Everything In Between (COMPLETED)

BEFORE|| Hey Baby

I had been positive there wasn't a chance in hell Dalton could ruin tonight worse than he had the gender reveal.

I was mistaken.

My eyes trailed him as he swept a couple beers and a water from the blue cooler on the other side of my parents backyard. In a few quick strides he was back beside his beautiful blonde coworker, and nausea eased its way into the back of my throat as I watched him wink flirtatiously and set the water in between her hands.

He'd been beside her for the last two hours. Ash and Lindsey had done their best to try and distract me, to hype me up. To pretend as though the father of my child wasn't spending the entire night cozying up to another woman while his girlfriend and the mother of his child was sitting on the stairs and watching the interaction. The little time he'd spent beside me was opening all the gifts for Danni and thanking everyone. The minute we'd finished, I'd went inside to pee and when I'd returned, he had found his spot glued to the woman's side yet again.

"Hey." Lindsey approached and wrapped her arms around me from behind, her cheek against my back as she squeezed the hand resting on my bump. "Forget about him. He doesn't deserve you guys."

The words were the last thing I wanted to hear and I immediately shook her off and stalked back into the house without a glance back. I hurried to my bedroom at the end of the hallway, hardly making it to the bed before tears started flooding my cheeks. I had no doubt the hours Ashley had spent on my makeup for tonight had gone to waste.

"Har." Ash poked her head into my room, and if that wasn't bad enough, Lindsey and Mom weren't far behind. They all joined me on my bed, Ash to my right and grasping my hands, Lindsey behind me, and Mom on my left. "Hey, no. Don't let him do this. This is what he wants."

"He's drunk." I wasn't sure why I was even defending him at this point. The only person that looked like an idiot was me. "He probably doesn't even realize what he's doing."

"Harley, sweetheart." Mom extended a hand and gently pulled a wet strand of my curled hair from my cheek and tucked it behind my ear. "The more you allow him to walk all over you, treat you like nothing, push you aside, the more he will. You're showing him that regardless of his actions, you're still there for him."

Ashley nodded in agreement. "He thinks you're his little lapdog, Har. I told you months ago that he would start showing his true colors the longer you knew him. You can't keep letting him think this is okay. What he's doing out there right now is disgusting."

"If he cheats, would you leave him?" Lindsey piped in quietly, her hand on my shoulder. "Because, Har, those flirty touches and smiles, that laughing and eye contact is a pretty good indication that this isn't the first time they've hung out."

"I. . . I don't want her to have a broken family." I whispered, placing both of my hands on my stomach. "I. . . won't let her."

Ashley's lip curled. "He's hit you, Harley. Do you think he won't do it again?"

"He's what?"

My mother's voice shot up both an octave and a few decibels hearing my best friend's words. I shut my eyes, awaiting the verbal blow that was to come.

"Harley Jane, what is she talking about?"

When I refused to open my eyes or answer, Ash answered for me. "A few months ago they got into an argument in a parking lot and he backhanded and gaslit her into thinking it was her fault."

"Oh, Harley." Mom's hand found my cheek as realization set in. "When you came home. . . oh my goodness."

I pried my eyes open but kept them trained at the wall straight ahead. "I'm fine, Mom."

"You're not fine." Ash snapped. "He has got you right where he wants you, Harley. He hasn't touched you again since, sure, but he will. Abuse doesn't have to be physical either, babe. He's outside all but fucking that bimbo over the tables we decorated this morning."

Mom shot her a dark look, "Ashley."

My best friend shrugged. "What? She needs the visual, trust me."

"Har," Lindsey breathed, interrupting my mom before she could respond to Ash. "Please. For Danni. For yourself. Leave."

"I can't." I choked. "I love him. I have to make this work, Lindsey. This wasn't all for nothing."

Ashley pressed her index and middle fingers into her temples and began to massage them. "What will it take for you to understand we're trying to help you, Har?"

"I think you all should head out." Dalton's quiet rasp filled the room and the already tense air intensified. If I had thought my mother hated Dalton prior to the new information she'd just been presented with, this was something far beyond that. She stood and held his glare for a long time before she turned and hugged me.

"You always have a room in my house. You and Danni." she said, then kissed my forehead and all but shoved Dalton out of the doorway so she could leave. Lindsey and Ash lingered beside me, Lindsey eying Dalton in a mix of fear and anger, and Ash nothing but pure fury.

"Ashley. Lindsey." Dalton's voice lacked emotion as he stared between the two of them. "Out."

Lindsey threw her legs over the edge of the bed and hugged me from the side, then followed my mother. As Ashley stood, I could swear that she was about to cross the room and throw a punch. Every inch of her was warm, a fire burning in her eyes as she sneered at my boyfriend.

"Would you like me to escort you out myself?" Dalton questioned with a disgusted look.

Ash crossed her arms and huffed, "Touch me and I'll break your fingers, Dickhead."

"Get out of my apartment, Ashley."

Knowing the argument would go nowhere good, I wrapped my hand around my best friend's forearm and whispered, "I'll walk you out."

We slipped out of the room, and I shouldn't have been surprised Dalton followed us to the front door. She pulled me into her as soon as she was on the porch, her lips so close to my ears that there wasn't a chance in hell Dalton could hear her.

"I'm going to get you two out of here."

I pulled away and met her worried gaze. "I'm okay, Ash."

She shook her head in disagreement, then fell back a step. "I love you guys."

"We love you too." I dropped my arms limply to my side and watched until she'd climbed into her car to shut the door. I braced myself to face Dalton, but he didn't say anything right away. He just stared at me, his arms crossed over his chest, jaw set. As if I were the one who'd done something wrong tonight.

"What is it you want to attack me for tonight?" he eventually questioned.

I swallowed the knot in my throat. "Nothing. It's fine, Dalton."

"We're not going to be children, Harley. Danni will be here in a month and a half. We don't have time for head games."

"Your coworker." I averted my gaze to the wall over his head so I didn't have to see the anger or denial enter his eyes. "They just thought it was wrong that you spent most of the night with her."

"Har." He sighed, crossing the small distance between us until he was close enough to touch a hand to my stomach and cheek. "Baby, you know I love you guys. Don't let them sit and fill your head full of shit."

I didn't know how to respond, so I just stared up at him. There was a part of me that desperately wanted to believe those words held sincerity. That truly thought it was possible that the three most important people in my life were the toxic ones and that Dalton was right. But my heart knew better. I knew that this was all fantastical, this world I'd built and created. I was also starting to realize that it was possible this entire relationship had been one sided from the start. That Ashley had pinned Dalton from the very second she breathed the same air as him.

"I love you." he repeated, kissing me gently. "I love our family."

Oh, how I wished those words were enough. Maybe if I pretended long enough, they would be.