unconditional.

“Your dad’s picking you up from school today, kiddo.” Sienna spoke to her six-year-old daughter in the back seat. “Mama and Max are going on a trip this weekend.” Hazel eyes glanced in the review mirror and spotted Jagger, who looked up from her tablet for the briefest of seconds, shrugged, and then went back to whatever game she was playing. Sienna shook her head as she pulled into the school parking lot, cutting off the engine. “Come on, brat.” The young mother grinned. She got out of the car and walked around to the back, patiently waiting for Jagger to unbuckle herself from her booster seat.

After grabbing her backpack and slinging it over her shoulders, the little one jumped out of the backseat and immediately grabbed her mother’s hand. Once Sienna locked the car, the two began walking towards the entrance of Pleasant Plains elementary. Students and parents were still filtering in, moving with a little bit of a quickness because it was almost time for the first bell. Once they reached the door, Sienna kneeled down so she was at Jagger’s eye level. “Okay, kid. Be good at your dad’s. I’ll call you later tonight before bedtime so I can tell you goodnight. I love you.” She gave her daughter a kiss and stood up, watching her walk into the school before heading back to her car.

This would be Jagger’s first time sleeping over at Rian’s since the divorce had been finalized and he moved out of Zack’s place. Ever since she was born, Jagger had never been out of her mother’s sight for more that a few minutes, so Sienna was understandably hesitant. But on the other hand, she was desperate to go on this trip. It was something that she and Max needed.

For the last few months or so, nightly arguments after Jagger went to sleep were a regular thing between Max and Sienna. At first, it was just bickering about little things, like what to have for dinner, or who forgot to record something on the DVR. That turned into full on shouting matches. A few weeks prior, the fight escalated so much that Max punched Sienna right in the jaw. He was immediately apologetic, swearing that he would never do it again. That turned out to be a lie because the very next night, he did it again. And the night after that, and the night after that, until it became a daily thing.
On Thursday of that week, Max approached Sienna after Jagger went to bed. He once again expressed his apologies for how he had been treating Sienna, offering excuses about work stressing him out. To make up for it, Max had booked a room at a little bed and breakfast for the weekend.

Sienna hoped that everything would go smoothly.

Rian was barely settled back into reality since everything went down. Most people his age were just getting married and having children. But at 31, almost 32, he had already been married and had a child, but sadly, that resulted in a settlement, barely seeing his kid, and child support and alimony. Which - he didn’t mind paying. Hell, he had more than enough money and always wanted to make sure Sierra and Jagger were more than comfortable. Even if he couldn’t be there, he wanted to let them both know, he’d always be there for them.

He was still unpacking and wanted to make sure everything was ready for Jagger. It would be the first time Sierra had let her sleep over and he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t over the moon about it. The only thing he wasn’t over the moon about was Sierra’s new man. Seeing their pictures on Facebook, there was something about him that Rian didn’t like. Alex and him would have this conversation a lot, both recently divorcées. Alex was convinced Rian hated him because a.) he was sleeping with Rian’s ex-wife, but b.) Rian was still in love with Sierra, even if he didn’t want to admit it.

Of course he was still in love with her. He would never deny that. They were best friends, like she would repeat from Grey’s, each other’s person. He had always been head over heals for her and he thought the same thing. Until one day, she wanted a divorce. He didn’t want it, but he went along if it would make her happy.

As soon as all the emotions came flooding back, his alarm went off. Fuck. He was supposed to leave the house a half hour ago to go pick up Jagger from school, and he knew with this traffic, he wouldn’t get there in time. He jumped in his car and called the only person he could think of. Once the phone picked up he started panicking.

“Listen Si, I know you are supposed to be on your trip, but if by any chance you’re home, can you please, please grab Jag from school? Ingot too caught up making sure her room was all set and lost track of time.”

