Pretentiously Simple | Kleo ✔️

19 | a city, a map, a mind

—YESTERDAY—
...

"hello?" it took thirty minutes for leo to go to the store and get mia's diapers. as he was driving his way back to the house, he received a phone call—odd because he wasn't expecting one.

but the voice he heard was one he hadn't heard from in a while. not until he and kate got back together, which seemed like forever ago, despite the fact that it wasn't nearly as long.

"leo, i have to tell you something."

it was bar, the woman he broke up with for kate. by the end of their relationship, they had dated for three years. three years that seemed wonderful, but not as wonderful as the time he had with the woman he truly loved.

he cleared his throat, confused as to why she was calling so said everything of the sort. "bar? hey, why are you calling?"

the strangest feeling washed over him, as if he knew what she was going to say before she even said it. the words spilled like dewdrops, two sentences he never thought would hear.

"i'm pregnant and you cannot let me do this alone.

you don't have a choice."

his eyes broadened, and his heart that skipped a beat beforehand sunk down to his stomach, where there the deepest pit was located. he swallowed the lump that formed in his throat, his breathing deeper and faster. as his chest rose and fell, he knew he had to say something to relieve the pressure before them.

and consequently his world faltered; his once steady heartbeats now tripped over each other.

a whisper of shock found its way to his lips. "oh my God," he silently said, as he nearly crushed the phone within his grip. questions dizzied his mind, a whirlwind of emotions encircling him throughout.

there was a panic in his voice. he was far too busy to have kids of his own. but he knew better than to run from his child that was somehow existent when just a few moments ago it was not. there was a sigh from bar, her tone almost fearless as if the idea of becoming a mother did not scare her. the muffling of the telephone made it hard to hear her, but he knew what she said perfectly. and in truth, he wished he didn't.

"what i want is for you to come back. i want what's ideal for a family, leo. i don't want to screw this up already."

his eyebrows creased, his skin folding against each other, leaving a straight line in the middle of his forehead. his eyes roamed around the road, looking for words to express how he felt. when he couldn't find anything, he pulled over to the side, his head shaking slowly.

"but you know i can't do that. i'm with kate now, remember?" the words were a gentle reminder of a love that had taken years to unravel. yet bar's voice seemed of longing, as if the tears she held back were desires restrained by an unknown force.

"it's only been days, though! we've been together three years!"

"that doesn't matter to me. i've known her for over a decade, you know that." he retorted, a plea for understanding and an attempt to keep calm. but she just kept on raging.

"it's either this baby or her. i don't want a broken family, and i sure as hell don't want you in my life if you pick her."