In My Dreams It's Me And You

Nathalie's POV

Why do I have to go see the doctor?” I whined, immediately starting to tug on the door handle of the car to no success. Obviously, Chloe was smart enough to put the child lock on before forcing me into the vehicle.

“Oh stop that Nat!” She snapped, reaching over with one hand while keeping the other on the wheel to slap them to my lap. She grumbled something I couldn't hear before turning her attention back to the road, adding, “And it's because I am not looking after you for two months while we are on tour with the guys just because you refused to see a doctor.”

I fell silent for a few moments. “Chloe?”

“Hmm?”

“I hate you.”

She smiled. “I love you too.”

The car shuddered to a stop as we parked outside the clinic, turning off the ignition and stepping out of the car. I didn't move; instead it took her opening the door next to me and dragging me as I tried to wiggle free all the way to the receptionist's counter inside.

The receptionist looked up as we approached, an eyebrow rising as she saw me trying to free myself from the death grip Chloe had on my wrist. “May I help you?”

Chloe let go then, uncaring for the glare I shot her as I rubbed the red mark furiously. “Nathalie Taylor, had an appointment with Dr. Wright. We're a bit late.”

“Scared of seeing the big, bad doctor?” The receptionist teased, chuckling along with Chloe as I scowled. “She's already waiting for you now; her room is the last room on the left.”

“Thank you.”

Chloe crossed the room to where a line of chairs were laid out, grabbing an old magazine from the stack next to her and flipping through it. I remained where I stood, fiddling with the bottom of my shirt.

“Aren't you coming with me?”

Her eyes slowly raised above the magazine to stare at me, an eyebrow continuing upwards where her gaze stopped. “You're a big girl now. You can go see the doctor on your own.”

“But...”

“Nathalie,” she said calmly, lowering the magazine to her lap. “You are 22 now, I'm sure you can go without me holding your hand.”

I pouted. “But...”

She threw the magazine at me then, her voice rising to a high shrill. “Just go!”

Needless to say, I went.

--

“Nathalie?” A tall woman with a long white coat got up from her seat to greet me, extended a hand before gesturing to the seat opposite her.

I took her hand before sitting on the chair. “That's me.”

She smiled when she noticed my gaze had instantly dropped to my hands, fiddling with a thread off my shirt. “Don't worry; I'm not here to eat you.”

I didn't reply.

“Now, what is the problem? I hear you've been experiencing frequent nausea and fatigue?” She asked, noting a few things down on the clipboard balanced on her knees despite I hadn't said anything of merit. “And that I understand you are going away in a week?”

“Yes, so I'd rather be rid of them soon, so if you can pump me full of drugs or something then that'll be great,” I replied, running my hand across my stomach as I felt the familiar signs that was the unwanted nauseous feeling.

Dr. Wright watched me as I did this, jotting down a few notes before crossing her arms over it. What she said next I was totally unprepared for. “Have you ever considered the possibility of pregnancy?”

Okay...what?

Even though it had to be physically impossible to fall off a chair that had arms trapping you on either side, I almost managed it, having to choke my words out and sounding like a cat hacking up a fur ball. “What...do you mean...pregnancy?”

“You have the classic signs, morning sickness, fatigue and as your friend put it, 'You have been a moody, irritable pain in the ass and she wanted something done'.” She chuckled lightly at the way Chloe had said it, setting aside the clipboard and pen and inching her chair a bit closer to me. “Do you know when your last cycle ended?”

“Erm...” I hadn't even thought about that. Now she mentioned it, I was way overdue. Like six weeks overdue.

“Here.” She passed me a small rectangular box. It was easy to guess what was inside, regardless of the large words 'Pregnancy Test' emblazoned across the side. “There is a bathroom just at the end of the hall, you can't miss it.”

--

I stood numbly by the sink, glancing every so often at the stick on the side to my left. I've never been so anxious in my life, but as soon as the answer came I knew I would have preferred to have waited forever.

Staring back at me was the cruellest of truths- the blue line.

I was in such a state of shock that I didn't notice Dr. Wright call my name as she hurried in, quickly checking me over just to see that I hadn't spontaneously died standing.

“Don't worry... I'm...I'm...” I couldn't finish the sentence, instead just pushing past her and leaving both Dr. Wright and the pregnancy test behind me.

