Chapter 2

"There's something I need to tell you," Jake says the second we enter his room.

"I have something to say too," I say as I fidget with the hem of my dress.

"Go on, I'm listening."

"Well, I…" Exactly how do people tell their partner that isn't their boyfriend that somehow they were pregnant?

I shake my head slightly.

"I am not sure I know how to start, you go first," I say wishing I could postpone the entire conversation.

"Okay." He settles on the bed beside me and he is very happy when he says, "My dad asked me to move to Massachusetts with him."

I am instantly crushed internally and in every way that matters.

"He wants me to go to college closer to him so he can start teaching me how to manage his business," Jake says and there's a smile playing on his lips. I can tell it makes him happy.

His relationship with his father had always been complicated. I am happy for him that his father was trying to be closer to him. I am happy he was going to have his dreams realized. Truly I am.

But what of me? Of us? I amend my hand returning to my belly.

"When are you leaving?"

"You see, that's where I need to apologize, my dad sort of just told me that I leave tomorrow."

My heart drops to the bottom of my feet at that.

"Tomorrow?" I exclaim in shock.

"Yeah. I wish we would have had more time together, but you know how my dad is."

I nod my head even if I am not entirely sure what I am nodding to. "That's wonderful news."

I muster a fake smile to send his way. "So are you breaking up with me?" I ask before adding, "Well, you can't exactly do that since we were never together in the first place."

Jake's smile drops at my statement, and I hold out hope that he will tell me I shouldn't be foolish and that, of course, he isn't going to abandon me. But I knew somewhere deep inside my mind that it wasn't going to happen.

"I thought we were dating," he states.

"Nope, you never asked me to be your girlfriend."

"If you weren't my girlfriend then what were you?"

"I don't know, Jake." I stand up. "I care about you a lot and I truly am happy for you. But one man already walked out of my life, I don't need another one to do the same."

I feel my heart breaking with every word I say.

Jake knew all about my dad, we always had pretty emotional conversations. And he also knows I hate talking about him.

"So this is it?" he asks.

"Yeah, it is." I am going to miss you, Jake. But I want you to want me too.

I don't dare say that out loud though.

"For what it was worth, Aurora, I really did think we were in a relationship."

I turn around to leave only to turn back to face him. "Do you think we could… I thought maybe one last time we might…" my voice drifts off.

It was wrong on so many levels. But I really was not ready to let him go.

"Of course, Princess." He was always like this. Unable to deny me anything if I asked.

So I find my way into his arms like I have often the past few months. He places his lips on mine, and unlike all the other times we have kissed, I don't immediately respond to him. I want him to tease me into giving in.

And he does. My gown falls away then his shirt and the rest of our clothes. I taste tears as we carry on kissing but I refuse to believe it is mine.

Unlike all the other times our bodies came together, this one is slow. When he sucks my nipples it is slow, when he moves it is slow, like we are basking in the moment. It made me feel cherished and loved.

I was not going to admit that it was simply like that because we both know this is the last time.

We spend hours relearning each other's bodies and sealing it into our memories.

When he finally seethes inside of me as we both orgasm, it occurs to me that neither of us bothered with protection and I should be grateful I couldn't get pregnant twice.

When I wake up, Jake is still asleep and it's already dark outside. My eyes rake his face that I might never get to see again before I snap myself out of it.

I fix my dress back into place, pick up my phone to see five missed calls from my mum, and leave as quietly as possible.

My mum is waiting for me in the living room. As she approaches me I see worry etched on her face.

"Aurora, where have you been? I have been worried sick." My mum wraps her hands around me and I inhale her scent.

I clung to her like I was going to break if I had to let go. Then the tears came.

I cry and cry and cry. Somewhere between my sobs, I tell my mum about how I managed to get pregnant for someone who didn't love me, who could not stand by me.

"We will figure it out together, Aurora."

"I… miss him," I say between sniffs. "I miss him so much, Mum."

And I am wailing again.

Like always, my mum simply holds me until I start to feel better. Then, it occurred to me that Jake never asked me what to tell him what I had to say.

"Does he know?" My mum asks.

I shake my head. "I can't tell him mum. He's…" my voice cracks as I speak, "...leaving, I can't hold him back when he doesn't want to stay. I just can't."

"You won't Aurora. You don't have to tell him."

I hold onto my mum, grateful that even if the world falls apart, I will always have her.