WITH YOU- I Never Had A Choice ✔️

CHAPTER SIXTY NINE (Bonus)

AVERY

"I'm scared," I say looking out at Marc's parent's house. Dylan slips his hand over mine.

"You want to do this right?" He asks. I turn my head to look at him then nod. I've been thinking of doing it for long. I've almost let go of the guilt completely only this small part is left. Even I've let Dylan drive me to the graveyard whenever I wanted to see Marc. The best part is now when I walk into the graveyard, I don't feel guilty anymore. I share every single detail of my life and my relationship with Dylan with him. Now I can talk to Dylan and everyone else about him. I do get sad but the guilt which almost killed me from the inside is no more.

Maybe not towards Marc but I am still guilty in front of his parents. I owe a big apology to them. I am just glad that even if it is after almost four years, I have still decided to do this. "Yes," I answer and pat his hand with mine.

He gives me a tight nod. Taking in a long breath, I exit the car and walk towards the front door. I slowly feel my heartbeat increasing. As I stop in front of the door, I look over my shoulder towards where the car is. My eyes fall on Dylan. As if just looking at him gives me the reason to be strong enough to do this. Turning my head towards the door, I press the doorbell. I hear the faint sound ring in the house. It's so familiar yet so distant. Marc's parents are visiting their old house and they are here for only a week so I thought it would be better if I do it now. I have already started showing and I didn't want to delay this. Although right now, in what I am wearing, it's hard to see my bump.

I hear footsteps and the door swings open. I see Hank, Marc's father standing in front of me with wide eyes. My heart drops seeing him after so many years. To hold my instincts of turning around and running away, I curl my toes. "Hello," I say in a very rough and trembly voice. But instead of answering, he takes two large strides and pulls me into a hug.

"Oh my god, Avery. Where have you been?" As soon as he asks the question, tears begin to spill out of my eyes and sobs breakthrough.

I wrap my arms around him and say, "I am so so sorry."

"Avery?" I look to the side to find Nelly, Marc's mom standing there with her eyes glistening.

Hank pulls away and steps to the side. Nelly slowly starts walking towards me till she is in front of me. Lifting her hands to my face, she cups my cheeks. I see her lower lip quiver and then she hugs me. I wrap my arms around her tightly. "I am sorry, Nelly. I got scared that day."

"It's okay, sweetie," she says caressing the back of my head. Pulling away from me, she says, "let's go in and talk. C'mon." They both lead me into the house. A lot of memories start rushing back. I can't even realize what hell they went through after Marc's death. He was their only son. Maybe they still struggle a lot with that. And instead of being there for them, I was busy being selfish and hiding away from reality.

We sit down in the living room. It still looks almost the same. They didn't do much to this house after moving. "I'll go make some coffee," Nelly says.

"No no, that won't be necessary. I just came here to talk to you guys."

"It's not that big of a deal, sweetie," she says.

"No, it's okay...I..." I trail off. I don't know how to say why I can't have coffee. Nelly knows how much I love caffeine.

"Okay, Avery. You can tell us what you have to say first, it's not a problem," Hank says. Giving him a small smile, I look down at my hands resting on my lap.

"I wanted to apologize to both of you for what I did." They both frown so I choose to elaborate. "When he left us, I acted selfishly. I didn't stop to think that you lost him too. I never even apologized for it. I feel terrible, I am so sorry."

"Oh sweetie," Nelly reaches forward and holds my hand. "You were in an equally bad stage. We know how much you loved him. You were young, we are not mad at you. We were a little sad that you isolated yourself so much. We both wanted you to move on and live. You have your whole life in front of you."

"Thank you," I say in a shaky voice.

"Darling, all we wanted was for you and Marcus to be happy. Now that he is gone, all we want is your happiness. But we did miss you a lot." I smile through my tears that have started flowing all over again.

"I promise to come to visit you every now and then," I say looking at them both.

"You aren't leaving so soon," Nelly says. "You are having dinner with us."

"That's so not necessary. Moreover, Dylan is waiting outside. I'll come around once more very soon. Maybe then?" I already feel bad enough for a lot of things and bringing Dylan in front of them is another thing. Will they think that Dylan has replaced Marc in my life?

"Why is he standing outside. God, girl are you crazy?" Hank asks standing up. "Let's go get him."

I stare at Hank's face blankly. As if sensing the silence Nelly says, "Avery, you don't think we will be sad seeing your husband, do you?" I turn my head towards Nelly but remain silent. "We want you to be happy. And I've wanted to meet your husband since the day I heard about him from Claire. Go get him." My throat gets clogged up due to her words and I lean in and wrap my arms around her.

*****************

"It was great meeting you Dylan," Hank says giving him a hug and a pat on the back. Dylan, as always made them fall in love with him. I mean my husband is adorable and polite so that's kind of a given.

"Same here."

"I am so ready to see the little one arrive," Nelly says, placing her hand against my growing bump. I let out a small chuckle.

"Me too." We hug once more for the last time before leaving. When Nelly and Hank found out about the baby, they were absolutely ecstatic about the news. Nelly even proposed the idea of moving here permanently to be close to us. Yes, this house has a lot of memories of Marcus and that probably makes them sad. But on the flip side, here they have their friends who are so close to them. I would love for my baby to get to know Nelly and Hank, they are amazing. After they moved to Hank's hometown, they haven't been in the best state. Especially because Marc's grandparents and uncles aren't the loveliest people. I don't know whether they will move here or not but either way, they are still going to be a part of my life.

When we reach the car, Dylan gently holds my elbow and stops me at the side. I turn around to face him. He lifts his hand to my face and tucks a strand of hair behind my ears. "You were really strong today."

"Thanks to you for always being by my side." He lowers his head and claims my lips into a deep kiss. Seems like life keeps getting better and better every day with Dylan.