"Hey, tiger," Bryan says, walking into their spare bedroom. It's the one I've been staying in for the past couple of days.
I laugh. "Tiger?"
He grins sheepishly. "I don't know. It was supposed to be encouraging."
"Well," I say nodding. "You won't be writing cards for Hallmark anytime soon, but it's a nice thought."
"I'm really happy you're here. Since Sage is on crutches, it's great that you're here to help out. Plus, we've missed you. I even had a chance to go by and say hey to Stefan, and Eric after I got off work, and I picked some of your stuff up." He drops a bag onto the bed. "It was already packed, so-" He trails off, nodding awkwardly.
Jacob pops into my mind, and I feel a lump begin to form in my throat. Don't cry. "His is he-?" I murmur, looking down. Bryan knows who I mean.
He clears his throat. "Jacob wasn't there. Stefan says that he hasn't been there for the past couple of days."
"Probably with whoever he cheated on me with. Sleeping around with her, maybe even more girls." I speak, beginning to overthink, letting the tears build.
"Stop," Bryan says, suddenly. I glance up at him, confused by the firmness of his tone. "I will not stand by, and let you do this to yourself. Get up, come with me. "
He turns to walk out, and I laugh, finding it odd that he is being so demanding. Bryan has been easy easygoing type of guy. I decided to stand and follow. He leads me to the living room, where Sage is lying on the couch rocking Waylon. She smiles up at me.
"Hey, Mya."
I do my best to smile back, but my voice gives my true emotion away when I speak. "Hey, girl."
"Mya, I need you to think about something, okay?" Bryan says, standing beside Sage. "This is why I brought you in here. You live with me, Sage, and Waylon now. Eric and Stefan still care about you, and you have a little girl on the way who is going to love you harder than any other person on this earth someday. Jacob is a dick, I know he is. You can't just sit around, and beat yourself up over this. You still have four of us, and two babies that love you so much." He walks towards me, grabbing me by the shoulders. "You didn't do anything wrong, Jacob did."He screwed up, and that's on him. Don't let it affect how you live your life."
I stand there, speechless. I've been so consumed by my self-pity over the past couple of days that I haven't even realized that I have been ignoring everyone. I haven't been talking to Sage or Bryan, and I have four unread messages from Eric and three from Stefan.
"I-I'm sorry guys," I stutter, feeling the first tear fall." "I think I just needed a couple of days to adjust to the fact that I'm gonna be a single mother. I always told myself that I was going to give my baby everything I never had, and now-" My head falls. "I just don't know."
"If I could walk over there without crutches, I'd give you a big hug," Sage interjects.
I laugh, glancing up at her, and wiping a few tears away. "I love you, Sage."
She gives me a sweet smile. "I love you too."
"Thanks, Bryan," I say, pulling him into a quick hug.
