A few days later I decided to go see Colin. I knew I was breaking my promise to Teddy and I felt terrible about it, but it was something that I felt I had to do.

Teddy had owled me that morning to tell me that he was coming over after he got off work at six in the evening. So I decided that going to see Colin at four would leave me plenty of time to get back before then, leaving Teddy none the wiser.

I set off for town, knowing that he would be working. When I arrived at the store, I paused outside of, suddenly nervous. I hadn't seen Colin since that night right before the start of school outside the pub. I had no idea what is current feelings about the baby or me were. Or if he even thought of us at all. What if he took one look at me and told me to get the hell out?

I stood there, my feet stuck to the sidewalk, staring at the store. It looked the same as it always did. Peeling green paint, crooked sign, painted words on the windows proclaiming the great deals on milk and other assorted food items.

My mind flashed to the day I met Colin. It had been at this very store.

It was the summer before my fifth year of school and my mum had sent me to pick up something some eggs and a gallon of milk. I walked in and noticed that someone new was working behind the counter. He didn't even look up when the chiming bell on the door signaled my entrance; he was too absorbed with writing something on a piece of paper.

I grabbed what I needed and headed to the counter. When he still didn't look up, I cleared my throat loudly. He put down his pen and finally raised his head.

"Sorry," he said, looking me up and down. "Didn't mean to keep a pretty girl like you waiting."

For some reason, that line worked on me and I smiled at him. "What are you writing?" I asked.

"Song lyrics. I'm in a band."

"Wow," I replied, as if this was the most impressive thing I'd ever heard. "What instrument do you play?"

"Guitar," he said, "but I'm the lead singer as well."

"Wow," I repeated, batting my eyelashes at him. Yes I actually batted my eyelashes. Shameful, isn't it?

"You should come listen to us," he told me. "We have a gig tomorrow night."

"Okay. Maybe I will," I said, not wanting to sound overly eager. On the inside though I was jumping up and down with excitement. A muggle boy was inviting me to a muggle club to hear a muggle band play. As a fifteen year old witch, I thought this was one of the most exciting things that had ever happened to me.

He grinned at me and I noticed how attractive he was. Mainly because of his eyes. They were beautiful. A deep green color with flecks of gold. They stood out against his pale skin, which contrasted sharply with his black hair.

"Great," he said, scribbling something on a piece of paper and handing it to me. "Here's the address of the place."

I took the paper from him. "I'm Victoire, by the way" I said.

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

I went to the club the next night and listened to his band's entire set, and then I made out with Colin in the backseat of his car for an hour.

And now, more than two years later, I was standing in front of the same store where it had all began. Only this time I was pregnant with his baby.

I took a deep breath and pushed open the door.

Colin was standing behind the counter, scribbling furiously on a piece of paper, too absorbed in his lyrics to even look up.

Déjà vu.

I walked over to the counter and cleared my throat to get his attention, just like I had two and a half years before.

He lifted his head, dropping his pen in shock when he saw me.

"Victoire! What… what are you doing here?"

I ignored his question. "You got a haircut," I said instead.

"Yeah," he replied. "Needed a change."

"It looks nice," I told him. And it did. I had never liked his long hair. It always looked too dirty and unkept.

"Thanks," he said, his eyes dropping to my stomach. "Wow, you got fat."

"Gee thanks, Colin," I said, rolling my eyes. "I forgot how eloquent you were."

"I just meant that last time I saw you, you didn't look pregnant at all. And now…"

"And now I do."

"And now you do."

We stood in silence for a few minutes before Colin spoke.

"There's really a baby in there, isn't there? And it's… ours."

"Yeah," I whispered. "It is."

There was another long silence, that Colin was the one to break again. "What are you doing here, Vic?" he asked again.

"I needed to talk to you," I said.

He nodded. "We'll talk when I get off," he said. "Connor should be here to take my place in about 5 minutes."

"Great," I said. I made my way over to the magazine section. Reading about muggle celebrities never failed to amuse me.

The bell chimed, signaling a customer. A heavy-set, middle-aged woman came bustling over to the magazines. She immediately snatched up the nearest copy of Vogue.

"Oooh," she gushed. "Models are just so stylish."

"And so anorexic," I added.

She glanced over at me, opening her mouth to reply. Then her eyes dropped to my stomach and she let out a loud squeal.

"Ohmigod! You're pregnant! That's so exciting!"

I smiled politely. I didn't even know this woman. How could my pregnancy possibly be that exciting for her?

Up at the counter, Colin snorted loudly.

The woman turned to him, waggling her pudgy finger. "Don't you laugh at my enthusiasm, boy. Babies are a wonderful gift."

"Sorry," Colin mumbled.

"I always wanted a child of my own," the woman continued, "but I guess God had other plans for me and I never had one. So when I see a pregnant woman, I remind her not to take that baby for granted. Because it's a miracle."

"Yes, Colin, don't laugh. Our baby is a miracle," I told him, trying not to laugh myself. "A miracle that would have been nice a few years from now, but still."

The woman's eyes widened. "Do you mean to tell me that he's the father?" she asked.

"Unfortunately."

