=Hector's POV=
(Sunday, 3/2/19-9:30 am)
(Berk, Archia Isle)
(Berkmart)

I had been right. Astrid got sick towards the end of her period, attributing the fatigue and headaches to her cycle, not that she was becoming ill. The worst of the day were Thursday night and Friday, then just a little into Saturday morning. I made Astrid stay home from school on Friday, but I ended up leaving school during lunch hour to return to the apartment and help her out because it was bad. I couldn't let her suffer, so from the moment I stepped in the door, I did whatever I could to help her. I had to cancel my plans with two of my hookups, that is what I had set for Thursday night at 8 pm, then also I had something set up for Saturday night too, originally. I had forgotten about them until I was texted and asked where I was. I explained in the easiest way that I had to cancel because my wife was sick. They weren't overly happy, but I promised to make it up to them. It wasn't hard for me to get laid, honestly. I wasn't sure how to feel about that either. Was it good that I could get it whenever? Did it make me some kind of whore? Sleeping with people when I had time. Astrid didn't know it about me, but I was bisexual, and I've had sex with men too. I have a few on my hookup list, but the last time was probably right before I got married. Yeah, a week before, actually.

Astrid was feeling better on Saturday night, and felt great when waking up today. As we agreed earlier in the week, we both showered, had breakfast, and headed out into town to get food for the apartment. Right now, we're at Berkmart; a grocery store, but it had more than just food. Astrid and I were there now, we'd just parked and grabbed a cart; I let her push it.

"Working back to front?" Astrid asked.

"Yeah, that's fine," I replied, she started for the back and I just followed while occasionally sending a message or two to friends. They all still wanted to have a party for my birthday, and now that Astrid was better, asking if we could do it today. I was trying to set up with one girl to get together. I friggin needed to get laid, it's been about two weeks since the last time with all I've had going on. Astrid was grabbing the things we needed, I always had her make a list throughout the weeks until we went shopping; I would check it before we left on the day of said shop and add anything I found to be necessary. Once the main grabs were in the cart, we would move onto extras that were more want than need. It was mainly soda, perhaps snacks. But we always got what was needed first.

Astrid and I didn't talk much during shopping trips. It was just the occasional inquiry on what we needed or what brand to choose. I sighed heavily, bored. "H-How's my car doing?" Astrid broke the awkward silence between us. Finally, we were done after an hour, and had checked out, now heading to the car.

"Glenn said the parts came in today and he's got someone working on it. I was told I'd get an update tonight if it'll be done and delivered at the house tomorrow morning by the tow truck," I stated calmly.

"So it can be fixed?" Astrid looked at me with hope.

"Yes. This time, the problem can be corrected…But don't hold too much hope, Astrid. It's only this time…There are no guarantees for the next and do recall I told you on Thursday that your car is old and on it's last wheels, shall we say." I reminded and Astrid nodded.

"I know…I'm hoping to get this job, so I can save a bit to try and get something else," Astrid sighed a bit as we got into the car.

"What's the job for?" I decided to ask. We were in a public place, and one used quite a bit in Berk, so we had to play the act to a degree.

"Just…Fast food. No particular position, said I'd take anything as long as it could be, for now, afternoons until I graduate in June…Well, guess it's more of an if I graduate," She sighed heavily as I eyed her a bit.

"Why wouldn't you graduate? I pushed while fastening my seatbelt.

Astrid bit her lip a little. "I'm just…Not doing so great in my main courses," She finally confessed. "I'm great in PE, Health, even Home Ec…Well, except the cooking bits," Astrid trailed off.

"You could ask me for help, you know," I remarked.

"Part of the agreement is that we only continue to reside together in the same apartment, and act in public." Astrid mumbled and sat back in the front seat.

I groaned. "That doesn't mean you can't ask me for help with school stuff, stupid," I informed her. "We both took vows, forced or not, to stand by one another…No matter what," I reminded as she glanced off to the side, seemingly ashamed. "I'm still upholding my promises to you from seven months ago…And don't make the smart-ass comment that I'm having hookups or bring the agreement into this…" I warned. "The agreement was merely because you begged me not to divorce you, and the only reason I'm sleeping with others is because you and I don't do anything. Also, let's not forget that the one who started the unfaithfulness was you." I narrowed my eyes at her as she turned her head a bit. "You couldn't be bothered to ask your husband to give you a sexual fix, so you went and invited a stranger, to me, over and let him touch you. This arrangement is in place so neither of us have to feel guilty or awkward about asking the other for sex. And the separation was suggested so it wouldn't feel so much like cheating." I explained.

I took a breath. "But I am still your husband, legally, Astrid. And I will still do my duty as such…The only difference this time within our marriage now is that I'm not going out of my way to make things work. I'm not offering to do things. I'm not talking to you unless I have to. To put it simply for you…I'm not putting in effort unless you do. Cass said marriage was 50/50, so both people have to try. If you needed help with your school shit, you could have asked me and I would have. I'm just trying to stay out of your way until I'm needed, or it's apartment-related." I gave a scoff before checking around me and throwing my car's gear into reverse. It didn't appear Astrid had anything to say now, or she was letting it sit for a bit. It wasn't my problem, I explained my reasoning on things and I'm sure to many; it would look like I'm just an asshole. To me, I was being more than fair. She wanted to stay married, but not sleep with me? Fine. We'll stay together, but allowed to sleep with others and never have to feel strange about asking one another for sex.

