Something To Believe In - Jack Hughes [New Jersey Devils]

8: Hurricane

I jumped a little when the door opened quickly.

"Alright, I'm going to be completely honest. I had no idea what I was doing so I just got one of every test they had. You know except the generic ones. Oh and sherbert." He pulled it out of the bag with a smile. "I didn't know if that was still a comfort food for you or not or if it would make your stomach queasy but I figured it was worth a shot" he shrugged a little.

"Sherbert sounds amazing" I gave a slight smile.

"Good, you go do your thing and I'll get you a nice big bowl ready" he chuckled with a kiss to the top of my head before I left for the bathroom.

After what felt like ages, and five tests later. I laid all the tests out onto the bathroom sink before washing my hands. I took a deep breath before catching my reflection in the mirror.

"How could you let this happen?" I barely said though a whisper.

I pulled myself together enough to leave the bathroom after setting an alarm for when the tests would be ready to read.

"Well?" Jack asked expectantly as I made my way to the living room.

"We'll know in...under three minutes" I looked at the timer on my phone.

"Come, sit down." He handed out a bowl full of sherbert.

"This reminds me of when we were kids" I smiled through the mouthful I had just spooned into my mouth.

"Every time you were sad, sherbert always worked" he placed a hand on my thigh. "Are you sad?" His eyes trailed up to me cautiously.

"I don't...I honestly don't know what to feel. I'm so confused" I looked at my sherbert before taking another bite realizing sadness was one of the feelings mixed in with the rest.

"I just didn't think th-" he started before I cut him off.

"Jack, stop. Listen I know what you're going to say and I just...I just did what I had to do to survive. Until I could make it out." I placed my hand over his.

"I understand" he flipped his hand and took mine in his.

"Don't for a second think that I still had feelings for him when I left. It had been so long since I had felt anything other than hatred for him. I was so scared every second I was with him I felt like I just had to go through the motions until I could make an escape." I gripped his hand tighter. "He was my prison, Jack. But you're my paradise"

"I-" he started again before I cut him off again.

"Am I terrified of what those tests are going to say? Absolutely. But I'm not freaking out because I know for at least the next however many seconds we have before that timer goes off, I have you. That's enough to get me through anything right now." I rubbed my free hand over his hand that laid in mine. "Now you can say whatever you were going to say" I motioned with my hand.

"I-" he started once again before my phone went off.

Thinking it was the timer I moved to turn the timer off before realizing it was a call.

"It's that number again" my eyes darted to Jack's.

"Here" he took the phone out of my hand and answered it. "Hello?" He said before he pulled the phone away quickly to look at it. "They hung up again" he handed the phone back right as the timer went off.

"Weird" I took a deep breath, turning the timer off.

"You ready?" He nudged my knee slightly.

"No, but I guess I kind of have to be" I breathed a laugh before moving to stand up.

I made my way to the bathroom and stood in front of the sink, a knot forming in my stomach at the fear of looking down at the tests.

"You're going to have to look down sooner or later, hun" Jack spoke from the doorway.

Knowing he was right, I took a deep breath and finally let my eyes fall on the tests.

Pregnant.

Every single test said I was pregnant.

"Babe?" Jack called softly when I hadn't made a move.

I turned to him with the tests in my hand and reached them out to him. I knew my voice would crack and I was on the verge of tears. Anything I said at that point would make me cry.

"Wow" he said running his fingers along the tests that sat in his hand. "You know what?" He started as he reached the tests back out to me and rubbed the back of his neck. "I have to go, I have to go do...something"

"Jack-" I started before he cut me off.

"No, no, stay here. I'll be back I just...right now I really have to go...I have to do something" he said nervously shuffling around before making a straight line for the front door after grabbing his things quickly and walking out.

I didn't try to fight him again, there was no use. I had just turned both of our worlds completely upside down. I invaded his life, changed the course of our relationship and the cherry on top was finding out I was going to have a baby in the near future...I didn't blame him for wanting to leave. Although I couldn't lie, a part of me really, really wished he hadn't.

I had managed to fall for one of my closest friends, start a relationship with them and lose them all within a small time frame. How had I turned into this much of a mess?

I moved back to the living room, throwing myself on the couch. I knew I had to make a plan and I knew I had to make it fast. Pulling out my phone I did the only logical thing I could think of at the time.

I called Quinn.

I know he offered for me to stay there and as much as I didn't want to drag him down with me too, I felt it was my only option. Move with Quinn until I could get a place and get on my feet before the baby came. I needed to get out of Jack's hair after everything that's happened, and the sooner the better.

As I heard Quinn's voicemail kick in, I ended the call and tossed my phone aside reaching for the sherbert again, thinking it would help me feel better even a little bit. Sherbert had never failed me, but every bite reminded me of Jack and I couldn't shake it.

I put the bowl back on the coffee table and took a deep breath. This morning the future seemed bright and sunny before everything hit me like a hurricane. Not knowing what else to do, I laid myself out on the couch and turned to my last resort.

Crying it out.