Sienna had just finished packing her bag when her phone rang. She looked over, seeing the name Chip Skylark flash across the screen. What the hell was Rian doing calling her? She sighed gently and picked up the phone. “Hello?” Sienna asked, putting her phone on speaker so she could continue what she was doing. When said that he lost track of time and needed her to pick Jagger up from school, she stopped in her tracks. “Are you fucking KIDDING me, Rian? I give you ONE thing to do. One thing! And you can’t even remember to pick your daughter up from school? What if I had already left? The only other person able to pick her up would be Lisa.” She sighed, running a hand through her night colored hair. “The only reason that I’m not canceling this and having Jagger stay with my mom is that she’s super excited to see you. It would break her heart.” Not wanting to escalate this into a full-blown fight, Sienna took a deep breath and tried to calm down.

“Okay. I’ll get her, Rian. But I can’t keep doing this. You have a six-year-old. It’s time to be a grown up.” Sienna hung up without saying goodbye, tossing her phone onto the bed in anger. How was it that after all this time, Rian still hadn’t managed to grow up? She’d be lying if she said that the dissolution of their marriage didn’t break her heart. But it was adult time now—they couldn’t keep living like they did when they were in their twenties. Especially because they had Jagger. The little firecracker was enough to get Sienna to straighten up. But sadly, the same couldn’t be said for Rian.
Sienna turned around and began to exit the bedroom. She jumped a foot in the air when she saw Max standing in the doorway. Her stomach sank when she saw that he was wearing a scowl and his muscular arms were folded over his chest. “H-hey, baby… what’s up?” She squeaked out.

“Why the fuck were you on the phone with your ex-husband?” Max accused, stepping further into the room. Sienna’s gut feeling was to back up, but she decided against it. She knew that would only add to Max’s anger.

“Rian’s a fucking moron, he lost track of time, and he needs us to pick Jag up from school before we head out. I’m sorry.” Sienna spoke. The words had barely left her mouth when Max’s hand collided with her head in the form of an open palm slap. Sienna stumbled slightly, putting her hands up to defend herself as Max slapped her again, and then a third time for good measure. Max held her wrist in a vice grip and yanked her forward, glaring the whole time.

“That’s none of my fucking concern. So you decided to fuck an idiot who can’t even take care of his own child, so I have to pick up the slack. PATHETIC.” Max shoved Sienna away from him, shaking his head in disgust. “Fucking hurry up. We don’t have all day.”

Hearing her upset made his jaw tighten as he drove faster. “Listen, I didn’t mean to. I was making sure everything was perfect.” He kept trying to feed her the same lines but he knew he messed up. And he knew, ultimately, that it wouldn’t matter and he was an idiot for not setting his alarm earlier. “I know I fucked up, just meet me at the old house? I can be there in 15.” By old house, he means her house. He knew he couldn’t live there without them, so he signed it over to her in the divorce.

His mind kept wandering, it would have been easier if he wasn’t such an idiot. He would have had to see her and think about how he messed up on tour, which ultimately got them into this situation. He wanted to prove to her he was better now, not drinking as much, hell, he’s on a year break right now. He wanted to be the best for their daughter. He knew there was no saving the romantic part of them but hopefully Sierra and him could come to some sort of resolution.

He parked his car in the driveway and saw the little girl and her mother. He went around the back, tapping the back of her car letting he know he was there before opening Jaggers side. She yelled in delight, thinking her father abandoned her, which broke his heart, but nevertheless, he unbuckled her and gave her a tight squeeze. “Missed ya, Bug.” He whispered in her ear before kissing the top of her head. He shut her door and walked around to Sierra’s side.

“I think mommy’s trying to avoid me cause she’s mad.” Rian pretended to whisper to Jagger, who stood still like she saw a ghost. Rian looked at Sierra the back at Jagger as his eyebrow raised in question. “Hey Bug, did I say something?” He asked as she shook her head and started crying.

“I just don’t want mommy to hit you like Max does when he’s mad at mommy.” She said, innocently. His eyes shot daggers in Sierra’s direction. “I’m sorry, what?!” His voice raised, surprised and worry filling his face because of the concern he had for his ex wife.

