Why Bother?

“I’m sorry,” Joanne shook her head as she sat down on her bed. “I don’t think I can go through with this.”

Taking a seat beside Joanne, Mark put his arm around your shoulders. “You can,” he told her. “I know you can.”

Looking up into Mark’s eyes, Joanne tried to swallow the hard lump that had formed in her throat. “But it feels wrong,” she told him. “Don’t you feel guilty? Like we’re betraying Eve and Jake?”

Raising his eyebrows, Mark paused to think for a moment. “No, I don’t think we’re betraying them,” he finally told Joanne. “I think we’re doing something that proves just how much we both love them.”

Resting her elbows on her thighs, Joanne placed her head in her hands. “Maybe we can talk to them some more,” she said softly. “Maybe we can convince them to do something themselves, rather than go behind their backs like this. God, Mark, they’re never going to forgive us. You get that, right?”

“They might not,” Mark replied immediately, causing Joanne’s head to snap up. Looking into the sad but resolved expression on his face, she listened as Mark continued. “But we’ve already told them both that we can’t sit by anymore and watch this happen. Come on, you gave Jake a chance last night, right? You told him to call you today if he wanted to talk about things?”

Letting out a sigh, Joanne couldn’t do anything but nod. After the episode in the parking lot outside the restaurant with Jake the evening before, Joanne had spent the rest of the night tossing and turning in bed. Losing Jake – again – seemed like it would be the worst thing she could ever imagine. But deep down, she knew that wasn’t true. The worst thing she could ever imagine was going on, letting Mr. Reynolds continue treating Jake the way he did.

“You know this is the right thing to do,” Mark said when Joanne gave him no verbal response, giving her a friendly squeeze of encouragement. “It sucks so bad that this is happening, but you know we have to do something. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have called me tonight.”

Chewing on her lower lip, Joanne knew a part of her wished that she hadn’t called Mark. It was just that it was getting later, coming on eight, and Jake still hadn’t called her all day. Joanne knew this meant Jake had no intention of letting anyone know the horrible way his father treated him and Eve - even if that meant losing Joanne. In a crying fit alone in her room, Joanne had picked up the phone and dialed Mark’s cell number.

When Mark answered his phone and heard Joanne’s nervous voice, he knew immediately she wanted to tell someone, and he wanted to as well. Heading over to her house, they had spent time discussing what they should do. In the end, Mark realized Joanne would feel most comfortable telling her parents, and asking them what the next step should be. But just as they were ready to head downstairs to do that, Joanne had gone back to saying she didn’t know if they should tell.

“I love Eve,” Mark told Joanne gently. “More than I’ve ever loved anyone in my life. And I think you feel the same way about Jake. So the fact of the matter is that we don’t really have a choice, Jo. We have to do this. We have to love them enough to make their safety the priority, even if it means they’re going to hate us for doing it.”

Reaching up with one hand, Joanne wiped a few tears from her cheek with her palm. “You’re right,” she said softly, but her voice was beginning to sound more resolute. “We have to do this, because we love them. Come on,” Joanne rose and faced Mark. “Let’s go downstairs before I lose my nerve again.”

Rising from the bed, Mark gave Joanne a small smile. “Just keep reminding yourself that this is the right thing to do,” he told her, putting his hand on her shoulder. “Your parents will know what to do.”

Nodding, Joanne let Mark lead her out of the room and down the stairs. But inside, all she wanted to do was march out the front door and drive to Jake’s house. She wanted to have Jake hold her, to tell her everything would be all right and that he would love her forever. But that wasn’t an option. For the sakes of Jake and Eve, Joanne would have to do the right thing, no matter how bad it hurt.

-----

The silence at the table was deafening to Joanne as she stared down at her hands. It had taken over half an hour, with Mark telling most of the story to Joanne’s parents, to finally get everything out. Joanne had watched as her mother’s eyes filled with tears as Mark spoke, and her father’s jaw grew tight, the way it always did whenever he was truly angry about something. It all felt like too much.

