The hushed voices coming from the living room woke me up. From the corner of my eye, I looked at the time and groaned. Eight-thirty was not a good hour to wake up when I was hung over. As I got up, I caught a quick glance of myself in my wardrobe mirror. I looked like shit, just as I had every other morning since I left my Aunt Jenna’s house. My entire week had been spent on autopilot. I got up in the morning, showered, got dressed, called in sick for work, got drunk wherever I felt like going, and passed out. Most of the time, I didn’t even know how I got home, but it didn’t matter much to me.
“Well, well, well. Look who finally decided to get up.” I heard his familiar voice say as I opened the door. I stepped out of my room and noticed Stephan sitting comfortably on my living room couch, with my favorite coffee mug in one hand and my T.V. remote in the other. I frowned at his presence and he just raised his eyebrow, expecting some sort of reaction from me.
“Who the fuck let you inside my apartment?”
“Um, that would be me,” Laney answered from the hallway. “I called him last night.”
I turned to face her and gave her an incredulous look. “Why the fuck would you do that? What the hell is wrong with you? And who gave you the permission of going through my phone? Haven’t you ever heard of privacy, Lane?”
“Okay, asshole. I get that you’re a bit hungover right now, but you better stop swearing at me, or I swear to God, I’m going to kick your ass.”
“Whatever.” I replied spinning on my heels to go back the way I came, but just as I was about to shut it closed, Laney put her foot in door.
“I am sick and tired of having to pick up your drunken ass every night. I have a job. You know that right?”
“I don’t ask you to pick me up. You do that on your own accord,” I pointed out. Truthfully though, I was lucky to have her, otherwise someone could have most definitely found me in a ditch somewhere.
She challenged me with her evil eyes. “It’s been a week, Oliver. I called Stephan because I don’t know what to do with you anymore. I’ve had enough of your pity party.”
“He’s the last person I want to see right now, Laney. You of all people should know that. Wait. Last night?”
“He might be the last person you want to see, but he’s the first person you should be talking to.”
“I don’t want to talk to him,” I replied to her and directed my eyes to Stephan who was watching the altercation I was having with my best friend. “You lied to me. You’re supposed to be my friend, but I can clearly see where your loyalty stands.”
“Let’s get something straight, Oliver,” he challenged. “My loyalty will always be hers first. But in this case lying to you would imply that within the past six months, we’d have actually talked to each other. One cannot have a conversation with a friend if this said friend doesn’t pick up the damn phone and call or text back.” He was right. Over the month Abby had come back home, I had completely ignored his calls. “But since we are on the subject of lying, maybe we could talk about the fact that you promised me you would never hurt her again. Or maybe we can talk about how I told you that this is exactly what was going to happen.”
“Or maybe you can talk to her about how this is all her fucking fault.”
“You two are the most exasperating people I’ve ever met. Seriously. It’s like you’re hell bent on hurting yourselves because you can’t talk to each other. Do you know what I’ve been asking myself for the past six-and-a-half years? How the hell do two best friends that used to say and do everything with each other, two people that could barely spend hours without each other, two people that have been in love with each other for God knows how long, become whatever the fuck you two have become? I mean seriously, I don’t get it.”
“Whatever. Get him out of here, Laney.” I shut the door and locked myself in before she could react.
“Oliver,” she yelled. “We’re just trying to help.”
“Trying to help?” I opened the door to her staring sadly at me. “If you want to help me, help me forget about her. Help me move on. God–– after everything we’ve been through. After everything I did for her… she fucking rips my heart apart. I hate her. I hate her for doing this to me. To us.”
Angry tears rolled down my tired face as I fell to the floor. Unable to understand how one person can love, but hate so much at the same time, I grabbed my hair and rocked my body to rid myself of the relentless pain.
“Oliver?” Laney pleaded.
I shook my head without meeting her eyes. “Just leave me alone, Lane.”
***
Hours passed before I decided to get up and out of my room. The silence in my condo was eerie, but unfortunately when I opened my bedroom door, I saw a pair of green orbs watching me. Tyler was most definitely the last person I would have expected to see sitting on my couch, yet there he was; waiting for me. The both of us simply stared at each other, not saying a word, but the facial expressions spoke a thousand words.
“You look like shit,” he finally said, breaking the silence.
I shrugged. “How long have you been here?”
“A while.”
“Okay…is there anything I can do for you?”
“Nope.”
“Where’s Laney?”
“With Stephan.”
“And where’s Stephan?” I asked, making my way to the bathroom.
“At the hospital, with Abby.”
I froze.
“Good to know your instincts are still there,” he mocked.
“You’re wrong. I couldn’t care less.” I continued to make my way to the bathroom, pretending that what he had said hadn’t bothered me.
“And that’s where you’re wrong. In fact, you care even more now. For the both of them, actually. The good news is, they are both fine. It’s just another one of her regular checkups. ”
I stopped and turned around. “And the bad news?”
