Welcome to Cairns

Chapter 4: Always Apologize With Homemade Pie

Having not planned on staying in Cairns for long, all of Roseanne's clothes that she'd brought with her were dirty, so she'd been forced to wear old jeans and a shirt she hadn't worn since she'd left the town. After looking at her appearance in the mirror, Roseanne had opted to only put on a light layer of make-up. She was surprised to see how much she looked like the way she had before she left, even now five years older. The biggest teller of change though, was the large diamond ring on her left hand.

It felt heavy. Out of place. The Roseanne she was dressed as had once worn a diamond ring as well, but a much smaller one. One that had never felt like a weight on her hand. Roseanne chalked the difference up to the physical weight of the ring. She'd get used to it, surely.

Roseanne didn't wait for the pies to cool before wrapping one up to take to the police station. Even if the town weren't so small, Roseanne would know the way to the police station like the back of her hand. Growing up, she was there way too often. She couldn't even count the times she, Kai, Ten and Lisa had gotten caught tipping cows, drinking underage in public and conducting several crimes.

Roseanne was had a face well known by the police department, and everyone chuckled as she entered.
"Roseanne Park, walking into the police station of her own volition?" Officer Gustus scoffed. "Have we entered some kind of alternate universe?"

"Ha ha, very funny," Roseanne rolled her eyes. "Is Jackson here?" She was still a bit shocked that Jackson was the new sheriff, but she supposed it did make sense. His mother, Sandara, had been the town's sheriff for years and Jackson had always expressed interest in following in her footsteps, even if he did have a habit of following Roseanne and the rest of their friends into illegal situations.

"Should be in his office," Officer Gustus gestured to the office in the back of the station.

"Thanks," Roseanne nodded before walking towards the back.

She knocked on the half-open door and Jackson signaled to her to enter, his eyes never the paper he was leaving until Roseanne cleared her throat. When he did look up, Jackson looked at Roseanne in shock, clearly expecting a co-worker to have interrupted his work and not Roseanne.

"Roseanne?" Jackson questioned in confusion.

"Hi," Roseanne responded, awkwardly standing in the doorway. When there was a moment of awkward silence, Roseanne suddenly remembered the pie she was holding. "I brought pie," she spoke, holding up the pastry.

"What are you doing here Roseanne?" Jackson asked tersely.

Jackson was always the most soft-spoken and calmest in their group of friends. Roseanne and Kai were the ones most likely to take the lead, but always butt heads. Lisa was the strategist, when she took the lead for whatever prank they were pulling, everyone followed her without question, even if Roseanne and Kai were the more outspoken ones. Ten was the voice of reason, always trying to reign the others in and get them to curb their loose morals. Often times it seemed as if Jackson didn't really have a role to play in the dynamic of their friend group, but they never would have been complete without him.

Jackson was always the one to talk Kai off a ledge. He was the one to convince Lisa to step in between Kai and Roseanne. He was the one to talk Ten into easing back a bit and having fun. He was the one who Roseanne could share her passion for art with. In many ways, Jackson was the glue that kept them all together, even if no one acknowledged it.

Even if she hadn't already known how badly she'd fucked up, Jackson's tone would have sold it to Roseanne.

"I'm an asshole," Roseanne sighed. Without waiting for Jackson to respond, Roseanne entered his office and sat in the seat across from him, setting the pie down on his desk where it wouldn't sit on any important documents. "I'm not even going to use the fact that I was drunk as an excuse, because it's not. There is no excuse for the way I treated you at Grounders. I can't even believe I said what I did. I don't believe it. I don't know anything about your relationship with Nayeon, but I do know that you'd never be anything but respectful to her. I know that, because I know you." She pleaded with her eyes, hoping her old friend would forgive her.