To Believe In Promises (Tumbling Down trilogy - DM fanfic)

Problematic Priorities (Ch.21)

Three days. I spend them well.

The first day is just crying, freaking out, and deciding whether or not to get an abortion.

But Mary already knows, so I can't do that.

Day two is convincing Mom that I'm not dying. I've been lying in bed for a good 30 hours now.

And sneaking out to get a pregnancy test.

Day three, or the beginning of it, is waiting as long as I physically can to go to the bathroom before I explode, then taking the test.

Mary was right, and that's all I'm saying right now.

I hang out with Tori after that, knowing I've pretty much avoided her since the day she told me about the bullying.

We lie around in her room, watching TV, procrastinating on her homework.

My phone buzzes and I check it, seeing Tyler's name. I'm too scared of him to be happy about his text message.

"On my way home. Mom knows, Tori doesn't."

"Okay" I reply, as my anxiety starts to skyrocket.

Me: I'll be right back.

I rush down to the kitchen and get a bottle of water. It takes no time for me to chug about half of it. The sound of footsteps invades my ears and I strain to keep it together. Turning around, I see it's only Mary so I calm down. A little. She senses something is up, though. I expected her to know anyways.

Me: Tyler's on his way home.
Mary: Is that a bad thing?
Me: Can't hide from my problems anymore.
Mary: Did you find out?

Looking down, I let myself cry. I feel the first tear dribble down my cheek.

Me(whispering): Yeah. You were right.

I feel Mary hug me, but I don't hug her back. I don't want this to happen. I'm not ready. Tyler will be gone all the time. I can't do this. And I tell Mary so.

Mary: I don't know if you know this, but Tyler is borderline terrified of losing you. You don't have to worry that he won't want you anymore.
Me: That's not my problem. My problem is I'm not even 20 yet. I can't have a baby. I'm not ready for this!

I lean against the counter and try not to cry, but it's useless. I did this to myself. I know I did. I'm not denying it.

Mary: I got pregnant at that age. Jessie turned out fine.
Me: Why are you condoning this? I haven't even told my mom yet. She'll kill me.
Mary: That's what you think. Your mother loves you. And we all expected you and Tyler to make it.
Me: Again I say, I'm nowhere near the right age to be pregnant! I haven't made it anywhere!
Mary: Still you two are soul mates.

I roll my eyes.

Mary: You're gonna be fine. You have options, and you have lots of people to help you. Tyler will not leave you and I can promise you that.
Me: B-But on Skype he knew I had to talk to him about something serious and I couldn't get myself to say anything. I wasn't even sure if I was pregnant yet, so I didn't want to.
Mary: That's not bad. He'll understand.
Me: No! He got mad and said, and I quote, "You have 72 hours to figure out whatever bad news you have to tell me. I have to go." He knows it's bad news!
Mary: Seriously? Tyler gets pissed over everything easily. You should know that. He'll be surprised, but it's not going to be bad to him.

I nod, still wishing away tears.

Mary: Did he say when he would be home?
Me: No. He just said he was on his way.
Mary: Well he's on his way from the airport so I say...45 minutes.
Me: What do I say to him?
Mary: 'I'm pregnant' would be a good place to start.

I give her a look.

Me: No, like when he asks me why I waited so long to tell him! I'm about two months in now. Wait, how the hell did I not know for two months?!
Mary: I was nearly to my second trimester when I found out about Tyler.

I raise my eyebrows.

Me: How?
Mary: Tyler and Jess are 7 years apart. I forgot what being pregnant was like and ignored the fact I threw up whenever I came near eggs.

We hear footsteps and look to see Tori coming down the stairs.

Tori: Explains why Tyler's such an idiot.

I almost choke on my water.

Mary: That's not nice.
Tori: You know it's true.

There's not much to say back to that.

Tori grabs a bottle of water too, and we go back upstairs.

Tori: So do you just strike up conversations with my mom all the time like that?
Me: Only on special occasions.

She laughs a little as we turn our attention back to the TV.

About a half hour later, we hear the garage open. Tori gives me a confused look.

I shrug.

We make our way downstairs, but I stay behind Tori. When she sees her brother, she runs up to hug him.

When she turns around and looks at me and Mary, she realizes.

Tori: You knew?

I put my hands up in defense.

Me: I only found out three days ago.
Tori: Mom?
Mary: I found out last night. Seems you got your priorities straight, Tyler.
Tyler: Well you all know now. That's the important part.
Me: Well who gets the second hug?

He looks between me and his mother, biting his thumb nail. Is he seriously this scared to pick?

Mary looks at me, signaling that she knows I have to tell him.

Mary: Momma's first!

That the order we go in, then. Then me, Tori, and Tyler go upstairs. I know he'll address Tori first.

Tori knows what we're all about to talk about, and I can see it in her face.

Tyler: So what's going on, Tori?

She kind of sits there and stares at her carpet. I see tears messing up her eyeliner.

Being the overprotective, annoyed-when-you-don't-give-him-an-answer brother he is, Tyler gets right in her face.

Me: He's not gonna stop until you talk to him, Tori. Just get it over with.

She looks at me and then back down at her carpet. Her eyelids rapidly flutter to keep her cheeks dry.

Tori: These...These girls that go to my camp. They make fun of me. They call me a half-orphan. They told everyone at camp.

She curls into the ball she did when I found out. Tyler scoops her up and holds her tight.

Tyler: Why didn't you say anything?
Tori: Because it's true! Everything they said was true!

While they're talking, I open up the chat on Tori's laptop. Tyler scans his eyes over the words for a second.

Tyler: Not one thing they say about you is true.
Tori: I'm pretty sure they're right about me not having a father.
Tyler: Hey. You have a father. Just because he's not here doesn't mean you don't have one. Okay?

Tori nods through her tears.

Tori: It's not fair, though! They get to say all these things and-
Tyler: They don't get to say these things anymore. It's getting reported, they're all getting in trouble, and they won't be allowed to go to camp anymore.
Tori: You can't promise that!
Tyler: Kayla got arrested for buying Mackenzie. For 6 months, she was in a detention facility.

She looks at me; I nod to assure her.

Tyler: I'm gonna take your laptop and screenshot all of-
Me: Already done. Saved to a file in the downloads.
Tyler: Then I'll just go right ahead and report them. Okay? None of this is gonna happen anymore.
Tori: They'll still find me. Call me names for reporting them-
Tyler: You block them. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. Block them. That's all it takes.
Tori: But-
Tyler: Trust me and Mackenzie. It's all going to stop. Quicker than you think.

She doesn't look convinced, but...I wasn't either.