Suddenly, Joanne felt her mother reach across the table and take her hand. Looking up slowly, she met her mother’s concerned look. “You did the right thing by telling us,” she said reassuringly to Joanne. Looking over, she gave Mark a small smile. “You both did. I know this was very difficult for you.”

“But if you’ve known for a year,” Joanne’s father’s voice was harsher. “Why did you wait until now to tell us?”

Joanne’s eyes filled with tears as she looked at the confused and enraged expression on her father’s face. Unable to form any words in response, Joanne was grateful to her mother when she heard her address her father. “Honey,” she said gently to her husband. “They’re just kids. They didn’t know what to do. Don’t misdirect your anger at Mr. Reynolds towards Joanne…”

Letting out a deep breath, Joanne’s father’s face softened. “Your mother’s right,” he said in a much kinder tone to Joanne. “I’m sorry, sweety. I just can’t believe there are still people out there that do these kinds of heinous things – to the own children, for God’s sake! And especially to Jake... I mean, he’s such a good kid.”

Swallowing hard, Joanne saw the room grow blurry from her tears as her father spoke with such affection about Jake. Feeling Mark’s arm wrap around her shoulder again, she leaned into him for support. “We’re not sure what we should do,” she heard Mark say to her parents. “But we thought telling you…”

“Telling us was the right thing to do,” Joanne’s father said supportively to Mark. “You both did the right thing, and we’re proud of you.”

“Thank you,” Mark replied, an uncomfortable look on his face. “But what happens now? I mean, what’s going to happen to Jake and Eve… and Mr. Reynolds? Do we have to do anything else?”

Exchanging glances with her husband, Joanne’s mother shook her head. “We don’t know exactly what’s going to happen,” she admitted to Mark and Joanne. “But I think that, once we’re done here, Joanne’s father and I will go down to the police station to file a formal complaint. From what you two have told us tonight, Jake and Eve may end up denying the charges, so you both might be brought further into this. You may have to talk to the police, to answer some questions.”

Nodding, Mark looked over at Joanne, who had pulled back from him while her mother spoke and was staring at her hands again. “Are you going to be able to do that?” he asked Joanne gently. “Are you going to be able to tell a cop that Jake and Eve are lying to protect their father, and that you know the truth?”

Looking around between her parents’ faces and Mark’s, Joanne set out a soft sob as tears began flowing down her cheeks again. “Jake’s… Jake’s gonna… gonna hate me,” she hiccupped softly. “But if… if it means his father won’t ever be able to hurt him again, then I’ll do it.”

“And he’s not going to hate you, sweetheart,” Joanne’s mother tried to convince her. “He may be angry at first, he may feel betrayed, but in the end I’m sure he’ll realize that you did what you thought was best for him – for his well being, and for Eve’s.”

Looking over at Mark, Joanne saw that he was giving her a wry smile that seemed to say ‘It’s okay. They’re adults. They don’t know any better.’ Glancing back at her parents, Joanne shook her head sadly. “No,” she said softly. “They’re going to hate us.”

-----

Monday morning, Joanne trudged into school. She hadn’t gotten any sleep again the night before, making it over forty-eight hours since she had gotten a decent night’s sleep. Exhaustion wasn’t what was really bothering Joanne, though. It was the idea of facing Jake and Eve by herself.

That morning over breakfast, Joanne’s parents had told her basically what had gone on at the police precinct the night before. After filling out a formal report, they had explained to the police that Mr. Reynolds was not in town at the time. The police officer that was taking their information had said that was a good thing; he would send someone over to talk to the rest of the family right away, so they could try to get the facts without the looming figure of Mr. Reynolds there to intimidate them.

Of course, Joanne’s parents had explained that Jake and Eve might deny their father’s behavior, for fear of repercussions. The police office had assured them that child abuse cases were not taken lightly in their town, and that they would contact Joanne and Mark once they figured out what information they could acquire otherwise.

Opening her locker, Joanne kept peering over her shoulder, waiting for Eve or Jake to come charging up, yelling at her. To her dismay, neither of them did. In fact, neither of them came to her locker before the first bell rang, which was highly unusual. Joanne hoped they were both okay.

