One Chance (24 page)

“No, he’s pretty boring,” Brody says with a straight face.

“I’m not boring,” he argues.

“Yeah, you kind of are,” Kenzie says jokingly.

“How am I boring?” he asks harshly.

“You don’t have fun or joke around anymore, you’re boring,” Brody says again with a straight face.

“What, that’s bullshit.  I go out, I have fun, I am fun,”
he yells, causing all of us to laugh, “You all are a bunch of assholes,” he says as he storms out of the room pissed off.

“Aww
, see you can’t even take a joke, you big baby,” Brody yells.

“Screw you man,” he says as he comes back with a bottle of liquor.

“Planning on getting drunk?” Kenzie asks eyeing the bottle.

“Well
, I left the party right after getting there, so yeah I think I deserve a drink,” he says as he takes a swig from the bottle.

“
Baby don’t be upset,” Bree coos as she moves closer to him.

“I’m not,” he says as he takes another swig.

“Are you coming home for Christmas?” Kenzie asks changing the topic.

“I’m not sure yet,” Liam says.

“Why not?  You don’t have a game,” Brody says bitterly.

“Baby, I want you to come home with me,” Bree says as she falls into Liam.

“What?” Liam, Brody, and Kenzie yell in unison.

“I want him to meet my family,” Bree says sounding angry.

“I don’t know what I’m doing yet,” he says again.

“Baby, I’m ready to go to bed,” Bree slurs.

“I’m hanging out, you can go to sleep though,” Liam says looking annoyed.

“But I want you to come with me,” she whines.

“We leave tomorrow morning, we would like to hang out with him,” Kenzie says bitterly.

“
But baby,” she starts to say.

“Go ahead and go to bed.  I’m going to hang out for a while,” Liam states.

“Ugh, fine,” she says as she gets up and heads to Liam’s room.

“Seriously dude?” Brody says.

“What?” Liam asks playing dumb.

“She’s a bitch,”
Kenz says.

“She’s just drunk,” he defends.

“And stupid,” Kenz says not holding back.

“Do not bring her home with you
, if you come,” Brody states.

“I won’t,” he says.

We end up staying and talking about the good ol’ days for about two hours before we all decide to head home.  I say goodbye to Kenzie and Brody before they head back to the hotel.  I won’t see them again until Christmas break.

Chapter Fourteen

The next few weeks fly by and before I know it, it’s time to head home for holiday break.  Liam and I have decided to ride home together, because he doesn’t have to be back to school for a game until after the holiday.

“
Do you think you have the flu?” Quinn asks as I throw up for the second time.

“Ugh, I think so,” I say as I brush my teeth again.

“Do you feel sick?” she asks.

“I feel like shit
.”  I say as I pack the rest of my clothes.

“
How are you going to sit in a car for ten hours?”

“
No idea, but I’m going home today.”

“What time is Liam coming to get you?”

“Anytime now,” I say feeling like crap.

Just then Liam comes upstairs, “Hey
, ready to go?”

“Yeah,” I say as I grab my bag.

“Are you okay?” he asks with a worried look.

“I’m just not feeling the best.”

“Do you want to wait to go home?”

“No, but if I say pull over
, please do,” I say as I head down the stairs.

“Okay,” he says with a look.

I say goodbye to Quinn and the girls before heading out with Liam.

“Why don’t you try to get some sleep?” Liam suggests.

“I may try that,” I say as I get comfortable in the passenger seat.  I grab my pillow and lay it on the console, trying to get comfortable as best I can.

“Lay your seat the whole way back,” Liam suggests.  I do as he says and he repositions my pillow to where I have more room
and can sleep more comfortably.  It doesn’t take long for me to fall asleep.

A few hours later I wake up to Liam arguing on the phone.  I have no idea who he’s arguing with, but it doesn’t sound pretty.

I pull my seat up and start to feel nauseous. “I need you to pull over,” I say quickly.

“Shit,” he blurts
out as he pulls over.  He barely has the car stopped before I’m out the passenger side door throwing up.  “Are you okay?” he asks as he walks towards me, no longer on the phone.

“Stop, don’t come closer,” I shout, not wanting him to see me like this.

“Its fine, Hails.  Do you think you’re getting the flu or something?”

“Probably,” I say as he hands me a bottle of water.   I rinse my mouth out before
getting back into the car.

