Chapter Thirty-Three

The rough surface claws my feet, but the pain doesn't matter because Blake does. "Go away Ava, I don't want you here." "You're stuck with me," I call out. "You shouldn't have to see me like this," he calls over his shoulder. "Thick and thin," I shoot back, willing for him to understand. I won't leave because he's angry. "I don't want you to think badly of me." Blake's pacing slows down to a halt in front of the park down the road from his house. Images from our last adventure trip spring to my mind, but I push them out the way. "I don't, I promise, just, please don't shut me out." I skid to a stop as I wrap my arms around Blake's muscular torso and hug him tightly. I wasn't here to judge or lurer out gossip, I just wanted to be there for him like he'd been there for me. I feel his chest contracting as he inhales a gasp of air. I hold onto his sweaty, muscular frame in fright of him running away again. I'd let him go once in the house, but I wasn't stupid enough to repeat that mistake again. "Tell me about what you're thinking," I say. "I can't believe I'm questioning the paternity of my daughter. I don't want Tori to take her away from me." It amazed me that he wasn't upset that Tori had lied to him, but rather scared of the idea of losing London. "I'm sure she's yours." I don't know what else to say. "By the sounds of it, London could be anyone's daughter." His body physically shakes with anger, but I keep my arms tightly wrapped around his body to hold him together. "Come home, please," I beg. "I can't." I walk around so that I'm in front of him. I cup both hands on his face in my hands and softly smile up at him. "London needs you, she needs her father." Blake struggles out of my grasp and looks away from me. His shoulders slump, then his head tilts down and he looks at the ground sadly. We stand in the middle of the street silently for a few minutes until Blake's body moves with life. "Let's go home." He laces his fingers through my hand and starts walking back towards his house. We slip through the side of the house passage and down towards Blake's house. As we enter inside, I find Jude sitting on the couch in a crumpled drunk mess, which is accompanied by shouting and a crying baby. "What's happening?" I ask. "Tori," mutters Jude darkly. Blake lets go of my hand and races for the stairs. I follow along, taking each step by two. We run into Blake's room to find Tori packing up London's belongings and Angela shouting at Tori to get out the house, while cuddling an upset London to her chest. "You can't take her, don't ruin London's life," shouts Angela, "We've done so much to make a happy house for her here." "You're not her mother and Blake isn't the father." Tori grabs more clothing from London's drawers and shoves them into a duffle bag. "You're not taking her," Blake's voice bellows through the room. "Yes, I am, and you can't stop me." Tori shakes her head and continues packing her belongings. "She's not a toy to take, she's a baby for fuck sake. Where are you going to raise her and with what? She's my daughter too and I get a say in what happens to her." Blake takes the duffle bag from Tori and throws it on the ground to stop her from packing. "I cheated," she sneers, "I screwed your brother multiple times behind your back and slept with other people. London isn't your daughter, so why are you acting like this?" She pushes past Blake and retrieves the bag from the floor. "Get out of my house," he bellows, "you're no longer welcome here." "No." She shakes her head and stands taller in front of Blake. "Get out or I'll call the police and have you removed, your choice." "They'll give me London, so call them!" "They won't give a small, helpless infant to a teenager who's throwing suspicions in the air. On Monday we're getting DNA test and we'll sort it out from there. Until then, London is mine and she's certainly not leaving with you." With a huff, Tori throws the bag on the ground and storms out of the bedroom. When she's out of sight, Blake takes London from Angela's hands and cuddles her to his chest. Immediately, she stops crying and settles down. Blake wipes the tears from her cheeks. "I'm here, I'm here, I won't leave," he continuously whispers to London on repeat. "What can I do for you?" I ask. "I'll be down stairs," Angela excuses herself from the room. "I need you to hold London for a second, I need to do something." I don't have the chance to not accept, so I take her into my arms and bounce back and forth in a soothing gesture to keep her calm. "What are you doing? Maybe you should go for a walk?" The mad glint the shone through Blake's eyes told me he wouldn't be listening to reason any time soon. Blake walks down the stairs and I follow quickly behind him. Angela is nowhere to be seen and neither is Tori, just Jude just sitting on the couch in a ball still. "What the fuck man?" He growls. Blake springs forwards and grabs Jude by the scuff of his shirt. He pulls him to his feet and yells in his face. "Why did you sleep with Tori?" Blake shakes Jude back and forth, waiting for an answer to escape his lips. He doesn't say anything, so Blake continues shaking him. "I didn't, I mean," he chokes out, "It was an accident." "How do you accidentally have sex with someone?" "It was only once, or four times, look, I'm really sorry." Blake drops Jude on the couch and takes a step back. He begins running his fingers through his dark brown hair to stop himself from doing anything else to harm Jude. "Look on the bright side, you might get your life back." And there went the tipping point. Blake raises his fist, pulls his arm back and then lands a tough punch right in the top section of his face, square in the eye. "Never say that about my daughter." Jude sits on the couch dazed for a second before scrambling to his feet and running towards the front door. Blake takes a seat on the couch and rests his head in his hands. "I can't lose her," he murmurs as he shakes his head back and forth, "I can't lose her." I cautiously take a seat next to Blake and wrap one free arm around his neck. "You won't lose her, don't think like that." "I don't know what to say." "Then don't." I press a soft kiss against his cheek and snuggle up. He wraps his arms around the two of us and kisses my forehead back. "I'll do whatever it takes to keep you both in my life." Blake sounded determined, he wouldn't let London go without a fight.