Autumn slapped Theodore's hand away. "You've had about seventeen of those."
"And you've had about twenty," he answered, reaching over to grab the little salmon roll. "I think I deserve the last one."
"'Deserve' is a strong word, but I'll take 'earned' if you're interested."
Theodore pretended to consider this generous offer before he agreed. "Done deal."
She smiled and moved over to the overly-done selection of sushi sitting before them. Theodore loved seeing her so utterly happy at the simplest of dates. All they were doing was sitting across from each other on the floor, using the coffee table to display their food. The television was on in the background, playing one of Autumn's favourite movies and every time the ads would come up, the two would mock the bad acting.
It was simple.
It was happy.
It was perfect.
But not for long.
"Theodore."
"Yeah?" he answered distractedly, watching as the giant jelly baby walked across the screen of the television. He was absolutely mesmerised every time he saw it.
"My parents are getting a divorce."
His gaze was redirected to her. "What?"
"My parents are getting a divorce," she repeated.
Autumn gazed at him with no light in her eyes. There was no passion, no heat, no fire.
Only water.
People often mistake water being the weaker element, but they're equally as destructive. While fire can burn, water can suffocate.
And that's exactly how Theodore felt when he looked at the love of his life knowing she was upset.
"I... " He tried forming a proper sentence but all that came out in the end was, "Shit."
Autumn shrugged and turned to stare into the little pan of soy sauce sitting beside her plate. "My mum had an affair."
Theodore felt like he was drowning. He couldn't breathe.
"She's pregnant."
He rubbed his hand down his face. "God... Autumn, I'm so sorry..."
It felt like such a pathetic response, but he couldn't formulate anything else. He couldn't imagine saying anything that would be somewhat comforting in such an intense situation.
"I've known for a few months. Remember when I got grounded? That never really happened. When my mum found out about the baby, she was a wreck. So, we left town for a few days. I'm sorry I didn't tell you. News travels around fast when you live in a small town and my parents didn't want anyone to know about it, especially because of the party the other night. My dad had been playing that event for his business for months and he didn't want any drama."
That explained the argument and crying that Winston had overheard when he was at her house. That explained the tense atmosphere at the party. That explained a lot.
A lot. Not everything.
Autumn remained unnaturally still on the other side of the coffee table so Theodore crawled over to her and pulled her to him. She quickly sunk into his arms and together they sat there in silence, so much more left unsaid.
A/N: Will be fleshing this chapter out once I do some editing, but this is the general gist of it.
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