No Happily Ever After

'Tell Rory?'
Her eyes were red from the tears, and threatened to spill over. Little droplets lay on her cheeks, and she wiped them away ferociously.
'No. He'd leave me.' She fumbled anxiously with the corner of the blanket.
'Oh, come on! He loves you.'
'Not enough.' She shook her head. 'Can I stay with you for a while? My Mom... She kicked me out...' Cris looked at me apologetically and I nodded.
'Of course. Go to sleep, Cris.'
She settled down, and after a few minutes her sobs were replaced with slow, repetitive breathing. I jumped up, grabbed a mug of tea, and retrieved the phone.
'Hey, Ella. What's up?'
'Sleep over?' I mumbled, fiddling with the hem of my dress. What Cris needed was a group of real friends. Definitely not Rory.
'Sure. We'll be there.'
I was watching a season of Scrubs when Zack appeared next to me.
'Oh my God, don't do that. Ever again.' I jumped and then gestured to the sleeping Cris.
'She's already asleep? We didn't take that long...' He frowned and sat next to me.
'Yeah, you did!'
He laughed. 'Jack and Alex are on their way, they had to go get some pizza for us.'
'Sweet.' I grinned.
My knowledge on Zack was very little. He didn't have a girlfriend, he was forever with Rian, he liked pizza and nothing affected him. He was nice, though.
'What's wrong with Cris?'
'Huh?'
'She looks.. Sad. What's up with her?'
I shrugged. 'Ask her yourself. She'll tell you eventually.' I couldn't deny there was something wrong with her; she was crying in her sleep!
'Hey, Ella.' Rian came in, his arm filled with the contents of our cupboard.
'Oh, gosh, take whatever you can, why don't you?'
He winked. 'I can, and I will.'
'Silly.' I muttered, changing the channel from Scrubs to some sort of sitcom featuring 2 boys and a girl with long red hair.
By the time the show had finished, Jack came in, stumbling under the weight of at least 5 pizza boxes.
'We're not gonna eat all of that, are we?!' I whispered to Zack who nodded. 'One for all of us.' I ran my fingers through my hair, as Jack sat on the arm of the chair. I rested my head against his knee and he kissed my hair soundly.
'What's up with this sudden invitation?' He mumbled in my ear, about an hour later. We were sitting on the floor, curled up as Alex hit Jack's head repeatedly in tune to the opening of The Simpsons.
I shrugged. 'My Mom's not home. I want to spend all the time I can with you before you go on tour.'
'You're honestly not upset about that?'
'Why would I be? You have to do it..'
'It's just... All the girls we've ever dated have all kicked up this huge fight about not coming on tour. They accuse us of cheating and then cheat and you know what their excuse is? That we're never around.'
'That's not a real excuse. Just pre-book tickets to your concerts and they'll be fine.'
'Exactly! Alex dated this girl who got so annoyed he went on tour, she made him stay with her every month for a week. He hated it and then one month, he didn't go and she broke up with him. She called him the next day begging for him to give her another chance.'
'Wow.'
'Tell me about it.'
I kissed him quickly. 'I understand. You have a job, and you have to do it.'
'You're amazing, Ella.' He wrapped his arms around me, and our lips met. I ran my fingers through his hair, and then looped them around his neck.
'Oh, God, get a room.' Zack threw a cushion at us.
'Well, what do you say, El?' Jack winked at me, but I could tell he was being at least half-serious.
'No.' I whispered. 'Not yet.'
I turned myself around so I was facing the TV. His arms remained around me, but I could tell he was hurt.

'Ella, wake up!' Alex pinched my nose.
'W-What?' I rubbed my eyes and looked at him. 'What?'
'Your mom's home.'
I groaned, got up, and went into the kitchen where she'd inevitably be, making coffee and probably pouring it into her favourite striped chipped mug.
'Hey, mom.'
'Why are they here?' She looked at me, quite calmly, but maddeningly at the same time.
'Uh, well.. Cris came over and she stayed the night, but she fell asleep, and you know Jack's in a band, and uh, so he's going on tour, and I invited him over because I won't be a-a-able to s-see him...' I trailed off, wiping my eyes with the back of my hand.
'I see.' She was hiding her face.
'I'll go tell them to leave.'
'When does he go on tour?' She turned. Her eyes were filled with.. Pity. Anger rose up in me.
'In a week, but I guess that doesn't matter to you. My happiness never mattered!' I knew I'd start yelling. 'When the news about dad came through, you were the one who who drowned herself in sorrow. You stopped making an effort with me! You didn't care that I'd go to my room and start crying, or that at school I had to see a counsellor, because things got so bad. You sat by yourself, feeling sorry for no-one else, and even Mary could see that was wrong! When she left, you used it as an excuse to wallow again, and you forgot about me. Most moms, they'd, I don't know, try and make their daughter feel better! When my life crumbled and I came to you for help, you shut the door in my face!' I felt someone's arms pulling me away.
'Ella, let's g-'
'And now when you're over it, you go around sleeping with Mason, and you still don't care about me! You only care when I do something bad. Hey, maybe I should just commit a murder and then maybe you'll notice me. No, forget the fact I'm finally happy with my life, forget the fact that I'm glad where I am, you'll never notice me. You'll never stop caring about yourself.'
'Ella!' Jack tightened his grip, and dragged me out the kitchen and out of the house. The second we were at the end of the street, he wrapped his arms around me. I buried my face into his shoulder and sobbed, the tears streaming and never ending.
'She... Never... Dad...' I hiccuped. He rubbed my back soothingly.
'That wasn't pleasant, Ella. I had no idea...'
'I don't exactly publicise the fact my mother doesn't give two hoots about me.'
'I can't leave you.' He mumbled. 'You'll end up.. Dead.'
'I'll manage.' I paused. 'You have to go.'
'What's really wrong, Ella?'
I thought for a while, and eventually came up with one thing that bothered me. 'Jack.. Can I ask you something? A hypothetical question...'
'Shoot.' We were still wrapped around each other.
'Why would you do if I were suddenly pregnant?'
I needed to hear him say he'd never stop loving me, that he'd support me, and help me and just keep me safe. I needed to know that.
'Probably marry you before it was born, and look after it with you.' He rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
Overtaken with emotion and happiness, I threw my arms around him even tighter, hugging him, and then kissed him. His arms tightened, and there was not even a millimetre between us. I came up for air, and his lips moved to my neck.
A blush crept up to my cheeks, and I gasped, trying hard to focus on taking deep breaths.
'Let's get out of here.'