Chapter 1.04 Something Wicked This Way Comes

As the months went on, both Thomas and Erin thought everything seemed okay and drama free.

Well, they did at least.

Its always good when you finally manage to achieve something, even just something which seemed simple to others, like a chin up. 

Thomas was honestly proud of himself. It was a small thing to some people, but a big step for him, after all, the only thing that majorly stood in his astronaut dream was his strength.

At least now he could technically lift himself.

"You know, you're actually getting good at guitar." Thomas noticed, walking behind her as she played.

"Hm...." Was all she hummed, maybe in agreement? He couldn't actually tell. He did know she was probably thinking about something though. She had that somewhat glassy look in her eyes.

"What's up?" He asked while ignoring the carpool outside for a moment, Erin was more important.

"Just thinking." She murmured, glancing back at him. "I'll tell you later, you need to head off to work." She said, looking back forwards.

Thomas did as she said, and left for work.

After getting dressed, Erin spent a moment to look at her heavily flowered dresser. Only one of them wasn't real though, and funnily enough it happened to be the one with the three smiling yellow flowers/

She honestly wondered if she would ever actually move all those flowers, just in case the baby had hay fever when its a little older. 

Well, if she sees it coughing or sneezing in her room, she'll know to take them down.

She then went off to the fair, in an attempt to make some money through busking. It could be a good way of earning money, but only mainly if there were actually people there. Most of the time it was fairly empty due to work and other things getting in the way.

Erin placed down her guitar case, hopefully a way of showing people that she wanted tips. Hopefully people would catch on if she put a bit of money in there herself. 

Erin honestly thought she was alone though, she couldn't hear or directly see anyone around. Maybe they were all at work.

Besides, she had her guitar to focus on...

... And not highly tattooed redheads, who look like they fit in even less than Erin sometimes feels. She didn't notice the tattoo addict watching her though, she was mostly focused on her guitar and trying to make sure people would actually tip her.

"Hey, you." The 'illustrated' woman said, looking at Erin. "Little forest-y woman with a stupid ponytail." 

Erin narrowed her eyes "Do I know you...?" She asked. This woman sounded a lot like she was from around here, but with a slight accent from out of town.

"Nope. You don't know me. But I know you." The other woman folded her arms, glaring at Erin.

"First of all, my name's Roxie, okay?" She stated matter of factly. "Second your little guitar playing is crap and your being a total sell out by even trying." Roxie sneered, speaking as if the words were poison.

"I don't even know you, why are you being so mean?" Erin asked, honestly confused. She promised herself that she wouldn't cry though, all of her emotions have been everywhere lately.

She wasn't proud to admit that she cried over burnt food the other day.

"Why are you being so horrible? I've only just met you." Erin said, a slightly catch in her voice. She was not going to start crying because some snobby punk is being mean. 

"Oh honey. Don't you even dare start that with me!" Roxie held up her hands, trying to stop Erin from speaking. "Don't pretend your fully innocent when you're not. I know who you are sweetie. Get standards."

"You don't know what I went through. You don't know my life." She growled, glaring.

"Oh, I think your size says perfectly clearly what you went through. And I bet he forgot to put something on the end of it." Roxie smirked, knowing she had won.

'Do. Not. Cry.' Was the only thing Erin could think of. She didn't want to randomly break down into tears.

"Just tell me what you want with me, and go." She glared, her voice quiet. She was getting dangerously close to hurting this woman... If it wasn't for Erin's condition, the slapping and hair pulling would have started at hello.

"Stay away from my Tommy." She growled, and Erin had to step back a little. 

She wasn't fully sure she heard right. Her Tommy? Surely that can't be the Thomas she knew, right? The guy she knew would never hang around with such a bitch.

"Your Tommy? What do you mean 'Your Tommy'? I've lived with him for months and he's never mentioned any Roxie." She glared, huffing. Roxie was really getting on her nerves.

"Oh, okay. I'm sure if you even bring up my name, he'll be all 'Oh, Roxie who?' Well, that's not how it'll go down honey. I know he still thinks about me. Every day. If you leave, you'll be in his thoughts for a minute, two tops. You're just some slut he's allowing to stay." Roxie smiled bitterly, "I'm a lot more important to him than you'll ever be." She said then stormed off.

Erin watched as Roxie stormed away, she couldn't help but think about what she said... Would Thomas not care if she just went one day? Of course not, he would care, probably at least.

She had to tell him what happened though. If he did know this Roxie girl like she had said, it would be the nicest thing to do, right?

Erin also wondered about all the tattoos she had, maybe she should get one at some point... As she wondered, she wandered over to the other side of the park.

