Page 125 of Baby Surprise for my Brother's Best Friend

"You’re running again. You’re pushing me away because you’re scared." My fists close so tight the skin in my palm breaks from my nails digging hard.

"Do I get a say in any of this?"

His jaw tightens.

"If anything ever happened to you or the baby because of me..." He shakes his head, looking away. "I wouldn’t survive it."

He paces a few steps, then stops, dragging a hand through his hair.

"I thought I could keep you safe here. I thought I could handle it." His voice fractures on the words. "But I can't."

He looks back at me, every wall he’s ever built crumbling at once.

"I am scared, Sophie. I'm scared because I’m going to be a father. Because for the first time in my life, it's not just about me screwing up. It's about you. About our baby. About losing everything that really matters to me, everything I love, before I even get the chance to have it."

I cover my mouth with my hand, tears burning my eyes.

He steps closer. "I don't know if I can be the man you need, don't know if I'm enough. But I’m trying. God, I'm trying."

He rakes a shaky breath.

"And right now, this…leaving…is the only way I know how to protect you."

The words hang there between us, heavy and awful.

Tears slip down my cheeks.

There’s nothing left to fix.

Nothing left to say, even though everything inside me is screaming not to let him go.

I turn away first.

I can’t hold his gaze anymore, can’t keep standing there when everything breaks open inside me.

I walk back to my room in silence, tears blurring the walls, the floor, my own shaking hands.

I close the door softly behind me.

I don’t sob. Don’t scream.

Just... shatter to pieces.

I lay on my side of the bed, staring into nothing, the silence pressing harder with every second that passes.

***

At some point in the night, footsteps come down the hall.

I don’t move.

The door creaks open.

Alessio stands there, silhouetted by the faint glow of the hallway light, looking like he’s already halfway gone.

We don’t say a word.

He crosses the room slowly, hesitating for only a second before I rise to meet him. Staying in bed would feel like surrender.

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