Calum's PoV:

I stormed out of the corner store and down the side walk, seeing red.

"Hey!" I heard Luke call behind me but kept going until he ran up and pulled me backwards in order to stop me.

"Calum stop!"

"She's ridiculous!" I shouted.

"Well you're not in any place right now to be angry with her! You're the one who acted like a dick! This is her trying to end the relationship. She didn't do it to hurt you!" He fought back.

My chest was heaving up and down so hard.

"You have to deal with this, Calum. I know you're upset that she broke up with you but acting like this isn't going to convince her to take you back."

He was right.

"I need her back." I whispered.

"I know. So why don't you start trying to win her back by going back to Connie's and apologizing to her."

I took a deep breath to calm down before walking back towards the corner store.

When we got there we opened the door but it was only Kate and Michael inside.

"Where's Nessa?" I asked them.

"Ashton took her home." Kate said and I sighed.

"Calum what the hell happened to you?!" Kate then exclaimed.

"I don't know."

"She made you happy! She did so much for you and you just let all of that go because your ex wife's parents hate her?! I thought the two of you were going to last! I thought she could be the one to be a mom to your kids and a better wife to you and you just threw all of that away! What the hell are you doing?! This isn't just your life, it's hers too!"

"I know that." I kept my voice quiet.

"Then why throw away your happiness?"

"I don't know."

"Calum." She shook her head.

It was silent in the room.

"Go home, think this through." Luke said from behind me. "Then apologize."

I nodded my head.

Kate looked so disappointed with me as I left.

I picked Eli and Cade up from the day care and took them home where I laid down on the sofa, my head in my hands.

I was such a screwup.

I didn't understand why I had reacted that way when she was just trying to end us as simply as possible.

She wasn't the problem, I was.

"Daddy?"

I opened my eyes and looked up to see Eli standing there.

"Yeah?"

"Is Nessa babysitting me tonight?" He asked so innocently.

"Um, not tonight Eli."

"Why?"

"Because she's not."

"Where is she?"

"She's at her house."

"Can we go say hi?" He asked me in such an innocent voice and I felt my heart shatter.

"Not today bud."

He frowned at this and as I watched him walk away I squeezed my eyes shut tight and let out a whine.

How was I going to fix this?

I felt awful for not playing toys with Eli and Cade like I normally did, but I was so hung up on what I had done that I could not get past it.

I didn't want to cook, and instead called in pizza but couldn't bring myself to eat anything.

So after dinner I put Eli and Cade in their room to sleep while I called Kate.

"Hey." She answered.

"I need advice."

"Sure."

"Should I go to Nessa's house tonight and apologize to her or wait until the morning and do it at work? I was going to go get her flowers or something."

"Calum, Nessa isn't home."

"Oh, is she with you?"

"No. I just dropped her off at the airport like an hour ago, she flew to New York." 

"What?" I whispered, my heart sinking into my stomach.

"She said it was a family emergency."

"Is everything okay?" I was now concerned. "Is she okay?"

"Well she just broke up with her boyfriend who is now acting like a child and something happened that made her fly back to New York, a place she once told me she could never go back to. So you tell me."

I sighed.

"Do you know when she's coming back?"

"No, but she said she'd only be gone a few days."

"Should I call her?"

"Why don't you try calling her tomorrow to apologise and see if maybe you two can get coffee or something when she gets back so you can get some closure."

"Okay."

"But be calm and patient with her Calum."

"I will."

I hung up the phone and took a deep breath.

I had to learn how to not get mad at Nessa for my mistakes, and the mistakes of the people who had done me wrong.

She told me I needed to get my priorities straight.

So that's what I would do.

I would prove to Nessa that I could change and treat her the way she should be treated.

I had to get Nessa back.

And I would do whatever it took to accomplish that.

Nessa's PoV:

As the plane touched down on the tarmac part of me felt relief while the other part of me knew I was in even more danger now.

I was on The Black Wolves home turf.

Granted, the majority of them were in California right now trying to find my sorry ass,   but there will still some here and they knew me.

As I got off the plane I walked quickly to baggage claim and the exit where I found Dawson waiting for me.

"Abby." He gave me a sad, little smile as I went forward to hug him. "You look devastated, Abbs."

"I am." I breathed.

"I'm so sorry." He squeezed me a bit tighter.

"Thank you." I gave him a partial smile.

He and I then began to walk towards the taxi he had waiting for us.

"So did you tell Calum you were leaving for a few days?" He asked me as we began to pull away from the airport.

"No. I just had Kate take me to the airport."

"I'm so sorry, Abby. I really am."

"Can...can you call me Nessa?"

"Sure." He smiled gently. "Nessa."

The taxi took us to the subway station where Dawson had his office, and so we walked down the steps and to the door that belonged to him. He unlocked it and to my surprise as we walked in my father was standing there waiting.

His clipped brown hair was greying at the roots and he wore casual clothes unlike his normal suit. Jeans and a grey tee shirt with a green flannel on top was his outfit of choice, and as my eyes locked with his blue ones I saw him try and recognise me before he practically crushed me to him.

"Abby, honey." He hugged me like he hadn't seen me in years, and the tears pricked at my eyes as he did.

"Daddy." I cried.

"Dawson told me what happened, i'm so sorry."  He said.

I nodded into his chest, breathing in his familiar scent before I looked up at him.

