STRONG ENOUGH TO BREAK

Cappie wasn't running because he knew that Rusty wasn't in immediate danger. But he was walking quickly. He didn't know why Rusty had such an effect on him. Sure he was his big brother but deep down he knew his love for Rusty had a lot to do with his sister Casey. Thinking of her made him smile a little but it quickly turned into a frown. He hadn't really spoken to her since the night they had sex. He felt bad for avoiding her but at the same time he knew it was the best for him. His heart was already wounded beyond repair when it came to Casey Cartwright.

He arrived at the park and searched around for Rusty. He didn't see him. Cappie was just about to turn around and head back thinking Rusty became tired of waiting for him when he heard a female crying. He scanned the area once again seeing the crying girl sitting on a bench in the middle of the park. Cappie's friendly instincts kicked in and started to walk towards the crying girl.

"Are you OK?" he asked approaching her.

Cappie froze in his steps as the girl looked up at him. It was Casey. He took his hand and ran it through his hair as he continued to stare at her.

"Cap what are you doing here?" Casey asked wiping the tears off of her face.

Cappie walked over and sat next to her.

"I got a call from Rusty," he said. "He told me to meet him here."

"UGH! I could punch that kid!" said Casey as she buried her head in her hands.

"Wait, am I missing something here?" Cappie asked.

Casey turned to look at Cappie. She began to hyperventilate. She did this partly because she was angry as hell at her brother but partly because she knew that this was it. If she didn't tell Cappie now she probably was never going to get the nerve to do it. She looked into his soft blue eyes. They were staring at her intently waiting for her to answer his question. She attempted to take a deep breath.

"Rusty and Ashleigh made me upset and I came here to get away from them. I'm assuming he called you so you could come out here and rescue me or something," she finally replied.

Cappie could sense the frustration in her voice.

"Look if you don't need to be rescued then I can just go," he said standing up.

"No, it's OK," said Casey grabbing his hand and pulling him back down next to her. "I could use a friend right now, even if we haven't been much of friends lately."

"Case, about that," Cappie began.

"Don't," Casey interrupted. "I've been crying enough lately and you actually telling me you don't want to be friends with me anymore is just going to make it worse."

Cappie shook his head.

"That's not what I was going to say," he said. "I'll always be here for you as a friend."

Casey couldn't help but roll her eyes and look away.

"Look," Cappie continued. "Rusty told me you've been sick. I'm sorry I wasn't there for you as a friend. I just needed some time to figure things out."

"What did you need to figure out?" asked Casey. "About how much of a mistake you made calling me that night in January?"

"No, that wasn't the mistake," Cappie responded. "I needed a friend and you were there for me. The mistake was what we did later that night. It never should have happened."

Casey could feel the tears start to build up on her eyes yet again. It was so much more of a mistake than he already knew. Cappie looked at her and saw the tears in her eyes. He knew he needed to say something.

"I mean, it wasn't necessarily a mistake," he corrected himself. "It was probably something beautiful. Honestly, I don't even remember it I was so drunk. I just wish it didn't happen under those circumstances. If it was something sober and mutual between the two of us, things would have been different."

"You told me you loved me that night," Casey blurted out. She didn't care anymore. She was about to tell Cappie he was a father. She might as well get everything out now.

Cappie sat there dumbfounded. "I did?" he asked.

Casey nodded.

They each sat there staring down at their hands, avoiding eye contact.

"So why have you been crying?" Cappie finally asked.

Casey didn't respond.

"Because of me?" Cappie asked with uncertainty in his voice.

"Um, sort of," Casey finally replied.

Cappie sat up and turned towards Casey. She did the same but continued to avoid eye contact with him.

"Are you going to elaborate?" Cappie finally asked.

Casey took a deep breath. "Confusion at first," she began. "It was really hard for me to hear someone tell me they love me and then avoid me like the plague for the next several weeks. And then of course you have our Dobler's incident where you made it very clear you still didn't want anything to do with me. How could I not feel used after that?"

Cappie instantly felt really bad. He really had no idea he had told Casey that he loved her that night. She's always had a place in his heart but he was even surprised himself he had said that to her.

"I completely understand how you feel," Cappie finally responded. "I felt the exact same way when you left me rush night last year."

"But I still talked to you afterwards," said Casey. "I didn't go out of my way and avoid you at all costs."

"I was hurt Case," said Cappie. "We both know deep down we don't belong together. I'm the un-ambitious frat guy and you're the focused, driven sorority girl. That's why we didn't work out the first time. Nothing's changed. It would be the exact same ending."

"I was hurt too Cap," said Casey finally turning to meet eyes with Cappie. "I could deal with you rejecting me again. I understand we can't be together as a romantic couple. But the fact that I couldn't even come and talk to you as a friend is what hurt me the most. I can't lose you as a friend Cap."

Tears started to run down Casey's face as she said that last line. Cappie reached his hand up to wipe them off of her cheek.

"Don't cry please," he said. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have avoided you. That was my fault. I'm here now as your friend. I will always be your friend."

Casey smiled slightly as she leaned in and gave Cappie a hug. He wrapped his arms around her tightly. His embrace actually made Casey cry more. She knew she needed Cappie more than a friend at this point. She still hadn't completed the ultimate task of telling him about the baby. Cappie pulled away and looked at Casey.

"Hey," he said softly. "No more crying. Everything is going to be fine. Let's forget that night even happened. Let's start all over and erase the past few weeks."

Now Casey began to sob. Cappie took his hand and lifted her chin to look at him. He looked at her confused.

"Is there something else wrong?" he finally asked.

Casey began to hyperventilate once again. A bout of nausea suddenly hit her. It was like the baby was trying to tell her to just tell Cappie already. Mom, just tell my father.

