Walking Fragile Lines

What About Us?

Brian returned home from Pennsylvania with a whole new outlook on life. From now on, he was going to stop putting his career before everyone else, including himself, and he was going to prove to Liv that their family meant everything to him, and he was going to start by getting to the bottom of what was wrong with Maci.

It was late in the evening when he arrived back home, which meant both of the kids should be tucked up in bed and he couldn't wait to see his beautiful wife. He didn't think it to be possible to miss her more whilst he was away but ever since she had told him about her fears he had begun to ache when he wasn't around her, knowing how much she missed him in return.

"Hey you", he spoke softly as he found her pottering around the kitchen.

"Hey", she forced a smile at him, sighing as she approached him and greeted him with a gentle kiss.

"Everything okay?", Brian asked, sensing something was wrong.

"I think you should sit", she told him. Brian instantly grew anxious. Liv was acting super serious and it unnerved him as he took a seat, watching her as she sat down across from him.

"What's going on?", he dared to ask. Liv sighed as she pushed her hair back behind her ears.

"Maci finally talked to me", she started. Although he was hoping to be the one to fix this, Brian was elated that his eldest had finally felt ready to open up.

"That's great! So what is it?", he asked eagerly. Liv broke her eye contact with him, staring down at her hands in her lap as she began to twiddle her thumbs.

"She - um - she's being bullied at school", she told him. Brian began to feel a rage bubbling in his gut at her words. Who would dare to hurt his little girl? Of all the things he was expecting, this was not it at all. But, Brian had no experience with bullying himself. He didn't know the signs to look out for, or even if there were any, but he somehow felt like he should've known.

"Who are they?", he asked through clenched teeth. "We're going down to that school tomorrow and I'll give them a piece of my damn mind if they think they can mess with my kid!", he raged as he rose out of his seat a little.

"Hey hey hey", Liv said calmingly as she encouraged him to sit back down, her hands pressed gently on his shoulders as he sat. "It's - it was two girls from her class. But listen - I went and spoke with the Principle this morning and-"

"Wait", Brian stopped her, shocked by what she had just said. "You - you already went to the school?", he asked. Liv nodded. "But - couldn't we have done that together? Couldn't you have waited until I got back?", he asked, his tone still angry as he questioned her.

"Brian. She's being bullied. I couldn't just wait for you to get home before talking to the school", she told him. But Brian felt betrayed. This didn't feel like something Liv should've done alone and if his daughter was being bullied? Not that he didn't have faith in his wife but, Brian wanted to be there to make absolutely sure that it was stopped.

"I'm her father Liv. I should've been there", he told her as he got up out of his seat, pacing around the kitchen as he ran his fingers through his hair.

"And I'm her mother. I wasn't gonna let her go through another day of torment just because I was waiting for you to come home", Liv fought. There was something about the way Liv had declared herself as Maci's mother that didn't sit right with Brian, and it had only enraged him more as he remained silent. "We're both her parents Brian but - but we didn't both need to be there. I had to deal with it", she continued.

"Of course you did", he said. "Maybe if I had gotten those for extra four years with her I would've had more of a right to be there!", he snapped without thinking. The moment Liv's expression dropped was the moment Brian instantly regretted the words that had just left his mouth. "Liv. I - I'm sorry. I - I didn't mean that", he stammered as he apologised, calming down as he dared to approach her.