Chapter 28: Entangled Part II

****Aaron's POV****

Seeing the girl I loved and cherished with my whole existence trembling and looking so shocked and nervous bothered me so much. As a quick reflex, I engulfed her in my arms and brought her tenderly to myself. One arm encircled her waist and the other was resting on her hair, patting and soothing her. She was shock-still in the beginning but eventually melted into my embrace with her hands wrapping around me tightly. I placed a lingering kiss on her forehead, my eyes welling with tears. I had my girl back after 2 whole fucking years and nothing made me feel more complete however cheesy that sounded!

She was crying into my chest, her body shaking with every sob. It clenched my heart to see her so broken and I didn't know what was running through her mind. I whispered sweet nothings into her ear and heard the door close softly with Maria taking Celeste away in her pram. I internally thanked her for giving us some space. Abigail was still shaking with sobs and she seemed cold. I held her tighter in my arms and kissed her hair that smelt of tender coconut. We remained like that for I didn't know how long but her sobs started decreasing and I was rubbing her back to calm her down.

Slowly, I lifted her chin and her hazel brown eyes that were filled with so much depth looked at me intensely and innocently. Her eyes were screaming longing and pain and I wanted to wipe them all away. I gently cupped her face and wiped away her tears and as she continued looking at me like I was all she needed, I slanted my lips onto hers and softly began kissing her trembling lips which seemed to calm down with every peck on her lips. The familiar feel of her soft lips enraptured me. Her hands tugged at my hair as she pulled me closer and deepened the kiss. I let her take control of the kiss as she sucked on my lower lip and deepened the kiss further until our tongues were fighting for dominance. I bit on her lower lip and she let out a soft moan that made me lift her as her legs entangled around my waist and placed her on the table where I began tracing kisses down her neck. Our kisses were feverish and were filled with utter longing and desire. Nobody could make me feel the way she did.

While kissing her sensitive spot near her ear which made her shiver, the entire conversation I had with Maria began playing in my head.

"Your baby is absolutely beautiful." I commented and she smiled at me whilst shaking her head.

"She isn't my baby." She replied.

I was puzzled for a second.

"Her mother has gone out for grocery shopping. She'll be back soon."

The person who went for shopping and came back to this apartment was Abigail. So did that mean...NO WAY!!!!

I stopped kissing her all of a sudden leaving her neck exposed to the cold and pulled away in utter shock. I walked back a few steps, my eyes wide with horror. Was this why she left me hanging?!! Was it because she was pregnant with someone else's baby?!! OH MY GOD!!!!

I was freaking out internally and watched Abigail hop off of the platform and walk towards me regretfully and somewhat...expectantly.

"Did you figure it out yet?" She whispered, her eyes assessing me.

"I...I...You..." I began stuttering as my palms began sweating.

"Yes." She replied, her hand rubbing her forehead and she tugged at her shirt before sitting down on the couch.

I just continued staring at her retreating form, my body becoming stoic and as still as a statue. I did not know what to feel.

"You...You were pregnant?!! Who got you pregnant?!" I exclaimed.

She watched me in bewilderment and did a face palm. I wasn't able to understand any of this!!!! Could someone please explain the situation to me?!!!!

"Aaron, you're the first person I've had sex with." She stated.

Time stopped still.

I stopped breathing.

The traffic at Earls Court Rd could be heard clearly what with the pin-drop silence in the apartment.

The rotating of the fan in the apartment downstairs was heard crystal clear.

Heck, I could even hear my own erratic heartbeat!!

"Aaron?? Aaron???? You okay there????" Her voice seemed urgent and her hands shaking my shoulders brought me back to reality, to this sudden avalanche that was just hurled on me.

My scared eyes adjusted to her concerned ones and I slowly dragged myself to her couch and plonked on it.

After a minute or two of silence, I cleared my throat.

"So you're saying...Celeste...Celeste..." I started, unable to finish the sentence.

"...is your daughter." She confirmed, clasping tightly onto my hands.

I looked at her in utter astonishment and gulped heavily. Oh God.

"W-why...why...why did you leave me hanging?" I squeaked.

She was taken aback at my question and leaned in.

"My father couldn't bear the fact that I was pregnant at the age of 16 and he decided we had to stay away from media attention and everyone who knew us. Plus I didn't want to throw the news on your face! I was the one who pushed you into having sex with me even when you clearly told me that I was drunk and it would feel like you were taking advantage of me. Being pregnant was itself such a shocker to me that I didn't want you, who might've been thinking that day that your girlfriend loves you so much and had sex with you, to be hurled with such a shocking news that would pull you down."

"Thinking that my girlfriend loves me so much and had sex with me???? What do you mean by that??" I stressed on 'thinking' as I looked at her sharply.

She released a huge breath of air and glanced at me confidently. She rubbed her palms together and placed them on her thighs.

"Aaron, you need to hear me out before you judge me, okay? Please listen to everything I've to say." She pleaded.

I nodded my head slowly and she began.

"You know Carol's brother, Kevin, right?"

I nodded not getting where she was going with this.

"We used to date back when we were 13 for 2 years until he broke up with me. He realised he could never see me as someone more than a friend and he didn't want to risk the friendship we had because we've been best friends since we were 5."

"Okay..."

"Even though Kevin had easily moved on, I hadn't. Kevin was and still is, but not in the same way anymore, absolutely special to me and I found it very difficult to move on from him. So I decided that I could date someone else who could make me forget about Kevin. The deal that I had made with myself was that I needed a diversion and if it came to the stage of falling in love with the person I was using, I would accept it." She looked at me unsurely.

Irritation seeped into me as I understood what she was implying. I was her diversion.

"How the fuck did you think of using me like that?!! Was I a joke to you?!!" I seethed.