“We’ll stop and get you some crackers.”

“Thanks,” I say as I lean back in the seat.

Liam pulls onto the next exit to get us to a
store; he runs in and gets the crackers and a few snacks and drink for himself.

“Here you go,” he says handi
ng me the crackers.  I open them and eat a couple, which hopefully settles my stomach.  He gets us back on the road to home.

“Who were you arguing with?” I ask being nosey.

“Bree.”

“Why?”

“She’s pissed for numerous reasons.”

“Oh, well if you want to talk about it you can.  I’ll listen.”

“Nah, its fine,” he says as he continues to drive.

“I miss hanging out with you,” I say honestly.  He looks over at me, looking like he wants to say something
, but is unsure of what to say.

“I miss that too,” he finally says.

“Bree doesn’t like me, does she?”

“She doesn’t really like anyone.”

“Why do you like her then?” I ask confused.

“I don’t.”

“Then why are you dating her?”

“I’m not.  I ended things with her the other day.  She’s obnoxious and annoying.”

“Oh, well I could have told you that,” I say with a smirk.

“You know we would never work out,” Liam says surprising me.

“What?” I ask shocked.

“You and me dating, it would never work,” he repeats.

“Why not?”

“Because we’re at two differ
ent points in our lives.  It wouldn’t work.”

“Oh okay,” I say as I look out the window.

“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to sound rude or blunt or anything, but I want you to understand,” he says apologetically.

“I got it Liam, you don’t have to say anything else,” I say rudely. I adjust my pillow and watch out the window for a little while.
  For the next few hours, neither of us says anything.  Liam turns the radio station to some country music and continues to drive us home.

“I need you to pull over,” I say urgently.  He does as I ask and as soon as the car
’s stopped, I’m out the passenger side door, throwing up again.  This time it’s nonstop.  No matter what I do, I can’t stop throwing up.  I never hear Liam get out of the car or hear him approach, but I do feel when he starts rubbing my back telling me it’s going to be okay.

When I’m finally done puking, he hands me a bottle of water
, which I use to rinse with again before crawling back inside the car.

“Feel better?” he asks softly.

“No, not at all,” I say as I buckle in.

“We have about an hour to go.”

“Okay, good,” I say thankful, wanting to get out of this car and lie down.

“Do you want to try to get some sleep?”

“Yeah, I’ll probably try that,” I say as I adjust myself and my pillow.  It takes a little while, but eventually I’m able to fall asleep.

“Hey Haley,” I hear slightly as I’m being tapped, “We’re home.”  It takes me a few minutes, but I finally sit up feeling happy to be home.

“Thank you,” I say as I get out of the car.

“Anytime,” he says with a sexy perfect smile.

“Finally!  Damn you two took forever,” Kenzie yells as she rushes over to me.  I give my sister a hug before making her help me carry my stuff inside.

“I’m so glad to be home,” I say as I fall onto my bed.

Kenzie and I end up hanging out the rest of the night with Mom and Dad.  We put a few decorations up that they left for us to do, but other than that, the house is completely decorated.

Three days later and I’
m still throwing up.  Around 2:00 p.m., I get a really bad stomach ache.   It doesn’t stop for about an hour and I notice that Mom’s not home yet.  I decide to send Kenzie a text since she’s at Brody’s house, “Hey, do you know if we have anything for a stomach ache?”

She calls me immediately, “What’s wrong?” she asks worriedly.

“Just a stomach ache, AHHH,” I screech.

“How bad does it hurt?”

“Pretty bad,” I say, as I turn into the fetal position holding my stomach.

“I’ll be right there,” she says before disconnecting the call.

It takes about three minutes before she comes rushing into the bedroom, “What’s going on?”

“You didn’t have to leave,” I say as I try to rock myself.

“Umm Haley, you’re bleeding,” she says nervously.

“What?” I ask as I look down and see blood on the blanket.

“Do you think its cramps?”

“
Maybe, I don’t know.”

“I think I should take you to the hospital
Hails.”

“Let me change and go to the bathroom. 
Hopefully it is just cramps,” I say as I try to get up, “AHHH.”

“Are you okay?” she says as she rushes to my side.

“Something’s wrong,” I say almost in tears.

“Stay here,” she says as she rushes to grab underwear and a pair of sweats
for me, “Change into these and we will go.”

It takes much longer to change and make it down the stairs to the car, but eventually I get there. 

