Page 63 of Second Chance Ex
He’s what?
I jump up from where I’ve been lying on top of my bed so long that the day somehow turned into night without my noticing. I immediately call Joey and he answers on the first ring.
“What do you mean you’re outside?” I practically bark through the phone.
“You said you wanted to talk, face-to-face, so here I am.” A small hollow laugh follows his words, and if I’m not mistaken, there’s a slight sharpness to it.
“Joey, I?—”
“Prue, what the fuck is going on?” he interjects, his voice suddenly void of its usual playfulness and affection. “Is there… is there someone else?”
My jaw drops at hisaccusation. “What? No!”
“Well, forgive me for asking, but you tell me we need to talk, but not over the phone, that it needs to be face-to-face, and so I drop everything, drive down here, tell you I’m outside and I haven’t seen you burst through that security door like you have every other time I’ve driven down to surprise you.”
My shoulders sag. He’s right.
“What’s going on, baby?” he asks after a silent pause, and the resignation in his tone is heartbreaking.
“I’ll be right down,” I finally say, ending the call.
Despite my current state of dishevelment, I pull my sweater on over my t-shirt and slide my feet into my sliders and proceed out of my room and down the stairs. And, sure enough, standing outside the door dressed incognito with a hood pulled over a ball cap that shields half his face, Joey gazes in through the glass at me, his eyes fraught with concern and worry.
I take a deep breath, opening the door and stepping out into the cool night air, glancing up at him. He doesn’t wrap his arms around me like he normally does; but I don’t launch myself at him like I normally would either. We just stand there staring at one another for a long tension-filled moment, it’s almost as if we’re strangers, and I hate it.
When a couple of girls begin up the steps toward the door, they stop and look curiously between me and Joey. I mutter an apology and grab Joey’s hand, pulling him out of the way, leading him down the steps and along the path to an out-of-the-way bench.
I sit first, looking up at him. He’s staring down at me, clearly confused as to what the hell is going on. Why are we here? Why didn’t I take him upstairs to my room? Finally, he sits down with a resigned sigh, butbefore he can continue doubting me, I grab his hand and hold onto it so tight, needing desperately to feel him right here beside me.
“Prue, baby—” Joey’s voice breaks. “What’s going on?”
I stare into his eyes, his warm eyes that are full of nothing but love, and I want to tell him. I really do. But I just don’t know how. With two words I could rip his world out from underneath him, ruin everything. With two words, his whole life will change, and I hate that I have to be the one to break it to him.
How do you tell someone something like this; I simply don’t have the words. Instead, I reach a trembling hand into the front pocket of my hoodie, and I retrieve the test I swiped on my way out of my dorm, holding it out for him.
For about two whole minutes, I watch Joey’s face shift between each and every emotion possible before settling on the realization that this isn’t some sick joke. His wide eyes land on me, his gaze searching my face as if to look for some sort of answers to, what I’m sure, are a million questions. But I’m just as shocked, confused, a little angry, a lot terrified and completely lost as he is, so I say nothing and just wait.
“Shit,” Joey murmurs after another moment. He drags a hand down his face, puffing air from his cheeks, and his gaze dips downwards in the direction of my middle which is entirely concealed by my oversized hoodie, not that there’s anything to see there; naked I look exactly the same as I’ve always looked. But it’s the knowing, I guess. Knowing that there’s something growing inside of me. A soon-to-be life.
“Shit,” he says again, elbows resting on his knees,head falling into his hands in resignation, and I suddenly feel like I’m losing him.
I feel sick. Racked with guilt, I start scrambling, bumbling over a string of incomprehensible words as I try to think of the right thing to say.
“I’m so sorry, Joey. I didn’t know. I’ve been on the pill for so long, I didn’t… I just… I don’t understand what happened, how this could even hap—” My words are cut short when Joey suddenly turns, grabbing my face and slamming his lips to mine in a searing kiss full of such raw and brutal emotion it steals all my breath.
I gasp against Joey’s mouth as his tongue glides against mine in a move so tender it’s contradicting against the desperation of hands gripping my jaw like he can’t bear to let me go. And even though I’m seated here on this bench, I’m forced to grip the front of his soft hoodie to steady myself. I can’t remember a single kiss ever being this all-consuming, so full of unspoken promise.
I whimper in protest when Joey softly pulls away, but he stays close, resting his forehead against mine, looking deep into my eyes.
“We’re gonna have a baby,” he whispers. “Ababy.”
Tears slip from my eyes on a blink, sliding down my cheeks.
“Why are you crying?” Joey asks, pulling back enough to wipe my tears away with the pads of his thumbs.
I sniffle, wiping my nose with the cuff of my sweater, fully aware that I’m currently a mess. I pull a knee up to my chest and look down at the test still in my hand, shaking my head as I try to consider my words before saying something I don’t mean.
“I’m in college. I still have a ways to go.” I sniffle again. “And you’re in your rookie season. We’re both just so… so busy, and soyoung.”
