Don't Leave Me (A Bajan Canadian Fan Fiction) (Watty Awards 2013)

Chapter Twenty-Nine: You Don't Seem To Understand Do You?

Chapter 29

I watched as Tris cradles Lauren in his arms trying to calm her down from fright. She stared straight ahead, looking at the wall.

"He came back... he promised he wouldn't..." she whispered when it went silent.

"I know," Tris said, kissing the top of her head. Her tears fall down her face and onto the long grey sweater she wore over the black leggings covering her legs. He tears dripped off her nose, some falling onto Tris's shirt as her face was pressed into his chest.

"Who is this guy you shot Tris?" I ask. Everyone looks at me like I said something wrong. I guess I did somehow.

"That guy... that guy is Lauren's birth father. He tried killing Tris before. Lauren called police that he came and tried to take her away," Dusk explains.

"Then why did he ask for Duss?" I ask.

"He wanted me, Dusk, and Dustin dead so she doesn't have anyone and she'd go to him..." Tris said, staring at the wall across from him. Lauren started shaking but was calmed after Tris kissed her cheek.

"That's terrible," I breathed. They all nodded. I ran upstairs and grabbed my phone, running back downstairs and calling police, then the pizza guys because we were hungry. Lauren didn't touch hers as everyone ate theirs. I touched her hand reassuringly.

"Eat. I've been down this road. If you don't eat you'll look like a skeleton," I whisper. She nods and picks up her pizza, taking a small bite in it, chewing slowly. I smile at her kindly.

"Good. Keep eating," I tell her quietly. She nods slowly before taking another bite. I smile at her before looking over at Tris. His eyes were covered over in jealousy, drips of water falling from his eyelashes like rain from clouds. He looked down at his food before taking a bite out of it.

He looked back up at me, the same jealousy had came over again. I look at Lauren who was looking at me already.

"Look away," I mouth. She nods slowly once again before striking up a conversation with Dustin and Dusk. I look back at Tris, whose eyes had settled from jealousy to pain, looking at his food. I nudge his foot from under the small coffee table.

"I've been down this road," I say. He looks up, question in his expression.

"You have?" he whispers. I nod.

"Rebecca did this to me too. I hate it, but I forgave her. She going through a rough patch and I don't want to see her hurt again," I whisper to Tris, whose expression melts of anything bad, and is exchanged for something better than that.

His face brightened as he smiled a little bit.

"Okay. What should I do though? If she isn't talking to me-"

"Don't talk to her back. I know I wouldn't," I say. He nods.

"Okay," he said, standing up and throwing his crusts away before sitting on the couch behind Lauren. She looks up at him and smiles, taking his big hand in her small one. He smiles back at her, nuzzling his face into the side of hers. She smiles as she receives a small kiss on the cheek. I smile.

My doorbell rings and I hesitantly go and answer it, opening it slightly before seeing Mat and Reegan. I sigh.

"Thank God it's only you two. Get inside," I say. Mat laughs and enters the house, setting down Reegan. She runs up to Dustin and jumps on his back, making him squeal. Everyone laughs at him, watching him grab Reegan and hug her.

"You scared the crap out of me child!" he yells, shaking her softly. She giggled and hugged him again.

"Where's Graham?" she asks, getting out of Dustin's hug. I look at Mat and he looks at me.

"He went home with Adam," Mat says, looking down at his daughter with sadness trailing over his face. Her eyes start to water.

"He went with Uncle Adam?" she asks. Mat nods.

"Adam is his daddy, Reegan," I say, squatting to look at her. She nods and looks at the floor.

"I'm sorry," Mat says. Reegan nods again and smiles.

"Can we Skype them?" she asks. I look up at Mat.

"They will be on the plane for about an hour or so then they will have to drive home, which won't take that long," I say. She frowns and nods.

"Alright..." she said, before turning around and jumping back on Dustin. He squealed again.

"STOP THAT!" he yells jokingly, laughing. Reegan laughs along with everyone else. I smile and look at Tris and Lauren. She leaned on his leg, her head resting on his knee. He held her hand tightly like she would turn to dust if he didn't. He had one hand stroking her dark hair. Quietly, they get up slowly and walk over to a different area. I followed them quietly, peeking around the corner.

"Lauren, we've been together since we began. You've helped me through everything and I can't thank you enough," he said. He gets down on one knee, taking out a ring from his pocket.

"Lauren Catherine Woods, when the time is right, will you marry me?" he asks. She covers her mouth with her hand.

"Yes. Yes I will," she says, smiling. Tris smiles, sliding the ring onto her finger, standing up. They kissed. I smiled as I turned the corner, clapping. They look at me, Lauren smiling. Tris kissed her head softly before walking inside. I looked as Dusk and Lauren hugged each other smiling in delight. Tris and Dustin did a weird handshake as Reegan stood there awkwardly.

"I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO!" she yells. Everyone laughs. Even I laugh.

I'm glad everything is going alright.

At least...

For now...