I walked over, set the fast food down, and sat across from her. She stared at me for a moment before she moved her hands, and I found she'd had them on something.
My eyes widened slightly as I realized she had a pregnancy test on the table. She slid it towards me, and I immediately spotted the little plus sign.
"I'm pregnant."
My mouth opened slightly. We had only done it one time, and I didn't think anything would happen. Clearly, I was wrong.
"I thought I was just nervous, but then my stomach kept bothering me." She sighed heavily. "And my period was late, so I took it."
I felt my heart skip a beat. "Ashley, that's amazing. We're going to have a baby."
She scowled at me. "No, it isn't."
I frowned, feeling worry build in my stomach. "Why not?"
"We can't have a baby. This is terrible timing, Owen. Look at the situation we are in right now."
"There is never a good time to have a baby, Ashley." I offer. "But it's good. We're going to have a baby. We're going to be parents."
She crossed her arms. "Owen, we can't have a baby. I understand timing isn't everything, but this is...this is..." She shook her head.
I placed a hand up. "Not that you can change that because you’re already pregnant, but why not? Minus Logan and everything."
She scuffed. "We aren't dating. We aren't together."
"There are a lot of people who have children who aren't dating."
Ashley shook her head. "Those people are together. They didn't sleep together one night and wind up pregnant."
While she had a good point, it still didn't mean this couldn't work. "This isn't like we don't know each other. We've been together in the past."
"But we aren't together now," she argued.
No, we weren't, but we could be. I made the mistake of letting her go before, but I wasn't going to let that happen again. I wanted to be there for her, and if she was pregnant, I never wanted her to leave. I wanted to be around for everything.
"We could be," I said, reaching across the table and grabbing her hands. "Ashley, I still love you. I've never stopped loving you. And if you wanted, we could make this work."
I hoped she would agree. After all this time together, I hoped she would realize that I still wanted her. I hoped she would give me another chance to do better.
But she yanked her hands back. Her face paled, and she shook her head. "No, you don't mean that."
I scowled. "Would I say that if I didn't mean it?"
She pulled herself up, shaking her head. "No, I can't trust you. Not like I used to."
It was a slap, and I got up. "Ashley, please. Think about it. This isn't like before."
She continued to shake her head. "No. I won't open myself up like that for you to screw me over a second time."
"Ashley…" I wanted to hold her. I so desperately wanted to tell her the truth. I wanted her to know I never meant to hurt her. I only did it to make her happy.
I rounded the table, opening my mouth to tell her, but she stepped back. Her face shifted into discomfort. "No. That's my answer, Owen."
I stopped, feeling my shoulders drop. "Why not?"
"Because," she snapped. "No one cares about what I want. My folks just want to use me, and you just want to keep me close. Everyone keeps saying they are doing everything to make me happy, yet no one has asked me what I wanted. I want this over! I want to be done with all of this and never think about it. I want to move on! There is nothing you or anyone can say to change that!"
My shoulders dropped, knowing if I told her, it wasn’t going to make a difference. It would likely just anger her more, so I kept the secret to myself.