The Amity Affliction (Ahren Stringer) *COMPLETED*

Chapter Fourteen

AHREN

I watched Dan get Sarah and Mike back into their prams after the guys finished fawning over them. They didn't fawn over my kid with Amy, then again they believed the kid wasn't mine. It wasn't hard to tell the twins were mine; Mike looked exactly like me.

The rest of us split up into two cars and head towards mine and Amy's apartment; we'd moved in together as soon as the tour ended. I hoped Joel was wrong, yes Amy had a past with sleeping around as did I but I knew she wouldn't stoop as low as to lie about me being a father.

The drive ends too quickly for my liking. Taking a deep breath, I get out.

Opening the front door, I'm met with an initial silence. We walk further into the flat when I, unfortunately, hear a thud coming from the bedrooms. Clenching my fist, I go to open my bedroom door but Joel places a hand on my shoulder and brings a finger to his lips.

'Just listen first, Ahren.'

Joel was right; I couldn't just rush into things. Luckily Amy wasn't the quietest of people.

'Don't get mad at me, Nate; this is a good thing. I'm saving up the money Ahren thinks is going towards the kid so we can eventually run away together and raise our son.'

Unclenching my fist, I feel defeated and utterly betrayed. And the fact that Joel was right, along with the rest of the band who were convinced the kid wasn't mine.

Throwing open the bedroom door, Amy and Nate jump apart, not fully naked but in different stages of undress.

'SO I'M NOT THE FATHER! THIS PRICK IS! YOU LYING CHEATING WHORE! GET DRESSED, TAKE YOUR SPAWN AND GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY APARTMENT!'

I slam my fist into the wall next to the door, not caring to keep my anger from boiling over. I didn't want to be here anymore.

'Ahren, where are you going?' Ryan shouts after me.

I storm out of the room, quickly ignoring Ryan. Once outside I speed walk past the cars not wanting to stop and hear Joel rub his smugness in my face.

NINA

Dan had dropped off the twins half an hour ago and had dropped the bombshell that Ahren knew he was the twin's father but Dan didn't know how Ahren was going to react because when he left the studio, the guys were going to see if Amy was cheating on him.

I just finished making dinner when someone knocks loudly on the front door. Putting the twins in their high chairs, I go over to the front door and open it, revealing a person I hadn't seen in twelve months since that dreadful day in Madrid.

'Ahren, what are you doing here?'

This was a shock. But I step aside and motion for him to come inside. I didn't know how I'd react upon seeing him again; I didn't think I'd let him into my home so easily.

'I didn't have anywhere else to go Nina. Am I interrupting?'

I shake my head, 'no, I've just made spaghetti if you'd like to join me.'

Ahren shuffles on the spot as I close the front door behind him. Just then, Sarah starts to cry, and I leave him to attend my daughter. I pick up Sarah and start to rock her side to side.

'Don't cry, Sarah, you're too pretty to cry little one,' I cooed softly.

Out of the two children, Sarah cried more than Mike; she was more emotional just like her mum.

'You're a good mum, Nina,' Ahren leans against the doorway watching over the scene. Sarah stops crying and stares intently over at Ahren; she was curious about new people, whereas Mike loved people.

'Dan told me that you know you're their father, Ahren. I'm sorry you had to find out that way.'

He bows his head, 'you were going to tell me in Madrid, weren't you?'

I nod, 'Yeah I was, but then I saw what I saw and ran away. I was going to ask for an explanation for your actions, but Dan said it was because you wanted more sex and Amy showed up.'

'I guess that was one of the reasons. I've also never been in a healthy relationship Nina, I knew from the start I was going to fuck it up somehow because in my head I don't think I deserve a stable relationship because I'm so used to toxic environments.'

I shake my head and put Sarah back in her high chair so she could resume eating like her brother, who was scoffing his dinner like there was no more food left in the world. It felt weird hearing Ahren be serious about something.

'Not that I'm saying it was the right thing to do, it doesn't even come close to an apology, especially one you deserve Nina. But I do still feel awful about how I treated you when you were nothing but a good girlfriend.'

He sounded sincere in his words, and he was right; I wasn't going to forgive him in the blink of an eye. He needed to prove himself to me first, but foremost he needed to prove himself as a father to his kids.

'Come and say hello to your son and daughter Ahren. Say hello to Mike and Sarah. Now, why don't I make us each a plate of spaghetti?'

Ahren smiles and steps foot in the kitchen. I make us both a plate of spaghetti and we sit at the small dining room table with a kid in between us so we could eat and keep an eye on them at the same time. All this time I wondered what it would be like to have all four of us sat around the table eating, and now here we were and it felt kind of right but wrong at the same time.