With summer coming to a close, I decided that I need a new change of pace. My sister got me hooked on this show around episode four, so I've been throwing a few ideas around to create a decent plot of how I wish the actual storyline would go. I'm not exactly sure how many chapters I'll do, but we'll see how well received this little ficlet is. And If you can't tell by the end, I'm a sucker for Amy/Ricky ships.

Happy reading.

I own nothing of The Secret Life of the American Teenager except the plot and any unfamiliarity's that are woven into it. Everything else belongs solely to Brenda Hampton.

"One Step Forward"

--Chapter One: Reaching Out--

By marissa-christina

Pregnancy. Adoption. Abortion. Fifteen.

Those four words had become a mantra that echoed repeatedly through her head for days on end, a blatant, ugly reminder of what was slowly molding her life into the mess that it was. Who would have thought that one thoughtless moment in time between two people could result in something so life-altering that the very foundation of their beings could be shaken so much?

She was only fifteen.

Punching her fist into her comforter, Amy leaned her head back against her headboard, closing her eyes against the stinging sensation that she was becoming all too familiar with as she hugged her pillow to her chest, resisting the urge to clamp it over her ears as the shouting escalated from below. Ashley had poked her head in earlier, muttering something about hiding out with Amy until it was quiet; until the sound of the door slamming shut marked the end to yet another fight between their parents.

Amy had only nodded listlessly and barely acknowledged her sister as the younger girl slipped inside her bedroom. Ashley sighed softly and took a seat on the bed as Amy finally opened her eyes. "I wish they'd stop," she murmured, running her fingers through her hair in a decidedly frazzled gesture. Ashley snorted and leveled her sister with that all too perceptive stare of hers.

"They're not going to, no matter what you say or do. They're going to keep fighting and we're still going to be a broken family." Her statement was blunt--one of Ashley's trademarked characteristics--but Amy could hear the bitterness expressed there. She could hear the unspoken accusation that was directed at her.

She winced and clutched the pillow tighter. "I know. I know that, but I don't think yelling at one another is going to make anything better. It's not going to change anything."

Ashley shrugged and hooked a long strand of dark hair behind her ear. "Dad's having an affair," she said evenly. "Dad's having an affair and you're pregnant. I guess if yelling's the worst that they're doing, we should feel kind of lucky."

She was pregnant.

Amy's hand instinctively went to her stomach, her fingers splaying out over the slight distension that was barely visible through her shirt. "Yeah, maybe." She didn't miss Ashley's eyes follow the movement as she turned her head away to gaze out her window. The sun was sinking beneath the horizon, dusk settling in over the quiet little town. Amy bit her lip. "Maybe not. Nothing makes sense anymore."

Ashley was quiet for a minute. "Mimzy called a little while ago. She got to the home safe."

Amy wasn't able to muster up anything to say about their grandmother. She loved Mimzy dearly, and she was devastated by her grandmother's admission to having early set Alzheimer's, and likewise disgusted at herself for even feeling the least bit put out when Mimzy simultaneously confessed that she couldn't take Amy in during the next six months as planned. At the same time, Amy was also hard-pressed not to admit, even to herself, that she was glad for the disruption. Running away to Mimzy's had only been an excuse not to deal with everything, hadn't it? It had been just another reason to deny that she was being forced into adulthood far sooner than she had ever planned.

"Have you talked to Ben lately?"

Amy blinked in surprise, and pulled her eyes away from her window to look at her sister. "Not much," she said quietly. "He's called me, but I haven't really been up to talking."

Ben. Ben Boykewich. A fifty-five year old man trapped inside the lanky, awkward body of a fifteen year old boy. Her boyfriend of a month and seven days. The boy that had been her rock throughout this entire ordeal thus far. The boy who said he loved her. The boy who wanted to marry her. The boy who wanted to be the father to her baby.

Because she was fifteen and pregnant.

And despite the cheesy phrases he constantly said, the old-style mannerisms he seemed to favor, and his habit of filling her voicemail with continuous declarations of his love for her at all hours of the night, she really did love him. Yet, there was always something missing in their relationship, and Amy often pondered about what exactly it was that kept her from feeling as strongly about Ben as he felt about her.

The harsh trill of her cell phone startled her out of her thoughts, and she reached her arm out to snag it from her nightstand. The number that flashed onto the tiny LCD screen wasn't one she recognized, but the area code was familiar and she flipped it open and held it up to her ear, ignoring the curious look Ashley shot her. "Hello?"

"Amy?"

She nearly dropped the phone at the smooth, easy voice that greeted her and almost immediately felt a surge of anger flow through her, and she crossed her arms over her chest. "How did you get my number?" she asked in a pinched sort of tone.