“Nat?” I didn't bother stopping as Chloe called my name, just wanting to get away. “Hey! Wait up!” She quickly caught up to me and was jogging to keep up with my pace until she suddenly grabbed my arm and forced me to turn to her. “What's the matter? Is something wrong?”

I opened my mouth to say something, but soon closing it as I realised what it was I was thinking. How could I tell her I was pregnant with…?

Pulling her hand from around mine I continued walking without a word, shaking my head when she kept on asking me what was wrong. As we were approaching the gates to the car park I turned suddenly; nearly making Chloe walk into me by surprise.

“Just... I just need to clear my head, okay?”

She frowned in response to this answer, obviously not liking it. “What is wrong? You aren't dying or anything are you?”

I laughed, but it didn't sound right. “I'm fine Clo. I'll... I'll tell you later, alright?”

For a moment I didn't think she would leave, but after giving me a tight squeeze and murmuring, “It'll be alright” she turned and walked back to the car.

--

From the clinic I just kept walking with no real sense of where I wanted to go, just taking a left here and a right there whenever I felt like it. Ironically enough I ended up at the beach- the very same one Brian had taken me on our first date. I got a few weird looks as I went down onto the wet sand and sat down, especially considering how cold it was out and the scarcity of my outfit.

What am I going to do?
Keep it? (But it's...)
Get rid of it? (But it's a life...)

“Nat?”

I turned briefly to see who had called my name, seeing Jimmy looking down at me from the walkway. As he moved to walk down onto the beach I quickly rubbed at my cheeks to get rid of the tears, trying to make it look like I hadn't been crying for the past couple of hours and wasn't a mess.

“Hey Jimmy,” I greeted brightly, feigning a smile. “What brings you down here?”

“Ice cream,” he replied casually, flopping himself down next to me. The wet sand didn't seem to bother him, but the way he was devouring the ice cream in his hand I doubted anything could take away his goofy grin. “I can ask the same about you. When Chloe came back a couple of hours ago without you she just said you had gone shopping and then refused to say anything else. Needless to say, Syn thinks you may have died or something. He's been shouting at Chloe trying to get her to say something, but she just keeps saying she doesn't know. So I went to get ice cream.”

I couldn't help but laugh. Only could Jimmy describe such drama, but then end it with consuming some sort of food product. “You're so going to get fat one day.”

“Nah.” The rest of the ice cream cone disappeared with one last bite, before he rested back on one arm and patted his stomach with another. “That hit the spot.”

“Thanks Jimmy.”

He turned to me, confused. “For what?”

I shrugged. “Just... just being here. It's nice.”

“Got to look out for each other. We're basically family now!” He chuckled, pulling me into a one-armed hug. “Whatever is eating you is going to get eaten by me!”

“And how is it that I can imagine that happening?”

“Because' I'm awesome,” he stated. “You coming back soon? I don't think Matt and Zack can keep Chloe and Syn from killing each other for much longer. In fact-” At that moment his cell rang, with 'Sexy Val' flashing on the screen. He flipped it open and greeted with a casual, “Hey sexy.”

I heard her gritted reply, imagining her rolling her eyes and scowling in response. “Shut it. Can you come back please? Those two are near to breaking the whole house, and you just disappearing for some fucking-” A large crash swallowed her words, causing Jimmy to flinch away from the phone. It was a few moments until she talked again, sounding breathless and agitated. “Just get your ass back, before I kick you out of your house because they broke ours.”

He shoved the cell back into his pocket with a sigh and pushed himself to his feet, looking down at me. “You coming?”

I shook my head. “I'm going to go up and see some friends.”

“Alright.” He began to walk away, stopping only when I called him.

“Do you think you could do me a favour?” I asked, picking myself off the sand and brushing my shorts down.

“Sure. What do you want?”

“Do you think you could go pick up my car keys from Chloe?”

He frowned. “How far away are you going?”

I didn’t answer.

“What about the tour? We’re leaving on Friday.”

I couldn't bring myself to look at him then, staring at my feet as I mumbled my words. “Plans changed. I can't go.”

Neither of us said anything then, instead a set of keys fell just by my feet. When I looked up I saw he was already walking away, speaking with his back to me. “If you scratch my ride, I'm coming after you. Wherever you are going.”

I smiled. “Thanks Jimmy. You're a real friend.”

He stopped for a few moments after I said that, before walking on and calling back, “You know, I'm not explaining any of this, so you better have a good excuse for not coming with us when Syn finds out.”