Sat over the toilet, throwing my guts up, I couldn't help but think I'd had better days. Shane poked his gorgeous head round the bathroom door a glass of water in his big hand and a small sympathetic smile on his mouth.
"Wash your mouth out, it'll make you feel better." I did as he suggested, running the tap until the water was ice cold and putting my head under it.
"I think I'm fine now. I probably just ate some bad food or something yesterday."
"Good 'cause Eve's moaning about needing her bathroom time and there's some breakfast on your bed starting to go cold…." He trailed off and I smiled at him, earning a light brush of his lips on my forehead.
I wondered into my room and stopped as I saw what was sitting on my bed. It was a small wooden tray holding two slices of buttered toast, a glass of orange juice, a bottle of Pepto-Bismol and a small glass vase holding a single red rose. It was so kind that I felt over whelmed by emotion and I was surprised when I felt fresh tears rolling down my cheeks.
"Claire, honey, what's wrong? Do you feel ill again 'cause I can kick Eve outa there if you need-" he didn't finish his sentence mainly because I smothered him in a hug, salty tears soaking into his thin grey t-shirt.
"I love you. I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you…" I continued murmuring to him around tear reduced hiccups. He rubbed my back in slow circles and kissed the crook of my neck.
"I love you, too, Claire. I will always love you. Now eat your breakfast, its going cold, while I ring Myrnin and tell him you're sick and you need the day off, okay?" I nodded, slowly munching on a piece of toast, while Shane flipped open my clamshell phone and scrolled through the contacts list.
He hit dial and raised the phone to his ear. "No, this isn't Claire." He said snappily "It's Shane. Her boyfriend. Claire's sick and she won't be able to make it into work today." He waited for a moment and then said in an even colder tone "Well, considering she's just been throwing up into the toilet for half an hour, I'm pretty sure. Yes, I'll tell her. Right. Bye." He hung up the phone and then said "Kisses!" to the blank screen.
He turned and smiled at me (a breath-taking sight) and said "No problamo. Mr-Boss-man says that he's disappointed that you can't come in today that he needed someone to feed bob- whoever the hell that is- and that he expects more from his assistant in future blah, blah, blah you get the picture."
He came over and sat next to me on the bed holding the bottle of Pepto-Bismol out to me. I took it but even the thought of consuming that thick pink liquid made me gag and sprint for the bathroom. I barged in, completely ignoring the protesting shouts of Eve who was applying make-up to herself in front of the mirror, and promptly threw up.
Eve looked down at me her nose wrinkled in disgust at my position over the toilet.
"Ew." She declared "I'm pretty there's some pepto around here somewhere if you want-" But I shook my head weakly at the word 'pepto' so she plopped beside me put an arm around my shoulders and handed me the glass of water Shane had earlier given to me.
"You do look a bit pasty-and yes this is coming from the girl who covers her face in rice powder make up every day- maybe you should lie down. Its only eight o' clock in the morning for Christ's sake. Your probably tired. Get some rest, you'll feel better later on. And, well, your eighteen now and after your first proper hangover this will be like child's play. You should probably get used to throwing up." She said giving my shoulders a light squeeze before she zoomed of to get dressed and have yet another mug of coffee.
When I walked back into my room Shane was sprawled across my bed chewing the discarded crusts of off my toast. He looked up when I entered the room.
"Better?" he asked concern making his eyes twinkle. I gave a non-committal shrug and sat down next to him.
"I think I will be, I just need to get dressed and have some fresh air." I waited for him to leave but he stayed sprawled on my bed, his hands clasped behind his head, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
I raised my eyebrows and pointed at the door. He raised one eyebrow and looked me up and down, making me giggle.
"I'm going to get dressed. Out."
"You wonder why I wasn't leaving."
I rolled my eyes and pointed at the door again. "Shoo. Perv…" he laughed came up behind me and kissed the tip of my ear as a goodbye and jogged out of the room. I sighed as I watched him go, not being able to stop myself checking out his butt as he walked down the hall. Much.
I shoved on a pair of three-quarter-lengths, a tight long sleeved red V-neck and a pair of grubby high-tops. Then I walked down the hall to Shane's room knocked once and then entered. Lucky for me he was just sliding on a fresh t-shirt giving me the chance to appreciate the awesomeness of his torso while I waited. He spun round quickly, too quickly as he caught me checking him out, and then asked "Hey! No fair, how come I don't get to see you without a shirt?"
I laughed but ignored his question. "Hey I'm walking down to the pharmacy to pick up something for my stomach. You need anything?"
"Well let's see, I'm all out of aspirin and I could do with some deodorant. But that should be about it. Oh-and I'm fresh out of tampons." I rolled my eyes and calmly informed him that he could by his own things if he was going to be cheeky. He shot me a lop-sided grin before I stepped out of his room and walked through the house making a list of things needed by my fellow housemates, before I walked out the door into the sweltering heat of Texas.
The pharmacy was small but had all the essentials packed into the tiny space. I grabbed a basket from the stack by the door and wondered around the shop, filling it with toiletries. Wondering round the isles, I stopped dead in my tracks as I saw what was on the next shelf. Almost as though I was in a trance, I grabbed one of the little white boxes and started working things out in my head. I'd been so preoccupied by everything going on-and believe me something's always going on in Morganville-I hadn't paid attention to the trivial things. Hadn't realised that my period was ten days late.
Hastily, I shoved the box in my basket making sure it was covered by all my other items before I walked towards the till. The middle aged at the checkout women scanned my items silently, raising her eyebrows when she saw the carefully concealed box but otherwise making no comment.
I thanked her and exited the little shop as I walked down the street, only having enough self-control to stop myself from running down the street.
I managed to enter the house and lock myself in the bathroom before anyone had noticed my presence. I plucked the pregnancy test out of the plastic bag, read the instructions on the back of the box and did the unavoidable.
I shut my eyes for three whole seconds then slowly prized open one eye to look at the result.
