Fake Vow True Luna
Chapter 11

#Chapter 11: Sweet Forgiveness

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“Guess what it is?” Nathan smirked slightly as he held the little cardboard box out to me. “I promise you won’t want to pass it up.”

I looked up at Nathan a bit skeptically. He just smiled back at me and shook the box a little. Finally, I took it with a sigh and opened it up.

And when I did, my eyes went wide.

“This is…” I picked the sweet chocolate muffin out of the box and looked at it. I hadn’t had one of these muffins from the bakery in our town for so long, but I instantly recognized the signature powdered sugar topping and the oversized chocolate chips poking out of the top.

“It’s from Jerry’s,” Nathan said with a grin. “Well… Just Jerry, now.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, cocking my head. The little bakery in our town was known as “Jerry’s“, and it was named after the little old man who ran it all by

himself.

Nathan shrugged. “The bakery closed down quite a long time ago,” he replied, sounding somewhat wistful.

I felt a bit sad at this. That bakery was one of our favorite places to go as kids, and I even worked there a little bit cleaning the shop when I was a teenager. Hearing that it closed down since I was gone made my heart sink a little.

“Jerry’s getting older, so he couldn’t keep up with the work,” Nathan continued. ” But the day you came back, I decided to ask him if he could recreate the recipe, because I remembered how the chocolate muffins there were your favorite. After some trial and error, he got the recipe perfect. At least, I think he did. Taste it and let

me know.”

Nathan stared at me expectantly for a moment. Finally, after looking up at him in surprise with the muffin still in my hand, I decided to take a bite.

It really was perfect. The flavor sent me straight back into my childhood, and I couldn’t help but smile as I licked a bit of the powdered sugar off of my l*ps.

Π

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“Well?” Nathan asked.

I nodded and felt my face go a bit red. “It’s perfect,” I replied sheepishly. “It tastes. just like it always did.”

Nathan smiled. “I wanted this to be your welcome–back gift, Olivia. I thought that we would have a welcoming ceremony, but I didn’t expect… everything to get so out of hand. Do you forgive me, at least?”

For a few moments, I just stared teary–eyed up at my childhood friend. He looked so handsome and mature now, but as we looked at each other, I could still see that kid inside of him. Somehow, he changed so much and so little at the same time.

I finally nodded tearfully, and set the muffin back in its box on my dashboard. “I forgive you, Nathan,” I whispered.

My childhood friend grinned. Seeing his smile again filled me with a sense of nostalgic joy, and I couldn’t help but jump up out of my car and throw my arms.

around that sweet and hateful man.

Damn you, Nathan, I thought to myself as we hugged each other tightly.

When we finally pulled away, Nathan looked down at my car and inspected the punctured tire as well as the nasty message that was left for me. He sighed and ran a

hand through his hair as he stood.

“I’ll replace the tire for you,” he said. “I’m sorry about that. It was probably one of Layla’s friends, who doesn’t know about the real reason behind the breakup.”

BITCH”

“It’s fine.” I stared down at the messy red letters that spelled out and folded my arms across my chest. This was all quite the welcome back to town. I certainly

wouldn’t forget it.

“Well…” Nathan gestured over to his car, which was parked nearby. “I’ll give you a ride. I take it you were trying to leave town just now?”

I felt a bit embarrassed, but I nodded. “I was…”

Nathan, instead of being annoyed like I expected, simply walked over to his car and gestured for me to follow. When we got in, he started the car up. “Where are we

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headed?” he asked.

I gave him the location, and we began to drive. It was the location of another pack a

few towns over, which I had sort of joined within the past few years.

“Well then,” Nathan said as he began to drive. “I guess we finally have time now to

talk about our decade.”

With a smile, Nathan leaned forward and turned on the radio. The music he played

was the same as what we used to listen to when we were kids, and I felt that instant

feeling of nostalgia again. Within just a few minutes, we were chatting just like old

times…

…After we got evicted, my dad and I bounced around for a while and basically went

wherever my dad could replace work. After he died, I finally found this pack and

managed to get a job there. I also met Ryan – my ex. And the father of the baby.”

Nathan was silent for a moment after I finished my story. He held the steering

wheel with just one hand, and had his elbow propped on the side of the car door,

where he was tousling his hair as he stared at the road ahead.

“So, this Ryan guy…” Nathan seemed a bit disgusted even by his name. “What

happened there? Are you planning on moving in with him, or…?”

I shook my head. “No. I thought we were in love, but… I guess he didn’t think so. Hel just ghosted me. I haven’t heard from him in a while.”

“Oh.” Nathan furrowed his brow. I noticed that his hand seemed to be gripping the steering wheel a little more tightly now. “Why didn’t you say anything when you came back? I wouldn’t have fought so hard for the villa if I knew that you didn’t have

a place and a husband to go back to.”

At Nathan’s question, I felt my face go a little red. “I was embarrassed,” I admitted. You seemed to be doing so well… I guess I would have felt humiliated if I admitted that my own boyfriend kicked me out and ghosted me out of nowhere.”

My childhood friend simply shrugged.

“You know I wouldn’t look down on you,” he said. “But him, on the other hand… You’re not married and he’s not bothering to be careful in order to not get you

pregnant?” It Was

Nathan’s throat.

My face turned an even deeper shade of red now. Clearing my throat, I said, “He

didn’t like wearing condoms. Normally we were safe, but I guess we both got a little

careless.”

“Whatever.” Nathan shook his head as we took the exit off of the highway that led to my old home. “Don’t listen to men’s excuses. Any man who won’t wear a condom just because he ‘doesn’t like it‘ is just a wimp, and plain old trash.”

“It’s not entirely his fault-“I began, but was quickly cut off by Nathan.

nine months of a pregnancy and

“So you’d be willing to let yourself suffer through labor, even when you’re unmarried and clearly not financially stable, just because he wants to feel good for a few minutes? It’s ridiculous. Don’t be so impulsive, Olivia.”

Nathan’s words stung. I immediately quipped back at him, feeling angry by his

condescending tone.

“You repented at your own wedding,” I said in a low voice. “I don’t think you have any right to judge me.”

The car went silent for a few minutes. The air felt thick and static, as though both of us had more that we wanted to say but we were controlling ourselves. Finally, we pulled up to the place where Ryan and I used to live together.

“Well,” Nathan said, “we’re here.”

I felt my heart jump up into my throat as I looked up at the old brownstone apartment building. No lights seemed to be on inside.

If Ryan was home, I wondered if he would even talk to me or if he would ignore me and our baby once again.