Eight year old Tristan was looking outside just like every other day. The day was dull as the clouds hid the sun. His hand rested against the cold window while he watched a blue Toyota pull up in front of the house. There was one only reason why the blue car would be there. One reason only. It was just the day before when couples came to the house, looking for kids to take home and call their own.

A woman in a gray business suit stepped out of the car as she was greeted by Mr. Phish, one of the foster parents. He was not a fan of children, so he shook her hand enthusiastically and quickly guided her into the house.

Before the pair made it to the door Tristan turned around and ran, looking for his friend. "Hope!" he shouted in a hushed tone, "The blue car is back!" He slowed down when he reached the stairs. "Hope? Are you there?"

There was a pause. "Yes," Hope replied. "What is it?"

Tristan excitedly ran up the stairs and up into Hope's room. "The blue car is back! Who do you think is leaving this time?" he asked.

"I am!" The nine year old smiled as she turned around from her desk. Hope's normally straight hair was curled in small loops that encircled her face. The red in her hair complimented the paleness of her skin. The blue of her eyes shined and seemed to brighten up the whole room. There was a ribbon in her hair that matched the little dress that she was wearing. "Can you believe it? I finally get to have real parents!" Her smile was so wide, Tristan was surprised that her face didn't break. "I wonder if they have a dog, or a cat. I'd rather they have a dog. Oh! Or maybe a hamster!"

Tristan couldn't believe it, he wouldn't. There was no way he was going to lose his friend, his best friend. They had grown up together and trusted each other. They had even talked about being adopted together so they weren't apart. All of a sudden Hope's arms wrapped around him in a warm hug. It was so fast that Tristan didn't have time to react and accept the embrace.

"Thank you for being such an amazing friend to me, Tristan," Hope said, looking him in the eyes. Tristan only looked down. "I'm really going to miss you."

He looked out the window to the blue Toyota. "Yeah," he said quietly.

Hope started the walked away. "Bye Tristan," she said. "You'll always be my best friend." Then she was gone.

Once silence filled the room he looked up, realizing that she had gone. His eyes went wide as he ran to the window. Hope was getting in the car and the woman in the business suit was starting the engine. Tristan swiftly turned around and headed for the stairs. When he got to the stairs he debated whether or not it was a good idea to run or walk down it; then he heard the car pull out of the driveway and he decided to take his chances with running down. He ran out the front door and only caught a quick glance at the car before it disappeared into the cold. Tristan tried to run after it, but it was no use. Out of breath from running, he collapsed onto the hard ground. Tears started the sting in his eyes. He shut them closed for a second, trying to control himself. Taking a deep breath, he opened his eyes and looked to the gray sky.

~Twenty Years Later~

Tristan found himself at a grocery store, shopping for a dinner he was planning. His hands grazed over the variety of meats the store had to offer. There was chicken, turkey, steak, and lamb; and because it was such a special evening, he decided to go with the lamb.

Tristan made his way down to the frozen food aisle, looking for some peas or corn to add to dinner. After some time searching for some food he found a good assortment of vegetables that would go perfectly with the meal. He tried to reach for the frozen food, but there was a lady with brown hair in front of him. "Excuse me," he said, accidentally touching her black sleeve.

The lady turned around. "Oh no, I'm sorry," she replied. "I didn't realize that I was in your way." She quickly stepped to the side, avoiding contact with this stranger.

Tristan swiftly opened the freezer door and grabbed the vegetable packet. "It's okay," he responded. Then he shifted his eyes to meet her gaze. His jaw dropped slightly. It had been two decades since he had seen eyes that blue. Though her red hair was replaced by a brown color he still recognized her. "Hope?" he managed to choke out.

The lady furrowed her brow. "Yes?" she hesitated. "How do you know my name?" Tristan stared at her in disbelief. He was about to shake it off and leave when her eyes flew open wide. "Tristan?" she asked.

He let a small smile creep to his face. "Yeah?" he laughed.

"Tristan!" she practically shouted as she threw her arms around his neck. In doing so, she spilled her purse. She laughed and covered her face in embarrassment. "I'm sorry," she said while she knelt to pick up her things.

He knelt to help her gather her things. "Clumsy girl," he whispered, smirking slightly.

"I heard that," Hope retorted. "Well, anyways, how are things going for you?"

"Things are great actually," he smiled.

She smiled, looked down and pointed to his hand. "I see you're married now." He lifted his hand in response and smiled. "How is she? What's her name?"

"Her name is Evangeline," he replied. "She's wonderful, I love her so much. We're celebrating our tenth anniversary tonight."

"Really?" she asked. "Congratulations!"

"Thanks. I dropped off our kids at their grandparents and surprise her with a home cooked meal."

"They sound great," she smiled..

"Thanks," Tristan said. "I see that you don't have any ring," he stated, pointing to her hand.

"Yeah," she replied with a slight frown. "He left me almost a year ago. It was hard at first, but I woke up everyday with a smile on my face. Eventually I got better, so here I am now."

"That's good," he nodded with a smile on his face.

"Hey, listen," she continued. "Why don't we catch up some more over some dinner at my place this weekend. I hope the missis won't mind."

"No," he replied, slowly. "Well, I don't know. Usually the weekend is family time, but I'm sure that she won't mind me missing one day. I'll ask though."

