AN: So, this is based off of the song No Turning Back Now, by Drew Gasparini, and sung by Jeremy Jordan, the song in the header which I highly suggest you listen to. I got super emotional writing this, so, prepare yourselves.
Jack,
I don't want to drag this out any longer than necessary, so I'll get right to the point. I'm pregnant. It's yours, of course - I haven't been seeing anyone else. I know we're still very young, and to be perfectly honest, I'm terrified. My father will want us to get married as soon as possible so as not to arouse suspicion, but I'm not agreeing to anything until I have a long conversation with you. If you don't want anything to do with this, that's understandable. We'll figure something out, so that we can make this situation as ideal as possible for the both of us. I love you, Jack, I love you more than anything in the world, and I do want to raise this baby with you. Once you've decided what you want, come up to my bedroom, but use the fire escape, I haven't told my father yet.
Love,
Katherine.
Jack felt like he'd just been punched in the gut as he read the letter through twice more. Pregnant. Katherine was pregnant, he had gotten her pregnant. This couldn't be happening, not to them. It didn't feel real, it felt like he was in a dream. Well, more like a nightmare.
He dropped the note onto his bedroll and tightly gripped the railing, but it didn't help. Normally, this rooftop was his escape, but right now he couldn't feel more trapped. When he came back to the Lodging House, the boys told him that Katherine had stopped by and dropped something off for him, and he didn't know what he'd been expecting, but it certainly wasn't this.
Pregnant. That word kept running through his head. A word that he'd always been indifferent to before, but he hated it now. He couldn't do this, he couldn't be a father. He was seventeen years old! He was still a kid himself, he wasn't prepared to raise a child.
He wanted to run. For the first time since the strike, he just wanted to leave, to go somewhere else. There wasn't anything stopping him from doing that. She said that she'd understand if he wanted nothing to do with it. He could do that. He could tell her that there was no way he could raise a kid, that he had to end things with her.
But there were more factors to it than just that. I love you more than anything in the world, she had said. Did she really love him. Did he love her? As Jack stood there, gripping the cool metal railing that had begun to grow warm under his hands, he thought about these questions. What was love? He knew he loved his boys, but this, this was different. He knew he felt something towards her, something he'd never felt before. Was that love? Was it enough to keep him here?
He slammed his hand down on the railing with a cry of anger and frustration. For the first time in years, he desperately wished his mother were here. He wished she was here, because if she was, she could pull him into her arms and hug him, and then she could tell him what to do, because he didn't have a clue.
Jack thought about what else the letter had said. I love you. I want to raise this child with you. She trusted him enough to raise her child, surely that counted for something. Then again, how much faith should he have in her trust, after all, they hadn't even known each other for a whole year.
He decided then that, what he needed more than his mother, was a father. A father who could guide him through this, who he could talk to, who would be able to understand him. That's what he needed. But he didn't have one of those, he reminded himself bitterly. His father had left him not even a month after his mother died. His father didn't care.
Jack's father left him. He straightened up as he came to this realization. His own father had left him to fend for himself, and that decision affected Jack's entire life. He couldn't do that. He couldn't leave his son or daughter, just because he was scared. It wasn't their fault after all, they didn't ask for this. He refused to end up like his father.
And there was Katherine. She was scared too, she'd even said so. He had to be there for her, he couldn't leave her to do this on her own. He would do anything for her, anything to keep her and this baby safe, and protected. Even if that meant getting married and becoming a father at seventeen years old.
With this thought, Jack came to his second realization within a matter of minutes. This was love. He loved Katherine, with everything he had in him. And they couldn't go back and undo what had happened. The only thing left was to face it. And he knew it would be easier if they faced it together.
Jack shoved the letter and his pocket and hurried down the fire escape, running full speed towards the Pulitzer Mansion, and climbing up to Katherine's window. He tapped on it quietly, and Katherine opened it after a few minutes, looking incredibly apprehensive. The minute she did, he took her face in between his hands in kissed her as hard as he could.
Once they'd broken apart, he climbed inside her room and pulled her into a tight hug, and he could feel her fingers clutching the back of his shirt, as if he would disappear if she let go.
"Jack...?" She couldn't quite get the question out, but he answered it anyway.
"I love you. And I'm gonna do this with you, every step of the way."
He could feel her start to cry, and he was crying too, neither of them feeling any one particular emotion. So they just stayed like that. Holding onto each other, and crying.
