Smile Like You Mean It (One)

Chapter Twenty Seven

Storming through the front door, Bryony chucked her jacket to the floor, kicking her shoes off in the process, as Sal raced in after her. His hand gripped at her forearm, making the girl face him.

"Sal, get off me! I don't want to talk to you!" She snapped, as Sal ignored her, pulling her closer.

"Babe, listen, I didn't mean what I said! I-It just came out! I thought that agreeing with your parents would make them at least want to be a part of your life again!" He pleaded, his heart breaking in two, as he witnessed the tears rolling down her cheek.

"You agreed to put our son up for adoption!" Bryony shouted, jolting out of his clasp. "How could you?!"

"I was trying to get your parents to like me!" He yelled, shaking his head in defeat. "Would you have preferred me to have disagreed and let them leave your life once again?"

"You didn't even contemplate your answer, you just automatically agreed to it! What kind of a father does that?"

"One that's doing his best to get his girlfriend's family back together! You think I really meant what I said?" He spat at her, scoffing loudly. Bryony looked at the boy, a glower upon her face, as she folded her arms. Sal's shoulders slumped, as he stood back, his face falling. "You really think I meant it, don't you?"

"Why would I not? It's been clear since the start that you don't want to be a dad." Bryony answered huffily.

"Oh, wow..." Sal laughed out in annoyance, slowly clapping his hands. "That's why I've been working my ass off to give us as normal of a life as possible, is it? I've just spent all of our savings on things for the baby, and you still think that I don't want to be a father?"

"After the way you were tonight, yeah, it's pretty obvious." Bryony rolled her eyes, as she stepped into the bedroom.

"Why do you always run away whenever we argue, Bryony?" Sal called out to her, gaining no response. "Running away from your problems doesn't solve anything, you know."

He walked up to the doorway of the bedroom, leaning against the doorframe, as he watched Bryony ignore him, cleaning up the clothes that were thrown all over the carpet. She folded them, as Sal continued to gain her attention. "Bryony, don't ignore me."

She bent down, picking up a pair of his boxers, grimacing, before throwing them at him. The scrunched up underwear hit Sal in the chest, as he bent down to pick them up again. As he stood back up, another pair of boxers was flung across the room at him.

"So that's it then, I'm not going to get a word out of you? Wonder how long this is going to last."

"Do me a favour, and stop leaving your dirty underwear lying around. Put them in the hamper like the perfect human that you make yourself out to be." Bryony commented harshly.

"And there's the sarcasm that we all know and love." Sal replied.

Bryony continued cleaning up their bedroom, as Sal watched over her. She didn't acknowledge him in the slightest, blanking him all the more, as he pestered her to talk to him about what had happened over dinner between themselves and her parents. Bryony placed the last hoodie that had been left out into their dresser, as she took a seat on the edge of the bed, running her fingers through her hair in distress, keeping her back to Sal. A silence consumed them both, as Sal sighed to himself, stepping further into the room, sitting on the other side of the mattress. He ran his hands down his face, his mind racing, before he shifted on the bed.

"Can we please talk about this?" He asked, as Bryony remained turned away from the boy. Sal heard a sniffle come from her, seeing her shake her head.

"There's nothing to talk about..." Her timid voice admitted, hearing a deep sigh pass his lips.

"I'm sorry for what I said." He choked. Bryony turned to him, letting Sal see her bloodshot eyes and tear-stained cheeks.

"Sorry isn't good enough anymore, Sal." She stated. "You keep saying things that you never mean. I can't believe a single word you say."

"But I was trying to fix things!" He exclaimed, as Bryony shook her head, shrugging her shoulders in defeat.

"You admitted to wanting to give your son up for adoption...that's...that's not okay." Bryony expressed, fighting to hold back the tears. "He's not even born yet, and you've already made your decision that you don't want him."

Sal finally gave in, listening to her words, as he nodded his head, letting a single tear fall down his face. He sniffed, bringing his hands up to his face, as he slowly crumbled before her. He started to cry, the emotions inundating his state of mind. Sal ran a hand through his hair, his lower lip trembling.

"I'm sorry," He wept, wiping his tears away. "I-I...I do want to be a dad. Honest!"

"You wouldn't have said what you did tonight if you truly wanted to be a father, Sal." Bryony looked around the room, her eyes coming to land on the crib in the corner of the room. She stood to her feet, walking over to the cot, pushing gently at the mobile, letting it play a short snippet of its lullaby. "No matter how badly you want to fix things between our families...I'd...I'd never sink to that level of giving up our baby."

She turned to face Sal, as their eyes met, his emerald irises glazed over with anguish. "We wouldn't need them, we'd start our own little family, and make sure that we'd be there for our son. He's what matters in this equation, and you...you gave up on him."

Bryony walked out of the bedroom, leaving Sal to himself, giving him the opportunity to think things over in his head. He remained sat on the bed for a short while, before entering into the living room, coming to find Bryony pulling her shoes on, and wrapping her jacket over her shoulders.

"W-Where are you going?" Sal sniffled. Bryony looked at him sincerely, turning the handle to the front door, and letting it swing open.

"I'm going to see the girls." She answered. "If I were you, I'd think over everything said tonight. I'm not mad at you...well, I am...but I'm more disappointed if anything. I thought you were different, Sal. The Sal that I met all those months ago wouldn't have said what he did tonight."

Sal watched, as she exited through the front door, closing it behind her. He dropped his head down, holding back more tears, before he reached for the phone hanging on the wall, calling the only people he knew that he could talk to.