When We Were Young

Brian got into his car and drove away. Going home was out of question, he wasn’t ready for Michelle giving him the third degree, nor was he ready to tell her the news, so he quickly needed to think of a place where to go. Grabbing the bottle of Jack he carefully put on the passenger seat next to him, he took a long sip of the liquor.

He still couldn’t believe what had just happened. If at first he was happy that Nancy was back in town, now he wished she’d never come back. He had a kid, a daughter, and she never told him. Nor did Jimmy. What the fuck, Jimbo?, he thought, shaking his head. Jimmy betrayed him and that was absolutely the worst.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” He exclaimed as he stopped at a red light. His hands gripped so tightly that his knuckles turned white. He was furious and the pounding heart in his chest wasn’t helping him. Instead, it made him even more nervous and upset.

After less than twenty minutes, he found himself in front of Zacky’s house. He got out of his car and without even locking the door of his black car, he ran towards the doorstep of his friend’s place. He started knocking violently on the door, waiting for his friend to open it. Friend. Right now, he wasn’t sure who were his friends.

“Gates, the fuck?”

Brian pushed him aside and walked inside, finding Linda sitting on the couch. She was holding a bowl of popcorn and he quickly realized they were watching a movie. He didn’t care.

“You!” He yelled, “You fucking knew it!”

Linda raised her eyebrows and looked at Zacky for a moment, but Brian glared at her.

“Don’t look at him! I’m speaking to you!”

“First off, calm the fuck down.” Zacky said, placing his hands on his friend’s shoulders, but Brian pushed him away.

“Don’t tell me to calm the fuck down!”

He was yelling, but he wasn’t even noticing it. He was so overwhelmed with emotions and thoughts that he barely was understanding what was going on or realizing that he got tears in his eyes.

“You knew it! Just admit it, fuck!”

“Knew what, Brian?” Linda asked, finally placing the bowl on the coffee table and getting up. She was as confused as Zacky. “Are you drunk?”

Brian laughed, looking at her. “Right, ‘cause I’m always the drunk one, huh?” He asked then returned to his original matter. “I’m talking about Nancy, Linda.”

“What about her?”

“Nancy, the baby, the fact that I have a fucking daughter and apparently I’m the only who didn’t know!”

Linda gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. Zacky was quite shocked too, but not enough to just stop speaking.

“What? Are you serious?”

Brian glared at him. “Yeah, I am. Just found out, but I’m pretty sure that girlfriend of yours knew.”

She shook her head and took a few steps towards him. “I didn’t, I swear.” She said, “I had no idea…”

Brian stared at her for a couple of seconds then sighed heavily. Maybe she was saying the truth. Maybe not. He couldn’t trust anybody.

“Sit, I’ll get a few beers.” Zacky said, gently squeezing his shoulder.

Brian sat down on the couch and barely noticed Linda turning off the TV. She sat down next to him and looked at him. He looked distraught, almost like when they told them Jimmy was gone.

“I really had no idea, she’s never told me anything.”

“Jimmy knew.”

“What?”

Brian nodded, “That’s what she said.”

Zacky came back with three beers and handed a bottle to Brian, who immediately took a long sip of the drink.

“I can’t believe it.” Zacky said and Linda nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, neither can I.” Brian said, looking down at his beer. “And Jimmy lied to me all this time.Fuck, I hate him for doing this to me. He should've told me!”

Zacky bit his bottom lip and glanced at Linda, hoping she would know what to say in a moment like that. He had never been good with words and shit; his girlfriend was usually the one who could save a conversation.

“I’m sorry, Brian. That was a really bad move, they both shouldn’t have done that.”

“I mean, I have a fucking daughter and I didn’t know. If Nancy told me when she found out she was pregnant, I would’ve come back. I would’ve stayed with her.” He glanced at Linda, trying to hold back his tears. “I fucking loved her, shit.”

“What’s her name?” Zacky asked at some point. “The baby’s, I mean.”

Brian looked at Zacky and swallowed hard, not knowing how to answer. The news Nancy threw at him was so big, he didn’t think of asking what his daughter’s name was.

