"Henry," Cordelia giggled, beating on my backside with her fists.

"I'm not putting you down," I shrugged, grinning.

"Put me down, right now."

"Absolutely not," I said.

"Henry!" She yelled, attempting to lift her body, but failing. She hit my body with a thud, letting out a loud sigh.

"Hey, Dad," I said, earning his eyes as he walked by, "do you think I should put her down?"

"Has she asked you to?" He deadpanned, looking at me from over the rim of his glasses.

"Yes," Cordelia said.

"Then put her down," he said, making me sigh and drop her on the couch.

She blew her hair away from her mouth with a loud puff, smiling up at me. I fell on the spot next to her, looking over at Dad.

"He's not the same," I said, shaking my head.

She wrapped her arms around my neck, resting her chin on my shoulder. "Why do you say that?"

"He's bitter," I said, "kinda like my grandfather. Or the videos I've seen of him when he was young."

She pressed a kiss to my shoulder. "Maybe it's just a bad day."

"Yeah, maybe," I said, watching as she stood up.

She held out her hand, looking down at me. "Let's go to your room."

I bolted up from my spot, running towards the staircase. "Okay."

She laughed, wrapping her arms around my neck from behind. "Piggy back."

I boosted her up on my back, walking up the lengthy staircase. I kicked my door open, dropping her on my bed.

"Have you studied for our calc test yet?" She asked, looking up at me.

"Uh, somewhat," I said, looking back at her as I changed into a sweatshirt.

"It's not going to be something you can just ace, Henny," she said, tilting her head over.

"Hey," I said, "I'm Henry King. I can ace whatever test life throws at me-"

She laughed, shaking her head. "I don't think this one falls into that category."

I fell down on the bed next to her, folding my arms behind my head. "I'll study. At some point."

She rested her head in her hand, her eyes locked on me. I smiled over at her, but gave her a double take when she didn't look away.

I propped myself up on my elbow, grinning. "Have I caught your eye?"

She bit down on her lip and fell back on her pillow, pulling me on top of her. I brushed her hair away from her face and pressed my lips against hers, smiling against her lips.

She gently trailed her fingertips down my side and to my backside, pulling me closer to her. I chuckled and bit down on my bottom lip, pulling away from her.

She smiled up at me, lifting my sweatshirt. I chuckled and sat upright, pulling it over my head. I threw it to the side and she raked her hands through my hair, chewing on her lip.

"Don't do that," I whispered, shaking my head.

She trailed her hands down my sides, innocently looking up at me. "Do what?"

I clenched my jaw, reaching for her thigh but she pushed me off.

"I'm not trying to have sex, Henry," she said, sitting upright.

I knitted my eyebrows together, looking up at her as she stood up. "W-what?"

She cleared her throat, straightening out her shirt. "I'm going home."

"Cordelia," I muttered, standing up.

"Seriously, Henry," she said, shaking her head.

I grabbed my sweatshirt, turning around to face her. "Okay. Be careful."

She nodded, walking out of my room, and I fell down on my bed, absolutely defeated.

~*~

"Hey," I greeted, looking back at Alexis as she walked into the kitchen.

"Hey," she said, wrapping her arms around herself.

"Where are the kids?" I asked, opening the fridge. I grabbed a water and closed it, turning around to face her.

"Uh, Henry went over to Jo and Lena's, and Josie's with Eros."

I nodded, chewing on my bottom lip. We stood in a silence until it awkwardly broke.

"I think we need a break," she blurted.

I looked at her from across the island. "What?"

"We need a break," she said, nodding.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, shaking my head.

"Fred, we're not working. Not right now."

"Okay, so that's why we work on it, Alexis," I said.

She bit down on her lip, tracing circles on the island.

"Couples go through rough patches all the time," I said, "I mean, look at Jo and Lena. They weren't even six months in to their marriage and it fell apart."

She tilted her head over.

"And look at them now. After working on it. I don't even know that they've argued since."

She rubbed her forehead. "I-it's not that simple."

"How?" I asked, shrugging, "how is it so difficult?"

"I-" she stuttered, shaking her head, "we're different people from when we met, Fred."

"We were sixteen, Alexis," I said, nodding, "yeah, we're going to do a little bit of changing."

"Okay, well, from when we started dating."

"Not really," I said, shaking my head, "I'm still the same guy I was."

"You fell in love with this powerful girl with a spitfire temper," she said, finally raising her voice, "that-that could keep up with you in an argument, and get in your face, and challenge you in ways that no one else could. Everything she did was on the same wavelength as yours."

She wasn't wrong- Alexis had always been exactly the things that she was saying.

