I slapped a hand over my mouth, inwardly cursing my inability to keep my mouth shut. The girl whom I had asked such an absurd question looked at me confusedly.
"Am I a what?" She asked in a small voice.
Hell, small was the only way to describe her. She might have been five foot tall, but I doubted it. She might have weighed a hundred pounds, but I doubted it. She might have been eighteen…I was really hoping so. Otherwise, I might get slapped with a sexual harassment charge (or worse!) simply because I'm an idiot.
I shift from one foot to the other and stammer. "N-nothing, don't worry about it. So…um…you know Richard?"
"Yes, I've known him since we were little. We went to elementary, middle, and high school together."
"Cool." I gave her a little grin before a realization struck me. "Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm-"
"Garfield Logan, I know."
My mouth runs dry in an instant. She knows my name! Wait, how would she know my name? I've never met her. Huh, I wonder if Kori told her, trying to set us up? Pft, like that would ever happen, no pretty girl like her would be interested in me. Wait…interested in me?
"You're that chick that's stalking me!" I exclaim.
She visibly winced. "Stalking isn't the term I'd use…"
Not the term I'd use, my ass! She's been stalking me for two months now! Me! What kind of psycho chick stalks a nerd like me? I mean, I know I'm a decent looking guy with dirty blond hair and green eyes, a little tall and a bit lanky, but I'm not stalk-worthy. I mean, I've only noticed her a couple of times a week for the past couple of months, but now that I get a good look at her, I know she's been the one following me.
I can't lie. I'm kinda scared. Yeah, she's cute as hell, with her shoulder length black hair and purple contacts, her teenish face with pale skin, little long sleeved blue blouse and black jeans. She's got a nice round bottom, a bit of love handles, and some nice boobs. Damn, she's kinda hot. Is she single? I wonder if she has to shop for clothes in the kids section? Er, wait, I need to focus. Stalker here. Yeah, okay, back to being scared.
I take a step back from her, my hands held up defensively. "Why are you stalking me?!"
Her face goes from confused to hurt. "You mean…you don't remember?"
"Remember what?"
"We…we met at Kori and Richards wedding two months ago…" She trailed off, her shoulders slumping. There was quite clearly some pain in her eyes and it made me rather upset rather quickly. A cute girl like her shouldn't be sad. I'm the one who made her sad. Damnit, I'm an asshole. How can I fix this?
I took a step forward and held out my hand. "Look, I'm really sorry, but if it was during the after party, I don't remember. Last thing I can recall is taking a few shots and then waking up in my bed at the hotel."
Now she looked like she was going to cry as she looked at my hand. "You don't remember anything?"
I gave her a weak smile. "I'm sorry…I'm really bad with alcohol."
She was trembling now and I had no idea what the hell I did. She turned and called out. "Kori! He doesn't remember anything!"
My friend Kori is from another country (that I can barely pronounce) but grew up here in America with me and my best buddy, Victor Stone.
The tall, tan skinned and red haired foreign girl approached us, a worried look on her face. "Friend Rachel, I am most sorry! It always does the slipping of my mind that Garfield is very bad with alcoholic beverages."
I still remember the day that I met Kori. She was being picked on in class because she talked funny even though it stems from a speech impediment derived from blunt force trauma to the head from her abusive older sister. I stood up for Kori and got beat up for it. Victor, who was passing by, stepped in and opened a serious can of butt-whoop on the guys beating me up. The three of us became the closest of friends after that.
If I said we went through thick and thin together, it'd be an understatement. Kori helped me when the first girl I fell in love with cheated on me with an older man. Victor was there when I was finally able to stand up to my guardian, my abusive uncle Galtry, and turn him into the police for all the years of torment he put me through. I returned the gestures as soon as I could. I helped Kori deal with her sister by "accidentally" letting it slip to their adopted father Galfore that Koma was more than a little cruel. For Vic, I helped him find the car he built from scratch after it was stolen and then later helped him get over this punk rocker chick named Jen that he had fallen for and gotten his heart broken by. We all went through the wringer for each other more than once. We were, in essence, family.
And here I am, twenty two years old and still being defended by my funny talking sister-friend Kori Anders. Ain't life funny?
I was jostled from my thoughts by the girl named Rachel once more.
"Richard, did you know?!"
