Apology chapter for the people who skip chapters with swear words in them. Enjoy!
Territory
In the style of Tristan and Piper McLean
For Percabeth2074
Dearest Tristan,
I had to leave. You wouldn't understand. Please don't look; you won't find me and you'll lose yourself.
Amelia
He scrunched up the note in his hand, furious.
Then, as he'd done since waking up, he unfolded it gently and reread it again. He tried to see if there was a 'just kidding' written in minuscule letters somewhere. He tried to tell herself that it wasn't her elegant script- like the calligraphy of a medieval textbook- that he was seeing.
Piper started crying and for the first time he realised how alone he'd be every time she would do that from this point on. He'd never be able to ask for tips, or hand her over to answer the phone or the door...
He snapped himself out of it. He'd kick-start his brain and figure this out later, right now Piper was crying and she needed him.
He lied her down in her crib for the night, and she fell asleep nearly immediately. She got that from her mother.
That brought all the horrible memories and daunting realisations back. Tristan leaned against the opposite wall, suddenly at loss.
Sitting with a girl as she cried over a boy is Mom Territory.
Being there and explaining all the weird steps of growing up is Mom Territory.
Arguing about what clothes she'd walk out of her house with is Mom Territory.
None of these things Tristan had any idea how to do, and he wasn't sure how in the world he was supposed to learn or be able to achieve all of these. What the hell was he going to do? How was he going to manage struggling for work and raising a baby girl on his own? How did he ask for help? How did he get it? How did he explain where Amelia was when all he'd gotten was that stupid and brief note that didn't explain anything?
Anger flared. She could have told him in person. Said goodbye instead of just curling up against him last night and leaving sometime during the night. Her things weren't even in the apartment; he didn't have a contact address. If anything happened to Piper, she would never find out, and if anything happened to her Tristan wouldn't know either. What had she been thinking? Had Tristan done something wrong? Had he not been good enough to her?
Piper cooed, like she was humming to herself in her sleep.
He walked closer.
She was on her back, like he'd been told babies should sleep to be safe. Her fingers were closed around a tiny stuffed animal of what he assumed was a made-up cutesy monster with a big upturned mouth and striped legs. She was kicking a bit in her sleep. Her wispy black hair was squished against her head.
It was that kind of innocence and realisation of gosh, she's mine that made him decide in a split-second that he would make it work somehow, that he'd figure it out one way or the other, and that he'd eventually get it right.
No matter why in the world he was stuck doing it on his own.
It was also that kind of anger that made anyone stop loving a person all of a sudden.