Page 89 of You + Me – Against the World

“I was scared… I was lost!” Sobs burst from my chest.

“Come here, don’t cry. I’m sorry for yelling. But how is this possible? We always take precautions…”

“Life is punishing us, I don’t know…” I murmur, burying my face in his neck.

He rubs my back, but I can feel that he’s tense.

“What are we going to do?”

“I just want you to come with me. You know, for the…”

“Wait, just breathe, we have time. Don’t you think you might want to…?”

“Of course not, Vadim! I’m nineteen. Isn’t it obvious?”

“Alma, listen to me.” His voice is deep and calm. Vadim takes my face in both hands and brings it close to his. It’s hard to read the flurry of emotions flashing through his clear eyes. “You don’t have to decide right this second. I know we’re young and that a baby is scary. But it’s not impossible. ‘Nothing is impossible when you love each other.’ You told me that. It’s a George Sand quote, isn’t it?”

“What are you talking about? I’m just starting my studies. I don’t have a job, and neither do you. We’ve only known each other for a few months…”

“It’s your body, your choice, Alma. And I’ll support you no matter what. But I don’t want you to regret it one day. For both of us to regret it. I want you to know that, if you ask me to, I’ll do whatever it takes. I’ll find a real job. You can come live with me. You can keep going to college for as long as possible. Afterwards, when the baby is here, you can take online courses.”

I never would have imagined he’d react like this. This calmness, this way of projecting so far ahead, this control that I hear in his voice—a control that almost makes me doubt myself.

“And then one day you’ll get sick of it, you’ll hate your life, and you’ll leave me—”

“Look at me,” he growls. “I will never let you down, Alma. Never. Yes, it will be hard. We won’t have much, but we’ll have our baby. A combination of You + Me. No one will point out our differences anymore; they’ll see what we managed to create together. All the people who tried to break us up won’t be able to do anything to us ever again!”

“But that’s what happens in the movies,” I whisper to him. “It’s beautiful, it makes you cry, but it’s not real life! The truth is that my parents are going to kill me. And then, they’ll kill you.”

“This is real life, Alma. The beginning of our dreams coming true. Remember, we both wrote it on our list.”

“But not right now! Not like this!” I exclaim, pulling out of his arms. “I don’t want to be a teen mother, a student mother—I don’t want to be a mother at all! I don’t want to… I can’t! And I won’t do that to you.”

Vadim stares into the distance, looking troubled.

“It’s for you too,” I sniff, running my hand through his hair. “I don’t want you to give up your filmmaking dreams. To have a job—or even two jobs—you hate. To forget your passion, all your dreams, to sacrifice yourself for a baby you didn’t even want.”

“If you wanted it, I would want this baby too,” he replies softly. “I grew up without a family, so I guess we don’t feel the same way. But I’m here. Whether we keep it or not, Alma, I’m here.”

A torrent of tears flows down my cheeks.

I thought he would run away from his responsibilities, like so many guys his age would have done. But Vadim has demonstrated to me, in his own way, his love, his unfailing support, and his desire to build a future with me.

And I don’t know what to do anymore.

31

A tentative hand knocks softly on my door. I ask Lily to go away, but it’s Basile who slips into my room and sits cross-legged at the foot of the bed.

“I know we aren’t particularly close, Alma. But I could hear you crying on the other side of the wall. Do I need to go beat somebody up?”

I manage a smile, a little embarrassed that I wasn’t more discreet. “No, I’ll be fine.”

“That’s what big brothers do, right? Defend their sister. Comfort them when they cry. But I don’t really know how to do that…” He fidgets with his fingers, not quite comfortable in this new role.

“You’re doing pretty well, I think.”

“So, is it Arcadi?”