The atmosphere was heavy, and the silence was unbearable. Jax stood up wanting to leave the room. He just wanted to be alone. Bren reached up to hold his arm, but he gently pulled away. He looked at him but didn’t say anything. He then looked at Fuchsia who was now sitting with her head nestled in her arms, physically and mentally exhausted by the events of the day. The rhythmic movement on her back caught his eyes as he realized Sina was still trying to comfort her. He was filled with unease and sickness as he felt responsible for all that had happened. Bren stood up quickly as he saw Jax head to the front door. He said, “Where are you going?”

Without turning around Jax said, “I just need some fresh air,” and then he opened the door and left without another word. He stood outside the door and breathed in the warm night air. The salt smell made his nose twitch in displeasure, the smell seemed different than earlier today. His stomach tightened as he started to imagine the smells' origin, decaying sea creatures left to die on the hot sand.

He looked out towards the ocean, the moon hung above it with an eerie glow, illuminating the empty beach. He looked back at the door and then turned back towards the beach and took off running down the path he and Bren had taken earlier. He stopped when his feet hit the loosely packed sand and walked until he found a place to sit. He didn’t want to go back and see them upset; he didn’t want to cause any more problems or pain.

He slid his hands down to his pants pocket and pulled the Blue Cryo out from his pocket. His head was throbbing, and his mind was out of control. He squeezed the bottle in his hand as he looked up towards the moon, he just wanted to forget this mess and stop causing problems. It would be easy he thought. He unscrewed the bottle and he shook out a handful of pills.

Jax was so immersed in his thoughts he hadn’t noticed Bren walking up behind him. His body jerked when he felt a hand cover his open hand and the pills. Bren took his other hand and scooped the pills into his own hand and then held a hand out for the bottle. Jax had a look of shock on his face but it slowly changed to anger as he demanded the pills back. Bren calmly said, “Give me the bottle, Jax!”

Jax said, “No, give me my damn pills.”

Jax lunged at Bren, who dodged and he fell face first into the sand. He rolled to his back, the moonlight glistening on his face. Bren knelt beside Jax and pried the pill bottle from his hand. Jax started to cry and said, “Why did you stop me?”

Bren stared down at Jax and said, “Why did you want to take them?”

Jax sat up and started to yell. “You want to know why? Because I don’t want to deal with this anymore! I don’t want to cause problems anymore! I don’t want to hurt you and Fuchsia and Sina! I just want it to be over!”

Bren’s eyes got huge. He opened his hand and held out his hand into the moonlight, noticing that there were many more than three pills. Startled by the realization that the situation was worse than what he thought he yelled, “What the fuck were you trying to do Jax?”

Jax yelled back, “What do you think?”

Bren opened the bottle and shook the pills back into it. He walked towards the water and away from Jax. Jax stood up quickly and ran after him. Bren raised his arm up like he was going to throw the bottle in the ocean, but Jax dove and knocked him down. They wrestled in the sand as Jax tried to get the bottle away from Bren.

***

Fuchsia and Sina had been following not far behind Bren, so they had witnessed all that happened. Fuchsia had stopped, mostly because she was in shock over Jax’s actions. Her panic and tears were soon replaced by anger as she approached the two. Sina continued to follow closely behind Fuchsia, unsure if she should intervene. They stood watching the two men for a few minutes before Sina decided she was over it. She reached down and lifted Jax off of Bren. Sina held him in her inescapable grasp. Jax looked up from Bren to an even angrier Fuchsia. He opened his mouth to yell, but Fuchsia slapped him. His mouth fell open and he looked down at the ground. Bren jumped to his feet and reached for Jax. Sina released her grasp of Jax, as even she was a bit shocked by Fuchsia’s reaction. Bren felt like he needed to say something before things got more out of control. He looked at Fuchsia and said, “Fuchsia he tried to…” His words were cut short by a fiery gaze meant to silence him.

Fuchsia said, “I know exactly what he tried to do.”

“Someone needed to slap some sense into him.” She looked back at Jax and said, “your father died while trying to save you and I didn’t pull you back from death to lose you again! You have been misusing your medication and now...now you try this!”

Fuchsia had started to cry. She looked at Jax, her voice raised but shaking, “you promise me you won’t do this again! Promise me Jax!”

Jax hung his head in shame but looked up and said, “I promise.”

Fuchsia said, “good! I also promise you I am going to help you get off this stuff!”

She walked forward and hugged and kissed the top of his head and whispered, “don’t scare me like this again, Jax! My heart can’t take it!”

Jax sniffed and said, “I'm sorry!”

She stepped back and then looked at Bren. “Give me the pills please.” Bren nodded and handed them to her without question. She looked at him again and squeezed his arm. “I’m leaving him in your care tonight! Come and get me if you need help!”

Sina and Fuchsia walked slowly back across the sand in the direction of the cottage. Bren was concerned how Jax would do tonight without even one Blue Cryo.

Bren turned back towards Jax and pulled him towards him. He was glad to see Jax also wrapped his arms around him as well. They stood there in a silent embrace before heading back to the cottage.