Healing Hearts ✅

41. Tests

"I'm late" I murmur, staring into his emerald eyes intently. His lips part in shock, forming letters like he's going to respond but he stays silent while I sit nervously across from him. 

"H-how is that possible?" he stutters. "When was the last time-? When did we-?" he asks, trailing off each time and I sigh, leaning back in my seat. I couldn't be pregnant. Neither of us were in the right mental state to bring a child into this world. "You have to take a test" he finally states. "We have to know."

I nod in agreement, cradling my stomach. "And if it's positive?" I ask, looking up at him through my lashes as I try to hold back the tears that are threatening to fall down my face at any moment. 

"Then we figure it out" he says decisively as he turns in his seat and puts the key in the ignition. "But we can't play guessing games. We need to find out if this is really happening before we go jumping off the deep end."

I don't argue with him despite the fact that I've already gone off the deep end. I think about how disappointed my parents will be, how angry Farkle will be, how supportive Maya will be. I shrug. At least we had her. 

I'm glad that Lucas knows his way around the neighborhood like the back of his hand because we're pulling up to one of the various mom and pop drugstores that the town had within ten minutes. I release a deep breath as Lucas looks over at me. He reaches out and takes my hand in his, offering my a soft smile. "No matter what, I'm here" he assures me causing the floodgates to open. "Hey, hey" he whispers, pulling me into his embrace. "It's gonna be okay Riles. I'm here" he repeats, rubbing my back in soothing circles. I release a shaky breath, hugging him tighter. 

"I love you."

"I love you more" he agrees before we pull apart. I wipe under my eyes and glance at myself in the mirror before finally climbing out of the truck after Lucas. He takes my hand as we walk inside and leads me down to the family planning aisle. 

We stop in front of the tests and my heart jumps into my throat. I never thought I'd be buying one of these things at my age yet here I was. I grab two from the shelf and wordlessly Lucas takes them from my hands as we head towards the register. The check-out girl is young, probably about sixteen. She looks down at the tests on the conveyor belt before glancing back up at us and a sympathetic smile pulls at her lips as she scans them and reads the total aloud to us. Lucas pays in cash and I take the bag before we walk out of the store and head back into the truck. "I suppose we should go back to my place" Lucas says once the doors are shut. I chuckle despite the seriousness of the situation. 

"That'd probably be best" I confirm. He nods his head and puts the truck in drive as he heads off towards his ranch. He turns on the radio, turning up the newest Carrie Underwood song and I start humming along. 

By the time we pull up to his place I'm feeling a little better but I was still on edge. As much as I'd like to ignore the giant baby sized cloud hanging over our heads and just enjoy our day I knew I couldn't. I had to get this over with. 

"I'll be back" I tell him and he nods as I walk into the bathroom connected to his bedroom. I take all four of the tests inside the two boxes before walking back to the bedroom and taking a seat beside Lucas. "Five minutes."

He nods in understanding, taking my hand in his and I sigh, resting my head on his shoulder. "How can I be a mom at seventeen years old?" I murmur. 

"You'd be a great mom Riles" he argues. "It's me who would need some work."

I shake my head. "I don't think so. I think you're perfect" I argue and he chuckles, wrapping his arm around my waist as we sit there for the remaining time, in a comfortable silence. 

Finally, the alarm on my phone goes off and I glance at Lucas. "Come on" he says softly, tugging on my hand and pulling me up with him. We walk into the bathroom and slowly, the two of us walk towards the counter but when I pick up the first test my heart skips a beat. 

"Oh my god" I gasp. 

"You're not pregnant" Lucas breathes out in a sigh of relief. I repeat his words over and over in my head and each time they make me feel lighter and lighter. I wasn't pregnant. I would be someday but that day was not today and for that, I was thankful. 

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"It was probably just stress" I think out loud as Lucas is placing our homemade pizzas into the oven while I'm peeling dough off my fingers. 

"Stress? What stress?" he asks teasingly. "You mean the stress from our break-up, the stress from my mom's death, the pressure of going to college? What could possibly be that stressful?"

"I'm just glad we're not adding a baby to that list" I add and he nods in agreement. "Not that I don't want kids eventually but I'd like to be done with school first."

"Agreed" he replies and I smile until my mind registers what he just said and my eyes widen. 

"Wait, you're already done with school" I murmur, "unless-."

"What?" he asks with a smug smirk. "Did I forget to mention that I sorta applied to UT and then maybe sorta got in?" he asks and I squeal in excitement as I jump out of my seat and tackle him. 

"Oh my god Luke" I exclaim, looking at him excitedly. "How could you not tell me that?"

He laughs. "We were a little busy worrying about babies" he says defensively. "But now that you know, what do you think?"

I beam back at him, wrapping my arms around his neck. "I think that we're gonna need to find an apartment because I don't think UT will allow us to share a dorm" I reply and he laughs encircling my waist. 

"I think we could manage that" he agrees, staring into my eyes tenderly. "I love you Riles."

"I love you too Lucas" I agree, reaching up to kiss him.