Ever After

Kali kept her eyes open for any sign of an auburn head as she walked out of the building. She wasn’t exactly angry at her friend for telling that reporter she was pregnant, she was just shocked that she’d do that knowing that both Josh and Kali preferred to keep their private lives private until they decided otherwise. Chelsea had forced the spotlight on them when they didn’t want it in the first place.

She pushed the heavy door open that led outside and found Chelsea standing by the merchandise tent. Kali took in a deep breath and walked over to her.

“Chelsea! I need to talk to you.” Kali said, beckoning her over.

Chelsea smiled innocently and walked over to Kali. “What’s up? Did that Richards-whatever guy find you?”

“Yeah, he did. Did you know he was a reporter?” Kali looked at her earnestly.

“Well, yeah, he was asking questions about you and Josh.” Chelsea gave Kali a puzzled look.

“So you told him I’m pregnant?”

“Well, you are pregnant, aren’t you?”

“Chelsea! Why would you do that?”

Chelsea’s face fell. Something had sunk in. But, she kept her steely resolve and narrowed her eyes slightly.

“I don’t see what the big deal is, Kal…” she mumbled.

“The big deal is that you know Josh and I like to keep our private lives private as much as we can,” Kali sighed.

“Well, pregnancy isn’t really something you can keep ‘private’ forever, you know. Sooner or later the world is going to know, so why not sooner?” Chelsea opened her arms.

“I’d like to discuss it with Josh before we jump into letting the world know. I thought you’d respect that.”

“Why are you getting so mad at me?” Chelsea asked, affronted.

“I’m not mad at you, Chels, I’m just disappointed. You know how we live. This is news for Josh and me to tell when we’re ready, not you.” Kali explained.

“I just don’t understand why it’s such a big deal that you have to reprimand me so much for it,” Chelsea murmured.

“Okay, well what if the roles were reversed? What if you were the pregnant one and I went off and told the media before you had a chance to discuss it with Matt first? You both like to keep your lives private, too. Would you understand then?” Kali reasoned.

“I guess, but still, chill out, Kali. Did you even confirm that you were pregnant?”

“No.”

“Well then, there. Problem solved, it doesn’t matter.”

“You don’t understand, Chelsea! Now that they’ve heard I’m pregnant, they’re going to use that information. With or without confirmation, they’ll start the rumour mill and we’ll be forced to confirm before we’re ready. It just…bugs me that you’d do that is all.” Kali ran a distraught hand through her long hair.

“Well don’t let it bug you and stop worrying about it.” Chelsea snapped.

Kali gave her a searching look, wondering why she was getting so upset now. If anyone should be upset, it’s me… she thought.

“Look, Chelsea, I’m not mad at you, I’m just disappointed.” Kali threw up her hands in surrender.

“Well I’m fucking sorry,” Chelsea said defensively. “He offered me fifty bucks and so I told him.”

Kali paused and stared at her friend with a grim face. “You…what?”

Chelsea blanched. “Okay, I see how bad that sounded, but he offered me the cash for a few ‘questions’ so I took it before I knew the questions would be about you guys.”

“Chelsea…I never thought you’d do something like that…” Kali whispered. She was shocked at her friend’s behaviour.

“Well I did,” She was back to her previous rough demeanour, “so let’s all get the fuck over it, shall we?”

“Why are you swearing at me?” Now Kali felt a little annoyance spark up in her.

“I don’t know, Kali, because you’re pissing me off! You walk out here accusing me of being such a terrible person for an act that wasn’t that earth-shattering in the first place. I’m not the bad guy here so stop treating me like I am.” Chelsea yelled.

“I never accused you of being—”

“There you go again, Kali. Now you’re playing the part of the innocent, loving little fairy that wouldn’t be a total bitch to a single soul on earth. I know you, and you can be a bitch.”

Kali’s eyes widened and she stepped back. Chelsea’s words were like a slap across the face. She’d only come out here to try and find out why Chelsea had slipped her private life to a reporter, and now Chelsea was getting in her face about all kinds of things.

Chelsea stepped closer to her. “What, did it shock you that you finally got called a bitch? I’m not sorry that I was the one to do it.”

Kali remained silent and just stared in a sort of transfixed, muted horror at her friend. What had she said to make Chelsea snap like this? She’d never gotten this mad at Kali before, especially not over something so silly without good reason.

“Just get off my case and stop making me out to be such a terrible person. You’ve always been the cute little angel and I’m constantly the devil that no one likes. I’m tired of it, so to have you come out here while I’m trying to work and accuse me of all that crap really makes me mad.” Chelsea growled.

“Chelsea, please, I’m sorry. I just wanted to—”

“Don’t ‘Chelsea, please’ me. I’m sick of being fed all this bullshit. Just get out of my face right now!” Chelsea made a movement and Kali could see what was going to happen before it did, but she was too slow to avert it.

