Kendall cradled Liam as he peacefully slept in her arms. After the slight blowup between her and Brayden, she decided that maybe she overstayed her welcome in Philadelphia and she was ready to go home. Although Hayley tried to convince her to stay longer to patch things up with Brayden, Kendall wasn't having any of it. Brayden had a lot more growing up to do. He had to grow out of the high school relationship he was still in with Kelsey and he had to mature.
"Kens, sweetie, how was your flight?"
Kendall turned around at the sound of her mother's voice. A grateful smile spread across her lips as she handed Liam over to his grandmother.
"Hey mom," she grabbed the handle of her suitcase.
"The flight was good?" her mother as again.
She nodded. "It was fine. I'm just happy to be home." she admitted sheepishly.
"Your father and I are glad you're home."
"I can imagine." Kendall and her mother walked toward the pick-up area outside where her father was waiting by the car.
"There they are!" Kendall smiled as her dad pulled her into a tight embrace. Words couldn't describe how good it felt to be home and see familiar faces.
"Daddy!" she squealed happily as he picked her up off the ground slightly.
"How's my future center doing?" he asked taking Liam in his arms.
Liam was still fast asleep, his head resting in the crook of Kendall's father's neck. "Dad, he can hardly walk. I'm not putting skates on him until he's four or five."
He laughed. "Sweetie, you got to start 'em early."
Kendall and her mother rolled their eyes as they strapped Liam into the spare car seat they kept for occasions like this. "Let's just take it one day at a time." her mother said before slipping into the front passenger's seat.
Kendall silently laughed as she took the back seat next to Liam. Looking out the window, she watched as cars zoomed by as her father pulled the car out into the bustling airport traffic. As city lights flew by her window in a bright blur, she couldn't help but wonder what was going on in Philadelphia. The only person who knew of her departure was Hayley and God only knows how long before she told Sean and Sean told Brayden.
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Brayden burst through the door of Sean's room after being let in by Danny. "Sean!" he exclaimed as the door hit the wall causing Sean to roll off of Hayley and onto the floor with the sudden interrupting.
Hayley quickly crossed her arms over her chest before clearing her throat. She was still dressed but it didn't take away from the slight mortification she was feeling.
"Hey Brayden," she greeted him quietly.
"What do you want, Brayden?" Sean grumbled as he got up off the floor before sitting on the edge of his bed next to Hayley.
"Where's Kendall? I went over to her apartment to apologize and I found it completely deserted."
Hayley bit her lip. She promised Kendall that she wouldn't tell him about her leaving and taking Liam back home with her, but it was inevitable that eventually Brayden would've found out.
"Hayley, do you know where she is?"
Hayley met Brayden's concerned eyes and she had to squeeze her eyes shut and let out a heavy sigh. Kendall was her friend, but what she was doing was immature. Kendall ran away from her problems. She ran away from Brayden – Liam's father – and there was no way she would be able to live with herself unless she told Brayden the truth.
"Saskatoon," she responded quietly. "She went home, Brayden."
All the blood drained from Brayden's face. She really left. She really went home. "What? Why?"
The distress was evident in his voice and Hayley felt bad because there was nothing she could do about it. "She couldn't handle you being with Kelsey and she felt like she just needed to go home. I think she was just really upset and she acted on her emotions and –"
"Shit!" Brayden screamed making Hayley jump. Sean wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her body to his in a comforting manner.
"Brayden, I know you and Kelsey have been together for a long time, but how well do you actually know her?"
"You don't know her – not like I do." Brayden said defensively.
"Come on, Bray. You need to relax. She's telling you something you should probably know."
"Brayden, you just found out about Liam a few months ago but you probably should've found out about him as sooner."
"What are you implying?"
"I'm not implying anything. I know for a fact Kelsey has known about Kendall and Liam this whole time. You don't think it's weird that they used to be friends? You know Kelsey practically chased Kendall out of Saskatoon by spreading rumors about her. Kendall came here to get away from all the drama going on back home and the girlfriend you're apparently in love with since you were in high school was responsible for that. I know you believe that she's special, but I think Kelsey's –"
"Don't you dare finish that statement." Brayden said not wanting to hear any more of what she had to say. "Kelsey wouldn't use me like that. We've together for years. I know her. She wouldn't do that."
"Brayden, I'm sorry but maybe you should be honest with yourself. Kelsey isn't good for you."
"Then who is?"
Hayley gave him a small smile. "I think you know the answer to that."
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Brayden was beyond confused. After talking to Hayley and Sean, he saw pieces of a puzzle slowly falling into place. It all made sense. He just needed to hear it from Kelsey. If everything Hayley ended up telling him was true, then maybe Kelsey wasn't the girl he thought she was.
"Is it true?" he asked, standing in the door of his bedroom as Kelsey was packing up her suitcase for her flight in the morning.
Kelsey looked up at him confused. "Is what true, babe?" she stopped packing, giving Brayden her full attention.
"Did you know about Kendall being pregnant?"
Kelsey's mouth dropped open slightly. "No, of course not, baby."
Brayden looked at her with nothing but anger in his eyes. She was lying. "You were never a good liar."
"Brayden, why does it matter if I knew or not? Kendall's a home wrecker, she clearly was just trying to trap you into being in a relationship with her."
"So she was trying to do what you're doing to me right now? Trying to cover up the fact I had a son I didn't know anything about for over a year. And the fact you knew about Liam for this long –" he looked up at the ceiling and let out a heavy breath that he didn't realize he was holding in. "I can't even look at you right now."
"Brayden, I'm sorry I –"
"I think you need to leave." he said firmly. Despite the fact they've been together since high school, the Kelsey he was looking at now wasn't the Kelsey he fell in love with. She changed and probably in the worst way possible. "I'm sorry, Kels, you're just not the girl I fell in love with. You've changed so much, I don't think there's even a trace of that girl in you anymore."
Tears ran down her cheeks as she planted a hand over her mouth to conceal her sobs. "Brayden, please don't do this."
"You're going to make a guy happy one day, but that guy isn't going to be me."
"Are you breaking up with me for her? That slut?"
"She's not a slut, Kelsey. She's the mother of my son and who knows, maybe I can actually have a relationship with the son you tried to keep a secret from me."
Kelsey shook her head, wiping away her tears. "So you're choosing the girl you had a one night stand with at a party one night over me?"
"I'm choosing the mother of my child." Brayden stated before moving aside to let Kelsey walk by. Kelsey didn't say a word. She didn't throw a tantrum, she didn't yell, she just left without a word. The only sound to be heard through the apartment was the sound of the front door shutting behind her as she walked out of his life for good.