Sienna’s heart rate doubled almost instantaneously. Fuck. She thought. The brunette knew she had to think of something quick. “She probably heard us play fighting yesterday. He nudged me when I tried to tickle him. No biggie.” Sienna lied effortlessly, slinging her purse over her shoulder as Max exited the house with the last two bags. “Besides, Rian—it’s awfully bold of you to act like you’re concerned about my relationship.” With one last kiss to Jagger’s forehead, Sienna climbed into the passenger seat and buckled her seatbelt, waving at Jagger as she and Max pulled out of the driveway and began heading down the road.

“I can’t wait for you to see this place, baby. It’s gorgeous. We have a room with a view of the beach, a hot tub—it’s the perfect getaway.” Max spoke, offering Sienna his hand. She took it, giving it a gentle squeeze. “This is something that we really need. Just a chance to clear our heads, you know?” He continued to ramble, acting as if the argument they had before Sienna picked Jagger up from school had never happened.

Sienna looked out the window as they headed toward their destination, wondering what the hell she was doing with her life. Why was she staying in this relationship where she was hit every god damn day? She couldn’t even follow the same advice that she gave her first grader—if someone ever laid a hand on you, tell a grown up. Don’t let them keep hurting you. But who could she tell? The only friend she really talked to anymore was Lisa- and she was all wrapped up in her new relationship. Sienna didn’t want to be that friend and burden Lisa with her problems when she was so happy. If only Rian hadn’t ruined their marriage by drinking all the time, and sleeping with Cassadee after he swore they were done. Sienna knew without a doubt that they would still be married.

“I love you, baby.” Max mumbled, interrupting her thoughts.

“I love you, too.” Sienna echoed. But for the first time, there was a little bit of doubt in her voice.

There was a couple of things that Rian was sure about in life. Like gun to head, could tell you to save a life kind of sure. One of those things being when Sienna is called out on her bullshit and is lying. He was about to retort before she spoke again, his words cutting him like a knife. If it didn’t hurt enough that he was alone and could barely see his child, the fact she had already moved on and was dating was something he could barely handle. “Your right, Si. I’m a terrible person for making sure the mother of my child is safe. I’ll remind myself not to ask in the future.” He said, his face obviously troubled as he put Jagger in the backseat so she could get herself situated and he took off.

Their night together was everything he could ever want, though. They stayed watching scary movies, even if Sienna wouldn’t approve. They made those horrible sugar cookies that had designs on them already. He even had her help decorate the house so it was ready for fall. All the things they did together when they were a family, but now just separated. It would help him in the long run anyway, since he’d have her pictures and decorations up, he knew that he would see her when he could and that this would be the best thing in the end.

After she was ready for bed, it was about 9pm. They were reading a story in her bed, waiting for Sienna to call and say goodnight. The little dark haired girl smiled up at him, half asleep, and went on a mini rant. “Listen, daddy, mommy is just stressed out and I don’t think you should be mad at her. She doesn’t think I can hear them because they’re in the other room, but I know she’s not happy with Max. But she won’t listen to me cause I’m little. Max is cool and all, but I don’t like how mean he is to her, daddy.” The little girl went on and on, his heart breaking for the both of them. He shushed her and told her he’d handle everything, not even knowing if he could or not. By the time they were done with their books, she was passed out and he had heard no word from Sienna, which was not like her at all.

Hey, don’t bother calling. She ended up passing out. I tried to keep her up as late as I could, but she’s like you if she doesn’t get enough sleep, so I’ll have her call tomorrow morning. he texted her as he walked out of Jagger’s room and down the stairs. He tossed his phone on the couch as he began picking up around the house, he sign that he was stressed out. Since the divorce, he cut down a lot on the drinking, hoping one day Si would take notice. After about 20 minutes, he went back to his phone and saw multiple texts from Cassadee. He rolled his eyes and ignored them, not wanting to deal with her drama. And noticed Sienna still hadn’t texted back. Hey, me again. Look, I didn’t mean to make you upset earlier. I just don’t like how Bug is talking about him. You don’t seem like your typical self, it’s like something is weighing you down. But I’ll step out of it if you want me to. Just text me back you’re alright, please? I still love and care about you, Si. That never stopped and it never will.

