The Trials of Love

Chapter 9

I had been moping around my apartment for days. I couldn't continue like this. But what would I tell him if he asked about the package? I hadn't told anyone and I didn't want to. Should I even go back to him? He was so quick to assume that I was cheating on him. He didn't trust me. But I couldn't do this without him. I needed to speak with him. At least let him know. I wiped the tears that hadn't seemed to stop falling since the fight with Markus and drove to his house.

By the time I got there, I was a nervous wreck. I could hardly stand without wobbling, much less walk. When I got to the door, it was Paul who answered the door. I was stunned for a minute as I remembered what he told me last time I saw him. But, I pushed that hurtful thought away and spoke.

"Is Markus here?" My voice was a raspy whisper.

"No... Are you okay?" He tentatively asked. Something flickered in his eyes that had me in tears once more. I flung myself into his arms and sobbed into his chest, clinging to him as if he was my only life line. I guess at the moment, he was.

 "There, there. It's gonna be alright." He murmured. He held me as though he had wanted to for a while and was going to savour the moment. He led me to their couch and brought me a box of tissues and a glass of water. I sent him a shy but grateful smile.

"Thank you."

"Any time." He seemed to be struggling with himself. "Elizabeth..."

I looked up at him.

"Tell me what's wrong."

-Paul's POV-

"It's Markus..."

I clenched my fist. Of course it was my brother. Considering the way he left a few days ago and hadn't returned told me he realized he'd done something wrong. He had always been like this. He'd come back when he realized that he was being dumb and needed to fix his problem. I shifted my gaze to Elizabeth. She was so beautiful. I started to focus on her words again. Unfortunately, I chose the wrong time to tune back in.

"I'm pregnant."

I couldn't understand what was said to me. I was hoping I had heard wrong.

"What?"

"I'm pregnant and it's his."

All fantasies of my happy ending with Elizabeth melted away. I knew then that I'd never be able to have her in the way I wanted. She was officially out of reach where as before, I could just barely grasp at her.

"We got into a fight because I had received a package from," Pause. "From Rodrick." She struggled to say his name.

I looked at her, trying to read those beautiful, grey eyes of hers. Mark mentioned something about this Rodrick guy once but he wasn't sure since she'd never tell him. Mark guessed that Rodrick wasn't very good to Elizabeth. My chest swelled with pride knowing that she trusted me enough to tell me and not Markus, even though he's my brother.

"I met Rodrick about a month before my fathers death. He was so sweet to me at first. Then, he changed. We were together for two weeks when things got bad. He was angry, jealous, suspicious, and possessive. I was going to break up with him but then my father died and he was so sweet to me that I figured maybe he was just having a hard time with work or something. But a few days after the funeral, he was back to his old self, only worse. He was abusive and temperamental and he refused to allow me to break up with him. He told me I was his and nobody else would ever want me and love me like he did. Then one night we had gone out and on the drive home, he pulled over to the side of the road and apologised for how he had been acting lately. I forgave him thinking he would let me go if I did but instead he kissed me. He whispered that he wanted me right then and there. I tried convincing him that it'd be better if we until we got home, thinking I could figure something out by then, but he said he couldn't wait. I tried fighting off but he pinned my arms above my head." By this point, she was crying. I could tell this was getting difficult for her to talk about so I took her hand and gave it a light squeeze. She squeezed mine back.