Right Back Where We Started

Chloe's POV

"Why is it always such a mess in here?" I groaned, closing the box of frosted flakes that was sitting open on the counter, before returning it to the right spot in the cupboard. I shut the door loudly, which earned a confused look from Josie.

"Molly just took a bowl of cereal in back to eat," She laughed, "Take a chill pill."

I ran the fingers of my free hand through my hair, the other using a wet cloth to attempt to get a coffee ring out of the counter, but to no avail. "Damn it!" I snapped. I threw the cloth onto the counter. A wave of nausea came over me and I closed my eyes, taking a few deep breaths through my nose.

"Stomach again?" Josie asked quietly, and my only response was to nod.

Alex was the next to speak. He'd been on our bus a lot lately, with Josie. I didn't know how I felt about the two getting close. "Aren't you sick of tossing your cookies every few hours?" He questioned. I couldn't respond - I was focused on keeping this vomit down.

But that failed. The next thing I knew I was in the tiny bathroom, door wide open, and losing the little food I had in my system. I let out a groan, leaning back against the wall.

"Do you need anything, Chloe?" Josie asked. She stood and handed me a bottle of water before I even answered. "Are you sure you don't want to go to the medic on our next stop?" All I could do was shake my head before I took a huge swig of the water.

"I'll be fine," I sighed finally. "Nobody else has gotten sick, so whatever this is isn't contagious. It'll pass."

"I'd say give it about nine months," Alex chimed in. Josie's eyes widened and I glared at him.

"Fuck off, Gaskarth," I seethed. "It's just a stomach bug."

"It isn't a bug, you've probably got a little sea-monkey growing in there," He teased, "Morning sickness definitely isn't contagious."

At this point, I stood up, and took a few steps towards Alex. I didn't even care if he could smell my nasty puke-breath. "I can't believe you," I growled. "I can't believe you're always this much of an asshole. Don't fucking talk to me, Alex."

"Dude, Chloe, it was a joke," He stammered. I only dealt with the confused look on his stupid face for a moment before I walked to the back of the bus and slammed the door behind me. "What the fuck?" I heard him ask Josie, who didn't respond.

I couldn't help but be angry. Alex has done nothing but make me miserable - even if this time it's just because he confirmed the thoughts that had already been nagging at my brain for days.

---

A few days passed like normal, at least for a tour. I apologized for my overreaction to Alex. I spent a lot of my free time with Brendon, who was acting unendingly strange since my stomach bug ruined our perfect date.

"Are you sure you'll be alright?" Brendon asked, his hand gently rubbing the small of my back. "You've been so sick, I don't want to leave you by yourself..."

"You've got a set to play," I spoke softly, smiling up at him. I didn't even have the energy to leave my bunk today, unless it was to be sick. Eventually, I ended up just laying on the couch.

"Want me to go get one of the girls? I'm sure Sophie won't mind hanging out with you while I'm gone."

"I'm not making her leave the signing just because I'm sick, Brendon. I promise I'll be fine. You go, have a good day. I'll text you."

"If I have to," He teased. He leaned down and gave me a small peck on the lips. "I am so in love with you, Chloe," His voice was soft. He kissed me again, this time much deeper. Chills ran through my body - I could not get enough of this boy.

He pulled away from me after a few moments. "I love you too," I smiled.

He looked towards the clock on the microwave then back to me. "I really do need to leave, don't I?" He sighed. His set was scheduled to start in less than ten minutes. "I'm sorry. I'll be back later, love."

With a final kiss, he left the bus. Once the door was shut and he'd had enough time, I sat up from my place on the couch. Pulling my hair into a messy ponytail, I stood up and searched for my shoes. I waited a few moments to be sure my stomach was calm enough to leave before I exited the bus and headed straight towards the medic's tents.

Although it probably shouldn't have been the case, I felt like this was something I needed to do on my own. After waiting for a few moments, I was finally approached. "Is everything alright?" The medic spoke calmly - "Everything okay with Sophie?" It was the same medic that had been helping through Sophie's concussion. This was a small crew.

"Yeah - uh, she's still having mood swings, but I think she's doing a lot better." I smiled for a moment before my expression dropped. "But, uh, this isn't about that..." I said quietly. "I need to um... check for something. I don't know. Is there anywhere more... private around here? I'm just really nervous," I spoke quickly.

The medic smiled and led me a few feet away, into an area that was still under the large tent but separated by large, hanging white tarps. "I need a... um... pregnancy test?" I whispered, pursing my lips after I spoke. "I mean I'm pretty sure I know the answer but I have to be sure and I had to wait until I had time alone and I'm really terrified about all of this. I've been feeling weird for almost two weeks and at first I thought I just had a stomach bug but I know it's so much more than that now and I-"

"Take a deep breath, Chloe," He spoke. "We'll get you the test. You can wait here for the results and everything. Whatever the outcome, you'll be alright."

I sighed. "Alright. Let's get this over with. I've been holding in my pee all day,"

---

Sophie's POV

"I'm going to check on her now, I'm sure she's okay," I laughed. Brendon had taken time to call me and make sure Chloe was alright, since she didn't answer a few of this texts. That boy had been more attached to her than normal, lately. Especially since this illness started. "Yeah, I'll tell her to text you. She's probably just asleep. Alright. Bye," I ended the call before I opened the door of the bus.

The rest of the girls had landed on All Time Low's bus for a movie (and probably drinking) night - to which I planned on returning once I made sure my friend was okay. It seemed like her stomach problems had gotten worse the last few days, but she refused any of our offers to get it checked out.

"Chloe!" I called when I opened the door, but I didn't wait for an answer. My eyes widened and I felt my jaw physically drop - Chloe was curled up on the end of the couch, hugging a pillow to her stomach. Her face red and puffy and shiny with a coat of tears. The silence of the next few moments was broken only by her small sobs.

I pushed the door shut and clicked the lock. I knew something was really wrong. "What's going on?" I asked. I quickly ducked into the bathroom and brought out some toilet paper, joining her on the couch and dabbing her face clean slowly. She just shook her head at me. "Chloe, what's wrong? You can talk to me. Please."

After a few moments, her voice came out in a cracked whisper. "I didn't think about my fucking pill," She spoke quietly, "We were recording, Brendon was on tour, it wasn't like it was the first thing on my mind. Then Brendon got back, we started getting ready for this tour... I'm such an idiot, Sophie," She ended the sentence with another loud sob.

"Why would you think that?" I asked, unable to comprehend what she spoke about through the panic of walking in on her meltdown.

She moved the pillow to look down, directly at her stomach. "This was never just a stomach bug..."