Safe Haven

Marnie sighed tiredly as she wiped down the bar with a rag in her hands. She wished more than anything that she could leave work and head home, but she wasn’t done just yet. Soon though, she would be able to go home and go to sleep, which she couldn’t wait for. Working the night shifts and waking up by nine or ten the following morning was making her exhausted. Marnie knew she would need to force herself to sleep a little longer in the mornings, whether it screwed up her day or not.

A voice suddenly cleared from in front of her, which made her stop what she was doing and look up. She narrowed her eyes in plain anger at the man who stood before her and muttered, “We’re closing.”

“Oh come on,” He smirked faintly, “Can’t I have one drink?”

Marnie shook her head, glaring at him, “No, we’re closing. Go to Johnny’s if you want a fucking drink.”

Brian sighed, “We need to talk, Marnie,” He told her.

She laughed bitterly, “Are you fucking kidding me? I don’t think so. You’ve had the chance to come speak to me for the past two weeks, and instead you’ve ignored me. So guess what, you can fuck off, Brian.” With that being said, she turned away from him to finish cleaning up.

“Marnie, damn it, you have had several months to think about this child’s future and our future and what we’re going to do, and then out of nowhere I was slapped in the face with this un-expecting news. So yeah, maybe I shouldn’t have ignored you for the past two weeks, it was wrong, I admit it, but I needed some time to think about this shit we’re in!” Brian tossed his hands in the air with narrowed eyes.

“Fine then!” She exclaimed, tossing the towel down onto the bar before bracing her hands against the edge of the tall surface. “What have you taken two fucking weeks to decide? Are you walking away and leaving me to do this by myself? Because if you are, than I would like to fucking know already!”

“I’m sticking around, Marnie!” He stopped her from going any further.

“Wh-What?” Her eyes widened suddenly, not believing her ears.

Brian sighed as he stepped closer, “I want to be in my child’s life. I would never walk away from this.”

Licking over her lips, she lowered her eyes, “Then why did you run out like that?”

“Because,” He shrugged his shoulders, “Because I was fuckin’ terrified, Marnie. I didn’t know what I was going to do or what we were going to do about this, and it scared me shitless.”

Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, she murmured, “I’m sorry. I know that it sort of came out of nowhere, but I’m scared too, Bri. All I’ve been thinking about since I found out I was pregnant is that I will have to go through all of this alone, and that seems terrifying to me. I’m the one who has to be pregnant and go through labor and giving birth, you don’t have to do that! I just—” She looked up and stared into his chocolate colored eyes, “I need you to just be here for me, okay? The rest of the way I need you by my side, and I know that’s a lot to ask, but—”

“I will be,” He cut her off, stopping her from saying anything further. “I’ll be there with you through everything, Marnie. I swear I will. You just got to trust me. And you have to give me a little time to talk to Michelle about this, all right?”

Swallowing hard, Marnie nodded, “Okay. I trust you,” She said, “Please don’t make me regret it.”

“You won’t,” He swore, “You won’t regret it.”

Marnie wanted more than anything to believe him. To believe that he would be with her through everything until their daughter was born and afterwards too, but she couldn’t, not yet anyways. It would take some time and for her to see with her own eyes that she could believe him and trust him, and she hoped he proved it to her soon.

“Now please, let me take you home, Marnie,” He pleaded, “You look exhausted, like you haven’t slept in days, and that’s not good for the baby.”

“I’m fine,” She argued, “Besides, my car is here.”

“You’re not fine,” He protested, shaking his head, “And I’ll bring you back to pick it up tomorrow sometime, just please let me take you home to sleep. You look like you’re going to pass out any moment.”

Breathing out, she gave in, “Okay.”

“Thank you,” He mumbled.

“Don’t thank me. Just be thankful that my shift just ended,” She muttered, looking up and over at the clock, “or I would have said no to this for sure.”

Brian didn’t say another word in response. Marnie grabbed her purse and her jacket, told her boss that she would see him in a few days since she had the next few days off, and then her and Brian headed out the door of the restaurant and over to his car.

