What Happens Now

Chapter 6

I knew I should have answered Iris's or Jackie's message, but I'm weak. I answered Harrison's message and texted him to come over to talk.

Harrison
Be there in 10 min

I rushed to the shower with my phone in hand. I put on the a playlist and jumped in. I quickly shampooed and conditioned my long hair. Damn it feels so greasy. I don't know why Austin liked playing with it last night. I stepped out of the shower and grabbed my nice Vaseline Cocoa Butter bottle. This bottle saves my life. I get so ashy easily.
"Shay!"
Harrison knocked on my balcony door and my eyes wide with embarrassment. I was still in just a towel.
"Just one second." I put on a t- shirt and some running shorts.
"Come in."
I open the door and begin to put my hair up.
"So, umm. I'm sure you have heard. Ender is dating someone now." He walked over to my bed and sat down.
"Yeah. Ender and Lucas." I plug my phone into the charger and sit down next to him.
"Are you okay with that?" He begins to fidget with a loose thread on the blanket.
"Yes. Are you?"
"I just thought he would tell me. Or I should have known."
"It's not your fault. I mean, coming out is hard."
"Yeah." His face looked like he was in a daze.
"Is that all you needed to talk about?"
"No. Umm... Willow thinks... she thinks she's pregnant."
"And you reacted badly?"
"No. The opposite. I was so happy, but she doesn't want to have it. And I know it's her body, but that's my baby too."
"Oh, but do you think you're ready?"
"I mean, ready or not, I made a kid. And, I am not passing that up."
"I think you should think about this more by yourself. But if you care about what I think, I think you should consider adoption. As your best friend, I don't think either of you are ready for a kid."
"Wow. I never expected this coming from you. I thought you would think better of me." He stands up and begins heading for the balcony.
"Do you even hear yourself? Willow's pregnant and you just keep saying me, me, me. This should be about the kid, not you."
"I think I can give my child a good life!"
"I know you can. But I don't know if you can right now."
"Just because I'm going to be a teen dad doesn't mean I'm going to be a deadbeat dad. No one is worse than my dad."
His eyes begin to swell with tears and sits on my bed again. I walked over to him and sat down once again for comfort.
"Harrison. Why aren't you talking about this with Willow? She is the one having your baby." I chuckle and look up at him.
"When she told me she wanted to abort the baby, I told her I needed to talk to you first."
"I'm flattered that you want to talk to me first about these things. But Willow's your girlfriend. You love her and she needs to be the one you need to be talking to." I put my arm around him.
"I thought you would be happy that I still come to you right now."
"I am, but...with our history, I don't want to jeopardize your relationship with her. I don't want drama with her." I take my hand off of him and begin to stand up.
"There isn't any." He angles his body towards me and tries to scoot closer but I back up.
"Exactly. So, go to her right now and talk it out." I walk over to my balcony door and grab the handle.
"With you I can understand her side. She always yells and she's so stubborn..." He gets up and I can feel the same tension I felt when we were alone in his basement a few months ago. Before prom and before Willow.
"Yeah and you love her because of that." I open the door to feel the breeze. Hoping this cool wind would relieve the nervous heat I was getting.
"I do love her." He takes another step closer to me. I can feel his eyes on the back of my head.
"Then you know what to do." I quickly turn around and I find him inches away from my face and he widens a grin.
"Why do I feel like you are trying to get me out of here?" He levels his eyes with me and reaches for the handle I still had my hand on.
"Because... I am wet. And it's kinda cold. I just kinda wanna ya know... get dressed." I explain as I cross my arms to widen the space. I look up to his eyes and he is still smiling.
"I guess I should go then right?"
And because of the way he asked that, I was confused. He was staring at me like I've never seen him look at me before. His eyes are dilated, and he's looking at me real hard.
"Go. Your potential kid needs you right now." I step to the side and show him out of the balcony. "Okay... Are you free later tonight?" He asks as he gets on the tree to climb down.
"Depends... why?" I ask
"I wanted to hangout with you. Like old times."
"Okay. I'll try."
"Perfect. I'll order a pizza with pineapple and I'll buy ginger ale for us. I can also get Chipotle if that sounds good?"
"Chipotle's perfect!" I close the doors behind me and walk over to my phone. Great, three missed calls! I wonder what that's going to be about.

Jace  checked his phone again for the 20th time. Still no text from Shay.
"I think Iris is starting to like me man! She's chill! Not too overly friendly and she doesn't mind that I'm kind of quiet." Sean exclaims with excitement. He gently taps the sugar from the can onto his flapjacks, and cuts a piece for himself.
"That's great!" Jace  nodded his head, he was half listening. His mind was preoccupied with the thoughts of what he heard last night.

Flashback
Things seemed good. Turns out that Ender and Lucas are a thing. Even though he was setting them up, he had the guilty conscience of wishing Lucas and Shay not ending up together anyways. Jace left his girlfriend once again to grab another drink. As he makes his way through the crowd, he sees Harrison and Willow near the bay window of the front of the house. He carefully walks over there to eavesdrop.
"Harrison, I can't do this anymore. I really tried. I still have feelings for someone else." Willow explains, but it seems like Harrison wasn't even listening.
"Wait, what?"
"We need to break up."
"Why?"
"This is why! If we're not making out, you're totally spaced! Like I don't even exist! And, I can't blame you. I have feelings for someone else too."
"I don't have feelings for anyone else Willow..."
"You say that and... doesn't matter. Before things end, I need you to know this though. I am pregnant.And, don't worry. I am not keeping it. So.."
"Hold up! You're pregnant?! Let's have it!"
"No. And it's final. I'm going to go to the doctor for my options. Bye Harrison."

Jace  couldn't get that conversation out of his head. He looked to the road outside and saw Harrison's car drive by.
"Hey Sean I gotta go. I have some things I need to take care of." Jace  pulls a twenty out of his pocket and rushes to his car. He needed to see her. And he needed to see her now.