𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐘𝐨𝐫𝐤 | 𝐒𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐢𝐱𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧.

𝐘/𝐧'𝐬 𝐏𝐎𝐕

"That's too small, she's not going to like that." I said as I walked around the store looking at the engagement rings. "She'll want something that screams I'm engaged. Plus, that'd be a low ball and insult to her because that shit is small, like you can barely see it that's how small it is. She's not going to like it." I continued to browse the rings and looked over to a distressed Tom.

"What's wrong?" I questioned as he sighed. "This is the fourth jeweler I've come to and they don't have anything that shouts Zendaya. I just want her to be happy with what I get her, I've never done this before." I put my arm over his shoulder and gave him a squeeze. "We'll find the one, don't sweat it, just don't pick one like that again, she'd kill you." I laughed making him smile a bit.

We were at the jewelers store in one of the guys secure areas. Luckily we weren't followed here so Tom could browse in peace without someone giving him up and blowing the whole engagement.

"What would you get Scarlett?"

"Uh sir, she's married, I'm not getting her anything." I chuckled but then it really set in, I'd never be able to marry her unless she ends things with my dad. But then of course, he'd find out that we're getting married- I'm really in a mess. This is an entanglement.

"Well you'd eventually want to get her something wouldn't you? I know it's probably tricky considering she'd have to be divorced in order for you to marry her. But, come on, you've always talked about settling down, getting married, and having kids, so what would you get that special someone?"

I walked up to a ring that caught my eye when we first walked in and pointed to it through the glass. "That one."

"That's so expensive!"

"Did you just seriously say that? Okay Spider-Man." I joked. This dude knows damn well that ring is like a penny to his pocket. "Okay, are there any other people we can call? I want to have a ring picked, I'm on a tight frame, Y/n/n." Tom began to worry and think his engagement plans were going to fall apart.

"Well I have to go to Scarlett's but- if you want, I have a friend, I'm sure he could bring some rings over for you to look at."

"Kind of my last resort so let's do it."

I nodded and pulled out my phone and called my friend Simon before telling Scarlett I was coming over with Tom. We got in our separate cars and headed straight to Scarlett's house.

𝐒𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭'𝐬 𝐏𝐎𝐕

"Hey!" I said I has hugged Tom tightly as he and Y/n came in. "Hey, sorry I know this was kind of out of the blue-"
"It's fine." I gave her a soft smile. I was still a little upset about the Phoebe thing and I wanted her to explain herself but now isn't the time. I gave her a side hug and pulled away before she could kiss me. Not too long after, her friend Simon arrived with a case full of engagement rings and I got so excited for Tom.

"Oh my gosh! I love engagement rings." I said as I sat beside Tom and looked at the collection, they were all so beautiful. "Ha you hear that? She loves engagement rings." Tom smirked as he nudged Y/n who just awkward shifted her eyes elsewhere.

"So these are my prized collection, most people go for these rings, they're more on the expensive side but, they're beautiful stones, can be customized however you'd like and every woman who's received one has been in awe."

Tom nodded his head before turning to me. "What would you want?"

"My taste is different, pick what you think she'd like, you know her better than anyone in this room."

"Yeah but I need some direction, from a woman's perspective."

I looked over the rings again and pointed at one that caught my eyes. It was a beautiful diamond and it seemed to be the biggest in the box. "This one." I picked it up and handed it to Tom who seemed to be in awe of it. "I think it's a bit too big, but I like where this is headed, you're more help than Y/n."

"Sorry I don't shop for rings sir, no need to." Y/n replied hastily and it made me wonder if she'd ever actually want to marry me.

Tom looked around throughout Simon's collections a little longer before his eyes fell upon a ring Simon had in a closed box. "Woah woah that one- that's the one." Tom pointed as Simon smiled as he grabbed the case. "This one is brand new, rare find. Good eye, Mr. Holland."

Tom and Simon began talking ring size and what customizations he'd want to add as I excused myself and was immediately followed into my kitchen by Y/n. I sat my mug in my sink and turned around to Y/n who was now at my side. She put her hand on my lower back and looked at me worried. "What's going on?" She whispered concerned. "I'd much rather wait until they leave."

"Are you okay though? You haven't even kissed me this whole time I've been here."

"Your friends are here."

