Arsen (Editing)

You Aren't Going To Hit Him With The Car Are You?

Arsen came back half an hour later. He opened the door and wouldn't look me in the eyes. I shifted a now sleeping April off of my lap and stood up.

"Is he gone?" I asked.

He nodded once and sat on his bed, dropping his head into his hands, and sighing. I dropped to my knees in front of him and pulled his hands away from his face. I threaded our fingers together and lent up to kiss him.

He returned the kiss, but only momentarily. He tensed up after a couple seconds and abruptly ended our kiss, snapping me out of the fuzzy feeling that had begun to creep into my mind.

"Amelia we have to talk." Arsen muttered, sounding exhausted.

My heart sped up. "About what?" I asked.

"I joined my dad." He said, his voice stone cold and his face, expressionless. "Ashton did too."

It took me a minute to process what he had just said to me. When it finally clicked, I stood up and took a step away from him, ripping our hands apart. "You didn't!" I hissed, going through so many emotions at once.

Confusion.

Fear.

Anger.

"I think its best that we just end things now." Arsen shrugged and dug around in his pocket for his 'handy dandy box of cigarettes.'

Am I crying? I'm crying. Angry tears dripped down my cheeks and flowed out of my eyes like a water pipe that had just burst. I grabbed the first thing I could get my hands on, a book, and chucked it at him.

"You asshole!" I screamed, my eyes darting around me for something else to throw at him.

I grabbed another book, one that I recognized. I had given it to him as a gift only a month prior. My hands shook and my knuckles were white as I gripped it. My whole body was shaking, I was a complete mess.

I shut my eyes and allowed myself to sink to my knees. I opened my eyes and stared down at one of the many James Bond books and dropped it to the floor beside me. Arsen just watched me as I broke on the floor of his bedroom floor. His expression didn't give away how he was feeling. He was so good at hiding his emotions, how do I know he wasn't equally as good at faking them?

At this realization, I managed to stand up again and brush the tears off my face. There really wasn't much point, the tears I wiped away were quickly replaced, but it made me feel a tiny bit better.

I didn't say anything to him while I fished my keys out of my pocket. He looked away and lit his cigarette. I nodded once, more to myself, this was always going to be how our relationship worked out.

I left his room, slamming the door behind me. Ashton was sitting in the living room and he looked a lot more sober than he had an hour ago. The drink in his hands would quickly fix that though. He looked up when I walked by.

"Amelia!" He called after me and I stopped, debating whether to turn around or not.

I sighed and turned to face the oldest Brook's brother.

He shook his head at me, looking almost as broken as I felt. "I'm sorry." Was all he said.

Against my better judgment, I jogged across the room to him and threw my arms around his neck. The water works were coming on stronger now.

I wasn't just losing my boyfriend, I was losing one of my best friends as well. He squeezed me tight and I felt the outline of the Jack Daniels bottle digging into my spine.

"Stay photogenic." He whispered when we pulled apart, leaving a kiss on my cheek.

I managed a watery smile and turned away from him before walking away from the life I had grown so accustomed to.

SIX MONTHS LATER

I was waiting in the kitchen for my mom to return from work. I had something important to talk to her about and I was worried about what she was going to say.

I was disappointed in myself. In the short span of time that Arsen and I were together I valued him over my grades and tarnished my GPA. Being with him and eventually breaking up with him, had taken up so much of my time and now I needed a small miracle to get into the schools I had been dreaming about for years.

I had to tell my mom I didn't get into Yale or Princeton. Hell, I didn't even get into Auburn University! I had completely let myself down and now I had to tell my mom that I didn't get in.

She was a Yale Alumni herself and had always dreamed that I would follow in her footsteps. I am going to have to disappoint her as well.

I groaned in frustration and laid my head down on my rejection letters, I was so mad at myself. How could I let myself do this? How did I manage to give up on all of my dreams just because a guy decided to give me attention.

It was seeming like nothing would go right ever since Arsen broke up with me. My life felt like it was in shambles and I couldn't seem to catch my breath. Still, I wondered if my life falling into shambles began happening while I was with Arsen and I was just too blinded by it all to notice.

I am rubbing my temples when Chase runs into the room. He is out of breath and hunched over as if he had just run a marathon.

"Claire... is... in... labor..." he gasped, struggling to standing up straight. "I'm going to be a dad."

It took me two seconds to jump out of my seat and grab my car keys. "Let's go!" I exclaimed, ushering him out the door ahead of me.

We jogged to our car and hopped in, me in the drivers seat. I threw the gear shift into reverse and soon we were speeding down the road to the hospital.

"You okay?" I asked when we were stopped at a red light.

"I'm going to be a dad." He whispered.

"I know," I murmured, looking over at him. "And a damn good one."

My brother smiled at me but I wasn't paying attention. A familiar black motorcycle pulled up alongside us.

Arsen's dark hair was wind blown and crazy from the ride. I couldn't stop looking, not even when he looked over and saw me. We stared at each other for what felt like forever until three more motorcycles raced around us through the, now green, light.

Arsen continued to stare at me for another moment before shaking his head and racing after the other bikes. I feel like I have been punched in the stomach and I didn't realize how tightly my hands were gripping the steering wheel until Chase nudged my shoulder.

"You aren't going to hit him with the car are you?" He gently teased, trying to lighten the mood.

I took a deep breath, my hands shaking in the wheel a bit and looked back up at the light. I had sat through the entire green light and it was now red. Good, I needed a moment. A moment to tell myself that Arsen wasn't what is important right now. What's important is that soon my niece or nephew will be born momentarily and I need to get my brother to the hospital.

That's what is going to get me through this moment of heartache. That's what stops my hands from shaking and my breathing to even out. That's what has me pulling through the green light and headed towards the hospital.

I'm going to be an aunt.