Moving Forward

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Tori takes the book and holds it up so that she can compare it. A small smile quirks onto her lips as she begins to fondly point out the similarities of the pair. Even though most of the shrubs have grown since the drawing, the placement is perfect.

"I don't believe it!" I gasp. "I could be sitting where Logan used to be."

Small tears trickle down my pink cheek as I take in the scenery, completely in awe. Perhaps investigating does have its perks? Now I wonder how much Logan would come here, what he would do, and if he ever came with his mysterious girlfriend.

I hear a sniffle beside me which takes me by surprise. I turn to the side to see Tori brushing a few stray tears away from her cheek.

"Why are you crying?" I ask.

"Your crying got me crying too," she explains. "Everything just feels so emotional right now."

Tori tries to play it cool, but the glimmer of sadness swirling through her eyes makes me think otherwise. If I've learned anything from the past, there's always more to Tori than what meets the eyes.

"You know." I laugh. "Logan has this secret girlfriend and he refused to tell us anything about her. It was always never the right time, and then, time ran out."

Tori slowly nods her head, but as each moment fades into the next, I see the facade slowly dripping like beads of sweat building on her forehead.

"Are you the one?"

There's a brief pause, then she slowly shakes her head.

"I love him." She chokes out.

I wrap my arm around her shoulder, then tug her to my side. Tori leans her head against my shoulder and cries into the fabric of my shirt.

"Logan and I used to come here all the time," she admits. "I feel like I can breathe when I'm here, and I guess that's stupid, I'm with Jude, but, that's just how it is."

"I agree because I get that feeling too . . . I know it all too well." I sigh.

"I'm sorry for your loss and the pain. You're a good person and you deserve better."

"Never mind what we deserve," I say. "It is what it is and we can't change it."

"You are right, Ava, very right." She sniffles. "I can see why Blake is in love with you, in fact, I suspected it a while back. He used to stare at you from across the hall, infatuated by your presence. It wasn't until it was too late that we found ourselves stuck with each other."

"That seems to be a recurring theme so far; never the right time."

Tori straightens up and rests her back against the old wooden bench, "That's because people always think there's going to be a tomorrow when there isn't."

"Then I'll grasp today and ask you about Logan – how did you meet?"

"We met when I went to the art room to grab supplies for a poster. He said I had beautiful eyes and he wanted to draw them," she says. "So I let him."

"Aww." I coo.

"One drawing session lead to another . . . before we knew it there were hundreds. He'd sit by the oval and sketch me during practice, at lunch, or when we hung out together," Tori explains. "I eventually bought him a new journal when I noticed his was empty and filled with scraps of paper."

"Was it this one?" I ask.

"Yes."

Tori flicks to the back of the notebook and then tugs at the paper glued to the backing of the journal. It easily rips off because it isn't properly glued down. Etched on the backing is an inscription signed off with an initial.

"T.S?"

"Tori Stratton."

"Oh."

"I gave him the journal here, actually. We used to spend a lot of time talking, mucking around, and drawing, of course." A glowing smile filters onto her face which makes me smile as well.

"Why were you with Blake then?"

"I know it was wrong," she admits. "Things were never right and I was afraid of losing them. The one night, I lost them both."

"I'm sorry."

Tori brushes away the tears and then tugs on a tight grin. I feel bad for bringing up Blake, so I change the topic back to something about Logan. I'm curious about Logan's passed and it appears to make her happy to talk about Logan.

This might be one of the only times I get to ask and she gets to share stories about Logan because of their secret relationship. It would explain why she suffered so much through her pregnancy and why she went off the rails. Tori was going through an ordeal and she could speak about it.

"Can you tell me more? Is London's name to do with Logan?" I ask.

"Now that's a good story." She smiles. "Blake and I were fighting when Logan showed up. He said we could jump on a plane and go to London, leaving everything behind and starting new. I told him he was crazy, but maybe I was wrong?"

"So London is your new beginning?"

"And his favourite place," she adds.

"Why the secret?"

Tori readjusts herself, and gasps as she tries to think. I watch as he eyes flicker around the park before steadily dropping to gaze at her fingers.

"We never told anyone about us, simply because we liked just being us."

"Does Jude know about it?"

"Yes." Tori nods.

"What about Blake?"

"He doesn't know, so please don't tell him," she desperately begs.

"But he is the father?"

"Yeah." She confidently nods her head. "He took the test to confirm that."

"Okay." I nervously laugh. "Good to know you're sure."

Call it a gut instinct, but something doesn't feel right, but I don't know what to do. Is there a better purpose to digging up the past other than my own selfish desires? Maybe I could be content with the idea that Logan loved Tori just as much as she loved him.

Ultimately, Kyle is right. For once, Detective Ava is hanging up her hat.

Blake doesn't need to go through the pain of knowing Tori cheated on him with another guy, or have another reason to question the paternity of his child. Blake took the test and confirmed our doubt; he's the father.

I won't tell Blake about Logan's involvement with Tori because he doesn't deserve it. For once, I'll protect him just as he's done the same for me. I also think that Tori deserves a new start because she's been through her own world of hurt.

Maybe London can be our new beginning too?