Richard Grayson, same height as me but waaay musclier (that's a word, right?) with dark hair and ice blue eyes, was a guy me and Vic met while in college. We pegged him for a snobby rich boy right off the bat, but he was actually a pretty cool dude. He was a bit more serious than either of us liked, but he had a fun and mischievous side too. I can't even begin to tell you about all the crazy shit we got into. When Kori met him (she didn't have classes with us for a good while), it was love at first sight for the two of them. They were inseparable. Like, seriously, at the hip.
If you know what I mean.
Richard cringed. "Um…yeah. I'm sorry, I forgot he drank."
Rachel started breathing heavily as she spoke rapidly. "How am I supposed to deal with this?! I can barely handle it on my half! I'm not used to this kind of thing! I can't…"
Oh hell.
Is she having a panic attack?
What the fuck did I do to upset this girl?!
Fortunately, Richard whipped out a paper bag from his pocket (that dude seriously has everything, including the kitchen sink, in those pockets) and handed it to the violet-eyed girl before me. She immediately wobbled away and sank into a chair, breathing into the bag rapidly. Behind me, Victor, the tall and built-like-a-living-tank bald black man, growled.
"Gar, what the hell did you do to that girl?!"
I threw up my hands defensively once more. "Dude! You know I can't take more than two shots before I black out! I have no freaking idea what I did to make her mad!"
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Rachel shake her head. Turning, I found her staring at the floor as she used the bag. It took a few minutes, but she eventually calmed down.
"You didn't do anything wrong at all, Garfield." She said very quietly. Something about the way she said my name sent a pleasurable shiver down my spine. She looked up at me with unreadable eyes. "You were actually far kinder than anyone has been to me in a long time."
I shook my head. "Being nice doesn't make people have panic attacks. I'm sor-"
"Stop apologizing." She chided me before sighing. She looked away and placed a hand over her face. Something told me that she was on the edge of tears. Did I really do something that wrong?
"The truth is, Garfield, is that I got drunk with you that night. You were ridiculously flirty and sweet and I enjoyed myself immensely all because of you. I was honestly miserable before you stumbled up to my table asking me to dance. You flirted with me, of all people, the entire time we danced. After the party, you were having an issue getting a cab back to your room…so I got one and went with you to the hotel to make sure you made it. You were pretty drunk and falling all over the place, but it was more funny than off-putting. You kept making these little cartoon-like noises and quoting old cartoon characters the whole time and I just couldn't stop myself from laughing. You're such a ridiculous goof ball, you know that?"
She was quiet for a moment, in which I was trying very hard to hide my blush. It didn't work. Okay, maybe I didn't do something wrong (other than making myself look like an idiot, which I'm really good at). Maybe I said something wrong? What could I have said? Just as she started speaking again, I happened to notice Richard staring at her like she'd grown a second head. I wonder why?
"I was going to catch another cab and go back to my own hotel, but I couldn't find my purse anywhere. I never did find it, actually. You quite brazenly invited me back to your room. I almost slapped you for that, but you stopped me by saying that your room had two beds. I double checked with the desk clerk and found you were telling the truth…so I went with you to your room."
Now Richard was staring at me, but like he was going to kill me. I threw my hands up defensively once more and rapidly shook my head. Rachel, heedless of us, kept talking.
"When we got there you grabbed some clothes and hopped in the shower. Afterwards, you came out and suggested that I shower. Seeing as I had no clothes, you offered a shirt and a pair of shorts." She placed her other hand over her face. "The alcohol was clearly affecting me, because I accepted. I showered and put on your clothes. Afterwards I got into the spare bed, but…I couldn't sleep. It felt like my body was on fire, I honestly thought I was sick with alcohol poisoning. You were passed out, but I tried to wake you to see if you had any medicine with you."
Rachel hesitated before speaking very, very softly. "I don't know what came over me after I woke you. You were just so…and I…um…well…"
I stared at this girl before me. There was no way she was saying what I think she was saying. I couldn't stop myself from snorting. "Yeah, okay, I get it now."
Everyone's head snapped towards me in confusion. Too bad I knew what was going on.
I turned to Victor. "Really funny dude. I can't believe you'd go this far to prank me."
Victor's face screwed up in even more confusion. "Prank you?"
