[A/N: Thank you all, and I don't know why but I felt like I didn't include enough Chalant, so this chapter should hopefully make up for that. Mail Time -]
MVictoria994: Thank you darling! And I tried to include his reaction, but I think I'm going to wait until the next chapter!
Poseidon'sdaughter3: Have no fear there's no crickets here! 'GO SUCK AN ICICLE!' is my new catchphrase :)
silvergirl550: I'm glad you don't mind, and thanks for the support.
ItsGacyPuddin: LOL, because he's all about the ice!
firecrackerxx: :( What? You don't like it?
Chalant Lover: YAY! Thank you for your kindness, and you found your dress so DOUBLE YAY! When you read my stuff it makes me happy Trezha ;)
Artemis' POV:
Wally pulls up ten minutes after I call him and he's already freaking out. When he sees me, it only gets worse.
"Arty? What happened to you?" He asks, running up to me. I'm holding my nose. It still really hurts, and it's still bleeding a little.
He helps me stand up. "I'm okay, Wally. Can you just take me to your house for a little?"
"Look at you, Artemis! You're all bruised and bloody! You're not okay." He opens the car door for me.
I sigh and sit in the passenger seat. "Can we just go to your house?" He opens his mouth to object, but I cut him off. "I swear I will tell you everything once we get there. Just please, take me away from here."
He looks reluctant, so I pout. "Please?"
"I think I should take you to a hospital."
"No, no. I'll be fine."
"But you're bleeding."
"Trust me; Bab's broke my nose before. I know what it feels like. This is not a broken nose," I say and gesture to my face.
He sighs, but motions for me to turn around right in the seat. I do and buckle my seatbelt. He shuts the door; then, he gets in the driver side.
"Are you sure you don't want me to take you to an emergency room?" He asks once again before we leave.
"I'm sure, Wally. I just wanna get away from here." He looks at me, but doesn't ask any other questions except for the occasional "Are you okay?"
When we finally get to his house, my nose stops bleeding, but there's still dried blood all over my face and hands.
I go to clean up before Wally can pressure me into some answers. I really don't want to tell him. I don't want to tell anybody.
I look in the mirror after I'm done cleaning the blood away, which incidentally, cleaned the makeup that I had on my face off, revealing the other bruise that was still there.
I sigh at my reflection. How did I become this? How did I become this girl where I let a guy use me? Logically, I know what Cameron did wasn't my fault, but I can't help it. How did I let this happen? How didn't I get out of there when he first hit me? Why did I go back?
I'm so stupid. Because of my poor judgment, I allowed not only myself, but my baby to be put in danger. Oh, god, I'm going to be a horrible mom…
I start to cry right in the bathroom and soon there's a knock on the door. "Arty?" Wally asks from behind the door. "Are you okay in there?"
I wipe my tears quickly and open the door. He's standing on the other side with a very concerned expression. He gasps angrily when he sees my bruised face, but his voice is soft and gentle. "Please, Artemis," he begs, reaching out and gently touching my face. "Tell me what happened."
I take in a shuddery breath. "Well, you know Cam and I broke up, right?" He nods. "It was because we got into an argument and…" I trailed off not wanting to say it.
Wally's fists clench. "Cameron did this to you?"
I nod. "The first time, right before we broke up, he slapped me, but this time he slapped me so hard I fell on to his bed. My nose started bleeding." He's shaking at this point, and I'm afraid to tell him the rest of what happened, but I do anyway, because I need to tell somebody, even if I don't want to.
"He shook me really hard too. Gave me a really bad headache, called me a slut and pulled my hair."
Wally takes a deep breath and tries to calm himself. He takes my hands in his, then he sees the bruises that are starting to form on my neck. Hand shaped bruises.
"He did this to you?" Wally asks and I nod once again. "I'm not blaming you, but why," he asks looking at me with sad eyes. "Why would you go back to him after he hurt you, Arty?"
"I…" I look away from him. "I told him about the baby. I thought he might want to be involved."
"He hit you even after he knew about the baby?" His voice has a fierceness to it now that it didn't have before.
"Yeah…"
He drops my hands and starts moving toward the door I grab his arm. "NO, WALLY!" I yell. "Do not go back there!"
