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They’re both quiet on the ride home. Jake drives, his fingers tapping on the steering wheel as he steals glances of Amy every now and then. She’s resting her head on the window, watching the road as they drive home.
“Hey,” he murmurs when he gets the chance at some traffic lights.
Amy jerks up, as if she’s pulled her out of a trance. “Mmm?”
Jake reaches across and takes her hand, squeezing it softly. She looks at him, smiling sadly; their looks conveying more than either can articulate right now.
A honk of a horn behind them jerks them apart. “Light’s green.” Amy mumbles, before leaning her head back against that window.
When they get back home he hugs her a little tighter than usual. “You did the right thing, Ames,” he tells her — his voice filling their unusually quiet apartment.
She doesn’t reply for a moment, just allowing herself to hug him back; resting her head on his chest and hearing the comfort of his heart beat.
“She still lost her job,” Amy lets go of him, and sits down the couch.
Jake sits down beside her. “Yeah, but we got the guy. He can’t do it to anyone else.”
Amy looks at him. “But why does she have to be punished too?” She sounds more exhausted than angry.
Jake looks back at her. “She shouldn’t be. It’s not fair.”
Amy sighs, her shoulders sagging. “Do you wanna just order in tonight?” She asks, taking her shoes off. “What?” She says when she notices Jake still looking at her.
“It’s not fair.” Jake repeats, a slight crack in his voice. “It’s not fair she had to quit, and it’s not fair you had to transfer instead of your captain getting fired.”
Amy feels herself swell with gratefulness as she looks at Jake. “It bought me to you.”
“Still,” Jake reiterates firmly, “it was never fair. And he made you feel like you didn’t deserve your post when you always have, Ames.” He pauses, unsure he’s ever really going to be able to find the words for everything he wants to say. “I’m just sorry I wasn’t there for you,” is what he settles on; his tone soft and tender.
Amy reaches out to touch his cheek. “You’re here for me everyday by just being the best husband I could ask for, Jake,” she tells him earnestly, “you don’t need to apologise. Sometimes I wonder how I ever managed to find a guy like you in all this chaos.”
“I love you, and I’m really proud of you, Ames.” Jake says, and he can feel himself getting teary.
Amy’s own eyes are now sparkling with tears, and she leans forward to hug her husband, hoping the hug says more than she can. “I love you too.”
“I think I’m gonna need a really big pizza,” Jake says tearily.
Amy laughs as she lets go of him, wiping her eyes. “Okay, you order, and I think you should make that two really big pizzas.”
Amy falls asleep rather quickly that night, which is no surprise as she’s only had about a total of five hours sleep of the last three days. Jake lies awake, playing carefully with her hair to distract himself as he runs through the events of the past week through his head and just how different the world Amy lives in is to his.
Careful not to wake up his sleeping wife, he gets up and grabs his laptop and earphones and sits back in bed. He opens Netflix and types ‘feminism’ into the search bar. Beside him, Amy murmurs in her sleep, and Jake gently strokes her hair.