Damn the Day I Met You

I push the last of the bags into the back of car and lean on the trunk door. It was beautiful day here in Paris, a day that just made everything feel perfect. Lucy was running around the park, Peter was standing in the distance watching over us all, and Tristan was picking up some ‘last minute thing.’

“Ready to head out?” Tristan asks from behind me, making me jump. He chuckles and wraps an arm around me, “sorry, didn’t know I was going to scare you like that.”

I cross my arms and look up into his amazing eyes, “oh really? Because I’m pretty sure that was part of your plan.”

Instead of responding, he tugs on my arm, “I have one last thing on the list before we leave.” I glance over my shoulder to see where Lucy and Peter are but Tristan just situates it so that I’m once again facing forward. “Don’t worry, they are close behind.” We turn a couple corners to a quieter part of the city. Music was playing on the blocks, and people were around, but it was a lot calmer than the main roads.

“Do you know what this place is?” Tristan asks, fidgeting with something in his coat pocket. I look around at my surroundings: there was a small café, an old movie theatre, and that was pretty much it. Was I supposed to know this street by heart or something? Tristan took my silence as a no and pulled a thin photo out of his coat pocket, handing it to me. The photo was obviously old, or at least worn, and wasn’t taken in the best quality. But besides those minor details, the picture itself was clear. In the photo my dad had his arms wrapped around my mother’s waist, and they were kissing. I look at our surroundings and then back at the picture. The kiss happened right where Tristan and I were standing. When I glance back up at Tristan he’s grinning.

“I’m a bit confused,” I admit, still holding onto the photo as if it’s the last memory I have of my parents.

“And what exactly are you confused about?”

“Why exactly do you have a picture of my parents kissing? That’s a bit creepy, and stalkerish.”

Tristan laughs and pulls me closer, “it’s not like I have carried that around my whole life or something Katie. Your aunt gave it to me when I informed her we were coming here for the weekend. Besides, you’re not supposed to be thinking that right now, you’re supposed to tell me how romantic I am or something like that.”

I stare at him even more confused than I was before, “since when have you been talking with Katelyn? And why the hell should I find this romantic?”

Tristan groans and leans against the lamp post in defeat. I’m assuming this didn’t exactly go according to his plan. Before he can answer my questions though, another person does so for him, “Because, dear, it’s where your father and I shared our first kiss.” I turn around, shocked by the sound of my mothers’ voice. Standing there with her was my dad, not looking the least bit angry like I thought he would be.

When Tristan realizes who’s in our presence he stands up straight and let’s go of my hand. “Hello sir.” I hold back my laugh at how Tristan acted around my dad, though I knew myself how scary my family could get so I did understand a bit. “Um, would it be out of line to ask what you are doing here?”

My dad stares at Tristan for a long moment before answering his question, “my sister isn’t exactly the best at keeping secrets, at least not ones that deal with romance.”

My mom hits his arm, “that’s not true! Gosh Adam, your sister is the best at keeping secrets, especially ones that deal with romance.” She looks back to the two of us, “Tristan, thank you for informing someone in the family about your whereabouts. Adam was going crazy when no one was answering the house phone or their cell phones. Katelyn finally caved and told him where to find you guys.”

Well, this is sad. As someone in her twenties, I honestly shouldn’t have my parents following me around. “That doesn’t explain what you’re doing here though.”

My dad was quick to answer, though his eyes never left Tristan, “I needed to speak to you.”

I cross my arms, and glare at him, “There’s nothing to talk about. I’m old enough to make my own decisions. I mean I’m-”

“Not you,” my dad cuts me off, his voice sounding rougher than usual, “I need to speak with Tristan. Alone.” I notice Tristan’s’ adam apple move and his body tense up a bit. He steps away from me and follows my dad around the corner and out of sight.

My mom puts a hand on my shoulder, stopping me from any further eavesdropping. “Come on,” she nods over to a bench, “let’s talk.” I let her lead me over to the bench and take a seat next to her. “I know you have a ton of questions, and I promise that things will become clearer very soon. But that doesn’t make the way you handled things any more appropriate.”

“Mom-”

She puts her hand up to tell me to stop talking, “let me just get this out. I understand your anger towards your father and I, I really do. And I know that the way we went about things was totally wrong. I recall telling your father it was a bad idea, that you’d hate us for it. What you did though, you put your life in jeopardy. I don’t think you will ever understand how scared I’ve been these past few weeks. Tristan has been keeping Katelyn updated on things, which just shows for how much he cares about you, even with the updates that you were safe, and with a body guard, it didn’t ease my worries too much.”

“Mom, I’m sorry.”

“There’s nothing really to be sorry for. I just really hope you never do something like this again. I know you’re an adult now Katie, but that doesn’t make letting you go any easier.”

I roll my eyes and pull her into a hug, “I’m not going anywhere.” I pull back and look up just in time to see Tristan and my dad start walking back towards us. Tristan was shaking his head, as if telling my dad no to something, and I heard the few words ‘my mom, my problem,’ mumbled. That ended their conversation and they came to a halt in front of the bench.

My dad glances my way for a split second, but stays silent as he grabs my moms’ hand. She turns back to Tristan and I, waving, “have a safe trip back you two. And say hello to your sister for us Tristan.” He nods and we say our goodbyes, letting my parents leave before heading in the same direction.

“So…what did my dad want?”

Tristan took the now empty seat next to me and started fiddling around with his hands, his eyes focused on anything but me. “Just informing me on some stuff.”

I watched my parents in the distance as I spoke my next words, “what’s going on?”

I know Tristan turned to look at me now, but I didn’t change my focus, I wouldn’t be able to get it out if I did, “what are you talking about?”

“You know damn well what I’m talking about Tristan. Everyone, it seems, knows what I’m talking about. Except me. What’s going on? Why is everyone hiding it from me? And—and why does everyone want you away from me?” The last one was hardest for me to get out, not fully knowing if I want the truth or not.

Tristan grabs my hand, “Nothing is going Katie.” He says in his best calming voice. But I knew he was lying, which made the whole situation worse.

I pull my hand from his and stand up, preparing myself for the worst consequence of my words, “do not ever lie to me Tristan Bertina. If you want be anything to me, you will never lie to me.”

He gulps, pain evident in those blue eyes of his, “I—I can’t.”

And it was this moment I made the hardest decision of my life; with tears falling down my face, I walked away from someone I love. “Well then, I’m going to be getting a ride home with my parents.”