Challenge Accepted, Bad Boy (Complete)

Chapter 35 - You Should Probably Put That In Some Ice

Before I begin this chapter, I just want to quickly mention that I was so overwhelmed with the response I got in the last chapter. Thank you to everyone who voted and commented x

A/N – This chapter is dedicated to @xococo26 for voting on my story and providing me with some much needed humour with her comments. Thank you so much for your support xx

Chapter 35 – You Should Probably Put That In Some Ice

I smiled, walking beside my mom as we entered a store which was dedicated to baby clothes.

A day spent entirely with my mother.

That's exactly what I needed to get my mind off everything else.

"How cute is this?"

She held up a baby blue onesie which had bunny ears stuck to the hood part and a small round tail at the back. We had mostly gone shopping to buy Aaron some clothes since my mom hadn't really managed to buy many clothes for him when she had another human growing in her stomach.

"That will go perfectly with these socks!"

Her face beamed with excitement when she paired them together before placing them in the basket. Even though I wasn't having my best days recently, I was happy that her liveliness had returned since Mark came back.

Speaking of, Mark took on another job just a few days ago to keep himself occupied until his paternity leave finishes and he is deployed again even though he did say something about leaving the army now that he has another child. He didn't tell my mom about it because he didn't want her to worry but him and I had that father – daughter conversation where the roles are switched around and it was me giving him advice instead. He hasn't made a decision yet but is leaning towards leaving.

"Are you sure you're okay? I'm going to keep reminding you of what I told you because it's your best option right now. You've been zoning out a lot recently and I'm worried, baby."

"Yeah. I've actually been thinking about it but I don't want it to seem like I'm running away from my problems. Again."

She gave me flat look which practically said 'Are you kidding me?'

"Well maybe if you actually try and talk to him then you won't be running away. If the stubborn asshole still doesn't believe you then there's nothing more you can do about it than to let it go."

"And what if going to Miami doesn't help? I love him so it's not like going away for a while will do any good when I have to see him after I come back anyway."

My mom had suggested that I fly out to Miami in the one week break that I have from school before prom. I know that it's not going to help because the last time I bottled everything in I didn't speak to anyone for months – not to say that that situation was in any way comparable to this one – but I'm pretty sure being slut-shamed and being seen by the person you love as a cheating bitch isn't exactly a desired circumstance.

I was standing my ground in front of the occasional people approaching me at school with questions.

"Why the hell would you cheat on Hunter Ashford? He is practically the hottest guy in school and it's rare to catch his attention. You're so cheap."

"If you wanted to cheat you could have done it in a much more discrete way."

"That guy you were seconds from having sex with surely was a downgrade from Hunter. Did he pay you or something?"

Those were probably the only ones I had gotten. Like I said, people have gotten over it now but that doesn't mean their words don't strike an arrow through me.