"I know i'm your father, but I barely recognise you. Your hair is short. And brown. And your eyes are green."

"I had to disguise myself."

"My beautiful daughter." He smiled as he looked down at me.

"Daddy, i'm so sorry for what happened with Spencer. He was going to hurt me and tell Seth I had saw them making a deal and I had to protect myself. I never meant to kill him."

"I know that. I'm not upset. I know what he did." My father said. "I'm going to fix this Abby. I'm going to turn them in."

"How?" I asked him.

He opened his mouth to speak but we were interrupted by my phone ringing.

"It's probably Kate wondering if i'm here." I told Dawson as he went to answer it.

"Hello?" He said. "No, this is her friend Dawson. Who is this?"

I looked back at him in confusion.

"Eli?"

I turned around and grabbed the phone from him, pressing it to my ear.

"Eli?" I asked.

"Nessa!" I heard the voice of the six year old boy.

"Eli, what are you doing calling me? Is everything okay?"

"I want to see you. Can you come read us a story?"

"Oh. Eli... i'm on a trip right now." I bit my lip.

"A trip? Where did you go?"

"I'm in New York."

"I know where that is on my map!"

I laughed at this.

"You do? That's awesome. So now you know where I am."

"When are you coming back?" He then asked.

"I'll be back in a few days."

"Will you come babysit me and Cade?"

"I'll try my very best." I said.

"Does that mean no?" He then asked sadly and I felt my heart break.

"How about when I get back you and Cade come over to my house and spend the night."

"I want to do that!" He said excitedly and I could just imagine him smiling.

"Alright. Then we'll have a sleepover when I get back." I said. "Now how are you calling me?"

"Daddy is taking a shower so I used his phone."

"Okay. Well, put the phone back and go to sleep, and i'll see you when I get back."

"Okay."

"Goodnight, Eli."

"Night, Nessa."

I heard him hang up and I then shut my phone before a sob left me.

"That was his son wasn't it?" Dawson asked and I nodded as my father came to hug me again.

"My life is a disaster."

"Everything will work out." My father said to me. "I know it doesn't seem like it right now but I promise you it will."

I should've known dating a guy with kids would have been risky, but I did it anyway.

I dated Calum anyway because I wanted to be with him. He made me happy and feel safe and content, and I wish that everything that had happened with him hadn't occurred, because not being with him hurt me more than I thought it could.

My father had to leave after a while and I slept in Dawson's subway closet apartment.

Dawson was a computer programmer, and so he worked from "home", which allowed me to have company while I stayed in bed all day.

My father was the CFO of a bank, and so he had to work, leaving me with Dawson.

As I was laying there my phone rang and I rolled over and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Nessa!"

It was Eli again.

"Hi, Eli." I laughed.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"I'm not doing anything right now. What are you doing?"

"I'm on the phone with you!"

I laughed at this.

"You are."

"Are you coming back today?" He then asked.

"Not today."

"Oh. Tomorrow then?"

"Maybe tomorrow." I smiled.

"Okay!"

I then heard muffled words in the back ground.

"I have to eat lunch now. Can I call you again?"

"Yes you can." I smiled.

"Okay! Bye Nessa!"

"Bye Eli."

I hung up the phone and rolled back over in Dawson's bed.

I rested for a little bit longer until my phone rang again.

"Hey, Eli." I answered.

"Eli?"

My eyes went wide at the sound of Calum's voice.

"Oh, Calum." I slowly sat up, noticing Dawson turn around to look at me.

"Why did you say Eli?" He asked again.

"He's been calling me from your phone." I said and he sighed.

"I'll talk to him about that." He then said.

"It's okay, he can call me whenever he wants."

"So you're in New York?" He asked.

"Yeah."

"I heard you had a family emergency, and I just wanted to make sure everything was okay."

"Yeah it is."

It was sweet of him to check on me.

"But thanks for calling me."

"Yeah." He said and then sighed. "Ness I'm so sorry. The way I acted yesterday was so screwed up and I was just really upset and I'm
sorry for making all of this worse."

I squeezed my eyes shut.

"I know breaking up is hard and i'm sorry but I just couldn't do it anymore." I whispered.

"I'm so sorry for making you feel like I didn't want to be with you because I do, more than anything, and I just let them get in my head and I screwed this all up."

"I know."

"Nessa i'm just so sorry."

"I know you are."

"When you get back can we go out for coffee or something and just talk?"

"Sure."

"Okay." He sounded relieved.

"I'll let you know when I get back."

"Alright. And I hope everything is okay."

"Thanks. I'll um, talk to you soon."

"Okay, bye Ness."

"Bye."

I dropped the phone onto the bed and then saw Dawson roll over to me in his rolling chair.

"You okay?" He asked me.

"Yeah."

"What did he say?"

"That he's sorry."

"Can I say something and you won't murder me?"

I gave him a look and he realized what he had said.

"Sorry, bad saying. But I think Calum really is sorry. He made a mistake and he realizes that, and he knows he needs to get you back."

"I don't know if that's a good idea." I shook my head.

"Who said love was ever a good idea?"

I laid back down and closed my eyes, Dawson's words swirling in my head.

Love was never a good idea, but for some reason we needed it.

--

Poor Nessa and Calum :(

How do you think their chat will go? Will they be able to work this out or will they need more time apart?

More to come!

Much love xx-m