"I, um, we, we can't just forget about that night," Casey eventually uttered out of her mouth.

Cappie returned his hand down to his lap as he continued to look at her confused as ever.

"God, I can't do this," said Casey standing up and starting to walk away.

"Wait, whoa, do what?" asked Cappie as he jumped up and went after her.

Casey froze. She wanted to collapse right then and there. She wanted to vomit right then and there. She closed her eyes as tight as she could hoping when she opened them she wouldn't be standing there in the park with Cappie. She hoped she would be in her bed and this was all a nightmare. She opened her eyes to find Cappie now standing right in front of her. His eyes were fixed on hers with a piercing stare, pleading her to tell him whatever was on her mind. More tears came spilling out of her eyes as she looked at the ground. Was she ever going to stop crying? Didn't tears eventually run out?

"Please, tell me whatever you need to tell me," said Cappie becoming somewhat choked up himself during this very tense moment.

Casey looked up and stared right into Cappie's eyes.

"I'm, I'm, I'm pregnant," she finally muscled out.

Casey wanted to see Cappie's reaction. But with the words she just uttered she felt all strength rush out of her legs and she collapsed to her knees on the ground, sobbing uncontrollably. For several minutes all she could see were Cappie's jeans still standing in front of her through her tears. Suddenly she felt his warm embrace around her again. He had knelt down in front of her and took her into his arms. She returned the embrace knowing that he probably needed it as much as she did now. She heard him softly sniffling in her ear as his head was buried in her shoulder. She squeezed him tighter as he did the same to her.

Cappie finally backed away and sat down on the ground wiping the tears out of his eyes.

"I'm, I'm the father?" Cappie finally asked even though he already knew the answer.

Casey nodded her head yes as she also sat on the grass.

Cappie let what Casey just said soak in for a minute staring up at the sky. He was first surprised that he wasn't mad. There was something about the situation that anger just didn't seem appropriate for. He tried to assess to see if he was possibly happy. But in the end the only emotion he knew for sure he was feeling was shock. He had been thinking about his future a lot lately but not one of his plans included having a child. Hell, none of his plans included Casey either. He looked down at her. She finally stopped sobbing. She now just had small tears occasionally running down her face. He knew he needed to say something.

"Have you been to the doctor?" he finally asked.

"Yes," she nodded her head. "Blood tests confirmed the six positive pregnancy tests I took several days before. I have another appointment March 23rd."

"So you're keeping the baby?" Cappie asked.

"Well what do you think we should do?" asked Casey who wanted to see what Cappie was thinking before she mentioned her plans.

"I don't think it matters much what I think," replied Cappie. "It's your body. You're the mother."

"But you're the father," Casey stated matter-of-factly. "I think you should be a part of this decision."

"God Case, I don't know," Cappie replied. "You can't just tell me something like this and expect me ten minutes later to know what to do."

"I know," Casey responded. "I've known for seven weeks now and still am going back and forth about the options."

Cappie nervously licked his lips. "Why did it take you so long to tell me Case?" he asked.

"I was scared," Casey replied. "This is something that affects the rest of your life. I was honestly considering just having an abortion and not even telling you. That way your life wouldn't be ruined."

"Case my life would be ruined if I found out years from now that you terminated my child without telling me. How could you even think that I wouldn't want to know?"

"Because you don't think about the future Cap," Casey replied.

"Wow, a child Case. Did you think I wouldn't step up? Because you obviously don't know me very well if you think friends and family mean nothing to me."

"That's not what I meant Cap," said Casey. "I actually pictured you as a great father. You're so compassionate and have so much love to give."

"Then let's keep the baby," Cappie replied.

"No, we can't make this decision tonight," said Casey sternly. "Over the next three weeks we have to weigh the pros and cons about what kind of future we can provide for our baby."

Cappie's heart fluttered just a bit with Casey's last words: our baby. Never in a million years did he think those words would come out of her mouth.

"Well if it's any conciliation my initial reaction is the keep the baby. I guess this may change with discussions in the future but right now my gut is telling us to keep it," said Cappie.

"My gut is telling me it's hungry," said Casey with a chuckle trying to lighten the mood a bit.

"That's my boy," said Cappie with a small smile.

Casey glared at him.

"Or girl," he quickly added.

Cappie stood up and reached down for Casey's hand. He pulled her up to a stand and rested his hands around her waist.

"No more secrets OK?" he asked staring into her eyes

"OK," Casey replied nodding her head yes.

Cappie wrapped his arms around her and squeezed her tightly.

"Everything's going to be OK," he said softly into her ear.

Casey could feel some relief from the stress she had been feeling. Sure both Rusty and Ashleigh had said the exact same words to her. But hearing them come from Cappie's mouth was different. She actually believed him. She knew he wasn't saying those words just to make her feel better. She could tell he truly believed them.

Cappie gave her a soft but friendly kiss on the cheek as he let go of her.

"Let's go get you and Cappie Jr. some food," he said putting his arm around her shoulder.

"Cappie Jr?" Casey asked with a smirk

Cappie just looked at her and smiled.

"I can dream right?" he replied.

The two of them walked arm and arm to a small diner just off campus. Casey was pleased how the conversation went. Sure no monumental decisions were made tonight but at least Cappie finally knew. She was not alone to make this decision by herself now. She had help and that was the single most wonderful news she had heard in the past seven weeks. Plus she could tell Cappie was going to be supportive. He initially wants to keep the baby. For once she felt like things were finally looking up. Everyone else was right. Things would get better once Cappie knew he was going to be a father. For the first time she actually felt like things were going to be OK.


A/N: Well there it is. The longest chapter yet. Cappie finally knows! Let me know what you guys think. I hope you liked it! Lots more exciting things to come in the next chapters.