Isaiah POV

"Wow." I breathe. Meghan is standing in front of me in a purple dress. I can't help as my eyes travel up her tanned legs all the way to her green eyes. Those green eyes I could gaze into for hours. Those green eyes that are- that are questionably staring at the flowers in my hand. Oh right. I thrust the bouquet into her hands. "These are for you."

"Thanks?" She questions with her eyebrows furrowed. "Um, I'll go put these in a vase." She walks back into the apartment leaving the door open. "You can come in."

After entering the apartment and closing the door I stand there awkwardly not knowing what to do. I was thrilled last night when Meghan agreed to this date. I plan on spending the whole night proving to her that I can be a better boyfriend than I was in high school. After all these years I think I finally understand why she went to Jeremy. She always told me she never wanted to go on luxurious dates so I never took her on any, not that I could afford it- but that's not the point. The point is that I never tried to treat her how she deserved. I gave her what I thought she wanted, but maybe she wanted the opposite of what she said. Maybe she wanted those luxurious dates. So, no more sneaking into movie theaters and midnight picnics in the park. Tonight it's fine dining and a show at the opera house.

A tug on my pant leg pulls me from my thoughts. The baby Mia had with her at the diner last night is pulling himself up into a standing position. His chubby little hands reach for me and I bend to pull him up. "Hi there little guy."

Hearing a small gasp I look away from the baby to see a little girl with chestnut hair standing there looking at me, her dark eyes filled with fear. "Hi." I kneel down so I'm eye level with her and she takes a step away. Her eyes flicker between me and the baby, that's currently trying to shove his pacifier into my nose, before she runs away.

I stand back up and bounce the baby on my arm slightly. "That was weird. Is that your sister? Huh? You're not Mia's baby right?"

"What's wrong?" I hear Meghan ask from somewhere in the apartment. "Where are we going?"

Suddenly the little girl comes back. This time, pulling Meghan along with her. She still looks wide-eyes and terrified. Her skinny little finger suddenly points at me and she looks back at Meghan with tears in her eyes. Understanding floods Meghan's face and she walks toward me. Her arms are held out in front of her, silently requesting me to hand her the baby. Once she has him the girl relaxes slightly but still looks wearily at me.

"Zoey," Meghan walks over to her and kneels down. The girl- Zoey's eyes scan the baby frantically before they lock with Meghan's. "That guy is my friend, okay?" The word friend causes an odd feeling to bubble in my stomach. I don't want to be her friend. "His name is Isaiah." I give Zoey a gentle smile and small wave. "And he's really nice, I promise."

"Xander, where's Ryder?" Mia's worried voice rings through the apartment.

"Um.."

"Front door Mia." Meghan says standing up.

"What- oh." Mia's eyes meet mine. "Hi Isaiah."

"Hey Mia." I stretch my arm out and give her a sideways hug. Mia was always like the sister I never had, and I know she's been taking care of Meghan these past few years. Which, is why I'm able to overlook the fact that she broke my best friend's heart.

She pulls away from the hug and takes the baby from Meghan. "You guys better get going." She casts a meaningful glance to Meghan before walking away, Zoey trailing behind her.

"You ready?" I ask Meghan who's staring at the floor.

She nods and I hold out my hand which she hesitantly takes. Her hand is cold but at the same time, it burns my skin. I've missed her touch. I've missed the way her hand rests in mine. I've missed everything about her. The walk to my truck is silent and I don't dare speak. If I start talking now she might change her mind about this date. After helping her into my truck and getting in myself, I start it and pull out of the spot.

First I'm taking her to dinner a restaurant called 'One if by Land, Two if by Sea', a doctor I work with recommended it. It's supposed to be a romantic restaurant, expensive as hell but romantic. Then we're going to some show at the Metropolitan Opera House. She used to talk about going to shows at the opera house with her parents so I hope she'll enjoy this.

The silence becomes so unbearable I decide I have to break it. "So," My eyes flitter to Meghan before going back to the road and I see her head snap up. "Zoey and the baby, are they Mia's kids?" Please say no. I don't know what Cameron would do. He claims to be over her but I know he's not. He loved Mia almost as much as I love Meghan.

Meghan laughs lightly. "No, she wishes they were, but they live down the hall. Their mom is-" She pauses and tries to find the right wording. "Well, she's not the best. They spend a lot of time with us."

"What do you mean she's not the best?"

"Um, they come with odd bruises a lot." I can already feel my fists tighten on the steering wheel. That kind of mother could even think about hitting her children. "They're usually on Xander, he's ten, but sometimes they're on Zoey. Ryder, the baby, hasn't had any."

