Chapter 12

                                    

                                          
Nathalie's eyes widen as she sees the determination on his face, and it immediately worries her. It's clear he isn't going away as the interest he has in her son is persistent.
"I thought I made it very clear that I do not wish to speak to you, Gabriel."
She walks away from the door, but leaves it open, so he follows right behind her.
"Yes," he says, "but we must talk, Nathalie, we can't leave things the way they are."
She looks down and away from him, that constant look of sadness so present in her face.
When she starts sobbing, he isn't sure what's happening, all he can hear is the cries of a tired and desperate woman.
"Nathalie..."
"Why are you doing this to me, Gabriel? Have you not hurt me enough?" Her voice is soft and shaky and tears wet her face.
"Nathalie," he whispers, guilt settling deep inside him, "I'm sorry for what I've done, I just..."
Words don't exist to redeem himself. He's done bad enough to her, he's hurt her, and he most definitely does not deserve to be near her or their son.
"Nathalie, you can't push me away from Alexander... you simply can't... you'd kill me if you would." He whispers the last part, and she finally looks up at him, his eyes dull and shiny.
Nathalie stares at him for a while, noticing how worn out he actually looks. He's thinner and more fragile than she recalls him being, and his eyes carry such deep exhaustion in them.
His words stab her straight in the heart, she isn't cruel enough to do such harm to him. She isn't capable enough to strip him from his other son.
"So what are we going to do?" She asks, calming herself down and wiping her tears away, "Can we solve this as sensible adults or must we go to a courtroom in front of a judge?"
"What?" He exclaims, "no, I don't want to do this in a courtroom, I think we're capable enough to solve this ourselves."
Nathalie raises her eyebrows at his words, he's never shown any type of confidence when it came to solving his issues. But now everything's different, Gabriel is here, determined to create some sort of relationship with her son.
"So what do you want?" She asks.
"What I want is to be near..."
"You already said that," she says, interrupting him, "what I'm asking you is, how are we going to do this?"
"Well, I think I have the right to spend time with Alexander as much as I can."
Nathalie huffs at his words, it's so difficult for her to listen to him speak in such a way after he pushed her away so aggressively when they found out about her pregnancy.
"Must be nice to push people away, then shove yourself right back into their lives with no warning or regrets." She tells him.
Gabriel sighs, walking towards her, and she wants to move but somehow her feet seem glued to the floor below her.
He stands so close to her, that she swears she can hear his heart beating.
"There are regrets, Nathalie... I regret what I did to you. I know I hurt you and I know you didn't deserve that."
Gabriel's cold hands unconsciously run through her hair, causing shivers to run down her spine. And she wants to move away from him, but it's nearly impossible.
So all she does is close her eyes and wait for him to move away. But he doesn't, instead, Gabriel's hands travel through her hair at a slow and torturous pace. His breath hits the side of her face and the smell of tobacco and men's cologne rises up her nostrils.