The first few hours of their little vacation were heavenly. Sienna was extremely surprised to find out the owner of the little Inn they were staying at was none other than Elise. The two had kept in contact ever since Elise had moved, so Sienna was surprised that she didn’t say anything about coming back to town. Once the two friends had a happy reunion, Sienna and Max went up to their room.

It was beautiful, everything that Max said it would be. Maybe he was right, Sienna thought to herself. Maybe this little weekend getaway was exactly what they needed to get on track.

Fast forward to around 9:30 that evening. Sienna and Max had gone to dinner at a little beach front restaurant and walked along the shoreline before heading back to the room. The brunette announced to her boyfriend that she was going to take a shower before calling Jagger and turning in for the evening. After grabbing her pajamas, Sienna headed into the bathroom and shut the door behind her.

She had just rinsed the shampoo out of her hair when the bathroom door flew open, scaring the shit out of her. “Do you think I’m some kind of fucking idiot?” Max yelled, ripping open the glass door to the shower and dragging Sienna out by her hair. Once she was out of the shower, he slapped her as hard as he possibly could, sending her staggering into the wall. “What are you talking about?” Sienna spoke, still stunned by the sudden attack. Max shoved her again, making Sienna’s head thud loudly against the wall and causing her to cry out in pain.

“Don’t you fucking talk to me like that!” Max yelled. He finally let go of Sienna, only to retrieve her cell phone from his pocket and read something to her. “’I still love and care about you, Si. That never stopped and it never will.’” He sneered before looking at Sienna again. “I’m not a moron. You’re fucking your ex husband! You stupid cunt!” He threw her phone to the ground, shattering it instantly.

Sienna started to sputter out that it wasn’t true, that she had no idea why Rian had texted her, but it wasn’t doing any good. Max had worked himself into such a fervor that He wasn’t hearing the tearful pleas of his girlfriend to stop hitting her. Nothing that Sienna was doing could get him to stop. She kept trying to block her face, but Max kept landing punches. She shoved him away, but that just added to his rage. Eventually, Sienna just curled up in a ball and closed her eyes while she waited for Max to tire himself out.

**

What felt like hours later, Sienna was still sitting up awake while Max snored loudly, having beaten Sienna until he fell asleep. Every bone in her body was screaming in pain. She knew that she couldn’t go on like this—if she didn’t do something right then, she never would. Silently, so as not to wake Max and exacerbate things further, Sienna slipped on her vans and padded to the bathroom to see if her phone was still usable. She needed to call someone for help. She cursed inwardly when she picked up the device and saw that it was now defunct.

Sienna tip toed out of the bathroom and grabbed the keys to Max’s car off the bedside table, slowly inching toward the door. Once she was safely on the other side, she booked it to the parking lot and jumped into the driver’s seat, putting the key in the ignition and peeling out of the parking lot.

“Where the fuck do I go from here?” Sienna asked herself out loud as she reached the first stop light. She couldn’t go back to the house—Max would go there immediately after waking up and discovering her gone. Her parents would absolutely FLIP if she showed up at their house at two thirty in the morning. That only left one option.

With a shaky hand, Sienna punched Lisa’s address into the GPS.

Rian spent the better parts of the night in a state of anger and freaking out. She had the nerve to make him feel like an ass for running late while he set up the house for his daughter, but she can go off with her new boyfriend and forget all her responsibilities? There was a lot of things she could pin on Rian. He might have had a drinking problem, or he might not see his kid as much as he should, but he never missed calling her. Even if he was in a completely different country or timezone. The fact that Sienna could do this made his blood boil in anger. Not because she didn’t care, but he knew at the end of the day it was the fuckface that was doing this.

Listen, you tell fuckface to fuck off. You have a family and if he can’t reapect that then you’re definitely not the person I married. I can’t believe you didn’t call. his fingers stroke the keys before he could even think long enough, he sent it before going downstairs into his studio.

