Nothing else in the world

Who: Jesse and Jessie
When: Early evening
Where: Their apartment

This was not helping the all encompassing ‘wrong’ feeling that the past days had given her. Seeing Ronnie had tipped Jessie over the edge and by the time she’d gotten home, Jessie had been fuming for a good while. She should have slapped that woman. She should have just hauled off and landed a good slap on her face while she had the chance. But she hoped her words sunk in more than a slap could and that Ronnie, for once, was going to actually, really, stay away. Not like months or years at a time, but for good. Once and for all was what she’d been shooting for.

She trudged up the last of the stairs, let herself into the apartment, and had a right mind to collapse on the couch. But there were quite a few interesting new details about the apartment that had changed since she was there this morning. First and foremost, there was a suitcase blocking her ability to just dive onto the couch. Secondly, there was a smell wafting through the air from the kitchen, a smell she recognized instantly as her favorite order from her favorite restaurant. She headed towards the kitchen (noticing the bathroom light was on but the door was shut), and was confirmed by the sight of take-out containers from Bartolini’s. “Dad?”

Jesse looked over from where he was wrapping a bandage around his left hand, which, as it turned out probably did have little fractures in it somewhere. It was turning really pretty colors and has swollen up, but he'd had worse. And really, he didn't regret a goddamn thing, that fucker had deserved that and more. "Hey, Baby J." he said, finishing the wrap--which he knew he'd have to explain--and he walked over to drop a kiss on her forehead. "We've got some company. You're Auntie Becky needs a place to stay for a little while." he explained. "...she had a little trouble I helped her out with." he added, lifting his hand a little so she'd know how he'd got that. "She's not having a very good day, so I figured take out, and a quiet evening here ought to help a little. I got you your favorite." he told her, giving a little smile. He also had something else for her but he'd put that in her room.

Ok. Aunt Becky had some 'trouble', whatever that meant, that involved her dad getting his hand screwed up and her coming to stay here. The latter she was completely fine with, but the former? Not so much. In all honestly, just the sight of her father wrapping a bandage around his hand worked wonders in pushing Veronica from her immediate thoughts. She stared at the bandages then turned her eyes back up to her father, pointing at his hand. "You gonna tell me exactly what happened?"

Jesse didn't keep a whole lot from his daughter. They had a very open communication going on, and so he didn't actually consider not telling her the truth on this. "There are some very bad men in this world." he told her, tone light. "Becky ran into one. Sometimes people need a little help getting away from people like that. I helped." he told her, not getting into specifics, but Jessie was sharp enough that she could fill in enough of the blanks. Plus, it'd hardly be the first time he'd come home a little roughed up over the exact same thing.

Jessie listened to him, but ended up further into the kitchen, plucking a tray of ice cubs out and popping a considerable amount into a dry dish towel. "But what happened to your hand, exactly? Is it cut? Do you need something more than ice?" She returned to her father's side and held the towel out to him. Obviously she was not so thrilled by the fact that he'd gotten hurt at all. To her, no reason was a good reason for her father to get hurt, but if she had to pick, saving Becky from some creep warranted her dad's help. "I know you wouldn't let her get hurt or anything, but is she ok?"

"Naw, I mean, my knuckles are a little raw, but I think I cracked some bones on someone's jaw." Jesse admitted, taking the towel from his daughter and he set it against the back of his hand. "Nothing too bad, though." he promised. "She's okay now." he said, again knowing the implication would be clear to Jessie. He just didn't think hiding it from her was a good way to go. Plus, especially in light of recent events with Dodge, her kind of seeing first hand that people she cared about who were capable, smart women could still get into trouble because people out there just fucking sucked, was something she would do well knowing. He loved his daughter more than anything in the world and her having a little healthy understanding of how things could get could only help her in a city like this.

"But before, she wasn't ok? Is she hurt?" She asked, the frown on her face deepening. It never really left, just got more and more confused. Becky was here and safe now, but before her dad rescued her from this scumbag of a guy...what happened to her? All in all, this whole situation was a really good distraction from Veronica, even if she'd choose Veronica over her dad being hurt and Becky being in a bad situation..and possibly hurt too.

