ain't that the way shit always ends?

For a better reading experience I highly recommend listening to the song I attached. This one is gonna hit. Enjoy.

"I can't tell him." Victoria muttered to her friends, who were carefully listening to her as they guarded the lab door, making sure no one would eavesdrop on their private conversation.

"You have to. He'll get even madder if you keep him in the dark" Lexie pointed out, as she reached for Victoria's hand in a failed attempt to calm her down.

"Lex, I get scared when I have to tell him that I'm going home late. How the fuck am I supposed to tell him that he... that we might be having a baby?" Victoria replied, feeling exhausted and defeated in a fight that hadn't even started.

She didn't sleep at all the night before.

"Tori, I know that your relationship with him is your business but I find it odd how scared you are of him lately. It's like you two can't have a civil conversation anymore" Paige was absolutely right about that. The last few weeks felt like being in a relationship with a ticking time bomb.

"I know. He's so distraught all the time. Totally different from the guy I met last year" Victoria sighed, as she rested her hand on her cold black desk. 

"What are you going to do about...it? I mean if you are really pregnant? Are you going to go forward with it or...?" Lexie asked her, with a cold expression on her face.

"I have no idea. I have no idea how that conversation would even go down. I could tell you for a fact how last season Joe would've reacted to this news, but now? He's so volatile and unpredictable"

"Well first things first, you need to know for sure. We could go to the pharmacy down the street and buy a test, you can then take it here. We'll wait for the results with you" Paige suggested.

"That's really sweet of you guys, but I think this is something I should do with Joe. I mean he is my partner after all. I should be able to count on him. At least for this" Victoria wasn't fooling anyone, let alone herself. She knew deep down that regarding this situation, she was alone.

Lexie and Paige semi reluctantly agreed. It was Victoria's decision after all, how and when to involve Joe.

Victoria did pick up that pregnancy test from the pharmacy down the street before she left for home that afternoon. She needed to know which way her life was heading. For some reason this felt so terminal, a life sentence either way.

She entered their home, and as she made her way to the kitchen, a strong smell of tomato and spices flooded the room.

Joe was standing in front of the stovetop, steering what appeared to be a pot of pasta, and trying not to burn his concoction of tomatoes and cheese that was resting on top of a hot pan next to him.

He had his headphones on, they were blasting his favorite Kid Cudi song, while he sang (more like yelled) along. He didn't hear her come in, neither had he read the text she had sent about coming home early. The homemade dinner was supposed to be a surprise for her. Another sweet gesture to wrap their recent reconciliation in a fleeting imaginary bow.

He jumped at the feeling of Victoria's tiny hands hugging him from behind.

"Oh god. I didn't hear you come in. You scared the crap out of me Marlowe" Joe laughed as he paused the music playing on his ears.

"I'm sorry about it, babe" Victoria took a whiff of her environment. "What is this? Joe Burrow is cooking something? Am I dying? Oh my god, are you dying?" She playfully bantered him.

"No one is dying, Vic. I wanted to cook dinner for you. You know with everything that's been going on lately I thought we needed some much deserved quality time. Just you and me" Joe placed a soft kiss on her left temple.

"What's with your concerned little face? Wait is someone actually dying?" Joe tried to lighten the mood, seeing that Victoria's expression was much more similar to one a man on death row would have.

Victoria felt like she wanted to disappear from the world. She wanted to bury the stupid test she was carrying on her bag on a hole in their backyard, and forget about her missing period.

She knew the lovely evening Joe had planned, would be ruined the second she brought the topic up. And she blamed herself for it.

"Everything's perfect. This is perfect" Liar. She tried to fake a convincing smile, but it ended up looking like a smirk.

She then hugged him, for what felt longer than usual. She wanted to memorize his scent, the way his body felt under her grip. It was as if she knew what laid ahead.

"I love you so much" she whispered to him.

"I love you more. But come on you're scaring me"

Victoria shook her head.

"Everything is okay" She said, shaking her head and a sort of nostalgia with it . She had a feeling that she would miss this moment very much.

"Wine?" Joe raised an empty glass in her direction, trying to alleviate the impending feeling of doom that suddenly washed over him.

There was something off about Victoria.

"No thanks" Victoria was unable to hide her terrified expression, she was afraid Joe would inquire further about her unwillingness to sip on a drink, she normally chugged like milk.

