Pregnancy Tests and Confrontations

Carrie was dreading what she had to do. She didn't want to walk into the store. She didn't want to be doing any of this. And yet, after what had transpired in Detroit, she was left with no choice. So she took a deep breath, straightened herself out and headed into the store. Jimmy followed close behind, just as nervous as Carrie was.

”Hi Carrie.” The clerk said.

”Hey Jen.” Carrie said, forcing a smile. She walked over to the pregnancy tests. She picked one up, looking it over. She'd never expected she'd be going through this again. After deciding it was the right one, she went over to the pharmacy to pick up her allergy medicine. She paid for everything and, after saying goodbye to Jen, quickly walked out the door, Jimmy on her heels. ”Why you decided to come.... I'll never understand.”

”Carrie...”

”No Jimmy. Seriously. It's not like you haven't caused enough trouble. Greg sees your still here?! I'm not protecting you.” Carrie huffed, climbing into her car and starting it. Jimmy scrambled into the front seat and Carrie backed out of her parking spot.

When she pulled up in front of her apartment, she saw Shawn sitting on the step. ”What is Shawn...” Jimmy started.

”You will stay here.” Carrie commanded, putting the car in park and climbing out. ”Shawn?” He looked up and smiled. ”What are you doing here?”

”I needed to talk to you. You know, you don't have to keep Jimmy in the car.” Shawn laughed. ”Although, if he gets out I may have to punch him.”

”Which is why he is staying where he is. You didn't answer my question Shawn. What are you doing here?” Carrie asked him again, placing a hand on her hip.

”Can you please call Greg? I'm afraid he's going crazy.” Shawn said, crossing his arms.

”I'm doing him a favor.” Carrie replied, moving around Shawn to get to her front door.

”Sure you are. He's beating himself up. He isn't leaving the apartment and after what Jimmy did yesterday, just barging in.... I just...” Shawn trailed off, not quite sure how he wanted to word his sentence.

”Greg is my best friend. And I appreciate everything he does for me. You know that. But this is something Greg can't take care of. He can't do anything. It's better that he doesn't get involved period.” Carrie answered quietly, placing the key in the lock.

”So that's it?” Shawn asked.

”What do you mean?” Carrie was confused.

”You can't do this to Greg. He doesn't deserve this. He's just trying to...”

”Protect me. From myself. And we all see how well that worked.” Carrie seethed. ”Between Greg trying to protect me from myself and the shit Jimmy's put me through, I'm very tempted to move to some remote island where no one can fucking find me. Greg wants to talk to me? He can call me. He can come over. But I will not allow him to try and fix things when we both know there is nothing he can do to fix it.”

Shawn was stunned. That was the most emotion he'd ever seen from her. ”Alright. I understand.”

”Just make sure Greg does to.” Carrie said. ”Oh, and tell Jimmy he can leave. I'm perfectly fine by myself.” She then turned on her heel and headed into her apartment, closing the door behind her.