"She's okay. She didn't need to go to the hospital or anything." Jesse told her, setting the ice aside to reach out and pull her closer for a hug. "Sorry this is all really sudden. And I know you'll worry. I'm sure you can talk to her when she gets out of the bath." he said. "Though I figure dinner tonight with us, maybe play some cards afterwards or something." Something light, distracting, and generally relaxing. Nothing that amounted to anything stressful. "How've you been today?" he asked as he let her go again to pick the ice back up, his full attention on her.

Jessie hugged him back, maybe a little too tight for a normal hug but it was instinctive and she felt like she needed a big hug. Part of her wished he wouldn't ask her about her day just yet, but she knew it was coming. Did she really want to pile on Veronica ontop of her dad's seemingly awful and slightly dangerous day? Jessie shrugged a little, making her way to the cabinet to get out two glasses and fill them with water and ice. She'd make another for Becky when she was out of the bathroom. "Not so good. Didn't have school, so Jessica and Amy and I went down to the festival..." Jessie pulled a chair out from the table and plopped into it, folding her arms and dropping them onto the table then letting her chin rest ontop of them. "Saw Veronica." There. She knew that just those words would explain exactly how her day had gone.

Stilling, Jesse forgot absolutely everything he was thinking about and focused in on that. "...I see." he said. Fuck. How did that happen? It had better fucking have been random, because he tried his level best to ensure JJ never had to deal with her mother. That Ronnie and JJ didn't cross paths. "I...what happened?" he asked, amending 'are you okay' because it probably wasn't fair to automatically assume that things went horribly wrong and she wasn't okay. Even if that was pretty much exactly what he did.

"Jessica and Amy were talking about some stupid necklace or something and I was ignoring them. Saw her standing infront of a drug store," Jessie rolled her eyes at the irony of the whole situation. "And I just..before I knew it, I was over there yelling at her. I told her she damn well better stay away from us and not come around here anymore, that she isn't welcome." But that was just the very surface level of what had happened. How did she explain that Veronica had pleaded with her? Called her 'Baby' even though Jessie instructed her not to, even though the sound of the word made her want to cry right now. How she'd fought the whole argument with wanting to hit Veronica. How could she explain what happened, really? Sighing Jessie closed her eyes as if that was going to help her now. Closing her eyes didn't mean it didn't happen.

Walking over, Jesse pulled out a chair to sit with her. He also reached out to give her hand a squeeze with his good one. "Are you okay?" he asked. "What did she say to you?" And he was thinking he needed to go have a talk with Ronnie now. Something along the lines of 'if you see our daughter, you walk the other way'.

Jessie took advantage of the squeeze and held his hand, shrugging again. Was she ok? She didn't really think so. On top of everything else that had happened, she had to see Veronica today. "...Said a lot of things, but it's not like it really matters. None of what she says she's gonna do she'll actually do. Asked me how I was...Said she was sorry and that it wasn't easy and...she called me 'Baby'... I should have just hit her." Jessie had said a lot of things, most of which were sort of blurred into one big ' I hate you!' in her mind, especially since all Veronica had done was throw a little pity party for herself.

Jesse actually wouldn't have blamed his daughter if she had taken a swing at her mother. "What did she say she was going to do?" he asked, suspicious there because fuck no did he want Ronnie making their daughter promises. That just never ended well. Not one promise she'd ever made to him had she actually kept. Every single one was broken.

"She promised she was trying and I asked her if she was trying to ruin our lives. And then I yelled at her that she should never have had to even be trying to fix something, she shouldn't have screwed it up in the first place. She told me that if she stayed, she would have just messed up things more and messed us up more...and I told her it was her fault this happened, not ours, and that she sure as hell wasn't messing you up because you're strong and not swayed by her." She said, looking back at her dad. "She said a lot of things, but she promised I wasn't going to see her again. But she never keeps any of her fucking promises..."

