Hi, all.
Here's a little more of the fic. I had a hard time breaking the parts up so they wouldn't be too long or too short, but I think this might work.
Don't worry too much about Dee Dee. There may be a ray of light shining for her soon.
Thanks so much for keeping me going on the huge project.
Take care.
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*Note - Just a reminder...At the end of part 22, Dee Dee was just about to take her second piece of luggage downstairs and out to her car, but she suddenly felt sick and took a seat on the stairs. That's where Alex found her and asked if she was sneaking out on him.
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"Fools Rush In" (Part 23)
“What? Oh, I…I, was um…” Dee Dee stammered nervously.
“Why do you have the suitcase, Dee Dee?” Alex’s eyes sparked fire. “I’ll ask you what I asked before. You wouldn’t be planning to sneak out on me, would you?”
Dee Dee knew that a lie wouldn’t cover for her this time. “Yes.” She confessed softly as she pulled herself up by the railing and slowly moved away from the top of the stairs. “I was going to sneak out. It’s the only solution I had.” She heaved a weary sigh. “I can’t go on living in this house, Alex. This whole mess has got be put to an end, and I have to leave.”
“What are you talking about?” Alex questioned with surprise. “We’re on our way to working through things.” His frustration began to build. “You’re not making any sense! We were just talking about you helping me get my life back together, and now you’re talking about leaving?! What the hell?!”
“I’ve taken all I can in this sham of a marriage, Alex.” Dee Dee sighed nervously. “I want and need to be out. I have to go.”
“Why are doing this, Dee Dee?! Didn’t I promise to work on making it better?!”
“I’m just tired, Alex. I’m so tired of being afraid of you all the time. And while you’re trying to wean yourself off the drugs, you may become even more dangerous to me. You’ve hurt me so much; mentally and physically…I can’t take anymore.”
“I don’t believe this shit!” Alex barked. When he realized the fear in Dee Dee’s eyes, he tried a calmer approach. “I’m sorry. But I just don’t know why you’re running out on me. I’m going to be a different man, I told you. I just need time. Dee Dee, you have to help me. I can’t do this alone.”
Dee Dee crossed her arms, leaned against the wall and looked up into Alex’s eyes. “How can I help you, when I’m not allowed to give my opinion on anything? How do I know what I say or do, won’t cause you to put bruises on my body or threaten my life? I don’t want to do this, Alex. I want you to get the help you need, but without me.”
“Aww, damn it, Dee Dee. I told you it was the drugs that had me losing control.”
Dee Dee shook head at the excuse as she slowly gained her will. “That’s what you say, but I don’t know if it’s actually true. And why…why should I help you, when you’ve done nothing but hurt me, whether it was fueled by drugs or not? You knew what you were doing when you married me; nothing more than a cover to keep your reputation clean. I can’t do this anymore. And I won’t do it. I should have been gone a long time ago, but I let your threats keep me here. Not anymore.”
Alex glared angrily at his wife and moved in closer. “You think you’re above me, don’t you? You think you’re too good to help me because I haven’t lead the spotless lifestyle you have. You just can’t deal with that, can you?! You’re not as much as you think you are either, Dee Dee! Do I have to remind you again that you don’t have a badge and a gun to make you fearless?! You’ve proved that to me and to yourself dozens of times since we’ve been married, because your true strengths lay only in your career! You had Steve and Rick supporting you when things got too tough, didn’t you?! Without them, you were only a scared little girl without any idea of what to do without her heroes!”
“This is what I’m talking about, Alex! You’re always using the things I love, against me!” Dee Dee usually listened as Alex did all the yelling, afraid to have a voice of her own, but now she felt herself angrier than frightened, and stood firm. It was her time to speak and to be heard. “I can’t even talk about my life…the life before I married you, or I have to suffer for it!” As her anger gained strength, she uncrossed her arms and placed her hands on her hips. “I never said I was better than you are, but you’ve decided to twist things around and blame me for your problems! You’re so screwed up, that you even accused me of being happy that Monica died, when in reality, it was you who felt that way and couldn’t handle the guilt! You’ve taken so much out on me; and I’m supposed to forget that and help you control your demons?! I can’t do this!” She stepped away from Alex and grabbed her suitcase. As she made it down the first two steps, Alex was hot on her heels.
“Dee Dee!” His voice echoed over her head as he caught her by the arm. “Turn around and look at me!” She didn’t have a choice in turning around…he’d turned her himself. “I’m not done with you!”
“Well, I’m done with you!” She shouted. “Now, let go of me!”
