Ah I remember how happy I was for 2k reads on this book QAQ good ole times. Also, it's nice to know that five years later, my aesthetics for black/white combo still remain unchanged

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Thinking about a person after some time doesn't always has to mean that we miss them, thinking of them—that's sometimes called "moving on."

I knew it. I knew whom that voice belonged to. I just didn't want to believe it. All this time, I hoped that I would be away from him and enjoy my life until the very end. So why? Why did we have to meet again? Moreover, why was he, out of all the people, Melissa's brother?

I saw mischief in his eyes so I instantly backed up against the wall. I don't know what he could do. I did not expect to reunite with my one-night stand in this way. I sure doubt that he expected it either.

He won't kill me, right? For a second, I thought I saw regret in his eyes, but I must've been wrong. He hasn't shown a bit of remorse that night at all, so what could have possibly been changed now?

"Will you step out of my wardrobe? Or, at least, of what is left out of it?" he asked. I weakly nodded, waiting for him to step aside. Noticing that, he moved to the right allowing me to get out. I hesitantly made a move to get away while watching him carefully, waiting for any sudden movement.

As I stood there, he rubbed his hands while biting his lip nervously. I had to get Ayden out of here as soon as possible. I couldn't stay here with him. Not after everything that had happened between us.

"So, are you hungry?"

I mumbled a weak "no," not looking at his eyes. I always thought that I would be able to stand my ground the next time I saw him, if I ever did, but now I see that the truth was far from that—at that moment at least. My statement was suddenly betrayed by the loud growl that came from my belly. Blake only shook his head with a sigh. "Someone disagrees with you." I blushed but kept my head low. I still needed to get away fr—

"Come." Blake motioned for me to follow him. I raised my head to look at him in confusion. "Please, don't fight me on this one. I can't leave a starving person before my eyes." A pleading look in his eyes made something inside of me nod. I followed after him without even realizing what I've done. So much for trying to stand my ground, I see.

I couldn't understand why I acted like that. I couldn't understand what was making me do it when I most certainly shouldn't have listened to him. I should've yelled, fought, or done anything! I should have taken Ayden the moment I saw this guy and got away from this house, not follow after this man like a lost child. What if . . . No, I couldn't. I had to get away.

"I won't bite, you can trust me," Blake suddenly said as I bit my lip. "I'm telling the truth, I'm . . . never mind. Let's go." What was he going to say? Instead, he turned around and headed to the kitchen.

Just then, the barking Alexander stormed in our way before jumping on Blake who proceeded to play with him.

"Look at you, boy. I have to bathe you now!" he exclaimed as Alex barked in protest before running to hide behind my legs, making me chuckle and get down. At that moment, I forgot about Blake being in the same room with me.

"It's okay, doggy. You have to, you're all dirty," I chuckled as he whined before lying down and crawling towards me. I shook my head. Nope, that won't work on me.

"Alex, come," Blake suddenly said, making me snap out of that daze. He patted him before leading him towards the room where Alfred was with the kids. "Kids, wanna bathe this guy?" Blake asked and they both jumped and hugged Alex with excitement. He gave the dog to them before coming back to me and pointing to the kitchen. I followed. I couldn't take Ayden when he sounded so happy with Amy after all he's been through.

Once we came to the kitchen, the sight in front of me amazed me once again. It was way different during the night compared to the look it had during the day. It's like it was . . . alive.

"I love cooking, so I've got myself a nice place to experiment," Blake proudly stated as I nodded, not knowing what else to do. It became awkward after that, so he cleared his throat.

"Sit," he said, pulling out a chair. I sat down. I once again cursed at the lack of my backbone, I wasn't supposed to be afraid or obey him. It dawned to me that our interaction was always like this: him telling me what to do and me following along. "What would you like to eat?"

I only shrugged which made him start humming a melody as he prepared the ingredients for my meal. I warily raised my head, wondering if he really knew how to cook. I wouldn't take him for that kind of person after all. I mean, him?

Forget it. Don't recall that night, I repeated that mantra. Forget it. It became my defensive system to just stop thinking whenever my mind would drift to that night. I'd completely shut down and stop thinking for a while until I was finally able to breathe with ease. After a few minutes of silence, he finally spoke as he stopped chopping the food.

"Why didn't you tell me what the money was for?"

Silence. I was shocked at his question. What did he mean by that? Didn't he know?

"You said that you overheard our conversation. You should have heard that part," I replied. I heard him loudly inhaling the air.

"No, I didn't hear that part." I saw him grip the counter, making me gulp. If he comes my way, I will run.

I then realized something. "How did you find out then?"

He shook his head. "Imagine my surprise when my sister arrived at the party and suddenly told me that there is a friend of hers that is going to babysit my niece in my house. Then she proceeded to tell me that your brother was ill and some friend of yours lent you money, not to forget the fact that you miraculously had the same name as the girl I paid for the one-night stand. Putting two and two together wasn't that hard after that much information."

