“Tristan,” I whispered to his distressed form.
“P-please tell me that was a lie.”
I didn’t say anything because I couldn’t lie to him. He was supposed to find out, just not like this.
He turned back and faced me with teary eyes. My face gave away the fact that no, it wasn’t a lie. His face contorted in pain.
He grabbed my shoulders and shook me. “No, please tell me it’s all a lie. You-you’re playing a prank on me, right? It’s not funny. Stop it.”
“I’m sorry you had to find it like this.” I said quietly.
He let go of me. “No.”
He strode forward and walked past me into the room. I followed him.
Olivia looked shocked and scared. “Tristan.”
He looked like he wanted to yell but once he was close enough to her, his eyes dropped down to her flat stomach.
“I’m sorry.” It pained me to see Olivia so broken, she barely managed to get the words out.
“Why did you do it? Just give me a reason why you didn’t tell me. Something that might justify this injustice to me. Anything that might make me feel better.”
“I-I had my reasons.”
“What are those reasons?”
“You’ve got to understand. I wasn’t sure if you’d want a baby with me. I was scared. I wasn’t ready.”
“How could you just assume I wouldn’t want it? You didn’t even think of telling me. You didn’t even plan on telling me! You would’ve never told me if it wasn’t for Juliet.”
“How much did you hear?”
“Everything.”
His eyes kept flickering every now and then to the part of Olivia’s anatomy which once held a beautiful baby they had created.
“I was going to tell you soon. You’re right. I wasn’t going to, but Juliet convinced me and I swear I was going to tell you in a few days.”
He rubbed a hand down his face. “Why were you ignoring me all this time?”
“I was afraid you’ll know about this and I thought you’d tell me to abort it anyway.”
“But why did you think that? What did I do that made you think that way?”
“You didn’t do anything. I just thought that you wouldn’t want the the news to break out. I thought I’d ruin your image. I was scared I’d be termed as a gold digger. You don’t know this but I’m just a college student. I work a part time job and I barely manage to support and care for myself, how could I care for a baby? I couldn’t do it. I wasn’t prepared for this. Please understand.” Olivia pleaded.
“I really wished you would’ve told me. I would’ve supported you and our baby. I would’ve married you if you were okay with that. I love you, Olivia. It started out as a small crush but then I couldn’t see myself without you. But I couldn’t do anything because you always pushed me away. I thought maybe you didn’t like me back so I accepted it. But you hid this from me. I’m hurt.” Tristan blinked back tears but he could only keep them at bay for so long. He looked tired.
“My baby,” he murmured, closing the distance between him and Olivia and caressing her stomach.
Olivia covered his hand with hers. “I’m so sorry.”
Tristan crumbled to the ground, his eyes red and puffy as tears flowed freely down his cheeks. He held on to her hands as he wept.
“It was my baby too. I didn’t even know it existed and… and when I knew, it was already too late.”
“I love you too, Tristan and I’m sorry I hurt you so much. I didn’t mean to. But maybe we aren’t meant to be. I hope you forgive me. I know it’s too soon to ask for forgiveness but I hope you will find it in yourself to do so. That’s the only thing I want from you. Let’s not see each other again. I’ll be leaving soon anyways.”
This seemed to snap Tristan out of his despair and he struggled to get up. When he was finally on his feet, he pulled her into a tight hug. “No, no, no, no, no. I can’t forgive you right now but please, Olivia, don’t disappear again. I want you.”
She shook her head with a sad smile. “You deserve someone better. I’m not good enough for you.”
Tristan shook his head at her. “No, please. Don’t do that. We can- we can go back to how we were before. We can start fresh.”
“That’s not a good idea.”
Olivia looked at me for help. All this time I had been awkwardly standing to the side as the two sorted out their problems, not that anything good was happening in the end.
I stepped forward and grabbed Tristan by his arm.
“Tristan, don’t worry. She’s still here. Maybe you two should give yourself some time to think over things. It’s been a rough day for you two.”
He didn’t say anything so I started to pull him out of the room and he didn’t object. Olivia and Tristan were still looking at each other when I shut the door to her room. I placed a comforting hand on his back and led him out. Heather and Amelia were sitting in the living room.
“Tristan, what’re you doing here?” Amelia asked at the sight of her brother. “Why are you crying?” She asked worriedly. Then as if she put two and two together, she shrieked, “Oh my God, it was your baby!”
Amelia didn’t know it was Tristan’s until now.
“Even you didn’t tell me.” He said, his words directed at Heather. Amelia was throwing questions at him but he didn’t pay her any attention.
She sighed. “Tristan, trust me I wanted to but I promised her I wouldn’t. I had no doubt that you would’ve taken responsibility but she didn’t want you to know. And I knew you would’ve told her to not abort it and personally I thought it was the best for the both of you. She’s still in college and you’re young too. It was an unexpected and unwanted pregnancy. It was a result of a drunken night, a mistake. I didn’t want her to go through a miscarriage so I helped her abort it. She wanted to abort it too and as the baby was growing in her body, I thought that we shouldn’t decide what happens with it or pressure her into doing what we wanted. Believe me, I’m terribly sad that there was no other option but the abortion and that the fetus had to suffer the consequences of your carelessness, but it was for the best. I’m sorry.”
Just then we heard footsteps and Ethan emerged from the door, playing with his car keys.
“Oh hey,” he said to Tristan. “Sorry I’m late. I got caught up in some work. You didn’t wait for long, did you? It’s good to see you after so long.” Then as if taking in the tense atmosphere, he looked around inquisitively. “Why is everyone here at the same time? Is everything okay?”
Tristan didn’t say anything. He dropped his eyes to the floor and walked out. I followed him.
“I’ll be back in a few minutes. I’ll tell you everything.” I whispered to Ethan.
“Is he leaving?” He asked, staring at Tristan’s back.
“Yes.”
“We were supposed to hang out.” He said, disappointed.
“I’m sorry. I’ll explain later.” I said hurriedly, running after Tristan.
He was about to get into his car but I stopped him.
“I need to talk to you.”
He hesitated but pulled away. “Now is not a good time.”
“Tristan, please. Just hear me out.”
“Fine. What is it?”
“Let’s go somewhere else to talk.”
I led him into the garden and we sat next to each other on one of the benches. He waited while I thought over the best way to make him understand.