Street lamps illuminated the streets as a guidance to lead Jason back to Clair's house. He was exhausted from working long hours but he jogged his way down the streets, determined to see Stella. The scars that were scattered across her arms were burned into his memory, he didn't know what happened to her or why she acted that way last night, but he knew they needed to talk about it immediately.

As he turned down Washington Street, Jason's brown eyes locked onto the simple little house at the end of the street. His pace quickened, and as he got closer he could see Clair's silver car and Richard's truck in the driveway. So everyone is home, they're probably all enjoying dinner together. Maybe Stella finally came out and is smiling and laughing at the table enjoying a delicious meal. He approached the door and turned the knob. Warm air pulled him in, away from the chilly outdoors. Immediately he realized that there wasn't whiff of dinner in the air. Odd, normally Glenda wouldn't postpone dinner without a reason. As he walked down the hall, Jason could hear Clair and Glenda arguing in the living room.

"You need to tell us where she is."

"She doesn't want to come back, mom!" Clair snapped.

"But that wasn't your call to make!" Glenda's voice shook as she spoke.

"Honey, please calm down."

"How can I be calm when Stella is gone?"

Jason's heart stopped. What was happening? Was Stella really gone? She was barely able to move last night, where could she be?

Jason emerged into the room. "What happened to Stella?"

Everyone fell silent. Glenda and Richard exchanged looks at each other, unsure of what to say. They glanced over at Clair, who's face grew pale. Did Clair do something to Stella?

Jason marched over to his girlfriend. "What happened to her?"

Clair didn't say a word, her green eyes avoided Jason. Stella had that same look when she tried to escape, the look of guilt and fear she had when he had confronted her about it. Clair was that same little girl fearing punishment if she confessed her crimes.

"Clair, please!" Jason begged.

Richard put a hand on his daughter's shoulder. "It'll be okay." He reassured. "You can tell us."

Clair took a shaky breath, slowly her eyes met Jason's. "I…. Released her back out on the streets."

Jason's eyes widened. He couldn't believe what his girlfriend had said. "W...why would you do that?"

"She wanted to leave. I did her a favor!"

"But she's just a human, how can she survive out there?"

"She said she's done it before." Clair scoffed. "So, that's her problem!"

"Clair!" Glenda scolded.

The two women began to bicker but all Jason's thoughts drowned them out. All he could think about was Stella's wellbeing. She's lost in the city, probably huddled up, scared and crying. The night was cold, and was only going to get colder with December approaching. There's no way she could survive out there. Protective instincts kicked in.

"You have to tell me where she is!" Jason's voice boomed, silencing the quarrel.

"No!" Clair snapped.

"Don't fight me on this. I'm going to be out there all night if you don't help me!"

"She doesn't want to be found!"

"But she can't survive out there."

"For god's sake, just let her go!" Clair pleaded.

"I can't." Jason sighed. He didn't understand why she did this or why she didn't want Stella around, but he had to look for her, with or without Clair's help. Searching for Stella was going to be like searching for a needle in a haystack, but Jason would search every inch of the city until he found her. He started to walk towards the door. "She needs me."

"Well did you ever once think that your actual girlfriend needs you?!"

Jason stopped and turned around. "What do you mean, actual girlfriend?"

"I just don't get why you wanna throw away two years of our relationship for Stella!"

"What?!" Jason couldn't believe what he had heard. This had to be some joke. She really didnt just accuse him of cheating on her with Stella? But the look she gave was so serious.

"Honey, let's not jump to conclusions." Glenda chimed in.

"No, I'm done sitting around waiting until he leaves me for her! I'm calling it how I see it now!" Clair snapped and pointed a finger at Jason. "And I see that you're cheating on me with her!"

"Have you gone crazy?! She's a freaking human!" Jason shouted. "And last time I checked, dating humans is illegal."

"You think that has stopped giants from falling in love with humans?"

"What even gave you this crazy idea?"

"You were always spending time with her." Clair snapped. "You even let her sleep with you!"

Richard stared back at Jason with wide eyes. "Oh god."

"What? People sleep with their pets all the time!"

