A Long Time Coming (10 page)

They made it to the door of
the complex, only to hear more retching noises coming from behind. The three of
them turned in unison, noticing Abigail hunched over his dark frame. Her hand
was hovering over the guy’s back, but her eyes were paranoid and unsure as she
gave them a ‘what the hell’ sort of look.

“What should we do with him,
Mason? I mean, we can’t just leave him here,” her voice was lined with worry.
God, did she suddenly fall for a surfer/skater boy in two days? No. No way in
hell. That wasn’t
his
Abigail.

“He’s Abigail’s date,” David
butted in, unable to contain his annoyance any longer “let her figure it out.”
Bitterness was not a nice friend and he held the heavyweight title for
displaying it lately. He turned, entered the door Mason held for him, and left
the crappiness behind.

He yawned. He was too tired to
deal with these angry, jealous emotions anyways. He’d figure it out in the morning,
whatever
it
might be.

Chapter Ten

     “Do you ever wish for a
do–over in life Harley?” Abigail questioned as her best friend rubbed the hair
off of her forehead in that sisterly sort of way. The tired groan of the air
conditioning unit rolled through the air as they settled on the deck of the
apartment. The sun was just rising, proving that insomnia had won out.

     Harley seemed to ponder
the thought, tapping her finger against her chin as she stared off into the
distant, early morning sunrise. Regret started to bloom in Abigail’s chest, and
instantly she wanted nothing more than to take back her question. If anyone had
a messed up past couple of years, it’d been this girl sitting next to her.
Dealing with the whole accident, and David’s amputation, as well as the
constant reminder of Aiden’s suicide, had to have hurt her more than Abigail
would ever know. Her own current problems were both blessings in disguise in a
way. She was going to be a mom, to have the love of her life’s baby, and her
parents weren’t fighting as much, due to the fact that one was saucin’ it on
the side with her young boy toy, while the other one was doing the
freak–nasty…with his job.

Harley sighed, curling her
knees up under her chin, only to lay her cheek on top of them. “No, I don’t.
Not anymore at least. Because if I would’ve had do–overs then I wouldn’t be
where I am now,” she sighed. Her lips curled up into a sad smile. “I’ve finally
learned that the mistakes you make, lead you to where you’re meant to go in
life. And because of that, I’m now finally happy. I will never regret
anything
.”

Abigail smiled through her
tears, admiring the way her best friend had grown—had changed. She was amazing,
and there wasn’t a single person in this world who she admired more.           “Oh
wise one, how I love you!” She giggled, wiping the dampness from the corner of
her eyes. How lucky was she to be blessed with such an amazing best friend?

     “Ditto!” Harley
whispered, leaning over to wrap her hand over Abigail’s.

They sat like that, for what
felt like hours; silent, comfortable together. It was moments like that one
Abigail had missed the most in their months of being apart.          “Umm,
should I be jealous right now? Because I’m really not!” Mason sighed from the
doorway, yawning. Abigail glanced back at him with narrowed eyes, noting his
messy hair standing on ends, his eyes heavy with sleep. And yeah, he was
shirtless too, and she’d be dead not to notice that six pack he wore the hell
out of on his stomach. But the sight of his awesome sauce body did absolutely
nothing for her—except for maybe make her want to roll her eyes at his need to
be half–naked all the time.

Harley, on the other hand, was
smiling back at him…well, drooling and worshipping him with her puppy eyes was
more like it. He waggled his brows at Abigail, but saved the wink for Harley.
He was so damn full of himself it wasn’t even funny.

“You know…that’s your second
comment on lesbians since I’ve been in town. You have a fetish or something?”
Abigail frowned as he stepped barefoot through the sliding glass doors, his
eyes were focused on Harley as if he’d already forgotten Abigail was there. She
sighed, and stood up, knowing this was her cue to get the hell out of their
way. She’d seen them kiss so much in the past two days, that she’d never again
want to watch a rom–com movie without wanting to hurl. How two people could be
so goo–goo over each other was beyond her.

She made it to the door,
slapping the frame before she turned back around to say her goodnights, or her
good mornings, “Whatever, you two. I’m going to try and get a couple hours of
sleep in before we get out today. I’m never gonna make it if…” she stopped and
sighed, dropping her hands to hips as she watched them go at it. Damn. Didn’t
they ever come up for air? She didn’t want to be a creepy stalker and watch
their little deck love fest and all, but the angle they were in, how…shit was
that even possible for Harley to…? She shook her head and groaned.