Internally, Jesse winced at his daughter saying he was strong and not swayed by her. Especially since that was categorically untrue. "She promised she wouldn't see you again? I...Baby J if you do see her, you should just keep walking. She's...well--you know. She won't keep her promises, she's said at one time or another that she's 'trying' about a million times and it's never panned out, and I'm sorry you had to deal with her." he said genuinely.

She'd wanted to, she'd really wanted to just turn and walk away. To be the bigger person. But she was fifteen years old and she'd just run into the long-lost mother she'd not seen for at least a year. Being the bigger person had been harder than she'd thought."I wanted to not even talk to her her, but I couldn't. I just saw her and got so angry..." It wasn't a good excuse, it really wasn't. "I told her about the locket and she didn't have anything to say for herself. Pretty much what I expected, anyway."

"Yeah, that's unsurprising." Jesse said with a sigh. "And you know you have every right to be angry. Don't beat yourself up for having a rational reaction. I didn't raise you to be a turn the other cheek girl, if you've got a right to be pissed about something, be pissed. You've got more heart than that, than to just lay down and take whatever. Even from her."

Jessie nodded. It wasn't like she felt like she should have just let Veronica walk all over her. Not at all. But yelling at her had ended up a little confusing. "I see how she gets to you now. She's always spouting off stuff that she won't actually do and trying to make me understand why she left, trying to tell me it wasn't an easy choice to make when deciding between us and drugs should have been the easiest choice she's ever had to make."

It was official, Jesse hated this situation. He really wished that Ronnie could disappear whenever Jessie was around. "She's good at that." he admitted. "And she's still someone I loved once upon a time." Not anymore, but that wasn't the point. There were still feelings, regardless of how bad he wished they'd just die already. "It never works out, though. And with us, with the family--it's too late. Way, way too late." He knew it, and he thought it might actually make Jessie feel better if he said it out loud like that, so she would know that he did have a line drawn in the sand somewhere.

It did help. Hearing it out loud was a definite help. She nodded as her father talked, knowing that Ronnie had had her chances. Had had at least fifteen years of chances to make the right choice. Why was now any different? "I told her to stay away from you, but she only 'promised' to stay away from me." She said, her eyes on Jesse's again.

“I’ve told her to leave me alone before too, she doesn’t listen so well.” Jesse admitted. “But you won’t ever have to deal with her.” he promised. “You won’t have to see her, or talk to her, nothing like that.” He’d been trying to avoid that situation for years now. And so far he’d managed for the most part. He knew Baby J didn’t know even the half of how much he’d seen Ronnie over the years.

"It's not just about me, Dad," She protested. "It's about her seeing you. It's about her even being here? Why can't she just leave? Leave the city and go somewhere else?" Jessie felt exasperated knowing that Veronica had, once again, lied. And not even just lied, but lied to her face. But it wasn't anything different than what she should expect from the woman, she knew that by now.

"I don't know, Baby." Jesse said, honest there. "I don't know why she comes around sometimes, I don't know what keeps her here, I just know I can keep her from you. Me...she'll come around when she needs something. It's always why she comes around. I don't know if I can explain it well, honestly. I wish I could. I wish there was something I could do, but I know there isn't. There's never been anything I could actually accomplish with that woman."

"I don't want her around you either! Why do you have to keep dealing with her? That's not fair!" Jessie sighed and ran a hand through her hair, working out a tangle just to give her something to do. Something to think about other than Veronica. "I don't want her coming around here, seeing you, taking your money and using it on drugs. I don't want her anywhere near you, just like you don't want her near me."

He gave a light smile at that. His daughter, being protective of him. It happened sometimes. Like when she could see when a woman was manipulating him and he couldn't yet. It hadn't happened in a while, though. That much he knew. still, it brought out a little smile. "I know." he said. "And you're right. It's not fair. It's just...complicated." he said. "Your mom...she was the love of my life at one point. She meant everything to me. Then we had you. Since that day you mean everything to me. But it doesn't erase that she meant something at one point. She was family, before. And you know how I get, I just can't..." he made a vague gesture, figuring she could fill in the blank. "I can try, though. To just shut the door next time she shows."

