"There are some people who always seem angry and continuously look for conflict. Walk away; the battle they are fighting isn't with you, it is with themselves."

~Unknown

"What do you mean? I have all the paperwork."

I bit the inside of my lip as I glared at the attorney in front of me. His eyebrows were drawn in confusion, his forehead creased as he scanned the papers in front of him.

"And the date for the case is when?" He questioned.

"It's today." I fought the urge to throw my hands in the air and stalk out of the room.

I had never had a short temper, I usually kept my composure well. Most people didn't know how or what I was feeling, when I was feeling it. But the lawyer in front of me had been sending me on the verge of insanity all morning. He'd act as if I hadn't been coming to him the last few weeks, that I hadn't just gone into deep explanation over what I was talking about, minutes before he'd ask what I had just said.

"Please calm down, Ms. Morrison. I'm aware that you are anxious, but please do not take it out on me." I shook my head, waiting for him to go on. "I guess I'll be seeing you in a few hours then, right?" He cracked a smile, that on any other person would have been attractive, but it made him look like a drunk Joker.

"Thank you." I threw my hair into a bun on my head before gathering my files spread across the desk and stalking out of the room, biting my lip so hard that I could taste blood.

When I walked back outside, Ty looked up from where he was sitting with Tessie on his lap playing on my phone.

"How'd it go?" He asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

I could tell, just by the look on his face, that he was still pissed that I had gone behind his back and done this without telling him.

When I had told him this morning, it didn't give him enough time to talk me out of doing it, so he would just have to go along with it.

But he had refused to say that he didn't want Tessie in his mother's custody, even though I could see it in his eyes. He was telling me I was being unfair to her, that I was taking away her baby.

"She's your daughter, Ty." I had snapped this morning, "I see how you are with her, I see how desperately you want her to stay with us instead of going back to her. I see the way she looks at you, helpless, every time your mom takes her and rips her from our grasp. She deserves to be in a happy home."

That hadn't gone over too well with him, either. But at least he had stopped talking about his poor mother.

"He said everything was fine and he'd see us there later today." Ty nodded, whispering something in Tessie's ear so she'd jump off his lap. She handed me my phone with a smile, tugging on my hand.

"Can we go to the toy store next door?" She asked. I found myself nodding despite the fact we should probably have been going home and getting ready to go to the court house, considering it was almost an hour away.

Tessie immediately ran for the huge isle and basket of stuffed animals, dragging Ty with her as she hopped up and down and showed him all the different toys. She reminded me of the little girl at the end of Monsters Inc. When she showed the monster all her toys in her room.

"Is there anything I can help you with?" A woman at one of the cash register's said. I shook my head, moving toward the case of electronics. I tapped on the glass in front of a tablet on sale, my eyes narrowing.

"Does this support that learning app? 123ABC, I think it's called." The woman unlocked the case, nodding slowly as she pulled the box out.

"I'm sure it does. It was one of our top sellers last Christmas." She said, obviously trying to sell the product. I pulled my wallet out and stepped in front of the register.

"I'll take it." The woman locked the case back up and set the box in front of me, typing something into her loud register.

"Ally! Look!" Tessie appeared beside me again, hopping up and down as she held out a Koala stuffed animal with a baby in it's pouch.

"Can I get it? Daddy said he buy it for me." She hugged it against her chest, staring up at me with big eyes.

"Of course." I laid the money on the counter in front of me, "Where is Daddy?" She pointed behind her, then frowned.

"I'll find him." She walked off, yelling for Ty.

When I turned back to the woman, she was laughing, watching after Tessie in amusement.

"She's adorable." She pushed the tablet box toward me, "My daughter's thirteen and hates to even look at me." I frowned at the woman in front of me, shaking my head.

"I'm sorry." She waved me off, yawning.

"It's quite all right, dear. Have a wonderful Christmas." I thanked her before heading back in the store to find wherever Ty and Tessie had wondered off too.

I found them standing in back, Ty trying to pick up Tessie who was staring up at him, shaking her head.

"No, Daddy." She pouted, "I want to stay with you." Ty finally gave up on trying to pick her up and knelt down a few feet in front of her.

"But you might have to stay with Gramma for a while, okay? It's all up to the judge." He explained, brushing her hair out her eyes.