Rian had been mastering a few songs before all of a sudden there was a knock at the studio door. At first, Alex was standing there, his hands in his pockets before he saw the familiar red and blue lights. His eyebrow quirked in curiosity, wondering what his best friend could have done. “I tried to make it here before they did. But there’s been a problem. Elise had to file domestic charges on Sienna’s boyfriend because apparently there were several complaints and damages done. He’s reporting grand theft auto, so they’re coming to find her. Lisa called me and she’s there. I’ll handle them here but you need to go check on Sienna. She’s not looking so hot, according to Lisa.” He responded, his face trying to search Rians for any expression.

Rian ran out the door and jumped in his car to get to Lisa’s before the cops got to his house. He drove like an idiot to the other side of Baltimore to the old Gaskarth residence before banging on the door. It didn’t take long before Lisa emerged, her face revealing she had seen a lot more than she had planned to that night. “ where the fuck is she, Lisa? I need to see her.” He demanded, the usual carefree Rian was replaced by his over protective self.

"Do you have any idea what time it- oh my god. Sienna, what happened?" Lisa ushered her friend inside, gently putting a hand on her shoulder as she led her to the kitchen. Sienna tearfully explained what had happened to Lisa over the next few minutes while Lisa cleaned her up, bandaging up her cuts and helping to pick out the little bits of glass from the shower door that were still in her arms. "I'm sorry that I woke you up... I didn't know where else to go." Sienna hiccupped, putting her head in her hands. Lisa pulled her friend into a hug, rubbing her back in a sympathetic manner. "Don't even apologize, Sienna. I'm so glad that you got yourself out of there. I'm gonna get you set up in the Den, and then I'm gonna make a call." She spoke, a yawn leaving her mouth as she led her tattooed best friend to the den.

Sienna took a seat on the couch and grabbed a blanket off the back, suddenly shivering. "I'm gonna get you some coffee. I'll be right back." Lisa spoke before turning around and heading back into the kitchen. Once she was by herself, Sienna finally let the tears leak out of her eyes. She was terrified. Yeah, she had finally left Max. But Sienna was scared out of her mind at the possibility of what would happen now. What if Max found her? What if he got ahold of Jagger? The very thought churned the mother's stomach.

Lisa entered the den once more, snapping Sienna out of her thoughts. "Here you go, Si. Drink this. It'll help you feel better. I'm gonna go ahead and make a call. If you need anything, you know where it is. Please help yourself." Lisa gave her best friend another gentle hug before exiting the room, pulling her phone out of her robe pocket and dialing. Sienna reached for the television remote and turned it on, eager for anything to drown out the noise in her head. She scrolled through the channels until she found something and took a sip of coffee as she tried to calm down.

"Hey," Lisa spoke, poking her head into the room. "I just tried to call Rian, but he didn't answer the phone. So I managed to get ahold of Alex. After I told him what happened and made him promise not to rip that asshole's throat out, he told me he was going to drive over to Rian's new place and get ahold of him." She whispered softly. "Do you want me to sit with you?"

Sienna nodded yes, so tired now that she wasn't able to speak.

Rian’s knuckles were white from grabbing the steering wheel as hard as he could. His Bluetooth playing Elise’s voice from the speakers as he tried to get all the information he could. Guilt had settled into his gut thinking knowing deep down he should have never sent her anything if he had a suspicion that her new douchebag would do anything like this. Most people don’t give two thoughts about their ex. A lot of people go about their day even hating them. But he could never do that to Si. He had made a lot of mistakes, but he was still as desperately in love with her like he had been since he first laid eyes on her.

His mind tuned back to Elise as he drove through the dark backroads of the suburbs. “...then he came down and started tearing apart my check in desk and tried to flip it over. That and the complaints from the rooms around them, I had to call the police. So he’s not going to be out until his court date, so you need to get Si to the police.” The redhead was speaking a hundred miles a minute. Rian tried grasping everything but his thoughts kept going back to Si and how terrified she must be right now.

Rian finally hung up the phone with El as he pulled up to the house. He saw the car she had taken off in earlier that day. When she was forcing a smile and pretending everything was all right. It took him all his strength not to break out the back windshield. He knew it wouldn’t do Sienna any good since she’s the one with the car. But he made a mental note to remember to catch him off guard and to throw bologna or lick jolly ranchers and stick them to the car.

