Liam

I am 22 now. I go to college and play for the Lions hockey team.
Yes, I am popular with girls - I won't hide the fact that I know about my attractiveness.

But she exists.

Aurora Grinet. My eternal headache since childhood.

Our fathers are best friends, and her father, by the way, is my coach.
We quarrel, tease each other, do nasty things... and all this, it seems, only strengthens my affection for her.
Aurora was my first love since the third grade, and although she, of course, knows nothing about it, I always kept this feeling inside.

One time at a party... we were sober, but something inside me snapped.
I saw her dancing with another guy.
Every look, every laugh... and I literally went nuts. I felt the insane principle of jealousy. She's mine.

I took her to the spare bedroom, pulled her towards me, burying my fingers in those dark curls, and kissed her. Roughly. Possessively.

And… she answered.

That night was passionate. Words weren't enough to describe what happened between us, but it was real, sincere, and for the first time I felt like everything that had come before didn't matter.

In the morning she said it was a mistake.
And I agreed, although everything inside me was screaming: “This is definitely not a mistake!”

It's been two damn weeks.

I'm standing with my team near the university, chatting, joking, and inside it's like cats are squealing, but I'm trying not to show it and, as always, throwing out my jokes.

And then she appears.

Aurora.

I'm about to throw another jibe, but I see that she's tense, worried, and there's something in her eyes that I didn't expect.

“Can we talk?” she says quietly.

I nod, tensing internally.
I give up the verbal banter, tell my friends I'm leaving, and lead her aside to be alone.

She looks at the ground, clutching the sleeves of her sweater.
For the first time I see the bold, self-confident Aurora so... vulnerable.

“Liam, I’m… pregnant,” she says quietly, almost in a whisper.

Something inside me breaks.
My heart sinks.

accidents, sometimes not accidents, that's how fate intended it.