Still In Bloom ↠ Twilight ✓

30 ; what the fuck does that mean?

Here's the thing: When Wallace was younger, he had spent the majority of his life always viewing Shelby from a higher scale. A type of hero worship of sorts if he was candid with himself. After all, when one loses their mother at a young age and as brutally as Wallace had, it only makes sense that he'd try to find an emotional replacement.

That's why Shelby's silence hurts so much. 

She stays in the Cullen home, for reasons Wallace isn't quite sure of, but she avoids Wallace at all costs. Her presence, even if it's not in the same room, lingers in Wallace's hindbrain. If Wallace were the moon, then Shelby would be the sun. They revolve around one another and when the pattern is disrupted it leaves them both feeling out of orbit.

So when Shelby comes to him, it is more than a shock. In fact, it feels somewhat like relief.

"When were you going to tell me?" Shelby snaps and Wallace takes one glance away from the window he had been watching the outside plants from to look at her. What he sees startles him. 

Standing in all of her glory is Shelby McAtee and yet she's different. Her stance, once always open and warm, if tense and guarded. Her eyes that had once been filled with empathy and understanding that now filled with derision and anger. She looks like she hasn't slept more than a couple of hours, and that's coming from Wallace who has seen Shelby work back-to-back shifts.

Wallace finds himself at a loss for words and then notes, "Tell you about what?"

Shelby's jaw hardens and in a flash, she looks like their mother. The expression she had always warn whenever any of them were being particularly difficult or when Wallace's father had gotten home. Seeing the expression sent his way makes Wallace's chest freeze with pain.

"Your girlfriend is pregnant," Shelby spits, and she crosses her arms over her chest. "Really Wallace? Has the past taught you nothing?"

Wallace feels his teeth grind together and he asks, "The past? What the hell does that have to do with anything?"

For a moment Shelby looks like she wants to hit him but then she's scoffing. It's an ugly sound filled with thinly veiled disgust. "Mom was pregnant at a young age. She always drilled into our heads that getting pregnant so young with Daniel, while it eventually had been a blessing, had been one of her biggest regrets in life. Only for it to be soon followed by me and you. So please answer this, what the hell do you think you're doing in becoming a teenage dad?"

"It's not your choice," Wallace snaps, moving away from the wall and curling his hands at his sides. He swallows thickly, "You don't have to agree with it. And apparently, you don't since you had to go behind my back and call Dawson."

"I had to call Dawson because you weren't listening to anything I was saying," Shelby snaps, stepping forwards into the room. "You never listen to me. Even when I try my best to guide you on the right path Wallace. You never think and that's even more of a reason you should've advocated for Bella to get an-" 

Shelby clicks her mouth closed instantly and her cheeks puff up as if her mouth is holding the words she has left unsaid. Luckily for him, Wallace doesn't need to hear Shelby's words to know what she had meant.

"You wanted Bella to get rid of the baby?" Wallace asks and hot rage simmers in his tone. He glares balefully, blue eyes darkening more. "What the fuck?"

"You can't raise a child," Shelby states, shaking her head. She meets his eyes, unfazed. "You can't Wallace. You can barely tie your own goddamn shoes without me reminding you. No way could you actually take care of another human being for the rest of their life."