Joe did raise an eyebrow, confused.

"Any particular reason as to why not?" Joe said, as he sipped on his wine glass.

"Nope. I'm just not craving it" (I might be pregnant)" she thought to herself.

They sat down to eat on the kitchen island, once that Joe had finished his culinary experiment.

In the middle of their casual, playful conversation,  they found a sense of something resembling normalcy. They were Joe and Victoria once more, the loving, carefree supportive couple that always had each other's backs.

And this gave Victoria the push she needed to come clean to Joe about what was really going on.

"My period is late" She bit her lip. Joe's volatile temper of the last few weeks made her feel on edge every time she even spoke to him. But now telling him that there was a possibility that she might be pregnant, that was a whole different story.

Joe felt his blood pressure drop, he thought he was gonna pass out, he felt like there wasn't enough oxygen on earth to keep him breathing, sweat started to form in his forehead.

"Come again" Joe dropped his fork on his plate, as all color left his face.

"My period is 9 days late. It doesn't necessarily mean anything but I wanted to be sure" she pulled the pregnancy test she got from the pharmacy, wrapped in pink plastic, from her handbag.

"Why... how are... you act like you might have the fucking flu Victoria, what the fuck, we could... this could be...., how could it not mean anything?" Joe couldn't think straight, his words became twisted as the fear of an imminent catastrophe overwhelmed him.

"Well I've been under so much stress lately, maybe it's a result of that, there's no point in stressing out about it until I take the test" At least, that's what she told herself to prevent a mental breakdown.

"Do you wanna take it now?" He asked, his voice shaking.

"I think it would be better to just rip the bandaid off" she stood up from her chair and started walking to the closest bathroom, with Joe trailing behind her.

After she was done peeing on the stick, she unlocked the bathroom door, so Joe could get in. She craved for the comfort of his presence, even if he was a shell of the man she fell in love with. He was still Joe.

But Joe's initial shock had been replaced by frustration, then by pure anger. He sat on the cold floor next to Victoria after she placed the plastic stick on the bathroom counter. He had 5 minutes to make sure she knew that he blamed her for the situation they were in.

"I thought you had a form of contraception" Joe muttered, his jaw clenched.

"I do. But I thought you knew that no birth control is 100% effective, Joe. This is an implicit risk of having sex" She replied, matching his voice tone.

"Fuck Victoria what are we gonna do?" He placed his head in between his hands.

"We're going to wait for the result. Then we'll talk about it"

"We'll talk about it? About what? Do you think I'm in any position to have a baby right now? He yelled.

Victoria's eyes filled with tears, which she fought hard to hold back.

"Neither of us are ready for that, you've made that abundantly clear"

"Oh yeah right, like you're so fucking prepared for this. You drop a bomb like that and expect me to be all rational about it. I'm sorry I'm not as cold tempered as you" Joe blurted out.

"Well I'm sorry about it too Joe. I'm sorry you don't have the emotional maturity to handle adult stuff, but it is what it is" Victoria had ran out of patience. She returned a hurtful comment with an even worse response.

And in that moment, the bitter reality hit her hard, leaving an unbearable after taste in her mouth.

The thing that scared her the most about the possibility of being pregnant, wasn't the idea of having a baby, or even having to be a single parent for the hypothetical child of her and Joe's.

It was the idea of being forever tied to the man she loved, but no longer had a loving relationship with, that terrified her.

She once envisioned herself as Joe's wife, building a family with him, spending the rest of her life by his side, she imagined them sitting on the porch of their house while watching their grandkids play outside. But now, she felt like she would have a panic attack if the test sealed their fate. She was finally ready to admit the heartbreaking truth: what they had was over.

How tables had turned.

Joe scoffed at her comment. And in a moment of blind rage, with his misguided exasperation leading his mouth, he completely stopped caring, about her feelings, about her wellbeing that he claimed was his top priority in the world.

"Well you ain't beating the gold digger allegations now are you?" Joe blurted out, in an ironic manner.

Victoria looked up, her face screamed the pain beating deep inside of her, his cold demeanor began to soften as he observed the effect of his words on her eyes.

This was it. Victoria's accumulated rage snapped out of her like a wild fire, impossible to tame.

"What the fuck did you just say to me?" She yelled, angry. She got up from the bathroom floor,the feeling of comfort and peace she got when she was around him was gone. The intimacy they once shared fizzled out in a split second.