Just….seriously…ick.

                 Her eyelids
drooped, growing heavier with each step she took towards the couch. She grabbed
the blanket on the back of the loveseat, threw herself on the cold, leather
couch, and settled in for what she knew would be an inevitable few hours of
piss–poor sleep, especially since her mind kept wandering back to the boy—the
man
—who
was currently sleeping in the spare bedroom down the hall.

She gritted her teeth, still
in disbelief that he’d shown up here. What was his angle? And why now, when he
knew she was here, had he decided to come and visit? It couldn’t have been
because of her…could it? She shook her head and tucked her chin into her chest,
pulling the blanket up tighter around her. It was a selfish thought—a thought
she knew would never add up to any sort of truth. But secretly, she kind of
held out hope that she was the reason he’d come after all.

Nothing would ever be simple
between them. And when it came to David’s and her relationship, Abigail just
wished, for once, that everything was cut and dry, easy peesy, lemon squeezy
and all things like that. She deserved a little happiness dammit, and he did
too! Now, she just had to think of a way to get him to realize that
they
were inevitable…two people who were meant for each other, baby, or not.

Chapter Eleven

The last time David was technically
awake before nine o’clock on a Saturday morning was when he was a little kid.
But damn, this was ridiculous! What the hell was he doing awake this early? He
sat up, swinging his one good leg over the edge of the bed, scrubbing his hands
down the front of his face before staring at the door. All was quiet in the
hall. Obviously, everyone else in the apartment was smart enough to know how to
sleep in.

His t–shirt from last night
sat on the foot of his bed; he reached over, grabbed it, and slipped it on,
trying not to think about last night in general. God…Abigail showing up with
that guy did him in, and he’d been two steps away from grabbing a cab and
heading straight back to the airport. But he couldn’t let one obstacle set him
back, and since he wasn’t about to play the jealous card—nor did he have any
right to—he wasn’t going to act like an ass about it…even though he already
kind of had that title won hands–down.

He hopped up on his foot,
careful to keep his balance as he reached for his crutch. Nobody would be
around to see him hobble his way to the bathroom and kitchen without his
prosthetic, so he didn’t think twice about putting anything on to cover his
boxers. He stumbled into the kitchen, glancing towards the adjoining living
room, immediately spying a bulging purple blanket on the couch. The face was
hidden, but there was no denying the fact that two slender, bare legs were
protruding from the bottom.

Damn… is it hot in here, or
what?

He shook his head, pretending
not to notice, even though his entire body burned with the need to stare, and
maybe touch while he was at it. But milk was needed…or maybe just the
distraction in general. He shook his head, grabbed a glass, poured his drink,
but his gaze kept refocusing on the perfectly tan legs he had only barely
discovered a little over two months ago. He sat in the chair, and leaned back,
determined to keep his thoughts focused and off of
her,
but the moment
she rolled over, and her blanket fell to the floor in a heaping pile, his brain
flooded south, and his body responded accordingly.

He gaped.
Jesus, what is
she wearing
?

Clad in only a light pink tank
top that accentuated every damn curve on her naked body underneath, and a
teeny, tiny pair of polka dotted pink, lacy panties, Abigail looked like
freaking cotton candy on a stick. His mouth watered as he stared slack–jawed at
the sight. Hell, they’d had sex…once…but they were both drunk and neither one
of them had really paid much attention to what the other looked like that
night. But this…? Damn…this shit was a dream in itself, and he was definitely
thanking God for his inability to let him sleep this morning after all.

She moaned in her sleep,
arching her back like a cat. Her blonde hair was strewn over her pillow. Her
arms were thrown over her head. She was magical–looking…there was no better
word for it. She moved onto her side, mumbling something in her dreamy state.
He shook his head and smiled, remembering that she’d definitely been a restless
sleeper, always talking, laughing, or even crying in her dreams. All the nights
he’d sneak into his sister’s room when Harley would have her for sleepovers as
kids, he’d heard her, watched her, fascinated even at the age of ten.

