Almost Easy

Liz’s POV

Colton was safe and sound at Matt’s house while I was thousands of miles away packing the rest of the things from his room. Danny was at work, I had booked a hotel room, and was only packing things while he was out. It still hurt to think of the fact I had fucked up yet another seemingly perfect relationship. Someone I had been so comfortable with, but I think he was right that he was just my spite relationship. To prove I could be happy when in fact I was far from it. If I had been truly happy, I wouldn’t have been bothered by everyone finding me, or ever coming back.

I had finished taping up the last box in Colton’s room and tossed it down the hall where every last piece of my items and his were piled in boxes awaiting the movers to come take them tomorrow. Zack had insisted on paying for a moving company so I wouldn’t stress about it.

Zack. That situation was a different story. I had come as close to groveling as I had ever when I went to talk to Jacky that day. She told me I was the devil and had a wake of destruction that followed me, and she wouldn’t stand for it to impact her family ever again. So it didn’t go as well as I planned and Zack had told her if she couldn’t accept my apology, since he insisted I wasn’t in the wrong, that he would be filing for a divorce this week.

That broke my heart, it had been a decade of them being together, maybe even more. I couldn’t remember, years seemed to just blend at this point. When did my belly-bump become a five-year-old? I wasn’t exactly sure of that either, but suddenly here we were.

“Liz?”

I was torn from my thought process as the front door opened, Danny’s voice echoed down to Colt’s empty room. I stayed sitting on the floor, staring around the room as he walked down and stood in the doorway, “Sorry, I lost track of time, I was trying to be done before you got back so-“

“It’s fine. I got out early.” He shook his head, “I figured we should probably talk before you left for California.”

“Should we?” I asked, “Or would it be easier if we just remotely filed the paperwork?”

“Is this what it’s really come down to?” He sighed and sunk down to the floor against the door jam, “God… I love you, Liz. But I think you really need to be back in California. You love him still.”

“I’m so sorry.” I felt tears welling up in my eyes as he sighed, “I thought leaving and erasing it from my brain would make me move on…”

“But you never erased it from your brain, that’s the thing. You two… You two have some sort of bond, aside from Colton. It’s strong.” Danny chuckled and looked at the ceiling, “Watching his eyes light up when he talked about you, when he would look at you when we were out, watching the look on his face while he was talking about my wife… Seeing another man hopelessly in love with the same woman you’re in love with, it sucks. I knew from the moment we got there I wasn’t walking away from that one a winner.”

“That’s not true, that’s not how that trip was supposed to go, Danny...” I sighed as he held his hand up.

“I still can’t wrap my head around it, let’s not get into that ok? I still… I still wish I had been sober enough to be mad because it honestly all feels like a fucking nightmare still.” He looked around, “It still feels like a nightmare that I’m going to be living here in silence, alone now.”

“Yeah, it’s… weird.” I looked around, “I haven’t had to look for a house on my own in so long.” I laughed a little bit, “Since Boulder actually, so this should be interesting.”

“If I mail you the papers, you’ll sign them?” Danny swapped topics.

“Yeah, I will.” I nodded, “I don’t want to succumb to another fail, but I’ll do it.”

“Me either, this isn’t what I had planned. I had planned forever but I think it was bound to happen, you miss your family and you clearly love Matt. I think you two needed to grow up and figure your lives out.”

“Oh, we aren’t getting back together, at least no time soon.” I shook my head, “At least not until Colton’s older, we need to focus on parenting him first. I know I’m not ready for that yet, not with how things got left five years ago and all that. It’s going to take a lot to make that trust a real thing again.”

“Right.” Danny nodded, “Well, I’ll let you finish up in here and call the movers. I’m going over to Jeff’s for a bit tonight so don’t rush.”

“I was just on my way out.” I nodded and stood up, “I really just got lost in thought for a while. It’s just… I feel horrible.”

Danny, without another move, left the house. As if I hadn’t just continued speaking. I sighed and looked down the hallway at the plethora of boxes labeled for the moves to pick up. I grabbed my jacket from the top of one of the boxes and shrugged it on, making my way outside after lingering until Danny left the driveway.

I walked up to my car, running my fingertips down the smooth white pain. I grabbed the pack of cigarettes from the chest pocket and lit one before climbing in, exhaling smoke with the windows up. I rolled my drivers window down and started the engine, looking at the time. It was a thirty-two-hour drive home and I had never given the thought to doing it alone.

I quickly called the movers, told them the boxes were ready and gave them the pin to the front door. I hung up and glanced at the time, “Well… Let’s get started then.” I pressed my foot on the gas pedal and watched the rearview as the house I had called a home fizzled out in the distance.

