A Fighting Chance

~23~ I'm A Good Girl ~23~

Their weekend was spent making the most of every moment they had together. Most of the time it was like Sam wasn't even part of the equation. They cooked meals together, they watched movies, and took walks, Danny even taught Jessica how to play poker, they used cookies rather than chips but none the less she learned. They spent every moment together, telling jokes and stories about their childhood. Jessica told him about how she met Sam, how they dated through her Sr. year of high school, and how they ran away to get married. She told him about her family that she never sees, or hadn't seen for almost ten years. 

"I packed up my things when I was nineteen. I walked right out the back door and got into his truck and we never looked back." she stated looking down into her coffee cup.

Danny sat sideways on the couch facing Jessica who sat cross legged, her coffee cup between both hands in her lap. His leg was tucked under him, his arm draped over the back of the couch as he played with her hair. "What about your family?" he asked softly.

"They weren't too happy with me wanting to marry him in the first place, that's why we left. My mother said I would end up pregnant and he would leave me on the side of the road. My father-" she cleared her throat pushing back the lump building in it. "My father told me I was making the biggest mistake of my life and if I walked out the door I was never welcome in that family again. I would no longer be his daughter or anyone he cared to know." she wiped a tear and waved her hand pushing it all away. "But none of that matters anymore. I haven't seen my sisters or my brother since I left Minnesota and the rest of my family never called so I guess that's the end of that."

Danny looked at her in pain his heart braking for her yet again. He played with her hair not wanting to suffocate her with too much emotion, though he wanted desperately to hold her. She continued on talking as Danny sat in silence. "My grandmother did call me once after I left. She asked how I was doing, and if I needed money." she laughed at the recollection. "She said my father had spoken to her about my leaving and that I wasn't a part of the family anymore. I remember she scoffed and told me that was horse shit, I was born a Lange and I would always be her Jessie girl no matter who I married or where I went." she paused for a moment looking back down at her hands. "She died that fall and I never spoke to any of them again after that."

"Your sisters never called?"

"Nope. Not once in ten years. The night I left Jane told me I was throwing my life away. Everything daddy had worked so hard to give us and I was walking away from it all to live with a drunken horse breeder. Anne didn't say much but what she did say wasn't to nice." she looked up at Danny and smiled. "I guess they where right though. I married an abusive drunk and gave up my entire life to make him happy. Im just a whore who only thought of herself and I lost everything. I threw it all away and gave Sam everything I had left. He is the only thing I have, this house, the car, my career, he owns it all."

"Jessie I-"

"No-" she cut him off wiping away her tears with a smile. "-don't say it. Its over and I can live with the choices I made." he looked a her blankly and nodded his head. "Now lets do something, im sick of sitting around." she straitened her legs off of the couch and stood up stretching her back.  "Im kind of hungry, I thing ill start on lunch." she smiled turning for the kitchen and made her way out of the room. Danny was left on the couch watching her as she walked away. He was amazed at her ability to push everything away and go right back to being happy go lucky Jessica. She could go from totally heartbroken and emotionally destroyed to a perfectly happy and normal woman.

He could hear her moving around in the kitchen and he smiled to himself when the radio turned on. He got up from the couch and made his way to the entryway of the kitchen. She was dancing around the kitchen humming to the tune, her hips swaying back and forth as she rocked on her toes. Danny couldn't help but laugh at how cute she was with her hair pinned up, little baby hairs falling around her face. Her jeans hugging tightly to her hips and her t-shirt riding up to be more of a belly shirt than a t- shirt. Her sun kissed skin barely peaking between the two fabrics to be seen. He could see her muscles flex as she popped her hips from side to side one lifting and then the other.