Hope shrugged. "Oh that's fine."

"Awesome," Tristan smiled. "Hey, why we exchange numbers? That way we have a way of getting in touch?"

"Sure!" she replied. Reaching into her bag, she pulled out a piece of paper and ripped it in half. Both adults wrote down their numbers and swapped papers. "Well, I guess I'll talk to you soon," Hope waved.

"Okay, bye." Then he saw her leaving to continue shopping while he turned around to make his way to the cash register. While Tristan gathered his groceries onto the conveyer belt, he smiled. Once he was ready to go, he headed to his car and drove home.

When Tristan made it home, he collected his items and went into the house. He had made it home earlier than he expected. Evangeline would get off work in three hours. It was plenty of time to get everything ready.

Tristan turned his head and paused. Only his anxious heartbeat filled the silent hallways. Smiling, he rushed into the kitchen and placed all of the groceries on the counter. He began preparing the lamb; putting some chopped garlic and rosemary on it. After that he soaked it in brandy for thirty minutes. Taking the seasoned lamb, he browned it in a hot griddle pan, then placed it in the oven. He set the timer for an hour and stood in front of the oven with a wide grin. Looking at the clock he found that he had an hour left to get ready. Perfect. He turned off the lights and ran upstairs.

"I'm glad you dropped me off, Kevin," a voice sounded from downstairs. Tristan's eyes widened. His blonde hair was half combed with one side in disarray and the other combed nicely. He came out of the room, buttoning his blue shirt. He tiptoed to the top of the stairs, getting a good view of the front door. In the doorway stood Evangeline and a tall, masculine figure apparently named Kevin. "I'll talk to you tomorrow." She looked around to what she thought was an empty house, then turned back around to give Kevin a short passionate kiss.

Tristan's jaw dropped along with his hands that were buttoning his shirt. He saw the man leave with a broad smile on his face. Evangeline closed the door and leaned against it; letting out a huge sigh along with a smile of her own.

"What?" Tristan breathed.

Evangeline jumped. "Honey? I didn't think you would be home."

"Apparently!" he exclaimed. "What was that?"

"Oh that?" she gestured to the door. "That was Kevin. I think you met him at one of our company parties." Evangeline's voice began to shake and she gripped her coat tighter.

Tristan began descending down the stairs. "Yeah, I remember him. But what was that Evangeline? Why did you kiss him? It's our anniversary, why would you do that?"

"I'm sorry Tristan. I never wanted for you to find out this way."

"Find out what?" his voice dropped to a whisper.

There was a pause. "I have been seeing Kevin for about three years now," she answered quietly.

Tristan went pale. "Three years? Why didn't you tell me?"

"You're such a fragile soul, honey, and you treat me so well," she explained. "I just couldn't bear to hurt you."

"Well I guess it's took late for that now, isn't it?" he replied, looking down.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I think it would be best if we…"

Tristan looked up at Evangeline. "If we what?"

"If we get a divorce."

"No!" he shouted. "We can pull through this. I forgive you, please don't leave me."

"No we can't. We can't pull through this Tristan. I've been seeing this guy for three years. You think that we can pull ourselves together after that?"

"We can!" he argued. "Come on, Evangeline. I love you so much, I don't want to lose you. Please just stay with me?"

"No, Tristan," she said firmly. "I won't. I can't keep living like this, lying to you all the time. You are such a wonderful guy and you deserve to have the person you love. love you in return. I'm sorry," she turned away to the door. "I'm going to stay the night with the kids. Goodbye."

Evangeline left with a slam of the door. Tristan stood at the bottom of the stairs, mouth slightly agape. Just then the alarm signaling that the lamb was done went off. He ran to turn off the oven. Pulling out the lamb, he placed it on the stove and turned to lean on the counter. He took in a deep breath that turned into a sob. "What did I do wrong?" he cried, going to the living room and collapsing on the couch. "I don't know what I did to deserve any of this…"

The next morning, Tristan woke up with puffy, red eyes. He groaned when he heard his alarm clock upstairs going off. Alerting him that it was time to get ready for work. He reached towards the phone on the table and dialed his work.

"This is Karen. How may I help you?" the secretary answered.

"Karen, this is Tristan," his voice was raspy and low. "I'm not feeling well so I'm not coming to work today."

"Oh goodness! You sound terrible," she observed. "That's fine. You just rest up. Hopefully we'll see you later on this week."

"Hopefully," he whispered. "Thanks Karen." Then hung up. He got up off the couch and groaned once again. The alarm clock had finally stopped after five minutes of ringing. He headed towards the kitchen and saw that he forgot to put away the lamb. Sighing, he collected what he had made and placed it in the refrigerator for another time.

Tristan's expression had not changed at all. It stayed only in a dull, sad state. He went to go open the window, expecting to find the skies gray. Opening the curtains, he found that the clouds were separating. A small ray of sunshine shone on his face, making him squint his eyes and lift his arm to shield him from it.

Then he heard his phone ring. Walking slowly to pick it up, he looked down at the caller ID. He recognized the number to be Hope's. Tristan let the corner of his lip turn up. He shook his head as he held the phone in his hand. Looking, once again, out the window, he saw that the crack in the clouds had grown. The sun shined bright than ever, illuminating the room in a brilliant light.

Tristan lifted the phone to his ear with a small smile on his face. "Hello?"