Chapter 3.7 Arlyn - Life, firsthand.

Arlyn stared at Loki as he yet again accused her of cheating on him. This had been happening at least once a week for months now; Arlyn would get home from work a little late for some reason or another, and Loki would jump down her throat with accusations that she was seeing someone else. It didn't matter how many times she swore that she wasn't, he never believed her. He'd started drinking a lot, constantly going out after work with his work friends, not coming home until the wee hours of the morning, stinking of booze and cigarettes.

"Who is it, Arlyn, tell me!" he yelled, pointing his finger at her.
"I'm not seeing anyone, Loki, for the last time." Arlyn sighed. She just wanted a glass of wine and to relax for 5 minutes.
"Who is he?!"

"Loki, please, can we not do this today? I've had a long day." She squeezed the bridge of her nose, trying to keep her voice calm, or risk provoking him even more.

"Oh, I bet you have! Must be so hard sneaking around!"

She had no idea he was this angry. She'd never even done anything to give him the impression that she was cheating! Wake up, go to work, come home, make dinner, go to sleep. That's all she ever did. She hadn't even seen her parents or brother in months, thanks to Loki.

Sometimes, when he was in a good mood, she'd see the Loki she'd fallen in love with come out, that sweet, kind, caring man she'd known all her life. When he was in a bad mood, well, she didn't know who he was.

"You're late every Friday, Arlyn! Every. Friday!" Loki began stomping around the living room and Arlyn could almost see the steam coming from his ears.

"It's Mrs. Robinson, I've told you this a thousand times. She sees me every Friday for a reading. She always wants extra services." Arlyn explained, yet again.

"Oh, yeah, right, 'Mrs. Robinson,' sure. I'm supposed to believe that!" Arlyn sighed, it was going to be a long night.

Arlyn breathed a sigh of relief when she started towards the grocery store. This was the only time during the week that she could get away from home, away from Loki. He was in a surprisingly good mood today and went out for a few drinks with some coworkers. Arlyn had the entire afternoon and most of the night to herself. It wasn't much, but at least she wouldn't be dragged into another fight. With any luck, he'd just stumble home and pass out on the couch.

She tried not to think too much on what her life had become in such a short amount of time. It was only 6 months ago that she'd married Loki, and 6 months since he'd been the same person that she'd said 'I do' to. She considered leaving but she'd found out a few days ago that, well, she'd be tied to Loki for the rest of her life. Arlyn tried to keep the rising panic buried deep down inside her.

Pulling up to the store, Arlyn spotted someone she recognized and her stomach tied itself into a knot. Jonas. She wondered if he still hated her, and decided to just keep walking.

Jonas had other plans, catching up to her and holding his hand out.

"Hey, Arlyn! Long time, no see!" Man, his smile was just as charming as she remembered. Why had they hated each other again?

"Hi, Jonas. How're you?" He at least seemed to be happy to see her, maybe he'd forgotten their grudge, too.

"Oh, you know, slaving away for pennies." he laughed before his face grew serious, "I heard you got married to Loki."

It took her longer than she'd expected to answer him, suddenly embarrassed, "Yeah...about 6 months ago now, I guess." She forced out a laugh.

"You seem excited." She couldn't read his expression and could only imagine what he was thinking. She wondered if he knew, knew about Loki, about his drinking problem.

"It's been...new and...different." For some reason, she couldn't force herself to lie. Jonas looked at her for an awkward amount of time, she'd started to say she had to go when he finally spoke.

"Call me if you ever need to talk. I'll see you around, I hope." Arlyn briefly wondered what the last part of that meant.

"Let's get dinner tonight and talk?" She blurted out. Jonas knew something that she didn't and she wanted to find out what it was.

A few short hours later, Arlyn and Jonas were seated outside the Bistro, munching on some cookies (she had a craving). Jonas was pulling up something on his phone, something he had to show her.

"So, I've --we've-- known Loki our entire lives, right?" Jonas said.

"Right?"

"But you....well, you never really knew him when we were kids. He's always had a temper. A nasty, nasty temper. He was always picking on everyone, shoving our faces into the sand, breaking our toys.
"Once, in 2nd grade, he and Cassidy were 'boyfriend/girlfriend.' It lasted a week, unsurprisingly. Kids, right? But Cass told us that Loki was even meaner than usual, picked on her a lot, and said she was never allowed to talk to any other boy. He 'dumped' her when she played tag with some of the other kids, boys included. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is, Loki has a temper, and he seemed to keep it in check when he met you. I'd always hoped that he'd outgrown the nasty streak, and I wanted to find out if I was right." Jonas finally took a breath, while Arlyn lost hers. How had she not known?

"I just wanted to show you this," Jonas handed his phone to her. It was an old screenshot of texts between Loki and Jonas. Arlyn stared at it, dumbfounded.