"Yeah!" I snapped in irritation. "You obviously set this all up to embarrass me on camera. So where is it? I ain't letting you put this one on YouTube."
Richard stepped forward. "Garfield, this isn't-"
"Of course it is!" I spat at him, growing angrier. "There's no way in hell that such a pretty girl like Rachel would ever take an interest in me, let alone sleep with me! I'm like, the second biggest nerd on the west coast after Eugene Confre! How do you expect me to believe you?"
I barely heard Rachel's voice when she stuttered. "P-pretty? Me?"
I turned and found her blushing quite furiously. Now I was the one confused, so I rose an eyebrow at her. "What? Nobody's called you pretty before?"
She looked away and shook her head slightly.
Okay, nothing here was making sense. This girl says she slept with me and they guys swear it's not a prank. I call bullshit. She's really pretty and I'm like, average Joe. Let's not forget that I'm terrible with girls. I stutter when I get nervous, I tell bad jokes to break tension, I drink too much Mountain Dew, I'm clumsy when I'm nervous too, and I tend to let my mouth run without keeping it in check. I'm also a nerdy guy and nerdy guys just don't get girls. It's a harsh fact of life, but I already accepted it. I mean really, when I try to get to know girls they always brush me off or downright tell me I'm not their type. They don't even try to get to know me.
Technically that means I should find a nerdy girl, right?
Pft, like that will ever happen. Nerdy girls are rarer to find than the original bible.
Translation: Fucking impossible. Trust me, I've tried. I don't even want to think how depressing it is to be turned down everywhere I go.
I'm getting a little off topic here. I cross my arms and look at the distressed girl before me. "Okay, let's say I believe you. I slept with you, even though I don't remember it, and then you decided to stalk me? That's…"
She flinched. "I know…but I was trying to find a way to talk to you after what happened."
I looked at her skeptically. "Why didn't you just come talk to me? I don't bite."
"Yes you do." She said with a half-hearted smirk.
Aw hell, there goes my composure. I feel the blush rising up on my face as I struggle to reply. "L…look, don't dodge the question."
She sighs. "I'm…really bad with people. Especially guys."
Okay, that I can understand. But I'm still a little skeptical. "You can't be that bad with people if you enjoyed my company. I'm a huge nerd."
Even though she was still staring at the floor, a little smile graced her face. "That was a combination of liquid courage and the fact that you made me feel really good about myself. Guys….they just don't talk to me. And when they do, their niceness doesn't last very long."
I quirked an eyebrow at her. "Why is that?"
Although she removed her hands from her face, one remained to pinch the bridge of her nose. "There are a lot of answers to that question, none of which I'm a happy about."
I glance at Richard, who mouths Later. Looking a back at Rachel, I watch her for a moment. Just as I open my mouth to speak, she spoke very softly.
"And I don't think there's anything wrong with nerdy guys."
I nearly bit off my tongue.
"Friend Rachel…perhaps it is time you told him…" Kori sat down next to Rachel and put her hand on the smaller girls' shoulder.
If the conversation didn't have my attention, that certainly would have gotten it. Out of the corner of my eye I can see curious looks on Victor and Richard that reflected my own. Apparently they have no idea what's going on either. That…does not bode well. I looked sharply at my foreign friend. "Tell me what?"
Rachel hesitated, so I kept talking. "Rachel, whatever I did, I will own up. I know how to nut up or shut up when it comes to stuff."
Her hand moved to cover her mouth, though I could still see her upturned lips. She let out a choked laugh.
"Funny that you should say that….because nutting up is precisely how we got into this predicament."
I could only stare at her. "Huh?"
Her blush returned tenfold and she sputtered. "W-well…while you could get it up, you couldn't get up…so…I…kind of…took initiative…"
Oh.
OH.
OOOHHHHH.
She was on top the whole time.
"D-did…did I hurt you?" I stammered. Damn, this is embarrassing. The only thing I've legitimately prided myself on was being more than a bit above average in size when it came to my manhood. Not that anyone but me knew that, since I'd only had one girlfriend who was more interested in older men than her own damned boyfriend.
Er…wait…I guess Rachel knows.
She shook her head. "It always hurts the first time…but other than that…no. It was very…intense, but in a good way."