"Guys?" I whispered, trying not to scare them or intrude. Tessie walked by Ty when he held his arms out to her and stopped in front of me, throwing her arms around my legs.

I gave Ty a sympathetic look before taking Tessie's hand and heading back toward the register so she could pay for her stuffed animal, trying my best not to turn around and comfort Ty.

*

"Ouchy. It hurts." Tessie whimpered, reaching up to touch the tight ponytail on her head.

"I know, sweetie. I just don't want your hair all over you when we're at the court house." She nodded, looking down at the tablet on her lap.

"We better get going now, it's far." She sighed, taking my hand as I led her out to the car to meet Ty, who had been waiting patiently in the car for the last half hour.

I helped Tessie into the back seat and turned the tablet on, showing her the learning program I had just downloaded on to it.

"It's going to ask you questions and you just answer them. It'll also have fun games with animals and stuff." She grinned, letting me turn the brightness up.

I could still remember how much Steph had loved the program. She had been learning on it, even at eight, since her time in elementary school had been interrupted.

"Thank you." She said. I nodded and shut the door, climbing into the passengers seat a second later.

We drove for a while in silence, the quiet sound of the tablet in back being the only source of music we could hear.

"I feel sick." Ty finally muttered. I looked up from my lap, cocking my head to the side.

"What do you mean? Are you okay?" He gripped the steering wheel, breathing slowly.

"Yeah. I. . . I think it's just nerves." I stared at him for a second to make sure he was really fine, before glancing over my shoulder at Tessie in back. She was giggling at whatever was on the laptop, her green eyes bright.

"I. . . there's something I need to tell you before we get there. I don't want you finding out about it from my mom or the judge." I turned back to Ty again, my eyebrows raising as he went on.

"I was only sixteen when I got Maggie pregnant. But I. . . I was an alcoholic. I drank every day, from just Bud Light to Liquor. She. . . she was a drug addict. Thank God she wasn't on any horrible drugs when she was pregnant with Tessie." He swallowed, gripping the steering wheel tighter, "I stopped drinking when I found Tess in the back of my car. But my mom. . . she kicked me out. Told me I couldn't have custody, or even seen Tess for more then a couple hours a week until I had a job. Until I had a house and was able to provide for her." I opened my mouth, but didn't say anything.

What was I supposed to say?

"My mom raised her, Alyssa. That's why. . . I think that's why I'm having such a problem with this. I want Tessie, she's my baby, my little girl. But she's also my mom's." I nodded again.

I understood where he was coming from, and it made me feel absolutely terrible for not even considering it in the first place.

*

I laid my head back against the wall, trying to stop myself from throwing up again.

Why the hell was I so nervous? This was just a custody battle. It was all for Tessie and Ty's happiness. It shouldn't be stressing me out so much.

"Hey, it'll be okay." Ty touched the top of my hand, "Either way this goes, it's going to be okay." I stared at him, feeling my chapped lips trembling as I tried not to get sick again.

I thought back to the other night, when I had collapsed in Steph's bedroom. I hadn't ever done that before, not even when I had walked in to Steph's hospital room to say goodbye before they took her to the morgue.

And out of all the damn people to be there, it had to be the guy I was trying to help get a better life. I. . . I had told him things about Steph, about me, that I'd never told anyone. The worst part about it was that I didn't feel bad about a single word I had told him.

"Alyssa, do you trust me?" The question was so strange I had to turn to Ty again to make sure it had left his mouth and I hadn't imagined it. He was staring at me, his lip pursed as he tried to figure out what I was going to say.

"I don't know." I answered honestly. I didn't really trust anyone, I never had.

"Well, I'm going to need you to trust me right now. When I say it's going to be okay, I fucking mean it, all right?" I stepped forward and threw my arms around his neck, nodding into his chest.

"Yes."

****SOTC(Song of The Chapter)***

 "I'm out of touch, I'm out of love
I'll pick you up when you're getting down
And out of all these things I've done, I think I love you better now
I'm out of sight, I'm out of mind
I'll do it all for you in time
And out of all these things I've done, I think I love you better now."

***AN***  

Hope you guys enjoyed! 

Let me know what you thought!

~ChasingMadness24