Melissa. That explained everything. I kept looking at him who only chuckled before shaking his head, his back still turned towards me and hands still gripping the kitchen counter.

"You could've at least mentioned what you needed instead of keeping your mouth shut," he said and my eyes widened. He was so not going there and blaming everything on me! After all he did? It's none of his business what I decided to do with that money.

"You never asked. You've said it yourself, take responsibility for our own choices. A give and take, that's all it was!" I spoke through gnashed teeth. The nerve of this guy! He took another sharp breath before putting the knife down. Suddenly, he walked in front of me catching me off guard.

"And the baby? When did you plan to tell me about the baby, Kaley? Once it was born, started school, or gotten married? Or did you plan to go and get rid of it?" His gaze was far from what I'd call gentle, but the reason why I was afraid was not because of it. It was either because he knew that I was pregnant or because I never noticed him getting by my side. I spoke before I completely broke down.

"Please stop, you're scaring me."

When he heard me mumbling that, he seemed to snap out of it before taking a step or two away from me. Another silence followed after. During the short time I spent with him, we would always go back to those silent moments. I didn't like them. They were unpleasant. It was almost as if they were bringing forth trouble.

"Sorry," he said, ashamed of his action before returning back to chopping food. He hadn't said a word after that, so I decided to be the one to speak.

"I . . . I didn't have any way to contact you." I don't know why was I explaining myself to him. "And I haven't picked abortion as an option . . ." He made me feel so guilty in front of him. It wasn't meant to be like this. "Besides, I wasn't sure of your reaction . . . You know, if I were to tell you about it."

"You think I would force you to kill my own child?" he said in disbelief. My eyes widened. Was he fucking kidding me? "Damn it, I am not that heartless! An asshole, yes, but a murderer like . . ." He paused for quite a while. "I'd never make you do it." His voice was so low, but something inside of me snapped.

"I don't even know you!" I left that sentence hanging in the air as he lowered his head again. I almost followed after him. Messenger of doom, that's what those silent pauses were.

He can't have changed overnight. If all people could change that way, then things like war, famine and misunderstandings would no longer exist in this world. But who was I kidding? We were humans, we never change. We never learn. My opinion on him wasn't good. I was unable to just forget everything even if I learned that he didn't know anything. Both of us were surprised by something we did not expect, so like wounded animals we attacked each other with sharp claws, without bothering to understand each other. I could understand that. He too could, probably, but we humans were never the beings that would act according to reason and logic when startled.

"That time was . . . different," he murmured, unsure of his own words. I rolled my eyes. "I may not be the best person you've ever met, but I am not someone who would be a scumbag father," he finally said as he put the indigents in a pot. He finally calmed down. "I apologize, tonight was not a good day for me. If I somehow offended you, it was my fault. So could we please leave those unpleasant things behind and have a proper conversation?"

". . . Like two adults that we are?" I somehow recalled his words again.

That seemed to be like a switch that calmed both of us, and he repeated after me. "Like the two adults that we are."

From what I could see, he was preparing some type of chicken, probably with mashed potatoes since he had them sliced on the side.

Before I even noticed, there was once again that silence between us, but it wasn't as bad this time. I had a feeling that we could only get along when we didn't speak at all.

"What do you plan on doing now?"

It was a question I wasn't sure how to answer. Mostly because I really didn't know what I was going to do myself. Or because I avoided that theme.

I was confused. Even I myself was confused about my future.

"I don't know, it still didn't sink in," I mumbled, looking at my shaky hands. "I still have some money left from . . . you know, then, so I'll rent a better place to stay."

He loudly exhaled, stabbing the chef's knife into the cutting board he's been using. "I . . . I'll give you all the money you'll need," he said. Just as I was about to decline he continued, "I won't take 'no' for an answer. The mother of my child shouldn't be worrying about unnecessary things and I have intention of having a full part in my kid's life."

He spoke with finality. I only turned my head away. Was the whole thing even going to work?

Somehow . . . I felt like I touched something about this man, but I wasn't sure just what it was. I kind of understood his point of view though; he was the father even if I didn't see that coming, that kind of reaction from him. It was probably the part that surprised me the most, the way he accepted the child and planned to be a part of his life so fast when it took me countless debates as to whether I should keep it or not.

"Just to clarify one thing." What did he want now? "You weren't with any guy other than me, right?"

Did he just . . . ? I gritted my teeth. All the rage from earlier came back like it never even calmed down.

"How dare you ask me such a question? Unlike you, who is only womanizing around, I had only slept with you and no one else. I'd planned on keeping myself for my true love, but you . . . Fuck!" I forgot fear, only rage remained in my voice. "I was not the one that told you about it, so you don't have any right to accuse me of trying to get your attention, it was you who brought this up first!" I all but yelled at him, feeling a few tears streaming down my cheeks. Dammit with this man, I hated him!