“We’re going for a drive.”
“Like hell we are. I’m not going anywhere with you. In fact, I’m going to take a piss, a shower, and then park my ass on my couch and drink another beer. You’re welcome to join me if you want, but I’m warning you I’m shitty company.”
“I’ll pass on the beer, but I don’t mind the shitty company. Plus the fact that you’re acting like a dick right now makes me feel a lot better about my new life decision.”
I just rolled my eyes and turned around. “Glad I can help.”
“Aren’t you just a little curious what I’m talking about?” he shouted from across the hall.
“Nope.”
“And…what if I told you, that I’ve decided that I don’t mind being second best anymore?”
I stopped at the bathroom doorway and chewed on his words for a while. “You want her?” I gritted through my teeth. “Take her. I don’t give a shit.”
“Really? So all of a sudden you don’t care about her happiness? You’re ready for her to just give up and settle.”
I scratched my jaw. “Trust me. We’re both better off without each other. I’m done. You can see yourself out.”
“So you have no issues with me loving her, kissing her, marrying her, and sharing a bed with her, forever.”
I frowned and swallowed the pain he was purposefully inflicting. I knew what he was doing, so I nodded again, pretending that I didn’t care.
“Okay,” Tyler responded. “What about your daughter? Will you have any issues when Lyvia jumps into my arms and calls me daddy when I come back home from work?”
I lunged at him. I didn’t know if he expected it or not. My guess is that he was, but he didn’t even move an inch when I grabbed him by the collar.
“They. Are. Mine.” I growled. “Both of them.”
He just smirked at me. “Then go take a fucking shower. We’re going for a drive.”
Chapter 15
Abbygail
“Okay, Abby,” Dr. Collins said, unplugging me from the monitors. “You’re good to go.”
“That’s it?” I frowned. “No bloodwork? No checking my cervix? No ‘I told you to put your feet up?’”
“Lyvia is doing great, her heart rate is textbook perfect, your gaining weight, and you told me that the last contraction you had was a week ago. I don’t see a reason why I should risk checking your cervix. You look under rested but less pale than the last time I saw you, so I’ll save you the pain of taking another sample of your blood. You’re doing well, Abbygail.” She smiled. “I’ll see you in a week.”
“Wow, apart from having my car not start this morning, this appointment has to be the best one in six months.”
“Ugh, car troubles suck,” she replied, letting her professional guard down. When she wasn’t being a controlling pain in my ass, Camelia Collins acted more like a friend than my doctor. “You should have called, hon. I could have just cancelled our appointment.”
“My mom was going to work anyway, so it wasn’t trouble for her to drop me off here.”
“Do you need me to call you a cab to get you home?”
I shook my head. “No, I’m fine. Stephan should be picking me up pretty soon.”
“Okay then, see you next week. Oh and, Abbygail?” she called before stepping out.
“Yes Dr. Collins?” I responded smugly, but when I looked up at her, I saw a familiar blonde haired girl standing in the doorway. I bit my tongue and looked at Camelia.
“I’m still expecting you to keep your feet up.”
I answered her with a light nod and she stepped out.
“You owe me breakfast,” Laney said once we were alone.
I frowned and tried to look past her, somehow expecting to see Oliver standing there, waiting for some kind of permission to come in.
“If you’re looking to see if your baby’s father is hiding behind me, let me reassure you that he isn’t here.”
My heart sunk. “He’s not who I was looking for,” I lied. “I was actually wondering where Stephan was.”
“If you say so,” she replied. It seemed that Laney was able to read me a lot better than I had given her credit for. “Stephan had to step out. He got a phone call from some girl named Kylie, and told me he needed some privacy.”
I remained quiet and pensive for a minute.
Why is Ky suddenly calling Stephan? We haven’t seen or heard anything from her in months…
“Did you fly all the way across the country to claim pancakes?”
“Nope. But I live here now, so you know…”
Wow…this week just keeps getting better and better.
“So, does Justin live here too?”
“No. Justin and I are no longer together. We broke up last February.”
“Oh,” I gave her a tight smile and sighed. “Laney, if you’re here to bust my ass about keeping my pregnancy a secret from Oliver, you might as well get in line and wait outside the door. I don’t want to hear it.”
She smirked. “Actually, do you know what I don’t get?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
“No, but I bet you’re going to tell me.”
“Why did you leave?”
“You’re kidding me right?”
She shook her head. “No. I mean…some things I understand. They don’t make me less angry and they definitely make me want to beat the shit out of you, but I’m willing to understand that you have your own personal reasons. But leaving B.C and not even try to sort things out…that’s what I just can’t seem to figure out.”
“He slept with Sam.”
“And?”
My eyebrows furrowed together. “And, he slept with Sam.”
“That’s it?” she asked, surprised.
“Of course that’s it.”
“Okay then, now I really have to ask you this. Do you believe your reaction would have been the same had you never come to B.C.?”
