About You Now

Past Behind

"ROMAN!" yelled Serenity as loudly as she could. It had been almost a week since prom, and she'd not seen him since what she proclaimed was the amusement park disaster. He'd blocked her on nearly everything since then; the only way she could contact him now was by email, almost as if he was ensuring there was physical proof of something. "I want to talk to you about something," she said more quietly this time. If only to prevent random shoppers of the mall from hearing everything. "This conversation doesn't concern you two, so fuck off."

"They already know about the court proceedings," replied Roman, getting straight to the point. He'd been busy since the fun at prom and the amusement park trip after. Preparing for life after school, his parents had encouraged him to apply for college, still, saying they'd help him with expenses and his little one. "They know about the potential custody battle and my demand for a paternity test; they know about the other court case, too," he added, once again displaying he'd confided in his two best friends, gained their opinion and support, if only to move on from everything.

"So you're the fourth one to sue me for something," Serenity yelled, her voice devoid of warmth now, her judgmental eyes cold, hatred burning in them instead. Her week had gone from bad to worse, her school journey ending in utter disaster with no way to redeem it, and she was also told that if she didn't start behaving, she wouldn't be able to walk the stage at graduation. "What do you need a paternity test for? You ARE the father of MY baby," she mumbled in anger, ignoring her own comments at the amusement park and the subsequent emails she'd sent regarding paternity and how she wished it were someone else, even hinting that someone else was her baby daddy.

"Echo, AJ, and Summer filled motions a couple of weeks ago," spoke Seth when Roman looked confused. "The other girlies are thinking of filing as well, compensation for the accident, medical bills, and the car repairs," he added, seeing the horror pass over Serenity's face, as if she was finally realizing what her choices had led to. No amount of complaining, bitching, or blaming everyone else would get her out of it. Even her mother couldn't save her this time. "Too late to apologize, we all know it wouldn't be a real one, just an attempt to get yourself out of the latest mess."

"We both know she won't apologize," commented Dean, "She doesn't know how to, she'll just blame everyone for her problems and expect the chosen person to take the fall while she goes on her merry way, hurting more people and demanding respect and whatever else she thinks she's entitled to just because she wants it," he added, not sparing Serenity's feelings nor even caring for the offensive she took to his truthful words. "Welcome back to reality, Serenity. Actions have consequences, yours included."

"Whatever," sassed Serenity, throwing a limp hand to the side as if to ignore what inconvenienced her. She had enough faith she'd get away with most of it; all she had to say was she was a pregnant teenager experiencing hormonal changes and was being irrational because of it. Then all would be water under the bridge, and she'd counter sue each one for emotional damages and whatever else she felt like. "As for our problems, Roman, I plan on fighting for full custody. If you're lucky, you'll have supervised visits and child support payments. Our kids are gonna be high maintenance, you know."

This time, it was Roman who rolled his eyes. For a second, he turned to Seth and Dean, whispering something to them before they quietly left the immediate area. Continuing to their predetermined destination, at least before Serenity had thrown herself into the middle with yelled words and accusations again.

"I'll drop the battle and child support if my terms are met," Serenity said with a hint of wickedness. In her own mind, it was the best idea she'd had yet; however, as usual, she didn't think of how it would affect anyone outside herself, nor the predictable consequences. "We don't have to be two single parents, Roman. We could raise our child together. Be a family like we talked about," she continued, seeing how Roman seemed to get more uncomfortable with every word that left her glossy lips. "We were happy once; we can be again. Marry Me?"