Page 63 of Cups of You

“Fuck,” he huffed running a hand over his face. His shoulders drooped like the weight of all his past decisions were trying to crush him.

With a sigh Benjamin unbuckled his seat belt and exited the car. There was no point in putting off the conversation that was about to happen. Clearly Olivia was upset so he needed to put his feelings aside and make sure she was okay.

The front door opened before he reached it and Randy’s expression told Benjamin everything, he needed to know about how this night was going to go.

“That great huh?” He tried to joke but his words fell flat. Randy's lips twitched slightly but he shook his head.

“I think Liv has moved from anger to rage maybe?”

“Fuck.”

“Yeah buddy.” Randy patted Benjamin on the shoulder as he walked in the house. “Evangeline came by, but I think that did more harm than good.”

“Unsurprising.” Benjamin looked around. “She came by the cafe as well and had some choice words for me before I kicked her out.”

Randy nodded. “Good for you.” He walked over to the couch and sat down before pointing to the ceiling. “Liv is up in her room with Sam.”

“Great. I'm going to head on up.”

Benjamin walked around the couch and through the hallway. He paused at the base of the stairs and gazed up into the darkness. He could hear muffled voices, but they were too faint for him to make out any words.

He slowly made his way up glancing over the picture frames hung on the wall. All of them were pictures of Olivia from the moment she came home from the hospital to the pictures they had taken that Christmas with Randy and Sam.

Her smile had been so carefree then and he blinked back angry tears at the thought that her smile might now be tainted with anger and pain.

He paused in front of Olivia’s bedroom door to give himself a final moment to prepare. Benjamin raised his hand and rapped lightly on the door with his knuckles.

“Come in.”

He curled a hand around the nob and turned it slowly. He wasn't sure what he had expected to see when he opened the door, but he was surprised to see a lack of tears.

Olivia was sitting at her desk looking tiny in an oversized sweatshirt that had no doubt come from Benjamin’s closet. Sam was sitting on the bed and it was her who gave him a small smile when he came in.

“Hey Benji.” She lifted a hand. “Help a girl up?”

Benjamin hustled over to Sam and helped her stand not moving away until she found her balance. She gave his arm a reassuring squeeze before walking over and giving Olivia a quick hug.

“Randy and I will see ourselves out.”

“Thanks Sam,” he called out sending her a grateful smile. She nodded before leaving and closing the door behind her.

Benjamin took up her spot on the bed and leaned forward resting his elbows on his knees as he looked at Olivia. She was staring somewhere near his feet and fiddling with the sleeves of her sweatshirt. He knew he had to start the conversation otherwise they would sit there in silence for the rest of the night.

“So…” His voice trailed off as watery blue eyes finally looked up at him. Benjamin's breath caught at the pain he never wanted to see reflected in that azure gaze. “Oh bean, come here.”

He opened his arms and not a second later they were filled with shaking shoulders as Olivia crumpled into his embrace. Soft sobs filtered to his ears and Benjamin held her tighter as he whispered into her hair.

“It's okay bean. We're going to be okay.”

“Why didn't you tell me about mom?”

He was expecting the question, but it was still like a knife twisting into his stomach. “I didn't want to damage the relationship you had with your mom, Liv. What happened was between your mom and me. It had nothing to do with how we felt about you.”

Olivia pulled away and wiped a sleeve over her face.

Her skin was flushed, and her cheeks were stained with tears. Seeing her so miserable had Benjamin wishing desperately that he could turn back time to keep the conversation from happening like this.

With a sinking feeling, he realized there was nothing he could do now except push them both forward and hope they came out stronger on the other side.

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