Christmas Break

Truce and Plans

 It was thirty minutes later when Gabrielle's father and brother came back out to the dinning room. Aaron walked up to the table and stood across from them with his father standing behind him.

"Gabrielle, I am sorry for what I said and scaring you, especially after what you went through. I was out of line and I didn't mean to hurt you. I hope you will forgive me. Jack... Look, I don't like you but I sorry for what I said about you. Thank you for stepping in and protecting Gabrielle yesterday. I should not have treated you the way I did."

Aaron took a deep breath before continuing.

"Look, I don't agree with you two getting back together... But it's not my choice. Gabrielle is a an adult and can make her own choices. I will keep my opinions to myself. I... I will try to be open minded going forward. That is the best I can do."

Gabrielle looked up at Jack and they seemed to have a silent conversation before Jack made a slight nod. Gabrielle turned back and her gaze seemed to drill into her brother's eyes.

"Aaron, I will forgive you, but it's going to take time. You still don't seem to realize that I am my own person. What you said to me hurt. What you said about Jack hurt me worse. Please just leave us be. If you don't want to be around us, then don't. If you don't want to support us, then don't. Just stay out of my life if you can't handle who I choose to share it with. I know Jack and I made mistakes before. I know we have learned from them. I hope you will change you mind eventually. But I am not going to let you interfere in my life either way."

As Gabrielle finished there was silence in the room as everyone thought about about what she said. Her parents felt that it was probably the best outcome that could happen right now. At least there was a tentative peace in the house.

"Aaron, I will let it go. I do not want Gabrielle to lose her brother. I don't care what you say about me. I don't really care what you think about me. As long as Gabrielle loves me, I could tell you to go to... Never mind. Look, I hope one day you will change your mind about us but I am not going to worry about it. Gabrielle is who I care about, so I will let it go..."

Jack's face then hardened as he continued.

"But if you ever talk to your sister like that again we will have a real problem. If you ever scare her like that I will... I am not the same punk kid from high school anymore Aaron. I am not even the same person that I was a year ago. Trust me when I say that I am more then capable of defending Gabrielle physically if I have to. It's amazing what you can learn when you devote four hours a day, six days a week for eight months just learning and practicing. Please for Gabrielle's sake, don't test me Aaron."

With that Jack face softened and he leaned over and gave Gabrielle a kiss on her forehead. Everyone else was looking at Jack wondering what he meant. Only Madalyn seemed to have some idea as she gave Jack a small nod and smile.

"Jack, that's the second time you have mentioned something like that. What did you do?"

"Gabrielle, do you remember Bill Smith from High School?"

"Yeah... Oh he was the one into martial arts right? Jack, did you start studying something after we broke up?"

"Well I ran into him while I was wallowing a couple of weeks after that and we ended up talking and he talked me into trying it. He said he thought it would help me and it did. I actually loved it. It gave me a bit peace while I was focusing on something else for a while. So I started training with his teachers. They saw I needed help to dig my way out of the pit I was in. By the end of the first week, I was there training and practicing four hours a day. The great thing was it taught me focus and control. It gave me a sort of calm that I never felt before. It helped me put myself back together."