“That’s a stupid question, Laney.”
“I don’t feel like it’s a stupid question. In fact, I’m just trying to make you understand that you have to take part of the blame for what happened between the both of you that night.”
“He slept with another woman. How the hell could it possibly be my fault?”
“He only slept with her because he believed that you were back with Tyler.”
“If I had been back with Tyler, why the fuck would I have traveled across the country to be with Oliver on New Year’s Eve?”
“I’m not saying his assumptions were true, Abbygail. Nor am I saying that he was right, because trust me, I spent the entire evening that night trying to make him understand that he’d read the whole thing wrong. What I am trying to do is to make you see things from his perspective. In the end, you need to realize that Oliver was in pain, and whatever stupid decision he made that night was because he was hurt. The only thing he tried to do, was to numb his pain the same way he’d being doing the past six years. Which by the way, from what I’ve heard; is the same way you’ve been numbing yours. He made a mistake Abby.”
I stepped off from the examination bed and put my shoes on without saying a word.
“Do you know what I think?” she replied, finally walking inside the room. “I think that this isn’t about Sam at all. I think this entire thing is about you trying to protect yourself. And if we weren’t taking about Oliver Langton, I’d be the first one to tell you to protect yourself from heartache. I know all too well how much love can crush you and make you feel helpless. But Oliver loves you. He’s always loved you, and Abby, he’ll do anything for you, even if it means it’ll tear him to shreds to see you happy with someone else.”
Seeing the silent tears run down my face, Laney grabbed a tissue from the box on the doctor’s desk and extended it to me. I knew that everything she said was true, and hearing her saying it out loud hurt. But what pained me the most was that I hurt the only person I’d ever loved, and because of it he would never forgive me.
“Abbygail, whatever you’re thinking right now, don’t. You’ll figure it out, you always do. Now come on, Stephan is waiting for us outside. I’m starving, and I want pancakes.”
***
“Hey.” I said to Stephan, stepping inside the car with Laney. “Thanks for picking me up.”
He answered with a simple curt nod and I immediately knew that something was off.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“You don’t look fine. What did Ky want?”
The annoyed look he shot at Laney told me he didn’t want me to know about their call. “Nothing.”
“Right. Because Ky, the girl that dropped off from our side of the earth five months ago, just suddenly decided to give you a call for no reason.”
“Could we just have this conversation another time?” he asked.
“Sure, why not,” I replied knowing that sooner or later I would get him to talk.
“Thank you. So where to?”
“Food,” Laney and I replied at the same time.
“Chocolate chip pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream?” he offered.
I kissed his cheek. “You are the best friend on the entire planet.”
A small smile crossed his handsome face. “Just remember that next time you get mad at me for no reason.”
“I’ll try,” I teased, putting my feet up on the front dash.
“Abbygail Evens,” he growled, “take your stinking feet off my dash.”
“I can’t”
“Why? What do you mean you can’t?”
“Camelia said I needed to keep my feet up.”
We both heard Laney chortle behind us, and when Stephan looked at her through the rear mirror, I noticed a funny expression on his face.
“She has a point,” she confirmed. “The doctor did say that she was expecting Abby to put her feet up.”
“The doctor has been repeating this for months, and you’ve never listened to her before.”
“I know right! I guess today is just the perfect day to start.”
Stephan rolled his eyes
and drove us out from the hospital parking lot.
“Hey, Steph, after breakfast, can you stop at my house and check what’s wrong with my car?”
“I already sent Tyler. He stopped by after you left, and called to let me know that you need to change your battery. Apparently you left your car lights on last night.”
“I did?”
He nodded. “On our way back from The Diner, we’ll stop at CARQUEST and get you another one.”
I pulled my feet off the dash and smiled gratefully. “Thank you.”
Chapter 16
Oliver
The drive to wherever we were going was long and quiet. Tyler hadn’t said a word since I got out of the shower. In fact, I was hoping that when I finally got out of the bathroom, he would have decided to bail. Unfortunately, when I came out, he was standing by the door waiting for me with my set of keys in his hand.
Tyler pulled my pick-up to a slow stop, and as I opened my eyes to the familiar area, I groaned. The last place I wanted to be was the cemetery.
“I’ll wait for you here,” Tyler voiced.
“Actually, we could just skip the whole thing and not go at all.”
“When’s the last time you came here?” he asked.
“I haven’t been here since I buried my mom,” I admitted. “Not a big fan of cemeteries.”
“No one’s a fan of cemeteries, Oliver. But you still need to go. There’s something there you need to see.”
“I already know what’s there. It’s how I found out about everything in the first place, and I’ll pass thank you.”
“This isn’t up for debate.”
“Don’t you think that burying my parent’s has been enough, Ty? Now I have to deal with the fact that I have a dead child.” It was tough not to yell at him and keep my emotions under control, but he must have known how hard it was for me to be at the cemetery.
Transcending Regrets (No Regrets book 3) Page 9