Joe realized then the magnitude of his cruelty, he knew exactly what to say to hit her sore spots, and he didn't even hesitated to do it. He breached the last line of respect he had for her.

"I don't know why I said that, I'm sorry, that was so stupid" Joe got up as well, reaching for her, trying to pull her close, to make any physical contact with her, he could feel her emotional exhaustion, he could feel her slip away.

"Don't touch me" she was as stiff as a board, unflinching.

"Victoria..."

"No, Joe, stop. I'm tired of this. I'm tired of you saying horrible cruel shit to me and labeling as honesty. I don't know what happened to the Joe I met but this" she paused to signal him with her hands "this is isn't him. He..." her voice began to crack. "He would've never said something like that"

Victoria grabbed the pregnancy test from the bathroom counter, looking for the result.  A wave of relief washed over her.

Only one line.

She then threw the little plastic stick at him. Joe's reflexes allowed him to grab the stick when it hit his chest, before it fell to the ground.

"There it is. You have your result and for all I care, we're done. " Victoria realized how much peace she finally felt the moment she muttered those words. It wasn't pain, it wasn't anger what she felt. It was relief.

"Victoria, please listen to me..."She interrupted him before he could continue.

"Joe, we need to face the reality of our situation. This is not working out anymore. We fight all the time, we hurt, and ice each other out when we're angry. This.... This isn't right" tears began streaming down her face, uncontrollably.

The mix of pain, anger, relief, and confusion they both felt was paralyzing.

Joe started to tear up, he felt like his heart was about to burst out of his chest. He wasn't thinking straight, all his senses were overloaded.

"Please" he managed to get out.

"No. This is no longer healthy or sustainable for either of us. We need to stop lying to ourselves"

"Is this what you really want?" His voice cracked at the end of the sentence, he was scared to death of her response.

"Yes" she blurted, and wiped the tears from her face.

"No, please don't" Joe whimpered, as he reached in for a hug, expecting to be rejected. She opened her arms for him instead, and softly stroked his hair.

"It's gonna be okay. We'll be okay, you're gonna be just fine, Joe, I know you will" she tried to console both of them, even if she knew how gut wrenching the next months would be.

"I don't wanna be just fine. I want you" Joe pleaded, desperately.

"It's better for us to be apart right now" Victoria tried to rationalize her actions. This was the second hardest goodbye of her life, and he wasn't making it any easier.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry" Joe repeated to her, in a last ditch effort to prevent her from walking away. He knew it was too late. She was too far gone.

"I'm sorry too. I'm sorry this didn't work out the way we hoped" she began to sob in his arms.

They laid on the same cold bathroom floor for hours, holding each other close, holding to the memories they shared, the feelings they had discovered in the brief months they were together. They reminisced about their first dates, their little getaways, their secret rendezvous, the way their love felt like a heartwarming dream you don't want to wake up from.

"I'm going to sleep at Paige's tonight. And I'll pick up my things tomorrow" Victoria said, as she finally got up from the floor.

The sentence made the break up felt real.

"No... please... don't leave" Joe could barely speak through his pain and cries. He quickly got up, and pulled her in, pressing her face against his chest.

"I can't sleep here Joe. This isn't my home anymore" She began to sob against the fabric of his shirt.

"This will always be your home. I will always be your home" Joe replied, defeated and wrecked.

Victoria shook her head. She called Paige and asked her to pick her up from Joe's place. They stretched their final goodbye as long as they could.

"Please call me when you get there" Joe asked her.

"I think it would be better if we keep our distance for now" She wiped the tears from her face once more.

"So we're not going to talk at all?" Joe felt his heart sinking deeper.

"I can't Joe, talking to you pretending to be friends when I just lost the love of my life"

Joe nodded, not being able to say anything back. He would do anything to honor her wishes, to prevent her from suffering any further. He broke his heart in half in order to shield hers.

Paige picked Victoria up and drove her to her little apartment, in complete silence. Only the sound of her silent sobs in the background.

And as swiftly and unexpectedly as their relationship had begun, it ended.

Thank you so much for the 5k! It means the world to me that you enjoy the story. It will get interesting to watch these two navigate their lives without each other. ❤️‍🩹👀

I do wonder, what would you have done in Victoria's place? Would you keep trying to hold on or walk away like she did?

Lots of love ❤️‍🩹