Young and Pregnant
Friends
Alec sighed and shoved a hand through his hair as he stopped in front of his house. It had been a long day, but he still wasn't ready to go inside. He just wasn't sure that he honestly had it in him. Going home meant admitting to a lot of things that he really didn't want to. Without Cassandra around so many more doubts were surfacing and he couldn't say that he knew what to do anymore. He was lost and confused. He just wanted to take it all back. He just wanted for this to be a terrible joke, a horrible dream.
She could be lying couldn't she?
No, she wouldn't play that kind of sick joke on him though a part of him wished that maybe she was. If it was a joke than he wouldn't have to deal with it. If it was a joke he could just go back to being mad at her. Now he was stuck with her. He winced at the thought. It was a cruel way to put it but that was the truth of it. He wasn't going to be some dead beat asshole who ran off and left his kid and the woman who gave birth to it with nothing. He wouldn't be labeled as that kind of guy. It was as much her fault as it was his own. He knew about those stupid pills that girls could take to keep from getting pregnant. It didn't all have to be on him.
Though from the way her parents had yelled at him before he left, God he could almost think that it was.
His phone went off in his pocket for the third time since he had left Cassandra's house and he was tempted to just ignore it again. The incessant buzzing against his leg was starting to drive him crazy though. He pulled it out and checked the number, almost relieved to see that it wasn't his girlfriend. "Hey Jackson," he answered trying, and failing, to sound as if everything was okay.
"How did I know," his best friend greeted him. "Let me guess, it's Cassandra?" Alec didn't particularly want to admit it, but the noncommittal noise he made was enough for the other male to make a guess. "Come on upstairs. Dr. Rhea's therapeutic office is open with plenty of space for a walk-in."
Alec couldn't help but chuckle as he hung up the phone and moved to the side of the building where he and Jackson had been renting an apartment for the last six months. The thin metal stairs rattled under him as he climbed upward to one of two entrances to the second floor apartment. Even knowing that his friend would be able to give him all the advice he needed, he still paused at the door wondering several things at once. Did he want that advice? Did he want to know what his friend would say? How would it change everything? There was so much to factor in and he wasn't sure how he was going to take it all when it all came down to it.
Jackson didn't give him much of a chance as he opened the door and pulled Alec inside. "I see my hoodoo ain't led me wrong," he teased his friend kicking the door shut. "C'mon, I got us some beers and all four Lethal Weapons and all four Die Hard movies. Between explosions, you can tell me what happened that's got you in such a piss."
If there was one thing about Jackson, he always had a way of putting things. Taking the beer his friend offered him an eying it for a moment, he figured why the hell not. You're gonna be a dad anyway, he thought. If you're old enough for that, you're old enough for this.
"Cowboy or Nut Job meets Normalcy first?" Jackson asked holding up the first movies of both series. "Wait, don't answer that," he corrected quickly turning around and popping Die Hard into the open DVD player. Picking up his beer, he moved back to one of the recliners that they had carefully situated before the TV and fell back into it. "Now talk."
An order.
Alec paused a moment, the beer wavering between the table and his lips. They didn't call the stuff liquid courage for nothing, did they? He took a drink just to see if it was true before turning to Jackson and confessing. He felt like an idiot most of the time but he was never quite sure why since all the times he did seemed to have conflicting motives in his actions. "I just don't know what the fuck to do anymore."
"Well I'd say that fucking was your problem in the first place," Jackson commented as a Christmas party flashed over the screen. Alec rolled his eyes and was about to shoot something back at Jackson when the other male held up his hand. "Wait," he insisted. "And let me finish." His head lulled to the side so he could watch Alec carefully. "You know what you have to do for you. You know what you have to do for that baby. The question is, can you make yourself do it? You can't love anyone until you love yourself Alec and I've never seen a guy hatin' himself more than you do."
