Chapter Five: Maturity

Mari sat at one of the back corner tables of the café where she and Peter used to always grab breakfast. They had the best bagels around and their coffee was to die for. It was always their Sunday morning easygoing breakfast. But, today was going to be a very different and difficult experience for them and Mari had no clue how to prepare herself. Of course she'd had breakups before, and a lot of the time she'd been the person to break it off, but this time was different. They'd been together so long, she loved him deeply, and he was her best friend in the world… But it didn't feel right. Maybe she was being childish, but she needed everything to feel right for her to commit to anything serious like marriage. Hell, she was still practically a kid. She lives off of dancing, video gaming, and making inappropriate jokes. How could she be ready for something so serious?

She snapped out of her stream of thought when Peter walked in. She waved him over and he smiled at her, walking towards her. He looked like home to her. He was everything she'd ever wanted in someone, he was kind, caring, sweet, not to mention adorable and tall and he made her feel safe… But even though she could think of a million reasons why she should love him, why she should marry him, why she shouldn't break up with him… She didn't actually feel any of it. She just knew that she should… And she wasn't going to build a life around "should's."

"Hi, Peter." Mari said, feeling a little nauseous, standing up to give him a quick hug.

"Hey, you." He replied, trying to seem happy and relaxed, but she could tell that he was nervous by the way his hands were shaking. She took a deep breath and they sat down. How the hell was she going to do this?

"So… I…" She tried to start, but nothing was coming. She looked at him and then down at the table, unable to find the words.

"Mari, I miss you so much…" He said it suddenly, like he couldn't keep it from coming out. He looked at her and she could see his heart breaking in his eyes, and she tried to swallow but a lump blocked her throat. She looked down and studied the wood grain of the table to keep from crying. After a minute or two, she relaxed and looked back up at him.

"Peter…" She began softly.

Mari had left around 9 am. Sohinki had tried to stay in and sleep late, but as she was getting ready to leave, he couldn't get himself to fall back asleep. He had walked out to the living room and said goodbye to her, wishing her luck. She insisted that she'd be back before lunch.

It was now around 2 pm and Sohinki was starting to worry a little bit. What if she's lost? What if she got in an accident? What if someone kidnapped her? He knew that his worrying was stupid and unnecessary but he couldn't help it. He had refrained from texting her in case she was still in the middle of talking to Peter. But once it reached 2:30, he figured one text couldn't hurt.

HEY MARI, HOPE EVERYTHING'S OKAY. LET ME KNOW WHEN YOU'RE HEADING BACK.

Now all he could do was wait. God, he hated waiting. Luckily, about thirty seconds later he felt his phone buzzing. He quickly got it out to look at it. It wasn't Mari. It was Lasercorn. He quickly picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Hey Sohinki? It's Lasercorn."

"Hey, what's up? Haven't heard from you in a while."

"Well, I've got some news." Sohinki immediately remembered the whole Lasercorn situation. He felt really bad for forgetting, even if had been just for a little while. He knew he should've been a better friend and tried to help, or find out what was going on. Mari's situation had just distracted him since it had been so present in his home.

"What's going on?" He asked eagerly.

"So I know I made a big deal the other day and I was really secretive and it was dumb, so I'm sorry for that…It's just that…well, Brina's pregnant." Sohinki's jaw immediately dropped. He had assumed that it was bad news but woah, Lasercorn with a kid?

"Dude! Oh my god, congratulations! This is amazing!"

"Thanks, buddy. I didn't know what to do at first, I was sort of freaked out, you know?"

"Well, I'm freaked out because Brina will have to deal with you and a mini version of you too." Sohinki teased him, laughing.

"Hey, she signed up for it!"

"Hopefully they'll get your eyes."

"This kid's gonna have a badass laser stare, trust me."

They talked for a while, going back and forth and just joking around; it was great stress relief for Sohinki. He was so relieved to hear that it was good news all along. And even though Lasercorn's reaction may have been a little excessive, he knew that he wouldn't have reacted any better. They only got off the phone when Mari walked in. She looked very upset, and gray, she was even hunched over a little bit. He could tell that her conversation had not gone well.

