You've Got Nothing To Lose

Laney Hull-Baker



Brian Haner Jr.



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Zachary Baker


To say that Zacky was having a rough patch lately would be an understatement. It would be such a fucking understatement that the man would of probably laughed in your face if you asked if he was having a "rough" day. It started when he left his wife. Logically it was for the best. Their marriage had become so fucking toxic, no trust, screaming matches, until Zachary just didn't know why they stayed together. The divorce had been nasty; Gena promising to do what she could to make his life miserable including taking a sizable amount of his bank statement with her. They guys had all been supportive as possible, but frankly Zachary had just been in a foul mood, his drinking increased, he spent most nights high and sometimes someone warming his bed. Though he never let them linger around. Then he met Meagan, and fucking hell he was happy.

He'd laughed for the first time in months, and instead of drowning a bottle alone, they'd finish it off together. His friends seemed to like her well enough and the blonde was always encouraging of whatever it was Zacky wanted to do. New music, touring- whatever. Than of course his old green-eyed monster reared it's head when she'd left her Facebook on his laptop open, and it showed she'd been messaging her ex. There was nothing incriminating, it just looked like they were catching up from the two messages he'd glimpsed at; but it was enough for Zachary to egg Megs into a fight. A fight which landed him in Vegas spending most of boozed up to point he couldn't remember his own name, and when he finally found himself back on his planeride home sobering up; he could vaguely recall a girl. Of course he panicked but waved it off as nothing. Even in his drunken state he thought he still loved Megan.

He'd asked his friends if anything had happened and while they weren't sure; they didn't think so. So Zachary had gone home, bought his girlfriend a rather showy vase of flowers (she liked that kind of crap) and the two had made up. Vegas was gone from his mind by dinner as he'd lost himself in Megan. You could imagine his surprise when he got a phone call from his lawyer informing Zacky he needed to get his ass down to office as there was a problem. That tone left little room for negotiation, so he'd bid farewell to his girlfriend before driving to the lawyer's office; wondering what the fuck was going on. His question was answered as soon as he walked through the door. A curvy blonde was sitting with his lawyer in the waiting room, her eyes large and unsure. Opening his mouth to greet her, Zacky had promptly snapped it back shut again as memories came pouring back to him.

That chance meeting, bumping into her quite literally at the bar. Zacky had bought her drinks, complimented her, opened up and spilled himself to her. And they... They had gotten married? The meeting wasn't quite as brutal as he thought it'd been, they had both expressed wants to get divorced; and so with that Zacky thought it would be clear sailing. His lawyer had managed to squeeze them in that day to get everything finalized, and that's when life absolutely fucked him over. The judge, a crotchety old man had listened to their story and had fixed Zachary with an expression that made his stomach turn cold. He'd gotten a big lecture after the judge found out he'd been recently divorced, and received a lecture about the sanction of marriage. He then refused to let this girl he hardly knew, to divorce him.

Six months. Seeing a marriage therapist. And if Zacky didn't comply not only could this girl, he found out her name was Laney, take half of his money and file for alimony on the house, but could also additionally fine him and hold him in contempt of court. Of course Zachary had no choice but to have Laney move in, and tell Megan who'd been pissed. Like to the point if, given six months Zachary didn't think she'd talk to him. But about five days later she'd begun talking to him; asking if there was anything they could do. Zacky promised to look into it; and wasn't quite sure what this made Megan. Was he supposed to stop seeing her? When he'd been married to Gena part of their trust issues was because she cheated on him. It felt like shit and he would never do that to another human being- but Laney didn't love him. At least he didn't think so. He was just a stupid, drunken mistake. That had been two weeks ago; today found Zachary sprawled out on the porch swing waiting for her to pull up. He'd hired moving things to move some of her shit into the house so they could at least attempt to "have a marriage" but so far she had yet to show.

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Wynter Ambrosious


She'd gone and done it now, part of her was cursing herself for even coming. There was no reason she couldn't of done this on her own; but for what seemed like the millionth time that day that if Nikolai ever wanted to know his father that door should be open. And coming back after four years would probably be a lot easier than coming back in fourteen. She'd wordlessly followed him into the house, it hadn't changed a bit. As he told her to lay Niko in one of the backrooms she nodded, scurrying off. It was like riding a bicycle, reading his moods that was. He was pissed and right now nothing she say would likely help calm him down. They really hadn't been there long. Not long enough for her to get her thoughts together. Nikolai was sound asleep, and would be for a good couple hours. He would likely be a devil trying to put down tonight; but she didn't want this conversation to take place in front of him.

Leaving the door open so she could easier hear if he woke she took a deep breath, leaning against the wall trying her best not to break down. She wasn't here for her. This was about Niko and whatever was to happen; would happen. Taking slow steps, feeling two feet tall at this point Wynter made her way back into the living room, where he was pacing back and forth. There was tension boiling beneath his skin, enough to give her pause in just leaving. She could deal with a lot of things. Raising a kid, taking the world- but one thing she could not deal with was ruining the one relationship she'd cherished. "Is he mine?" Wasting no time in firing questions at her Wynter avoided his gaze for a moment before nodding ever so slowly. "Yeah." She raised her gaze in time to watch his jaw clench; taking the opportunity to broaden her answer.

