Page 39 of She Was Mine First

I feared for the worst.

Not that she was pregnant, but that…

We may have ruined our friendship.

ChapterThirteen

Livvy

I leanedback against the headrest in the passenger seat of Ethan’s truck. I hadn’t seen or spoken to him for the past week despite how often he reached out, but he left me alone for the most part. I think he needed as much space as I did.

One minute, we’re best friends.

The next, we’re pregnant.

Everything was happening so fast, and I was barely surviving it. Nobody knew what was happening. I couldn’t bring myself to tell my parents. As far as they knew, I was moving next week, and my mom started packing for me last night.

She didn’t give me a hard time. Almost like she knew I was going through something. My guess would be that she thought it was just about Ethan and moving away from him. I let her assume whatever she wanted, too worried about how she’d react to the disaster that my life unexpectedly turned into. I did my best to act like I wasn’t internally flipping out as I watched her effortlessly move around my room like my life wasn’t falling apart.

That morning, everything came to a head. It took a week for the OB-GYN to see us, and I couldn’t have been more grateful to Ethan for handling everything. The last thing I wanted to do was argue with him again. I didn’t have the energy for it. Too much had happened, and I already told him how I felt. He was fully aware of how much this was tearing me up, and nothing he could say or do would take that away.

“Livvy,” Ethan announced, making me realize he wasn’t driving anymore, and we were parked in the lot of the doctor’s office.

Still not looking at him, I spoke the truth, “I can’t do this. How are we going do this?”

He grabbed my hand, causing me to peer over at him.

“Let’s see what the doctor says before we head down this road, alright?”

“How are you still so calm?” I muttered above a whisper until I finally got a good look at him.

He appeared as exhausted as I felt. It looked like he hadn’t slept since we found out, making me feel horrible that I wasn’t there for my best friend.

“Ethan, I’m sorry. I know this affects you too, and I truly appreciate you staying calm. I don’t think I could’ve handled both of us losing our shit.”

“I’m the one who should be apologizing. I should have been there for you this past week, but I—”

“I know.” I nodded in reassurance. “How did we let this come between our friendship? We swore we wouldn’t let anything affect that, and now look at us, we’re barely on speaking terms.”

“I know,” he murmured. “But we’re going to be okay, I promise.”

I faintly smiled. “Whatever happens, Ethan. I’m glad it happened with you.”

“Me too, Livvy.”

Once we were inside the office, it didn’t take long for my name to be called and for me to be sitting on the examination table. Ethan sat in the empty chair in the corner of the room with his elbows on his knees, staring at the floor. For some reason, seeing him that way broke my heart in ways I hadn’t expected. I didn’t know which one was worse, seeing him calm or seeing him like this.

Thank God all they had to do was draw my blood to confirm what we already knew. We both sat there, lost in the turmoil of a future we hadn’t predicted. Not for one second.

When there was a loud knock on the door, I jumped out of my skin, completely unprepared for what happened next. Moments later, Dr. Taylor stepped inside, closing the door behind her.

“Hello,” she greeted, looking at my chart in her hands. “I’m Dr. Taylor.” She glanced up. “You must be Elizabeth?”

“Yes.”

She smiled. “Nice to meet you.”

I pointed at Ethan. “That’s Ethan. He’s, ummm… my best friend.”

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