Breaking Hearts and Breaking Bones Has Never Been So Romantic

My brother's dark brown eyes examined me, filled with nothing but love, care, and compassion as he let my words soak into his mind. Every so often he would open his mouth to say something, but his sudden inspiration would pass, and he'd close his mouth, remaining silent. I couldn't be quite positive as to the types of thoughts that were going through his head. Hell, I didn't even know the types of thoughts that were going through my own head.

Sighing softly, my brother lowered his eyes from mine and looked at my belly before he reached over and pressed his hand to it as if he could already feel my two month old baby growing inside of me.

"Your life, and Gabe's life, will never be the same, sister." He muttered.

"I know," I whispered. "This certainly changes things."

Alex let his hand linger on my belly a few seconds longer before he sighed once more and then reached up, running his fingers through his hair.

"When are you going to tell Gabe?" He questioned.

I shrugged my shoulders, looking elsewhere besides my brother. "I don't know," I replied, "as soon as he gets back from his dad's I guess."

At my words, my brother remained silent, causing me to turn my eyes back to him. "Alex, are you mad at me?" I asked.

"No," he said, shaking his head, "Of course not. Why would I be mad at you?"

"For getting pregnant." I grumbled. "This is bound to change things with the band." I pointed out.

"Angie, I am beyond happy for you and Gabe right now, you two will have a beautiful child," he said with a soft smile. "This is just so … unexpected, you know? I mean … this is the last thing I would have guessed to be making you so moody and stuff."

I returned a smile of my own, despite the fact that inside my nerves was a giant mess. The more I thought about how I was going to tell Gabe, the faster my smile faded away until all I was left with was a sad frown.

"Angela," Alex said gently, "What's wrong now?"

"I don't even know where to begin, when I tell Gabe that I'm pregnant." I muttered. "It's just so crazy right now."

"Well – " my brother stopped his sentence short when we heard a key slide into the deadbolt.

With wide eyes, I watched as the deadbolt latch turned to the right, meaning that it was now unlocked, and then a few seconds later the door opened. I stared at the hand gripping the door knob for a little while, not daring to look up at the owner of the hand quite yet for fear that something in my expression would give everything away.

"Hey guys," Gabriel greeted us. "Ready to watch some movies?"

"I, uh, actually have to run out and pick up a few things real fast." My brother said. "It should only take ten minutes, tops."

"Well, hurry up, fucker." My boyfriend grumbled. "We got a lot of movies to watch tonight, but not a lot of time.

Looking up at my brother, I saw him give me a reassuring nod before he gathered up his wallet and keys, and exited the apartment, leaving Gabe and I to ourselves. As soon as my brother was in the hallway, Gabe closed the door behind him and gazed up at me, locking his soft stare with mine. A smile crossed his lips as he made his way across the room, a Blockbuster bag in one hand while the other still held tightly to his keys.

Slowing to a stop in front of me, he leaned over and kissed my lips gently before taking a seat beside me.

"Where'd you disappear to, Angie?" He asked. "I texted you before I went to my dad's, but you didn't answer."

"I was out." I said simply.

"You were hiding from me, weren't you?" He questioned with a teasing smirk. "Hiding with that new coworker of yours who works out at the gym on weekends."

"Yeah, I was." I joked. "I guess now would be a good time to tell you that I'm running away to Massachusetts with him."

"The hell you are," he replied, "I'll beat the shit outta that asshole if he ever tried to lay a hand on you."

I rolled my eyes slightly, knowing that Gabriel really would fight my coworker if he even so much as looked at me a certain way. Gabe leaned over once again and kissed my cheek softly before he reached up and ran his fingers through my hair.

"You're quiet tonight." He pointed out. "Is something wrong?"

"No." I whispered. "Nothings 'wrong'."

"Oh," he mumbled, "well, what's on your mind, Angie?"

"I … I went to the doctors today." I admitted.

"Is everything okay?" He asked slowly.

"I got some very surprising news."

Taking my hand into his, Gabriel squeezed it tightly, urging me to continue. When I didn't speak immediately, he brought my hand up, kissing the back of it before opening my hand and pressing my palm to the side of his face.

"What is it?" He asked.

"I'm two months pregnant, Gabriel." I whispered. "That's why I've been snappin' at you and my brother lately. All my hormones are going out of whack and shit … this is the last thing I expected to find out today."

"Pregnant?" Gabriel repeated, his voice hoarse as if he had just been screaming at the top of his lungs for the past hour. "But … how?"

"You know how, Gabriel." I muttered.

"How could you have not known that you were pregnant?" He questioned. "I mean … morning sickness? Missed periods?"

"I guess some girls have spotting even while they're pregnant." I informed him. "They ran two tests, Gabriel; they didn't make a mistake. I really am pregnant."

Shaking his head, Gabe released my hand, letting it fall to the couch cushion as he stood up and began pacing back and forth.

"Gabriel," I whispered, "say something."

"Just … give me a minute, Angie." He snapped.

Frowning sadly, I sat there in silence as I watched my boyfriend wear a path into the carpet as he continued to pace around the living room. A few minutes later, he finally stopped and looked up at me, his eyes filled with confusion.

"I'll be honest right now, Angie." He told me. "I don't want kids."

Caught off guard, I simply sat there, staring back at him dumbly as if I hadn't quite comprehended his words.

"What are you saying, Gabriel?" I asked hesitantly.

"I'm saying that I don't want kids, Angie." He replied, shaking his head.

"Are you saying that you want me to get an abortion?" I whispered.

"No, I just … no, I don't want you to get an abortion." He sighed in frustration. "I just … I don't know, Angie."

"Well you'd better know soon, Gabriel, because I'm two months pregnant." I told him. "We're going to be parents. You … you're going to be a father." I added in a whisper.

"I told you, Angela, I don't want kids." He growled. "Not right now. I don't … fuck." He muttered, running a hand tiredly across his face.

"You don't want kids, Gabriel, but you don't want me to get an abortion?" I growled back. "What the hell do you want me to do?"

"For now I just want you to shut the hell up," he hissed. "Give me some time to think."

"Well you can get the fuck out and think about it elsewhere." I snapped.

"Are you kicking me out of my apartment?" He asked in shock.

"Our apartment," I corrected, "and yes, I am kicking you out just long enough for you to do all your damn thinking."

Gabe narrowed his eyes at me as a mean look crossed his handsome face. "Fine." He said. "Fuck you, Angela." He told me, before leaving the apartment.

As soon as he slammed the door shut behind him, I felt the tears of hurt and frustration start to fall. This wasn't the first time Gabe had raised his voice to me, and it definitely wasn't the first time he had directed some vulgar words at me. This was the first time, though, that I felt as if he had meant the things he had said.

I had known that Gabriel wasn't big on the idea of kids, but I didn't expect him to straight up say that he didn't want them, especially after finding out that he was in fact going to be a father.

I wanted to get up and chase after him, but at the moment my legs didn’t want to cooperate with me, so instead I simply sat there, wishing that he would turn around and walk back through the door, because the truth is right now I needed him more than I've ever needed him before. Needless to say, though, wishes don't come true in the real world, so I remained alone, crying to myself with only a pillow to comfort me and a bag filled with Blockbuster rentals to look at.