God knows I need to hold you as much as I need to breathe to survive.”
At his words, I lost all hope.
“Natalie, Aaron, and I were college friends. We met our first year and stayed friends throughout the years even though we didn’t have the same classes. I met Claire our second year. She was never really in our group, but she was still a part of it. Anyway, this isn’t about her.”
His hand started to play with my fingers absently as he shifted his body slightly and rested his head against mine.
“When I found Claire, we lost ourselves in each other. I still tried to spend time with Aaron and Natalie, but it was less than before I had met Claire.” He paused. “Truth be told, Claire didn’t really enjoy hanging out with them. A few months after Claire and I started to get serious, Natalie and Aaron became an item too. It’s not fair to say that I didn’t support their relationship; they seemed happy about their new status, but they have very different personalities. I would have never imagined them together. Needless to say, it changed the dynamics of our friendship. We started to hang out more again. For some reason, Claire didn’t seem to mind them when they were actually a couple.”
I heard my phone’s loud ringtone in the living room where I had left my handbag. Alexander stopped talking and stilled next to me. “Do you have to get that?” he asked.
At this hour it could only be Linn, and since I was still pissed at her for leaving me like she had, I didn’t have any problem with letting her call go straight to voicemail.
“It’s okay. Go on,” I said to Alexander.
“I was so blindly in love that I asked Claire to marry me two months before we graduated.”
My breathing changed for a moment, or maybe it was my body that went rigid. Either way, it got his attention and he stopped speaking. He turned into me and brushed a soft kiss on my temple, his breath warm against my skin. Putting my hand on his stomach, he started to caress my wrist with his thumb.
“Before the end of the school year, while we were out at dinner or something simple like that, I don’t remember the exact place, Natalie announced that she was pregnant. Everyone was shocked, even Natalie herself. Fast forward a few months, I got married and Aaron left Natalie.”
“No,” I whispered.
“Yeah, just like that he moved from the city, saying his future was more important than playing house. I think he tried to force Natalie to see a doctor to end the pregnancy, but it was too close to the three-month mark, and I think Natalie was already bonding with her baby, even though in the beginning she hadn’t seemed too happy about the news either. So, Aaron broke up with her, letting her know that he wasn’t interested in becoming a young dad when they had so many options ahead of them. When Natalie went into labor two and a half months earlier than she was supposed to, I was the only one at the hospital, trying to do my best to be there for my friend and her baby.”
His grip tightened on my wrist—just for a second—before he laced our fingers together again. Despite our closeness, he was thousands of miles away from me.
“Her parents weren’t there?”
“They live in Canada. They came as soon as they could, but until then I was all she had. Aaron didn’t even call. If I remember correctly, he sent flowers a few days after the fact even though I’d called him to let him know about the situation we were in.”
“I’m sorry. That must’ve been hell for her,” I murmured.
“Yeah, she was a mess. I think her entire pregnancy was a haze. There was nothing left of the girl I’d known after Aaron left her like he did. I tried to be there for her as much as I could, but it wasn’t the same. How could it be…
“As if she hadn’t suffered enough, because of the early labor, the baby had tons of medical issues. Heart problems. Breathing issues. Liver. You name it, he had it. And I went through everything with
At his words, I lost all hope.
“Natalie, Aaron, and I were college friends. We met our first year and stayed friends throughout the years even though we didn’t have the same classes. I met Claire our second year. She was never really in our group, but she was still a part of it. Anyway, this isn’t about her.”
His hand started to play with my fingers absently as he shifted his body slightly and rested his head against mine.
“When I found Claire, we lost ourselves in each other. I still tried to spend time with Aaron and Natalie, but it was less than before I had met Claire.” He paused. “Truth be told, Claire didn’t really enjoy hanging out with them. A few months after Claire and I started to get serious, Natalie and Aaron became an item too. It’s not fair to say that I didn’t support their relationship; they seemed happy about their new status, but they have very different personalities. I would have never imagined them together. Needless to say, it changed the dynamics of our friendship. We started to hang out more again. For some reason, Claire didn’t seem to mind them when they were actually a couple.”
I heard my phone’s loud ringtone in the living room where I had left my handbag. Alexander stopped talking and stilled next to me. “Do you have to get that?” he asked.
At this hour it could only be Linn, and since I was still pissed at her for leaving me like she had, I didn’t have any problem with letting her call go straight to voicemail.
“It’s okay. Go on,” I said to Alexander.
“I was so blindly in love that I asked Claire to marry me two months before we graduated.”
My breathing changed for a moment, or maybe it was my body that went rigid. Either way, it got his attention and he stopped speaking. He turned into me and brushed a soft kiss on my temple, his breath warm against my skin. Putting my hand on his stomach, he started to caress my wrist with his thumb.
“Before the end of the school year, while we were out at dinner or something simple like that, I don’t remember the exact place, Natalie announced that she was pregnant. Everyone was shocked, even Natalie herself. Fast forward a few months, I got married and Aaron left Natalie.”
“No,” I whispered.
“Yeah, just like that he moved from the city, saying his future was more important than playing house. I think he tried to force Natalie to see a doctor to end the pregnancy, but it was too close to the three-month mark, and I think Natalie was already bonding with her baby, even though in the beginning she hadn’t seemed too happy about the news either. So, Aaron broke up with her, letting her know that he wasn’t interested in becoming a young dad when they had so many options ahead of them. When Natalie went into labor two and a half months earlier than she was supposed to, I was the only one at the hospital, trying to do my best to be there for my friend and her baby.”
His grip tightened on my wrist—just for a second—before he laced our fingers together again. Despite our closeness, he was thousands of miles away from me.
“Her parents weren’t there?”
“They live in Canada. They came as soon as they could, but until then I was all she had. Aaron didn’t even call. If I remember correctly, he sent flowers a few days after the fact even though I’d called him to let him know about the situation we were in.”
“I’m sorry. That must’ve been hell for her,” I murmured.
“Yeah, she was a mess. I think her entire pregnancy was a haze. There was nothing left of the girl I’d known after Aaron left her like he did. I tried to be there for her as much as I could, but it wasn’t the same. How could it be…
“As if she hadn’t suffered enough, because of the early labor, the baby had tons of medical issues. Heart problems. Breathing issues. Liver. You name it, he had it. And I went through everything with
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