He walked up his ex-wife’s best friends house and pulled out his own key for the house. He was lucky in this instance that Lisa never asked for it back after any of their divorces. “SI?!” He yelled out in the foyer, not knowing where to look. He heard the tv and smelt coffee so he walked towards the smell and sound and saw both of them on the couch. So badly beaten and in a state of shock. He choked up seeing her like this, mad he couldn’t protect her, and ran to her side, dropping next to her and wrapping his arms around her. “I’m going to fucking kill this dick for what he did to you.” He whispered into her ear, finally breaking down. He almost never cried, only really on 3 other occasions: their wedding, Jagger’s birth, and their divorce.

@ saraya-jade.

During the hour or so that it took for Rian to arrive at Lisa’s home, Sienna filled her daughter’s godmother in on what happened during her eight-month long relationship with Max. It had been so long since she was one hundred percent honest with someone that it felt wonderful to spill her guts, like a weight being lifted off her shoulders. Lisa, probably hearing more than she ever expected to, sat there and listened to every word that Sienna spoke, holding her hand in a comforting way.

Lisa was just about to respond to Sienna when Rian entered the home, calling out for his ex-wife. Sienna was almost ashamed for Rian to see her like this—she’d been pretending that everything was fine for so long now that she was embarrassed of her situation. Rian entered the room and Sienna almost broke down again at the look on his face. She had only seen him this sad once before, when she handed him the divorce papers and told him she wanted out.

“Rian,” she whispered, throwing her arms around him and squeezing him tight. Almost immediately, Sienna felt protected. That’s how it always was—when she felt like her world was going up in flames and only terrible things were happening, a few soft words and soothing touches from Rian made everything okay again. She inhaled his scent as she tried to relax, comforting Rian in the process. “I need to take another shower. I feel disgusting.” Sienna mumbled, turning her head to the sided to cough.

“Honey, I know you do, but you can’t right yet.” Lisa spoke as she leaned against the door frame. “You have to go to the police about what happened, and they need to take pictures for evidence against Max.”

@ saraya-jade.

With her hands around him, squeezing him tight, Rian tried pretending that Sienna wasn’t battered and bruised. He just wanted to squeeze her so she knew how he felt, how he never stopped loving her, even if they did decide to go their separate ways. He was foolish. He wanted what was on the other side, and that price was hard to pay. But it was worse now because if he hadn’t slept with Cassadee that one day he was too drunk, she wouldn’t be standing in front of him covered in blood, cuts, and bruises.

He kissed the top of her forehead and shushed her from talking. Lisa spoke the common sense they all needed to hear at that moment. There was going to be hell to pay, but he was going to make sure he was right there for her. “Alex has Jag, lets get you to the police station and then they’ll probably make you go to the hospital, just to make sure there’s no internal bleeding or concussions.” He spoke softly into her ear, not letting her go for the life of him. He had let her go once, and he knew not to do it again.

Lisa walked out of the room to gather the dark haired girls things while Rian rocked her. “After the hospital, we’ll go back to my house. We can tell Jag you got into an accident, Alex will take her, then you can take a nice long bath and I’ll be at your becking call. When I bought the house and saw the bathroom, I knew you’d be jealous and want to take a bath in the tub.” He tried to lighten up the mood before he held her straight and looked into her eyes, his forehead resting on hers. “I’m so, so sorry, Si. I should have never texted you that — if I had known what he was like...” he whispered, the words regurgitating out of his mouth like vomit. “But I still mean every word.” He said softly, trying to register where her mind was at.

Just the sound of Rian's voice was enough to bring a sense of calm to Sienna. "Rian... don't blame yourself, please. I got myself into this mess, I should have left the first time he put his hands on me-- this is a whole big mess...." Sienna wiped her eyes, trying to block out the million things she now had to do. A small weight was taken off her shoulders when she heard that Jagger was with her godfather. The brunette knew that Alex would commit murder if anyone dared to come near Jagger. "I know you meant every word, Rian...and I love you, too. I always have and I always will. But can we talk more about everything in the car or later? I'm pretty sure that Lisa will kill us both if she isn't able to get some sleep." Sienna chuckled slightly, pulling away from Rian but still holding his hand. She felt if she let go, she would break down again.

