Fallout here and i want to thank Noleb for reviewing and following my story, thank you Noleb.
I don't own Modern Family or any of the characters from the show, enjoy.
The 7th of December, 10:21 pm. Haley's POV.
I was standing in the kitchen, staring at my cellphone. Clay had left for work only a few minutes ago, which made him late. We had sat at the table and just talked, he seemed to be taking it well. He asked about my family and this was why I was staring at my cellphone. I lived up state away from everyone, I haven't seen any of my family in at least a year. They didn't even know I was dating anyone.
I was going to keep it, I knew that. But it still didn't help how scary this whole thing is. What was my family going to think? Alex would probably think its funny. My Mom will probably lose it and I didn't want to think about my Dad or my Grandpa for that matter.
I sigh, pushing my fears aside, finally working up the courage to call and quickly pick the number marked Mom. I feel panic rise in my chest again. I, Haley Dunphy had screwed up again, and big this time. I can still see my mother's face from when I told them I had flunked out of college, and now I have to tell them I'm bringing a child into the world.
I freeze, oh god I'm bringing a child into the world. I'm only nineteen and working some shitty little office job just to get by and now I'm going to be someone's mother. Clay was better off then me, he worked for himself as a contractor but still he was only nineteen too, is he ready to be a father? Part of me wanted to hang up the phone before she could pick it up, but I was too late.
"Hey sweetheart" I hear my mother's voice.
I bite my lip for a few seconds, before finally saying something.
"Hey" I say, sitting on the counter. "How are things?" I ask, looking around the kitchen.
"Well you know how your father and Luke get sometimes, well they got an RC helicopter and crashed it into the Johnson's living room" she says.
I laugh lightly. "Really?" I ask, smiling slightly
"Yes, ah, sometimes I worry about what would happen if I wasn't here" she says, sounding frustrated.
"Well, I'm just calling to let you know about Christmas" I say, looking down at my bare feet.
"Haley, you can't miss Christmas, you already skipped Thanksgiving and Luke's birthday" she says, with a slight bite to her voice.
"No Mom, I'm coming" I say, rolling my eyes. "Um... well, I'm just calling to let you know I'm bringing someone"
The 7th of December, 12:01 am. Claire's POV.
"I can't believe she's bringing some boy home, I bet they haven't even been dating that long" I say, as I pulled the comforter back and get into bed.
"This is a good thing, she wants us to be a part of her life" Phil says, also getting into bed.
Phil did have a point. After Haley flunked out of school, me and her had a huge fight and I mean huge. When she got her job up north and moved, it took her four months to even call. So, me and her won't on the best terms. But this was a good sign right? She was letting us back in.
"You're right, I'll try to be nice" I say, pulling the comforter back.
Phil leans over and kisses me on the cheek. "And don't worry, I'll give him the whole 'tough dad' talk"
I can't help but roll my eyes.
The 7th of December, 2:37 am. Haley's POV.
I was laying in my bed, looking up at the ceiling. I couldn't get to sleep, not with all the thoughts bouncing around my head, from telling my family, to Clay and how he was taking it. I've only known him for ten months and we've only been dating for eight of them. He was the quiet type, who kept most of his thoughts to himself. So I couldn't help but wonder if he was freaking out too and just playing it cool for me. I'm not book smart, but I know people. So I know Clay cares for me, but even after eight months he hasn't said he loves me. I been telling him for at least six months that I love him, so I couldn't help but wonder if he feels trapped now. Because I know him, if somethings bothers him, he'll just live with it.
A part of me knows I'm just being stupid, he loves me. He doesn't have trouble showing it, but saying it out loud was hard for him... for some reason. But still that silly little thought sits at the back of my head, what if he feels trapped? Clay is the first serious boyfriend I've had since Dylan, the two couldn't be more different. Dylan told me everything, and I mean everything. Clay hardly ever talks about himself and when he does its one off comments. Dylan told me when he was happy, sad, hurting. Clay didn't even tell me when he broke two ribs, I found out when we were making out and I finally got his shirt off. Making out, huh? That of course almost always led to sex, which led to me getting pregnant. Which is why I'm sitting here in the dark, staring at the ceiling, thinking about the only two serious boyfriends I ever had.
I let out a sigh. Man, I'm pregnant. It was still weird to think about that. I was growing a little person inside me, a little someone. I was tied to Clay for the rest of my life no matter what, me and him would always have a child together. I love Clay, I do. But this relationship started as just something fun, nothing serious, meaningful or life changing. But now what? Are we going to move in together? Get married? What? It started as just two neighbors hanging out, then it was two neighbors going out together, then two neighbors having sex. Now what? Two neighbors having a kid together? What am I going to tell my parents? My neighbor slash boyfriend got me pregnant, hope you're ready to be grandparents. That will go great, I'm sure.
I roll over, wishing I could just stop thinking and let myself sleep. I hear his truck pull up, he's the only one who would be getting home this late on a Wednesday, so I know its him. I slowly sit up and get out of bed, going to the window. I see him get out of the truck. I want to talk to him, even if its late. So I go to the door of my room and then slowly down the hall to the front door, hoping not to wake my roommate Amber. I haven't told her yet and I probably won't anytime soon. I open it and step out into the cold night air. I walk over to the truck, wishing I would of put on shoes or a jacket. He turns and sees me, he smiles his small smile. He's wearing a old gray hoodie covered in paint, old jeans also covered in paint and he even seems to have a little bit of paint in his hair.
"You finish?" I ask, rubbing my hands together. I feel like an idiot, standing out in the cold like this.
"Yeah, they will be opening in a few hours" he answers, watching me shivering. "You cold?" he asks, looking at me. Me standing there in old wore out pajama bottoms and one of his t-shirts, that is way too big for me, with my arms wrapped around myself.
