Love By Our Side

Delaney stared at Stephen with a look of disbelief. He had a completely serious look on his face, so she doubted that he was messing with her. When she didn't answer right away, he raised an eyebrow in suspicion and nodded his head, then made a move to leave.

“You're just gonna leave after stating something like that?” Delaney asked incredulously.

“Okay, well, are you going to answer me?” Stephen said, leaning back onto the couch.

“No, I'm not. Pregnant, I mean, and I have no intention of becoming,” she answered, still in shock. “Now where the hell did you get that idea from?”

“That day when Soph was here, and we all went to the restaurant, you made this comment about us being related soon enough or whatever, and I knew you and John weren't engaged, so I just kind of assumed,” he sighed, unsure of how to continue his explanation, because he couldn't continue his explanation. His mind hadn't been in the right place since the morning the two couples went out to eat, the day Sophie left, and he was only just being called out on it now. Of course Delaney wasn't pregnant, the whole town would've known about it by now is she was. He had nothing to blame his deliriousness on except for those few words his girlfriend had spoken to him less than a week ago, and he had no one to talk to about it but her. “And well, you kinda look the part, too.” He grinned as he graciously accepted a smack from his friend.

Delaney gaped at his comment, wanting to do a lot more than slap him. At least he's acting like himself again, she thought. She didn't exactly accept the explanation of his thoughts, but they would do for now. Besides being incredibly odd the past few days, Delaney had noticed a more exhausted Stephen, and his crack at her had been the first humorous thing he'd said in days. This was very unlike him, and though Delaney wanted to press further on the subject, she had an interview to prep for.

Her friend, Haley, had excitedly called her the previous night after returning from dinner with John, and informed her that her work needed a new hostess immediately and Delaney was a shoo-in for the position. She had to have an interview for formalities' sake, but she was supposed to start that weekend. Delaney decided that she could bitch Stephen out later when she officially had this job and was in a better mood. Maybe in front of other people, to further humiliate him. Shit, she thought, I must be going soft. Delaney always liked to give people a piece of her mind, but she really wasn't in the mood to do so right now. Instead, she stood up from the couch, gave Stephen a light punch, and walked back to the Cleary's house.

Stephen couldn't believe how easy he'd gotten off. In the great chance that he had been wrong with his accusation, which he obviously was, he was expecting a blow-out of sorts. Now that he had opened his big, stupid mouth, Stephen only hoped that Delaney wouldn't go around telling everyone that he'd asked her such a stupid question, though it could easily explain the way he'd been acting lately. He couldn't let anyone know what was really up, not yet anyways. He figured Delaney would have to find out sooner or later, but he didn't want it to be from him.

“What I need to do is get shitfaced, and maybe forget about all this for an hour,” he said aloud to himself, pulling out his phone. He called the only person he knew that could find him hard alcohol and maybe a party with ease.

”What is up, my brother?”

“Josh! Bro, we need to go out tonight, you down?” Stephen stated more than questioned, trying to sound animated.

”I could never turn you down! Is this for any special occasion or just because?” Josh asked.

“Eh, just because. I need to get out of this house for a bit, ya know?”

”Definitely. I'll check around for some parties and hit you up in an hour or so, alright?”

“For sure. Thanks man.”

”Anything for you, babe.”

Stephen laughed as he hung up the phone, only Josh would end a conversation with a male friend like that. Just the thought of hitting up a party tonight was making him feel better, he just had to make sure he had his friend Jack by his side the whole night. He watched whatever was on TV for a few more minutes before he felt his phone buzz next to him. The caller ID showed that his girlfriend was trying to get ahold of him. He sighed as he hit ignore, and instantly thought up an excuse to give when he'd have to call her back. He was in no mood for whatever news she would give him, though he should be. He'd only get a lecture when asked about his plans for the night, but he didn't care at this point. He continued to stare at the TV until his phone buzzed one more time, and he smiled as he saw Josh's name appear on the screen.
-----------------------
“Thank you very much, Delaney. You're a perfect candidate for this job and we're happy to have you join our crew!” Karen, Delaney's future manager, exclaimed at the end of her interview. Karen was a very business-forward manager, though she made the simple hostess position seem like Delaney had signed up for some mad science experiment.