"Why not? He obviously likes to beat up on people! Let's see him take on somebody his own size!" He starts to walk away again, but I grab him. "Wally, please," I plead, my voice breaking. "I just want this all to go away. Going there will only prove to him that he has some kind of power. Please, Wally. Please."
He takes a deep breath, then another, and another until he's finally calm enough to speak. "You're gonna press charges, right?"
I shake my head. "I don't want to."
"But, Artemis-"
"Please, Wally. I don't want to. I just can't." He bites his lip and reluctantly nods.
"It's your decision." I breathe a sigh of relief. Thank god, he's letting this go.
"But,"
'Oh no,' I think to myself.
"If Cameron doesn't want to be this baby's daddy, then, I will. I'm not letting you do this alone, Artemis."
Megan's POV:
Zatanna appeared at my loft, surprising me this casual afternoon.
"Hi," I say walking out to the kitchen. "Do you want a snack? Are you craving anything?" I rub my teeny tiny, not-even-noticeable baby belly and she remembers that we needed to talk, about something.
She shakes her head no. "So, Megan," She begins as I go to make my own snack.
"Yeah?"
"You told Conner, right?" I freeze.
"No…" I say slowly.
"Oh, really? Well in any case, can you help me with how I should tell Dick?"
"I guess I could, although my advice might not be exact, it would probably be best to do it in a way you're comfortable, so how do you feel?"
She groans. "I don't know! I better hurry up too. The doctor says I'm already two or three months pregnant and I need-"
"Whoa," I say, extending my arms. "Two or three months already? When did you go to a doctor?"
"Yesterday," She informs. "I went by myself."
"How didn't you realize that you weren't pregnant for three months?"
"It could just only be two!"
"Yeah, but didn't you wonder why you were getting hungry all the time?"
She shakes her head. Strange, I'm always hungry.
"What about throwing up?"
She shakes her head again. Why doesn't she see a problem with it?
"Didn't you notice your stomach was getting bigger?"
She nods her head vigorously. Of course I'd noticed it, but how did she see it without the other symptoms?
I look at her suspiciously. "When was the last time you got your period?" She shrugged.
And then I realize something, "How much do you weigh?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" She yells, turning and walking away from me, but I follow her.
"Zatanna," I say slowly from behind her. She doesn't stop walking and I grab her arm. She jerks backwards and becomes face to face with me. "Zatanna," she says firmly.
"I think you have an eating disorder."
She pulls her arm away violently and shakes her head. "No, Megan. You don't know what you're talking about."
"Yes, I do, Zee. All the signs are there. It made it so you didn't even realize that you're pregnant," I say, keeping my voice down so Gar doesn't hear.
"Shut up," She says walking to grab her schoolbag.
"When was the last time you ate?" I shout and she stops dead in her tracks.
"That's none of your business!"
"If you don't have an eating disorder, then come and eat something in my kitchen right now."
"SHUT UP, MEGAN! JUST SHUT UP!"
"Zee, I'm just trying to help!"
"WELL, STOP! I DON'T NEED PERFECT MEGAN'S HELP! I'M FINE! AND YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT, SO JUST LEAVE IT ALONE!"
Zatanna's POV:
I lay on my bed, face down. I shut off my phone after Dick called me the fifth time. Thanks a lot Megan... I really don't want to deal with this. I don't have an eating disorder. I don't. I just don't like to get fat.
I hear a knock on my on my door. "Go away," I say, but it's muffled by my pillow. The door opens anyway and I hear Dick say, "It's me."
"I don't wanna talk right now, Dick."
"Please?" he asks, sitting on the side of my bed and placing a hand on my back. I try to ignore him, but he doesn't leave. Eventually I turn onto my back.
"There's my beautiful girl," he says with a small smile. I don't smile back.
"Tanna…"
I roll my eyes. "What do you want to talk about? I don't feel good."
"Zatanna, please don't shut me out. What happened to telling each other everything?"
I groan.
"Megs, thinks you might have an eating disorder."
"Not you too, Dick..." I sit up, cross legged, and look at him, hugging my pillow.
"I'm not saying that I think you do, but you would tell me. Right, Tanna? 'Cause I do love you and I want you to be happy, but…"
He keeps rambling on, but he has no idea what he's talking about. Normally, I think it's cute, but today my head hurts and my heart hurts and I just want him to be quiet. So, I say the only thing that I know will silence him.
"I'm pregnant."