"A little" I say, with a smile, still shivering. Clay could almost always make me smile, it was one of the many things I love about him.
He shakes his head, grabbing his work bag from the truck's cab, before locking it up. Then he walks over to his apartment's door, pulling out his keys. I follow close behind him. He opens it and holds it open for me, I dart inside. He closes the door behind himself and puts his keys into the small bowl I got him a few months back. He used to lose his keys all the time, so I got him the bowl knowing it would help, he hasn't lost his keys since.
"Have you been waiting for me to get home?" he asks, looking over at me.
"I couldn't sleep" I say sheepishly, looking up at him. "You know, a lots on my mind" I say, looking down at my bare feet.
He nods, going to the kitchen. I follow behind him and sit on the counter next to the sink. He turns the sink on and pulls a paint brush from his work bag, then starts running it under some hot water.
"Talk to your mom?" he asks, looking over at me.
I nod. "Yeah, I told her, I'll be bringing you to Christmas" I say, swinging my legs slowly.
"Good, so... are we going to tell them?" he asks, looking back down at the brush.
"Yeah, just tell everyone at once, you know get it out of the way" I say, looking over at him. He's glaring slightly at the brush. I know that look, even if I can only see the side of his face. That look meant he was deep in thought, this is what happens when you date someone who doesn't talk much, you learn to read them. I wonder if he's thinking about his family.
He sets the brush down and turns off the water, then he starts looking through his work bag again.
"How about your father and brother, we could go see them before New Years" I say weakly, watching him dig through the bag. I know his family isn't an easy subject for him.
I haven't met his brother or his father, but I know they're the only family he has left. But I also know they don't get along. Not like me and Alex or me and my Mom. They really don't get along, he said the last time him and his brother talked, he broke his brother's nose. That took me about an hour of digging for him to just tell me that. As for his father... well Clay didn't like talking about him, not that he liked talking about his brother... but his father was different.
The only things I knew about his father were from one off comments, I wasn't sure if the comments were jokes or not. I knew he didn't have a happy childhood. Sometimes when he's sleeping, he says things. They always sound like pleads or begging, they scared me honestly. Bad things happened to him when he was a kid and I knew that, but he didn't want to talk about it and anytime I would bring it up, he just leaves or doesn't say a word. I wish he would let me in a little bit.
"Damn, must of left it" he says, stopping. "My shoe's untied" he says, dropping to one knee. "I was going to do this tomorrow, but now is just as good as later" he says. I look down at him, in his hand is a small black box, sitting in the middle of the box is a diamond ring. "Haley will you marry me?" he asks, holding it up.
The first thing a pops into my head is yes. But I stop myself. "I don't know what to say" I say, putting my hands on his cheeks. I pulled him in for a kiss. I break the kiss after a minute.
"Yes?" he asks, smiling his small smile at me.
"No" I say, his smile falls. I quickly take his large hands in my small ones. "If you ever ask me to marry you, I want you to do it because you want to, not because you feel like that's the right thing to do" I say, before kissing him again. I deepen the kiss this time, but he still breaks it and stares at me for a few seconds.
"I do w... I..." he mutters before nodding and standing to his full height. Setting the ring and its box on the counter. He looks down at the paint on his hands. Something seems off about him, but I can't put my finger on it. He looks back up at me and smiles, then leans over and kisses me again. "I need a shower" he says, breaking the kiss and putting his hands on my hips. "You staying the night?" he asks, his dark brown eyes looking deeply into mine.
I bite my lip, a little. Wondering if I should, I know I want to. But he just propose and I said no, was spending the night a good idea? I know I would sleep better with him by my side, but...
"Would you mind?" I ask, not looking at him
"No, of course not" he says, before lightly kissing me on the lips. He breaks the kiss and smiles at me. "Go ahead get in bed, I'll only be a minute" he says, before walking towards the bathroom.
I hop off the counter and start towards the hall that led to the bedroom, but I stop. I look back at the counter. My eyes fall on the box, I walk over to it as I hear the shower start. I open it and look at the ring. I can't believe how beautiful it is. I look over my shoulder before putting it on. It looks and fits great, I hold my hand out and smile at the diamond. Now I really wish I would of said yes, I could just see myself coming down the aisle in a beautiful white dress, but I'm very, very pregnant. I sigh and put it back in the box and go to the bedroom.
I crawl into his bed and get under the comforter. I lay there in the dark, I can't help but go back to my thoughts from earlier. How will my family react to the news, it scares the hell out of me. My hand goes to my still flat belly. I know it won't stay that way for long. A child is growing inside me, a little someone. The one question that pops into my head the most is 'am I ready?' I kinda still feel like a teenager, like at any moment my parents will come in and clean up my big, big mess. But that's not going to happen, I'm an adult and I'm going to have to deal with this myself. I hear the shower stop and a few minutes later the door opens. I feel him crawl into the bed and under the comforter next to me. He puts one of his large arms around my middle and pulls me close to him, my hand finds his and I hold it.
My other hand finds its way to his wrist, I run one of my fingers across the deep and jagged scar that sits there. I know he has a matching scar on the other wrist. Clay has a few scars on his body, but these two are the only ones that worry me. His scars were just another thing he never talked about, it bothered me he didn't trust me enough to tell me about anything really.
"Everything is going to be alright, ain't it?" I ask, wondering aloud. My finger still slowly going up and down the scar.
"Yeah" he says, giving my hand a comforting squeeze. "Trust me" he says.
You don't trust me, I almost say. "I love you, Clay" I say, hoping he'll say it back. If he just says it back, I'll know enough. I need him to say it back.
"Night" he says, kissing the back of my head.
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