Love Will Save You

-Melanie-

Danielle came back about 20 minutes later, running through the front door and into the bathroom. She threw a box at me and closed the door on her way out. I kept my eyes on the door for a few more seconds before shrugging it off and looking down at the box in my hands. A pregnancy test. Great. I took a deep breath and opened the package, taking the test.

I set the timer on my phone and walked out of the bathroom while I was waiting for the results and looked at Danielle, "I don't know if I'm ready for a kid.." "This isn't definite. It could just be a weird stomach virus or something," she said, trying to make me feel better. "Danielle, I haven't had my period in two months! I have morning sickness, for crying out loud! This isn't some weird stomach thing!" "Okay, geesh," she mumbled. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you. It's just.. I'm 20 years old and I'm dating someone who will never be home to take care of this kid."

Suddenly, my phone went off, letting us know time was up. I looked up at Danielle and she nodded, knowing I didn't want to check it myself. She walked to the bathroom and came back out with the box and the test in her hands. She looked from the box to the test a few times before looking at me and opening her mouth, but no words came out. Almost instantly, I realized what that meant. I sat down on the couch, putting my face in my hands, "Oh my God."

I don't know if I can do this by myself," I sighed after a couple minutes. "Mel," Danielle said, sitting beside me and rubbing my back, "You aren't doing this by yourself. Maggie, Amy, and I are gonna be here for you, okay? No matter what you decide to do." I looked up at her, "What do you mean?" "Well, I know how you feel about abortion, so we can kinda rule that out. The only other options would be to either keep it or put it up for adoption." "I'm just scared Ryan will make me choose between him and the baby," I sighed again.

Danielle was about to say something, but we heard car doors close outside. I looked out the window and noticed everyone happened to get home at the same time - just my luck.

I ran into the bathroom with the test and box and threw it away, hiding it in the trashcan as best as I could. I went back out and looked at Danielle, "Please, please, please don't tell." "Okay," she said simply. "I'm serious!" She grabbed my shoulders and looked me straight in the eyes, "Melanie! I am not going to tell."

Danielle went out to help everyone carry in the groceries while I sat down on the couch. "Hey, babe," I heard Ryan say. I looked back at him, "Hi." "So, what did the doctor say?" "Just that I need to rest and I should be fine in a couple hours," I said, trying my best to hide my nervousness. "That's good," he smiled, "Well, I'm gonna go take a shower and then we can all watch a movie or something." I nodded and he kissed my forehead, walking down the hallway. I let out a sigh of relief before everyone came into the living room and sat down.

We talked about whatever came to our minds until Ryan came back into the room about 20 minutes later. "Hey, um, what's up with this?" he asked. We all turned to look at him and I almost stopped breathing when I saw he was holding up the pregnancy test.