Entry for: God's Bad Grace Contest by LaBellaShai27
Title: One Night At Med Camp
Author: Princess Pinky
Rating: T
Summary: One night at med camp proves to be the hardest decision Grace Bowman ever made.
Characters: Grace B. & Adrian L.
Word Count: 2,678
A/N: This was written for LaBellaShai27's God's Bad Grace Contest. Please enjoy!
One Night At Med Camp
"You have to tell him," Adrian whispered, her eyes fat with concern. She was seated in the rocking chair in the newly finished nursery, with a pink bundle pressed to her breast. The Dora the Explorer clock on the wall was nearing eleven o' clock at night and a few lines of moonlight were filtering through the blinds onto Grace's face.
"He doesn't have to know," Grace replied stubbornly.
"He's going to find out."
"Maybe not. Not if I don't tell him."
"You can't be sure of that." Adrian held her breath as she shifted her eyes to the babe in her arms. "Unless…unless you plan to-"
"Of course not! How could you even say that?" the latter asked in disbelief. "After everything I did to talk you and Amy out of an abortion, what kind of person would that make me if I killed one of God's children?"
Adrian shook her head so she wouldn't have to look her friend in the eye. "I warned you, Grace! 'I'm not going to get pregnant! I'm not!' And now look at you!" Adrian nodded her head since she was unable to emphasize the gesture with a hand movement. "Didn't you learn anything from Amy and I? Always use a condom, always use birth control, always make sure you've been taking your birth control for at least a month before sex, and if an emergency still occurs get your ass to the pharmacy for a morning after pill!"
"Yeah!" Grace bit back. "Because I could really sneak out of med camp to go get a morning after pill!"
A soft whimper came from the blanket, prompting Adrian to scowl and began to rock back and forth in the chair in an attempt to quell the newborn. "Well what the hell happened to everything else?" she asked in a low growl.
"It's not like I didn't stop taking my birth control," Grace quietly defended. "Never missed a pill. But you do realize that it's only ninety-nine point nine percent effective right? There are women who get pregnant on the pill, even when they haven't missed a day or haven't changed prescriptions. I read about it online, there's even a Facebook group for women who've gotten pregnant on the pill-"
"And what about condoms? Weren't you using those?"
"Well, yeah, of course…Grant brought some with him-"
"And-"
"Condoms aren't one-hundred percent either, as you know."
"Did any of them break?" Adrian inquired skeptically.
"No, but that doesn't mean anything! There are recalls on condoms all the time! And expiration dates. And-and-and what if he put it on wrong, huh?"
"You and I both know you're grasping at straws here, Grace. You've got to tell him!" She smoothed the black curls on her daughter's head. "You've got to tell them. If you plan on keeping it, that is. This isn't something you can keep to yourself, it's going to be pretty obvious in seven months. It was pretty obvious to me in the hospital, the way you kept slipping out of the room and then coming back with that pale look on your face…and of course how your breath always smelt of bile and spearmint gum."
Grace hung her head as Adrian rose from the rocking chair and carried the baby over to the bassinet. She began to play with a strand of her hair as she listened to the soft words Adrian was whispering to her daughter and then quietly touched her belly. "He told me he loves me," she admitted in a shameful whisper.
"Before or after?"
"Both. The first time was before we made love. And many times since."
"It doesn't change anything. Look at me and Ricky. Or Ben and Amy. If we all had babies with the people we loved, she," Adrian motioned to the bassinet, "would be Ricky's and John would be Ben's."
"But it's not the same-"
"How so? I was still Ricky's girlfriend when I got pregnant."
"But you did it on purpose, out of revenge! Not the getting pregnant part, but the sex part. Me? I didn't. I was just-"
"Stupid?"
"Yeah." Grace raked both hands through her hair and connected them at the back of her head. With her eyes angled at the floor, she stayed in that position and began to try and regulate her breathing.
"How did it even happen?" The Latina moved across the room and sat down again in the rocking chair, this time at the edge. She leaned over, with her elbows on her knees, and wrapped her hands around Grace's wrist. "Tell me what happened."
A shameful tear slid down her face. "I don't even remember…" she hiccupped. "It's all flashes and skips, like watching a scratched DVD. All I remember is that Grant gave me some kind of cocktail that he said some of the seniors had managed to smuggle into camp and…I'd never drank before, but I figured, why not just try it? And you know what? I liked it. So sue me! It was fruity and I figured, what could one drink hurt? I wasn't driving and it was Saturday night, so I didn't have rounds the next morning, so…"
"You couldn't hold your liquor?"
"No, that's just it…Grant couldn't hold his."
"I bet he got slipped something."
"That's ridiculous!" Grace scoffed. "Why would anyone want to slip Grant something?" She directed her pointer finger at herself. "Unless you're accusing me of slipping him something?"
"No! I-"
"Because, let me tell you, there is absolutely no reason for me to do that! Grant and I are completely compatible. There's no need for me to-"
"I wasn't suggesting that at all. I was simply saying…he could've picked up the wrong cup. Or someone could've targeted the wrong cup. Who knows? But this definitely is not th normal reaction to someone who's passed out from having too much to drink…you're sure he only had one cup?"
"Sure as I'm standing here."
"Well, just be sure to check on him in the morning, okay? C'mon, I'll walk you back to your room."
Grace smirked as they walked towards the door. "Thanks."
"No problem."
"No," she laid her hand on his arm, "really. Thank you! For everything. Helping me to get Grant back to his room, for offering to walk me back to mine. You're a good friend, Jason."