I can tell she's uncomfortable talking about the situation so decide not to ask more questions. "At least they have you." I think back to just a few minutes ago when she gently took Ryder from my hands. The way her fingers brushed against mine sending a jolt through my whole body. I try to picture the scene but instead of Ryder, it's a little girl that looks just like Meghan or a little boy that has my features. Maybe even a mix of us both. A smile starts to cross my face but disappears as quickly as it appeared. I'm getting ahead of myself. We're only on our first date. Well, second first date.

The rest of the drive is silent and when we pull into the restaurant parking Meghan's eyes go wide as she takes in the restaurant. That means impressed right?

Once the truck is in park I jump out and rush around the front to open her door. With her hand in the crook of my arm, we walk in. The host immediately notices us- or Meghan to be exact. His eyes roam her body, more specifically her legs and I feel my jaw clench. "Reservation for Hunt." I ground out and he notices me.

His eyes go to the computer and he nods. "Right this way." We're seated in the back by two French doors. A garden seen on the outside. Once we're seated the host leaves and a waitress takes his place. She sets menus in front of both of us then asks our drink order.

"Just water please." Meghan requests looking uncomfortable.

I look away from Meghan to the waitress who's already looking at me. A ridiculous smile stretched across her face. "A water also, thank you."

"I'll be right back." She turns and walks away and Meghan stares after her. "Did you want wine? You could have gotten wine if you wanted."

"No, I wanted water."

"Okay."

A few minutes later the waitress comes back with our waters and takes our orders Meghan gets garlic marinated roasted chicken and I get lightly smoked sea bass.

Silence again surrounds us but Meghan breaks it this time. "So, you said you want to talk."

"Yeah," I haven't figured out how to word it so I just go right out and say it. "I want to talk about what happened five years ago." I'm ready for answers. I know they'll probably hurt but maybe we can move on. I need to know how long the fling with Jeremy was and why it started. I need to know what I did wrong.

"I- I don't- I think it would be best if we put what happened in high school behind us. Start fresh?"

She's stuttering which means she's nervous. A sick, twisting feeling makes its way into my gut. The thing with Jeremy must have been much more than I thought. That must be why she didn't react when she saw me kissing that girl, she didn't care. But she's here now meaning she and Jeremy didn't work out and she wants to restart our relationship. She's offering an opportunity to try again, put the past behind us and try again. She won't leave this time if I can be a better boyfriend.

I nod once. "To fresh starts."

When our food comes we engage in light conversation. Meghan seems to get more comfortable as she tells me what she's been doing for the past five years and she listens intently as I talk about what I've been doing, which isn't much- school and work.

"Honestly, I thought you'd be married by now. Even have a little you running around."

My fork slips and clatters on the plate. "M-married?" I stutter and she nods looking nervous. I shake my head, she doesn't understand it but she's it for me. It's either her or no-one. "And kids?" I can feel my face wrinkle in almost disgust. I'm actually repulsed by the idea of having children with any woman other than her.

"So no kids?" She doesn't understand that I can't ever be with anyone but her. She's the only person I've been with in the past five years, the only person I will be with.

"No. No kids." Not without you. I look at her face and see that she's paled and blinking rapidly. "Meg, you okay?"

"I've suddenly got an awful headache." Her eyes squeeze shut.

I quickly stand up and go to pull out her chair. "Let's get you home."

I pay the bill and rush her to the truck. "I don't have any medicine in the truck,"I tell her. "Do you want to stop and get some?"

"No," She croaks. "I have some at home." She squeezes her eyes shut again and a tear slips out.

I kills me to see her in pain. I would take it all away if I could.

After pulling into a spot in front of her apartment I unbuckle my seatbelt.

"You don't have to get out."

"I don't mind." I tell her going to open the door.

"Isaiah it's late, the kids are probably asleep already. Please."

I take my hand off the door handle not wanting to argue with her when she has such a bad headache. "Okay."

"Okay." She whispers then nods to herself. She unbuckles, opens the truck door, and slips out.

I jump out of the truck. "Wait," What I'm about to do is incredibly selfish. Meghan turns back to me and my hands go to the sides of her face. Her eyes are wide and I can feel my heart racing. "Goodnight." I whisper before pulling her toward me. My lips barely brush hers when I feel her hand on my chest pushing me away and her head pulling back.

"What are you doing?" She squeaks looking horrified.

***

Oh my word, the weirdest thing happened yesterday. I was walking my dog and this brother and sister walked up to me and the brother, he was like 9, starts talking my ear off and I'm trying not to laugh thinking this is exactly how I imagine Xander to be. Then I looked at the girl who was about 5 or 6 and she looked almost exactly how I imagined Zoey and she was super quiet and looked scared until her brother just grabbed her hand and made her pet my dog. I don't know, I just thought it was hilarious how similar they were to Xander and Zoey.

Anywho, look! I typed an extra long chapter. What do you think?

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9-25-17