The two climbed into Brian’s BMW and headed back to Marnie’s house, somewhat relieved that it was only about a ten minute drive from where she worked. When they pulled into their driveway, Marnie was surprised to see Brian getting out of his car as well instead of just dropping her off.

She raised one eyebrow as he followed her to the front door, “It’s almost two in the morning, Bri. Shouldn’t you head home?”

Running a hand through his hair, he shook his head and smiled sheepishly, “Do you think I could stay the night? Chelle and I got into an argument earlier and she kicked me out for the night.”

Marnie groaned, “Go next store.”

“Marnie!” He whined, “I don’t have my key with me and Dad will be pissed if I wake him and Suzy up this late.”

Heaving a sigh, Marnie pushed open the front door, “Come on then. But if you wake me up in the morning freaking out over something like last time, I will not stop myself from kicking your ass.”

A smirk curved his lips, “You’re pregnant, Marnie. You can’t kick someone’s ass.”

She scoffed, “You would be fuckin’ surprised.”

“I bet I would,” He muttered, backing down, sure that she wouldn’t refrain from smacking him if he back talked too bad.

“Stop talking,” She said suddenly, “I’m too exhausted to hear it.”

Just as she started up the stairs, Brian stopped her, “Well wait!” He called out from the bottom of the staircase.

“What Brian?” She questioned sharply, looking at him from over her shoulder.

“Do you have any food that I can make in under two minutes?” He asked, sending her a goofy smile.

She nodded, “There’s cold pizza in the fridge. Help yourself.”

“Thanks, Marnie!” He called out as he immediately headed to the kitchen, ready to discover the cold pizza she told him about and devour it.

Fifteen minutes later, Marnie was lying in bed comfortably with nothing more than her underwear and a sports bra on when Brian slipped through the door, two cold glasses of water perched between his hands.

“Are you awake?” He whispered as he made his way over to the bed.

“Yes,” She replied, turning her head to stare at him through the darkness.

He set the glasses of water down on the nightstand beside the bed before he started to strip off his clothes. Once he was down to his shirt and boxers, he climbed into the bed next to her. Marnie shifted slightly and said nothing as she watched him get comfortable.

Once Brian was done rustling around and shaking the bed, he glanced at her, “Is this weird?” He asked.

“Is what weird?” Marnie’s voice mumbled out the words by accident.

“Us, sleeping in the same bed while not being together together and you being pregnant with my child. Is it weird to you?”

“Not really,” She told him, “We’ve been sleeping in the same bed together wince we were seven, Bri.”

“Six and a half actually,” He corrected.

She laughed, “See. Why would it be weird if we’ve been sleeping in the same bed together practically our whole lives?”

“I don’t know,” He shrugged, “Maybe because we slept together.”

Marnie held back more laughter, “Wouldn’t be the first time, or do you not remember losing our v-cards to each other when we were sixteen?”

“Oh I remember all right,” A shark’s grin stretched across his lips, “I don’t believe I’ll ever forget that.”

“Me either,” She murmured, “Just the entire night was insane and then we decided let’s be stupid and have sex for the first time together.”

“Yeah,” He chuckled, “but only because of that promise we made to each other when we were thirteen, remember?”

“Oh my God!” She buried her face into her pillow to hide her laughter, “I totally forgot about that. I can’t believe we did that.”

“I know,” Brian agreed, “We were such stupid kids. Promising to each other that if we didn’t lose our virginity by Junior year then we would sleep together was ridiculous, and the fact that we did it just blows my mind.”

Marnie smiled, “I don’t regret it though.”

“Me either,” He shook his head slightly, “I’m glad I can look back and say it was you I lost my virginity to.”

She lifted her head from her pillow and looked at him, “Me too.”

“You know that no matter what happens and no matter what changes from now on, I will always love you, Marnie. You’re my best friend,” Brian told her.

“I’m glad you feel that way,” She said, “Cause you’re my best friend too, Bri. I couldn’t imagine my life without you.”

He smiled softly at her and leaned over to kiss her on the forehead, “Go to sleep. You’re exhausted. I can see it in your eyes.”

“Okay, but you have to go to sleep too,” She murmured as she lied her head back down against the fluffy pillow and closed her eyes.

“I’m right behind you, Sweetheart.”