"Oh, Lasercorn, sorry I've got to go. Talk to you Monday, alright? See ya." When Mari heard that it was Lasercorn she immediately perked up.

"Were you on the phone with Lasercorn? What's going on?"

"Calm down, it's good news. Really good news." He told her excitedly. Mari's eyes widened and she grinned, quickly coming over to sit on the couch.

"What is it?!"

"Get ready…. Brina's pregnant." Mari's jaw dropped and she let out a little squeal.

"Oh my god! OH my god. Oh my GOD, Lasercorn with a kid? This is insane, oh my god. This can't be real, this kid's going to be insane!" Mari collapsed into the couch, grinning widely. "This is so great."

"I know, right? I'm so excited for him." Sohinki leaned back and without thinking he put his arm around Mari. "I told him that I hope they get his eyes." Mari laughed loudly, resting her head on his shoulder.

"That kid's laser stare is going to be ridiculous." They both dissolved into laughter, making jokes for a solid five minutes. It was the happiest Mari had felt all day. And suddenly, the rest of the day came rushing back to her mind and she got tired again. Sohinki noticed that Mari suddenly seemed to deflate a little and he also remembered where she had been all day.

"Oh…Mari…" he said, unsure of what to say. "How were things today?" He knew that that was a horrible start, but he couldn't find any other words.

"Well," she said, letting out a huge sigh. "Honestly? Kind of horrible. But not as bad as I had expected."

"What happened?" Sohinki looked at her, really concerned. Mari wouldn't meet his gaze; she just looked down at her hands, worried that she'd start to cry. But she just swallowed the tears and managed to tell him.

"Well we met at the café…and we talked and…I ended it. And it was messy and not good…" She took a deep breath, her eyes tearing up. "And he kept begging me to try to make it work, telling me he loved me, saying we could slow things down, just go back to normal…" She paused and looked at Sohinki, tears starting to pour out and her voice breaking. "And I just kept thinking about how I should just take him back, I should just love him, I should do this or that because it's right…But I can't do that, Sohinki…I'm so confused…" She started to cry, letting sobs out. Sohinki pulled her close and gently stroked the back of her hair. She sobbed into his chest, her body shaking.

"Shh…it's okay, Mari. It's going to be okay, I promise you." He whispered to her. It killed him to see her so upset; he wished he could make it better. He'd do anything to keep her from being hurt. They stayed like that for while, Mari gasping and crying, and Sohinki doing whatever he could to try to comfort her. Eventually Mari cried herself out and sat up, feeling numb. Sohinki got up to make her some tea and he got her a bowl of ice cream. He brought it back to her and she thanked him, feeling empty. They laid on the couch together until it was late. Around 1 am, Sohinki knew that they should turn in, and that Mari needed a good night's sleep.

"Hey, Mari?" He said, gently rubbing her back.

"Yeah?" She murmured quietly.

"We should go to bed. I'll sleep on the couch and you go sleep in my bed." He started to get up but she shook her head.

"Please can you come to the bed too? I sleep so much better with you there…" She looked at him pleadingly. He knew that it was a bad idea, it just felt very wrong to him. Like he would be violating some moral code. But if it made her feel better, he couldn't say no.

"Okay, but…" She looked at him and he couldn't even try to object. "Okay. Let's go."

They climbed into his bed and almost immediately both fell asleep. They woke up to a lazy Sunday morning around 10 am. The birds were chirping and the sun was shining through the windows, illuminating Mari. Sohinki found himself staring at her. She was beautiful laying there, she was always beautiful. Eventually she woke up too and they stayed there, silent for a while, until Sohinki's stomach growled. He looked at her and they both laughed.

"Chocolate chip pancakes?" He asked, getting up to go make them.

"I could get used to this." She said, grinning at him, and getting up to follow him into the kitchen.