Chapter 26: Rash Decisions

Elena’s P.O.V
The house was everything I always wanted.
The huge living room was the first sight that greeted me as soon as I entered the door. The kitchen was to the left with an area for a dining table where a table for eight could easily fit in. There were three guest rooms on the ground floor with a common bathroom and four bedrooms on the first floor, each with their separate bathrooms. The windows were huge and the ceilings tall and the house was painted an array of pastels with each room being a different theme. The master bedroom was a beautiful green. But one thing I noticed immediately was that the entire house was devoid of any furniture.
After I had inspected every room, been to every corner of the house, I turned to call for Landon but found him leaning against the doorjamb of the master bedroom. When he saw me looking at him, he straightened and came to stand in front of me. There were so many emotions that crossed his eyes as I looked up into them, but they passed by so quickly that I couldn’t read any of them.
“Do you like it?” He asked, his voice a bit hoarse.
“This is perfect.” I told Landon and watched as a smile lit up his eyes. “But why didn’t you furnish it?”
“This house was meant for us.” Landon told me frankly. “So it felt unfair to furnish it without you.”
I looked away as he mentioned ‘us’. “Landon…I don’t think there is an ‘us’ anymore.”
“But can’t we start over?” He asked desperately, turning me to face him. “Can’t we forget the past and start afresh?”
“How can I forget that you cheated on me, Landon?” I asked him directly because there was no point in beating around the bush anymore. “We didn’t speak to each other for over two months, I didn’t even know what was going on in your head. Now I can understand that you wanted to surprise me with this house so you were working extra to earn money. But for a teenager, I had felt so betrayed that you would just give up on us without any explanation. I didn’t have anyone to reassure me that everything would be fine. That’s why I decided to leave. And you came back just when I was moving out and we had that big argument. But instead of waiting on me or following me or even trying to contact me, you went to your friend’s party, got drunk and took a girl to your room. I realized my mistake when I was about to board the plane but it was already too late. You were half-undressed when I found the two of you. It doesn’t matter what happened next, Landon, but you did cheat on me.”
“I told you I never slept with her!” Landon gave me a little shake. “How can I make you believe me?”
“I do believe you, Landon.” I removed his hands from my shoulders and stepped back. “And that’s exactly the problem.”
“Believing in me?” He asked incredulously.
“No,” I shook my head. “The fact that our entire relationship was a car crash waiting to happen. It was filled with rash decisions right from the start. The whole ‘forbidden fruit is sweeter’ phase is what brought us together. We were both out of each other’s leagues right from the start and we found that exciting, thrilling to go behind everyone’s backs and fall in love with each other. And then we stopped communicating and you didn’t even think once to reassure me. Yes, I made the first rash decision on wanting to leave everything behind, but then you made the rash decision of cheating on me the very same day. You didn’t even wait for a week or even one day! How many women had you been with since, Landon?”
“Can you even ask me that question when you’re the one pregnant with someone else’s child?” Landon’s eyes were ice cold when he asked me this.
“Yes, I can, because in these last three years, Knight is the only person I had been with and that too only once.” I gave him a humorless laugh. “And the fact that you’re asking clarification from me is another reason why we shouldn’t be together again.”
Landon took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. “Look, I didn’t mean it that way. The child is yours and if you choose to be with me, I’d love it just like my own child. I don’t care if we have to let Knight be a part of the child’s life, Elain, I just want you happy.”
“If you want me to be happy then I want everyone to leave me alone. Both you and Knight.” I told him straight up. “Right now, I need time to think. I need time to breathe. And I can’t do that with both of you breathing down my neck, asking me to choose. You want me to choose? Fine, I chose my baby.”
“Elena…you’re doing it again.” Landon said with a sad smile. “You just said that we had been making rash decisions ever since we first met. But aren’t you doing the same right now? Making another rash decision?”
Yes, he was right. I might just be making a rash decision but right now I needed my father’s comforting arms around me, my mother’s sweet kiss on my cheeks and my brother’s hand on my shoulders. I needed them to tell me that everything was going to be okay.
At this moment, I wanted to scream at the Gods for being so cruel to both me and Landon, for taking way three precious years from us. I wanted to scream at Knight for getting me pregnant because he wanted revenge. I wanted to tear into myself for feeling anything for Knight at all. I wanted to curse myself for having feelings for both men, Landon and Knight. But mostly I wanted to cry until there was nothing left to cry about. Maybe it was because I was pregnant and my hormones were all over the place?
But mostly, I needed to accept the fact that I was pregnant, that I was having a baby…a living, breathing baby.