Chapter Text
Shauna's hands shook as she opened the backdoor. There stood Jackie. She was closer than she had been in months but still felt so far away.
“You're giving him full custody?” Jackie asked. She was angry.
It was the first time that she had seen Jackie in months. She wanted to wrap her in her arms, kiss her, hold her. Instead, Jackie was angry with her.
Jackie was angry with her? It was ludicrous. Jackie had avoided her for months. Left her alone after everything that had happened. She spoke more to Jeff of all people instead of her. Now, Jackie was mad at her. Who gave her the right?
“How do you know Jeff is getting full custody? Did you talk to him?” Shauna asked. Jackie just sighed. “Are you fucking him?”
Jackie's eyes widened. “How can you fucking ask me that? You of all fucking people?”
Shauna threw her hands up in the air. She yelled, “how do I know anything that's going on with you?”
Jackie darted at her and shoved Shauna inside. Shauna lost her balance for a moment before regaining her position. She was ready to strike. All the instincts from the woods were there, hiding just under the surface. She paused when Jackie slammed the backdoor closed.
Jackie spun around to face her, anger still blooming across her face. “You need to be quiet.”
“This is my house. I can scream if I want. I'll wake up the whole house. Just because we're back, doesn't mean you can tell me what do anymore,” Shauna said.
Jackie continued to huff and cross her arms. She was dressed stylishly even for this midnight visit. Shauna might've thought it was a few years ago, except the skin was still tight around her. She hadn't put the weight back on yet. None of them had. The clothes just hung off of her.
“I'm not trying to tell you what to do,” Jackie said.
“Could've fooled me,” Shauna said.
“Since Molly has been born, she's lived in the woods. I could hear her screaming and crying in the hospital. She needs the best life has to offer. You need to nut up and give her that,” Jackie said.
Shauna felt something relax in her. There was something recognizable in Jackie. Jackie still loved their daughter at least.
“Molly already has two parents. Me and you,” Shauna said.
Jackie continued to pace like a cage animal. “Well, that's going to happen anymore.”
“Why not?” Shauna asked.
Jackie looked at Shauna as though she was crazy. “Because we're back now. We're with our family and our friends and, and people.”
“Who cares?” Shauna said.
“I do,” Jackie hissed. Unfortunately, Shauna recognized something else in Jackie. High school prom queen bitch Jackie. She thought that version of Jackie was gone forever, buried with their friends bones.
Shauna moved closer to Jackie, afraid to spook her. “You love Molly more than anything. Why isn't that enough, Jackie?”
Shauna wanted to add that Jackie used to love her too but it somehow didn't seem like the time. It was rarely the right time at home.
“I heard my parents talking to Lottie's. They're putting her in an asylum,” Jackie said, still pacing the room.
It was news to Shauna but not all that surprising. “She might need it.”
Jackie threw her hands up in the air. “We all might need it, Shauna. If they knew, if anyone knew.”
“The only way anyone would know is if someone talks and no one's going to-” Shauna said.
“It doesn't matter if someone talks. People are already saying it. If anyone finds out what we did, we're ending up in the padded room right next to Lottie's. Even if they don't. We just have to be normal. We have to be normal to stand a chance,” Jackie said.
Normal. That word over and over.
“Jackie, what we have as parents, as a couple, it's not the same as all the other stuff we did,” Shauna said.
Jackie gnawed at her bottom lip, not looking at Shauna. “You were pregnant and you were hungry. The baby needed nutrients and I couldn't lose you. I loved you too much. That's how it all started. Everything we did. I just loved you too much.”
Shauna felt a panic sink into her stomach. She got closer to Jackie, desperate for the comfort of her touch. Jackie sensed her before Shauna could reach her. She always did. “We can't happen anymore, Shauna. It'll make things bad again. It'll make us bad again. Molly deserves better. She needs it.”
“Jackie, no,” Shauna said, tears falling from her eyes in a flash.
“No, no,” Jackie said. She stumbled backwards until she was colliding with a sliding glass door. “It's too late for us but not for Molly. She can be happy. She can be normal. She can be safe. She can have it all, Shauna. She can have everything. We have to let her have it.”
“This isn't the way to do that, Jackie,” Shauna said.
Jackie gave her one last sad look. “Do what you want, Shauna, but you won't be doing it with me.”