Chelsea shoved Kali to the ground, pushing hard on her stomach.

Just as Kali fell she heard the voices. Why hadn’t she heard them before? She was too attuned to the things Chelsea was saying to her to notice, she guessed. Someone was calling her name. She sat up to meet them and her back and tailbone ached in protest.

Chelsea was standing above her with a horrified expression on her face and her hand over her mouth. Her eyes were watery and she could barely move.

“Oh, god…” she whispered.

“Kali! Kali, what’s going on?” It was Josh and he was running over to Kali at breakneck speed. He knelt down beside her and supported her as she sat up.

“What are you doing? Why aren’t you on stage?” she asked.

“What are you doing? I called an intermission when you ran off. I knew something wasn’t right, now what was it?” He looked up at Chelsea’s stunned face and those icy blue eyes froze over. “What did you do?” he asked her.

“I, I didn’t mean to…” Chelsea murmured.

“Josh, please—” Kali began, sensing her husband’s anger rising.

“What did you do?” Now it was a demand.

“Hey!” Matt stepped in, defending Chelsea and giving Josh a disapproving glare.

“I-I told a reporter t-that Kali was p-pregnant and she came out here to ask me why I did it. I was just s-so stressed and frustrated and I snapped out and…pushed her.” Tears were free-falling down her cheeks.

Matt turned to look at her, stunned. He’d never known Chelsea to do anything like that unless the person deserved it, and he’d thought she would never do that to her best friend. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

Josh’s mouth dropped open and he spun back to Kali.

“Are you okay? Tell me where it hurts and—I’ll fix it, I will…” Josh’s hands were fluttering all around Kali as the words streamed from his mouth.

“I’m fine, Josh. I’m just a little sore, but it’ll be okay.” Kali stood up with a little help from Josh and looked at Chelsea. “Its okay, Chelsea, don’t cry.”

“No, it’s not okay, Kali…I could’ve really hurt you. I could’ve hurt the baby…” Chelsea burst into fresh tears.

Kali enveloped her friend in a hug and tried her best to calm her. “No, I’m fine, the baby’s fine. Shh.”

Matt backed away to give them some space but Josh rushed in, asking a million questions a minute.

“Are you sure you’re okay? Do you need any ice? Maybe you should sit down,” he rambled.

Kali rolled her eyes. “Josh, I’m barely 15 weeks pregnant, I’m not in dire need of care and attention.”

“I just want to help you.” He mumbled.

“Well you can help me by going back and continuing your show. All those kids paid good money to come see you, so go perform for them.” Kali waved him off towards the arena while still hugging Chelsea. “Don’t be an ass for my sake.”

“But, Kali, what if you’re actually hurt or—”

That was when Kali released Chelsea to stare strongly at her husband. It was almost a glower, the look she gave him.

“Josh, I am fine,” she said, chewing out each word. “Now get back in there and perform and leave me alone. I don’t always need someone watching me. I’m still able to do things, you know. And to prove that point, I’m going to go manage the merch tent while you go give those kids the night of their life. Now get in there before I get really fucking pissed off at you.” Chelsea was right, I can be a bitch, she thought. She didn’t let it register in her face, though. She kept the determination flickering in her eyes.

Josh lowered his eyebrows at her. “What are you even—?”

“GET IN THERE NOW!” Kali screamed.

Matt jumped, kissed Chelsea’s cheek quickly and rushed back inside. Josh just stared with wide eyes at his wife for a moment before following Matt like a dog with its tail between its legs. He let the outside door slam fairly loudly behind him.

“Ugh!” Kali growled, running her fingers through her hair. “That man!”

Chelsea wasn’t crying anymore. She was staring at her friend with her mouth hanging open and her eyes wide. She looked completely shocked by Kali’s outburst.

“I’ve never heard you yell at him like that before,” she whispered in ashy tones.

Kali looked from the closed door to Chelsea with a flame still glowing in her dark green eyes. They looked almost black with minor slashes of green around the edges now since she was so angry.

“It’s happened plenty of times before,” she growled. “He’s so fucking stubborn, I swear. He made one fucking promise, to not worry about me, and he goes and breaks it over nothing.”

Chelsea recovered herself and wiped at her eyes before speaking again. “I’m really, really sorry, Kali. I’m just so stressed with this tour and the merchandise not being sorted when I got there and family drama back home…I’ll regret this forever, seriously.” She whispered sheepishly.

“Well I guess we’re all just a little bit stressed tonight,” Kali grumbled before walking away. “I’m going to go work the merch tent. Go in and watch the show and relax and if that man comes out asking about me, tell him I’m proving my god damn point.”

She flew open the side door flap in the tent and let it close, picked up the closest shirt, and screamed all her frustration out into it.