Chapter sixteen

It's been two weeks since Daniel and I fought. A part of me wished he had come up after me. I wished he'd been his pushy self, barging in, forcing me to face the world like he had when my parents died.

But, he didn't. He didn't come up and he didn't force me to face the world. Maybe he was tired of being my hero. It isn't fair of me wanting him to keep saving me. What happened to me? I wanted to be my own woman, I wanted to be my own hero, and now I am waiting for Daniel to be it.

I thank the girls for coming to class before handing out sweets. The class was a blur. I know I taught them and I know I helped them, but I had no idea how I did it. One thing I do know is that it is time for me to take back my life. I never wanted to be the princess that needs saving, but that's what I made myself and that needs to stop.

If there was ever a doubt in my mind that I can raise this baby it is gone now. I know I can raise the baby, with or without Daniel's help. Even though I wish he'd be there for the little one, I don't wish him to be with me. I do love him, but the baby comes first now.

"You look good." I'm pulled from my mind and see Leo standing in the door, leaning against the frame. "What are you doing here?" I hope that I didn't sound to mean. He shrugs, "I just wanted to see you. I haven't heard from you in a while."

"Well, yeah, I told you it's over." I say and take a drink from my water. "I just wanted to check on you." He says walking over to me. "You have, you can leave now." He shakes his head, "Let's have lunch."

"I can't, I have a class." I look over his shoulder at the girls waiting outside. He looks over his shoulder at the girls too. He nods then looks back at me, "Then dinner." I shake my head, "No, it's not a good idea." He smiles, "I'm not leaving till you agree." I roll my eyes. "Fine, just leave." He smiles in his goofy way I've always liked.

He runs to the door and waves at me. He leaves and I call for the girls to come in. I stare at the door for a moment before I pull myself back to the class.

The doorbell rings and I shut my eyes for a moment. I hope I can get through this dinner. I open the door and see Leo on the porch looking at the houses across the street. I step out and stand next to him.

"This is a pretty nice neighbourhood." He says, looking at me. I nod, "It's all my parents ever wanted, to raise us in a good neighbourhood. They just wanted to give us the best." I look at the Greene's house and smile. The fact that their best friends in the world lived right across from them was an added bonus.

"We could have done that." I hear Leo mumble. I let out a sigh, I knew it wasn't going to be easy. I wasn't going to tell him about the baby, but maybe I should. Maybe he'll back off and accept that I've changed and moved on. "Leo-"

He turns to me and grabs my hands, "We can still have it, Linds. All you have to do is say yes. You did once, just do it again." His smile is filled with excitement and expectations, but there's a slight hint of pain too.

"Leo, I'm not the same girl I was a few months back or even the same girl you met two years back." I say, taking my hands out of his and turning away from him. He clears his throat, "You're right. I'm sorry. Let's just go to dinner?"

I turn around to face him again, "No more proposals or talk about what we could have had." I give him a stern look, but he nods and takes my hand in his, "Let's eat." He leads me down the steps to the car and opens the door for me.

He sends me his goofy smile before running around the car to get in himself. In the small moment I had to myself I pray that everything will go smoothly. The car door opens and Leo gets in. The car roars to life and we head off in the general direction of the mall.

We drive past the mall and I immediately know where we are going. I curse myself for thinking this was going to be easy. We stop in a large open car park with only a few other vehicles parked. Before I could say anything, Leo's out the car and coming around to open my door.

He takes my hand and helps me out. "Did I say you look beautiful tonight?" He asks, sending me a dashing smile. I look down at my skinny jeans and a loose blouse. He must be kidding me, I've looked much better than this.

"Thanks." I mumble as he leads me to the brick building. From the outside, it doesn't look like much, bricks and wooden doors with a few windows. Above the double wooden door, there's a hand-painted sign, Panariello's.

He opens the door for me and I thank him. Inside the walls are painted a crisp white with fairy lights hanging from the ceiling. In the middle of the room, there's a large tree made of twisted wire which is also wrapped in fairy lights.

Two of the walls are lined with booths while most of the floor is dotted with beautifully decorated tables. There are some people already eating and drinking wine. The ladies are so beautifully dressed that I feel underdressed.

There's a hostess dressed in a black waistcoat and redshirt. She smiles, "Do you have a reservation?" Leo sends her his own charming smile before giving his last name to the girl. She quickly looks through the names and looks up with her smile still intact, "Right this way." She leads us to one of the booths to the right and places two leather-bound menus on the table, "A waiter will be with you shortly." She turns around and goes back to her post at the door waiting for people to come.

"Leo, why did you bring me here?" I ask when I believe it's safe to speak. He frowns and opens his menu, "What do you mean? I thought you'd like it?" I shake my head, "Bringing me to the place where you proposed?" He looks up from his menu, "Oh, that's right. It totally slipped my mind."

"Leo, get this into your head, we are over. It's the end for us." I say. It's harsh, but he needs to know this. He shakes his head and grabs one of my hands, "No, I don't believe that. I believe you are the same woman I fell in love with. We should just give it another shot."

"No, we shouldn't. And I have changed, you have changed. Everything has changed. It's time to move on." I say taking back my hand and place both my hands in my lap so he can't reach for them again. "I don't accept that." He says, frowning at me. "You have to." I snap.

"I won't, I believe-" "I'm pregnant." I blurt out. He stops talking and just stares at me. "What?" the look of shock and hurt makes me wish I hadn't said anything. He has to know. "You're lying." He says firmly. "You were waiting until we got married." My heart breaks at this little boy that came out in him when he was sad.

"Do you really think I'd lie about something like this?" I ask, trying to be cold and unattached. He shakes his head. I close my eyes for a second, he gets it. It's over. "Who's is it?" My eyes flash open at his question. His one brow is raised, waiting for my answer.

"Tell me." He says through gritted teeth. I shake my head, "I don't think you need to know." He slams his fist on the table, making the items on it clatter as they shake. I've never seen him lose his temper. This is obviously too much for him to handle. "Tell me." He demands. I shake my head and get out of the booth, "I better go." I pull out my phone and call Taylor.

Leo grabs my arm and turns me around to face him again, "Tell me who it was." He growls. "Let me go." I say freeing myself from his grip. The hostess hurries over to us, "Is there a problem?"

"No, it's fine. I'm just leaving." I say walking away from Leo and the girl. I try to call Taylor again as I push the door open. She finally answers and I ask her to come to get me.

I look over my shoulder at the closed doors. Hopefully, she comes quickly. If Leo comes out and there's no one, I don't know what he'll do. I've never seen him like this.