FRANNY

I made sure I had been out of the house for the whole day.

Jared worked today, so Travis was left in the house the entire day by himself. I made breakfast for him as well as lunch, but I made sure I left in such a hurry so that he wouldn't be able to make conversation or ask any questions.

Ignoring him has been the most annoying thing all day because he makes it so hard.

When Jared walks through the front door, I am glad Travis is in the bathroom. I pause on cutting up the vegetables for dinner and walk over to him. He sets his stuff down in the foyer, looking over me.

I smile. He grins.

He licks his lips and walks up to me until he is right in front of me. He wraps his arms around my waist, and leans down. He plants his lips on mine, and I wrap my arms around his neck, kissing him back.

I hear the bathroom door open.

Pulling away, I keep my arms on Jared's chest, not wanting to face Travis. Jared kisses me real quick before Travis walks in.

Jared told me this morning Travis is planning on leaving tonight. He said he is going to help him pay for flight there and back, to go get Jeanie. I got really excited when he said that he was leaving, but not for when he said he was coming back.

I know in my heart I need to speak to Travis alone, but I really don't want to.

It will end badly.

"Smells good." Jared pulls away from me, but he locks our fingers together as he walks over to the counter where I was cutting up the vegetables. I squeeze his hand tightly, and he does the same back. His thumb strokes my hand and I can't help but smile.

Travis walks into the room.

"Hey, Jared." Travis smiles when he stops my husband, and they both smile at each other.

"Hey," Jared greets, still holding my hand.

I grasp onto his hand tightly, not wanting him to leave.

He looks down at me.

I clench my jaw.

He narrows his eyes, then leans down to me. "I can take over dinner. I think I know what you need to do," he whispers, nodding toward the gloves on the counter. I punched last night, and it felt amazing, so maybe this is what I need.

I kiss his cheek. "Thanks, love." I swipe the gloves.

Travis looks between the two of us, confused. "Huh?"

I smile, and walk past them to my room. I close the door, and strip. I grab my workout clothes and shrug them on. I put my hair into a bun and grab a small towel. I grab my water bottle and head down the stairs. I am glad I don't have to go back into the kitchen to go to the basement. It's right next to our room.

The basement is dark and cold when I walk down the stairs. I turn on the lights, and my gaze goes straight to the punching bag in the middle of a mat.

I lay my stuff on the bench and place the gloves onto my hands, tightening them to the point I couldn't feel them anymore. I stretch my arms and my torso before I walk over to the punching bag.

When I was dating Jared, he taught me how to punch. He noticed I had big anger issues and he showed me the way he gets rid of his, or lets it out.

On the punching bag.

Once I knew how to do it, I used the one he used all the time. He said anytime I needed to pent out some anger, to come here. I did it so frequently that I was there so often.

Until he bought me one of my own.

But that wasn't until we were already engaged.

I haven't stopped using it, knowing this was something I needed in my life, at least until I find a better way to extinguish my anger. It needed to be taken out on something.

The punching bag swings from its post and I get into my stance.

I throw the first punch.

It swings back, and I catch it. I steady it.

I throw another punch, harder than the last. I didn't even wait this time for it to slow, I kept on punching, hitting the bag with everything I had.

The punching bag is so worn I am almost afraid it will break.

But I keep hitting it with everything in me.

Jared taught me to take water breaks, and to wipe the sweat from my forehead, but not this time. I have to get it all out right here and right now.

My chest heaves as I continue to punch the bag. Other than my heavy breathing, everything else in me remains calm. I keep my stance, and keep my arms tucked to my side until I throw the punch.

My arms ache from punching so hard, so I use my knees as well. I knee the punching bag, hitting it so hard I almost fall backward. I catch myself and stand back from the punching bag. I take my stance, narrow my eyes, and run full force at the bag, elbow out. I hit the bag with my elbow, and it swung back so far I had enough time to get in my stance.

As it comes flying back to me, I release my fist, hitting the bag so hard my arm vibrates from the impact. I fall to the ground, shaking, watching as the bag swings until it comes to a stand still.

I get back up and take a gulp of water, and stretch again.

The towel is on the floor, so I bend down and grab it, wiping my brow. I feel the sweat dripping down my back and arms so heavily I feel disgusted.

But I ignore it and walk back over to the punching bag. I hold my fists up to my face, pushing my own foot back, taking my stance. My chest is so heavy I cough a little. I clear my throat, and swing. I hit the bag so hard I fall to the ground. I get back up almost immediately.

Take a break, Franny. You don't want to hurt the baby.

I hear Jared's words echo in my head from last night.

He's right. I don't want to hurt the baby and the more pregnant I become, the less I'll be able to do this.

One last punch.

Just as I throw the punch, I hear a voice behind me.

