Rosie

Chapter 8

Amelia sat in the corner of the sofa in the lounge, tears streaming down her face. She couldn't understand what had happened to her fiancé, Owen. He used to be loving, caring, and gentle towards her. But ever since she had entered her second trimester with their first child, he had been acting cold, aggressive, and mean.

They hadn't shared an intimate moment in weeks, and it was eating away at her.

Then, two days ago, when she realized he couldn't stand to even look at her now, it had been the last straw, and she had stopped talking to him since. She had always struggled with body image issues, and being pregnant had made her feel even more self-conscious. But Owen used to assure her that she was still beautiful to him, no matter what. Now, he would barely touch her. He wouldn't look at her, and he avoided being intimate with her altogether. She couldn't understand why he was treating her this way. As she sat there, sobbing, she couldn't help but wonder if this was how their marriage was going to be.

Suddenly, she heard the door open and close. She quickly wiped away her tears, not wanting anyone to see her like this.

"Are those pregnancy tears or real tears?" Alex gruffly asked as he entered the lounge, staring at her from by the door. He had seen Amelia cry a number of times throughout their friendship, and he was pretty familiar with the telltale signs, despite her efforts to hide it. But these days, he couldn't tell if she was crying for a reason, or just crying because she couldn't tie her own shoe laces again. He looked down and saw that her shoe laces were tied, so he figured it wasn't that.

"Real tears," the Shepherd mumbled, defeated.

Alex smirked. He walked over to where she was sitting and sat in front of her, on the coffee table. "You wanna talk about it?" he asked, already opening his bag of chips.

Amelia shrugged as she hugged one of the couch pillows to her chest and averted her gaze. "I don't know," she voiced, "I feel fat and ugly." She felt pathetic and unattractive sitting here and crying over the fact that Owen seemed to not be attracted to her anymore, and she wasn't sure if she wanted Alex's pity. She looked at Alex and noticed he was looking at her in a weird way. "Why are you looking at me like that?" she inquired, feeling self-conscious again. She wouldn't be surprised if Alex thought she was ugly and fat too.

Alex hesitated, as if trying to find the right words. "You know, Amelia, you are looking really...good these days," he finally said, making Amelia raise an eyebrow in confusion. "You know that, right?"

"What do you mean? I'm pregnant," she replied, glancing down at her belly.

"Yeah, that's exactly it. You're glowing, you're radiant. And, well, you're kind of...hot," Alex said, a sympathetic look in his eyes. "Haven't you noticed everyone checking you out? Being nice to you?"

Amelia's cheeks turned pink as she tried to hide a smile. "I thought it was because they didn't want me to bite their heads off," she replied, grateful for the compliment nonetheless, "Pregnancy hormones and all."

"No way, you're banging, Dr. Shepherd," Alex jested her, and she giggled, rolling her eyes. "I thought Hunt would be telling you that every chance he got?"

Amelia's frown returned and a tear escaped her eye. "I don't even think he can stand to look at me. He's completely turned off by me."

"What makes you think that?" he asked as Meredith, Callie and Arizona entered the lounge now, taking residence at the dining table.

"Oh my god, Amelia," Callie exclaimed as she sat down and took in the Shepherd, "You should get pregnant more often."

Amelia rolled her eyes again, thinking Alex had somehow gotten them to come in here to make her feel better. "Very funny," she mumbled.