I was about to say Oh, well that's good when something she had said clicked in my mind. I stared at her. "Predicament?"
She visibly tensed up and a knot of dread formed in my stomach. Predicament? Usually using that kind of word means…there's no way…I surely would have had…
I found myself reaching back into my memories to the morning I woke up naked in my hotel room. I had felt like throwing up, so I grabbed the wastebasket.
It was empty.
Oh please don't tell me she's saying what I think she's saying.
The tiny girl before me looked up into my eyes. I could only stare back as she sat up straight and pulled her blouse up to reveal her slightly bulging stomach.
I fainted.
In retrospect, that's probably the least manly thing to do on the whole planet when confronted with something like unplanned pregnancy. But really, what else was I supposed to do?
Run out and pretend it never happened? Fuck no, any guy who does that needs to have his ass beat.
Get mad at the girl? Where's the point in that that when it was completely unexpected?
Be happy? Um, hello? I've only met this girl twice, I don't know jack about her. That means 'happy' isn't on the agenda yet.
So, as you can tell, I opted out for panicking instead. Not the best of options, but my brain kind of shut down in that moment and my body followed suit.
When I came to I was lying on the floor. I opened my eyes and looked around the room. I was still in Kori and Richards' apartment in Jump City (which is where my friends lured me 'hang out for the day'). They had an apartment because they hadn't found a house either of them liked. The hardwood floor wasn't particularly comfortable, but it was nice and cool. I lay there for a time, thinking about everything I had just heard. It was absurd on so many levels. So very many levels.
A part of me was screaming, demanding that I get a paternity test ASAP. That's not an unreasonable thought, right?
Another part of me was sitting in the corner of my mind in shock. After all, who would believe that a pretty girl would be carrying my kid? I'm the guy who can't even get a girl's name half the time.
And yet another part of me was already making plans. That's…interesting.
A voice pulled me out of Lalaland. "Garfield?"
I blinked several times, bringing my focus to the loli gir-I mean, the violet eyes now lingering above my own. Rachel was looking down at me apprehensively.
"Are…are you okay?" She asked softly.
I gave her a little smile. "Yeah. I just panicked, I'm sorry."
She frowned. "You mean you're not mad at me?"
I thought about it for a moment before shaking my head. "I'm more mad at myself for not remembering than anything."
She openly gaped at me. "Really? You're not mad?"
My eyebrow rose in slight confusion. Is she serious? "Yes really. What makes you think I would be mad at you?"
She pulled back as I sat up. The violet-eyed girl was kneeling down next to me now and had her eyes planted on the floor. It occurred to me at this moment that she was a very submissive person. It felt…wrong, though I couldn't put my finger on as to why it felt that way.
"What makes you think I would be mad at you?" I repeated when she didn't answer.
"I messed up…badly."
"Rachel, I'm just as responsible for this as…" I trailed off at this moment. I had been reaching out of put my hand on her shoulder when she did something I wasn't expecting. She cringed. But it wasn't any sort of cringe either. It was one of true fear, like she had been expecting me to lash out at her.
My mind sputtered to a stop at that moment as I replayed that last thought in my head. As if she had been expecting me to lash out at her. Several pieces clicked together.
Something had happened to this girl. Something that left her…damaged.
I know this feeling, so instead of putting my hand on her shoulder I wrap my arms around her, pull her close and embrace her. She most certainly wasn't expecting that, seeing as she literally squeaked in surprise. It was an adorable sound.
"W-w-w-what are you doing?!" She sputtered into the crook of my neck.
"Rachel." I said quietly. "Don't bow your head to me. Look me in the eye instead. It's okay, Rachel, really. Everything will be okay, somehow. I'm sorry that I got you pregnant, but if you don't want to raise it alone you don't have to. I'll be there."
She tensed up for a moment before she started trembling. Trembling turned into sobbing. Sobbing turned into crying. Crying turned into weeping.
Twice in one conversation I've upset this girl. Man, I suck at talking to girls.
I didn't know what to do at this point, so I just did what felt right. I started with rubbing the small of her back and working my way up her spine. I pulled her head to lean against my chin and kissed it gently as well. I know, I know. That's probably what I shouldn't have done (we've only met twice after all), but I'm the kind of guy who follows his instincts more than anything. And that's what my instincts told me to do.