"One of your friends gave it to me; Lauren, I think it was," he replied, and Amy felt the anger start to rise again at the smugness he never seemed to get rid of when he spoke, and at the implication that Lauren would do something so underhanded when Amy had explicitly forbade her from doing it.

"I told you I would call you when and if I wanted to," she grit out. Ashley leaned in, straining to make out the conversation. Amy heard him sigh, and she could almost envision him running his hand down his face in exasperation. Ever since that night in her living room a few weeks prior, she hadn't seen or spoken to him, and he didn't try to contact her, despite his voiced desire to do just that when she unceremoniously kicked him out of her house. However, if she were really honest with herself, she was more surprised he hadn't called her sooner. The more she thought about it, the angrier she got, not only at him, but at herself for even feeling that she had actually wanted him to call her.

"I know that, but I haven't heard anything from you in the last week or so. I heard about you deciding not to go to your grandmother's, and I realized we needed to talk." He paused and Amy could make out a faint noise in the background that resembled the sound a car made pulling into a driveway. "I told you; I want to be involved in this, too. I deserve that much."

Amy barked out an incredulous laugh. "I don't think you deserve much of anything, Ricky, and to be honest, I'm still not sure I want anything to do with you."

Ricky was silent for a moment. "I can understand that, but it doesn't change the fact that that baby is just as much a part of me as it is you, Amy, and I want it to know my part. We both know that I'm not a nice guy, and I don't have a great track record, but I'm willing to try if you'll let me."

Ashley's mouth dropped open, and Amy clutched the phone to her ear with stiff, white fingers. "I don't know," she admitted as honestly as she could. "Why should I risk something like that with you when I have Ben? Explain it to me, Ricky. You said it yourself: you're not a nice guy. What makes you think you can change that now?" At the same time, deep down, Amy knew that she really did want Ricky to take some responsibility for the situation. Even though Ben was willing to step in, she just couldn't feel right about it. Ben was a great person, but the bottom line was that Ricky was her baby's father. He needed to prove to her that he was capable of filling that role before she could ever seriously consider Ben. She owed him that chance at least, didn't she?

"Well, we'll never know unless we give it a shot, will we?" Ricky said. He paused before continuing. "You don't have to like me, Amy. You don't even have to pretend to like me. All I'm asking for is the chance to be involved in the process, whether it be doctor's appointments or choosing an adoption agency. I want to have some say. All you need to do is let me."

Amy swallowed hard, and looked at Ashley. Her younger sister was staring at the phone with an expression of mild interest on her face, her eyes thoughtful. Glancing up at Amy, she gave her a steady nod, her message clear: Give him a shot.

Biting her lip, she adjusted the phone. "If I decide, it's only going to be on my terms." There was no room for discussion on that particular detail, and Amy was ready to fight Ricky tooth and nail if he was going to challenge it.

However, for the second time that night, Ricky Underwood surprised her.

"I figured it would be, and I have no problem with it." He sounded so sincere that Amy had to repress the urge to pull the phone away and look at it in amazement.

"Okay, then," she finished lamely. Shaking her head, she cleared her throat. "When I schedule my next appointment, I'll let you know."

"I'd appreciate that. I guess I'll see you around then?"

Amy closed her eyes. "I guess so."

"All right. Oh, and Amy? Thanks."

She sighed heavily. "Don't thank me yet, Ricky," she murmured as she snapped the phone shut and tossed it on the bed before burying her face in her pillow with a loud groan.

Ashley pulled it out of her reach. "I think they've stopped," she remarked, inclining her head towards the door and at the silence that had settled from downstairs. Amy only shrugged and grabbed for the pillow again. Ashley rolled her eyes and dropped it over her sister's head. "How's Ben going to feel when he finds out you're going to let Ricky get involved?" she asked suddenly. Amy scowled.

"He's going to have to deal with it, I guess," she said firmly. "And it's still not a done deal. But, with the assumption that it will be, Ben will get to have his say and I'll still be the one making the decisions." Bemused, Ashley cocked an eyebrow.

"It sounded like a done deal," she stated as she stood up and headed for the door. Pausing as she twisted the doorknob, she glanced back at her sister. "For what it's worth, I think you're making the right choice." Her lips lifted upwards into a smirk as a sudden thought struck her. "You didn't stutter once, either," she said, almost admirably, before slipping out of the room and leaving Amy to reflect, once again, on the way her life was turning out.

However, this time, rather than sink back into the funk she'd let herself fall into, Amy Juergens could admit to herself that she didn't feel quite so alone anymore as she curled up on her bed and fell asleep.

And about four miles from her bedroom, Ricky Underwood shoved his cell phone into his jeans and stood up from the table in the darkened kitchen and allowed himself a little smile--a real smile-- as he sauntered up the stairs towards his bedroom.

She was fifteen and pregnant and he was going to see it through with her.