Letting out a sigh of relief when she entered her first class, Joanne took her normal seat next to Eve. But her relief immediately turned to fear again when she noticed Eve’s demeanor. The blond was facing forward, her expression stony, and she paid absolutely no mind to Joanne when she entered.

“Eve,” Joanne said softly to her friend. “I’m sorry… Mark and I just thought we had to do something-”

“Shut UP,” Eve’s voice was low but harsh as she turned towards Joanne. “You and Mark thought? YOU AND MARK THOUGHT? You and Mark don’t know shit! You had no right to interfere in our lives, particularly after Jake and I specifically told you both to mind your own business. So, you know what? You and Mark don’t get the chance to butt in again; you’re both out of our lives for good.”

Feeling tears well up in her eyes as Eve stopped speaking and turned forward again, Joanne swallowed hard. There was no way she was going to make it through school today, knowing that her biggest fear was being realized – Jake and Eve hated her. Picking up her backpack, Joanne made a beeline for the door just as her teacher entered the room.

“Miss Anderson?” Joanne could hear her teacher calling after her with concern as she pushed past her and ran down the hall. “Miss Anderson, where are you going?” Moving as quickly as she could, Joanne burst out through the doors and the end of the hallway and made her way into the student parking lot. Once she had unlocked the door and climbed into the driver’s side, Joanne rested her head on the steering wheel and began heaving with sobs.

-----

The week didn’t seem to want to end for Joanne. It was worse for her than the first week of school had been. In the hallway and during the several classes she and Eve shared, Joanne wasn’t even acknowledged by her former best friend. And in regards to Jake, it was even worse.

On Tuesday, Joanne had gathered all her courage and tried to approach Jake at his locker. “Don’t,” he had said, knowing it was Joanne standing behind him without even turning around. “I told you. I told you this was the only thing. You have no idea how badly you and Mark may have fucked up things for Eve and me. I can’t even talk to you.” With that, he had slammed his locker shut and walked down the hallway, not even looking in Joanne’s direction once.

‘At least Nicole and her friends seem to have figured out that this is a little more serious than a normal high school breakup,’ Joanne told herself as she walked into the parking lot on Friday afternoon. It seemed that, while no one knew exactly what was happening besides Joanne and the Reynolds kids themselves, everyone understood that something bad was going on. Derek had even given Joanne a small wave in the hallway earlier in the week, making it his first official non-sexual friendly gesture towards her without Jake being around since Joanne had met Eve.

“Just talk to me, Eve,” Joanne heard a familiar voice begging from a couple spots away as she walked up to her car. “Jesus, we didn’t do this to hurt you guys. We did it because we love you guys.”

“You did it because YOU thought YOU knew what was best for US,” Eve’s voice was as hard as she yelled at Mark as it had been on Monday when she yelled at Joanne. “But guess what? YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT’S BEST FOR US! Fuck, Mark, it’s too late. You fucked everything up. Just… just get away from me.”

Joanne watched as Mark stood dejectedly in the parking lot, his eyes never leaving Eve as she climbed into her car, turned on the engine, threw it into reverse, and sped out of the crowded parking lot. Turning around slowly, he saw Joanne watching him and shrugged while giving her small sad smile.

Taking a deep breath, Joanne walked over to where Mark was standing. He was still in his private school uniform, a navy jacket with a gold emblem emblazoned on the front of it. ‘He must have come right from school to talk to Eve,’ Joanne thought, feeling empathy for Mark. “Hey,” she greeted him.

“Hey,” Mark replied, reaching into his jacket pocket and pulling out a pack of cigarettes. “So that went well, huh? I’m guessing you’re getting about the same treatment from the two of them as I am, right?”

Nodding, Joanne looked around the parking lot for teachers or administrators. “You can’t smoke here,” she said, feeling like an elementary school hall monitor suddenly. “I mean, you’ll get in trouble. Why don’t you come by my house now? My mom should be home; maybe she has some news for us from the police.”

