I was awoken the next morning by the sound of my phone going off. Quickly stretching out the knots that formed from laying on the uncomfortable couch, I reached over and answered it groggily. "Where you sleeping?" The gruff voice of my dad drifted from the phone. My body shifted into a sitting position before I frantically searched for my glasses.
"Dad? This is an unexpected surprise." I said, looking around to see if anyone else was a wake. "What's the occasion?" I asked not seeing anyone.
"Your mother called and told me about what had happened." There was a long pause, neither one of us knowing what to say.
"I'm sorry." I whispered, not really wanting to mess up the quiet between us.
"Why would you be sorry? This doesn't really involve me, it's you that I was calling to check up on." It sounded like he light a cigarette. "How our the boys taking it?"
A sigh escaped my lips. "Bjon blames me and I think Peter is still hoping that we'll stay together. I know the feeling of wanting that, but looking back and dealing with it myself now, I understand that it's not always for the best." I know at this point my dad had to have shrugged.
"What happened between your mother and I is in the past, you need to focus on what's going on with your family now." Even if he was a man of few words, they were usually filled with wisdom. "Are you going to bring him home or am I going to have to fly over there myself?" He asked releasing a deep, throaty laugh.
"I'd have to talk to Mathias about the whole thing. I'm not living in the house, I'm actually living with him right now and we'd have to see if we could even get off work at the same time." I replied.
"Mathias?" He asked, sounding like he was in deep thought. "Is that a Danish name?" Was the next thing he asked.
I paused for a second. "Yes."
My father didn't say anything to that and I knew he was comparing me to my mother. "I'll talk to you later, I've something to do." He finally said before hanging up.
I sat on the couch, blanket half thrown on the floor. The room was still dim, aside from the sun shinning through the thin curtains Tino and I had picked out when we first bought the house. They matched the furniture in the deep blue while contrasting the off white walls that almost gave me a headache during the summer. I would have to call my dad again sooner and try to fit the unspoken break in our relationship.
Peter came rusting down the stairs like the devil was on his heels. The look on his face showed fear. "Dad! You're still here!" He exclaimed as he bolted over to me and wrapped his arms around my neck.
Instinctively, I returned the embrace even though I was confused. "Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?" I asked, loosening his tight grip.
Peter looked away from me and bit his lip. "I've just been having dreams where you just walked out and I never see you again." He stopped and moved to sit next to me. "Mom said that your father did that to you for a few months after your parents left each other. Will you do that to us here?" He asked, addressing the elephant in the room.
I rubbed his back, trying to comfort him. "Never." I said in a soft voice. "I will not leave you no matter what."
"But what about your new boyfriend? You might end up spending all your time with him and not realize that you forgot about us."
I pulled him back in to a hug. "Never going to happen." I said making sure that Peter understood this. "Go get dressed and we'll go see whatever movie you want." I said letting him go.
Peter nodded and headed back up stairs.
Leaning forward, I pushed my glasses up and rubbed my eyes. It was then that I realized that I might have to sit down with Peter as well, and since e has his own issues with abandonment, it would be a lot harder than with Tino. While I was wallowing in this, said Finn entered the living room. "How'd you sleep?" He asked.
"Fine." I replied, repositioning my glasses and pulling my bag over to look for a change of clothes. "You?" I asked to be polite, knowing he had our soft bed.
"Alright. I'm about to make coffee and start on breakfast. You want anything specific?" I shook my head before he took his leave to the kitchen.
Grabbing my clothes, I made my way to the guest bathroom near the stairs. Its been ages since I last had to use it, when Tino's parents came to visit and we used a blow-up mattress. The lighting was dim and it could use a cleaning, but it was useable. Stripping from last night's clothes, I got in to some fresh ones before I realized I left the rest of my bath supplies in the living room.
"Please just try with him. It's not all his fault and he loves you. You're breaking his heart." Tino's voice rang out from the back porch. I quietly maneuvered my way to the kitchen doorway.
"I don't care! I don't want to see him! Just leave me alone!" Bjon yelled and upon seeing me, his frown deepened before he stormed out.
Tino turned around with apologetic eyes. "He'll come around." It seemed more like a pray than a comfort it was meant to be.
Letting out a sigh I shook my head. "He's always been resentful towards me." I said shuffling back to the guest bathroom and finished getting ready. By time I was ready, Tino was calling Peter and I for food. He had fully set the table with every type of juice we had in the house. "Table looks nice." I commented after taking my seat. Peter soon joined us afterwards.
"Thank you!" Tino beamed as he floated to the table with toast in hand. "So what are you boys planning on doing today?" He asked putting some eggs on his plate.
Peter grabbed some bacon. "Dad and I are going to the movies." He said excitedly. "Oh Dad, can we go to the dollar theater? That way we can watch multiple movies all day." The gleam in his eyes made it impossible to say no to.
"Sure." I replied, taking a bite of food. A smile graced his face and the morning continued peacefully. I can't remember when there wasn't a threat of horror lingering over us afterwards. Tino joked about stuff at work and I caught glimpses of the Tino I fell in love with. Noting this, I froze and couldn't help but lock gazes with him. Noticing my staring, he also stopped. His eyes seemed to plead with me, asking some unknown question. "We should get going Peter." I said, eyes still locked with the Finn.