"Tom doesn't care and Simon won't say shit, I have too much dirt on him." She laughed.

"It's not important right now." I walked past her and back into the living room where Tom and Simon had wrapped everything up. "Thank you so much." Tom said as he shook Simon's hand and turned back to Y/n and I as Simon said his goodbyes and left my home. Tom looked between Y/n and I before reading the room. "Well I'll be hading out too, I'll see you at your game." Tom says as he hugs Y/n. "Bye Scar, thank you!" He exclaims as he hugs me and headed out as well.

"Are you going to tell me why you're acting weird now?" Y/n immediately questioned. "How's Phoebe doing?" I asked and Y/n chuckled. "Is that what this is about? Scarlett you can't be serious-"

"You two looked pretty cozy in those pictures earlier." I mumbled at the thought of them.

"I had lunch with a friend, thats all. We finished our shoot, we were hungry, we went and got lunch and walked around a little bit. That's all."

"That's not what it looks-"

"Scarlett obviously the media is going to make things look a way it isn't supposed to look. You know how I feel about you and I wouldn't have broken up with Madison as fast as I did if I didn't have genuine feelings for you. Phoebe's a friend, have we hooked up in the past? yes, but that was years ago, I don't want to be involved with anyone who isn't you. So please, drop it, there's no need to be jealous, my eyes are on you and only you."

I nodded realizing how foolish this all sounded. "I don't mean to act like this I just-"

"I understand, there's no need to explain yourself." Y/n said as she wrapped her arms around my body. I looked up at her before she pressed her lips to mine. "You being jealous is kind of hot though." Y/n whispered making me lightly shove her.

"So besides all that, your dad and I got in an argument, he thinks something's going on here. He keeps freaking out on me and I'm trying so hard to not just say fuck it and leave but- can you talk to him please? He wouldn't even let me bring Cosmo with me."

"Yeah, I will, I don't have much leverage but I can try and calm him down."

"I just- I don't need any extra stress, I'm really nervous about going to court tomorrow and-"

"Do you want me to come?"

"No, I just- no. But if you can, can you babysit Rose?"

"Scarlett you shouldn't be in there alone-"

"It's fine. I just rather get in there and get things over with."

Y/n was going to continue but I put my hand on her chest and locked eyes with her. "I'll be fine."

"The least my dad could've done was be here for you-" Y/n began getting annoyed at the lack of her dad's absence. "Your his wife he's supposed to support you-"

"It's okay, he'd just stress me out, it's okay. Trust me. Plus, I got my favorite of the Jost family here. " I smiled at Y/n admiring how much she cares and she finally decided to give it a rest. "But since we're alone until Rose comes back from her play date-"

"Say no more." Y/n husked as she picked me up.

.  .  .

𝐘/𝐧'𝐬 𝐏𝐎𝐕

"Thank you thank you!" I exclaimed as Naomi and Tom walked into Scarlett's house. "So there's a spare key on the table, Rose is upstairs getting dressed, oh and she's kind of a firecracker so keep her entertained. She doesn't know Scarlett and Romain are in court today so, don't mention it, just tell her Scarlett's on set or something because she's going to ask about her. And here." I say as I pulled my wallet out of my pocket.

I took out some cash and handed it to Tom. "You do realize you don't have to leave us with money-"

"Yes I do, she might want to go out, the fridge is stocked with groceries but if y'all want to leave and go out, it's on me."

"Does Scarlett know you're going?" Naomi asked as I fixed my tie. "No of course not, she told me not to which is why I was supposed to be babysitting Rose but, I'm not letting her go in there alone. She's been freaking out all morning, she got in another argument with my dad last night which didn't help and he's not here to be with her so, I'm doing what any good girlfriend would do. She shouldn't be alone."

Tom and Naomi smiled and wiped their fake tears. "Who could have ever imagined you'd grow up." Tom joked making me giggle and shake my head. "So yeah, I think that's everything, uh I'll pay you when I come back, and thank you both so much." I smiled as I hugged my best friends.

Rose began coming down the stairs and looked at me confused. "You're leaving?"  she asked as she came into the living room. "Yeah, I'm sorry I know we're supposed to spend the day together but I have something that came up last minute but, I promise I'll make it up to you." I say as I bent down in front of Rose. "But on the bright side, you'll be hanging with these two knuckleheads."

