Some Day One Day (Maylor AU)

Chapter 49

The professor paced back and forth outside the chapel, trying to sort through his racing thoughts. He never thought this day would come, certain that his and Roger's farewell at the university was the last time he'd ever see him. Yet here Roger was, coming back.

Brian didn't know how to feel about the blonde's return. Excitement, fear, lust, and anger washed over him like tides crashing upon a shore, one right after the other. The rapid change in emotions secluded him in a world of his own, deaf and blind to the headmistress who'd appeared outside—their daughter still in her arms. It wasn't until Chrissie interrupted the professor's path that he finally noticed her, immediately snapping him out of the trance he'd coaxed himself into.

"What the hell are you doing?" she demanded to know, her voice low even though it was only the two of them in earshot.

"What the hell am I doing?" he repeated her, his wide eyes bordering on delirium. "What the hell are you doing?" He went to shove her back but stopped himself, meeting his daughter's innocent gaze. She was only a few months old, but those little eyes of hers had a power over Brian that he couldn't withstand. She was his kryptonite.

The headmistress scoffed, not realizing how lucky she was to have Liz in her arms in that moment. "I'm just making sure you're alright. You stormed out of there like someone told you your mother died."

Brian's eyebrows knit together. "What? No. I just—" His voice trailed off, the words he intended to say escaping him. He was going to tell her about Roger, but before he could, the thought crossed his mind that, if he did, she would intervene and ruin any possibilities the two had of seeing one another again. The professor didn't know for sure what would come of his and the former music instructor's reunion, but he didn't want the chance of it being destroyed before it could even happen.

So, instead, he decided to address her first comment and confess, "I'm not alright. You left me a week ago and told me that I couldn't see my daughter again until I got my priorities straight. Yet today, it's suddenly Liz's christening, and you're acting like nothing happened. What's that all about?"

Just like that, the mask that the headmistress had thrown on disappeared—revealing the bitter resentment that lingered from the betrayal. "Well what else was I supposed to do?" she whispered angrily. "Tell everyone that you're a fag and that the only reason you were with me was because you knocked me up?" She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, that would've gone over so well, Brian."

"You could've told me," the professor grumbled, crossing his arms and turning his head in the opposite direction of the church. He located his father's vehicle in the car park and began to wonder how easy it would be to drive off in it without attracting anyone's attention. However, with Chrissie there, right in front of him, he figured his chances were low.

"Look," the headmistress sighed, "I've been thinking a lot this week about you, about me, about us, and...and I want us to try and work this out." Brian slowly returned his gaze to Chrissie, his even wider eyes meeting hers in disbelief. A question of clarity teetered at the tip of his tongue, but before he could gather the wits to ask, she explained, "It's just that, we both have reputations to uphold, Bri, and it wouldn't look good for either of us if word got out about you."

"About me? What about you?" he cried, throwing his hands at her, "You...You're living just as much of a lie as I am!"

She scoffed, the corners of her lips pricking upwards into an incredulous smile. "I beg your pardon?"

"Timothée told me all about your relationship, Chrissie," Brian disclosed frankly, taking quite the opposite approach his wife had when confronting him about his affair with Roger. "I know you were only with him because your parents didn't approve of the first guy you were with, and you only got with me because you wanted a baby and he wouldn't give that to you." The paleness that flushed the headmistress's face did all but help her cause, instantly validating her ex-husband's claims.

"You can't possibly believe that's true, Brian," she murmured.

"Why shouldn't I?" he snapped, shortening the distance between him and her—only to look down at his daughter and take a step back. "You...You lied to me, Chrissie. You lied to me about being married, and you lied to me about why we were together." He hung his head in shame, muttering, "For all I know, that story you told me about giving Timothée your everything for twelve years and getting nothing in return was all a lie too."

The headmistress tightened her jaw, her grip on the baby following suit. "That wasn't a lie, Brian. I meant what I said."

"But it wasn't really about him, was it?" Brian's eyes traveled up from the pavement and landed on Chrissie's. "It was about the first guy, the one you actually wanted to be with but couldn't." The headmistress's wavering gaze flickered to the side, her heart beating just as fast as the professor's was when he learned about Roger's return.

Brian pressed his lips together, the tension between them more pronounced.

Their situation was a tricky one. If the truth were to be revealed, it wasn't just one of them that would go down—it'd be them both. Too much had happened for the couple to cut ties cleanly; to wipe their hands of the mess they made and move on, as Timothée suggested. They had Liz to think about, their careers, their reputations. They were in this together, and the vows they'd made on short notice meant more now than ever before. To have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part.

With those words ringing in his ears, Brian heaved a sigh and brought his hand to the back of his neck. Despite the cold, autumn season they found themselves in, the air began to grow warm. "So, you said something about working this out?"

Chrissie's narrowed eyes trailed back to the tall man standing before her. "It seems kind of pointless now, doesn't it?" she replied bitterly.

The professor nodded his head in slight agreement, but admitted, "No, because you're right. We can't let anyone find out about what we've done. We'd be done for if they did."

Hope glimmered faintly in the headmistress's eyes. "What are you saying, Bri?"

He took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, knowing he couldn't come back from what he was about to propose—just like his first kiss with Roger. "I'm saying we should give this a second try." Brian smirked and ran his hand through Liz's hair. "For her sake and ours."

Chrissie let out a relieved laugh, burying herself in the professor's chest and wrapping her free arm around his back. At first, he tensed up, unacquainted with the affectionate gesture that felt foreign to him, but the longer she stayed close to him—silent tears falling from her eyes—the more he relaxed. He even went so far as to place a kiss on the top of her head and pull her in, their daughter snuggled comfortably between them. They were a family again.