Loki: I heard u have a date with Arlyn
Jonas: yeah, this weeken.d She wants to go ride the rollarcoasters, never been b4! i'm pretty excited
Loki: i've had my eyes on her for awhile now stay away from her
Jonas: what?
Loki: i said stay away from her. i'm gonna ask her out soon, dont want u getting in my way
Jonas: r you serious rn?
Loki: if u go on that date, i'm gonna tell ur parents ur the one that flooded the basement

Arlyn looked up at Jonas, confused. She vaguely remembered that the school had been closed for a week because the basement had flooded, apparently a pipe had burst over the weekend. Jonas had done that? 
"He...blackmailed you? Because you pulled a dumb prank?"

Jonas fidgeted, blushing, "Yeah, my parents were pretty strict, if they found out that I'd done that, they would have shipped me off to military school, I swear. I was already on thin ice for ditching so many times that I failed some classes, I knew that it would have been the last straw." He looked down, ashamed. "I'm sorry, you know, for being angry with you, you didn't deserve it and I took it out on you. I should have just told you. Bridgette has been pushing me to talk to you for ages now." His wife, she recalled. That's right, he'd gotten married some time last year. It had been the town gossip, since Bridgette was known for never committing to anything, whether it was a job, a house, or a person.

"Oh." was all she managed to get out.

Arlyn sat back in her chair trying to process all this information that was suddenly thrown into her lap. Loki blackmailed Jonas? He'd always had a temper? How had she not known any of this, never seen any of the signs. Was Loki really that good at hiding things? What else was he hiding? Maybe, like Jonas, he was just a dumb kid with a crush. Yeah, Loki was jealous and insecure, but they could work it out. Arlyn had gotten him to agree to a marriage counselor when she found out she was pregnant. She still hadn't told Loki that, though, that she was pregnant. She really wasn't sure how he'd take the news.

Arlyn got up, she needed to think. "Thanks for telling me this, I guess. And don't worry, we were teenagers. That's all water under the bridge, yeah? A few stupid squabbles means nothing. You and Bridgette should come over for dinner sometime, catch up, you know?"

Jonas looked at her for a moment, but Arlyn couldn't really read his expression. Damn if she wouldn't kill for a vision right now.
"Yeah, I'll tell her. She's been pretty stir-crazy. I hope everything works out for you, Arlyn. I really hope that Loki's temper really has calmed down."

Yeah, Arlyn hoped so too.

She found him soaking in the hot tub when she got home. She could smell the alcohol on him the second she stepped around the corner; he didn't even notice that she'd been gone.

"Loki, honey, I need to talk to you." She needed to tell him that they would be having a baby, needed to just get the conversation over with.

"Hmm?" His eyes glazed over, clearly he was drunk out of his mind.

"Loki, please." Arlyn begged him to get out of the tub, so they could talk. She wondered if now was the best time, but he looked like he was happy, perhaps he'd take the news well.

"What is it, babe?" he slurred, reaching for her waist and planting a sloppy kiss on her lips. She nearly gagged on the smell that radiated off of him, even the chemical smell of chlorine couldn't mask the smell of liquor.

"Loki, I have some good news!" she tried to sound as excited and happy as possible, hoping that his reaction would mirror her own.

"What?" He wobbled a little, using her to balance himself.

She took a deep breath and just said it, "I'm pregnant!"

When Loki didn't say anything, Arlyn started to worry. He just blinked at her for awhile, his face going through a range of emotions, as the drunken smirk and glazed over eyes slowly started to fade away.

"What did you say?" he finally said.

"I'm pregnant." Oh no.

"Is it mine?"

"What? Of course it is. Loki, you're the only person I've ever even been with!" Oh no.

"Whore." Oh. No.

That's when Loki exploded, "Whose is it? Is it mine? Who did you sleep with!"

"What are you talking about? The baby is yours! I thought you'd be happy! to start a family1" Tears welled in her eyes, of course he didn't believe her. Of course he didn't think the baby was his. How could she ever think otherwise? All he ever did was accuse her of sleeping around.

The fight lasted hours, every time she thought it was over, he would start up again. The sun was rising when she was finally allowed to get some sleep. She crawled into bed, slumping over, letting herself sink into the mattress. She laid there for awhile, listening to the crickets chirping outside, the birds starting wake up, singing their beautiful songs. When she did manage to fall asleep, she dreamed of what her life could have been like, if she'd told him no all those years ago.

She slept alone that night. And every night after.

Arlyn couldn't help but wonder how she'd gotten here. Was this her punishment for ignoring her visions? Could she have avoided all of this if she had just listened to whatever showed her the future? Why had she always been so stubborn about 'experiencing life firsthand'? She thought back on her parents' relationship. They had always loved each other, had always been there for each other, she couldn't even remember a time when they argued, let alone had a major fight. They'd always been on the same page. That's all Arlyn had ever wanted, instead she had Loki.

Loki, whose only accomplishment in life was beating a video game. Loki, who constantly accused her of cheating. Loki, who never had a nice thing to say about her. Loki, who had never been the person she'd come to believe he was. How had she been so stupid? 

When she got up, Loki was already gone for the day, and she felt nothing but relief. She needed her mommy.