"Well that's wonderful!" she exclaimed.

I rolled my eyes. This woman was way too happy.

"I suppose so," said Colin.

At that moment, Connor walked in to take over his shift.

"Well it was nice meeting you," I told the woman. "Wish we could stay and chat, but we've got things to do."

I hurried over to the counter and grabbed Colin's hand, pulling him towards the door. "Come on," I hissed in his ear. "I can't take any more of her cheeriness."

"Oooh," I heard her exclaim behind us. "Young love!"

"We're not in love," I shouted as I pulled open the door. We stepped outside and the door closed behind us.

"Where should we go?" Colin asked.

"How 'bout the beach?"

"Okay," he agreed.

We slowly ambled down to the beach, silent the entire time. It was a comfortable silence, though. Not the awkward kind that makes you want to melt into the floor to escape it.

We came to a log and sat down on it.

"This is where you told me you were pregnant," he said.

"Yeah, I guess it is," I said, shivering. "It's so cold."

"Well, it is winter on the coast of England," remarked Colin.

"Believe me, I noticed," I said, pulling my coat tighter around my body.

He pulled out a cigarette and lit it.

I shook my head. "You know I hate that."

"I've been thinking about quitting," he said. "Just haven't gotten around to it."

I drug my foot around in the sand, trying to think of what to say to him.

"So what was it that you wanted to talk about?" he asked interrupting my thoughts.

"I just… I wanted to know if you have any interest at all in being a part of our daughter's life." I stared at the ground, not wanting to look at him, fearing what his answer would be.

"Daughter?"

I slowly lifted my head and looked at him. He was staring right at me with those intense green eyes, as if he could see right into my soul.

"Yeah. The baby's a girl," I replied.

"Wow," he said. "A girl."

I nodded.

He was silent, staring at out at the water and taking long drags of his cigarette.

After a while, he dropped in on the ground, smashing into the sand with his shoe. He turned and looked at me.

"Vic, there's something I need to tell you."

"What?"

He was quiet for a moment, and then he asked, "I never told you about my father, did I?"

"You just said that he wasn't around."

"Well he used to be around. He was an alcoholic and he'd always come home drunk and my mum… she'd be waiting for him with dinner but it'd always be cold coz he was so late. And he'd come home and yell at her and hit her and I'd just hide in the corner hoping he wouldn't come after me. But sometimes he would…"

He trailed off and stared down at his feet.

"Colin…" I said, laying my hand on his arm.

He lifted his head and looked at me. His expression was so sad and so wounded. I wanted to take him in my arms and hold him. I wanted to kiss away his pain, make him forget those terrible memories.

Suddenly my mind flashed to Teddy. My boyfriend. The boy I loved.

Merlin, I was so confused.

"Anyway," he continued. "I promised myself I would never turn into him. But sometimes I'm scared that I am. Every time I get drunk, I end up hating myself for it. But I keep doing it."

"You're not going to turn into your father."

He closed his eyes. "You don't know that."

"Yes I do." I paused. "Colin, why exactly are you telling me this?"

"I was getting to that," he said, opening his eyes, a small smile flickering across his face. "Be patient."

I waited for him to continue.

"When you told me you were pregnant, all I could picture was my dad. My dad beating my mum. My dad beating me. And I just… I just imagined that being me one day and I just couldn't let that happen. I couldn't handle the idea of being a father and allowing that to become a possibility. And so I said those awful things to you. And I'm so sorry about that. But I was so scared, you know?"

"What about the excuse you used with me? About not being able to be a father coz of your band being on the verge of hitting it big."

"Well," he replied. "That wasn't really the reason I was upset, I kinda just used it as an excuse. But my band is really important to me, you know that, Vic. We are gonna get a record deal some day. I know it."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

"You don't think we can, do you?"

"I just think you need to be realistic, Colin."

He sighed. "But reality sucks."

I laughed. "Yeah, but that doesn't mean you can escape it. You just have to accept it."

"I missed you, Vic," he said suddenly.

I turned and looked at him. "Sometimes I missed you too."

"Sometimes?"

I shrugged. "The last memories I had of you were you being an arsehole and treating me like crap. I wasn't gonna spend hours moping around, missing you, after that.""

"Are you still with that Teddy bloke?"

I nodded.

"I see," he said.

"Speaking of Teddy, I'm meeting him soon. I should go," I said, standing up.

"Wait," he said, grabbing my hand to stop me. "I never answered your question."

"What question?"

"The one about whether I wanted to be a part of the baby's life."

"Oh," I replied nervously. "That question."

"I think I do."

My eyes widened. "Really?"

He nodded.

I felt a grin spread across my face. "Great!"

"Yeah, so… whenever that baby's born, just bring her around, okay?"

"Would you like to be there when she's born?" I asked.

He looked surprised. "You don't want me there."

"Yes I do. You're her father."

"Well alright then."

"Okay, well I'll just be going then," I said.

"Right," he said, standing up. "See you later."

"Er… goodbye," I said, feeling awkward. Should I hug him? Or just leave?

He made the decision for me when he pulled me into his arms. "Bye, Vic," he whispered into my ear.

"Bye, Colin."

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