Sienna padded out of the Den and into the kitchen where Lisa was getting her things together. "Do you need anything else from me, Si?" Lisa asked, gently resting her hand on Sienna's cheek. Sienna shook her head no. "I think I'm good, Lis... but thank you for everything you did for me tonight. I'm just glad you opened the door." Sienna laughed. "When I told you the door was always open, I meant it. Twenty four seven. Please text me when you get to Rian's place... and give the baby a kiss from her auntie Lisa." With a final hug, the two best friends parted ways and Sienna followed Rian out to his car, climbing in and smiling slightly when she saw Jagger's booster seat in the back.

Her body still ached with pain, but Sienna felt safer by the second. "I'm going to need to help getting my stuff from the old house... do you think Muscles would mind?" She asked quietly, using her nickname for Zack.

@ saraya-jade.

Rian heard her speak and sat with a perplex facial expression. He wanted nothing more than to shut her up - not in the way she had been used to with the dickbag she had been with since their breakup. He wanted to just wrap his hands in her hair and kiss her so she knew how much he missed her and how she didn’t need to apologize for anything. Especially given the circumstances. Instead, he kept his arm around her shoulders and lead her out of the room. “Listen, I don’t know how she’s not throwing us out. She scares the shit out of me.” He laughed as he watched the friends say goodbye to each other as he hugged and said goodbye to his long time friend.

He was lost in his thoughts on the way to the hospital. He kept having the same thoughts about if he had controlled his drinking problem before the end of the marriage, she wouldn’t have been in this predicament. What were they even going to tell Jagger? “Oh mommy got into a car accident?” How much was she going to actually believe before she realizes what she was crying about to him actually came true? But on the other side, how happy was she going to be when she realizes that they would spend more time together? And if Rian had his way — maybe theyd even get back together.

When her thoughts broke through the silent meltdown he was having, he grabbed her and and smiled, looking at her in the passenger seat. He shrugged his shoulders before turning his attention back to the road. “His ass is in town anyway because we are recording with Squire. Might as well put those muscles to use.” He laughed as he kept driving.

Sienna gave Rian’s hand a light squeeze as she looked out the window, listening to him speak. “I’m surprised you even got him to come up here from the Island,” she laughed as she mentioned Zack’s love of his new home. “Did he bring Liv with him, or did she stay back?” Sienna asked curiously. She didn’t have a chance to really get close with Olivia—she was being brought into the fold just as Sienna was divorcing Rian. The young mother listened patiently as Rian spoke, using his words to distract her from what was going on. After about ten minutes, the pair arrived at Sinai Hospital.

“Remember the last time we were here?” Sienna spoke nostalgically. “I was in labor with Jagger and Jack pretty much had a stroke because I was sitting on his new couch!” She laughed at the memory as they walked through the front door of the hospital. Sienna felt bad as she approached the nurse at the front desk—the poor woman looked like she had just seen a ghost when Sienna walked up with Rian. “I was attacked by my ex-boyfriend…I need to get checked out so I can file a police report.” She spoke, her voice wavering only slightly. Her fear was diminished greatly now that she was with Rian and she knew that Max couldn’t get to her.

Mercifully, the nurse was a fan and realized that the two would need privacy. Sienna and Rian were quickly ushered into a room and told that a doctor would be with them as soon as possible. Sienna relaxed as best she could in the bed, exhaustion hitting her like a train.

@ saraya-jade.

“He wasn’t originally going to bring her because of all the breakups happening.” He spoke softly, the subject being still a little touchy for him. “I told him to bring her anyway, tho, she’s a great person. Jack is back with Rose, Elise and Alex seem to be doing alright, and I just don’t tend to hang out as much passed rehearsals and such. I’m a-.” He was all of a sudden nervous as he looked back at her, scared he was going to scare her away with talking so much. “I-uh- cut down on my drinking a lot since-well-you know. Love the guys, I do, but I know I have to cut down on partying so hard when I have a family at home.” He spoke matter of factory as he pulled into the hospital.

