Ruthless

Chapter 24

Shailene Point of View

"Shai, why do you have a pregnancy test?"

I curse under my breath. Dear Honey, are we in a pickle now!

"Alright, okay just don't freak out." I say. My hair is dripping wet, I didn't dry it. I can see the towel on the bed, he obviously pulled it out and was gonna bring it to me but got distracted.

I can see his hands are shaking. He's holding on to the little box tightly, he's going to crush it in a minute.

I take a deep breath and sit down beside him. "Okay, look. I've been throwing up non stop and I just thought it couldn't hurt just to see...and it's probably negative anyways so-"

"What if it's not?!" he yells. I jump at his sudden outburst. He shoots up still holding the box. I can't focus on anything else while he's holding it like that.

I stand up as well and stand in front of him. I put my hands on his arms in an attempt to calm him him down, but I'm distracted by his bulging muscles.

The fact that he's flexing right now doesn't help at all.

"Well if it's positive, well then I'll have to deal with it! I can't exactly just delete it!"

He starts pacing around the room. It's completely dark outside now, the alarm clock on the mahogany nightstand says 11:49. Almost midnight. And I have a feeling the yelling is only about to begin.

"Fuck!" Theo shouts. He plops down against the wall that is made entirely of glass. It makes me nervous, as if he's going to fall out.

I kneel down in front of him. "Hey, it's not that bad. These things are supposed to be good. You know?"

He looks me straight in the eyes. "Shailene," I gulp when he uses my full name. It feels foreign coming out of his mouth. "How is any of this good? And now I can't get the image of you and him out of my mind.."

I'm confused. "I..what are you talking about?"

He stares me down. "Wha- me? What are you talking about?"

I shake my head.

"I'm talking about this nightmare-" he says.

That's taking things to far." Calm down okay. I mean it's not ideal, but it's hardly a nightmare. I mean it's a baby! And it might not even exist!"

Theo sighs. "How could you do it?"

"What do you mean how could I do it?" I frown. He can't seriously blame solely me for this. It takes two to tango.

"How could you sleep with him? Now I can't get the image out of my mind!"

"Theo, who the hell are you talking about?" I ask bewildered. What the fuck is wrong with him? He's the one I slept with! This child - if it even exists - is his!

"ADAM! That's who I'm talking about!" He screams. I've never seen him like this.

I stand up frustrated now. "I cannot believe this, Theo! Number one: you think you can fuck Ruth like there's no tomorrow, then flirt with me and lead me on, and then forbid me to get into a relationship with someone else?! I'm not gonna stand around and watch you be happy, while I'm falling apart waiting for god knows what."

I stomp towards the kitchen. I need a drink. "And I didn't sleep with Adam!" I yell back.

From the corner of my eye I see him stand up and see that he's following me. "What?!" He's breathing heavily. And he's pissed. Really pissed. But let him be, this isn't all my fault.

"If not that dick, then who? Shailene, I'm talking to you!" He screams.

I ignore him. I fling open the refrigerator door and bend down to get a beer. I slam it shut again and open the bottle quickly. I take a swing of it. It's ice cold and feels great running down my throat. Theo stands in front of me and takes the bottle off me.

"Hey!" I whine. "Give it back!"

He places it on the counter and turns towards me. "If not Adam, then who?"

I fold my arms across my chest and raise my eyebrows at him. "Think! it's not that hard Theo."

He swallows loudly. His eyes are jumping all over the place, he can't focus on anything. He's mad. "I'm not a mind reader Shailene, I don't know!"

"Well then I guess you'll never know. If you're too stupid to figure it out, that's not my problem!" I start walking away from him, but he grabs my waist and pulls me towards him. I struggle to get out of his grasp. He grabs my wrists and pushes me against one of the white kitchen walls, gently though. His entire body is against mine, pinning me to the wall.

"Shailene this isn't funny. If it's not Adam's kid, then whose? Nahko?"

"No! Obviously not!" I say. This isn't the best time to be thinking these things, but being this close to him is completely turning me on.

"Then who?!" He shouts again.

I roll my eyes. "Think! Who the fuck could it be?"

He shakes his head. I sigh loudly. "You really are dumb, aren't you? It's yours!"
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I sit on the edge of the bed. Theo stands leaning against the doorframe, tapping his foot impatiently. "How long left?" He asks quietly.

I look down at my watch. "Thirty seconds left,"

He nods.

He made me take the test. I didn't want to. I still don't want to. But there's thirty seconds left, not much I can do about it.

"Shai, it'll be okay." He says.

I sigh loudly. "No it won't. It's far from okay."

He walks over to sit down beside me. He grabs my hand and laces our fingers together. "It's not like we're too you ge for this. We'll be great parents."

"No we won't! You have a girlfriend! How the hell are we gonna make it work?!"

"I don't know..."

I look at my watch. It's the moment of truth. We both walk to the bathroom and stand in glaring of the counter. If lays there upside down. Theo grabs my hand and we both take a deep breath.
"Ready?" He asks.

I nod. I lift it up and we both look at it.
"Well there it is." Theo says.

"Yup, there it is."