"Yeah, but… humans are different." He said.

"You can't possibly believe that I'm cheating on Clair!"

"We're not taking sides." Glenda reassured.

Clair shot her mom a look. "How can you not see how obvious it is?"

"Because he's not like-!"

"Glenda!" Richard warned.

Glenda quickly shut her mouth and looked away.

Jason stared back at everyone. The moment he wanted answers and everyone went quiet. "Like what?" Glenda darted her eyes back to her daughter, who stared back at her with horrified eyes. It was as if the two were having a silent conversation in their heads, conflicted on what to say.

"Would someone say something already, we don't have time for this!" Jason snapped. "I need to find Stella!"

"You're doing exactly what Max did!" Clair cried out.

"Your ex-husband?" Jason stared at Clair. The angry look she had was gone, replaced with pain. Tears threatened to pour out of her eyes. Then it hit him. In the two years that they'd been together, she never once went into detail about how they broke up, she only said that that Max had stopped loving her. He never knew it because he fell in love with a human.

"Clair…."

"We used to have a human like Stella. He chose her over me." Her voice shook. "And I can't go through that heartbreak again."

"So all this time, you hated Stella for something she didn't even do?" Jason's blood started to boil. He thought he knew Clair, he thought she was a sweet and caring woman with a fiery personality, she wasn't supposed to keep secrets from him and send girls away due to jealousy. "No wonder why she wanted to leave so badly, you scared her away!"

"Enough!" Glenda shouted after standing by in silence. A look of hidden fury raged in her eyes. It was not a side she often showed.

Richard quickly moved in front of his wife. "Honey, maybe you should all calm down, and think your words carefully."

"Oh, I've been thinking about what I wanted to say for the past few months! And it's about time they know!" She pushed past Richard and stared at her daughter and took a deep sigh. "Clair, we've helped you out so much after the divorce and I understand your skepticism, but you're thirty years old! Talk about your problems like an adult! It's not fair to hold people accountable for actions they didn't do."

Jason let out a sigh of relief. Finally, someone's making sense in this house.

"And you!" Glenda snapped her head over to Jason. "Did you ever think that you pushed Stella away?!"

Jason took offense. "What do you mean, I did everything to help her!"

"Trying to grab a screaming human is not helping."

"I… I just wanted to make sure she was okay."

"She always flinched whenever you went to grab her before, what made you think she would react any better?"

"Because she needed me to comfort her."

"You sent her into a traumatic episode!" Glenda scoffed.

"What are you even talking about?" Jason didn't understand why she was so against him helping out Stella. She was a vet, shouldn't she support him?

"She was abused!"

Jason's face grew pale. Abuse. A word that was so cold and evil, it might as well be venom that stung Jason in the heart. The thought of Stella being abused made his stomach drop.

Richard shot Jason a confused look. "You didn't know, did you?"

"Did she tell you?"

"She didn't have to." Glenda's tone was now softer. "It was obvious."

"Not to me!" Jason was in disbelief. He knew Stella was skittish, but he never thought it was because of abuse. So all this time, she feared that he was going to hurt her. Guilt washed over Jason, how could he do that to her?

Glenda turned her head towards the hallway and gasped. "James and Charlie!"

Jason snapped out of his thoughts to see two blond heads peeking out of the hall, staring back at them with wide eyes.

"Go back in your room, boys." Richard told them.

"But we want to know where Stella is." James asked.

Charlie nodded. "Is she going to be okay?"

Jason took a deep breath. Maybe he scared Stella, maybe she never wanted to see him again, but there were people here who could help her. The streets were no place for a human.

"Stella's going to be fine." He turned to Clair and grabbed her hands, squeezing them in reassurance. "We just need to know where she is."

A look of defeat shined in her eyes. "She wanted to go to the park."

"Thank you." He leaned in for a kiss but she pulled away.

"I have to talk to my kids right now."

"I'm going to find her.

Richard stepped forward. "I'm coming with you."

"Alright let's go." Jason headed towards the door, determination pumped into his veins. He knew he had to find Stella before danger could find her.