"Spider boy!" Rose exclaimed. "Yes, and I'm more fun than Y/n could ever be." Tom smiled at Rose. "Can you crawl around on the ceiling?" She asked and I looked at him amused at what his answer could be. "Only when I have the suit on- but I can do a backflip." He replied and it seemed to satisfy Rose who grabbed his hand and started pulling him toward the backyard.

"Uh okay, I'll see you later Rose." I called out after her. "Will your dad get mad at you for being there? I mean, won't he find it weird?"

"Why would he? He's not here, she needed a support system, he shouldn't think anything more of it." Naomi nodded at my reply and smoothed out my jacket sleeves as I grabbed my car keys. "Let me know how it goes, wish Scarlett good luck for me." I nodded and headed to the door.

"Don't burn her house down and don't let Rose injure herself, please." I say as I headed out the door and to my car. To the courthouse I go.

𝐒𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭'𝐬 𝐏𝐎𝐕

I stood outside the court room in the hall with my lawyers pacing back and forth thinking about what could happen in here. This isn't going to be easy. Romain's wanted full custody over Rose since we discussed getting a divorce.

I didn't like the idea of him having our daughter full time and he even tried to convince the courts to allow him to take her back to France permanently with me getting visitation only in the summer and alternating holidays.

That wasn't going to work for me. I felt like I needed to puke. "Excuse me." I said and headed to the bathroom. "Don't take too long, Scarlett. We'll be going in shortly." I nodded and hurried over to the restroom before going over to the sink wanting to splash some water on my face but knew I'd ruin my look.

I let out a shaky and heavy breath. "Hey, you're going to do great in there." I hear and turn to my side to see Y/n standing against the wall in the bathroom.

"Holy shit, what are you doing here?!" I whisper yell as I quickly walk over to her and hug her. "Did you seriously think I was going to let you come here alone? You needed support, plus you were pretty stressed all morning babe, you don't have to do this alone."

"Where's Rose- oh god you didn't bring her did you?"

"No no, of course not, she's in capable hands. She's with Naomi and Tom." I nodded and let out a sigh of relief. I'd hate for her to be present for this. Her dad can be cruel towards me at times. Our marriage was far from perfect, hence why it didn't last long at all.

"But your lawyers wanted me to tell you that it's almost time to head in so you gotta get out of here." I nodded before Y/n wrapped her arms around my body. "You're fine babe, trust me." She cooed as I rested my head on her chest and closed my eyes. I took a deep breath before she leaned down and pressed her lips to mine. "I love you." I whispered. "I love you too, now lets get out of the bathroom, we don't have a good track record in these and I'm sure the judge won't like it if you come in there looking like I just blew your back out." Y/n joked cheering me up as we walked out of the bathroom together.

We walked out to my lawyers talking to Romain's lawyers before they walked back over to us. "They're saying Romain doesn't want another settlement until you agree to his terms in the court room." Phil stated. "What? Why does he think he has the power to give me terms? I have custody-" I felt Y/n's hand on the small of my back, she knew that'd calm me down before getting too riled up.

"Let's just go in their optimistic, I don't know everything they have planned to put against you but I'm sure there shouldn't be much to overturn the current agreement. Are you ready?"

I nodded as I hid my hand behind my back and latched it with Y/n who gave me a comforting squeeze letting me know she was here without saying anything. I looked into her eyes and felt at peace before walking into the courtroom. Y/n sat behind me after we did the whole routine when coming into court before the judge began to move on and get straight down to business.

"Romain Dauriac v. Scarlett Ingrid Johansson, Ms. Johansson, do you go by Jost or?"

"No, Your Honor. Johansson." I stated. The judge nodded as she opened her folder and started organizing her papers. She began listing off our original agreements, talked about our marriage and divorce, financial agreements, and more before turning to Romain's lawyers.

"So, Mr. Dauraic, I understand you have filed for full custody of Rose Dorothy Dauraic. This was settled when she was 3, she is now 7. What's changed for you?"

"Well our client has numerous reasons for wanting to have sole custody of Rose, your honor. Mr. Dauraic is unhappy with how Mrs. Johansson has maintained the care and schedule of their child, he's stated that she's also threatened to keep the child away from him, she isn't as present in the child's life as she may seem to be, he's standing on the grounds that Mrs. Johansson is unfit to care for the child."

