North (A Robert Downey Jr Fanfic)

"Paparazzi"

"Penny!" he shrieked as he bounded up the driveway after his mother hauled him out of the car. Penny crouched down and he crashed into her waiting arms. He knocked her over and the two of them collapsed into a heap of giggles and squealing.
"Mister Ex, I missed you!" Penny said as she helped him up to his feet then led him into the house, his backpack in tow.

"The PEOPLE article hits stands at midnight you know," Robert said as he unbuckled his daughter and scooped her into his arms "where are you going?"
"I'm going out of town for the weekend with--" she paused and eyed Robert cautiously.
"With your friend," he finished her statement and sent his daughter into the house after Exton.
"What are you going to do?" she asked.
"I'm going to draw all the curtains and settle in for a movie. Lay low for a couple days. Rick is taking all of my phone calls."
She nodded and turned to haul the kids' bags out of the trunk of the Audi convertible he'd bought for her. Despite the fact that their split was amicable there was always a palpable tension in the air when they were near eachother. When Robert found out about her affair, he opted to never talk about it and he never did. Never said a word. She knew that he knew though so there was always that unspoken betrayal that hung between them.

Quickly, she deposited the bags at Robert's feet and scurried back to the car. She started to get in and paused to look at him, removing her sunglasses to reveal her eyes. To him, she looked like she'd been through the wringer. Her eyes were puffy and red around the edges, like she'd been crying. He felt his heart tug, if only slightly at the display of her sadness. He opened his mouth to speak and she cut him off with a salutation of her own.

"I'm sorry, Bobby. For everything."
And before he could respond, she sat down in the car and sped out of the driveway. He cursed her internally; even in an apology, she had to have the last word. She had this way of twisting every situation so that she was the victim, even if she was the one to blame. It worked too, every time. When she wanted to make him feel bad, he did. He was thankful she was gone.

Unceremoniously, he dropped the kids' bags in their designated bedroom and as he turned to leave the room, Vanessa met him in the hallway.
"Hey, did everything go okay?" she asked. He'd come to know when she was being compassionate and nurturing because of the way she tilted her head to the side and softened her voice. She cared and he felt it. It melted him every time.
"As okay as it could have. I can't help but feel angry at her today, for some reason."
"It's because your whole world is changing. Tonight. Tomorrow morning means it's really over. It's officially over. I'm sure that feels terrible."
"It feels worse than I expected it would. I'm so mad at her," he said quietly, willing his eyes to hold back the tears.
"I'm sure it does," she kissed his cheek and pulled him close, laying her head on his chest for a moment, "Come on. Dawn and Taylor are just about to leave."

He followed her out of the kids' room and into the main part of the house. As she led him, a sense of calm and contentment washed over him. Despite the shit-storm they'd been through, they were still together. She knew the right things to say right from the start, understood him in a way that nobody else ever had.

His thoughts drifted back to the night he'd met her. He'd stood, mesmerized by her, watching her bop around the kitchen of the Big Cabin. She had her hair knotted up atop her head and it flopped around as she danced to the rock music that was on. He was mesmerized by her carefree dancing and the way she nudged her glasses up with her pointer finger when they'd slid down her face from her vigorous jumping around. When their eyes finally met he was desperate to know her and to know her in the most complete sense of the word. In that moment he realized that was it, she was it. He'd never need anyone but her, ever again.

"Bobby! Hey--" Vanessa snapped her fingers in front of his face, dragging him back to reality.
"Sorry, I drifted."
"The car just arrived, Chris is loading their bags," she tugged at his hand and led him outside.