A lot of people seemed to come to the summer bash after work, so Erin figured that if she stayed near the entry stairs, more people would tip her for it as they came here at about 3-ish, which was a good thing as money's really tight at the house right now with only Thomas properly working and the baby on the way... 

She's still glad that she could stay with him, she had no clue what on earth would have happened if she had to deal with all this on her own. She didn't earn too much from busking, but at least she got an offer to play at a party later that night.

She went back home when it was about lunchtime. Guitar playing is a lot harder than it seems.

When Erin walked in, she saw Thomas in the kitchen. She went up to him "Hey, I didn't know you were here." She tilted her head a little, confused about why he was there.

He shrugged "My boss let me have an hour back here, probably to get something decent to eat." He smirked slightly, "The food at work sucks so much." 

Erin looked down, trying to remember what that woman was called "I saw this woman out today, she had bright red hair and a lot of tattoos... She said she knew you." She mumbled.

He furrowed his eyebrows "That really doesn't ring a bell... I don't know anyone with red hair. What was her name?" He asked, and Erin looked up, thinking.

"Rosie, I think, Ruby... Something along those lines." She trailed off. Her eyes then widened when she remembered "Roxie! That's it! Roxie. Yeah, she was a real-"

"Wait, Roxie?" He cut her off, shocked. She wondered who this girl was, and why she meant so much to him.

"Yeah, Roxie. Where do you know her from? She really doesn't seem like the kind of person you'd be friends with. She's really mean." Erin frowned

"I knew her when I was younger." He mumbled, as Erin began to wonder if telling him about Roxie was the right thing to do. She honestly couldn't tell how his reaction to the highly illustrated woman. "Look, I should be going off to work." He said, and with that he left.

Erin went back to the park, and it was considerably quieter. It was weird being here, as if she could ever forget that her and Danny did it in the haystack in the corner of the place. 

She couldn't help but wonder if she made the right choice by never telling him about the baby, but then again, he was going on a massive tour, then staying in Isla Paridiso. Even if he did want to help, which he probably didn't, it would just mess up everything for her, him and the baby. She thought and still does think its a lot easier to just make sure he doesn't ever find out.

Straight after work, Thomas called Roxie. He couldn't believe she was finally back in town. Its been so long since he last spoke to her, but by Erin's description, it sounds as if she has changed, a lot. The Roxie he knew... 

He then stopped his trail of thought. Thinking about how Roxie left is still just as painful as it always has been, no matter where she was.

The rings seemed like an eternity each, as he honestly started to wonder about what if Erin had just got someone mixed up... She did have a habit of doing that.

"Hello?" He heard her answer, his heart racing. It was his Roxie, the one he used to be in love with. Even after all these years, she still had the same effect on him as she did when they were teenagers.

"Hey Rox, its me." He said, unsure of what else to say. Should he say that he missed her? What if she didn't feel the same way? Maybe she did after the way she spoke to Erin... He just decided to stick with that, and let her speak.

"Tommy? I'm so glad to hear from you again." She sounded cheerful, like the way she always has been with him. She was easily irritated to put it nicely, yet she was never that way with him.

"I heard you were back in town, I was wondering-" He started, yet was cut off by her beginning to speak again.

"Yeah, I am. But only for a few days. I'm staying at a friend's house. Can you come over?" She asked.

"Sure." He answered quickly, grinning. He tried not to seem all too eager though. "Shall I come over tonight?" He asked, trying to seem cool.

"Come over now." She answered, then hung up.

Thomas put his phone away, and quickly went over to her house.

He felt nervous and excited being at her house, if they had grown up differently with proper families, it might have been different. Right now, he was thankful that wasn't the case, as he was so nervous right now.

Even after three years, seeing her still had the exact same effect. 

"Hey." He mumbled quietly, not sure what to think about her new appearance. The Roxie he used to know didn't have red hair, or a skull tattoo on her chest. 

"Long time no see, huh?" She half smiled, looking up at him. It was a weird feeling being close to her again, as if everything had just gone back to when they were teenagers. Then again, if they were teenagers, his Roxie wouldn't be a redhead.

"So, why did you invite me over here? Is there something you wanted to talk about?" He asked, honestly hoping she wanted to get back together with him.

As she turned and went inside, he followed her.

When he saw the toddler on the floor though, he honestly got a little worried. "You didn't tell me you had a daughter." He mumbled.

"Her name's Rosie. She's about two and a quarter now." Roxie mumbled. "I've raised her while being on the move, and I don't want that anymore. I want her to stay with her father."

"Who is her father?" Thomas asked, mainly out of interest.

"You."

Chapter 1.03 Fear                                                                                            

 Chapter 1.05 Leisure Day