"Okay." Our son said before popping up and putting his dish in the sink. I followed suit, breaking eye contact with Tino and heading out the door.
The rest of the day was spent with Peter jumping from theater to theater, watching any movie that started when the last one ended. It was nice spending quality time with him and not worrying about anything else. "I think my favorite one had to have been the King's Men." Peter said as we pulled back in to the driveway. "Are you going to be staying the night again?" He asked on our way to the door.
Knocking on the door, I shook my head. "Can't. Got work tomorrow and have to go back to the apartment for my suit." I said waiting for Tino to answer the door.
"Couldn't you just stay? I'm sure you have atleast one suit in your bedroom closet."
"I just can't." I replied, but Peter wasn't going to leave it at that.
"Why not? I thought you said you wouldn't put your new boyfriend over us. Aren't we supposed to be at the top of your list?"
I couldn't help but lose my temper and the worst part is I don't know why. "You are, but it's not my bedroom anymore! Tino and I aren't getting back together. This can't be fixed by a few nice days!"
Peter's eyes welled up and as soon as Tino answered the door he ran past him and up to his room. "What the Hell was that about?" Tino asked, turning in to mama bear. "There was no call for you to yell at him like that!" He yelled at me.
"I…" I was cut off before I could get anything else out.
"You know what, forget it. Good night Berwald." He said before shutting the door on my face.
I stood on the porch debating on whether I should try knocking to try and apologize or just going back to Mathias' and letting them cool off. In the end, I wound up driving back to the apartment. Ascending the stairs, I passed by the couple that I saw the first night still fighting. I unlocked Mathias' door with the key he gave me and was greeted with an angry Dane seated on the couch. "Hej." I said sitting next to him.
Mathias turned off the TV and turned to my with his arms crossed. "Are you going to just ignore the whole thing?" He asked.
"What do you mean?"
"I tried calling and texting you all day and you never answered." He said pulling out his phone to show me. "You promised to text me if you were going to stay the night and you never did. I know I might sound like a clingy girlfriend or something, but you kinda had me worried. I ended up taking off work to make sure I didn't end up getting a call about you from the police." Mathias stared at me expectantly.
I leaned back. There was no way I was in the mood to be chewed out by my boyfriend as well. "First off, they wouldn't call you. They'd call Tino since I'm still "married" to him." Mathias' face looked like he was about to explode on me. "And second, I'm sorry." My voice was soft and I looked him in he crystal blue eyes sincerely. This seemed to help cool him down.
"Well…You should be." He replied, his demeanor relaxing. "Okay, now I'll ask, what happened?" I gave him a questioning look, to which he just raised and eyebrow and let a smirk play on his lips. "Come on. I know when you're upset."
I couldn't help but let out a chuckle. "I yelled at Peter and really upset him. He wanted me to stay and asked why I couldn't. I ended up snapping and telling him we'd never get back together."
Mathias sighed and cuddled in to my side. "Give him some space and I'm sure he'll get use to the idea." He pulled me in for a sweet kiss. "But I will say that was an ass move to yell at you kid." He said when we broke apart and laughed when I slightly shoved him. "Come on." He said pulling me up and to the bedroom. "You need to get some sleep." Following blindly, I couldn't help but remember both my parents suggesting a visit. Maybe it would be good for my relationship with the kids if we saw them.
I was pulled to bed with Mathias helping me out of my over clothes. "What about me sleeping?" I asked kissing the Dane's addicting lips.
He grinned. "You should know by now that that's just a ploy to get you in my bed." The blond pulled me back in to a heated kiss. Even with the hot man that I was making out with, I couldn't keep my mind off the conversations. "Stop thinking." Mathias muttered without breaking the kiss.
"How do you feel about taking a trip to Sweden?" I asked in to the kiss. This caused Mathias to pull back and raise an eyebrow at me.
"I'm sorry? Can you say that again?"
I searched his eyes for any protest. "I was just wondering if you'd be willing to come to Sweden with me and the boys if I decided to go." I said trying to gage his reaction.
"Well, maybe I should meet them before you start thinking about me going on a trip with all of you. It might also be a bit much to go all the way to Sweden." I nodded and tried to lean in for another kiss, but was held back. "You know, maybe you need to go to sleep, since you have work." He said before turning out the light and settling down.
Adrenaline shot through my veins. How had I been able to screw up so much in one day? Panicked, I couldn't help but shake Mathias a bit. "What?" He asked looking at me like I was crazy.
"What did I do? Whatever it is I didn't mean to upset you." I blurted out.
Grabbing on to the back of my neck, he pulled me in close so our noses were almost touching. "Don't take it the wrong way, but I think you might be trying to rush this a bit. Give the boys more time to adjust." He paused looking to my lips. "And I think I need some more time to get use to the idea of being a type of step-parent." I quickly nodded, still feeling on edge. Mathias gave me a small smile. "Good." He gave me one last good-night kiss.
A/N: Sorry it took so long, but I've been a little busy with messed up schedules.
Cardfighter By Maple: I'm so glad you're enjoying this story and I hope you liked this new chapter. :)