"I hope this isn't because of me."

I whip around so fast I begin to see stars. Black dots cloud my vision and I feel my knees quake. I almost fall to the ground, but Travis grabs my arm and leads me to the bench, where he helps me sit.

"Are you okay?" He asks, hand on my back.

I cringe, and pull away from him. "I"m fine. What are you doing down here?" I ask, grabbing my water and downing it. I feel it drip down my neck as most of it misses my mouth.

Travis sighs. "I'm leaving soon, and we haven't talked yet. And I would like to."

I stare at him. I swallow.

But I stand and walk back over to the punch bag. I pretend to ignore Travis as if he is not there and continue on punching. I punch for a little while before I think that Travis is gone and went upstairs.

He walks around me to the other side of the punching bag. He holds it as I punch and it makes things easier. I punch harder and harder until when I pull away, I see my hands are bleeding and bruised.

Travis follows my gaze. "You should take a break, Fran. You're hurting yourself," his voice is full of concern and I almost forget he knows that I'm pregnant.

"This doesn't hurt, Travis," I say, taking a seat on the mat, not wanting to walk all the way to the bench. My energy is drained so much. I should have grabbed a granola bar on my way down so I have something in my stomach.

Too late.

Travis sits across from me. "I think I know why you are angry at me," he says, scratching the back of his neck, looking unsure.

I frown. Well, at least someone knows.

"The wedding." He looks down.

I let out a breath. "Travis-"

"No, let me finish," he pauses. "I wasn't there. I promised I would be, and I wasn't. And I'm so sorry, Franny, I have no excuse. I was supposed to walk Jeanie down the aisle, and I had even already prepared my best man speech. It's somewhere with all my stuff. It took me forever to write because I wanted to get it just right."

I meet his gaze, feeling his sadness.

He is beating himself up for this, even though I know deep down it isn't his fault.

It's Lucy.

Which swings back to John.

Why have I kept blaming him?

"It kills me I wasn't there, and I don't want to put this on Lucy, because I know you and Jared. She didn't take that from me. Yeah, sure, she convinced me not to go, but I agreed because I was a coward."

I fold my arms over my chest, not meeting his gaze.

"Not to mention I didn't even try to be friends. I understand now, because Lucy couldn't keep the secret of me not knowing I married Jeanie from you two, so she must have thought it was safer, because I never went to see you. I didn't even know you were pregnant. I never made the effort to keep in touch, and that must hurt you a lot more than it hurt me. Somehow I can't even believe Jared forgave me."

He lowers his voice.

"You helped him more than you know, Franny. For the better. He's changed so much because of you."

I feel a tear slip down my face.

"I know he's helped you too."

I wipe the tear away and look at Travis.

"I understand if we can't be friends again. I understand if you won't forgive me and if you want nothing to do with me." He stands, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

He starts to walk away.

"Wait," I call out, making him stop.

I stand as well, a little wobbly, but I manage.

We stand a foot apart. "Travis, I was so angry at you. I couldn't sleep or eat, and maybe that's more because I am pregnant, but all I know if when I heard Jeanie wanted you back and was going to get you, I couldn't stand it. I didn't understand how she could have let you back in her life after so much pain and hurt. I didn't understand why Jared forgave you. I still don't, because you guys were the best of friends, and I know it upset him so much when you divorced Jeanie."

Travis looks down.

"When I saw you, I still couldn't believe you were here, and you are staying. I took out my anger on Jared, on myself, and on the only people I care about. For what? Because I hold a grudge?"

He says nothing.

I feel my voice break. "All I know is that I don't want to feel this anger anymore."

Travis nods, understanding in his eyes.

"So I think I need to forgive you," I say, and my voice breaks at the end of my sentence, producing tears that stream down my face.

Travis frowns.

"I love you, Travis. You were my best friend. You got me through high school, and you were my big older brother who I could talk to about anything. And I want that back. But it has to start with me, so I need to say this now..."

He takes a step forward.

"I forgive you. It took a while, but I believe that we can be friends again." I try for a smile.

My vision is a little blurry because of all the tears, but I can see Travis take one big step and he gathers me in his arms for a big embrace. I clutch him tightly, my arms wrapped around his neck, his around my waist.

I squeeze tighter, a feeling of peace and relief wash over me.

Suddenly, I don't feel anger anymore.

I feel happy.

Free.

It's amazing how much weight anger has on people.

I pull away, laying my arms by my side, looking up at Travis with tears still in my eyes. He looks down at me with a grin.

"There you have it, ladies and gentlemen. Best friends again." I hear the voice of my husband as he descends the stairs. I look over to me, past Travis, to see him walking over to us, his fist up to his mouth as if he was speaking into a microphone.

