After Before and After

Phase 4: Chapter 38

Saturday and Sunday went by painfully slowly according to Jack Merridew. He spent the better part of the weekend being dragged around Savannah by his superficial sister, who also happened to be a shopping fanatic. By Sunday afternoon, Jack was waiting for his knees to give and send him crashing to the shopping mall floor.

"I can't believe Dad only gave me seven K for Christmas shopping this year" Paige whined for what felt to Jack like the hundredth time that weekend.

"He didn't give me shit" Jack finally pointed out.

"Yeah, that's cause you're crap at buying gifts" Paige responded as if she knew what she said was controversial before she even said it.

"I am not" Jack shot back hotly. "I got myself the perfect gift last Christmas."

"That doesn't count, you selfish prick" she combatted snarkily. "And that's what I'm talking about. The last time Dad gave you money for Christmas shopping, you blew most of it on yourself and got everyone else on the list a fifty dollar gift card of some sort."

"It's called a gift card" Jack argued, "what could be a better gift than that?"

"Something you put actual thought into" Paige retorted, "do you ever think about anyone other than yourself and like Ralph?"

"I'm not getting anything for Ralph" Jack answered after an awkward beat. He was trying to stay focused, but all he could think about was how loud the mall was and how badly the soles of his feet hurt.

"He's gonna get something for you on his parents' little salaries and you're just gonna get him nothing? It's a miracle you guys are still together" she scoffed with sass.

"We're not" Jack dropped his gaze to his shoes as he said.

"What?" Paige stopped abruptly in front of him, causing him to bump into her as she turned around to face him. "What do you mean you're not?"

"I mean we're not" Jack repeated as he found his painful footing again.

"You broke up with him?" Paige asked in shock.

"Why does everyone think that?" Jack asked defensively as he pushed past his sister to take the lead. "For all you know, Ralph could've broken up with me."

"Get real" Paige scoffed as she caught up to him.

"Forget it" Jack dismissed, "it's over, for good this time, it doesn't matter."

"Well, what happened?" Paige asked a little more nicely now.

"Nothing, it just wasn't working. We barely worked under normal circumstances, let alone this stupid trial. You were there the other night when he showed up. You heard at least part of what happened" Jack forced her to recall.

"I heard like two words and I thought that was just another one of your stupid fights. I don't believe what you said anyway" Paige declared.

"You don't believe what?" Jack asked curiously.

"That there's someone else" Paige recalled.

"Oh yeah? What makes you so sure?" Jack combatted, sounding more sure of himself than his sister did.

"Because I know you better than you think. You would be on the phone with said person, girl or boy or whatever, all the time after court if it were true. Besides, nobody came around during the trial prep back home. Who would it even be anyway? Someone from school? Get real. I don't know why you cut Ralph off again, but I doubt it's because you're in love with someone else" Paige shared her observations.

"Who said I was in love?" Jack challenged.

"You were in love with Ralph. You wouldn't do that to him for someone you didn't love" she argued, "and that's not a you thing, that's a human thing."

"I wasn't lying, P" Jack insisted, in as serious a tone as Jack Merridew ever used. "There is someone else, and that is part of the reason Ralph and I are done. That, and this whole trial bullshit."

Paige studied her brother curiously as he spoke and for a few moments afterward. She'd known him longer than anyone else in the world, and she was certain that she knew him well enough to tell when he was lying or deflecting. And so her eyes went wide with shock when she watched him long enough to realize that he was telling the truth.

"What?" Jack judgmentally cut off her train of thought as he watched her watch him.

"You're serious" she spoke, stopping in her tracks, forcing people behind them to walk around her, some of who glared at them in annoyance as they passed.

"I am" Jack nodded once, as truthful as he'd ever been.

Paige sat on her bed adjacent to Jack's later that night as Mad About You played on the TV in front of them. Although, Paige was more focused on painting her fingernails gold and white for the last few days of the trial before Christmas break.

Jack laid lazily in his own bed as he watched the show. Or at least, it looked like he was watching. Jack's mind was full of different thoughts that he couldn't shut off. He thought about his conversation with Roger on Friday night, about the way Dana Barnes wrecked Larry on the stand, about all the horrific things she would certainly say about him, and the way things played out when Ralph showed up the other night. Jack hated having to tell Ralph the truth about his recent behavior. He had been foolishly hoping that Ralph would just take the hint and stay away from him, especially considering it was a rule of the trial. Ralph was usually a stickler for following the rules, but what Jack forgot to consider was that Ralph had been willing to bend them quite a bit for him during the course of their relationship. Love was a powerful thing, the blond boy realized, one that couldn't be controlled.

All of a sudden, a forceful knock interrupted Jack's spinning head, causing both him and Paige to turn to the door and then to each other.

"Did you order room service?" Paige asked him.

"No" Jack answered, pulling his covers off himself as he rose to approach the door. It was late, and the deja vu was making both kids anxious and paranoid.

Unsure of what to expect, Jack opened the door just a crack, and his body language abruptly changed. Paige noticed how quickly he stepped back to welcome the visitor in. Her brother's submissive willingness pointed to only one explanation; one Paige came to before she even got a real look at who was on the other side of the door.

"Dad?" Paige assumed. Jack stepped back to let him into Paige's sight. And surely enough, Evan Merridew's dark blue eyes met her own.

Because Paige did know Jack better than he thought, and she was very sure of it now.