Alex did just the opposite and pulled her back up to the staircase landing; snatching her suitcase from her. “What are you going to do, now?” He asked in a taunting voice. “Think you can get past me?”
“Please move out of the way. I don’t want to have to fight you to get out of here, but I will.” She worried about putting the baby in danger, but she may have to in order to save both their lives.
“You won’t fight me, because you’re too scared. I dare you to try and get by me.” Alex held a menacing grin. “Go ahead. Try me.”
Dee Dee tried stepping past him, but he blocked her path. Sighing with dread at the thought of physical confrontation she took Alex’s dare. She put both hands on his chest and tried to push him away. He barely moved an inch, but at least she showed him she wasn’t backing down.
“You actually pushed me. Well, that’s mighty brave of you.” He chuckled. “Care to give it another try?” Once again she pushed him; this time using a better stance to gain more leverage. Alex moved a little more than during her first attempt, but it wasn’t enough. He began reminding her of his promises. “I told you I’d work on making the marriage better, didn’t I?! I’m quitting the drugs…getting my life in order! I told you that I do love you; maybe not the way I should, but I will in time! What else do you want from me?!”
She answered without looking away in fear. “All I want from you is my freedom! And the kind of love you can give…I don’t want! I’m tired of you abusing me, Alex! I wasn’t put on this earth for you to beat me and treat me like shit, because of some game you’re playing!”
“I told you I didn’t know what I was doing half the time! Why won’t you believe that?!”
Dee Dee shook her head with regret. “Alex, I’ve been through too much, and I can’t go through anymore. I can’t have you hitting me or yelling at me; causing my nerves to be on edge at all times. I don’t eat or sleep like I should; it’s not healthy for me or my…” She stopped herself; keeping the secret as it was. “I don’t know when I might do or say something to make you angry, and that keeps me wondering and worrying twenty-four seven! I hate living like that and I shouldn’t have to live like that!” Feeling the strain of the intense conversation, she leaned against the wall to recuperate. She lowered her head slightly and inhaled deeply and exhaled a slow steady breath. She could feel Alex moving in closer to her once again.
Alex rests his palms on the wall above Dee Dee to support most of his weight. He glared down at her while he spoke. “Alright. You’ve had your little tantrum, but now you need to remind yourself that you can’t do a damn thing without me. You don’t have a dime to your name, no place to go, and I know there’s no way you’d call your parents or Rick to beg for money. You couldn’t stand the embarrassment of telling them you fucked up your life. So, you’re stuck. I’m all you’ve got and you know it.” He smirked with his comment. “You’d better start acting like you appreciate what I’ve given you and know that without me, you’re nothing. Absolutely nothing! You don’t even matter to anyone! No one gives a damn about you, Dee Dee! You chose me over everyone and everything else! So, deal with it!”
Dee Dee’s anger grew with every word that Alex expelled. She knew she’d made a horrible mistake by marrying him, but she knew she couldn’t let him have any more control over her. “You’re wrong, Alex. I do have a place to go. And most importantly…” She thought of her baby. “…I do matter to someone.”
“Oh, really?” Alex scoffed. “And who might that be?”
Dee Dee didn’t answer.
“I asked you a question!” Alex moved only inches from her face and screamed again. “Answer the damn question, Dee Dee!” He was proving to her that he wasn’t anywhere near becoming a new man. She could see the fire raging in his eyes like many times before but she didn’t answer. “Okay, you want be stubborn?! Come here!” He grabbed her wrist and pulled her from the wall, only to shove her against it with intense force. “You want me to make you talk?! I’ll do it, damn it! You know I will!” Alex shoved her again, causing her head to rebound off the wall.
“This is what I’m so sick of going through!” Dee Dee said within her crying. “Why do you have to treat me like this?!”
Without a warning, Alex quickly twisted her arm behind her back and pushed the front of her body against the wall.
“Stop it! Stop it, Alex!” Thinking of her child’s safety; as her stomach pressed against wall, she knew the truth had to be told, and hoped it’d work in her favor. “You’re not just hurting me, you’re hurting my baby! I’m pregnant!”
There it was; out in the wide open space for Alex to absorb.
Totally taken by surprise, Alex released his hold and Dee Dee timidly turned to face him. He got only as far as mouthing “wha…”, before he stepped back and mentally shook Dee Dee’s words around inside his head. “What did you say?”
Dee Dee was more direct this time. “I’m pregnant, Alex. And I said, when you do this, you’re not just hurting me, you’re hurting my baby.
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