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OLIVER's POV

It was finally the day I dreaded the most since the last time I saw Victor. I was lucky enough to forget about it for a while, Josh being a huge help in that department. But my stubborn son made it his mission to remind me about it all day yesterday, so there was no chance of staying in the comfortable and naïve bubble I was in for a bit longer. If I should be honest, the last thing I wanted was to spend the afternoon with my ex and our son. It reeked of trouble. And however much Josh tried to persuade me he was okay with it, I could see he wasn't. Who could blame him, though? It was all a huge mistake, and if it wasn't for Matty looking forward to meeting his father so much his excitement on Christmas was nothing compared to it, I would cancel without hesitation.

I knew I was being stupid and an asshole for wanting to keep Matthias away from Victor even after they already met, but it was hard to do otherwise. Ignoring the fact it was going to turn into mess eventually because Vic is a well-known businessman, I was too scared of the impact he would have on my little angel. The few times I saw him proved my concerns to be real. He was aggressive when something didn't go his way, and although I would like to think he wouldn't act that way around his son, I couldn't be sure. The person I knew all those years ago didn't exist, so he was practically a stranger now.

"You look terrible," the voice I loved so much sounded from around me, and it took me a while to realize I was staring into space, daydreaming.

"Ugh." I shook my head, clearing my vision. We were currently in the kitchen making us a breakfast, and the atmosphere all around was terrible. I couldn't sleep the night before, my mind too occupied with different scenarios as to what today could end up like, and the sleep deprivation was obvious to anyone who looked at me. Thanks to that, I was cranky and everything bad I thought about during the night seemed much worse than what it really was.

"I'm so ready to call him and cancel the whole thing," I grumbled, taking a piece of toasted bread and crunching on it to chase away all the unnecessary thoughts and churning in my stomach.

Looking at the clock, I could see it was already almost ten. The time was running too fast to my liking. Couldn't it drag on a little in a situation like this?

"Do it, then. He can't dictate you what to do or not. You can say you're feeling sick or something. You wouldn't even be lying. You look ready to throw up. I don't want to let you go anywhere when you're in a state like this." Just then, Matt run inside the kitchen, eyes shining and a happy smile lightening his whole face up. He was already dressed up, wearing one of his stylish black shirts and light blue jeans. I would've chuckled at how cute it was, but my thoughts were elsewhere.

Looking at Josh, I smiled, sighing.

"As if I could. Look at him." I shook my head and leaned in to get me one of his calming kisses.

"Let's finish the food and eat. As much as I'm sick, my stomach needs some food."

Taking two plates of eggs and some vegetables, I went straight for the dinning table. I couldn't wait for the day to be over.

***

Matty was unstoppable. The moment we said our goodbyes to Josh and left the house, he became almost annoyingly hyperactive. He was jumping in his seat the whole drive to our agreed meeting spot, and he wouldn't stop talking about Victor and what he wanted to do with us together.

When I introduced them, I never expected he would take it like this. He was just five, and although kids were, often times, more flexible about changes when they were still in this age, I still thought he was going to be more shy and reserved around Vic – at least at the beginning. What I got instead was unbelievable.

"Matt, calm down a little. You'll have the whole afternoon to talk to and play with your father," I said when we got out of the car and he started to run around, probably looking for Victor.

I locked the car, leaving for the park nearby. We were supposed to meet there in ten minutes, and my nerves were a mess. My stomach was in knots. I had no idea what to expect from the meeting, and it was driving me crazy. Everything could turn nasty in a matter of few minutes, and that was what scared me the most.

"Dad!" Matt's sudden shout startled me, my head spinning around to see Victor coming towards us with a big bag in one hand and a broad smile on his face.

"Hey big guy! How've you been?" he crouched down, putting the bag away and waiting for Matthias to run to him. It was like the typical slowed down movie scene. He run to Vic's spread out arms, hugging him as if they knew each other their whole lives and hadn't seen each other for a long time. My heart squeezed, muddle of emotions fighting inside of my whole being. I wasn't sure whether I was feeling sad, happy or guilty. I couldn't tell if the pain in my chest was due to the fact I denied Matt his dad for such a long time or whether I was scared for the future. All I knew was I was feeling emotions I didn't like.

After what seemed like forever, Matt let go, grinning widely.

"Great! What about you?"

Victor ruffled his hair, saying something I couldn't quite hear and standing up, slowly walking towards me.

"Hello, Oliver. I'm glad you could make it. Shall we go to the park or do you want to go somewhere else first?" he asked, smiling in a way I almost thought he was being sincere. Almost.

"Hi. We agreed on a picnic, right? So let's get going." I looked away right after I finished the sentence, eyes keeping on our son. I couldn't help but feel stressed. There was just no way I could relax in front of Victor. If I wasn't mentally exhausted by the end of this day, it would be a miracle.

"Right." I could hear a change in his voice, but it was the last thing I wanted to occupy my mind with at the moment.

Ready to start our way so this nightmare would be over as soon as possible, my heart jumped up when I saw Vic leaning closer to me.

"You don't have to be so tense. I'm not gonna bite you. I just want to spend some time with you and Matthias," he whispered, giving me goosebumps. I hated myself for being so weak to his voice. The time when I was in love with this bastard was over and done with. Feeling this way even though I was in a happy relationship was beyond ridiculous. It was probably because of all the stress and lack of sleep, but that was no excuse whatsoever.

"Whatever. Let's go," I grumbled, trying my hardest not to come off as angry. Matt was too close to us, and he didn't need to see us arguing.

Getting to the park, I was surprised to see Nels standing by a blanket, a big hamper standing on it. He was looking in the distance, his eyes somehow glazed over. It was as if he sensed us, his head turned, his smile wavering for a second. It was interesting to see, and I was damn curious why he did that, but it was gone the moment it appeared. I was probably just seeing things. The lack of sleep did that.

"Ollie! Nice to see you again. And who is this? Are you the famous Matty I heard about all day yesterday?" He looked at my baby, grinning.

"Your dad wouldn't stop talking about you at all. He was excited to see you!"

Matthias' eyes went large, turning towards Victor with curious eyes. It didn't take even a second for him to laugh, forgetting his initial shock of a stranger talking to him.

"Nelson, go away," Vic mumbled, earning a grin and a friendly punch in the shoulder.

"Aw, don't be shy! You should be thanking me for staying here and watching your things! But yeah, I'll be going. I have better things to do. See you!" He nodded at me and started to walk away without another word.

"Now, let's sit down for a bit. I brought some food, and I have a surprise for you, Matt." He grinned cheekily, raising his hand to show off the bag he had been holding since we met in the parking lot. By mentioning a surprise, he got Matty's full attention, the little monkey running towards the blanket and sitting down right away. Eyes shining, his whole being was almost buzzing with excitement. I could see he wanted to know what the surprise was right away but was trying to behave in front of his new found dad. It was adorably silly.

I followed my son to end this torture of his, Victor coming to the blanked as the last one.

"Because I missed all five birthdays of yours, I couldn't come without a compensation, right?" He took out five boxes wrapped up in a decorative paper, placing them right in front of Matt.

"I'm late, but happy birthday for all five years, Matt." He smiled, watching with fascination written all over his face as Matty grabbed the presents without hesitation and started to tear the paper off.

I loved to see my boy so excited and happy, but there was a gnawing thought at the edge of my mind, and however rational I thought this was, I couldn't stop thinking about this as Victor buying Matthias. I knew it wasn't the case. His face showed just how much happy he was when Matt commented on each present, liking it so far, but this was Vic we were talking about. It was hard to trust him in anything he did.

"Woah!" Matt suddenly said, holding a huge box with a picture of a boat on it. From what I could see, it was something like Lego bricks, and I was sure he was going to spend the whole day on it tomorrow. He liked things like these, but the fact it was a boat was the most important part. He was too fascinated with boats.

"It's a boat! I still don't have this one!" He jumped up, running over to Vic and hugging him.

"Thank you, dad!" When Matthias jumped on him and curled his tiny arms around Vic's neck, he was left frozen at spot. He looked shocked to the point of not knowing what was happening, and as much as I was uneasy, I couldn't help but laugh. It was hilarious, to see him like this. It reminded me of old times, when he wasn't the big bad Mr. important businessman, times when he acted like a normal human being who didn't have any troubles showing his emotions. And even though I knew those thoughts were really dangerous, I quickly forgot about it when I realized he had tears in his eyes.

***

It was way past the time we were supposed to be back. I let Josh know in advance, so he wouldn't be worried when we were late, but it didn't make it any better. I shouldn't had stayed when Victor suggested we went for a dinner. But I was tired, and I had a surprisingly good time once I got over the initial discomfort of the situation. Moreover, seeing Matt so energetic even after the whole afternoon in the park, I just caved in, not really thinking much about it.

Now, I was seriously doubting it was a good idea. The mood was different. It was already dark outside, and we ate in this tiny restaurant outside of the city center. To another person, it would seem like a normal dinner, but after the whole day, I felt oddly comfortable, which made me anxious. We were Matt's parents, and being together almost whole day was giving me weird thoughts.

"Matt, say your goodbyes and get to the car. I need to talk to your dad for a second." I smiled, unlocking the car and waiting for him to properly sit in his seat. Ruffling his hair and telling him I'll be right outside the car so he wouldn't be scared, I closed the door, walking around the car so we wouldn't be yelling at each other.

Victor was just standing there, looking lost and almost lonely. He was still staring at the car where Matt was sitting, and I was starting to feel bad for leaving like this. Which was wrong on so many levels I didn't even know where to start.

"Matthias enjoyed his time. He was genuinely happy," I said, not really knowing what else to talk about. It was clear we should probably discuss what was going to happen from now on, but I was too tired, and all I could think about was my bed back at home.

"Y-yeah. I'm surprised he is so accepting and easygoing. I would've expected it would take a bit longer for him to warm up to me." His eyes turned to me, full of raw emotions I didn't want to see.

"You've raised him well." Taking few steps forward, he stopped just few inches in front of me.

I was aware of the atmosphere changing drastically. The dark street lit up by dimmed orange light of street lamps, together with quiet humming of cars driving somewhere in the distance were making the night somehow more welcoming, and I was feeling too comfortable in a situation like that.

"I try," I mumbled, looking away. I might hate this guy, but the fact he praised me like this was overwhelmingly satisfying. It shouldn't matter. He was the past. He had nothing to do with me personally at all. But it still warmed up my heart when he said that.

"I hope you enjoyed the day too. At least a little bit." I looked back at him, searching his face for any kind of indication of ulterior motives or dishonesty. We might had spent the day together as a family, but I wasn't ready to give him my trust again. One day didn't erase all those years and bad things he had done.

"I expected it to be worse, if that's the answer you're looking for." I shook my head, wondering what the next steps in this strange relationship would be. It was clear Matthias would want to see Vic more often from now on. They were getting on with each other very well, and any person who saw them would never think it was their first day together.

"Well, at least some progress." He smiled, and I couldn't help but chuckled at that.

"I wouldn't be too sure about that. You have Matt to thank for that. He was the one talking with you most of the time so there was not much space for you to screw up." I chuckled again, unaware it might had come across as me flirting with him. It seemed almost natural, teasing him like this, and the fact I let down my guard around him like this only after few hours together was absurd and terrifying. But I wasn't really aware of it, which was the reason I didn't see it coming. It was out of nowhere, my tired mind too numb for reacting fast enough. He was suddenly right in front of me, his big hands cupping my cheeks, a soft, gentle touch of his lips on mine waking me up from the daze I was in up until that moment.

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So, how was it? I tried for a longer chapter this time, so I hope it's enough!

It's a bit messy at times, but to be fair, Ollie's feelings are in a big mess, so let's forget about it for now ^.^

What do you think about the ending scene?

How will Oliver react?

Let me know what you think! ^.^

***

I failed one of my exams, so I'll have to repeat it next week! The worst thing about it is, it's one of those subjects that are hard to study. I have no idea how to prepare myself!

English Phonetics is hell!