Welcome to the next installment of "Temptation"! This is the 15th chapter, so this chapter will be bigger than normal. About twice the size. Thank you all for reading and reviewing, it means a lot. Your reviews truly make my day. It's really awesome, so thank you so much! They are much appreciated. I certainly hope you enjoy the latest chapter.

"Hey there", she says timidly, carefully weighing her words as she slowly enters the room, hands fidgeting absentmindedly with the zipper of her vest, "how are you holding up?"

"I don't want to talk to you", you say firm without any hesitation whatsoever. Your tone of voice is cold, flat and strict, and you wish you weren't sporting a bump, so you could roll over to your side, your back directed at her to shun your once-assumed best friend out. She would definitely get the message then. But seeing as you're unable to do so at the moment, you continue to read without looking up at her, without even giving her a second glance to let her know the two of you will be okay. Frankly, you're uncertain if you will be.

She seems taken aback, blinking a couple of times as though she has to progress what you're actually telling her. It's been a couple of hours since 'the incident'. Surely, she must've waited for you to calm down. Little did she know you would still be pissed at her.

"I'm not sure what else I could do? I helped you get out of the house, I helped you get settled here, I got your bags and unpacked them. I mean -"

"You should've listened and done nothing", you pause, turning the page, "It wasn't your decision to make and act upon."

"I thought it wasn't a problem. Why would it be? You were absolutely sure to divorce him anyways", she approaches you and sits on the edge of the bed. She's about to touch your leg, to show some form of kindness and compassion, "Would it have mattered? Why? I thought I was helping you to get through this a lot faster."

You finally look up from your book and stare sternly back at her, eyes blazing with fire, but you manage to keep your temper in check, however barely. Her hand falters at the penetrating look you give her. She quickly retrieves it, placing it on her own knee. She directs her gaze to the ground. Seeing her so uncharacteristically distraught, you can't help but take pity on her.

"As much as I appreciate all you've done for me, I can't trust you anymore. And that's what this is about. It's not about Seth. It's about you and how you've disrespect my wishes, how you've betrayed my trust", you speak softly.

"Like Seth did", she suddenly barks, reminding you that the two of them are very much alike. She quickly rises to her feet. She stares at you, and you immediately look up, meeting her icy gaze.

"Seems to be one of my flaws: trusting bitches who are no good for me", you viciously bite back. There's a visible crack in your temper. The rising anger within has swollen immensely, which is now seeping out, and she has giving you the most perfect scapegoat to unleash your wrath upon. And so, you've given in, you can't help yourself, and she seems offended enough to feed your anger, making it easy for you to simply carry on.

"Wouldn't you say now is a good time to get rid of that flaw?", a devious smirk tugs at the corners of your lips, which earns you a genuinely confused frown, "leave me alone."

"But-", she stammers. At least, she attempts to. It's a last attempt to fight for your friendship, and you refuse to hear her out.

"Leave. Me. Alone. I don't want to deal with you anymore. You're only wearing me down, which is the last thing I need right now."

Defeated, and under your watchful eye, she shuffles out of the guestroom and leaves you alone.

You let out a sigh of relief, "I need a different place to stay".

—-

You've made a couple of calls and found another place to stay, but that wasn't the current problem. For the last twenty minutes, you've been staring at the phone beside you on the bed.

Should you?

No.

You shouldn't.

It'll make matters worse.

But you want to. You need to. You need to know. You need to know how he is. If he's doing all right. You just need to logic. You're a human being with feelings.

You chew onto your lower lip before picking up the phone. You hesitantly wait.. and wait.. until you've made up your mind and place the phone beside you again. You sigh. You really shouldn't. Really. It will do you no good.

You pick your book up again and carry on reading. When you're about to turn the page, your eyes find themselves distracted. They direct themselves automatically towards your phone.

"Fuck", you groan underneath your breath and hastily pick it up again. Your heart starts to pound dangerously in your chest as you search for him in your contacts. After all this time, he's still in there. You haven't even attempted to delete him.

Maybe… maybe she was right.

You were having second doubts. Not that you would admit this to anyone but yourself. God, you can't even admit this out loud. You still care for him, you still have a soft spot for him. And to hear how the divorce and the papers afterwards had affected him, it had actually done you some good. You were, and still are, relieved. It means he cares. Still. And always has. It helps to put your inner turmoil at ease, even for a little bit. You are already frightened enough as it is, with your unborn child moments away from entering this world. It's nice to know that the baby daddy really did care for you, despite what he did.

You call him with mixed emotions. You feel tense, unsure, nervous, and yet happy at the same time. You just want to hear his voice again. You've actually missed him, but you won't tell him that.

"Hello?", the other side asks.

That's strange. You raise an eyebrow. It's not the voice you were expecting. Did something happen? Or perhaps you've misheard. Yes, that must be it.

"Hello?", the other side asks again, this time a little bit more impatient.

You definitely didn't mishear, you conclude. The dangerous pounding has stopped immediately. You're unsure how to feel about this, except feel confused.

"Mike?", you frown, "What are you doing with Seth's cell phone?"

"I… I might've taken it from him. And I didn't give it back, either"

He sounds slightly embarrassed. It's quite endearing, really. Aside from him stealing his best friends phone, that is.

"Why did you take it?", you ask, trying to comprehend what's going on.

"I… he…. After what happened at the studio, I took Seth home. He regained consciousness and was going to call you straightaway. I figured you weren't in the mood to deal with him. At least, not at the time. So…"

"You took it?"