Jessie did know how he got. She knew that he had loved her mother but she also knew that her mother was using him and lying to both of them and the last thing she wanted to see was her father anywhere near Veronica. "Please?" She asked, a hope in her eyes as she looked up at him. "I just don't want her around here anymore at all. I don't want her to see you anymore. Thank you for keeping her away from me, but it's not fair that you have to see her all the time." He'd loved her mother and to JJ it just wasn't fair that he had to continually see her whenever she deemed.

“It’s hardly all the time, honey.” he told her. “There’ve been times where almost a year goes by before I see her again.” he promised. Granted, usually it was more frequent than that, but it didn’t qualify as anything that was regular. Ronnie breezed in and out in short order. “Usually, I see her for a night, then she’s gone again for months at a time. It’s not even ‘often’.”

"All the time or even a little of the time, doesn't matter. You shouldn't have to see her at all," she stressed. Veronica had her claws still dug in deep into her family and the only thing she wanted was this woman as far away from the people she loved as possible. But there wasn't much she could do about it right now. She'd told Veronica off and the next time she saw her, she wasn't going to hold back the punch she so wanted to give her today. "Is there anything good that happened today that we can talk about?" Between her dad getting hurt and seeing Veronica, she wasn't sure there was. Sure, Becky being safe was good, but it wasn't exactly what she meant.

"I got your favorite, and there's a present for you in your room." Jesse told her. He'd finally got the locket in that he'd had commissioned for her, and had meant for it to be a surprise, but if she was specifically asking for something good, then he wasn't going to do that. He'd had a new locket cast off the old one, having had it melted down, and done up differently. He liked the result, though, a nice locket with delicate engravings in it. The inscription on the back read: Jessie, there's nothing in this world more important than you. Love, dad Which was something he'd spent a hell of a lot of time figuring out.

Her favorite food was a very good thing, but what piqued her interested more was the present in her room. It didn't take her long to be up, out of the chair, and into her room. Finding the locket in her room had been easy, something she was sure her dad had meant to do. She traced her thumb over the inscription on the back, giving herself a minute to just be alone and look at the locket. To know that her father was always going to be there; that in a world where everything else could get really shitty, she'd always have him. And it wasn't a new thought by any means, but sometimes it was just a nice thought to have. She carefully secured the locket around her neck and headed back to the kitchen, wasting no time in going to Jesse's side and hugging him. "It's beautiful, Dad. I love it. Thank you," She said, her voice soft and genuine. He’d turned something awful into something amazing. What more could she ask for?

Jesse smiled when she came back, and he hugged her tight, glad she seemed to like it. There'd been of course, a moment where he wondered if he'd done it wrong, or hadn't put the right inscription in or something, but her hug and words shut down that. It was important to him that she like it, especially with the origin of it all, with how upset she'd been over the locket in the first place. So, yes. He needed to make it into something better for her. Which thankfully it looked like he had. "You're welcome, Baby J." he told her, that genuine note in his own voice as well.

Jessie was happy where she was in that moment. There was nothing in the world that could harm her when she was there with her dad. She let the hug last a few moments longer, smiling into it before she pulled back enough to look at him. Now with talk of Veronica out of the way, JJ had her appetite back. She wasn't sure it was something that was going to last long since she knew from experience that Veronica generally got in her head and stayed there. The last time she saw that woman, she'd let Ronnie take over her mind for too long and she didn't want that to happen this time, but she felt like even with her dad there she could expect a sleepless night tonight. So she wanted to forget about Ronnie for as long as she could. "Should we wait for Becky to start eating?"

"Yeah, lets. You could go tell her to hurry her butt up though." Jesse said, smiling. "I'll get everything set out." he promised. They could have something like a family dinner, anyways. Possibly it would be good for all of them. He could always hope.

A family dinner. Nice, normal, not full of thoughts of Veronica. Just her dad, her aunt Becky, and her favorite food. Sounded perfect. So she nodded, but didn't move to go just yet. "Love you, Dad," she said first, smiling at him before she turned and headed towards the bathroom to find Becky.