Opposites

3.3

a/n: happ thanksgiving lol

Justin held my hand in his the entire drive back to my house. I would have cried, but I knew I had to maintain myself for Jake's sake. Justin kissed the top of my hand and told me goodbye as I exited the car. My mind was a complete blur. The car that we all shared was missing from the driveway. I could feel the lump in my throat expanding as Justin drove off. It felt like it had taken an eternity just to walk through the front door.

"Jake?" I called out into the seemingly vacant house.

"I'm over here."

Jake's dark brown hair was a mess. It was around eight, so that meant Mary had only left within the past two hours since they both got home around six every day. He was staring at the black, off screen on the tv while sitting in his stained, green lounge pants and a gray tee shirt. His eyes were bloodshot from crying. Deep circles sat comfortably under his green eyes. He didn't bother to look up at me. I sighed and sat down on the couch.

"Thanks for coming home. I just needed you to be here." Jake continued staring at the tv.

"What's going on?" I put a hand on his shoulder.

"I told you." He finally glanced over at me.

"You didn't say why, Jake. Mary's family. I need to know why she isn't here."

"It was my fault. I was such an ass. I don't know why I didn't stop myself." He covered his face with his hands.

"Stop yourself from doing what?"

"We were talking with Emilia about the baby. She mentioned that you're dating someone. After she left, I freaked out. I said I didn't need another accidental pregnancy on my hands." He didn't remove his hands from his face.

"What? You said that about me? You said that about your child?" I stood up in complete astonishment.

"Mom and dad's anniversary was last week. I've been a complete jerk since then. I don't want to be like them. I don't want my child to go through what we went through, Cali." Jake looked up at me with pleading eyes.

I sat back down next to him. "Mary's been your rock throughout everything that's happened. She's the best thing that's ever happened to you, and she feels the same way about you. She's not going to leave us and the baby here. She's not mom. You're not an alcoholic. You're not emotionally manipulative or abusive like dad. You can't compare yourselves to them. Their mistakes, just like Mary's parent's mistakes, aren't going to be yours. Jake, you're already the best dad. You always have been." I could feel the tears pricking at my eyes.

"What do you mean?"

"Do you remember the day mom killed herself?"

"Yeah," He swallowed.

"You took care of me. You called grandma and dad, and neither of them could've been there for me. You were. Even when they were all around, you were the person that took care of me the most. You were forced to grow up sooner than you should've, but that didn't stop you from stepping in and taking care of me all these years."

"I could've done so much better than I did. I could be doing better now. Hell, you're not even going to college because of me." Jake's voice cracked. He squeezed his eyes together tightly as if doing so would erase all the decisions he had made.

"I believe everything happens for a reason. I'm going to work hard, just like you are, to get where I need to be. I can take care of myself. You're going to be a great dad, no matter how you feel you're going to do. You have a chance to fix things, and make an amazing life for yourself. Are you going to let everything go just because you're scared?" I rubbed his shoulder.

"The day at the courthouse where grandma won custody of us over dad keeps coming up in my head. That was over ten years ago, and he hasn't tried to contact us at all since then. I don't want that to happen. I don't want to become that way towards my baby and Mary."

"So, don't. Don't be that way. You decide how things go, not your past, and not anyone else's." I spoke determinedly.

He chuckled, "Since when did you become so philosophical?"

I rolled my eyes, "Go get Mary. You gotta try."

"All right, you convinced me. Do you know where the nearest bus station is?"