Chapter 5

Around midnight, Jasina finally peeled herself up from the bathroom floor, using the sink for leverage, feeling completely weak and drained. Her stomach growled, but Jasina ignored it, refusing to eat anything right now and couldn't even look at her reflection. She unlocked the bathroom door and walked out, stopping at the sight of her ex-boyfriend/husband sleeping on her couch, one arm thrown over his eyes, one leg dangling off of it.

He stayed the entire time.

If Jasina wasn't so heartbroken and dead inside, she might've found this sweet, but right now all she could do was throw a blanket over him before heading back to her room. Then she stopped in the doorway, remembering when Randy surprised her with the bed and slowly backed up from it as fresh tears began sliding down her cheeks. She couldn't sleep in there. All she saw were phantoms of her dead boyfriend and Jasina suddenly had to backtrack back into the living room, lying down beside the couch and curled up against it, visions of her and Randy dancing through her mind.

Mark had woken up when the blanket had settled over him and gotten up, joints creaking from sleeping on her too short couch. It was large, but not quite long enough for him; he was nearly seven foot tall. He almost swung his legs right down on top of her, but stopped himself at the last moment, staring down at her. She was awake, that much was obvious, and it looked like she was trembling. Carefully, he leaned down to pull her up, setting her beside him on the sofa.

"You want somethin' to eat, darlin'?" Mark asked softly, knowing she hadn't touched a bite all day long, though he wouldn't be surprised if she wasn't hungry either.

"No..." Jasina whispered, not trusting her voice at the moment because all it would do is crack, wiping the tears from her eyes for what seemed like the millionth time. "What are you doing here?"

Even through the whispers, her voice sounded incredibly hoarse and rough from how hard she sobbed, keeping her eyes on her lap, suddenly realizing for the first time that day she was still in the dress from the previous night. But more importantly, what was Mark doing here in her apartment this late at night? She didn't even know he was there because her grief overshadowed everything else going on around her.

"I'm here for Arielle, and you." Mark said simply, not even remembering falling asleep to be honest. He had been sitting and staring at that photograph of Jasina and Randy, that was all he remembered and thinking about what had happened. Then the next thing he knew, he was waking up with a blanket over him. "Why were you laying on the floor out here?"

"I-I can't sleep in my room..." She leaned forward and put her head in her hands, trembling slightly, feeling Mark's hand rub her back soothingly. "H-He bought the bed for me...as a gift..." There was no way she could sleep in that bed because his scent was everywhere, which hurt her even more. Jasina just needed a moment where she wasn't thinking about him, but this apartment had all kinds of memories of her and Randy, including the couch. "I can't stay here..."

Maybe she could get a hotel room or something, but this apartment made Jasina feel like she was drowning, barely breathing. Mark had no idea what to say to that, though he did understand. This apartment was filled with memories of Randy and her life with Randy, he got that. After a moment, he cleared his throat.

"Do you wanna come stay at the ranch maybe?" Mark offered, knowing it was a long shot, but feeling like he should offer anyway. That and she did need to get out of here for a few days, it wouldn't help her any, not immediately. "Arie will probably come home and you can have the guest room or my room and I'll take the guest room…" He stopped rambling, clearing his throat again.

Jasina slowly looked up to stare at her ex, seeing how serious he was and wondered if that was such a good idea. She was really vulnerable right now and Jasina planned on spending several of her nights drinking in the coming days. Trish explained to her through sobbing that Randy's body had been found, what was left of it, and was being flown back to Houston for a funeral that Trish was setting up. Jasina suddenly felt the need to get out of this apartment even more and nodded, throwing her arms around Mark's neck, hugging him tightly.

"Thank you." She whispered, beginning to cry again, her tears soaking his neck and collar of his shirt.

Uncomfortable, but he didn't push her away, instead wrapped one arm around her and held on gently. He knew this was going to be a messed up time for her emotionally, not to mention Arielle, and made a mental note to shut down the shop for the rest of the week. He doubted Steve would be coming in and he wasn't about to leave his emotionally distraught daughter, or ex-wife, by themselves.

"Yer welcome, darlin'." Mark rumbled, gently prying her off of him and laid her down on the couch, moving to stand and stretch. "Get a bit more rest and we'll handle what needs to be handled in the mornin', alright?"

Jasina couldn't argue with Mark even if she wanted to, the exhaustion overtaking her entire body and nodded, her eyes already closing. She didn't feel the blanket covering her that she'd given Mark earlier, her tear stained face shining in the dim light that came from outside in the parking lot. Her hair was in complete disarray and her breathing was uneven from all the sobbing she'd done. Her chest would be killing her when she woke up, but for now all she could do was sleep. Randy was in her dreams and Jasina ended up silently crying while sleeping, wishing she hadn't been so cruel to him before he left.

Mark had figured out how to use her much different from his coffee pot and made a pot of coffee while everyone slept, sipping it while standing in her kitchen. He hadn't been able to go back to sleep but didn't want to leave, or wake anyone. He had used the bathroom to wash up the best he could, his hair pulled back into as neat a tail as he could manage. He had checked on Arielle and Gary, not minding that they were snuggled on the same bed, Arielle's face just as tear stained as her mother's though not quite as heartbroken.

When he seen Gary padding out, Mark just nodded. "Mornin'."

"Yeah." Gary muttered, still not believing it, not believing that Randy was gone.

A scream suddenly sounded throughout the apartment as Jasina bolted upright on the couch, teal eyes snapping open and looked around frantically. She'd scared the hell out of Mark and made him drop the cup of coffee he had while Gary looked white as a sheet, his heart still lodged in his throat. Her head snapped to the side when Mark rushed inside the living room and immediately started crying again, the reality nearly crushing her that Randy wasn't there.