This is already complete bullshit.

"She also has a very taxing and busy schedule which keeps her away from their child and he's often had to step in and take Rose from Scarlett because of her schedule. There's been numerous times she was supposed to have Rose and gave her weeks away to Mr. Dauraic. She's basically a part time mother. We also have knowledge that her son with her husband didn't even make this trip with her and is left in the care of his father which seems to be an ongoing theme for her. If she wants to be a part time mother, we would like to do just that and have Romain keep Rose and Mrs. Johansson can spend the summers with her."

I felt sick to my stomach and looked at my lawyers who were trying to keep their composure. "Anything else?"

"We have the phone call logs and text message exchanges of those events as well. We also would like to note that the other problem is Mrs. Johansson splits her time between New York and Los Angeles which is unfair to Mr. Dauraic. He moved to New York only for Mrs. Johansson to then go back to Los Angeles for an extended period of time which prohibited Mr. Dauraic from seeing Rose and we have reason to believe she did this on purpose."

"Calm down." My lawyer whispered to me.

"She's stated before that she believes this is a money issue so she constantly shifts around to keep Rose out of his grasp. Mr. Dauraic has permanently moved to Los Angeles due to new business endeavors and can no longer continually commute to New York back and forth. He would like the court to step in help in this situation. Your honor, Rose needs a stable home, she's a child and she shouldn't be on planes back and forth and splitting her life between two states, and even countries at times when Mrs. Johansson has uprooted her and taken her out of the country for extended periods of time while shooting movies. During that time, and we have statements, Rose wasn't in Mrs. Johansson's care but in the care of assistants, crew members, and nanny's. Rose barely saw her mother and when she did, it was for no longer than an hour."

"That's not true- none of that-" I whispered to Phil. I quickly blinked away the tears in my eyes. I didn't want to turn around to look at Y/n because I knew I'd crumble if I did. I wanted so badly to just cry and be in her arms. "Mrs. Johansson's defense."

"Your honor, from the start, when our client expressed wanting a divorce, Mr. Dauraic has seemed to hold a grudge against her and has tried to tear her life apart on many occasions. He's even expressed verbal threats against her and has even attempted to physically abuse our client and we have witness account for that. She doesn't deny that he is a good father but at times fears that he isn't as attentive with Rose as he could be. He hid an incident that occurred with Rose while she was in his care where he left her unattended and she took a hard fall. He didn't take the child to the doctor and tried to fix the situation himself, told the child not to mention anything to Mrs. Johansson, but, ultimately, due to the pain, when Rose was back in her mother's care, she confided in Mrs. Johansson who then took her to the hospital where she received multiple stitches."

The judge then looked in the direction of Romain shaking her head but back to my lawyer. "Rose has expressed how much she loves being in the care of her mother on numerous occasions, any allegations Mr. Dauraic may try to throw at Mrs. Johansson are completely false."

"Your honor, if I may, can I point something out?" Romain's lawyer said as he quickly got out of his seat. "Proceed." The judge said gesturing for him to continue. "Your honor, can we take a moment to acknowledge the fact that Mrs. Johansson's own husband, Mr. Colin Jost isn't present here. Is that not alarming to you? You would think in a happy home and happy marriage, the man of the house would be present for her court hearing."

"Mrs. Johansson, can you explain your husbands absence?" The judge asked me. Fuck. "My husband is currently in New York with our son. He's 2 years old and we've been traveling a lot and thought it'd be best if we didn't all make the trip just to give him some time off of planes and from traveling extensively. My husband would want nothing more than to be here and by my side."

The judge nodded before going over the facts. "Well, Mr. Dauraic, I have looked over your evidence, there are a lot of things coming in on both sides which I will deliberate with the council but, until then, we know that you would like to come to a settlement out of respect for Mrs. Johansson, the court would like to hear what you have in mind, Mr. Dauraic."

Romain's lawyer stood up and took the floor. "Our client would like to have full guardianship, he's agreed to stay in Los Angeles and not go back to France as he previously wanted to but would want to revisit that if the court would allow it. Mr. Dauraic also would like a court order for Mrs. Johansson's primary residence to be Los Angeles rather than New York because of speculation that she's trying to keep their child far away from him and has even seemed to express the want to make it to where he has no visitation."

