Flac ~ If he had gone with her

Follow your heart

Her heart pounded. What did he just say? She thought, her brain buzzing at a hundred miles a hour. She jumped up from the sofa and out of his touch. Frantically she shook her head. "No no no." She muttered to herself. Bewildered, Fletch stood up beside her. "I'm sorry." He whispered so quietly that she barely heard him over the pounding in her ears. Jac left the room and walked out into the hallway, grabbing her coat from the peg. It didn't need to be spoken but as he followed her out she muttered, "Look after Emma please." And with that she left the house. As soon as the chilly breeze hit her face, tears flooded from her eyes, rolling slowly down her cheeks. She wandered through the streets, the rain pouring down on her. The weather had drastically changed since they got back home and as Jac reflected back on their day, the tears came more rapidly. What are you doing Naylor, she thought angrily. That was the problem though, she didn't know and that terrified her.

Back at the house Fletch sat in a stunned silence, nursing the mug of tea sat in his lap. His heart told him to run after her but his mind told him to give her space. She would come back eventually, he thought. Still in a daze, he sipped at his tea and nearly spat it back out again. It was stone cold. Fletch leant forward and placed the barely touched drink on the coffee table which sat in front of him. When he drew his hands back to his lap, he head his head and rubbed his eyes, suddenly really emotionally exhausted.

Jac had been walking for about fifteen minutes when she reached the park where they had visited earlier. She hadn't intended to end up there but it sort of just happened. She found a bench and drew her legs up to her chest, letting the rain drench her clothes through. Jac's bright hair stuck to her face, now turning a dark shade with the wetness. She rocked side to side, not knowing what to do.

Fletch knew what he had to do. He had to follow his heart and this meant he had to follow her.
"Evie!" He called his eldest daughter down and she came running quickly. "I need to pop out, can I leave you in charge for a bit?"
"Yeah of course." She replied, glad that he could trust her.
"Great, thanks. I won't be long." He put on his coat and shoes and ran out of the front door. The man squinted through the pelting rain, searching for any sign of Jac. He wandered the streets, wanting her to come home, hoping he would turn the corner and find her there, praying that she would be okay.

Jac was still sat on the bench, shivering when a figure emerged from the darkness and started towards her. Petrified of what they might do to her, she got up and started to walk away briskly. As she stepped away in a fast pace, she heard the pounding of feet behind her. They were running towards her. The dark figure was chasing her. Her heart pounded and she broke into a run herself and sprinted towards the exit of the park.
"Jac!" A voice called. How do they know my name, she thought but kept running. "Jac! Wait, it's me!" She recognised the voice that time.

Jac came to a sharp stop and looked down at her feet. Her side hurt like hell but she wasn't going to let it show. She had stopped under a street light and as the person approached her, Fletch's face appeared under the light, dark circles under his eyes.
"Please talk to me, Jac. I couldn't sit there and let you walk out here in the rain. You'll get ill. Come home? Please?" He pleaded. She turned and walked back the way she had come at Fletch's side. She didn't utter a single word and she still hadn't lifted her eyes from the ground. He put a supportive arm around her shoulders as if to guide her home but she didn't lean into his touch like she normally did but she also didn't shrug it off completely. An ache formed in his chest at the thought that she didn't want to touch him. The pair walked back through the rain and darkness, back to the house.

Jac was dreading getting back into the light; Fletch would be able to see how much she had been crying. No doubt her mascara had run down her cheeks and was currently making her look like a panda. He unlocked the door and helped her out of her soggy coat and then ushered her into the front room. They sat on the sofa side by side, Jac still not meeting his eyes. Fletch reached his arm out and tilted her chin up to face him.
"Look at me sweetheart." He encouraged gently. "Right, we need to talk about this." Fletch worried that she had closed herself in again. He was scared that she was going to bottle it all up as usual and he was terrified that he had messed it up.

Jac sat shivering in silence, not sure of what to say. "I'm sorry." That was all she trusted her mouth to say. She worried that if she said anymore, her voice would let her down and crack.
"Hey let me get you a blanket or something, you're shivering like mad." But before Fletch could even leave his seat she spoke, "No, don't worry I'm going home now." She got up and called her daughter down before Fletch had even time to process what was happening. "Emma! Come down please, we're going home now."
"Jac, please. Let's talk about this. Don't go. Please." He pleaded but as Emma ran down the stairs he knew there wasn't anything that was going to change the stubborn woman's mind. They put their coats on and left. Fletch stood in the hallway in a daze.

When the door clicked shut, he collapsed back against it, his face in his hands. Evie came running back down again and threw her arms around her father.
"Oh Evie, what have I done?" He choked out a sob and clung onto his daughter.