The Blossom of Rose

27 • Forgiving

"Come in!" I chirp and when Brando steps inside, my mood deflates. Instantly, I sigh. He's just come to rub it into my face even more that he doesn't care about me.

"If you've come to make any more comments, you can go right back out the door again," I tell him, and he shakes his head. When he closes the door behind him, I close the laptop shut and focus my attention on him.

"I'm here to apologise," he sighs, and I see him wearing his emotions on his sleeve. "I didn't just protect you the other day because you're pregnant. I respect you, Rose. And I know we didn't get off to a good start but from the past couple of months I've got to know you and I've seen how you are. You're a good person. And I'm sorry you thought I don't care about you."

There's guilt and sincerity flying around in his blue eyes, and it drops my stomach in regret. I did completely judge him. I didn't even give him a chance to respond because I had already forged his response in my head.

I messed up.

"I'm sorry for assuming. It's just my mind completely jumped to that conclusion." My fingers fiddle with the diamonds on the bracelet and he watches that action before some sort of realisation flashes in his eyes.

Brando nudges his head, silently asking if he can sit, and I nod. He sits opposite me on my bed.

"I can tell that you're insecure about that, which is totally understandable. I mean, anyone in your position would be," he speaks softly, "even if you weren't pregnant, and I'm not just saying this, my first instinct would be to protect you. It's just the way I am."

And I've noticed that too. When we first met, he threatened me, but he was cautious about Luca's safety. When I first had my stomach cramps two months ago, he immediately helped me when he saw how much pain I was in after he insulted me. And when I had my panic attack in Alex Harvey's house, he was the first to jump to my side.

But this all started months after he had met me.

"You have trust issues," I declare.

"My...history hasn't entirely been great." He responds with a bite to the melancholic tone to his voice.

"My mother was a drug addict and she'd lie to us every morning telling us that she was sober. Since then, I had a hard time believing peoples' true intentions." He tries to say this casually, but his voice catches and I hear his annoyance seeping through.

Was. She was a drug addict.

"Maya," my eyes widen as my heart drops for her.

"She doesn't know," Brando shakes his head quickly, "she was too young to understand."

That poor girl.

"Maybe you should, take it easy," I say, and he raises an eyebrow at me. "Don't think I haven't realised the things you're snorting up every morning?"

He flinches as if I placed a harsh, interrogative light on him. "She needs her older brother, Brando. She's only 15," I frown, and he sighs.

"I've got it under control." He wants me to believe it, but I don't because he's high right now. I nod, pretending that I do.

He shifts and I hadn't realised his arms had been behind his back this entire time.

"I have something for you. I know it's not much, but I didn't really know what to get a woman who has everything," he gestures around the room, and I laugh. Brando places a hamper basket on the bed, "Happy Mother's Day."

A smile breaks out on my face. I'm not a mother yet but this is his way of showing me that he appreciates me for who I am. A soon-to-be mother. Not a fling turned pregnant.