Tied Down

Chapter Four

"So, wait, what did he say exactly?" They walked to a table with boxes of Chinese food. Luke and Michael had brought their girlfriends to the mall. While the girls took Zoe to a kids' clothing store, they were at Panda Express. They had decided that a meeting was needed after the thing that Ashton told Michael, but Zoe didn't like it when Daddy Luke left her with Mommy, so Jesse and Ruby had to come along.

"He said that he was thinking about taking a break from the band." Michael sighed, "I've told you this three times already, Luke. It can't be interpreted any other way."

Luke shook his head, "But he didn't say how long the break was going to be, right? I mean, it could only be like a few months to play Daddy."

"Well, we don't know for sure what he wants to do..." Michael looked over Luke's shoulder to see his girlfriend and the Hemmings girls making their way to them. "Just drop it when the girls come, okay?"

With a nod, Luke grabbed an egg roll, broke it in half and popped it in his mouth just as Zoe jumped over to him. "Daddy! I want some!" Not missing a beat, Luke handed the other half of his egg roll to his daughter.

After Ruby and Michael went back home, Luke decided that he should probably have a little chat with Ashton. When he pulled up to the Irwin household, he noticed that Madison's car wasn't in the driveway.

Ashton opened the door before Luke had even turned his car off. Arms crossed, he leaned against the frame as he waited for his bandmate to come up the walkway. "Luke."

With a nod, "Ashton."

"What are you doing here?"

"Can we talk?"

"Sure." Ashton stepped aside to let Luke go into the condo first. "What's on your mind?"

Luke sighed, crossing his arms in front of his chest, "You're leaving the band?"

"Luke, I have a lot going on right now." Ashton shook his head. Usually his curls would be dancing, but since they were scrunched up extremely tight in a bun, that didn't happen. "I don't know if you noticed, but Madi and Hudson aren't here."

Looking around, Luke noticed that the condo was missing a few things: Hudson's playpen that Michael and Luke had bought before he was even born, some family pictures that Madi insisted they do for their Christmas cards when Hudson was one and a half years old, and some other small things. "What's going on, Ashton?"

"I don't know if I should be here without Michael, Izzy..." Ruby paced around the waiting room of the OBGYN office, suddenly thinking about changing her mind.

Izzy just flipped through her magazine, "Relax. If you are actually pregnant, then tell him. If you aren't, then he won't have to know about this little scare."

"But he's my boyfriend and the father of this possible child."

"Just sit down. They'll be out in a minute for you, okay?" Izzy tried to calm her best friend, although she knew that it wouldn't go as planned. Once Ruby sat down, she patted her knee, "I'll be right here when you get back."

A nurse came out and called Ruby's name. She turned to Izzy, "Brb."

It was about twenty minutes later when Ruby came back out. Izzy stood up, clearly waiting for an explanation. "Well?"

Ruby's face was set like stone, a look of shock permanent. The only words that came out of her lips were a whisper. "I have to tell Michael."

The car ride was quiet. Izzy didn't know what to say and it was obvious that Ruby didn't want to talk about it. Once they were at Calum's apartment complex, which also had the flat Ruby and Michael shared, Ruby opened up. "Three weeks pregnant." Her eyes went down to her stomach. "What will Michael say? They start touring in a few months and I'll be very, very pregnant by then."

"Well, you won't know unless you tell him."

"How should I?"

"In a cute way."

"You think he'll be mad?"

When Izzy turned to face her friend, she saw tears in those green eyes. She sighed, "I don't know. For your sake, I hope not."

Ruby wiped her face with the backs of her hands, "I think I'll wait until tomorrow."

"You do that."

"See you later, Izzy. Thanks for coming with me."

Izzy smiled as Ruby got out of her car, "You're welcome. What are best friends for?" As Ruby walked towards her apartment building, Izzy just sighed, keeping her eyes on Ruby's back, making sure that she got there okay.

When she unlocked the door, Calum was laying on the couch, eyes glued on the TV screen. They flickered in her direction just once before going back, "Hey, babe. Where've you been?"

Izzy debated in her head for a minute before answering. She could either tell Calum the truth about Ruby and the baby or just keep that information to herself and tell him something different. It wasn't her place to tell Calum about the baby, so she kept it to herself, thinking that Ruby and Michael would tell everyone eventually. She told Cal that they just had lunch, which was true and not a complete lie. Cal didn't really seem interested anyway, one hundred percent of his attention was on some weird Japanese TV show. "What the fuck are you even watching?"

"Oh, it's some show that Michael and I watched when we were in Japan. It's actually fucking hilarious." Calum absent-mindedly reached into a bowl that was on the table in front of him, then cursed when he found it empty. "Babe, will you get me more Cheetos?"

She looked at him weird, declined the offer and went to their bedroom. It was almost dinner time, but she wanted to take a shower before anything else happened. Stripping down, she tossed her clothes into the hamper and wrapped her robe around her body. Once the water heated up, Izzy just stood there, water soaking her skin while she thought about what had happened today. She hoped that Ruby would tell Michael soon. She knew that keeping secrets from significant others wasn't always such a good plan.