Laurel Castillo was a planner. At the age of seven, when she decided she would be a lawyer, she'd mapped it all out: she'd get into that elite Catholic school down the street for high school, go to Brown University undergrad, and Middleton U for her law degree. She'd be married by 30 with two kids by 35 – that was the plan, and so far she'd stuck to it.

Until now.

She'd been in denial at first. She'd convinced herself that the only reason her boobs were sore was because she was about to get her period, and that the only reason she was suddenly tired all the time was because of how late she'd been staying up for finals, and that the only reason her period ended up never coming was because of stress (because that happens to people, right?), and that the only reason she was nauseous was because of that fish she'd eaten which must've been bad. Of course those were the only reasons. Of course.

But, of course, Laurel wasn't stupid either, and once a month had passed and her dear Aunt Flo had neglected to visit again, she couldn't simply put it down to stress. And so that is why she was hidden in Annalise Keating's bathroom peeing on a goddamn stick.

But they'd been careful, Laurel told herself. They'd always used protection, every single time, and even though Laurel's sex ed hadn't been great (that Catholic school she'd gone to never really talked about safe sex), she was pretty damn sure that they'd been doing everything right.

Well there'd been that one time…

But that was only once, Laurel reasoned with herself. They'd had sex plenty of times – what were the odds that she'd gotten pregnant from just that once?

She couldn't have a kid now. She just couldn't. Her law career was just getting started, and she wasn't supposed to have her first kid until she was 32 and married with a stable job and –

What would Frank say? They'd been over for almost two months now, so it's not like he could dump her. Would he want to get back together? Would he want custody, let alone anything to do with the kid? Would he want her to get rid of it, put it up for adoption, keep it?

She just didn't need this right now. She was so stressed and confused and goddamn tired, and the last thing she needed was to be knocked up by her boss.

Laurel read the instructions on the box one more time. Pee on the stick, and then wait three minutes. Two lines meant positive, one line meant negative.

She'd never failed a test before, but, God, she'd be more than willing to fail this one.

It'd been much longer than three minutes, and Laurel knew it. She needed look. She really, really, really needed –

Knock, knock, knock

"One – one minute!" Laurel managed, her voice higher and squeakier than she would've liked.

"Hurry up, Castillo. This truck needs to let off a load," Asher called out from the other side.

Laurel held her breath, turning the test over in shaking hands.

"C'mon, I'm waiting!"

There were two lines – one darker than the other, but both there. Asher knocked again. "Seriously, can you wrap it up in there?"

Laurel was most definitely going to throw up. "Shut it, Asher. I'm not feeling well."

"Well maybe you can go feel sick some other place because I really need to take a shit."

And maybe it was morning sickness or maybe it was all the stress, but the urge to vomit suddenly overwhelmed her, and Laurel heaved up the contents of her stomach, her hands gripping on to the sides of the toilet.

"Alright, well, um, feel better, Laurel."

Once she was sure there was nothing left for her to vomit, Laurel plopped herself to the ground and closed her eyes, reminding herself to take slow, deep breaths. She could handle this. She was a smart, capable young woman who could do this, god damnit. I can do this, she told herself. I can do this, I can do this, I can do this –

"Laurel?" a voice called from outside the door. "Laurel, it's Frank. Are you alright?"

I can't do this.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Must've eaten something bad, I guess," she called back to him, hoping she sounded convincing.

"Do you want to go home? Get some rest?"

"No, no, that's fine," she answered. "I can stay. I'm feeling better. Plus, I have to work on this case, so – "

"Bullshit, Laurel, you just puked your guts out," he countered. "Go home. Get some rest. C'mon, I'll drive you."

They drove back to Laurel's apartment in amiable silence. Laurel fiddled with the radio, actively evading Frank's cursory glances in her direction.

"Are you sure you're alright, Laurel?" he said after a few minutes. "You've been acting weird all day. Is it really just a stomach bug?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Laurel retorted, really hoping she had not come across as defensive as she was.

"Nothing, it's just – is there anything else going on? You're an open book, Laurel. I can tell when something's wrong."

Heat erupted in her chest, and fire burned through her veins. "You don't know anything about me," she hissed out through clenched teeth. "You don't know, and you don't care. Just leave me alone, Frank. We're done, and I don't want anything to do with a misogynistic asshole like you. I'm sorry we were ever anything, let alone whatever the hell we are now. Please just don't talk to me."

Frank opened his mouth to say something and then promptly shut it, clutching the steering wheel until his knuckles went white.

They were both quiet for a long time. "There's my building," Laurel said finally, pointing to a complex a few buildings down.

"I know," Frank said sharply, pulling up along side it and parking the car.

The air between them was thick. "Are you going to tell me?" Frank finally asked, his face surprisingly earnest as his eyes bored into hers.

There was a moment where Laurel almost told him. The words formed in her mind, and she could feel them on her tongue, but she couldn't say them. So she said nothing, instead breaking his gaze to undo her seatbelt, anything to stop herself from drowning in his eyes.

"Okay, I guess I was wrong. I'm sorry. Feel better, Laurel."

Laurel gave him a small smile and opened the car door, stepping out on to the pavement. "I'm pregnant," Laurel blurted out, shutting the car door and leaving without looking back.

A/N: Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed it. Please review if you did!