Jason shut the door as they walked into the cool evening. "I try," he smiled. For a while, they walked in silence, listening to nothing but his new Shape Ups and Grace's heels on the sidewalk, then he asked, "So how have you been? I know we haven't really had a chance to talk much…not since around this time last year anyway."
Grace giggled. "We weren't really doing much talking about this time last year though, were we? I think we'd moved onto kissing by then, right?"
"I guess you have a point."
"Anyone new in your love life?"
"Nope. Madison's still with Jack – as you know – and I'm still…single."
"A huh. Ooh!" Before she realized what was going on, she was stumbling through the air, before she found face landing in Jason's chest. She could feel the heat rush to her cheeks.
"Careful there…"
"Sorry," she mumbled. "I can be clumsy sometimes…stumbling over my own two feet."
"Are you sure you're okay?" Jason asked skeptically, still awkwardly positioned with Grace against his body.
"Yeah, fine! Why wouldn't I be fine?"
"You said you never drank before," he ventured. "And now you're tripping over air-"
"My feet," she corrected.
"And anyway, you just seem a little more jittery than…" he leaned back to keep his face a distance from Grace's. "Anyway, I'm sure a good night's sleep will do you good, Grace."
"A huh." She pushed herself off of Jason and fumbled around in her purse for her key, before finally holding it up in victory. After a moment of struggle, she inserted it into the keyhole and opened the door to the dark room. "Thanks again for walking me back…"
"Anytime."
As Jason turned to leave, Grace caught his arm. When he turned back with an inquiring expression, she threw her lips to his and somehow his hands found their way to her waist, working from memory. Her arms wound around his neck, keeping him passionately tied to her until they were both forced to break for air.
"Grace!" Jason gasped. His chest and nostrils rapidly expanding and contracting from the lack of oxygen. "What are you doing?"
"What does it look like?"
"You're drunk!"
"I'm not!"
"What about Grant?"
Grace moved her hand up the back of Jason's neck; she could feel the goosebumps on his skin multiplying from her touch. "I'm tired of always being second best…First Jack gets head from Adrian, then I fall for Ricky and find out he's expecting a baby with Amy and is still in love with Adrian, then I get back with Jack and cheat on him with you and then discover that I should have never even felt guilty about it because while we were together Madison was busy going down on him, then I get with Ben but he's still too in love with Amy to truly devote himself to me and then I find out he's knocked up my best friend, and now I'm with Grant and the only reason for that is because Ashley broke his heart!"
"I'm sorry-"
"Don't be sorry! I don't want sorry!" She unwound her hands from his neck and punched the wall. "I'm tired of being second best, Goddamnit! You're the only one who's ever chosen me over another girl. Maybe it wasn't right how it happened – behind Jack's and Madison's backs, if you ignore the fact that they were doing the same thing – but it doesn't make it any less true. I just…I want to be the girl that a guy really wants for once. And I just wanted to know…if you still want me?"
"I think you're judgment's impaired right now-"
"Just tell me yes or no!" To her surprise, Jason pulled her into his chest and their lips pounded together again. All the feelings and sexual tension of the previous summer came back in full force, like a tsunami hitting an unsuspecting resort.
"I don't really remember much after that," she admitted. "I had the worst hangover the next morning. I guess I'm functional drunk."
"Did you see Jason after that?"
"In passing. Grant was always with me, though. We didn't really have time to talk. And besides, it was awkward."
"Did you use a condom?"
"I don't know. It wasn't something we planned, obviously. So I doubt he just happened to have one on him."
"So realistically, Grace, what do you think is more likely: that although you and Grant used a condom every time, he just happened to put it on wrong or he happened to pull a Ben and have expired condoms in his glove box, or that you and Jason didn't use a condom and you just happen to be part of that lucky point one percent of women who birth control fails for?"
"I could try and get an amniocentesis to determine paternity without Grant knowing, but that runs a risk of miscarriage and I don't know if I want to risk that. I don't know how I could live with myself wondering what could've been."
"And how are you going to live with yourself if you wait seven months with Grant believing that this is his baby and then when it comes out, it's got Jason's skin? Huh? How is that fair? To him or to Jason? Or their families. Or you."
Grace drew her fingers across her wet cheeks. "I'm going to hurt him so much. I don't know how I can do this…"
"You said yourself, you're tired of being second best. Maybe this is for the best? Did you ever think of that? Maybe you'll be the first one of us to ever end up having a baby with the guy you're supposed to."
"And if I'm not?"
"Then you're not. If you're meant to end up together, you will. Just like Ricky and I, Ben and Amy. The four of us are living proof that having a baby with someone you don't love is something that you can overcome. But look at my parents? They're also proof that sometimes it does work out. It all just depends." She drew Grace into a hug. "I've learned that in this type of situation, you just have to take it one day at a time. And you know I'm here for you, right? Whatever happens, I've got your back. And I'm sure when you decide to break the news, Amy will too. And your family. And friends. All of us! Just like you and everyone else stood by me and Amy when we wore those shoes before you."
Grace sniffled into Adrian's hair. "Thank you."
"Come on." Adrian tugged the blonde up and walked her out of the nursery and down the hall to her bedroom, where she plucked her cell phone up from her desk and handed it to Grace.
"This isn't something I can tell him over the phone."
"It's late. Call your mom, tell her you're sleeping over. We'll deal with this in the morning. I'm not going to let you do this alone."
Grace's hand trembled as she began to dial her mother's number. "The biggest mistake I ever made," she whispered as the phone began to ring. "One night at med camp."