“I don’t know.” He admitted, “I didn’t ask.”

Neither of his friends said anything about this, but Linda asked, “What are you gonna do?”

“I don’t know.” He answered, “I really don’t fucking know.”

“What I do know is that you can stay here tonight. You can’t go home like this.” Zacky said and Brian nodded slightly.

“Thanks man.”

“It’s the least we can do.”

On the other side of the city, Nancy was home. Her grandmother was still awake, watching one of her favorite shows on TV, but the moment she noticed the look on the girl’s face, she turned the TV off.

“You told him.” She guessed, “And things didn’t go well.”

Nancy glanced at Gladys and shook her head. She sat down on the couch and sighed heavily, wondering what she really expected from Brian. She told him she and Jimmy had been lying to him for years, she hid her pregnancy and their kid. He couldn’t blame him for being so upset. She would be if she was him.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart.”

“I’ll give him time to see if he wants to see her or something.” She said, starting to play with her rings once again. “I hope he does, but I’m not sure he will. Oh, grandma. You should’ve seen his face. He was so disappointed.”

When the tears started falling down her cheeks, Gladys moved closer to Nancy and hugged her softly.

“You’re right. Give him time to adjust to the situation. You told him he has a kid, news like this can be quite shocking so just wait and see.” The woman said, “If he doesn’t want anything to do with JJ, then it’s his loss. She’s got a great mother and also an amazing great-grandmother.”

Nancy chuckled and nodded in agreement, “The best great-grandmother.”

“Now go to get changed, I’ll bring you some tea.”

“Thank you, nana.”

Nancy place a soft kiss on Glady’s cheek then headed upstairs. After about fifteen minutes, the woman brought her a cup of tea, but Nancy couldn’t drink it all. She left the cup on the nightstand and laid in bed, eyes wide open glued on the ceiling. Little did she know, Brian was doing the same, except he was laying on Zacky and Linda’s couch. They offered him the bed of one of the guest rooms, but he declined, saying he was okay with the couch. Truth was, he wanted to stay close to the kitchen and the cabinet with the alcohol.

Both of them couldn’t sleep and they both realized it, when Brian called Nancy. It was 3 AM but he didn’t care. The phone rang only twice before she picked up.

“What’s her name?”

Nancy’s heart stopped beating for a brief moment as she heard Brian’s voice and in another occasion, she would’ve used her irony and say something like ‘Hello to you, too Brian. How are you?’ but that wasn’t the case, at all.

“JJ.” She answered, “Joan James, but we call her JJ.”

A slight smile appeared on Brian’s lips. Joan James. He liked it and what would’ve made him laugh, if he wasn’t so upset, was how the kid’s name sounded with Nancy’s last name. Joan Kennedy, like President Kennedy, Nancy’s crush from when she was a kid. She wondered if she did it on purpose. And then there was James; he was sure it was because of their Jimmy.

“Can I see her?” He asked, deciding not to comment on the name.

“Of course.”

“When?”

“Is tomorrow good? In the afternoon, maybe, so I can speak to her and well, explain her a few things.”

“See you tomorrow.”

He hung up and Nancy sat there, in her bed, holding her phone. That phone call had been quick, yet she felt like it lasted hours. She left her phone on the nightstand, next to the now cold tea, and took a deep breath. He was willing to see JJ; she just hoped he wouldn’t fuck anything up. She wouldn’t let him.

Notes

Hi! I apologize for the delay, I meant to post this chapter a couple of days ago but I got extremely busy. Anyway, here's what you might consider the ending of the previous chapter since it's set right after it. Also, it's not my best chapter so far, so sorry for that. Hope you enjoy it!

I'd like to thank J.J., Hollie, unholy confessions;;, Avengedlover6661, EmilieAlyosha and est6661gates for leaving their comments. I absolutely love reading your opinions and reactions <3 As you guys pointed out, Brian is really upset and I have the feeling he might be for a while. Or maybe not. Who knows? :P