Though my eyes were half closed, I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. Turning my head slightly, I found the others standing behind the couch and staring at us in disbelief. I freed a hand for a moment to gesture to them to be silent. They nodded and I returned to comforting the pregnant girl in my arms.
As I did so, I let my mind wander. This girl was pregnant with my kid. This girl that I knew nothing about. I don't know where she lives, I don't know what she does for a living, I don't know her habits, I don't know her life story, I don't know what kind of skeletons are in her closet.
These are things that I need to know if I'm going to be raising a child with her.
I wasn't sure how long I sat there lost in thought, but the sound of heavy breathing drew me from it. I looked down at Rachel and found her passed out in my arms. She had literally cried herself into exhaustion. I wasn't entirely surprised, she was a loli.
I mean, she's a tiny thing. Not a loli.
I'm not a lolicon.
…
ANYWAYS…
I gently picked her up and set her on the couch. She instantly curled up around a pillow and hugged it. Noting how lonely she looked like that, I set my eyes on Richard and spoke quietly.
"Start talking, Dick. I need to know about this girl, especially why she's so damned timid."
My friend nodded and motioned towards the kitchen. Once there, he sat down at the table. The others and I joined him. It took him a few minutes before he started speaking. When he did, his tone was very remorseful.
"Look, Gar, Vic, Kori…This is not a story I'm going to repeat. I've never told anyone anything about Rachel before now and I wouldn't be doing it if this wasn't going on. It's not my place. That being said…I'm going to trust you more than I ever have before." He sighs. "Rachel…grew up in a household with a very abusive father and an extremely neglectful mother. Her father was a demonic cultist and gang leader while her mother was a lawyer of some sort that always got her father's gang members out of jail and prison. Most nights, if she wasn't beaten, she was locked in the basement with little to nothing to eat. Both of her parents made it quite clear that she was an accident and as such, wasn't worth taking care of. If you can't tell, it seriously messed up her mind and physically stunted her growth. When she was at school, which she missed a good bit of due to her regular beatings from her father, she was constantly harassed for being so small. It was a ridiculous thing to be bullied for, but you know how kids are; always targeting those who are different. On top of that, she was attacked a few times because her parents. It wasn't quite public knowledge about who they were and what they did, it was more like a secret to everybody. One that didn't stop kids from targeting her even if they were scared of her parents. As such, she was bullied at school almost as much as she was tormented at home."
I'm already feeling numb from shock. This is preposterous.
The black haired, blue eyed guy in front of me paused to run his hand through his hair. "I was only aware of the bullying at school, though no matter what I did I couldn't stop it. It wasn't until Rachel's sixteenth birthday that I, and everyone else, came to find out about the stuff at her home."
I couldn't stop myself from interrupting. "What happened?"
Richard's face turned dark. "I was the only person who even reacted to it being her birthday. I brought her a little cake and got her a book, The Wizard of Oz. Her parents, on the other hand…well…her father came home that night strung out on a drug called Scath, a bizarre mixture of a hallucinogen and a steroid that turned him downright psychotic. He…stabbed Rachel's mother to death, then turned his blade on Rachel. He cut her up, Garfield. She will only wear pants and long sleeve shirts because she doesn't want people to see the scars on her arms and legs."
Rage.
It's the only way to describe how I feel right now. Absolute rage. How could someone do that to another? How could someone do that to their own daughter?
I hear a cracking noise and look down to find my hands gripping the table so tight that the cheap wood had started to break. Richard and the others noted this but said nothing.
"So what happened after that?" I growl.
"She got the knife from him and killed him."
I can feel my anger fading as disbelief kicks in. That wasn't quite the answer I was expecting. Richard can see this, so he keeps talking.
"Yeah…I know dude." He shook his head. "She killed him in self-defense. He dropped the damned knife, she took it, and stabbed that fucker right in the heart. She spent five hours getting stitched up and having blood pumped into her because of all the wounds. I thought the worst was over for her, that the other kids would know she hadn't deserved anything they'd done to her. But you know how kids are, Gar. They only saw her as someone who killed her parents because she was just like them. They didn't see the abuse she suffered from at home. They didn't see how much they tormented her. All they saw was a messed up girl that didn't need to be around them. With that being said, they drove her out of the school. She ran away. I found her, of course, and talked my guardian, Bruce, into getting her into foster care. I thought things were looking up for her for a while…"
As he trailed off, I leaned forward. My anger was coming back and Richard could tell. He hurried up with his story.