"I'm a man, what did you expect me to think? I did not doubt you, I was just asking for confirmation. I do not stalk other people, so how can I know?" His voice was void of emotions, I couldn't figure him out, but as I calmed down, I realized that he also made sense. Still, the words that have been spoken couldn't be retracted now.

"However, I do believe you. I just . . . I think I just needed some kind of confirmation from you, sorry. One more thing, about the kid, I don't want them to have parents living separately. The kid doesn't deserve that. It was my mistake after all."

"What do you mean?" I was so confused by him; first he accused me of getting pregnant by someone else and now he believed me? What the hell was wrong with him? Was he bipolar or what?

"Move in with me," he said nonchalantly. I just watched him with a blank expression. He's gotta be kidding. That guy's been missing a screw or two in his head. Before I could say anything else he added, "Your brother as well."

He can't be serious. After all that happened, he expects me to just move in and forget everything? Especially with us not being able to stand one another for even five fucking minutes?

"You don't have to answer immediately, take some time. And since you're already going to have a sleepover here, let me take you to my room so that you can prepare yourself for sleep. Dinner will be ready by the time you finish."

"Yo-your room?" I said. I couldn't think of any other reason as to why he called me in there.

"All other rooms are being renovated, so yeah. Don't worry you can take the bed," he reasoned, rubbing his neck as I stared at him with disbelief. "The house was being renovated in the last month and a half. Some parts are still not finished."

Was he for real?

"Bu-but I-you-I mean—"

"Just relax, I won't do anything. I'll take the couch," he said. I nodded realizing that his words were final before sighing. I didn't push my luck, who knew what he could do in anger? Even I understood that I didn't know a single thing about him but his name and residence.

"Come." He left the food to bake then led me to his room. It was dark, black and white, just like his personality. He took me into another room inside of his, which I soon found out to be a bathroom. It was all red, heck even the curtains for the shower were a dark crimson red.

I was so enchanted by the view that I didn't even notice him leave and return with a towel and few clothes. "This is all I can offer at the moment. I'll be back in half an hour to call you for dinner."

I nodded as I took hold of the towel and his clothes. My own clothes were ruined by muddy Alexander, and it was a bit uncomfortable to go around in them. He soon left and I sighed. That was much more intimidating than I expected. At least he wanted the baby. I won't have problems with it. The only problem I had with that man was his bipolar attitude.

Taking off my clothes, I got into the shower and let myself enjoy the warm water, clearing my head of any thoughts running rampant. I was in his house, his room, and his bathroom. I was showering and enjoying the water. This couldn't get any better, could it? Oh wait, it could. I'd be sleeping in his bed.

Sighing, I got out of the shower then dried myself and putting on the clothes he gave me. It smelled like him, which I frowned at, but it was surprisingly very comfortable. My hair was surprisingly neat, so it didn't pose a problem to me to comb it with his simple accessories. I loved that part where I didn't have to deal for minutes with my hair. Just as I finished, I was interrupted by the knock on the doors.

"Dinner is ready, are you done?" His voice sounded on the other side and I moved to open the doors. "I have a hairdryer there somewhere, hold on." He started to look for the hairdryer. I didn't know what else to do or say but nod before going back to his room. I found a tray with food and was enchanted by its good aroma. Chicken with mashed potatoes. I was right. Who would've thought that Blake had the ability to cook?

"You eat and I'll dry your hair. Then go to sleep afterwards. I will be in my study if you need anything, okay? Just find Uncle Alfred and ask him to lead you to me. But I'll probably bathe those three first," he explained and I nodded, not realizing that I suddenly had the same sleeping schedule as the two little kids and a dog. It was much easier than using actual words to reply so I stuck with that action.

Once he dried my hair and started combing it, I allowed myself to enjoy the food he had prepared. I had to say that I never tasted something as good as his meal. He seemed much friendlier and a whole lot nicer too, though I had the feeling that it was just because of the baby. I surprisingly didn't mind him touching my hair. That took me off guard. I hated when people did that. Sure enough, this mood swing must be blamed on my pregnancy! I sighed. What's the use of letting it bother me now?

"Done." Just as he finished drying my hair, I also finished eating everything at the same moment. He grabbed the plate and gave me the glass with warm milk before heading outside. Seeing as he was no longer around, I allowed myself to go to sleep. His bed was definitely the most comfortable thing I ever touched. I would literally kill for it. I couldn't help but gulp, seeing how dark his room actually was. I left the nightstand lamp that was next to the bed on. It didn't take me much to fall asleep.

I was still running away. I didn't know any other way to live. I wasn't strong enough to face reality nor did I have anyone to do so instead of me. But little did I know that my course of actions was going to change my life forever, and that the person I was looking for might just have been around the corner.