“Thanks,” Mark gave Joanne an appreciative look. “It would be nice to know that having my heart ripped out of my chest and spit on at least had some kind of purpose, other than to make me want to become a raging alcoholic at the ripe age of seventeen.”

Smiling a little, Joanne nodded in understanding. “So, I’ll see you in ten minutes.” she said, heading back to her car.

“See you then,” Mark started walking in the opposite direction, towards the guest parking spots on the far side of the lot.

-----

From the doorway that led from the gym to the parking lot, Jake had stood and watched both the confrontation between Mark and Eve and the ensuing conversation between Mark and Joanne, all without being seen.

It was hard for Jake. So hard. Joanne looked so sad, so small, so lost. And Jake himself was going through one of the most difficult, stressful, painful times in his life. There was such a large part of him that begged to be close to Joanne, to talk to her, to hold her, to feel complete with her.

But that wasn’t an option. Even if Joanne and Mark had meant well, they had no right to do what they had done. Eve and Jake’s lives had been turned upside down in one night. Jake’s father was being investigated, which made him miserable to be around. His mother was so stressed out, she was living off a diet of Valium and wine. And even though they had each other, both Jake and Eve were desolate about not being able to be with the people they loved most in the world.

With a hard swallow, Jake let his gaze follow Joanne to her car, where he watched her get in and drive off. Letting out a sigh, he started walking across the parking lot to his own truck. He almost got in and left when he heard voices arguing from across the parking lot. When he saw what was happening, his stomach jumped with both annoyance and concern.

“Well, hey there, cool guy,” Carl and a few of his friends were approaching Mark before he made it to his car in the visitor parking area. “Looks like you and Eve aren’t doing so well anymore, huh?”

Mark immediately recognized the person who approached him as the one who assaulted him on prom night. “I am so not in the mood for his right now,” Mark’s voice was steely as he glared at Carl.

“Well, that’s too bad,” Carl sneered at him, causing his friends to chuckle. “Because, as I see it, you are at MY school, getting in arguments with a girl I am interested in. Oh, and I don’t see anyone around to protect you this time, do you?”

“He doesn’t need to be protected,” Jake’s voice was hard as he came up behind Carl. “He just needs to not be jumped by three guys again. And by the way? The three-on-one thing is really a pussy move.”

Turning around to face Jake, Carl looked confused. “Jake, we’re cool, remember?” he said, the nervousness evident in his voice. “Eve and this guy aren’t together anymore from what I can see, and he’s coming here to our school, causing trouble.”

“He’s leaving,” Jake told Carl. “I don’t really see that as him causing trouble.”

Glancing between his friends, Jake and Mark, Carl finally just shrugged. “Whatever,” he said with annoyance. “We’ll let him go this time, just because I don’t see a reason to fight with you, Jake. We’re friends with all the same people.” Turning to Mark, Carl shook his head in disgust. “Just fucking stay away from here from now on.” With that, Carl and his friends turned and walked away.

“Thanks, Jake,” Mark said after a moment. “I really wasn’t up for-”

“Shut up,” Jake cut off Mark harshly. “Seriously, just shut up. We are not friends, Mark. I don’t like that you thought you knew better than Eve and me when it came to my father, and I really don’t like that you convinced Joanne to go along with you. None of this was your business, and now everything is fucked up. My house is like a war zone, Eve is miserable, and Joanne and me are through. All because you thought you knew what was best for everyone.”

“Jake, I get that you’re angry,” Mark responded calmly. “I do understand that, but just try to see it the way Joanne and I do. Wouldn’t you have done anything in the world to protect Joanne? Wouldn’t you have given up everything – including her – to make sure she was safe? Joanne loves you, and I love Eve. We couldn’t just stand by anymore. And shit, maybe we’re not friends now, but for a time you and I were. I wanted to help my girlfriend, and my friend, even if it meant they would hate me for it.”

Clenching his jaw in frustration, Jake shook his head. “I get what you’re saying,” he said, his voice much less angry than it had been a moment earlier. “But that’s not how things work. I was taking care of everything, and you and Joanne didn’t trust me to do that. You guys betrayed me and Eve, no matter what spin you want to put on it.”