“You can slow down,” I say still clutching my stomach.

“No I can’t,” she argues as she drives like a speed demon to the hospital.

We get to the hospital and make it into the ER.  Thankfully, it doesn’t take long for them to take me to a room for a doctor to come and examine me.

“Let’s figure out what’s going on with you,” the doctor says.  He asks multiple questions and does an exam.

“Can you text Quinn and let her know what’s going on?” I ask Kenzie.

“Sure,” she says as she grabs my phone to shoot her a text.  It takes only seconds before my phone is blowing up.

“Hey,” I say still in pain.

“What’s wrong?” she says worriedly.

“I don’t know.  The doctor is running tests now.”

“Do you want me to come?”

“No, I just figured I’d keep you informed.”

“Keep me posted
, as soon as the doctor tells you what’s going on.  I’m going to be waiting by my phone.”

“Okay
,” I say before disconnecting the call.

It’s a little while longer until the doctor comes back into the room.

“What’s wrong with her?” Kenzie asks urgently.

“You’re having a miscarriage,” he says shocking me.

“What?” I shout.

“I’d say your about
eight or nine weeks along, but you’re having a miscarriage, which is why you are having the abdominal pain.”

“Pregnant?”
Kenzie asks, sounding just as shocked as I am.

“Yes ma
’am.”

“Holy shit,”
Kenzie says once the doctor leaves the room.

“How the hell did this happen?” I ask feeling lost.

“You were pregnant?”

“I
didn’t know.”

“Are you late on your period?”

“I don’t know, I wasn’t really paying attention,” I say truthfully.

“Are you going to tell Liam?”

“What?” I shout, “No, why?”

“Because, I’m assuming it was
his baby.”

“Oh my God, what have I done?” I ask as I feel the first tear fall.

“It’s going to be okay,” Kenzie says as she gives me a hug.  Just then there’s a knock at the door and Brody and Liam enter.

“Hey, what’s going on?”
Brody asks worriedly.

“How did you know I was here?” I ask as more tears fall.

“I called Brody,” Kenzie says.  I should have known.

“What’s wrong
Hails?” Liam asks sounding more worried.

“We’re
going to let you two talk,” Kenzie says pulling Brody towards the door.

“
Wait Haley, what happened?” Brody asks confused.

“I’ll fill you in, let them talk,”
Kenz says pushing him towards the door.  He finally walks out with her.

“
Hails, what’s going on?” Liam asks.

“I’m having a miscarriage,” I say nervously.

“A miscarriage?” he asks, confusion written all over his face.

“I didn’t know, I
just found out when I got here.”

“What? How? Shit,” he says as he runs his hands through his hair.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know,” I say as the tears continue to fall.

He pulls me into a hug, “Don’t apolo
gize, it’s not your fault baby.  So the throwing up the last few days was part of it?” he asks.

“No, I guess throwing up is healthy, but the cramping and stuff isn’t,” I tell him through the tears.

“Baby, I’m so sorry,” he says hugging me tighter.

“I’m sorry,” I repeat through harder tears.

“Shhh, you don’t have anything to apologize for,” he says as he kisses the top of my head, consoling me.  Just then Brody busts through the door looking beyond pissed.

“Are you fucking kidding me, you knocked her up?” he yells as he lunges toward Liam. 

“Would you knock it off,” Liam yells.

“I told you to stay away from her. I thought we had a deal,” Brody yells.

“A deal?” I ask confused, but they all ignore me.  Brody and Liam continue to yell at one another.  “What deal?” I yell, causing everyone in the room to turn and look at me.

“Nothing,” Brody says quickly.

“No, you said deal.  What fucking deal?” I snap.

“It wasn’t really a deal,” Liam says, “It was best if I stayed away from you.”

“Why?”

“Because of how you feel about me.  I’m leaving
soon; it wouldn’t be fair to you.”

“
Shouldn’t I get to make that decision?” I ask angrily.

“Yes, y
ou should have,” Liam admits.

“I told you to stay away from her.  If you would have listened
, none of this would have happened,” Brody scolds.

“But it did happen.  I did get pregnant and I did lose
the baby.  It did happen Brody,” I snap.

“Shit,”
Brody curses.

“Fuck,” Liam seethes running his hands
through his sexy blonde locks, “She’s right.  She should have had a choice, then maybe things would be different right now.”