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Chapter Thirty Six

Courtney's POV

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight, sweetie." My stepfather kisses my forehead and tucks me in. Turning my head away from him, I close my eyes and pretend to sleep.

And once I'm certain that he's actually fallen asleep himself, I carefully slip out of bed.

I scavenge through my closet, all the way to the back, and pull out and on a black hoodie that I'd borrowed from Evelyn.

I change out of my slippers and into a pair of sneakers, then carefully sneak out of my room. The air is cold, and being extremely sensitive to it, I have to restrain myself from sneezing and waking anyone up.

Five minutes later, I'm well out of the castle, on my way down the hill to the nearest casteland, which happens to be Maize, where Jordan is from. It feels weird, going to his hometown for the purpose I'm sneaking out for, but I need to get back before anyone wakes up. It's two in the morning, and Isla gets up at five. Why? I'm not so sure.

I enter the stores, looking around for the particular shop I need. Then, I see it.

Keeping my head down so nobody will recognize me, I make my way inside. Scanning the shelves with my eyes, I pick up two of the items I'm looking for and walk to the counter, placing them down wordlessly.

The woman at the counter scans the items. "That'll be eighteen dollars." I hand over the money and speedwalk towards the exit.

"Ma'am?" I freeze and turn my head. Shit, I've been discovered.

"You forgot your tests." The woman hands them to me, and I smile gratefully, letting out an internal sigh of relief.

"Thank you." And with that, I leave as quickly as possible.

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"Jordan?" When his head turns to look at me, mine faces down.

"Yeah, princess?" He puts his book down on the side of the bed and edges closer to me. It's currently my late night studying session, but my mother makes Jordan stay with me, so it's a tad awkward. Nothing I can't handle.

"I need to tell you something. And whatever way you react, I'm just going to accept it."

He nods slowly, and I take a deep breath.

"I-I'm pregnant." I turn my head to the side, not wanting to see his reaction.  

"Really?" Jordan asks solemnly, and I suddenly feel a rush of fear.

I nod quickly in response, tears pricking the corners of my eyes. "Yes.."

He stares into my eyes with an expression I can't read, before leaning in, kissing me gently and cupping my cheeks in his hands."When did you find out?" he whispers, our foreheads pressed together.

"Yesterday. I-I was stressing out about how I was going to tell you because I knew you were going to hate me since you practically work for my parents and they're going to fire you and possibly send you to jail and you're also my tutor which makes it ten times worse and-"

He interrupts me with another kiss. "It's okay, Court. I could never hate you, please don't think I ever will. And if your parents fire me, so what? I'm still going to find a way to take care of our child because I love you both so so much."

I wrap my arms around him in a fierce and protective hug, closing my eyes. "I don't think I can do this," I whisper fearfully, feeling my bottom lip quivering, my heart on the edge of bursting.

"Yes you can. You got through your mother getting remarried. You got through the suffering Nolan put you through. You got through the attack from Newglade and Falconrose. So you can definitely get through this. I believe in you." Jordan pecks me on the nose, and I smile softly, looking into his eyes.

"What did I do to deserve such an amazing man like you?" I bury my face into his neck, nuzzling it gently.

"And what did I do to deserve such a gorgeous angel like you?" he murmurs back, and I'm once again reminded of how sweet he is.

“I'm sorry, by the way... What I accused you off, that wasn't me. That was just my shock talking.” I run my hand through his hair as he kisses the side of my head.

"It's alright, I understand.” He pauses before continuing. “Would you like to stay here tonight?" he asks, releasing me. I nod in response, and he pulls the covers over us.

"Goodnight," he whispers, but I'm already drifting away to a peaceful sleep in his warm embrace.

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The feeling of Jordan's arms wrapped around my waist when I wake up is something I want to feel every morning. I turn my head back to see him fast asleep. God, he looks so perfect.

Carefully and quietly, I slip out of his grasp and stand up, smiling to myself. I'm so glad that he took the news well. But I know my family won't, especially my stepfather. The thought takes my smile away, replacing it with a frown that isn't as pleasant.

I head over to his drawers, looking for something to snack on. It's six in the morning, but breakfast is at eight thirty, and I'm starving.

In the second drawer down, I come across a small red box. Frowning, I pick it up. The texture is soft and thin, like velvet. I've never seen it before, and I don't exactly know why it's in my room. But just as I'm about to open it, someone grabs me from behind.

"Gotcha!" Jordan grins when I scream and drop the box. It seems to be sealed shut or something, as it doesn't open from the impact.

"Jerk!" I remark with a laugh, trying to wriggle out of his arms. But as soon as I'm out, he pulls me towards him from the front, kissing me passionately. Lifting me up into the air, he helps my legs go around his torso, both his hands keeping me up and our lips locked.

"I can't believe I'm going to be a dad," he says quietly, leaning me against the wall. Jordan brushes a lock of hair behind my ear, but apart from that, we don't move at all. My legs are still around him, and the shirt that I'd borrowed from him flows loosely behind me.

"Are you sure you're not mad? At all?" I reply uneasily, and he nods.

"I'm not mad. It's my fault anyway, I got you pregnant. And I feel so bad because now you have to deal with all of this."

It's my turn to reassure him. "Don't worry about it. I'm willing to have this baby, with you."

Jordan grins at me, his expression seemingly proud. "You don't even know how much I love you."

A/N

There we goooo, a quicker update because we wrote this chapter a few weeks before it was meant to be published. Sorry if it seems kind of rushed.

So what do you think? Is this extremely fanfic-y cliché? Or is it alright?

~ Zalie :3