Will You Love Me?: Something Beautiful

Chapter 9

"Restraining orders. They are for us, Conner, Scar, Nathan, Emma, Chris, and Mason. That fucker will be put back in jail if he comes within fifty feet of us." Ben sat down with a proud smile from his accomplishment. 

You looked at the restraining orders and frowned. "You don't think this is too much? Did you even ask Em?" Ben's smile dropped. He expected you to be as relieved and happy as he was! "No," he told you as he snagged the papers from you, "because I was going to do it no matter what she said. You remember what he did to her that night. Do you want to go through that again?"

You knew he was still bothered by the night she drank and lost her virginity to Tanner. Of course, you were still bothered by it and made every effort to never think about it. Ben has never stopped thinking about it. 

"I hope, for your sake, that she agrees with this," you told him. He scoffed, "Oh, and you don't?" You shrugged. "Of course I do. But it isn't about what I or you want. She is not a teenager anymore, Ben. She's an adult, she's a mother. You can't keep treating her like she's still fifteen."

Ben watched as you got up and walked out of kitchen and sat alone with his thoughts. He knows Em is an adult, it's just hard for him to accept and it always will be. He wants to protect her more than anything in this world, but he can't. 

And he knows that. 

That still didn't stop him from pulling some strings with one of his oldest best friends...who just so happened to be a judge. All he had to do was walk into his office and tell him what was going on. He got the restraining order in minutes. 

Deciding to test his fate, he went over to Emma and Chris's and delivered [his] good news. Emma tried to look happy about it, but she clearly wasn't. Eventually, she told him that it wasn't his place to do something like this. 

When he told her he would have done it no matter what she told him, she asked him to leave. It didn't click when you told him this would happen, but it all seemed to come together once the door was shut on his face. 

She really isn't fifteen anymore. 

Deciding it was for the best, he made an executive order to keep the restraining orders in place. You encouraged him not to, but he did it anyways. Once again, this did not go over well with Emma. Even Chris said he overstepped a boundary!

"I just don't understand!" He vented to you one night. "Doesn't she hate him? Doesn't she want him out of her life?" You put down your book with an exasperated sigh. "Ben, this is a fucked up and complicated situation. Only she is going to know how to handle this. As someone who had a kid and the father wanted nothing to do with him, it's fucking complicated."

He threw his hands up and shouted, "So what am I supposed to do!" You quickly shouted back, "You're supposed to stay out of it and let her figure it out herself! Jesus, Ben, sometimes you can be just...ugh!"

You got up from bed and took a couple of pillows. He looked at you like you were insane! "Where are you going?" He asked. You shook your head at him and said, "Don't. Just don't. Your voice turns me on ninety-nine percent of the time, but right now it is pissing me off. I am going into the guest room and I don't want to hear from you."

He opened his mouth to say something, but you gave him the same look you've been giving for years. He knew well enough to not say a damn thing. 

**

"I thought daddy put a restraining order on me," Tanner snootily said as he took off his jacket to sit down in the booth Emma had reserved. She rolled her eyes. "Nice to see you, too," she told him, "and for the record, he had every right to do that. If it were up to me, which it never is, I wouldn't have done that."

Tanner visibly untensed. Emma could tell he came ready to fight about the restraining order, but now there wasn't much to fight about. 

"So," he said, changing the subject, "what's this about?" Emma put her hands on the table and laced them together. "I've been doing a lot of thinking," she told him, "about you seeing Mason." Tanner perked up and leaned forward. 

She continued, "And I have made the decision...not to let you see him." He smacked his fist onto the table and shouted, "Oh, come on, Em! He's my son!" Everyone in the diner turned to look at them. Em covered her face in embarrassment. 

Quietly, she argued back, "Since when? You said he wasn't your's, remember? Then, you proceeded to brag about how you fucked Sherlock's daughter!" That last part she said a little too loud. The entire place heard and started snorting and chuckling at Tanner. 

He looked around, now embarrassed himself. Emma continued - and not bothering to lower her voice - by saying, "Mason has a father. He has a wonderful father who would give him the moon if he asked. Chris stayed without any hesitation and knowing that he was your son. Maybe take some pointers because that is was a real man does!"

With that, she stood up and started to walk out. Everyone in the diner was cheering as she left! Tanner tried to chase after her, but a couple of guys stopped him from doing so. When they saw she got safely in a cab, they let him go. 

For a moment, Emma was glad Ben got those restraining orders because if Tanner decides to do something stupid, at least he'll get arrested for it.