Given Time

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She pulls harder on the thread on her sleeve. "We only slipped up once and had sex in a bedroom at a party while you were downstairs with your friends. Normally Shawn would only touch me when we were in his car or a motel room."

I instantly feel sick again, knowing that they were having sex with me nearby. "What happened?"

Her face falls as she remembers that night. "Someone walked in on us. He looked really pissed when he caught us on the bed together, and he shouted at Shawn to go back down to you.

"He slammed the door behind him and left. I was on edge for the next few weeks, thinking it would all come out, but it didn't."

"Who was the guy?" I ask through gritted teeth.

I'm beyond angry that someone knew that Shawn and I were together and still didn't have the decency to tell me that my boyfriend was fucking her upstairs.

She shrugs and bites her lip again. "I don't know. He looked slightly older than me, and he wasn't from our school. I think Shawn knew who he was, but he wouldn't say."

I roll my eyes. Great, another secret from Shawn.

"Why didn't you end it until it resulted in a pregnancy? Why didn't you tell me?" I ask as the tears begin to fall again.

Abby begins to tear up as well, and she can't bring herself to look at me when she responds. "Because I thought I was in love with him." She leans forward and grabs my hand.

"I swear, Leah. I wanted to tell you, but I couldn't find the words. I know it's not an excuse. It's just that with everything that was happening, I became depressed.

"When I found out I was pregnant, I became withdrawn from everyone. Even after I gave birth to Shawn, I had postpartum depression."

She hiccups and wipes her tears with the back of her sleeve again. "It wasn't until four months after he was born that I was able to look at him and actually feel something towards him. I hate myself for not loving my son the way he deserves to be loved by his mom."

Hearing her say that kind of makes me feel sorry for her. I hate what she did to me, but to know that she was struggling mentally to the point where she couldn't love her own baby boy makes me sad.

I gently squeeze the top of her hand that is holding onto my other hand before pulling my arms back. "I'm sorry you went through that with your son. I can't imagine how hard that must have been."

She sniffles and looks up at me with tear-filled eyes. "Th-thank you. I don't deserve your kindness after what I did to you."

I wipe my tears away with the back of my hand and reach for my purse and grocery bag off the ground. "I'm sorry, Abby, but I can't forgive you for what you did," I mumble.

"I understand what you went through, but it's still no excuse for how it started." I close my eyes and take a deep breath.

"You're not the only one to blame for this, and if I ever see Shawn again, I'll kill him for what he did to me and you and your son." I rise from the chair and give her a weak smile.

"I honestly wish you and your son well from now on, but at the same time, I hope I never see you again."

She sniffles and nods her head. "I get that. I am sorry for everything, Leah. I just hope one day you can find it in your heart to forgive me."

A fresh tear spills from my eye, and I quickly say goodbye and run out of the café. As I predicted earlier, the heavens have opened, and the entire street is flooded with rainwater.

I dash across the road to get to the car, getting completely soaked by the unrelenting rain.

When I get in the driver's seat, an uncontrollable rage overcomes me, and I scream and cry as I punch the steering wheel repeatedly, willing to rid the pain away.

My mind reels from everything I have just learned, and it makes me question the entire time I spent with Shawn.

Were there signs I missed? Did Shawn even care for me? Did he only stray away because I wouldn't have sex with him? Was it partly my fault?

I curl up in a ball on the seat and break down, my sobs being silenced by the beating drum of the rain hitting the car.

I don't know how long I stay there like that, but the next thing I know, it's stopped raining, and the sun looks lower in the sky. There's only one place I want to go too. One person I need to see. I start the Jaguar and pull out onto the road and drive straight to Tanner's house.

What do you think of Abby? Should Leah have been less forgiving of her? Who do you think saw them at the party?

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