The Man She Dated

11.

______11______
Let's Talk About It

-•-

The sound of silverware hitting the plates could be heard between the three. No one said a word throughout the whole dinner. There's a thick tension which they all felt. Byron definitely felt it from Gwen. He would watch from time to time as she slowly chewed. Her attention stayed on her plate the whole time which was expected. It's her ex you know. Someone who dogged her and left her when she needed him the most. Louis wipes his mouth with a napkin while chewing the remainder of his food.

"I must say...you still got it. That...was delicious. Mm." He says through chews. Gwen said nothing as she ate the last of her food, washing it down with her wine. Bryon scoots his chair back while taking the empty plates. He travels to the sink and rinses them off throughly. Louis watches intriguingly, clearing his throat as he gotten no response. It was clear Gwen wanted to get this over with. Honestly, he did to.

"I uh...guess we should get down to business then huh." He says and Gwen nods as Byron retakes his seat next to her.

"That would be the smart thing to do." She advises with a slight shrug. Louis clears his throat again while sitting up, giving her his full attention. Exhaling deeply, he licks his lips and folds his hands in front him. The couple stare at him as he collects his thoughts.

"I know that I hurt you in the past with no explanation." Louis begins.

"You didn't want to take care of your responsibilities but continue." Gwen orders dryly with the roll of her eyes. Louis could already sense that this was going to be hard to do. He expected that of course, but knew Gwen had every right to be upset.

"We weren't ready-"

"I was ready."

"Maybe you should let him explain sweetheart." Byron says while rubbing up and down her arm in a soothing motion.

"He has no explanation Byron. I told him the news and he told me to get rid of our daughter. Which I was highly against. Then he had the nerve to go ghost for two weeks, and send me divorce papers from where ever he was. Probably at that woman house he cheated on me with." Gwen explains and assumes. Louis exhales and sits back in his seat in frustration. It was time to lay it all out.

"I wasn't the man you needed Gwen. I was still young and dumb and I know it's not an excuse for the way I treated you, but it's the truth. We got married young and things were moving so fast. First we're dating and then marriage, then here comes another life we both weren't prepared for. You might have took care of your responsibilities, but be honest with yourself for once. You weren't ready for motherhood. However, you did what you thought was right because you were ready to step up. I wasn't ready for fatherhood and that's why I did what I did. I was afraid of my daughter falling for a guy like me, a cheater and a liar. It seems as though me leaving didn't help. She ended up falling in love with someone like me. I read her book." Louis mumbles while slowly taking his attention from Gwen. She took in his words while agreeing with most of them. However, she was going to speak her mind.

"No one is ever ready for parenthood Louis. Even people who plan on starting a family aren't ready for the responsibility. I agree that I wasn't ready to be a mother but I tried my hardest to be the best fit. You could of tried too, but in the end we both did things wrong. At twenty, we should of been more responsible. There was birth control and condoms but we just did our thing. Also if you weren't ready for the commitment, you should of said no when I proposed." Gwen says and Byron frowns.

"Yea you would never let that down." Louis scoffs and Gwen nods with pouted lips.

"I would actually, because then I would of left you alone after that. However, I'm glad we did go through what we went through. If we didn't, I would have never had Yelena nor would I have met this wonderful man right here." Gwen says while patting Byron's thigh. She smiles causing Byron to blush and smile as well. Louis witnesses the interaction between the two missing that old relationship. He knew now he had something good but it was too late get it back.