ELISA

A few weeks had passed since the incident. We had filed a restraining order against Ben, and he was no longer a threat. Penelope was a bit shaken up, but she was slowly recovering. As for me and Patrick, things were... different. There was a shift in our relationship. We were no longer just best friends and a little brother. There was something more, something deeper, something that was a mystery that had woken up beneath the surface.

I had been feeling a bit sick lately. I was tired all the time, and I had been throwing up in the mornings. I was also a week late for my period. My mind went straight to the worst-case scenario. I took a pregnancy test, and my hands were trembling as I waited for the result. One line. Two lines. Two lines. It was positive.

I felt a rush of emotions. Fear, shock, and a strange sense of happiness. A part of me was scared, but a part of me was excited. A baby. A baby with Patrick. I knew it was crazy, but a small part of me wanted this to be true. I called Patrick, and he came over immediately.

"Elisa? What's wrong? You sound upset," he said, his voice full of worry.

I couldn't speak. I just held up the pregnancy test, and his eyes widened.

"Is that... is that what I think it is?" he asked, his voice a whisper.

I nodded. He took the test from my hand and looked at it, then at me. A smile slowly crept up his face, and he hugged me tightly.

"We're going to be parents, El. We're going to be a family."

My heart fluttered. This was it. This was the start of our story. We were going to be a family. A day later, I had an OB-GYN appointment, and the doctor told me that the test was a false positive. My period was late due to stress, and my hormones were a bit out of whack. I was not pregnant. I was relieved, but a small part of me was sad.

I told Patrick about it, and he hugged me tightly. "It's okay, El. We'll have a family someday. It's just not today. We have a lot of things to figure out, but we'll do it together. Always."

I looked at him, my eyes filled with tears. I saw him not as my best friend's younger brother but as the man who was meant for me. I was his, and he was mine. The mystery had finally woken up, and it was a love story waiting to be told.