Damn The Day I Met You

Chapter Twenty-Six

“I didn’t know.” Tristan blurts out, facing forward, away from me.

“You didn’t know?” I asked, wanting him to clarify. That was the vaguest sentence he could have said at the moment.

“At the time. I-I didn’t know exactly what I was doing. I didn’t know who you were. I didn’t know how terrible of a person my mother really was. I mean, I knew what she did to us and I knew some of the reasons for her being in jail. But I didn’t fully know.”

I put my hand on top of his and he finally looks up at me. “Tristan, I don’t blame you. It’s not like you were the one directly trying to harm me.” His eyes widen and I pull back a bit. “You didn’t directly try to harm me, did you?”

“No. God no. I wouldn’t have done that to anyone, whether I knew them or not. I was just, usually, the one driving the getaway car. I just didn’t know it was the getaway car.” I let out the breath I was holding and relax a bit.

I lean forward on my elbows and place my legs on top of Tristan’s to get comfortable. “So, what exactly does, ‘a lot longer than you think,’ mean?”

He looks at me confused. “That’s what you want to talk about?” Instead of answering I just nod, waiting for his answer to my own question. “I had just turned four when the wedding was supposed to happen. And you were six. I don’t know how much you remember about it, and honestly I don’t remember a lot. But I always remembered having an amazing time with this gorgeous girl, and she had just as quickly disappeared. I didn’t really think about it all that much. At the time, and the few years to follow, I hadn’t the slightest idea of what had gone on that day.” He reaches for his wallet and pulls something out, “but then one day I was in the attic, just hanging out up there. I was going through boxes and came across wedding photos. Photos that included my mother, Adam, you. I only recognized my family members, but once I saw this picture some things came a bit clearer. I was at least able to put a face to the girl I could remember.”

He handed over a wallet sized photo that was bent and crinkled. But the picture was clear as daylight. Tristan was standing there, his little four-year-old self in a suit, balancing the pillow for the rings on top of his head. I was right next to him, the flower girl, with the biggest smile on my face. We were holding hands, probably practicing for the actually walking down the aisle part. “You’ve kept this?”

“It’s been with me every day since I found it.”

“And the adoption…did you know about it?

“My parents told me in their own way that I wasn’t going to be living with them any longer. Though it came as no surprise when that didn’t happen. And as your father says, Lucy is honestly the best thing that’s happened to us.”

I smile and lean back in my chair, “can’t argue with that. So that man in there that was your father?”

He nervously scratches the back of his neck, “uh, yeah. Sorry about that. You’re not any of those things.”

“Of course you say that, I’m your girlfriend. And to be honest, the attention has been on you and me for the past few weeks.”

“That is true.” Tristan agrees, smiling for the first time since we started the conversation, “My dad—he just likes to come into our lives when he sees it to be necessary. Also known as when he needs money.”

“I’m sorry.”

Again, Tristan smiles, this time shaking his head. “Katie, you are the last person in this house that should be apologizing right now.”

“Fine. So all of this, it’s why Zach didn’t want me near you?”

“More or less. I’m sure Ana told him some stuff about me too. But Zach knew the whole story, therefore knew what part I played in it.”