But this…? Hell, this was
something entirely different. Because he could’ve sworn that she’d just called
out
his
name.

He stiffened, gripping his
cold glass between his fingers. Should he cover her up, or play stupid and just
go back to the room? Jesus, why was this so hard? He shook his head, still
unable to stop staring. But the choice was made before he even did anything,
when she literally…rolled off onto the floor.

“God, dammit…somebody just
shoot me now.” She moaned, obviously thinking that she didn’t have an audience
around. But David couldn’t hide his laughter and he let it all come out, just
as she glared over at him.

“Christ, Abigail, go put some clothes
on would you?” Mason came out of the hall, rubbing his eyes, cringing, wearing
only a pair of boxers himself. He stalked towards the kitchen, not even
bothering to say anything as he whipped a can of Mountain Dew from the fridge.

“Shut up, you pansy,” she
groaned, seating her perfect body on the couch a second later. At least she had
the decency to throw the blanket over her lap. “I got an hour of sleep, my head
hurts like a bitch and I…” she paled, throwing her hand over her mouth, shaking
her head as she stood up. “Oh God, not now…”

David pushed himself away from
the table, concern raking over his face as he watched her stand. Her rounded
blue eyes found his for a fraction of a second before she raced her
scantily–clad ass to the bathroom. He hopped up immediately, grabbed his
crutch, and darted after her.

“Dude, I wouldn’t go in there
if I were you,” Mason laughed, shaking his head as he passed him along the way.

“If that was Harley, you’d be
in there, and you know it. Don’t be an ass, just watch the hell out.” David
rammed into his shoulder before making his way down the hall, disgusted with
the douche, but more worried about Abigail at the moment than about keeping up
their conversation.

“I’m just saying, that I think
she’s sick or something…she did that the morning she got into town, too.”

Ignoring Mason’s pleas behind
him, David headed towards the bathroom, only to stop himself from pounding when
her retching echoed from the other side. Jesus…she was sick as shit wasn’t she?
He raised his fist to lightly tap on the wood, but something stopped him from
knocking, and he dropped his hand to his side and backed away instead. He
leaned against the wall, and knifed his hand through his hair. She was sick,
and he was worried, but did he have a right to be? Should he really check on
her? He stared down at the floor… Hell yeah he had a right to do just that. She
was as much his best friend as she was Harley’s.

Well…she had been at one time
at least.

“Abs… You okay in there?” He
finally spoke, giving the door a tap with his knuckles.

“Ugh. No, just…go away,
David.” He smiled to himself—she was trying to be bossy even through her
sickness. She’d never change.

“How about water, would you
like some of that at least?” He leaned in as close to the door as he could get,
pressing his ear to the wood.

“No…please…just go.” He
sighed, frustrated as he leaned back again, resting his weight on his crutch.
Fine. Whatever. If she wanted to play that game, then he was going to follow
her rules.

“Well, I’m here if you need
me…”

She stayed silent, her
retching stopped too. But why was she not answering him? And why was she still
in there? He shook his head and staggered back towards his room.

“Women
…
”

* * *

Jesus… That had been entirely
too close for comfort.

Abigail rested her head
against the toilet seat, letting the cool air wash over her. Her throat burned
something fierce and she wished like hell she had that water David had offered.

She flushed the final remnants
away of her morning sickness and tottered towards the door, suddenly feeling
like the weight of the entire world was pressing on her.

God…she had to tell David.
There was no way around this. If only she had a little more time…that way she
could somehow convince him that they needed to be together…without the pressure
of knowing there was a baby on the way.

She sighed, closing her eyes
to curb the dizziness as her hand hovered over the knob. Dammit, who was she
kidding here? David was in no way ready to be a father any more than she was
ready to be a mom. No matter what, though, she’d get through this…David there
with her or not. But the simplistic idea that a happily ever after was just
around the corner teased her and made her chest ache with all the
possibilities, the what–could–be. So what if the two of them were only
nineteen, didn’t have grown up jobs and a place to live other than home? She
knew he was the only one for her when they were kindergarteners! She’d known
him and loved him for over fourteen years now. He was the one for her, whether
he knew it or not. And she’d do everything in her power to make it known to
him, and to make
them
happen. This time, she wouldn’t stop until they
were together.

Now…she just had to figure out
how to do just that.