I pulled into traffic and kept my eyes on the road. "Our friends and parents want to come over around 4 pm to celebrate my birthday, since you were sick on Thursday. Is that okay with you, or you gonna sulk?" I mentioned.

"I'll be fine," Astrid replied.

"Great. I'll message them back when we get to the apartment then." I responded to her.

The rest of the ride was silent between us. I had my eyes on the road while Astrid just looked out the window with her arms folded over one another. I wish we could get along and make things work, but she wasn't willing before and I'm sure that she'd have to actually like me for us to make another attempt. I used to have a thing for her, but she never showed interest back and usually just brushed me off as an annoyance in her life. That's all was to her, and apparently, still am. I can't lie and say I don't still feel something, but I'm keeping it way down deep. Everything between us since August 3rd, 2018 was forced. Nothing between us will be real unless Astrid felt something for me and I didn't see that happening. But hey, who knows? I'm not a fortune teller. I detected just the slightest bit of jealousy or anger in her tone mentioning our agreement. The anger might be because she's mad at herself for giving into temptation, or not trying as I was. I didn't know, but that's how it looked and sounded.

Right now, I just want to get to the apartment and tidy up. I wanted to get this birthday celebration out of the way so I could get on with life and relax the rest of tonight. There would be school tomorrow.

. . .

(4:15 pm)
(Haddock Apartment)

After Astrid and I got to the apartment, we put the groceries away and cleaned to prepare for the party. By 11:30 am, everything was done and I sat around until 2:00 pm when one of the guys I've been with before hit me up and asked if I was free. I figured why not and went out to meet him, told Astrid I'd be back before 4 pm. I had fun, me and the guy said we'd see one another again and then I got stuck in traffic and had to reroute the back way to the apartment. As I reached the apartment and was sitting at a red light to turn onto the street, Astrid messaged to say everyone was there and wondering where I was. She told me to stop at the store and grab ice cream, make it less suspicious that I went out to get laid by some chick. Hah, if only she knew it was a guy. No one really knew about my sexuality being bi. I wasn't ashamed, but I knew how it was looked at. Only and Heather and Drew knew about me being bisexual, but only Glenn and Drew knew I'd had sex with males before. Drew was sort of the one to help me experience things because I didn't trust anyone else. It was a slow process when I was probably fifteen or so, took a few times hanging out when Heather wasn't around.

Regardless, I was indebted to him for keeping my sexuality a secret, and that we've fucked once. It was ONLY for the sake of experiencing things with a guy, getting that first time over with someone I trusted fully. Drew was my longest, truest, and best friend. We were practically brothers, but even with that type of familial, unofficial relationship…It wasn't awkward. I did stop at the store to get the ice cream, the finally, reached the apartment. I parked the car and got inside the front door.

"There you are, son," Vivian beamed once I closed the door behind me. Yep, everyone was here. Astrid was first to greet me, already in character of wonderful wife. To be honest, I'm getting sick of acting. I know what it would do to stop things, but for some reason…Probably my old feelings for Astrid, I couldn't hurt her like that. Acting happily married was hardly anything than it would be to face dishonor or knowing you were the reason a merge fell through, destroying your father, making all those employees lose their jobs. No, all that wasn't worth getting out of this marriage. I guess that's why I agreed to keep it going, but with conditions that were fair to Astrid and me; allowing us some freedom, I suppose.

"Hi, baby," Astrid smiled, wrapping her arms around my midsection and looking up at me. I smiled and leaned in to kiss her gently, but quickly too. I held up the ice cream in the bag for her.

"Hey, babe," I replied. "Got the ice cream you wanted. Can't believe it slipped my mind while we went shopping this morning," I joked a bit.

"This is why I'm in charge of the list," Astrid giggled before taking the ice cream from me. "Thank you,"

I nodded. "You're welcome," I said. Astrid hurried off to put the ice cream into the freeze, I got stuck in the living room greeting my parents, wife's parents, and all my friends. Seemed my uncles came out too. Lovely. A full house for a bit. Something tells me it's going to end with me yelling at my father to shut up about work stuff during a party. I'm really not in the mood to deal with his whole join the real world shit. I was truly getting sick of things, and I wanted a damn vacation. Just time to do what I wanted again, by my choices…Not someone else's.

. . .

