him up and smiling at his fuzzy little hair sticking up, "Hey, little guy." She smiled as he stopped crying and yawned, "Hey." She smiled softly, carrying him over to the changing table, "Mommy got into nursing school." She smiled, taking his little hands in hers as he kicked and wriggled around on the table, "Yeah, she did." She smiled to him. She was at her happiest with the people she loved the most.


4 months later…

"You are kidding, right?" JC asked, standing in the kitchen across from his nineteen year old girlfriend.

"No, I'm not." Vanessa said as JC looked across at her with confusion.

"We… We have a ten month old." JC said, not being able to comprehend it.

"Yeah, I know that." Vanessa said, "I-I could have forgotten my pill or… messed the dates up, I don't know-"

"This is ridiculous." JC groaned, "We're nineteen and we're on our second kid? That's not right?"

"Well it wasn't like it was planned, was it?" Vanessa said, "It's not the end of the world." She shrugged.

"No, it's just more money, more time, and another kid that we… we didn't want, just like the first one." JC spat.

"Now you're being mean." Vanessa warned him, "We'll deal with it, just like we dealt with it the first time. Things have been really good for us right now. You're working, I'm at school, Phil is great… we… we can do this. I know it's not ideal but… it's not gonna ruin everything."

"I need a fucking drink." JC shook his head, turning around and placing his hands on the kitchen counter as Vanessa looked at his back.

"Is that just your solution to everything?" Vanessa asked him quietly, "Just drink and it'll all go away?" She said, "Here." She said, walking over to the fridge, grabbing out a can of beer frantically, "Here, have it. If it makes you feel better." She said, pushing the beer against his arm, "Go on. Be a man." She nodded as he grabbed the can from her and threw it across the kitchen, staring down at her as she looked up at him.

"Stop it." JC warned her, narrowing his eyes as she gulped.

"You don't scare me." Vanessa whispered, as if letting him in on a secret, "And you know fine well you don't."

"I'm not trying to. I'm telling you to stop it." JC said as she looked at him, "We can barely look after Phil, Ness. And we're gonna have another one?"

"We can look after him." Vanessa spat, "Phil is fine. It's you who can't be around him for more than a few hours. Why I don't know."

"Because I'm a kid, that's why. I wanna be out with my buddies, I wanna have more alone time with you, I wanna enjoy being a kid and I can't because he's always crying, or he needs fed, or he wants to play-"

"You're just a selfish pig." Vanessa spat, "You don't care about him." She said, a lump forming in her throat, "Your own son." She whispered.

"I do care." JC spat.

"Then why is it so hard for you to want him?" She asked him, "I don't care what age we are."

"It's just a lot of pressure." JC said, "And another kid, that's ridiculous." He said.

"It's not if we work at it. We can have a family. It's not uncommon." She shook her head, "I know none of it was planned. Do you think I wanted kids this young? No, of course I didn't, but we have Phil and I couldn't imagine him not being here. Same goes for this baby." She said, pointing to her stomach, "We've been doing just fine."

"Yeah, exactly, we've been just getting by… add another kid onto that… we're gonna end up falling apart, Ness. And I don't want that." He shook his head.

"Who says we have to fall apart?" Vanessa asked, "Yeah, it'll be a lot but… we have each other. That's always been our advantage. We've always got each other." She said, taking his hands in hers as he pulled them away.

"No, I need… I need to go out."

"Jack." Vanessa shook her head, "Please don't. Just stay here and we can… we can talk about this. We have the space. Phil can share a room until we… we get a little more money for a better place-"

"We're broke." JC said.

"We won't be forever. This is us just starting out." Vanessa said.

"No, I need… I need out of here." He said, feeling his chest get tight and the air get to warm. He loved his girlfriend and he loved his son, of course he had his struggles, but he still loved them. Adding another baby on top of it all was just enough to tip him over the edge.

"Please don't. Just stay here." Vanessa said, but he had already brushed by her and walked down the hallway to the door.

She listened as the door opened and closed, sighing to herself as she leaned over the counter, listening as Phil began to cry from upstairs after his afternoon nap.


3 days later…

Vanessa pretty much stayed indoors for a few days, just waiting worriedly on her boyfriend returning home after what was obviously a weekend bender. He was friends with the wrong people and she knew what he was up to. It terrified her. Sitting in bed with their ten month old crawling over her, trying so hard to stay calm when she was anything but.

She understood another baby was a shock, they were still teenagers, but she knew they could get through it, if they had each other's back. She always had his, she just felt like he didn't have hers as much.

She was laying on the couch, Phil was napping in his room when she heard the door open. She immediately got to her feet and walked out of the living room, looking over at her boyfriend who slowly closed the door over, turning around to her as he saw his pale, almost yellow face which had a few cuts on it.

"Jack." Vanessa frowned. She could see he was sober, but clearly he hadn't been for the entire weekend, "What happened to you?" She asked him, walking over to him and inspecting him.

"I'm fine." JC shook his head.

"No, you're not." She said. No matter where he was and how scared he was of his responsibilities. She was always his home. His safe place.

"I just got into a fight." JC assured her.

"No kidding." Vanessa said, taking his hand and walking off into the kitchen, "Sit down." She told him as he took a seat at the table, "I was worried you'd never come back." She admitted as JC frowned.

"I'd always come back." JC nodded, which eased her mind, even though they clearly had an extremely unhealthy relationship.

"That was three days." Vanessa said, getting the first aid kit out as he took his jacket off. She turned around, sitting down across from him as she spotted the inside of his arms, gulping as she saw the fresh inject wound, staring at it as he noticed.

"It's fine." He mumbled.

"It's not fine." Vanessa shook her head, "You are going to die." She told him bluntly as he looked across at her, "You'll die, and I'll be here, alone with two kids. I don't want that to happen. You're worth so much more than this." She said.

"No one is gonna die." He said, "Technically I'm giving you good practise for your nursing stuff." He winked as she just made a face.

"Now isn't the time for a joke. This can't keep happening. I get it, it's a lot of pressure on us, but these are our kids. I know this freaks you out, you've only ever had to look out for yourself and now suddenly there's gonna be two little people who need you." She said, cleaning his cut above his eyebrow as he looked at her.

"I have… completely ruined you." JC looked at her as she looked across at him, "You could have had so much better than this." He nodded.

"No." Vanessa said, "It's you I love. Nothing will change that. I just wish you treated yourself a little better." She said, "And stop hanging around people that influence you." She shook her head, "We've been through too much. Another baby isn't going to kill us. Tire us, maybe. Not kill us." She said.

"I don't want to let anyone down." JC said.

"You won't." Vanessa said as Vanessa squeezed his hand, "We can do this." She nodded as he just looked at her and pushed a small smile. Her strength was something he envied.


A/N: I know this was just mainly a flashback chapter but I think JC and Vanessa's story is interesting! Also, what is Sam up to? Lots still to come. The explanation of 'that night' will also come too. Thanks for the reviews!