The Landy Chronicles - Andy Hurley, Fall out boy fanfic

4: Andy

What just happened – Andy

The drive home was unnaturally quiet by both mine and Lainey’s standards. Until an obviously unsettled, mad and disappointed Lainey spoke. “So, the plan was to commit to me financially, knock me up, have a happy life together and if things didn’t work out then there’d at least be no paper work? Is that what it was? Going into a relationship already thinking of the worst case scenario?”

She was livid. I didn’t have anything to say that would calm her down though. I’d probably make her more furious than she seemed to be to begin with. “Lainey it isn’t like that at all. I want to make sure you’re taken care of if something happens one day and I’m not here to make sure you are being looked after. There was no ulterior motive there at all. If we have children, then obviously I want to make sure their futures are secured and they have everything we didn’t growing up – including a family. I’ve just never viewed marriage in the same way you clearly do.”

She shook her head. “Sorry Andy, but if you think that’s going to cut it then you have me sorely misunderstood. I will not have kids out of wedlock – call it old fashioned or whatever but I know what a mission my mother had and I know how kids can be – I was persecuted for it and told I didn’t have a real family. There is no way in hell I am allowing any child I have to go through the same. Like you said, we would want them to have everything we didn’t have growing up; this is something I didn’t have growing up. It’s clear if you aren’t even considering our real future aside from finances, then we are going nowhere. You want to have your cake – me and us having children – and still eat it too by having no obligation. Did you ever think of that? You could leave whatever family it is we had at any time with no strings attached.”

I parked the car in our garage. She didn’t know it but she had just touched on a sore spot for me and I felt my temper flare at her for the first time ever. “You’re scared that I would walk away from our family like that? Elaina, family is everything to me or have you not seen that? Are you blind or something that you don’t get that I put you and my mom on a pedestal? Fuck it Elaina! What about the kids? Declan, Ruby, Bronx, Lazslo? Do you just close your eyes when I’m around them and not notice that those kids really are like my own nieces and nephews? And my brothers and their wives – the guys – does it not strike you at how much I really am dedicated to my family? For you to think I’d walk away from my own that way really gets to me.”

She looked at me and shook her head. “Yet you’re so determined not to commit to your own. I don’t understand it Andy. Whatever. I have work to do. I’ll be in my office for the rest of the day.”

She jumped out the car and slammed her door shut, letting herself into the house through the garage door. We were both in foul moods and neither one of us was good for the other at this moment in time, maybe I should go out and visit Bronx and Laz. That was a great idea – get away from the conflict until such a time Lainey and I were both calmer and could talk things out rationally. But no, what do I do? I go in after her and stand outside the door to her office. I can hear her talking but not clearly. Then I hear her Zippo flick – obviously she’s stressed so she’s smoking – and her voice, now calmer, becomes clearer. “Phoenix, he’s signed over half of everything he owns to me, he wants kids, he wants a future but he just doesn’t want to have to commit to it. I mean, fuck it, I have given my all to this relationship and I just want to have that reassurance of not being just the girlfriend and us being a REAL family.”

Great. The girlfriends were now talking. This would probably come back to bite Spencer in the ass later on. The office was quiet for a while and then Lainey’s voice came over the phone. “Yeah, you’re probably right. Ugh, sometimes I wish I could have just never even gotten emotionally involved. It sucks that I can’t go see Chris or Marie or even Pete or Patrick – she’s so flooded with work right now I’ve even been pitching in to help.”

Again there was silence. “I didn’t think of that. You’re right, if anyone would know how I feel right now it would be her. Besides, she’s probably set in the same way of thinking I am seeing as she sees what it does to kids first hand. I’ll go over. Bye Phe, I’ll see you soon ok?”

I quickly moved away from the door so she didn’t know I was eavesdropping on her conversation. I felt a pang of anguish run through me. Was this really such a deal breaker for her that she needed outside advice? We had always been able to discuss things within our relationship and sort them out ourselves. Now she was seeking a third person perspective. I grew slightly scared. Would Lainey end up leaving me over this?

She emerged from her office with her handbag over one shoulder and her car keys in her hand. “Andy I’m going out for a while. Is there anything you need me to do for you on my way back?”

I looked her square in the eye. “Yeah, get new birth control and a pregnancy. I switched yours out two weeks back with sugar pills. I’m sorry.”

She looked at me wide-eyed and scared. “Tell me you’re lying Andy.”

I hung my head in shame. I was hoping I’d never have to confess to this deceit but I guess if this upset her this much then she deserved to know the truth. I had switched her birth control pills around and was really hoping for a baby. It’d all be dependent on her body and hormonal stuff but now I had to come clean given how strongly she felt about it.

“Andy, tell me you’re just fucking with me!”

“No Lainey! I wanted a baby with you so I did switch your pills around and was hoping you’d think it was some one in a million weird occurrence!”

That’s when Lainey dropped to the floor and I rushed forward to catch her before she hurt herself badly.