Putting his hands up in defeat, Mark didn’t know what else to say. It seemed that, even if they weren’t blood related, Jake and Eve shared the same stubborn streak, and both were convinced that what he and Joanne had done was unforgivable. “I can’t make you understand why we did what we did,” Mark told Jake. “But at least know that it wasn’t an easy decision. We did what we thought was right. God, Jake, Joanne is heartbroken over this whole thing. She misses you so much. Please, at least try to see – just a little – why she might have done this.”

Chewing on his bottom lip, Jake refused to do as Mark asked. He couldn’t try to understand Joanne’s point of view, because he didn’t trust himself to. He was pretty sure that if he gave in an iota, his overwhelming sense of love and the desire to be with her would take over, and he would get back together with her. Which was not an option, he reminded himself. Joanne did the one thing he begged her not to do. How would he ever trust her again?

“Is she doing okay?” Jake immediately got annoyed at himself for asking the question.

Shaking his head a little, Mark gave Jake a sympathetic smile. “Barely,” he said truthfully. “I mean, I’m sure you of all people know that Joanne’s stronger than she realizes. But after you two breaking up and getting back together… It is really hurting her to have lost you again, especially over this – over something she thought was the right thing to do.”

“The right thing to do,” Jake said sadly. “The right thing for both of you to do would have been to listen to me and Eve when we told you to let me handle things. I can’t forgive Joanne, and I don’t think Eve can forgive you. I’m sorry if that sounds dickish, but it’s the truth.”

Nodding a little, Mark shrugged. “I guess this is one of those situations where there’s no getting past the stalemate.”

“I guess so,” Jake said quietly in response.

“Well,” Mark looked sad as he put out his hand towards Jake. “In that case, I just want to say take care of yourself, and Eve. And thanks for stopping me from getting my ass jumped again today.”

Nodding, Jake took Mark’s hand and shook it. “And do me a favor?” Jake asked nervously. “Just… just keep an eye on Joanne. Like you said, she doesn’t know how strong she is, and she gets scared easily…”

“I’ll do my best,” Mark reached into his pants pocket and pulled out his car keys. “But you know as well as I do that you are the only person that really makes Joanne feel safe.” With that, Mark turned towards his car and unlocked the door. “Later, Jake.”

“Later,” Jake replied, turning away and trudging across the parking lot back towards his truck, unsure if there was any way he could feel more depressed or alone than he did at that moment.

-----

THANK YOU TO THOSE WHO HAVE READ AND REVIEWED. THIS STORY FEELS A BIT MORE COMPLICATED THAN MY NORMAL ROMANCES TO ME, SO IT IS TAKING ME SOME TIME TO WORK THROUGH WHERE THE STORY IS GOING. ANYWAY, HERE ARE A FEW COMMENTS TO REVIEWERS:

IOTC247: LIKE YOU SAID, SOMETIMES PEOPLE DON’T GET BACK TOGETHER…

YING: SORRY IF I’M MAKING THINGS TOO EMOTIONAL. AM I? IS IT GETTING CHEESY?

FOAMYFAN15010: WE’LL STILL HAVE TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS TO MR. REYNOLDS…

WOLF: CHAPTER ONE DEFINITELY WAS A FORESHADOWING OF SOMETHING TO COME, ALTHOUGH NOT QUITE WHAT YOU ARE GUESSING.

MYSTICVIXEN84: THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR INDEPTH REVIEW! I TOOK YOUR ADVICE, ADDING A BIT MORE ABOUT JOANNE’S PARENTS IN THIS CHAPTER. HOPE YOU LIKED.

THANK YOU SO MUCH TO SESSHY_LOVER, CU-KID, GIRLFIXER, AFICI0NADA, PSYCOSNAKE, KRISCHEO, LUSTFUL X MAGIC, ADAEE, CREAPURE, COPE, AND SILENT_ENVY FOR TAKING THE TIME TO REVIEW. YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST!