I followed Victoria into her grandfather's house. I wondered how much her grandpa knew of what had happened with us. Not that I cared.

The house was small but had a cozy feeling—sort of reminded me of a steaming bowl of sweet-corn soup. There was warmth and comfort; you could clearly see that in the way the furniture was arranged in the house. Nothing too flashy,

"Grandpa is blind." She informed me we stepped into the foyer. "So don't make a sound. If he knows you're there maybe he'll start asking you questions."

"Okay."

I stepped inside the living area silently and went into the kitchen slash dining area where she whispered to me to sit down on the chair and I complied.

Her grandfather sat facing me, wearing a checkered blue shirt. His dark eyes peered at me from the other end of the table and I started to wonder if he could see and if Vicky was just fucking with me. I stared right back at him, to see if he could hold my gaze.

"Grandpa, I think you've had enough cake for today. We're going to save some for tomorrow, okay?" Vicky called from the kitchen.

I heard the sound of the faucets running, and the faint sound of the television in the background. I watched her tiny form move around gracefully, humming and I couldn't deny how much I liked seeing this domestic side of her.

Vicky wearing an apron, washing dishes, preparing my meals, baking delicious deserts which would be followed by me putting my arms around her, stripping her clothes off, and making her scream on the counter. Then back in our bed. The more I thought of it, the worse it made me feel. It was hard to forget that I wasn't going to be married to her in the next two months.

I had one night. Ten hours tops to convince her to stay with me. Getting overdosed hadn't made much of a difference; she knew the workings of my mind and probably didn't come to visit me at the hospital on purpose.

She discarded her apron and brought a few pills and a glass of water to the table, "here are your medications, grandpa."

Her grandfather popped the pills into his mouth and downed it with a glass of water. He huffed and then said, "Hand me the walking stick, Vicky dear, would you?"

Vicky handed him the stick and I was thankful he was leaving.

He stood up and started making his way towards a door on the other end of the living room. He stopped walking and turned a little, "make sure you give him the cheesecake. Just one slice. The rest of it is mine."

Her grandpa knew I was here.

Vicky stared at me in shock and then laughed, "Okay, grandpa. Good night."

"Good night, Vicky."

"He's wonderful," Vicky commented as we heard the door to his bedroom shut.

"Yeah, he seems cool," I agreed.

Thank fuck, he didn't bother playing twenty questions.

Vicky served a generous slice of the Blueberry cheesecake on a plate and pushed it towards me. I picked up the spoon, stabbed the cake, and took a bite.

It tasted like heaven.

Anything that Vicky baked tasted like that; it was the best thing in the world. I forgot about my problems for a few minutes as I ate it. She stood there looking at me.

Okay maybe, she was the first best thing in the world and her cake would be second best. She was wearing a loose-fitting t-shirt with a cartoon dog print on it and although the fabric wasn't tight, I could still see the round shapes of her breasts, since the time she'd delivered the baby, her breasts had grown bigger and it was a shame that I hadn't gotten to touch them. She was wearing denim shorts below that. Her white-blonde hair was tied over her head in a messy bun, and she looked like an ice princess. She would put Elsa to fucking shame. Vicky didn't have great features, but she was pretty for me. And that was more important.

Maybe if I hadn't left the diary in the drawer for her to find, none of this would have happened and Vicky would still be with me but fuck that, I'd fucking gone ahead and ruined everything. Her finding some kind of lewd porn magazines instead would have been far better.

Also, I suspected if I had cried harder after Honor's funeral and Vicky had seen how sad I was, she would have stayed with me.

Fuck!

I was pretty sure I'd almost emptied an entire bottle of glycerin into my eyes before the funeral. I'd seen enough movies to see how to fake the crying, but I guess it hadn't worked because she would keep sneaking suspicious glances towards me. Vicky knew me inside and out. The fake me. The real me. The ugly part of me. The good part. She knew when I was bullshitting and exactly what I needed.

I needed her. And she was punishing me by taking that away from me. I realized I was close to keeling over and begging her to take me back.

"Tyler..." her voice pulled me out of my thoughts.

"Do you...um..."

"Yeah?"

She fidgeted, "It was a long drive, wasn't it? You must be tired."

What was she getting at?

"I guess so," I replied.

Did she want to kick me out so soon? I hadn't even started talking about what I really came here to say.

"Do you want to stay over?" She asked finally, and I saw her chest rise and fall, "For tonight?"

YES! Fuck yes, I wanted to stay over.

What would someone normal in this situation say?

"If you want me to," I said finally.

She nodded, "But...what about Morgan?"

He can fuck off.

I didn't say that, of course.

"Morgan will take the taxi home. He'll leave the car here with me." I told her.

She smiled and gave me another nod. I was surprised she hadn't said anything about the OD or how much of a stalker I'd been for the past two weeks and the number of texts I'd sent her just to get a rise out of her so she'd reply—yeah, I was fucking desperate.

"Did you have dinner?" She asked me softly.

I gave her a nod. I'd picked some Thai curry and rice from the drive-thru before I came to visit her.

"Let's go to my room upstairs then." She suggested.

I took the car keys from Morgan and asked him to leave politely because I wasn't going to miss a chance of staying the night with Vicky. Morgan was smart so he left me the fuck alone and went home.

I followed Vicky upstairs to her room. Why couldn't she just understand that I was the only one that could make her happy, that I could give her anything and everything she wanted?

The bedroom wasn't too big. There was a queen-sized bed, a dresser, and a closet. Nothing too fancy. Some stuffed toys were around. It must be a place where Vicky stayed over when she visited her grandpa.

I sat down on the bed and she sat beside me.

I pulled my phone out, "I've got something to show you." I told her.

Her eyes lit up, "what's that?"

I handed her my phone and pointed at the screen. There were like green fishes moving around. "Find the pink fish. You'll win a prize."

She narrowed her eyes at me in suspicion but proceeded to swipe at the screen, her eyes darting, trying to find the pink one.

Until the phone blared.

Rick Astley began dancing near the mike on the screen and the song started playing.

Vicky laughed and hit me playfully with the phone, "you did not just Rick-Roll me! That trick is so old, you goof!"

I was laughing with her, "You always fall for this no matter what."

Just to tease her further, I began lip-sync to the song.

We're no strangers to love...

You know the rules and so do I...

A full commitment's what I'm thinking of...

And you wouldn't get this from any other guy...

She looked at me, staring straight into my eyes and smiled, "You look wonderful when you smile, Tyler."

"You're the only one who puts it there," I said and reached in my jeans pocket to give her the packet of M&M's. Her favorite.

She took the packet from me, "Thanks! Can we eat it right now? I promise I'll share."

"Sure."

With a huge grin on her face, Vicky tore the packet and poured some of it into her hand. And then she saw what was inside and the smile vanished.

Amid the blue, yellow, red, and green m&m's was a glimmering diamond ring. Her expressions were unreadable but I knew I'd screwed up. I had always told her I wanted to marry her but never brought a ring and proposed. I thought if she saw a ring, and not just any, an 8-carat round cut solitaire ring worth five-hundred thousand dollars she would say yes because I knew girls LOVED shit like that.

"Marry me, Victoria?"

Her eyes were glassy with unshed tears; she looked from the ring to me.

"I didn't steal it from my mom." I clarified. "I bought the ring for you."

The air between us had become thick.

Her eyes met mine, "I'm sorry, Ty. I...I can't."

"We promised each other forever," I said.

"Yes, but that was before..." the words lodged in her throat, I could see she was having difficulty saying this. If it was bothering her so much why was she saying no? I just didn't get it.

"If you say yes, I'll stay here with you. I'll be a good husband. We'll stay in Cold-Bay if that's what you wish."

She put the ring aside and put her arms around me instead and pressed her lips on the side of my face, whispering, "I'm so sorry, Tyler."

Well, there went my last shot at keeping her. Girls were difficult to understand. I'd tried my darn hardest to know this one, and I already sucked bad. According to my research, she should have loved that ring and screamed 'Yesss' when I asked her to marry me, instead she seemed sad.

This was her fault. Technically. I'd warned her that she couldn't handle me but she'd decided not to heed my warning and now she'd come to realize that I wasn't worth marrying.

She circled her arms around my neck, and pressed her lips to mine once before saying, "Make love to me, Ty..."

She didn't have to tell me twice.

I reached for the hem of her top and pulled it over her head. She wasn't even wearing a bra and that was good. My fingers dipped to her shorts as I unzipped it, and pulled the shorts off her legs. My t-shirt and jeans went next and I sat with my back against the pillow by the headboard bars. I grasped each of her thighs in my hands and tugged her gently to sit in my lap.

We were still wearing our undergarments. Vicky's eyes looked darker in the moonlight, and the rings around her irises looked sparkly and she looked so fucking beautiful, I had a hard time coming to terms with the fact that this could be our last time together.

I was going to make it count. And I was gonna show her what she was going to miss out on.

Her lips crushed over mine, her fingers digging in my hair as she moved them in circles, the way she liked. I kissed her hard, biting and licking her lips until she was moaning in my mouth. She tasted of the blueberry cheesecake. I reached for her hair bun and pulled at the tie, releasing her thick waves on her back. It was easier to hold her that way and I enjoyed burying my face in and inhaling the fruity shampoo that hit me in the gut with a wave of nostalgia.

I couldn't control any longer. I tore off her panties, putting my hand over her center, "Fuck, Vicky...you're so hot," I ran my fingers through her wet folds while still kissing her deeply. She began writhing as my fingers continued the onslaught, I buried one finger inside her, followed by another and I continued to pump them inside her slick channel until she was crying into my shoulder.

She was on the brink of an orgasm but hell if I was going to give it to her so easily. I pulled my fingers out and she looked up at me, "Please...please don't stop..." she begged in a whisper, taking my hands and placing them back on her pussy. I collected her juices and rubbed them on her glorious tits. My mouth covered her right breast and I sucked—tasting her arousal there and I loved it. I lapped on hungrily, knowing that I needed to remember this. The scent. The taste and make it fucking last forever in my memory. I teased her left nipple with my fingers. Vicky's fingers slipped into my briefs as her fingers grasped around my dick.

I removed the revolting piece of garment and we were finally both completely bare. Skin to skin, her legs wrapped around me as she tried to grind over me.

Then I remembered, "Vicky, I don't have condoms. Shit, baby. I didn't think we would be..."

She shook her head, "It's alright." She said, turning and looking away.

What the fuck was that about?

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Yeah."

I pulled her beneath me so now she was lying on the pillow and my large body covering her. She ran her fingers over my biceps and my chest. I looked down at her stomach and it looked a little different. There were few stretch marks on it, ones that were never there before. When she noticed that I'd seen, she tried to cover it with her hands.

What was so embarrassing about those?

Those marks were the ones given to her by Honor. The baby that I'd put inside her. If anything, it just proved that Vicky was and will always be mine. I peppered feather light kisses all over them, and I could see from down here that Vicky was tearing up but she didn't say a word.

When I finally buried inside her, I thought I was going to come in seconds. It felt that good. She put her legs around me and allowed me to take my sweet time with her as I went slowly, so goddamn slow that she began whimpering and asking me to go faster. I allowed myself to become lost in this feeling of her body since I couldn't feel any emotions mentally, I could at least compensate here. She was whispering that she loved me over and over again, but if she really did, she wouldn't be breaking up with me. I licked the sweat over her shoulder, kissed her there as I continued to fuck her real slow, sliding in and out of her. I felt my release and her walls clenching around me as I buried her cries with my mouth on hers, and I tasted the salt of her tears on her cheeks and knew she was genuinely crying.

By the time I stopped moving, she was bawling her eyes out on my shoulders and that's when I knew there was not going to be another night like this one.

This was really fucking goodbye.

I didn't let her sleep that night. I kept punishing her. She'd asked me to make love, so I would do just that. I fucked her hard and fast, slower the second time, and then sometime before dawn, I flipped her around and she was on her hands and knees as I took her from behind. In the end, I'd punished my body too, and I was exhausted but I still held her tightly against my body, refusing to let her go. I imagined another guy touching her and it made me crazy with rage that I could kill someone.

I growled in frustration because even after everything that we'd been through, she didn't want me. I'd touched, kissed, licked every inch of her body and I was going to burn that into my mind for as long as it took. It could be my wishful thinking, but after everything that I'd put her through, I still hoped that I'd managed to put another baby inside of her tonight. If she got pregnant again, there were chances she would forgive me for our baby and come back to me.

On the first ray of sunlight, I decided to leave. Vicky lay on her side, covered in the blanket. I kissed her hair and her hand several times before getting dressed up.

Morgan was already waiting near the car when I walked out of the house. I tossed the keys at him and sat down inside the car silently. He didn't look in the backseat on our drive back home as I kicked, punched, and cried. I wailed worse than Vicky did last night and I had no fucking shame. Morgan never turned his head, kept looking straight. So I guess I did feel some emotions, this empty dark void like I'd lost something so important.

When we reached the mansion, I composed myself and walked inside as if last night had never happened. I knew life was going to be miserable.