(6:30 pm)

The night had been going well, so far. I was still holding onto my sense that something bad was going to happen. Dad had already been dropping hints about work, so until this celebration was over, I wasn't safe from the tomorrow at the office comments and mentions. I wanted to get away, I wish I hadn't had to leave the guy I was with. He was actually one of my ex-boyfriends, but we left things on good terms when he moved to another town. Got lucky earlier because he was here on errands for him parents, and waiting on something to be finished, so he asked to hang and if I wanted, hook up. We did hang for a bit, but got into touching, kissing, and then the sex. We laid around, cuddling for a bit. He had to leave to finish errands, and I had to come back here for this unnecessary party. I meant what I said on Thursday, turning eighteen meant nothing to me other than being a legal adult. I could drink now if I wanted, but I wasn't much of a drinker anyway. Beer here and there, maybe something lightly mixed. Still, I guess the party wasn't all bad. My parents and in-laws might be present, but so were my friends. I got along really well with Flynn, Drew, Theodore, Heather, and Evan. I did get along with Syrus, Alexia, Roxy, Cass, and TJ, but we didn't have a lot in common to chat about.

"So, ready to start work on Monday with me, son?" And there it was. I sighed and nodded.

"Are you excited?" Angela wondered.

"Not really." I replied honestly. I wasn't going to lie about it.

"Come on, Hector. It'll be fun," My mother tried with a smile.

"Father and son, working side by side," Dad beamed.

"You mean you training me for the next four months, so that you can retire, and I take over? Yeah, seems real father-son working together-like," I retorted.

"Hector, come on…We've had these plans since you were fifteen," Spencer tried.

"No, Dad…You've had these plans for me to take over your company," I reminded him firmly with a slight glance of narrowed eyes towards him. "Those are your hopes and dreams that you're determined to make me live out for them to come true," I continued. "I didn't want this, Dad. I didn't want to work at the office, leading the company as it's CEO. I wanted to keep working at the garage with Glenn, while going to college to be an engineer. I like to build and invent. I don't like sitting behind a desk, going over reports, having meetings, and running things. I like being active, hands on involved," I paused. "And the worst part isn't that you've basically forced me into this…It's that you don't give a damn about what I want."

"Hector, it's not like that. You agreed to take over after you graduate. To start training after you turned eighteen. I compromised with you on those things. Now, it's time to do your part." Spencer informed.

"See. You just did it again. You didn't hear a word I said, or have any regard for my hopes and dreams. You're just reminding me of the facts about this imaginary deal we made," I stated in a calm, but somewhat upset tone. I wasn't going to hide how I felt about all this. "I didn't want to take over, I merely agreed so you'd stop talking about it. I get it, I'm your only child and you don't want to just hand the company over to someone who would probably change or ruin it with their vision. I agreed to take over, but I didn't want to. I said take over after I graduate because I don't need the extra stress of running a company while still in high school. I said train after eighteen because I can't even legally work in a place like that until I'm eighteen. It was legally required to be eighteen to be the CEO and work in such a big corporation. The hours of that job would interfere with school, and that's against the labor laws for minors."

I let all that sit a bit with him. "But even with those requests, one of which was legally not allowed until I was eighteen anyway…You still found a way to involve me, and it was through an arranged marriage to secure your friggin merge with Mr. Hofferson's company. You don't think marriage isn't stressful on teenagers? That I have to manage this place, the bills, high school, and now, starting Monday, your training to become the CEO? You have no idea how hard this has been on me, and you again, don't care. Because it's all about what you want." I remarked calmly.

"Being married isn't that stressful," Marcus jumped in. "You and Astrid seem to be doing just fine. House is clean, stocked, you're not falling behind on bills. Astrid's been telling us how wonderful things are." He added.

"Yeah? Has she told you that I'm the one doing all the work because she lost her job?" I stated as Astrid tensed up. I noticed it. So maybe she hadn't told them she hasn't been working as the parents, mine and hers, looked shocked. "Astrid lost her job back in November. I've been the one working my ass off to pay the bills and rent. Just before we came to your house for Christmas last year, we got into a huge argument about how she wasn't doing housework or actively looking for a job. It's been all on me. You wanna sit there and tell it hasn't been stressful to do everything? She still doesn't have a job. She does housework now because I had to beg her to be part of this and help me while I bust my butt to keep this place afloat." I wasn't going to lie. "Things between me and her are fine now, but the point is that not everything was sunshine and ice cream cones before. Don't presume to tell me marriage isn't stressful when you're a teenager, and also, forced into something you weren't ready for." I sat back, arms folded.

I took a breath. "Back to where this began…" I paused a moment, eyes falling to my parents. "I asked you and mom to prove you care about me, as your only son, the day of the wedding…Just moments before it began. And you couldn't. You still can't now. As I told you before…" I got up and walked to my office, but didn't enter right away. "I'm not going to forget it or forgive it. As long as I live, I swear that I will never let this go. I'll live with the life YOU have chosen for me to live. But I will never let it go that you took my future and life. Once again, thank you for taking, ruining, and ending my life. Party is over, everyone go home." I walked into the room and slammed the door slightly. I locked both doors and laid down on my futon, pillow over my face wondering if I should scream in anger or smother myself to death. My life was already over as far as me making choices for myself. Did it matter at all if made it official that my life was ended? I breathed out a heavy sigh, tossing the pillow off and closing my eyes.