"Hi." he said slowly, his Adam's apple moved up and down.

He looked still the same but the face that I once found attractive now appeared hideous to me. There were so many emotions blubbering inside me right now that I couldn't bring myself to look at him.

"What are you doing here?" I gritted through clenched teeth, balling my hands into tight fists.

"I wanted to talk to you." he said, stepping closer and I took a step backwards, recreating the distance.

"There is nothing to talk." I said, controlling my anger and keeping my voice as low as possible. Few people that were passing through the stairs looked at us.

"Clara!"

"Just leave." I said harshly.

"Can I come in? Just for five minutes. I won't take any longer." he requested and I found a woman specifically stopping to listen to us.

Letting out a deep breath, I led him inside the door, just into the doorway and closed the door behind us.

"I didn't know..." he started and grief dripped from his face. "I didn't know about the baby until now."

"And that's supposed to somehow change everything?" I crossed my arms in front of chest in a defensive posture. I didn't believe his words, his actions, his eyes, nothing about him was worth giving another thought.

"I am not evil, Clara." he groaned.

"I beg to differ." I whispered, watching him with a bare face.

"Abandoning you was not a plan. I didn't run away with you, just so I could leave you behind. I just.... I couldn't survive in that lifestyle." he said.

"But I did. Thanks to you." I said with a blank voice.

He once again tried to step closer to me but I recreated the distance again. It ticked him off and he ran his fingers through his hair in frustration.

"You of all people should know that everyone deserves forgiveness." he said and that angered me more.

"No. I know that forgiveness has to be earned." I seethed in fury.

"I'll earn it." he replied.

That made me let out a small chuckle. I threw a condescending glance at him and said, "Your father disowned you once and you are here to ask for my forgiveness. Go and spend six years in an unfamiliar place with no money and then I'll see what I can do."

"You and I, we are not any different Clara." he muttered under his breath. His grey eyes were filled with slight moisture and it aggravated me even more, knowing that it was just another one of his tactics.

"Yes we are. I never lied Ryan. I never told Aaron that I love him or that I'll stay with him forever. But you, you are a liar." my voice was getting higher. My hands itched to wrap around his neck to strangle him but I controlled the urge.

"You lied to Aaron. You lied to your Dad. You lied to me. And yet you have the nerve to come here. I didn't make Aaron leave his family for me. I didn't leave Aaron with an unborn child. I didn't leave Aaron to get raped. I didn't leave him homeless." I growled. By the end of the little speech, I was breathing hard.

"I'm sorry." he said.

"Sorry? Your sorry can't bring back my six years. Your sorry can't bring back my Dad. Your sorry can't bring back my broken marriage. Your sorry can't bring back my baby." I screamed at him, tears streaming down my cheeks.

Maybe that's what I needed to erase the guilt that has been gathering inside me for many years.

"Cla-"

"If you say my wife's name with your dirty mouth one more time, I'll make sure you die in a dumpster with ragged clothes and no place to live."

Aaron's voice boomed in the house. He entered through the door and both of our faces turned to him. He walked towards me and snaked his arms around my waist.

Under his glare, Ryan cowered and then left, leaving us alone. I turned around and hugged him tightly, hiding my face in his chest.

"He said.. He said.. He and I... We are.."

"I heard." he told me, rubbing my back. "I was outside the whole time."

"Why didn't you come inside?" I whispered.

"Because I knew you'd handle him." he said.

We stayed like that for a moment. After that, we went inside and sat down on the couch. He said he came back to take his laptop which was somewhere in my luggage.

"Are you going back?" I asked, switching the TV on.

"No." he said, taking my hand in his own.

"Good." I smiled and rested my head on his shoulder.

...

The next day, Aaron first took me to the designer friends of his. She took my measurement and asked some questions like what kind of neckline do I want or what kind of detailing should the dress have.

After the boutique, we went to meet Aaron's dad in his house. The last time I met him, he wasn't really happy with my return so I didn't exactly expect a warm welcome from him.

But when I entered Aaron's house, he met me on the door and hugged me in a fatherly manner. Seeing him reminded me of my Dad and I couldn't help but feel sad.

Darren took us inside, to the living room where we talked about both he past and the present. He was just as funny as I remembered but the signs of increasing age were becoming evident on his face.

"Want to see our room?" Aaron said in my ears once his Dad went into the kitchen to cook the dinner.

I nodded and he gripped my hand, taking me to the corridor.

Behind us, his Dad shouted, "Try to limit your shenanigans to an hour. The dinner will be ready by then."

Both of us chuckled at his words and entered the room. "I have been here before, on your birthday party." I told him as I remembered our little argument that day.

"It was my room back then, now it's ours." he said and took me to the bed. I sat down and he sat beside me, side by side.

"So.... When's the wedding?" I asked, looking around. This bed was surely big enough for four people.

"What about this Sunday? I can't wait any longer." he said, leaning towards me to place a kiss on my jaw. "Just few people. Me, you, Dad, Crystal, your friend Ava, her fiancé Mark, a small ceremony."

"Hmmm. And what about honeymoon?" I asked as his lips trailed downwards, to the hollow of my neck.

"Paris." he said, sucking the skin of my neck between his teeth.

"And what's the venue?" I asked, controlling the moan that was threatening to leave my mouth.

"Wherever in the world you want." he said, fully engrossed in kissing me.

I was about to ask further when he silenced me with his mouth. "No more talking." he said and pulled me up in his lap, in a way that I ended up straddling him.

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