"Yes. Well…"

"Something happened, didn't it?"

There's a brief silence and Mike clears his throat before continuing, "Yes".

"Oh no. What happened?"

Knowing Seth and how stubborn he can be, you fear the worst.

"Things got pretty bad. We got into an argument. I was only trying to help. The recent events weren't really sinking in, so.."

"You forced it?"

"Yeah…"

You can just feel him lowering his head in shame. You shake yours lightly, "Bet that went pretty great, huh?". Your voice drips with sarcasm and Mike picks up on it straightaway. He laughs warm-heartedly, "Yeah, it went really well".

"Anyways", you pause, "do you know how I can contact Seth?"

"Have you tried calling the house phone?"

"Right. Didn't think of that. Thank you, Mike"

"No problem, little lady", there's a brief pause, "Oh, and good luck"

You frown. Obviously, he knows more than you.

"Right", you hide the puzzlement from Mike, "I'll talk to you later. Bye"

"Bye"

You hang up and mentally slap yourself on the forehead. Of course, the house phone. D'oh! You dial the number you've grown so accustomed to over the last few years. You wait, and wait, and wait, until you finally press the call button. Your heart sinks into your chest. The tension in your lower abdomen awakens and starts to bubble again. And it's not the good kind, either.

"Hello?", the other side anxiously picks up the phone.

"Seth", you state, taking in the fact you're actually on the phone with Seth, and the fact you're hearing his voice again. Truth be told, you didn't expect this. You didn't expect he would take the call. After all, he has caller ID. He would've known it was you.

"Hi", he replies in a whisper.

"How are you?"

Why is it so difficult to breath properly? Damn it. You try to steady your breathing, but with your heart beating fast and the nervous butterflies in your stomach, you're unable to do so.

"I'm … doing well"

"Really?"

"Yes", he replies quickly, "How are you?"

"Don't change the subject"

"I'm not-"

"Yes, you are"

He sighs. "Are you calling me to make me suffer some more?", he bitterly asks.

"No", you pause, feeling the sting of his words, "I'm calling to ease some of that suffering-"

He scoffs loudly, "Really?"

"Really. I just want to clear something up -"

"And what's that?"

"If you would stop interrupting me, I will tell you-"

"Okay"

"See, now you're doing it again. Just hear me out"

"…Sorry"

And it sounded genuine, too.

You inhale slowly yet deeply. What's the best way to say you've been fucked over? Unfortunately, flashes of your life together interrupt your trail of thought. How wonderful it was and what you could still have, had he not fucked up himself.

"Are you still there?"

"Yes, sorry. I just.. I don't know how to say this-"

"So say it"

"It's not that easy"

"What? You've already given birth and our child turned out to be one ugly motherfucker?"

You chuckle, "No, that's not it".

"No? If that's not it…wait, I'm not the baby daddy, am I?"

"No! Goddamnit, Seth! What do you think of me?!", you pretend to be angry at him while you can hear him laugh at the other side. His laughter was always so infectious. You can't help but smirk back. He had his ways of making you feel good, of making you laugh.

Damn him.

"I'm sorry", you suddenly say with utmost honesty.

The laughter fades away, "For what?"

"For everything. I didn't mean to get you into this mess. Those papers weren't supposed to reach you until after the baby was born, for starters. And… and… I never meant for you to feel so awful, really-"

"Are you.. are you crying? Please, stop crying, honey"

Unknowingly, you've broken down in front of your soon-to-be ex-husband. You're sobbing uncontrollably on the phone. You can't seem to stop yourself. It's gotten all too much, too big. And you can't handle it anymore. You need a strong shoulder to rely on, to help you get through these difficult times. You need him.

"I can't. I'm really, really sorry"

"It's all right. It's okay", he lulls with his rich, deep voice, soothing you.

"It's not", you say as tears flow down your face.

"It is. We'll work it out somehow. It'll be all right", he continues, still lulling, "Don't you worry about a thing, dear."

You don't reply but continue to cry instead. Realizing this, he decides to try something else, "Beautiful, remember our first anniversary?"

"You'd forgotten", you wheeze, remembering the times when he used to call you beautiful, which –as you re-call properly- he would only do when you'd wake up in the morning. He'd watch you while you were sleeping, but most importantly: he was there for you.

"I know, but I made up for it, didn't I?"

"….Yes"

"What did I do?"

"You…you.."

"Yes?"

He seems so calm, so focussed, so patient, and he has such a positive effect on you, you leisurely stop crying, with a wheeze and sob here and there in between, but still: you've stopped.

"You twisted your schedule so that you had a long weekend off, and we went to Connecticut, to visit your family and relatives"

"You had a great time, didn't you?"

"Yes"

"Me too, because I knew…at that moment", he pauses, and you can hear him swallowing hard, "I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you"

The two of you remain silent. You can't help but feel like crying again. Why does he have to be such a stupid, adorable little fuck? You didn't expect him to be like this. Not after everything that had happened. Why wasn't he angry at you? No, instead he was reminiscing, going back to the first time you met his family at a family gathering. It had been such an intimate gesture from his side, and you had loved him dearly for it.

"Oh God", you abruptly say, clutching the bedsheets tightly.

"Honey?"

"Oh God, Seth"

"What's going on, honey?", he grows worried, you can hear it.

"This isn't happening. Not now"

"Honey? Sweetie? "

"Call 911"