Happy

That evening, Wish returned home with a mood she never imagined ever experiencing. Although the pay per month would take a lot of patience and work to get her own accommodation and start surviving on her own, but it was worth a shot. The old man told her she could resume the next day as long as she came with that same plastic card he gave her as a means of identification. Sort of like an entry pass for her. Wish made sure she locked it up in the most secure places she could think of in her room, and her day felt fulfilling in comparison to other days of her life.

After years of hoping and thinking she was under a severe curse for what the whole world accused her of doing, she was finally employed—though it was not her dream job (not that she had one in particular) but it could be a huge starting point to something bigger waiting for her in the future.

She was happy.

She prepared dinner with extra care as it rained heavily outside. Haley has not been in the mood and is still clinging to her phone all day and night for Ash to respond and beg him to come back home to her. It was hilarious how he left everything behind for a stupid reason as not being able to get his lust through kissing her. It made her feel guilty in a way and a deep knowing of being responsible for their separation even though she did nothing wrong. It rained, and she loved the mood the rain brought. That dark-grey aesthetic it cast all over the earth made her want to name this day as her best day yet.

She wasn't excellent at cooking or flexible with dishes, but a bowl of finely chopped vegetables, all kinds of fruit salad along with her favorite dish to celebrate her small win and beginning. She knocked on the door leading to Haley's room to invite her for dinner. Wish sighed when she could hear the muffled sound of her sobs from behind the door.

''Haley?''

The sobbing reduced to just faint hiccups and Wish grew more worried about her friend. She was lucky that the door wasn't locked this time, so she stepped into their dream-like partly dark master suite. By the fireplace, you could see a framed happy, lovey-dovey picture of them as the perfect couple. Wish was surprised to see her lay all curled up on their king-sized bed with a ton of Ash clothes wrapped around her like a blanket as she sniffed on and cried on it like there was no tomorrow.

It's only going to be a problem if the relationship has always been one-sided from the start. The most faithful one suffers the most. Sadly.

''Haley, love, I prepared something for the both of us to eat.''

The sky rumbled as the dark wooden floorboards of the room creaked loudly under her weight. She settled on the bed beside her heartbroken friend and drew a few strands of her hair back to be able to see her tear riddled face.

It was worse because her face appeared dry and blotchy from poor maintenance for the past weeks. Wish knew it was only going to degrade further from here if she didn't snap her friend out of it. Haley groaned as Wish pulled her up into a sitting position and sat beside her, handing her a box of tissues from the bedside table for her to wipe her face and nose from it. They sat in silence for a while before Haley said something that further broke her into pieces.

''Or…should I get rid of the baby?''

Wish shook her head, holding on to her friend's hands tight that she shouldn't do something she might later regret.

''What else do you want me to do, then Wish? He is not picking up my call and I can't seem to find or know where he is at the moment. He has no idea of the beautiful thing that's going to happen to him soon, and he just…ran off like he wasn't leaving anything behind and vanished without looking back…without any reason or letting me know what I did to upset him this much. Honestly, Wish I didn't know what to do. I can't raise this baby alone—I'm scared to death of doing it all by myself,'' She said with fresh tears glistening her eyes. It was evident in her gaze that none of them could ever be ready for this new step in their so-called perfect relationship. ''That's why I have been calling the motherfucker that did this to me to share in the responsibility before I—!''

Haley broke down again into another painful sob as the rain grew heavier, matching the line of tears rolling down her reddened cheeks. She turned away from Wish to stare at one of the screens overlooking the mountains being overwhelmed by rain. Her hands trembling as it covered her mouth. It was insane to know how she was feeling inside. Wish wondered if Ash never tried to kiss her behind Haley's back, would still run away if he learned of his girlfriend's pregnancy. Judging by his true colors revealed to her back then in the hospital, it was a most likely thing for him to do once he knew this pregnancy was going to be bounding him to this woman for the rest of his life. Worst of it all, he could have her get rid of the baby in the name of loving her more than he could imagine.

It scared Wish so much.

The world of loving, relationship and even intimacy.

The thought of being with her dream crush and probably going through all this or worse, no longer fancied her anymore. She would rather die as a lone practicing witch who'd lost all knowledge of witchcraft due to one misfortune than suffer this terribly in the name of love.

Love ruins. She concluded before pulling Haley closer and let her cry freely in her arms out of deep pity for her foolish friend. The only person she thought would be fooled to this extent was herself, not her once badass ex-bully of a friend in college.

But the image of this happening to her wasn't all that far-fetched. In fact, she looked too innocent, gullible, weak, and helpless to be taken advantage of by anyone in the name of loving her until the ends of the earth.

Wish couldn't imagine how that would happen, but she had a sickening feeling the suffering could be capable of ruining her more than she could recover from.

Love has always been something she deeply desired, but as the world around her grew colder and unforgiven she was willing to settle for anything and endure it all like she has been so good at doing.

Love is non-existent when the people that claim they love can't conveniently love and appreciate themselves.

They can't look in a mirror and like what they see, like she couldn't do, no matter how hard she tried. Loving someone else until the ends of the earth and until the end of time was going to be a challenge.

She thought Tyler was the lucky person she was capable of loving, or maybe she was just fascinated by everything that made him and not him. Who knows what her feelings for Tyler really are.

''I know what you should do. Safely deliver this baby, and we would take good care of it together.''

Haley raised her head a bit to stare at her friend in surprise.

''I think my curse is lifting bit by bit because I got a job today, although it isn't much, but it's something. We could both give this baby the best, and I think Ash doesn't deserve to know about it. Take this separation as a blessing in disguise and let's make a heaven out of it, don't you think?''

Haley stared at her best friend, still reeling in shock.