Silence grew between them as Jackson turned back towards the movie. Why did Alec have to be such a bastard and be right? He had never understood where his friend had gotten his intuition from. Jackson always claimed he got it from a grandmother who had been a witch doctor in the Bayou. Alec knew for a fact that that was a lie. Jackson's family was from New York. But sometimes he had to wonder. Especially at times like this when Jackson had that extremely bad habit of hitting the problem on the nose.
She could be lying couldn't she?
No, she wouldn't play that kind of sick joke on him though a part of him wished that maybe she was. If it was a joke than he wouldn't have to deal with it. If it was a joke he could just go back to being mad at her. Now he was stuck with her. He winced at the thought. It was a cruel way to put it but that was the truth of it. He wasn't going to be some dead beat asshole who ran off and left his kid and the woman who gave birth to it with nothing. He wouldn't be labeled as that kind of guy. It was as much her fault as it was his own. He knew about those stupid pills that girls could take to keep from getting pregnant. It didn't all have to be on him.
Though from the way her parents had yelled at him before he left, God he could almost think that it was.
His phone went off in his pocket for the third time since he had left Cassandra's house and he was tempted to just ignore it again. The incessant buzzing against his leg was starting to drive him crazy though. He pulled it out and checked the number, almost relieved to see that it wasn't his girlfriend. "Hey Jackson," he answered trying, and failing, to sound as if everything was okay.
"How did I know," his best friend greeted him. "Let me guess, it's Cassandra?" Alec didn't particularly want to admit it, but the noncommittal noise he made was enough for the other male to make a guess. "Come on upstairs. Dr. Rhea's therapeutic office is open with plenty of space for a walk-in."
Alec couldn't help but chuckle as he hung up the phone and moved to the side of the building where he and Jackson had been renting an apartment for the last six months. The thin metal stairs rattled under him as he climbed upward to one of two entrances to the second floor apartment. Even knowing that his friend would be able to give him all the advice he needed, he still paused at the door wondering several things at once. Did he want that advice? Did he want to know what his friend would say? How would it change everything? There was so much to factor in and he wasn't sure how he was going to take it all when it all came down to it.
Jackson didn't give him much of a chance as he opened the door and pulled Alec inside. "I see my hoodoo ain't led me wrong," he teased his friend kicking the door shut. "C'mon, I got us some beers and all four Lethal Weapons and all four Die Hard movies. Between explosions, you can tell me what happened that's got you in such a piss."
If there was one thing about Jackson, he always had a way of putting things. Taking the beer his friend offered him an eying it for a moment, he figured why the hell not. You're gonna be a dad anyway, he thought. If you're old enough for that, you're old enough for this.
"Cowboy or Nut Job meets Normalcy first?" Jackson asked holding up the first movies of both series. "Wait, don't answer that," he corrected quickly turning around and popping Die Hard into the open DVD player. Picking up his beer, he moved back to one of the recliners that they had carefully situated before the TV and fell back into it. "Now talk."
An order.
Alec paused a moment, the beer wavering between the table and his lips. They didn't call the stuff liquid courage for nothing, did they? He took a drink just to see if it was true before turning to Jackson and confessing. He felt like an idiot most of the time but he was never quite sure why since all the times he did seemed to have conflicting motives in his actions. "I just don't know what the fuck to do anymore."
"Well I'd say that fucking was your problem in the first place," Jackson commented as a Christmas party flashed over the screen. Alec rolled his eyes and was about to shoot something back at Jackson when the other male held up his hand. "Wait," he insisted. "And let me finish." His head lulled to the side so he could watch Alec carefully. "You know what you have to do for you. You know what you have to do for that baby. The question is, can you make yourself do it? You can't love anyone until you love yourself Alec and I've never seen a guy hatin' himself more than you do."
Silence grew between them as Jackson turned back towards the movie. Why did Alec have to be such a bastard and be right? He had never understood where his friend had gotten his intuition from. Jackson always claimed he got it from a grandmother who had been a witch doctor in the Bayou. Alec knew for a fact that that was a lie. Jackson's family was from New York. But sometimes he had to wonder. Especially at times like this when Jackson had that extremely bad habit of hitting the problem on the nose.