As they walked the cold streets towards the entrance, Rian laughed as she brought up her labor. They had been the stereotypical, overreacting first time parents who never left the house, just in case she had gone into labor. Of course, Jack being Jack, had to show us his new apartment with a wine tree house built in. His face when Sierra told the lot she had broke her water looked like it could resemble the home alone face. “That still was one of my favorite memories. Not only did I have both my girls that day, but we some how managed to torture Jack and it that doesn’t make any memory better, then I don’t know what can.” He laughed remembering him driving like an idiot while laughing and trying to make sure everyone stood safe in the car.

He watched Sierra march up to the nurse and his first instinct was to wrap his arm around her waist to let her know she was with him. The nurse had recognized them from the band, which was crazy because the next thing they knew, they were in a private room. The nurse had even tried slipping her number to Rian and he ended up tossing it on the floor. He sat next to her, holding her hand. “I’m so proud of you for doing this, Si. You’re the most amazing person I’ve ever met.” He cooed, his fingers tracing patterns on the back of her hand.

Sienna smiled softly as she listened to Rian's words, a yawn leaving her lips. "I'm just trying to set a good example for Jag... I always tell her if somebody puts their hands on her, tell a grownup or someone she trusts." She whispered, sleepily rubbing her eyes. Sienna prayed that her baby girl would never have to go through something even half as horrible as what she did, but she wanted Jagger to know that staying in the situation wasn't the right thing to do. There was a nagging feeling of guilt in the pit of her stomach that Sienna had exposed her daughter to someone as horrible as Max.

"Can we get Arby's on the way home?" Sienna spoke quietly, sitting up as she did so. She suddenly realized that she was ravenous.

At that moment, the doctor walked in, flanked by two police officers. They introduced themselves as Doctor Smith and officers Tyson and Quinn. The two officers took statements from Sienna as well as Rian, taking pictures of her injuries before leaving and saying they would be in touch the following morning. Doctor Smith examined Sienna, coming to the conclusion that she did not have a concussion or internal bleeding, and her injuries weren't too serious, the worst of them being a tweaked wrist from Max squeezing her tightly. He prescribed some pain medication and told her to come back if her pain didn't go away. "You're a very brave woman, ma'am." The doctor spoke as he went to exit the room. "The nurse will be in with your discharge papers momentarily."

Sienna breathed a sigh of relief as she fell back against the bed. "Thank god... I just want to take a bath and go to sleep. I have so much shit I need to do tomorrow."

@ saraya-jade.

Rian knee the worry on her face as she talked about Jagger. He kissed the back of her hand and squeezed it again. He was mad that this dick had laid his hands on her but he was even more angry that she had to start feeling like she wasn’t being a good example. Especially because if he had to pick anyone to be the mother of his children, it was her. “She knows, and she’s the luckiest little girl that she has you as a mother. You’ll teach her how to be strong, and I’ll just kick anyone’s ass that even comes close to her.” He winked, trying to ease the tension.

He listened to the police and doctors as the poked and prodded her. He felt guilty that she had to go through it. Maybe if he pressed her a little bit longer before she went this wouldn’t have happened. He gave his statement of what he knew to the police: Max and Sierra were dating for sometime, he recently moved in, Jagger was starting to come over and tell Rian they fought. He tried confronting then this happened and he found her at her best friends and that’s where the assholes car was. The cops thanked him for being “so civil” with his ex and he was a “real gentleman.” He wanted to laugh in the officers face but instead thanked him and shook his hand. He’ll wait till they’re in the car and he’ll tell Sierra, knowing it’ll make her smile.

Once they were served the discharged papers he wrapped her coat around her as she wrote. “I know, babe. I’ll draw you a bath when we get to the house and you can sleep in my bed. I’ll take the couch. But first, you deserve some jalapeño poppers.” He grinned getting everything together as they started to his car. For making his ex-wife as comfortable as she did, he took a picture with the nurse. Especially since out of all the guys he was noticed the least, he was thankful for all she did. When they were near his car, he opened the door and waited for her to get in before shutting it and jumping into the drivers side, making his way towards Arbys.