Clair peeked into the room, looking at her sleeping boyfriend. "I'm sorry, Shuichi", she whispered, tears nearly escaping her eyes.
The girl picked up her bags, and walked out the door, never to be seen again.
. . .
Shuichi walked through the streets, looking down to the ground. How long? How long has he been like this?
Five months. Five whole months. That is how long he has been hurt. How long he has been alone. How long he's missed her. The love of his life.
Clair.
Just saying her name was enough to make Shuichi's heart ache.
"Where did I go wrong?", he asked himself, every time. Ever since that morning, when he woke up, when she disappeared, he blamed himself.
Blamed himself for not being good enough for her. What could he do to change?
That's why he was looking for her. To find the answer.
. . .
Clair exited the restaurant, holding a box full of takeout for dinner.
She waved at the person at the counter and walked down the street to her home. Once she arrived, she entered through the gate of her fence then unlocked the door and put the box down on the dining table.
Before she could sit down, however, she heard the voices of children outside, and turned around, seeing a ball in her front yard through her window. She also saw what appeared to be young boys outside her fence.
She walked outside and picked up the ball, then walked through the gate of her fence, confronting the boys. "Excuse me, is this yours?"
. . .
Shuichi kept walking, all his care having vanished. He didn't care if he was hungry right now. He didn't care if he was tired. He only wanted one thing. One person.
Clair.
But the exhaustion caught up to the young man, forcing him to slouch against the wall and fall to the ground.
"Clair? Where are you?"
"Thanks, lady!", came the call of a young boy.
"Don't mention it", replied a female voice. A voice all too familiar to Shuichi. He jumped up and walked around the corner.
And there she was. The fawn hair, the freckled face. It was all there. He had found her. He had found Clair.
Clair was about to open her fence until she saw a familiar face. "Shuichi?"
Shuichi looked at her face for a second, then looked at her stomach. It was big. Almost as if she was...
"Clair?"
The girl looked down. "Now you know." "Who's is it?" "Who else? Yours you dummy", Clair said, trying to be funny, but sadness was still in her voice.
"Is that why you..." "Left? Yeah."
There was a moment of silence, before Shuichi collapsed on his knees, bursting into tears.
"Shuichi?" "So it is my fault." "What?"
"I'm the reason you left. I put you in a tough situation. I'll because I got fucking reckless. If only I had acted differently. Acted in a way you could talk to me. Make you feel comfortable about this. But I didn't. I didn't! I'm fucking pathetic!"
"No you're not!", yelled Clair. "I didn't tell you because I know you! You would've thrown everything away just so you could take care of me and this baby! I didn't want to do that you!"
"YOU'RE MY EVERYTHING!", yelled Shuichi. This left Clair speechless.
"You're my everything", Shuichi said again, this time softer. He got up and walked over to Clair.
Suddenly, he hugged her. Tight. Clair could only hug back, and cry into Shuichi's shoulder.
"I will do anything I can to make you and this baby the happiest people on the planet. I promise."
The couple separated, the closed the gap between them with a passionate kiss.
They were together again. They were happy. This moment sadly had to be interrupted by Shuichi's stomach growling.
"Hungry?" Shuichi nodded in embarrassment.
"Come. I have food for you."
They joined hands, and entered Clair's house, as a new family.