I run to him, and throw my arms around his neck. I whisper in his ear, "I think I'm okay." I squeeze him. He embraces me back, picking me up in the air to spin me.

He sets me down and whispers, "You were always okay. You just had to see it."

I kiss him, and he kisses me back, and I never remembered anything else that tasted as sweet.

Travis comes up behind us. "I have to say my goodbyes. Thank you guys, again. I'll be back soon. Hopefully." He squeezes my arm as he embraces Jared.

We both watch as Travis travels up the stairs.

The front door opens and closes.

I turn to my husband. "Did you send him down here?"

He just smiles.

It's answer enough.

"Thank you," I say as he kisses my forehead.

"You're welcome, my love."

JEANIE

I walk behind the two slowest people on earth.

My flight didn't seem too bad in retrospect, but once I got on the plane I didn't realize what anxiety really did to a person until I couldn't leave my seat as I kept waiting for the plane to land so I could get to the person I love.

But here I am, finally off the plane.

Stuck in traffic.

The mother in front of me with her child walks very slowly, so I am doing my best not to rush them. She has a lot of luggage and, what looks like, a two year old, so I do my best to be patient.

We finally split into two lines, and I get into the line without the slow people.

I am now out of the airport. I have to get a taxi to the town where Travis is staying, so I call one over, and I get inside. I tell him the name of the town, and he's off.

He says it'll take about a half an hour until we get there.

I am so giddy with excitement.

Jared told me that he is staying in a cabin far into the woods. It was supposed to be a mile walk to the cabin, so I wore my boots, which should help with the path. I only hope I can find it. There's supposedly a trail that leads me right to it, which would be helpful.

All of this seems too good to be true.

Maybe things in my life aren't so horrible after all. Maybe there are some things in life that go right after all.

Maybe, maybe, maybe...

The taxi ride isn't too bad. The man isn't playing any music, so I turn on my earbuds, putting only one ear in. Jared's a policeman and he hates taxis, and he tells Franny and I all the time if we have to take one and you want music in your earbuds, only use one ear. Safety reasons apparently.

But he's never been wrong and I trust him.

It's almost kinda funny how Jared and I are friends now. I always thought he was so intimidating, and he kind of freaked me out a little, but now I can't imagine not knowing him, especially knowing he and Franny are married now and are expecting.

They are honestly perfect for each other.

I can't see them with anyone else.

Their relationship was a little rocky in the beginning, but what relationship isn't messy?

Certainly not mine.

I smile. It's okay now, because I've come to bring my man home.

I only hope he's okay with coming home. I only have plans to stay one night before I book my flight back. I may have to leave him here, and nothing would break my heart more.

The taxi soon stops, and I pay the man the money. He drives away as I turn to this small town with dozens of people milling about. I walk right in, glancing at all the stores and homes. I don't exactly remember what Jared had said, but I think he said this is where Travis' grandpa grew up at.

I never knew.

Nobody did.

He was dead before Travis knew him.

I glance toward the woods, and remember that that is where I need to go. I grip my bag harder, and walk toward the woods through the town.

Once I reach the woods, I spot a path. That must be how to get to the cabin.

I brace myself as I start the trek. It was a little windy out, and a little chilly, but I was glad it wasn't pounding down heat or I would have been taking so many unnecessary breaks to finally reach the top.

I pull my jacket closer to myself. I swallow, grabbing my water bottle, taking a gulp. It feels very refreshing. I put it back in my bag, and continue on walking up the path.

The sun is setting in a few hours. It is close to the evening.

I don't know how long it's been since I started, but I spotted a house, and the closer I got to it, the more it looked like a cabin. With my heart racing, I run toward it, not caring if I trip or fall to the ground.

I reach the door after I practically die running up the trail. I knock hard on the door, but before I can knock more, the door opens. I rush inside, expecting for Travis to have opened the door, but there is no one. I look back to the handle, and it must not have been locked.

Where is he?

I run outside to the back of the cabin, and there's not really a backyard, just some trees and a small table and chair. He must be inside somewhere. It looks like there's a second story.

I hurry back inside, and run up the stairs. I look in each of the rooms, each time expecting Travis to be there. But again, there is no one.

It's empty.

This house is empty.

Wait. He could be in town. There's no reason to panic. I didn't even look in the town at all, so he could still be there, shopping for something.

I calm myself down and go sit in the living room. I find a comfy chair to sit it, and rest for a while, waiting for Travis to show up.

But I have this feeling in my stomach... a bad feeling. Like, what if Travis knew I was coming, because we found him because he used his credit card, which might have been by accident, which could mean he left because he knew I would come find him.

He might have moved on. He might be gone.

He's not. He's here.

I nod in determination. He has to be here.

But the feeling is still there.