Our Scars

The Writing's On The Wall

37

The Writing's On The Wall (Title by OK Go)

After work next day Rianne hurried to the 21st to take legal action, like she had promised.

Jay wouldn't say anything and didn't pressure her, but he'd been sleepless mostly last night, his restless body keeping hers awake too.

Safe to say he was seriously worried and wrought up about everything and she felt really guilty about that. He'd been through enough lately, so he didn't need this to deal with on top.

Thankfully she had been teaching a foster-parents class for most of today that had kept her from crossing paths with Nate. She didn't know how to react if she saw him again. To say that she was finally pretty pissed after what he had been telling Jay was putting it mildly.

Going over her options with Platt, cause she appreciated Trudy for her candor and no-nonsense attitude as well as her sharp mind, she felt a little better. Using the older woman's expertise on how to best approach the situation felt like taking back a little control. A restraining order had to get court approval, but Trudy was certain that all the texts and words exchanged between her former roommate and her would be enough to get it. Now only Jay had to file one, just to be safe. It calmed Rianne down that there was no complaint against Jay from Nate's side, at least not yet to Trudy's knowledge.

Maybe Adam had been able to get through to him. Still it was better to get out in front of this and prevent any future encounters from happening by sticking with her decision to ban him from her life as best as she could. Now she only had to get that new phone number installed. Just blocking him wouldn't do it, she wanted to be absolutely sure that he had no direct way to contact her.

Adam came rushing up the stairs into the precinct, darting towards her immediately:

"What can I say? I am so sorry..." He looked guilty, obviously unsure how she'd react to him.

Rianne mirrored his wobbly smile and asked if they could talk somewhere private. He took her arm and pulled her into the stairwell left of the front-desk.

"So, did you talk to him yesterday?" She enquired, not wanting to dance around it.

"Yes, but I wasn't able to get through to him. At least he seemed undecided about the whole complaint thing. I threatened to have enough dirt on him to get him charged with something if he keeps coming after Jay. But I'm afraid he won't back down so easily. He's got it into his head that he's right and you belong with him... I didn't see this coming." Adam shook his head, just like her still unable to wrap his head around this.

"You and me both! D'you think he'll move out on his own volition?"

Adam shrugged his shoulders, a defeated look in his dark brown eyes. He seemed embarrassed by his cousin's behavior and watched her reaction guardedly.

"I hope we're still good Adam!" Rianne didn't want Adam to think she was trying to turn him against his own flesh and blood.

He grabbed her shoulders urgently:

"Kiddo, I don't always like the members of my family myself, so we're good. Really! Nate's completely off the rails! This is nuts and if you didn't do it yourself I would have filed a restraining order on your behalf! I am just so sorry I didn't put a stop to this sooner."

"I think there's just never telling what is really going on in a person's head, is there? So... you're good with me and Jay?"

Somehow it felt like she needed to tell their friends from foes at the moment. A genuine smile crept over Adam's face: