𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 • 𝘣𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘴 [✔]

chapter twenty eight.

An: so i decided to go with mary louise parker as janis, but of course you can imagine janis and the rest of the characters as someone else :)

Janis was woken up by her phone going off. She thanked herself for changing her annoying ringtone to something she liked. She had changed it to Stevie Nick's singing 'Gypsy'. When she grabbed her phone, she saw her boss calling.

"Hey, Alan, did you lose the keys again?" She said into the phone.

"No, not this time. Just calling about the days off you wanted. I can get someone else to cover your shift. Are you sure you want the whole week off? You've been working too hard, maybe at least get two." Alan said.

Janis groaned as she sat up on the couch. "A week is fine. I just have a headache and minor body ache. I'll be back soon. Don't lose your keys again." Janis warned as she ended the call.

The vet stood up, but went back down to the couch when her body started aching again. "Shit," she muttered. She looked at the time on her phone which read '7:45 PM'. That was usually the time when Claudia would come down for dinner to eat with Janis.

"Claudia!" Janis yelled, but got no response from her daughter. "Claudia!"

Janis decided it would be a better option to call Claudia's phone, but it only went straight to voicemail. So she got up despite her body hurting and walked slowly to Claudia's room while grabbing the wall for support. Her body started to ache more when it was time to walk up the stairs, but Janis made it to Claudia's room.

The English teacher was asleep on her chair using a random jacket she found as a blanket. The way Claudia was sleeping looked like the most uncomfortable position, but somehow she was in a deep sleep.

Janis gently shook Claudia's shoulder. "Sweetface, it's time to get up," but Claudia only groaned. "i know, just get up and we'll order something to eat. I'm too tired to make something or even leave the house."

Claudia's eyes remained closed. Janis knew she was working harder since it was close to the final exams. A break was all Claudia needed. So Janis sighed and gave up on waking Claudia up. But before Janis could exit Claudia's room, a familiar photograph pinned to a cork board caught her eye. She swore she got rid of it, but here it was in her daughter's room.

Janis looked at Claudia, wondering if she was going to wake up anytime soon, but she remained asleep. The older woman carefully took the thumb tack from the cork board, the photograph fell onto Claudia's desk. Janis took the photo in her hands.

A young Nate Stratford was smiling at the camera while holding his daughter. As a baby, Claudia was told she looked like her mom, but one look at an adult Claudia and Janis saw Nate Stratford's features. He looked so happy. Too happy. Janis was the one who took the picture on Christmas eve. It was the only time Janis visited Nate's family home. His family never liked her.

Nate Stratford came from a wealthy family. Both of his parents went to expensive schools, graduated and got their degrees in the law and medical field. His brother and sister followed in their footsteps, but Nate wasn't like them. Nate hardly went to his classes in high school, he got in trouble most of the time and he spent the night in jail during senior prom. His parents thought that by marrying a good woman would turn his life around.

But that changed when Nate met Janis at a Halloween party.

Nate couldn't take his eyes off of her. Janis was with Lara that night. The two friends were dressed in their best zombie makeup and old slip dresses.

Lara warned Janis about people like Nate Stratford. She heard from various people that he would move on quickly form different girls. And Janis listened to Lara, but Nate acted differently around her. He offered to walk her to class, drive her to her house and bought her milkshakes. It was clear to say that Nate experienced love at first sight.

Janis believed it was some prank Nate was apart of. He had everything. Money, family, a plan after school. What did Janis have? The complete opposite. She was living with alcoholics as parents, she worked as a busser in a crappy restaurant to pay the bills and she was barely on the right track to graduate.

So what did Janis Donovan have that made Nate Stratford so interested in her?

Fast forward thirty nine years later, and she still couldn't figure out why at one point in her life she claimed Nate was the love of her life.

Nate, despite his parents disapproving of a girl who couldn't even keep her own mom and dad sober, loved Janis with his whole heart. He used the money his parents gave him for school to buy her parents' house once they graduated. Janis built up the courage to tell her parents they couldn't live with her anymore if all they did was bring in boxes of beer and occasionally weed. So she kicked them out.

Lara wasn't sure if Janis was making the right decision, but she helped her friend settle in her new place. Nate, Janis and Lara remodeled the house the way Janis wanted.

Four months after remodeling the house, Nate moved in. Several months later, he went to stay with a friend. And that turned into a routine. Janis and Nate arguing, Janis kicks out Nate, they take time off and then it was like nothing ever happened. Lara tried to convince Janis that Nate wasn't worth her time, but Janis couldn't let him go. No matter what, Janis knew that Nate Stratford was the love of her life.

But sometimes, she doubted her love for Nate.

But Nate made her feel loved. She felt happy, sad, excited. Janis wished she cherished their time together. But now she had Edward, who made her feel even more loved. She hoped her daughter didn't have to go through heartbreak like she did.

An: FLASHBACK CHAPTER WILL BE NEXT I PROMISE :)

yes this is a ben barnes fic but this is important to the plot I PROMISE

and finally we'll know where the fuck lara has been :)