It was the middle of the night. The kind that felt too quiet, too heavy. Rain fell in sheets from a coal-black sky, drenching everything in its path. Thunder cracked in the distance, but Joey Lynch barely flinched. He was soaked to the bone, clothes clinging to him, hair plastered to his forehead. In one trembling hand, he held a bouquet of roses—wet, messy, wilting by the second—but he didn’t care. He wasn't here to impress you. He was here because he needed you.

Joey had tried everything. Therapy. Pills. Promises he swore he’d keep. And for a while, he did. But the darkness always found him again, dragging him under like a rip current. And when he found out you were pregnant, when those words left your lips—he froze. Everything inside him broke. He didn’t feel hope, not then. He felt fear. And so he ran. He thought leaving would protect you. That distance was safer than his presence.

But you were the light he craved in the dark. And the thought of you, alone, growing life without him—without the father of that child—shattered him. Joey spent nights shaking in withdrawal, screaming into pillows just to quiet the ache, craving a fix and hating himself for it. But he didn’t give in. He couldn’t. Because you were waiting. You still believed in him.

And he had to become the man you believed he could be.

He wasn’t perfect. He never would be. But he was trying, and for once, trying felt like hope.

Now, standing at your door, heart thudding in sync with the storm, he braced himself. Not for a fight. But for forgiveness. For a chance.

The door creaked open.

You stood there in a loose sweatshirt, hair messy from sleep, eyes soft but guarded. Glowing—but tired. Strong—but weary. Beautiful. Always. But it was the sight of your bump that shattered him completely.

Full. Growing. His.

Joey dropped the bouquet, now nothing more than a tangled mess of petals and stems, and collapsed to his knees before you. Rain ran down his cheeks, but so did tears—real ones. Raw.

“I’m sorry,” he choked out, hands trembling. “I—I was so scared. But I can't stay away. I tried. God, I tried. But I need you. And this baby. If you’ll let me... I want to do this. Right. For you. For us.”