And they're back to their lies. They can't uproot me and my family.

"He would also like his child support to be lowered, claims that Scarlett may be pocketing the money and doesn't need it. We obtained paperwork with how much money Mrs. Johansson has accumulated in the past few years and why it's absurd that he's paying her. She raked in approximately $56 million dollars alone last year. Mr. Dauraic has a net worth of $1.5 million dollars and it makes no sense for him to be paying her anything, especially when he has Rose majority of the year. Your honor, in this month alone, Mrs. Johansson has been paid upwards of $10-$15 million dollars. Their custody payment agreement shouldn't even exist."

Of course he makes this a money thing. "Mrs. Johansson, I'd like you to submit your earnings from last year and up to last month to the court before we meet again, Mr. Dauraic I'd like you to do the same. We will meet again until then,-"

"Your honor, we'd also like to have an order for this case to be sealed. When Mr. Dauraic and Mrs. Johansson had their divorce and custody battle a few years back, she and her camp leaked it and took it to the press to make Mr. Dauraic look a certain way and to influence others to take sides."

"Okay, I'll put the order in, court adjourned."

I began to approach Romain but was quickly pulled back by Phil. "If you go over there, that'll only fuel this case. Let's go into a chamber and we can talk."

We headed to the chamber and I told Y/n to follow. "Okay, they completely slammed you in there today, I'm just going to keep it real. Today was mainly for the judge to listen to both sides, mainly Romain's since he filed, we've also submitted more evidence and statements. The judge clearly doesn't like that Colin wasn't here, it gives things a bad look as if you two aren't in a healthy relationship but we can clean that up. We're going to have to pull out all the cards because, from the looks of it, the judge looks like she's already siding with Romain. And I'm not saying this is over nor am I saying that to scare you, I just need to know, are you ready to fight?"

"Yes, thats not a question. I'm not giving up my daughter because he's upset about having to pay child support and because I don't live here. This is absurd, how is- I-"

I felt Y/n's hand on my thigh under the table and I quickly laced mine with hers. "Scarlett, we'll take the next few days, compile whatever you have on him, text messages, social media posts, anything and send it to my office. For now, go home and rest. This is going to be an uphill battle." My lawyer and his team got up leaving Y/n and I alone in the room.

I let out a deep and shaky breath and looked over at Y/n who looked concerned. "Do you want me to take you home?" She whispered. "No, can- I don't want to go home. Not yet. Can we go to your place?" I asked and she nodded as she placed a kiss on my forehead.

.  .  .

After being at Y/n's house for a few hours, we headed back to my place. I took a shower at her home and felt comfortable in her clothes that were clearly too big for me. I unlocked my front door and headed to where I heard noise which was the living room. Rose was playing with Tom and Naomi and surprisingly, my house wasn't a mess.

"Mommy!" Rose exclaimed as she ran over to me. Y/n took my purse and clothes out of my hands and I quickly wrapped my arms around my daughter, so happy to see her.

Tom and Naomi walked over to Y/n and I knew they were going to ask how things went. "She's fine." Y/n whispered and I gave her a small smile before turning my attention back to Rose who was telling me about her day. "Tom's the best baby sitter ever, he taught me how to do a backflip!"

"He what?" I said before quickly looking at Tom who tried to avoid my stare. "We went to the trampoline park- I also got toys, I'm going to go get them." Rose says before turning and running upstairs. "Sorry I know I-" Tom began. "It's fine, just next time, keep her stationary and on the ground. But thank you, both of you."

I saw Y/n reach in her pocket and grab money handing some to both Tom and Naomi. "We told you you don't have to pay us-"

"She shouldn't be paying you, Y/n, Rose is-"

"It's fine babe, don't worry about it."

"So how'd it go?" Naomi asked. "Romain is officially the most annoying man on the face of the earth. He's trying anything and everything to take Rose and I'm actually nervous about it this time." I said truthfully. Before I could continue, my attention was pulled away seeing Colin calling my phone.

This has already been a long day, please don't come with the bullshit.

𝐀/𝐍: 𝐀 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐥 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐮𝐬𝐡 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐑𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧? 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐧?