Tristan dropped me off from the party last night and told me that he wanted to take me somewhere today. Somewhere we could go so he could tell me the whole truth.

I think I had the biggest smile on my face when he pulled up in his black coupe and he had one to match as I climbed into his car.

"Where are we going?" I asked him.

"Somewhere important to me. You'll see." He said and stuck his hand out for me to hold.

I knew exactly where we were when we pulled into the parking lot. It wasn't very hard to recognize a graveyard.

I looked at him curiously and he nodded his head towards the door before we both got out and started walking.

He took us past several rows of headstones until we got to one with a familiar last name.

Michael Presley

1974-2019

"Here's my dad." He said simply. I looked at him as he sat himself down near the headstone. The date of death was just last year.

"I remember meeting him once." I said quietly and thought of the memory. He showed up to the park we were playing at. He had stepped out of the car to call for Tristan, just once. He never said anything to me, just stood there with his arms crossed, glaring at me until Tristan came to car. I heard him yelling through the open windows as they drove off.

He scared me as kid and Tristan never liked talking about him.

"I don't think he liked me very much." I added and moved to sit down with him.

"He didn't like anyone very much."

"I'm sure he loved you though."

And he didn't say anything to this, he just started at his father's headstone as he picked at some weeds in the ground.

"He was the reason I stopped talking to you in sixth grade." He started and then the words started flowing out of his mouth.

He talked about how his father treated him and how we trained for fighting since he was little. He told me about how his dad died and that he finally met his aunt that he didn't even know he had. How she was the closest thing to a mother he ever knew.

He told me about the man I saw talking to him at the diner, the one that put him in a bad mood. His name was Lachlan.

"He just came over to me, talking about a fight I had next, reminding me that I still owed him. It was what he said to me after that. He looked over at the table and saw you. He said to me 'she looks like quite the distraction.' And just like that I remembered all the reasons I had forced myself to stay away from you in the first place."

I didn't even realize it at the diner, I was too focused on Tristan and what his body language was telling me. But I guess now that I think about it, I did see Lachlan's face because he was looking at me that day.

I looked over to Tristan then and noticed that his jaw was set in a hard clench. I scooted closer to him and wrapped my hands around his arm, leaning my cheek on his shoulder, "but you don't have to force yourself away anymore."

"I wouldn't let anyone hurt you Ada, you know that don't you?"

I looked up at him, replacing my cheek on his shoulder with my chin instead, "of course I do."

And his blue eyes were heavy on mine before I leaned forward to give him a soft kiss. I pulled back after a moment and leaned back on his shoulder as we looked at his father's gravestone together.

"I still feel for the son of a bitch. I shouldn't, but I still do." He scoffed out.

"He was still your dad Tristan, it just means you were a better person than he was."

He took one of my hands that I had on his bicep and gave it a gentle squeeze.

And we stayed quiet for a while, huddled close in the chill of the autumn breeze. The only sounds I noticed were of a screeching crow somewhere far off in the distance.

"What's your Aunt Sofie like?" I asked, looking back up at him.

"Do you want to meet her?"

——————————

It only just occurred to me now that I had never been to Tristan's house before. He informed me on the way there that his aunt knew nothing about what he really does and he'd like to keep it that way.

I think he really does fear she would have a heart attack if she ever found out.

He lived in a small neighborhood where the houses were spaced close together. It wasn't anything fancy, but it looked comfortable and I liked it.

He left his car parked in front of the house and he opened the front door to let us inside.

"Aunt Sofie! I brought a guest."

"If it's Tate tell him to turn right back out the door!" I heard a response from somewhere deeper in the house.

"It's not Tate!" he announced and turned to me to say, "she's joking, she loves Tate."

I heard a chair screech on the floor and footsteps come closer to us.

"Oh!" She said as she saw me for the first time, "it's a girl. Oh and she's just precious Tristan, where have you been keeping her?" she asked and my nerves immediately simmered down as I broke out into a smile.

She was a short lady with hair as dark as Tristan's, only her's had a few grey hairs peppered into the mix. She had light crinkles around her eyes as she smiled, which told me that it was something she did often.

"It's nice to meet you, I'm Adelaide."

"Oh Adelaide!" she said, and her tone sounded something like recognition. Suddenly her eyes shot up to Tristan and she began shaking her head, "who I've never heard about before of course."

I turned around and Tristan was just smiling down at me innocently.

"I'm his Aunt Sofie, it's nice to meet you Adelaide."

I put my hand out for her to shake but she just pushed it out of the way and took me into her embrace.

"I'm a hugger girly," she said as she pulled away, "Would you like to follow me into the kitchen? I just made some fruit tart."

"Sure, that sounds great." And Tristan followed us in after.

"I'm testing it out for my bakery, so give me your absolute honest opinion."

She put a small plate in front of me that had a single mini fruit tart, and it looked amazing.

"You work at a bakery?" I asked and took my first bite.

"Oh yes, I manage one."

I tasted the bite on my tongue, and it was absolute bliss. I've never tried a fruit tart before, but I think I just found my new favorite desert.

"I hope it's not a secret recipe because I would love to have it." and her lit up her face at that.

"oh, we'll get along just fine dear. How about you help me with the next batch i'm about to bake?"

And I saw Tristan smiling softly at us as she wrapped an apron around me.