"I'm not yet done!! You said you wouldn't judge." She defended herself.

"It's difficult not to." I stated with narrowed eyes and unclasped her hands from mine as I leant my back on the couch.

She sighed and apologetically continued, "Things get worse so please hear me out."

Wow, I had no clue what harsh slaps I would be facing.

"You came along and I've to admit, you literally swayed me off of my feet." She whispered as she slowly approached me and sat right next to me.

"You made me feel everything I was missing and so much more. I could be myself with you. I was having fun with you. You made me look forward to each of our dates, each of our deep conversations. I loved how you kissed me and made me feel so good about myself. Heck, I realised I was falling for you!" She exclaimed, her eyes watching me lovingly.

"And that was a bad thing?" I asked.

"No, it wasn't bad. It was...unexpected. I always thought that Kevin would be the only guy to make me feel such emotions but you came along and took my words right out of my mouth! You wrecked me worse than Kevin could ever but I didn't want to believe that so I would always have an internal conflict between Kevin and you where my heart would choose you but my mind would choose Kevin."

"But you said if you were to ever fall in love with me, you would accept it." I quoted what she said previously.

"I did, that's the point. I never ever thought the person I would be using would be able to make me fall so damn hard for him which was why I was always doubtful regarding my feelings. That was when that night happened. I was drunk and normally I'm that dancing-on-the-table-and-cracking-lame-jokes-kinda-drunk but I was feeling heavily emotional that night. When you took me away from the crowd and showed so much concern towards me, my drunk vulnerable self realised who I was falling for. I was falling for you and I wanted to prove it to you that night because I felt like I was treating you like shit...So I kissed you hard and asked you to have sex with me to which your concern made me fall for you harder if that was even possible..." She trailed.

"So basically guilt-sex, wow. Aren't I so lucky?!" I mocked.

"Just listen to me, Aaron! I was thinking of Kevin that night, Aaron. His image and everything about him was still on my mind when you were kissing me!"

I looked at her in aghast and anger boiled inside of me as I got off of the couch and turned to face her. She couldn't look me in the eye.

"Are you trying to tell me we had sex...we...we've Celeste with you thinking about Kevin the whole fucking time?!!!! Are you fucking serious?!!!!" I yelled.

She put her head in her hands and whispered, "It gets worse."

"Oh yeah?? Surprise me!!" I retorted in spite.

"When I went back to America this time, I thought of getting Kevin back."

"Do you even fucking love me or not?!! Because I really see the answer is clear here." I stated, finality lacing my tone.

Her head jerked up in shock. "Of course I do!! Isn't that obvious already?!!"

"No, it's not!! And you know why?? It's because the way you explain it makes it seem like I was some stupid piece of shit you were using to move on from Kevin and when all damage was done, you even decided to run back to Kevin. Again."

Anger coloured her features as she stood up and walked towards me. She clenched my shirt's collar, her fiery eyes making me numb with emotion. I was trying so hard not to tear up at all that she was telling me and put up a strong front instead.

"You listen to me, Aaron Stewart. I. Fucking. Love. You. I really fucking do. I did realise I loved you when you claimed me yours that night and etched your mark on me. You washed away all the other thoughts running through my mind because they were irrelevant. Sure it started all wrong but midway I knew that all I wanted was you. That sex wasn't guilt-sex. It was the kind of sex I dreamt of having as my first. When I got to know I was pregnant, I knew I was doomed for sure but I didn't want to see any other expression on your face except for the one which showed I was completely yours. I left you hanging not as a bitchy move but because I wanted to go through it alone and spare you the stress of it. Leaving you behind and shifting to Paris with a baby growing inside of me who belonged to you as much as she belonged to me was nowhere near easy. I could accept leaving everyone else back in the US but it was so damn hard leaving you not knowing when and how I could face you again! I fought with my parents for you whenever they would badmouth you because I couldn't tolerate anyone talking shit about someone I cared about so much. I even fought with them regarding keeping the baby. They didn't want the baby!

"Those 9 months were supremely hard for me. A 16 year old being pregnant and managing her academic life and being under house arrest and secretive environments, it was not a piece of cake. Yet, I don't regret any moment of the journey because I knew the baby would compensate having you by my side. It was a beautiful journey which would've been a more beautiful journey with you by my side with having a baby at the right time. When I had Celeste, I decided to stay in Paris at least for 2 years and when my father gave the green light that was when we decided to return to the US. No one knows about Celeste's existence except for my family, Kevin and now you. When I went to the US, I didn't know who I could rely on and I was so desperate for company. I couldn't consider you because I didn't even know how to face you especially knowing the fact that you weren't aware you had a child and you missed your child passing her major milestones! To be honest, I wanted you to move on so that it wouldn't be much of a bother but the thought itself was so hurting.

"I had not talked to Kevin in a long time and decided to latch onto him but the minute I was venting it all out to him, I realised he would never be the one. I literally yearned to see you. It was painful. Because of Carol, I was filled with confidence to approach you slowly and...here we're. I had no intentions of throwing this news onto you like this. I'm so very sorry. You don't have to worry about Celeste. It's all up to you. There's no pressure..."

I pulled her in for a tight hug and began sobbing on her shoulder as she quietly sat us down and began coaxing me. "I feel so guilty...I..."

"Shh...It's not your fault, Aar. Look at our baby girl. She's a gift..."

I nodded and got out of her embrace and watched her tear stricken face.

Clasping her hands, I murmured, "I should've been with you through this, though. It makes me dejected that I wasn't there by your side."

"Hey...we've got now. We'll be in this together." She replied, softly.

I looked at her and smiled. "I'm sorry and I'm also so happy and grateful."

She bent her head on my forehead and replied, "I'm sorry and I'm also so happy and grateful."

"I love you so much, Abi."

"I love you too, Aaron."