Page 38 of She Was Mine First

I frantically hung onto him for dear life.

Ethan

I thought five words would change the rest of our lives, but I was wrong.

It was one.

Pregnant.

Bright.

Bold.

Clear as day to read.

I barely had time to register the results before Livvy crumpled to the ground on my bathroom floor. I immediately pulled her into my arms, and her face tucked into the crook of my neck.

She instantly broke down.

She cried so hard her body was shaking.

I couldn’t control the tsunami of feelings that coursed through her body. I simply held her as tight as I could as if I was going to hold her together.

“It’s okay… I promise it will be okay,” I repeated, hoping she’d listen to me.

Believe in me.

In us.

Nothing I could say or do made her feel at ease, so I just let her cry in my arms. We stayed there like that for hours until I picked her up off the floor and carried her to my bed, where I spent the rest of the night just comforting her the only way I knew how.

Suddenly, she pulled away from me and abruptly stood.

“Livvy—”

“I gotta go.” She snapped around, but she wasn’t fast enough. I jumped off my bed, and I was in her face before she took a step.

Grabbing her face between my hands, I reminded her, “It’s going to be okay. Do you hear me?”

She didn’t say a word.

Her gaze looked lifeless.

Almost like she was numb or in shock.

“I’ll make an appointment with the doctor. Don’t worry about anything. I’ll handle it for us.”

Again, silence.

“Livvy, I need to hear you say you know that I’m not going anywhere.”

Nothing.

Not one damn thing.

I preferred her frightened than like this. It was so out of character for her, which terrified me more than anything.

Slowly, I kissed her lips, and for the first time, she didn’t respond to my touch. As much as I tried, I couldn’t get through to her. She tuned me out. Instead, I reluctantly let her go, watching her leave.

---