"They weren't particularly affectionate people, but they did give her her space and provide her with a home. However…while she was living with these people and getting home schooled, she met a boy at the library one day. I don't need to emphasize on how she fell head over heels for a guy who treated her nicely and didn't judge her for the things that had happened. He was kind to her, told her she was beautiful, even with her scars, and talked to her about books. It was all a complete and total lie on his part though. He strung her along enough to get her trust, then brought her to an abandoned warehouse under the pretense of meeting with his friends to go skateboarding. Once there, a group of kids from her old school showed up and beat her, calling her a blood thirsty demon and a murderer. She was left to die there."
Jesus fucking Christ. I always thought growing up with Galtry was bad, but this was fucking ridiculous.
Richard was quite pointedly keeping his eyes from mine at this point. "We were beyond lucky when a random hobo found her and hunted down some cops. She barely made it to the hospitable alive and barely survived her injuries. Her foster parents didn't respond in any way about the attack, so Bruce took her from them legally. She lived in my house after that and was home schooled by our butler Alfred. But when she turned eighteen she moved out into a tiny apartment. She said she couldn't mooch off me any longer. She got a job and has been there ever since. That was almost five years ago. She's twenty three now."
I cover my face with my hands and inhale deeply. "You're telling me this meek and cute girl has literally been through hell and now she has to deal with being pregnant from some guy she met once at a wedding?"
Tentatively, Richard nodded. "Pretty much, yeah."
I can't help but slam my head into the table, startling the others. I sit there and curse and curse and curse and curse until I'm just making up words. It was Kori who jostled me from my thoughts.
"Garfield…" She said gently, "I know this whole situation is quite unpleasant…but what are you going to do with her?"
My head snapped up instantly and I could feel the fire in my own eyes. "I'm going to take care of her! I'm not going to ditch her just because of this!"
Richard's eyes widen. "Are you serious bro? You barely know her! At most I was expecting financial help…"
"You're a damned fool then, Dick." I snapped at him as I slam my fist into the table. The salt shaker bounced so hard it jumped clean off the table and shattered on the floor.
Victor smiled humorlessly. "He's got ya there, Richard. Gar's always been a fireball when it comes to people he cares about."
"But he doesn't know her well enough to care!" Richard protested.
"That's where you're wrong, dude." I growled once more. "I've got all the time in the world now to get to know her and to care for her."
Victor and Kori are eyeing me warily. They know very well just what happens when I lose my temper. Granted, it only happened once, but it still sent five guys to the ER.
The thing is, I can't help it. I'm the kind of guy who treasures a girl that he's got. I want to take care of her, I want to see her smile, I want her to be happy, even if it takes more out of me. I don't mind taking the back burner if it means my girl is content. I thrive off of that loving feeling I get from my girl as I do these things. There's no sensation on this planet that's as addicting as the feeling of being loved.
Of course, I only had one period of time in my life where I had these things. But while it lasted, it was the most wonderful thing on the planet. I know that my feelings about these kinds of things haven't changed in seven years.
"Hearing about these things that happened to Rachel makes me angry, Richard. Very angry. Nobody deserves to go through that kind of thing." I told my friends. I kept talking before he could say anything. "But right here, right now, I've got the opportunity to make her life better. I've got an opportunity to do something with my life other than sit around and play freaking video games all day. Am I scared? Damn right I am. I only know what Richard has told me, so I have to learn more about this girl. And that ain't gonna be easy since she's got every right in the world to distrust guys. Am I gonna back out? Not a chance in Hell. While my life wasn't peachy until some years ago, it damn sure wasn't as bad as hers. Even as bad as it was, it in and of itself doesn't scare me. Am I gonna do my damnedest to make this girl is happy and raise this kid?"
I pause long enough to let a grin spread across my face. "You bet yer ass I am."
Richard stared at me for a long, long moment before he slowly shook his head. "You've got to be the weirdest guy I know, Garfield, to go above and beyond for a girl you don't know."
I wink at him. "You ain't never had a friend like me, Dick."
