Water Ch. 220 - Can't Let The Clouds Cover The Sun

The South American tour was going along nicely, with three days left and things back home couldn't be any better, he thought.  Walking off the stage and heading to his escape car, Dawn hands Jon his cell phone.  "It's Jesse."  His look quickly went to one of worry, knowing what time it is, back home.

"Jesse, what's going on?" the concerned father asks.

"Dad, you have to talk to Beth.  She's crazy." Jesse tells his dad, at a pace that takes his wind away.

"Whoa, what's going on?  It's 2:00 there, Jess."

Jesse is pacing the kitchen of the Red Bank home, Beth is sitting at the island listening to him talk.  She's gone from scared to upset to now, she is just tired.  "Beth said I'm grounded for a month.  Dad can you talk to her?"

"Where is she?" Jon asks, still having no idea what is going on.  Jon is out of breath and wants a drink of water, but there isn't any in the car.  He'll be to his room in just a few minutes, "What happened?"

"I snuck out and she caught me, it's no big deal.  Tell her I'm not grounded for a month, dad." Jesse pleads with his dad.  "I can't be grounded for a month."

"You did what?!?!?"  Jon is a little louder now.

Jesse can tell that calling his dad was a mistake, "here.  Talk to Beth." and he hands Beth the phone.

"Hi honey." Beth says to the pissed of parent on the other end of the phone. 

"What's going on?  What did he do?" Jon asks.

Beth gets up and pours herself a glass of Pinot and takes it into the living room with her, "He snuck out tonight and when he was trying to get back in, he set the alarm off.  He didn't know that I changed the code.  He's mad that he got busted." she briefly explains to him as she sits on the sofa and covers with a blanket. 

"Where was he?"

"He didn't say, but I think he was with Billy." was all Beth could give him, regarding details of his midnight escape. 

 

"And you only grounded him?"

 

Beth is quiet for a moment, "What else would you like me to do?  I think that's enough until you get home."

 

Jon is getting out of the car and heads into the back door of the hotel.  "Tell him I'll deal with him when I get home."

 

"Already did."

 

"Are you alright?"

 

Beth takes a deep breath and says, "Yeah, I'm fine.  I just wonder what he was thinking.  To sneak out so late.  I didn't set the alarm until 1:00, so he had to go out before then and I didn't notice?"  Beth is feeling like she's let Jon down.

 

"Don't worry about that.  He's home and he's safe.  Go to bed, babe." Jon tells her, knowing that she won't - she's too pissed off to sleep.

 

"Nah, I'm sitting here in the dark looking out at the back yard.  There isn't a cloud in the sky and the moon is super bright.  It's gorgeous." She starts to tell him, "Plus, I have a glass of wine."

 

"Drinking without me?" he teases

 

"First glass I've had since you left." she admits.  "The last few weeks have been so good, I can't figure out why Jesse is acting out like this."

 

"He's a teenager.  I know you though, try not to beat yourself up over this, okay."

 

"I don't like not being able to trust him, Jon.  That really bothers me.  How many other times has he done this?"

 

"Babe, stop.  It's too late at night for you to get upset.  I just got done with the show and I need a shower, can I call you back in a few minutes?" Jon asks, not sure of what she may say.

 

Beth, realizing that she was being a little selfish tells Jon, "Go shower.  Call me when you get up and around."

 

"Are you sure?"

 

"Honey, go shower and relax.  I'll finish my wine and I'll go to bed." she tells him.  "Although I could talk to you all night."

 

"If you want to talk, we can talk." he's pacing his hotel room, and his eyes keep glancing into the bathroom.  He wants a shower.  He's pretty sure that all of his Right Guard has worn off and he feels pretty gross.  It was only 109 degrees when he arrived at his hotel.  He's very thankful for air conditioning. 

 

"No, go shower.  Call me tomorrow.  I love you and can't wait for you to get home." she tells him.

 

"Are you sure?" he questions her.

 

"Go shower.  I love you!"

 

He laughs, "I love you too!"  And they hang up.  Jon does exactly what he said he was going to do and what he needed to do.  He jumped in the shower.

 

Beth gulps down her wine and goes up to bed.  Passing Jesse's room, she looks in and he's laying on his bed.  She stops and asks, "Wanna talk?"

 

"I don't care." he tries to sound tough, but she sees through it.  She walks in and sits on the bean bag chair that's next to his dresser.

 

"What been going on Jess?" she asks, thinking it was maybe girl related.

 

"Nothing."

 

"Come on Jess, I can see that something is bothering you." Beth reaches out to him and hopes that he will take hold.  "What is going on?"

 

"I really don't want to talk about it right now, can we talk tomorrow?" he asks her, with nothing but respect in his voice.

 

"Sure.  If you would rather."

 

Jesse sits up, "Beth, I know my dad is going to kill me, but I want to apologize to you.  I never should have left in the middle of the night like I did."

 

"Why did you leave, where did you go?"

 

Jesse was about to open up to Beth, when they were interrupted by the sound of Romeo crying. 

 

"I'll be right back."  Beth says to him as she hops off the floor and races to Romeo.  When she gets into Romy's room, he's crying, but he's sound asleep.  She sits by him on the bed, rubs his back and tells him, "It's okay, I'm here (purple) Romeo."  After a few minutes of that, he stops cry and goes back to sleep - sleep.  Best that Beth can figure is that he was having a bad dream, but it wasn't scary enough to wake the little guy up, all the way.  When she's satisfied that Romeo is okay, she goes back into Jesse's room and he too is sound asleep.  Standing in his doorway, she hopes that he will open up to her tomorrow and maybe they can bridge the gap that has somehow appeared without her even knowing.  She knows that Jon being away is tough for the kids, it's tough on everyone but she knows that she has given them the best care possible and they needed for nothing.  She gladly walked into the roll of step mother and she loved the way that it felt.  The kids know that they can count on her, for anything.

Walking back into her room, her cell phone indicates that she had an email.  Scrolling to it, she sees it's from Jon.  A simple I LOVE YOU was the best good night she has had in a while.  She misses him so much, she can't wait until he gets home.  The upcoming break isn't long, but it's going to be long enough for them to reconnect and relax.