"I don't care what you think of me. I'm not here for us. I'm here because Nikolai- that's his name, deserves to have at least met his father." Things would be different if Brian were a shitty human being. In fact it would be easier for her. "I... I should of come sooner I know but I didn't really know how to get in contact with you and I-" She hadn't wanted to been the person to chain him down because of a careless night that had been nothing but impulse and lust. However, Wynter could find the words that she wanted to say to him. She knew how much it would of hurt to have her disappear like that. The salt in his wounds, was sound asleep in the other room. "I haven't moved back or anything. I just wanted you to know." She finally concluded, subconsciously keeping a distance between them.

She didn't expect his forgiveness. No that would be outlandish; more outlandish than having to introduce him to Nikolai three years after he'd been born. The tension in the air made her heart quicken and for a moment she didn't doubt he'd be yelling if he felt he could. And while it broke her heart, Brian at the end of the day could of her what he would. She didn't think that now would be the time to admit she'd nearly had to of been dragged here by Leanne. Wynter hadn't ever wanted to be the one that betrayed Brian in the manner she did. But she hadn't known she was pregnant when she left, and even if she had- she was young and stupid and thought it was for the best. He hadn't wanted kids for awhile, and to an extent a custody battle horrified Wynter; another reason she'd put off coming. "I'm sorry." She finally murmured, unsure if that was even loud enough for him to hear her.

@ mollymurach
Laney frowned staring down at the box in front of her. She hated how things were being twisted, her life had finally taken the turn she wanted. But now she was faced with the biggest challenge ever. And honestly she'd never wanted this. It was different fighting for something you wanted but now. She couldn't fathom how to fight for this. Why? Why should she fight for a man that she didn't know, or want for that matter. It hurt knowing her life was now going to be dictated by circumstances of a marriage.

A marriage she was to drunk to even remember, sighing as she watched the movers pack away her things. She wasn't thrilled about moving. Her condo was a find and now she was moving to god knows where to live with her husband. Her landlord wasn't to happy about it either, since her lease wasn't up. Biting her lip she sat on the floor a placed her head in her hands.

She had to remember that it was only for six months, but six months could break a person. She knew because her last relationship had been with an abusive asshole. He'd been the sweetest guy in the world, and not even six months of living together she found herself in the hospital more times than she could count. And getting away from him wasn't easy. But then again nothing in her life had been easy.

"Ma'am," she heard a soft gruff voice. Dropping her hands she looked up into the face of one of the movers. "We're ready to go." He informed her, nodding she stood. It had taken them most of the morning to load all of her stuff. Then they had to take things to storage and unload it there. So now they were just taking what she needed to Zack's house.

"Okay." She said standing off the floor, she'd already made sure they'd packed up everything. So locking the door behind her she headed to her car. Now all she had to do was face him, again. And right now she wasn't in the mood. Since she was tired and needed a shower.

---

Brian pulled into his driveway, after a breakfast date. He wasn't sure why he'd agreed to go. But she was a pleasant little thing, and it was refreshing to have been with someone with a head on her shoulders. Shaking his head he got out of his car, and noticed somebody sitting on his steps. He wondered if they had the wrong house. Because he'd lived here for years and didn't know anybody with a kid.

It wasn't until she stood and started to make her way over to him that Brian finally realized who she was. A small gasp left his lips, she had returned. His eyes shifted down to the stroller and then back to her. She had a kid. Feeling anger rise in him he bit the inside of his cheek. He knew going off on her wasn't the answer, and he knew that with a kid in the mix could be hazardous. Gulping back his words he let her speak first.

"Hey?" He questioned her, he didn't like that she was joking around. But he had to keep reminding himself their was a kid in front of him. "Uh, yeah." He said rubbing the back of his neck, before moving towards his front door. Unlocking the door he held the door open for her to enter, he didn't know how long she and the kid had been there and now he felt worse for being on a date. But he couldn't help living his life. She hadn't stopped so why should he.

"You can lay him down in the back bedroom." He informed her, knowing she knew her way around his house. And it would be the best place for her to be able to hear the kid if anything happened. Moving into the living room he started to pace. He didn't know what the hell was going on and his mind was filled with what if scenarios. And some made him angrier than ever, but he wanted to hear her out before he let his anger get the best of him, so jumping to conclusions wasn't what he was going to do.

Waiting until she returned he decided that he wasn't going to beat around the bush he had to know, there was only one reason she'd bring a kid to his door, right? "Is he mine?" He asked, he didn't care about the rest right now, the one questioned he needed answers to was this one. He didn't care why she left, or what she'd been doing since. And why she hadn't got a hold of him sooner. He needed to know if he had a kid.