Love By Our Side

Delaney had no idea what she was in for when she stepped into her boyfriend's car that night.

The ten minute drive to the restaurant seemed pleasant enough to her; John seemed to have had a bad day for some reason, but he wasn't bringing it up so Delaney wouldn't ask about it. When they arrived at the restaurant, John walked slightly ahead of her, further confusing the girl. He told the hostess they needed a table for two, and didn't wait for Delaney to catch up to him before trailing behind the hostess to get to their seats. They sat down and didn't say much of anything until after they ordered. Once their waitress was gone, John took control of the conversation.

“Are you cheating on me?” he asked, looking his girlfriend straight in the eye. Delaney, taken aback, just stared at him like he was an idiot.

“Where the fuck did that come from?” she asked, obviously not pleased by his question.

John sighed and sat back in his chair. “Ya know how my brother has been acting weird lately?” Delaney, still keeping a perplexed look on her face, nodded her agreement. “He told me I needed to talk to you about something. I had no idea what else it could be besides you cheating on me, so I just-”

“Babe, I am not cheating on you. Why the fuck would I have moved down here to be with you to go and throw it away?” Delaney interrupted him. “Do you mean to tell me the reason Stephen has been acting like he has been is because he thinks I'm cheating on you?”

“He didn't say that exactly, he told me to ask you if anything was up.” John sighed again, this time sitting forward in his chair and grabbing his girlfriend's hand. “So I guess I should ask, is anything up?”

Stephen couldn't know about Delaney's not-quite second thoughts about moving to Scottsdale, so she had no idea what else Stephen could be talking about. If she was going to talk to John about this topic, though, now would be a good of time as any. “I seriously have no idea what the hell Stephen is talking about, but there is something I've kinda been wanting to talk to you about...” John looked at her, a bit eagerly, and waited for her to start. It was her turn to sigh, bowing her head as to not look at John as she did so.

“I don't wanna say I've been having second thoughts about moving here-that's not the case at all, I swear-but I kinda feel like we might've pushed this whole relationship too fast. I don't regret moving here, and now that I'm here I wanna make the best of it and I am, but, I don't know?” she sighed again when she finished her ramble, and looked at John. “That really didn't make any sense, I just kinda had to say it.”

“I understand what you're saying, and yes it was all over the place, but that's okay. Since you did move down here, I feel like this is a pretty serious relationship, so we have to be honest with each other about everything.” John smiled. “I'm glad you told me how you're feeling, even if it's just a small thing.”

“Since we're being completely honest now, there is something else I wanna get your opinion on,” Delaney stated. “I haven't thought about this in awhile, but it seems like it's constantly in the back of my brain. Especially when I first moved down here, I really felt that Stephen sort of resented me for not bringing Sophie with me when I moved. I guess I still do feel that way sometimes Is that completely outrageous?”

“Huh, I never really thought about that before, but I guess it could be the case,” John said, scratching his chin. “I mean, I'd probably feel that way if it was Sophie that moved here instead of you. I wouldn't let it get to me, though. Stephen's just a different person and shows his emotions differently.” That was an understatement if there ever was one. Delaney shrugged and decided that she wouldn't let Stephen get to her anymore. She was also trying to think of what Stephen could want John to talk to her about, but could only draw a blank. He wouldn't purposely try to start shit, would he? Delaney knew he was more mature than that. She'd have to find out for herself what he thought he knew.

There was a point where she and Stephen were getting along great, and still did at times, but for the past week he'd been acting too weird for Delaney to guess what he was feeling about her. Hopefully after she talked to him things would go back to normal. Hopefully.

Their food arrived just as John was about to bring something else up. “Babe, did you ever hear back from anywhere you applied for a job?”

“No! But, this girl in my Spanish class works at TGI Friday's and said she might be able to get me a hostess job there, so all hope is not lost!” Delaney exclaimed, smiling. The two made pleasant conversation for the duration of the meal and John slyly suggested Delaney stay at his house overnight. She laughed and nodded, claiming that she'd love to.

The two still did not wish to push their luck with the adults, so Delaney sat in her room until she was sure the Clearys were asleep and snuck over to John's house, going in through his window instead of the door. For once, the two kids simply slept.

“Wow, what happened to the whole not knowing each other's sex lives thing?” Stephen snarkily asked Delaney as she made her way downstairs the next morning.

“Shut up. We weren't having sex, for your information,” Delaney stated. Stephen rolled his eyes, obviously not buying it. “Why can't people just sleep when they have sleepovers?” she muttered as she sat next to Stephen on the living room couch.

“People can, you and my brother are possibly the only two people in the world who can't,” he snapped.

“Jesus, what crawled up your ass?” Delaney asked, trying to snatch the remote from his hands. Suddenly remembering the previous night's conversation with her boyfriend, Delaney had a few questions for Stephen. “Hey, what the fuck did you say to John that made him freak out at me last night?”

“What? I have no idea what you're talking about,” he lied, not so smoothly.

“Bullshit you don't. He came at me wondering if I was cheating on me, and he said that you were the one who told him that!”

“I never said anything about you cheating on him,” Stephen defended himself. “I do think there's something else going on, and I have no idea why you aren't telling anyone.”

Delaney gave him a crazed look, now completely unaware of what he was talking about. “Mind filling me in on what the fuck you're talking about?”

“You're pregnant, aren't you?”