She whipped open the door,
jumping back in surprise when the stone cold face of Harley popped into view.
Abigail swallowed. Guilt, along with more bile rose in the base of her throat,
and before she knew what was happening, she was running back towards the
toilet, letting it all go again.

Damn, damn, double damn…

Harley stayed silent. The only
sound representing that she was even there was the simple fact that she’d shut
the door behind her with a soft click.

Jesus…this is a nightmare!

“Go away Harley…please…”

“You’re pregnant, aren’t you?”

Abigail shut her eyes as the
sweat poured down her forehead and over her lids. Her body froze in guilt, but
her mind swam with questions. How did she know? Never mind… Harley knew all, so
what was the point in questioning it? “Um, can I plead the fifth on this one
Harley? Because I really don’t—”

“Save the crap, Abigail, and
tell me who the dad is… It’s going to crush my brother you know. He’s going to
flip his shit, and this is going to send him over the edge. You know how much
he loves you. And you know how much he wants to be with you too, it’s just
that…well, you know, he’s got issues.”

Yeah, if only she knew
.

Her throat swelled up…she
would not cry…she would not cry… “I don’t want to tell you who it is yet…” She
sat against the wall by the shower, leaning her head back against the tile. She
pulled her knees up under her chin and settled her body into a tight ball.

“That’s bullshit, and you know
it.” Harley’s voice grew gentler as she sat on the floor next to her, a cold,
wet rag in hand. Abigail smiled over at her in thanks, taking the rag and
scrubbing her lips and mouth. Regardless of her best friend’s irritation with
her, she still loved her enough to physically take care of her. All the more
reason Abigail was glad to have her in her life.

“Um, it’s complicated, okay?”

“How can it be complicated?
You had sex…with a guy. He put his penis in your—”

“Stop,” Abigail pressed her
hand out in front of her, and shook her head. Harley giggled in response and
laid her head on Abigail’s shoulder. “I know the science of how that works,
Harley. But this time…it was different than
just sex
.”

Harley sighed and stared up at
her from her perch on her shoulder. “How so…do you…love the guy?” Her eyes were
so full of fear and sadness that Abigail felt the tears well up instantly at
the sight. Harley was the biggest supporter of her being with David…ever. The
girl had fought for a relationship between them as much as she had. That’s why
she had to tell her the truth. The truth that she in no way could reveal to
David yet…

“God, Harley… I love him so
much it hurts.” Abigail pushed her fist against her chest, laying her head back
against the wall behind her. It hurt so badly, that it was a wonder she’d
survived so long without him.

“What…what about David?”

Abigail stared at her, willing
the truth to come out without the words. She bit her lower lip, held her
breath, and cringed.

That’s when Harley gasped.
That’s also when her eyes widened in shock and understanding. Her jaw fell
open, and then a slow, knowing smile erupted like a freaking volcano over her
lips.

“No…you’re shitting me here,
Abs…”

Abigail smiled sadly, and
shrugged. So much for keeping this tightly wrapped up in her own head. The
tears poured down her cheeks at a scary–ass speed. Jesus, these preggo hormones
were doing her in.

“Nope. Totally not kidding.”

“When? Does David know? Jesus,
he’s going to flip his shit if he doesn’t… Wait,” she jumped up off the floor,
brushing her hands on the front of her flannel pajama pants. “Is that why he
came here? Did you guys plan this so you could tell us together?” She jumped
and then she clapped, looking every bit as much of a cheerleader as the girls
in high school had been. Her brown curls bounced accordingly as she did her
little happy jig right there in the tiny space of the bathroom. Abigail rolled
her eyes and threw her head back against the wall as the words
I’m gonna be
an aunt…I’m gonna be an aunt
rolled off her best friend’s tongue.

“Gah! Sit the hell down,
Harley, David has no freaking idea yet.”

She froze mid claps, her face
going placid. “Wait…when did this happen? And why wasn’t I informed that my
brother and bf had done the dirty deed?” Her eyes narrowed in accusation. She
obviously still wasn’t really listening.

It was time to make it known,
right then and there, that David could in no way find out about this until she
had the opportunity to tell him herself. And that would hopefully be
after
she had him convinced that they were meant to be together. Ugh…if only life was
as simple as her brain made it out to be.