Stranger Things Have Happened | Marcus Bontempelli

one-hundred & thirty-one.

"Rematch, Bonti?" Aaron asked, pulling my attention away from the text I was typing to my sister, simply letting her know that were were having a blast in Torquay.

"Huh? Oh, nah man I should go in and lend a hand," I replied before standing up and making my way inside to see if Cate and the rest of the crew needed help with getting the bonfire party started.

Mitch and I had offered to help Josh cook the barbie and even though I wasn't the greatest chef, I did know my way around a grill and that seemed like enough experience for Pip to assign me the role of sous chef. As I pulled open the sliding glass doors, I did a quick scan of the room and noticed that Cate wasn't anywhere to be seen. Liv pushed her way through the crowded kitchen and pulled me away from the group, hoping to find a quiet spot to talk and I could already see the concern in her eyes before she even spoke.

"Sully went upstairs for a lie down – she seemed a bit out of sorts when she came in," Liv whispered.

I hummed and sent her a small nod, "I'll go check on her," I said before brushing past Liv and jogging upstairs to the bedroom.

I could sense Cate wasn't quite right when she left the court and I was cursing myself for not just coming in with her. Things had been tough lately and I felt unbelievably helpless at times – especially when I was ignoring my gut instinct and fucking around on a tennis court while she wasn't well. But on the other hand, having some time out can help clear the mind and I knew that I needed to back off at times just so she didn't get sick of me.

As quietly as I possibly could, I creaked open the bedroom door and noticed her laying on the bed with her back facing me, shoulders rising and falling as if she was crying. I made sure the door was closed before kicking my sneakers off and carefully crawling up onto the bed. It didn't take long for me to realise she was crying and I felt that horrible pang of guilt in my gut again.

"Baby, what's going on?" I whispered and wrapped my arms around her heaving shoulders. It wasn't just a few tears – she was sobbing and I was so confused how she could go from happy to miserable in a matter of thirty minutes. Maybe it was just part and parcel of pregnancy, I thought.

Through a few sniffles, she looked up at me with bloodshot eyes, "I'm just... I – I'm exhausted and emotional and I can't do anything right," She wept before turning in my arms and burying her face into my sweaty shirt.

I frowned and brushed my hands through the back of her hair, "What are you talking about? You just whipped Tom's butt in tennis, that's something you got right," I joked, feeling a small grumble of a laugh against my chest.

"I guess that's true," Cate mumbled as she poked her head up and wiped her tears away.

I nodded and helped her dry her tears, "Even though you look insanely beautiful, you're breaking my heart baby. Why are you upset?"

Cate sighed loudly and buried her face again, avoiding my eye contact all together and dodging my question. She was hard to read when she had her guard up but right now everything was vulnerable for her and I knew she couldn't keep it in. Whatever was bothering her had sent her spiralling and I needed to know what or who had caused this to happen – mainly so I could give them a piece of my mind.

"I'm scared," She whispered so quietly I almost missed it as I smoothed my hands down her back and furrowed my brows.

"Scared of what baby? You know you can tell me anything," I encouraged, hoping I could lift some of this weight off her shoulders.

Cate gripped my cotton shirt in her hands and sat up with a look in her eye that I'd only seen on a couple of occasions, "I'm scared that you're gonna hate me and that I'll ruin peoples lives if I tell you," She breathed through the soft sobs wracking her body.