“Thank you for giving me a chance! You won't regret it, I promise,” Delaney assured, shaking Karen's hand before departing the restaurant with that weekend's schedule in her hand. When she was in her car, she glanced at it, and cringed when she saw her hours. She called John as she pulled out of the parking lot, as he'd told her to do.

“They put me down for noon to six on Saturday, and five to eleven on Sunday!” Delaney complained loudly about her “bitch shifts.” “They only gave me those two days right in a row because I'm new. I went through everything the job entails today and it's not difficult at all. At least I don't work again until Thursday after this weekend.”

”More time for us then, right?” John asked lustfully, which made him sound like a horny twelve-year-old.

“Yeah, okay,” Delaney snorted. “Which reminds me, I need to discuss with you what your brother really wanted to ask me about. I could kill him, I swear.” Delaney proceeded to relay her earlier encounter with Stephen to John, who in turn got pissed and seemed to storm about his house looking for his brother, muttering something about kicking his ass. “Alright babe, I'm gonna come over now so I'm hanging up, love you.” She laughed as he mumbled a goodbye, still angry.

When Delaney arrived at the Gomez house within fifteen minutes of hanging up with John, it sounded as if a small scale World War III had broken out.

“You have no right to ask my girlfriend about shit like that!” John screeched. Delaney followed the noise, which came from the basement, as she listened to Stephen's defense.

“Dude, chill the fuck out. That's the reason I asked her, to make sure it wasn't true. Now, if you'll-” Stephen was abruptly cut off.

“No, I will not chill the fuck out. I can't believe you even thought that was true!”

“John, sit down and stop yelling,” Delaney said, calmly, but raising her voice so he could hear her. “Stephen and I already talked about this and pretty much sorted it out, and I had no intention of making you angry by telling you. I told you so you could laugh about it with me.”

“Are you taking his side on this? Over your boyfriend's?” John asked, now getting angry with Delaney.

“John, there are no sides to take! Stephen asked me a question, I answered it, and that's all! There's no need to continue talking about this!” Delaney took her turn to screech, and shook her head as she sat down next to Stephen on the couch. “Now, are you calm enough to have whatever conversation you wanna have about this?”

“I don't need to have any conversation about this, he needs a better story as to why he asked you in the first place,” John spoke, quieter now, and seeming to calm down. “D, he asked you if you were pregnant. That's not a normal question to ask someone unless you have a reason to believe it's true.”

“John, I told you why I thought it might be true, can we please just drop this,” Stephen sighed. He seemed exhausted, though it was only six in the afternoon.

“No, we can't-”

“John, babe, please. Drop it. Seriously,” Delaney interrupted him. “Again, it was a question. I answered him. Enough. I'm not having a Gomez-brother war over this.”

“Whatever, I guess you're right,” John sighed, defeated, and sat down opposite his brother and girlfriend. The three sat in an awkward silence for five minute until Delaney spoke up.

“Now, you two gotta hug,” she grinned, getting the reaction she'd expected.

“Hell no, he just freaked out on me for twenty minutes, I'm not touching him,” Stephen exclaimed, crossing his arms and leaning as far back as he could.

“C'mon, you guys love each other, I know you do!” Delaney laughed as John got up to go up the stairs. “Oh no, you aren't leaving til this hug happens.” She ran and grabbed onto his waist, pulling him over to the couch, in front of Stephen. “Hug it out!” The two stayed in their places for a few minutes, eyeing each other, until John sighed and pulled his brother into a big bear hug.

“I'm still pissed about this, but I'll let it go this time,” John said, walking towards the stairs and shaking his head.

“Steve, I'm sorry he acted like that, if I'd have known that he was gonna flip out I wouldn't have told him,” Delaney apologized, looking away from Stephen. “I honestly don't care that you asked, I have no idea why he freaked about it.”

“It's cool, I guess,” Stephen shrugged. “We're brothers, we fight sometimes. Usually about things that matter, sometimes about pregnancies.” The two laughed, Delaney giving Stephen a side hug.

“I'm glad you're acting normal-for you-again. I couldn't handle you being all weird.”

“Aha yeah, about that. I kinda gotta talk to you about something. Would you be able to go out for lunch after class tomorrow?” Stephen asked.

“Yeah, for sure. Is everything okay?” Delaney questioned, concerned.

“Sorta? I don't know,” Stephen sighed again. “I just, I gotta head out now, but we'll talk tomorrow.”