He was really dead and gone.

Her mother's scream had awakened Arielle and she was currently standing in the hallway, eyes wide with fright. "W-What happened?!" She demanded shakily.

Gary and Mark just stared at Jasina, coffee pooling on the kitchen floor and Gary hesitantly walked towards Jasina. "Um..." He had been about to ask if she had had a bad dream, but that would have just been plain stupid.

"Nothin' darlin', yer Mom just woke up a bit rough." Mark said after recovering walking over to tilt Arielle's head back, not missing the sadness in her eyes and glanced back at Jasina, highly doubting she'd be going back to sleep just now.

"Mom..." Arielle slowly approached the couch and sat down, placing her hand over Jasina's, knowing she had to be strong for her mother right now. "You're okay, I'm here."

Jasina nodded, trembling slightly from the nightmare she just had, taking a few deep breaths to slow her racing heart. "I'm...okay." She squeezed Arielle's hand gently and slowly pulled the blanket away, standing up on shaky legs. "I'm gonna go clean up, would you mind getting me some coffee, sweetheart?"

"Yes, I'll bring it to you in the tub." Arielle was already heading toward the kitchen, Gary joining her to make sure she was alright.

Jasina glanced at Mark briefly before heading into the bathroom, slowly peeling out of the two day old dress, starting the bath water. She needed to be stronger than this because Arielle was picking up the pieces and that wasn't right. If anything, Jasina should've been picking up the pieces of her daughter, knowing how much this hurt Arielle because she was extremely close to Randy. Sniffling a little and fighting back tears, Jasina finished stripping and sank into the hot water, drawing her knees up instantly to her chest.

"Here, I'll brew a fresh batch." Mark said, having drank pretty much the entire pot and that last cup was now all over the floor. "Why don't you go get dressed darlin' while I clean this up and get that goin'?" He had learned the coffee pot didn't take that long to get going. "You can take her a cup in a second, give her a moment to get over her dream."

Nodding, Arielle headed to go change, the front of her stained dark from crying and blowing her nose in it.

"Pack up, ya'll are comin' home with me."

"Even Jasina?" Gary arched an eyebrow when Mark nodded. "O...kay."

Jasina looked up with the bathroom door opened, expecting to see her daughter, but instead it was Mark with a cup of hot java. She remembered what Mark offered the previous night and Jasina honestly didn't know how to thank him, accepting the cup, not even covering up because he'd seen her naked before. Hell, they'd been married, divorced by abandonment, tried getting back together and lasted for four years.

Now here they were again.

"Thanks." Jasina murmured softly and took a careful sip of the coffee while Mark set on the toilet seat, staring at her with those unreadable green eyes. "Are you sure you want me to stay with you? I can always get a hotel room or something, Mark."

"Darlin', you'd be payin' out the ass just to lay there and mourn, you can do that for free at my place. That and you'll be around Arielle, you two are goin' to need each other these comin' weeks." Mark said evenly, knowing Arielle was supposed to bring in the coffee, but she had been changing, found a shirt Randy had bought her and started crying.

He had hugged her, passed her over to Gary and gotten Jasina's coffee himself, knowing how she took it. They had been together for four years after all. Agreeing, Jasina didn't say anything more and knew she would be apartment hunting in the coming weeks while she was staying at Mark's.

It was hard to believe that she was about to stay in the same place she moved into for a week, only to leave because her relationship with Mark had faltered. The irony was simply too much and Jasina had to fight from crying, instead drinking her coffee. She'd already washed her hair and body, but couldn't find the strength to get out of the tub and definitely wasn't doing it while Mark was in here.

Mark didn't linger. They had gotten their generic words and what needed to be said, so he left, giving her privacy to finish up, or cry, whichever, maybe both. He ran a hand over the top of his head as he halted in the doorway to Arielle's room, his heart breaking -more like the pieces of his heart re-breaking- at the sight of her packing, or in the middle of packing, holding the camera she had received just the other day at her graduation party against her chest.

Gary was helping her pack up, deciding he would be staying at the ranch as well because Arielle needed him just as much as her parents. He looked up and saw Mark watching Arielle, keeping up the packing, kissing the top of Arielle's head while she packed the camera away Randy gave her. Gary hoped she went with her internship, having a feeling she would, even if it was only in memory of Randy.

Jasina stepped out of the tub and wrapped a towel around her body, covering the rest of herself up with a robe and walked out, heading for her bedroom. She didn't inhale because Jasina knew the scent of Randy still lingered in the air, his cologne always had made her heady. Jasina pulled just a pair of black jogging pants out with a matching t-shirt, all black, and brushed out her hair, beginning to pack up her things. She took two bags of clothes, her toiletries and makeup, along with another bag of work clothes, shoes and jewelry, walking out of the room, closing the door behind her. Arielle, Gary and Mark were waiting for her in the living room, Arielle immediately coming to her side.

"We'll get through this, sweetheart." Jasina murmured, both of them walking out of the door with Mark and Gary following, locking up the place before heading to the ranch.

Mark took his Harley, following behind Jasina in her car, Gary driving Arielle's SUV since Arie was in no condition to drive at all. He trusted Gary so he kept his attention on Jasina's car, hoping she was good to drive, knowing she was an emotional wreck at the moment. He was going to have a house full and didn't mind, preferring them to be there then in a hotel, knowing both Jasina and Arie needed to be around people who cared.

Of course, Arielle had Gary to help her through this and Jasina had...an emotional Trish, who had Steve call to let them know they had all the time they needed off. She was unable to talk at the moment apparently. Mark had taken that call and reminded himself to say something to Jasina and Arielle once they were settled in.