__---__

Zack’s POV

“So… what are we doing now?” Jacky mumbled from the couch after we had been sitting in silence for almost an hour. I was in the chair across the room and she hadn’t made eye contact in days now.

“Uhm, well.” I paused and figured now was a good a time as any to tell her Liz was going to be moving in while she searched for a place, “Liz is moving in when she get’s back-“

“What the fuck?” Jacky glared up at me, there it was, “Do you have no recollection that she’s the reason we’re fighting?!”

“I’m sorry? No. Your stupidity is why we’re fighting, Jacky. You put her in a shit position, while her husband was here, and you acted like a fucking martyr because of it!” I Shouted at her, feeling an annoyance rise up in my stomach that I’d been suppressing for the sake of keeping us happy for the kids.

“She apologized, she took the fall for that one, Zack. Didn’t that fix anything?” Jacky asked, checking her nails and scoffing, “You’re going to fucking stick up for her until your dead, aren’t you?”

Without censoring my next words I opened my mouth, “Yeah, because she’s my fucking sister. That’s what family does, Jacky. I know your family isn’t the same, but we fucking have each other’s backs, we protect each other and help out. For fuck sakes.”

“You act like I’ve never been there for you! I’ve fucking raised your kids while you’ve been out with your friends living some ridiculous lifestyle!” She rolled her eyes, raising her voice to a yell.

“Fuck yourself, Jacky. Ridiculous lifestyle? That ridiculous lifestyle is why you haven’t had to work a single day in nearly a decade, alright?” I glared now, standing up as the rage radiated through my body, “I was making a good life for my fucking kids, alright? I don’t hear you complaining about me making enough money for you to buy whatever the fuck you want any day of the week.”

“So what the fuck are we doing, Zack? Because I’m not going to live every day fucking arguing like this over your fucking sister!”

“Good! Don’t! Fucking leave!” I shouted, “I froze all the bank accounts so you can’t fucking touch them, and my lawyer drafted up the divorce papers yesterday and is mailing them today!” I watched her face contort in horror, “For the love of God, can’t you see that it’s fucking over? I wouldn’t trade my kids for the world, but I wish I hadn’t started this family with you. I should have listened to Liz every time she told me you were shit for me.”

“What?” Jacky asked, “What are you talking about? We got along so well the last few years before she left-“

“Because I begged her, I begged her to like you after you fucking made the worst first impression possible. And you never cease to fucking disrespect her!” I shouted, my head getting light from the anger rising in my chest, “Go. Get the fuck out. Go stay somewhere else because this is my fucking house, and my sister is going to be staying with me while she finds a place to stay.”

“Fine, Zack.” She hissed and stood, “I’ll come grab more of my shit tomorrow when the kids are in school, but for now… I’m staying at a friend’s if they ask.”

“Cool, I don’t fucking care.” I watched as she grabbed her purse.

“Fuck off, Zack.” She wiped at her eyes and slammed the door behind her. I looked down at my shaking hands, breathing heavily to combat the blood rushing through my veins. I looked at the floor and watched a drop of liquid fall, splattering on my foot.

I cocked my head and looked harder, “Is that… blood?” I mumbled, reaching up to my nose, wiping at the rush of blood coming from my nose. I grabbed my phone to check the time, wondering how much time I had to clean my face up before the kids got home from school, and realized it was ringing, “Hello?” I answered.

“Hey.” Liz answered, “Did you just call me?”

“No?” I mumbled, walking to the bathroom with my nose pinched, staring at the blood freely flowing, “I just… I just kicked Jacky out.”

“Oh, fuck, wow… Oh my phone said I missed a call from you. That’s so odd.” She mumbled, “You ok? Do you need me to call one of the guys to come over?”

“I’m good. I just got this insane nosebleed out of nowhere.” I grabbed tissues and soaked up the blood, “That’s so odd, I haven’t gotten a nosebleed since I got a guitar to the face a year ago…”

“I get them when I’m stressed sometimes, that could be it. You did just boost your adrenaline.” She exhaled, she was smoking, “Thirty hours left.”

“You’ve been on the road for two hours already?” I chuckled; she wasn’t supposed to have left for another hour.

“No, I’m just speeding. I’m over this shit already, I just want to be with my brother and hang out.” She sounded annoyed, “Ok, well I’m going to go then and concentrate on driving. Call me if you need to vent, Z, ok?”

“Will do. I’ll probably end up calling Brian or something. This is going to be a suck fest.”

“It’ll be ok.” Liz assured, “I’ll be back sooner than you think.”

“I’m banking on it.” I smiled and rinsed some blood down the sink, “Alright, Lizard. Love you.”

“Love you too, Z. Talk to you soon.”

I hung up and looked in the mirror, not recognizing the face staring back at me, what the fuck was going on?