"I feel so weak now," she said, "compared to that girl."

I knitted my eyebrows together. "So this is essentially all because you've turned soft?"

"You don't need a soft woman, Fred. You need someone who can-"

"Unless this woman you're about to suggest to me is yourself, then I'm really not interested in this," I said, "and to be frank, I'd really like you to introduce me to this new you. Teach me. Tell me what you like, what you don't like. Just let me get to know you, because I've spent way too fucking long falling in love with you to just not get to know this you."

She bit down on her lip, watching as I walked around the island to her. I stopped in front of her, looking down at her.

"And I can guarantee you, everything you do, everyone you are, will pull me in every single time. At some point."

She shook her head, hanging her head. "I really just think we need some time. I need to figure myself out."

I cleared my throat, nodding as I walked away from her.

"Fred, we can stay friends while-"

"I don't want to be your friend," I said, shaking my head, "not after you've slept in my bed for twenty years."

She twiddled her thumbs in front of her stomach. "Fred-"

"No!" I yelled, "thirty fucking years, down the drain! Because of one bad month!"

"I never said we couldn't go back," she softly said, keeping her eyes locked on me.

"It's the principle of the thing, Lex!" I yelled, "really!"

"Please stop yelling," she said.

And it was in that moment that I realized that maybe everything she'd said was absolutely right- the old Alexis I knew would scream at me louder, she'd get in my face and sneer at me.

This one wasn't, though, and that was all I needed to know.

~*~

"And she came over, right?" Henry said, throwing a punch at the punching bag.

"Right," I said, nodding as I braced my palms on my knees.

"So we went up to my room, and she fucking got in bed," he said, "and she pulled me on top of her."

"Oh, fuck yeah," I said, grinning up at him.

"And we were kind of making out, yeah?" He said, "and then she pushed me off, out of fucking nowhere, and said I'm not trying to have sex."

"Wow," I muttered, fisting my hands in front of my mouth.

"I know, right?" He asked, looking back at me.

I stood up, patting his back. "Henny, women are different creatures. Beautiful ones, perfect ones, but different ones."

"Yeah, tell me about it."

I grabbed my gloves, walking over to the bag. Henry fell down on the bench, lying down.

"Hero, I have a question."

"I have an answer."

"Do you even have a type?"

I chuckled, shaking my head. "I love women, man."

He chuckled, rubbing his eyes. "Yeah, I got that much."

"What's not to love?" I asked, "yeah, they're a little difficult, but aren't we all?"

He sighed, leaning his head back. "I just can't do anything right by her. That's what it seems like."

"If that was the case, I don't think you guys would still be going after a year."

"Why else won't she have sex with me, Hero?" He blurted, looking over at me.

"Dude," I said, "sex, despite how I treat it sometimes, is a big thing. Cordelia's never done anything before, man. It's a big step for her."

"It's been a year," he said, "if she doesn't trust me by now-"

"Henny," I said, placing my hand against his chest, "slow down. Jerk off if you're so eager to bust. Don't blame her for not doing something you could be doing on your own."

He sat down on the bench, bracing his elbows on his thighs. "You're right."

"When am I not?" I asked, patting his back.

"But you can't disagree with me, that was teasing earlier," he said, looking up at me.

"Oh, it was absolutely teasing," I said, standing in front of the mirror, "she knew what she was doing."

He stood up, standing next to me.

"Come on, flex a little, see how ripped you are," I said, grinning over at him.

He chuckled, shaking his head. "No."

"No, no, come on," I said, "do it."

He subtly flexed, making me let out a laugh. "Look at you, bro!"

"Look at me," he laughed, and I flexed and sucked in a breath.

"That's a tricep."

We saw Fran in the mirror, making me turn around with a broad smile. "Frannie."

"I hate that, Hero."

"Sorry, you walked into douchebag central," Henry said, throwing his shirt over his shoulder.

"I wasn't going to say it," she laughed.

"What's up?" I asked, gripping my hips.

"Um, Dylan asked me out," she softly said, looking up at me.

"Dylan who?" I asked, my eyebrows in an angry furrow.

"D-Dylan W-"

"No," I said, shaking my head, "nope. Sorry."

"Hero," she muttered, hugging her book close to her.

"That kid is sixteen and has the reputation of a thirty year old bachelor."

"And so did you," she said, "but that's none of my business."

"Fran," Henry said, "really, Hero's just looking out for you. And so am I."

"I don't need you guys to look out for me," she softly said, turning around in defeat.

"Well, too bad," I said, "you have built in security."

"Thank goodness," she sarcastically said, shooting me a glance before she walked back upstairs.

~*~

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