You Drain The Life From Me.

"You look bored," commented Stephen.

I groaned. "I am, dude! Everyone's all wasted and I'm just pregnant and sober."

We were sitting on the van's bumper, where Garrett and I were sitting a little over half an hour ago. I studied the writing on the van, wondering if the boys knew that people had written on it. There were some names, mostly writing that read I LOVE THE MAINE. Some bold individuals had written their numbers or things like FUCK ME, JOHN.

He sighed.

"I'm sorry that I'm so moody, darling. And I feel bad that you're not drinking either," I mumbled.

"It's okay, Leigh. I really don't mind. Plus, it'd be awkward hanging out with you while you're sober and I'm not. I wouldn't make any sense or anything; I wouldn't be able to drive you home either. So in reality, it's better this way."

I wrapped my arms around him. He was such a sweet guy. I was lucky to have found him.

"You wanna get outta here?" he asked suddenly.

"Fuck yeah. Do you even have to ask?"

He chuckled. "Go tell John you're leaving. I'll be in the car, okay?" I nodded and skipped off to tell my brother.

"Jawny!"

He turned and once he saw me, his eyes filled with worry. "You haven't been drinking have you?"

I looked at him with disbelief. "I'm not stupid, John. Everyone knows that you can't drink alcohol when...you know."

He let out a sigh of relief.

"Anyway, I just needed to tell you that Stephen and I are leaving."

"Where are you going, baby sis?"

I shrugged. "Beats me. But this place is kinda boring when you can't drink anything. But I'll see you in the morning, okay?"



"Graduation's next week," Stephen mentioned randomly.

We were on our way to who knows where. The windows were open and Stephen had put Plans by Death Cab For Cutie into his CD player. I stuck my head outside the window, grateful for the cold air.

"Yep, we're graduating, dude," I sighed once I sat back down.

"School's going to be over and done with. And we'll have all the time in the world to take care of that baby."

I smiled as best I could as I thought of that. I still didn't know who's baby it was. And I still had a long wait. Eight months to be exact.

"Where are we even going?"

He smirked. God, how I loved that smirk.

"A lake."

I gave him a questioning look. "A lake?"

"I wanted to pull a Sand in Your Shoes move, you know, that This Providence song?"

"One of my favorites," I replied as I nodded.

"Yeah, well, there's no beaches in this damn state. Just lakes. So I figured that was good enough."

My mouth stretched into a smile and my eyes started to water.

"I love you, Stephen. Thank you."



"So, have your mood swings come yet?" Stephen asked nonchalantly.

We were sitting on the sand, a couple feet away from the water. It was one of the few lakes in Arizona where sand ran from the surface to the water. It was as close to a beach as we could get in this state.

"Thank God they haven't yet. And I hope they don't before I tell my parents. My morning sickness hasn't come either. The doctor explained to me that it depends on every woman, but the symptoms and crap can come a week or a month after...um...intercourse. There's a whole bunch of other symptoms but I don't want to gross you out."

"Aren't there foods you can't eat?"

"Yeah, there are, unfortunately. This pamphlet that the doctor gave me said that I can't eat raw meat, fish, or eggs. I can't eat lunch meat or cold cuts without microwaving them first because of some chemical that causes miscarriages. I can't have spicy foods, or soda, or candy. I have to limit how much junk food I eat. And absolutely no alcohol whatsoever. I think the no alcohol part may be the hardest."

He laughed. "When are you gonna tell your parents?"

"I'm bringing my mom the next time I go for a check up. Usually John comes with me, but this time, I want my mom to come so that the doctor can tell her and you know, be a witness for when my mother kills me."

He wrapped his arm around my shoulders, doing his best to comfort me. "They won't kill you, Leigh. I promise. Maybe they'll get angry, and maybe they'll be disappointed. But that doesn't mean they'll kill you. Besides, why would they kill you if you have a baby in your stomach? Who would want to kill a baby?"

"Thank you, Stephen. From the bottom of my heart, honestly. You've helped me with Garrett, and now you're helping me with this baby. I don't know why you're helping me, and I know that I don't deserve it, but here you are. So thank you."

"I'm doing it because I love you. I'm in love with you, Leigh. You deserve every bit of it, I promise. I'll always be here for you. And this baby. This baby is ours, and ours only."

If only you knew, Stephen. If only you knew.