Young and Beautiful

Twelve.

It had been an hour since Wilmer fled the party and Demi abandoned all of her work colleagues and friends to chase after him. She had caught him hailing down a nearby cab and before they could drive away she had practically thrown herself into the vehicle, accidentally landing on Wilmer's lap. He hadn't said anything though, just scooted over and looked out of the window. The cab driver had turned around expectantly and without even thinking Demi spat out "Primrose Hill."

So that's where they were, sitting in the grass on the outskirts of London, one of the only places where the stars could be clearly seen. Demi only knew of this place because she had studied abroad in Europe for a year and a bunch of the people in her dorm used to get drunk and end up out here. For some reason she always ended up with them. It was nice to see the beautiful starry night sky without having to adjust your eyes too much.

The grass was wet from an earlier rain shower and any other time Demi would be irritated because her outfit was completely ruined but she didn't find herself caring about it. How could she when for once in the short time that she had known him Wilmer was completely quiet and his face was blank? She couldn't even fathom how he was feeling right now and she didn't know where to begin. Did he want to talk about Rosalie or just sit in silence?

"I can't believe she's here...in London...her favorite place in the entire world. I can't believe she's living a life like this...like you. I've spent a lifetime apologizing to Isa for Rosalie's absence and she was at that party tonight like she didn't even care. Like she didn't abandon us. I can't believe this." He was trying hard not to cry, Demi could tell. She wanted to tell him that it was okay and he could cry if he wanted to because everyone needed to every once in a while and she wouldn't judge. All she could do was reach across the tiny space in between them and place her hand on his back in a pathetic attempt to comfort him.

"What the hell am I gonna tell Isa? What am I gonna say to my daughter? She needs her mother...I don't know what to do..."

"We're gonna be out of here tomorrow, Wilmer. You technically don't have to say anything to her or even see Rosalie again," Demi reminded him but he shook his head. How could he live with himself knowing where Rosalie was and not telling Isa about it? Didn't she deserve to know that her mother was alive and well? Or should he spare her the information in case Rosalie still didn't want her even after all these years?

"I don't even know if Rose wants her...I just can't believe this," he repeated with another shake of his head. He dragged his hands down his tired face and Demi saw a few tears slip from his eyes but she didn't say anything. She wasn't one to point out someone else's weakness.

"Do you still...do you still love her?" Demi practically had to force the words out of her mouth and she didn't know why. Why did it matter if Wilmer was still in love with Rosalie? No one ever really got over their first love, right?

"Whoever that was tonight was not the woman that I fell in love with in high school. She's not the woman who gave me the greatest gift that I could ever ask for. She's not the mother of my child," Wilmer responded with so much vigor in his voice that Demi didn't dare to question him. It was a tough situation to deal with and Demi wished that she could offer him some type of useful advice but she knew that she couldn't, so she kept her mouth closed and stared up at the stars with him.

After a few beats of silence, Wilmer diverted his attention away from the stars and back to Demi.

"That guy in there...the CEO of the company or whatever...nothing happened when you were upstairs, right?" Wilmer suddenly asked. It had been in the back of his mind since he saw the two of them disappear together. When Demi came back downstairs her hair was tousled and her cheeks were flushed and her clothes were just a little bit wrinkled. And maybe it was creepy that he noticed all those things but he just couldn't help but notice every small detail about her because she was enticing to him.