Lindsay stood with Kim outside the doctors clinic the next day, the two of them apprehensive as they decided whether or not to go inside. Kim looked terrified, the reality of the situation surely sinking in. Lindsay too was terrified, but for other reasons.

"Maybe we should just go home. I mean, I'm probably not even pregnant." Kim shrugged, turning away just as Lindsay grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

"We've already made the appointment, Kim. We need to find out for sure."

Inside was incredibly intimidating. The white walls seemed to engulf them as they sat in the waiting room, surrounded by other patients. Kim stared at a baby across the room who was playing with their mother, a look of sheer terror on her face.

"This sucks." She mumbled to herself, throwing her head in her hands. Lindsay couldn't argue with her, mainly because her thoughts were pre-occupied with the night before. She hadn't breathed a word to Kim about what had happened, nor did she plan to. Given the already high tension, she figured it was the worst thing she could do.

"Kim Kelly?"

The two girls froze as Kim's name was called out about half an hour later, Kim gripping onto Lindsay's hand so tight that she thought her circulation would be cut off. She sighed heavily.

"Come in with me?"

Lindsay and Kim followed Brenda Sykes into her practise, her warm smile doing nothing to ease the anticipation that filled the air. They sat down on some plastic chairs, a poster of an attractive man and a woman running through a field opposite them. Lindsay always found it funny that doctors rooms subconsciously tried to convince you that everything was going to be ok, when that simply wasn't true.

"Now, Kim." Brenda started. She was tall and pretty, hair that fell in orange curls down her back. Her expression appeared to be that of the stark opposite to Kim's. "You mentioned on the phone that you think you might be pregnant, I'm guessing that's still the case?"

"Well, yeah?" Kim scoffed. "Nothing's changed in two days, believe it or not."

Lindsay cringed. Brenda seemed unphased, giving the two of them a soft smile.

"Ok. How long have you thought you might be pregnant?"

Lindsay sat in silence as Kim explained her situation, her uncertainty, the pregnancy test conundrum. Brenda was writing down on her notepad as she spoke, nodding her head every so often. She explained that she would have Kim do another test, one that was almost entirely accurate, not like the home kits. She told them that it should only take around five minutes to work after the sample had been produced, but that she would do a blood test to triple check, and that the results from that would be back in a couple of days.

Lindsay sat helplessly as Brenda accompanied Kim to a private bathroom. She stared at the happy couple on the wall, wishing herself away to a land where everybody was fine and there were no consequences for anything. She was scared for Kim, more than anything else. But there was another thought that kept niggling away in the back of her mind, one that she was trying to supress but it just kept on appearing. It was that she and Daniel kept having these moments, moments she never thought would happen. If Kim was pregnant, it changed everything.

Moments later, Kim re-appeared. She looked distressed, sitting on her hands as she rocked back and forth.

"Kim. I'm always going to be here for you, ok? No matter what happens." Lindsay spoke softly, staring at her friend who shot her back a teary eyed smile. Lindsay wanted to cry too.

About six minutes later, Brenda entered the room again. She still had that same warm smile, mirroring those of the couple on the wall.

"Well Kim, I have your results. Now I have the feeling this isn't what you want to hear, but as it turns out, the test has come back positive. From what I can tell, you're round about eight weeks along. Now, we obviously need to discuss options…"

Brenda's voice trailed off as Lindsay found herself zoning out and concentrating on her own thoughts. Everything was a blur, so much so that she was almost convinced she must have misheard the doctor. Kim couldn't be pregnant. She's sixteen, it's not ok for her to be pregnant. Daniel's scenario had worked out, so surely Kim's was going to as well.

But then Lindsay snuck a glance at Kim, whose expression had white hot fear written all over it. And suddenly the world came crashing down again, as reality sunk in. Lindsay realized that she couldn't save everyone. Sometimes, things didn't work out the way you needed them to. And in this moment, things couldn't possibly be any worse.

"Kim?"

Brenda's voice seemed to suck them both out of their individual trances, snapping them back to reality. "I want to book you in for another session sometime in the next few days. That way we can triple check all of our blood work. We can work out where you want to go from here. In the meantime, because you're sixteen I think it's best if you talk to your parents about this. And I do think it would be a good idea to talk to the father, if he's still involved."

Kim's head was in her hands, shaking from side to side.

"How the hell am I going to tell Daniel this?" She sobbed. "He can't even take care of himself, let alone a child. God damn it, I've ruined my life."

"Now Kim, your life is far from ruined…"

Brenda continued to talk, but Lindsay was feeling a little dizzy. She started thinking about what she had said before, that Kim was eight weeks along in her pregnancy. If that was true, then Kim had conceived during The Grateful Dead tour. And if that was the case…

Lindsay didn't say anything until they had left the clinic. They had made a second appointment for that Tuesday, with Kim reluctantly agreeing to talk to her mom about it. Lindsay was almost certain that wasn't going to happen. It would essentially mean her being kicked out of home, left to fend for herself. Lindsay had no intention of telling her own parents either, they would never understand. They climbed into Kim's car, which was when Kim broke down. She was crying so hard, Lindsay was genuinely concerned that she couldn't breathe. Somehow, it didn't seem right to reveal to Kim the truth in that moment. She had to let her cry, she had to let her come to terms with what was going on. After a while, Lindsay started to cry too. It really wasn't fair that after having such an amazing summer, this was how Kim's life had turned out.

Eventually, Kim was composed enough to drive them both home. Neither of them had any idea of what to say, nor how to respond to the situation. It wasn't until they pulled up at Lindsay's place that either of them were really able to come to terms with it all.

"Well, my life is totally over." Kim sighed loudly, tapping her fingers hard on the steering wheel. "All this time, I actually thought I had a shot at doing something good, you know? Should have known things would turn out this way. They always do."

"Kim, you still have a shot." Lindsay said, not sure if she was trying to convince Kim or herself of that. "Look, you have options, ok? And I'll be here, no matter what you decide to do."

"Yeah, right." Kim scoffed back. "Can you even imagine me and Daniel trying to raise a baby? The stupid thing won't stand a chance."

Lindsay's heart rate increased as she cleared her throat, wondering what was the best way to tell Kim the truth. She realized after much inward deliberation, that there really was no way this could go well.

"Kim, the doctor told you that you were eight weeks pregnant, right?"

"Yeah? So?"

"So? Kim, eight weeks ago we were in Memphis. Following The Dead."

"What's your point, Lindsay?"

"My point is that if you conceived eight weeks ago, then Daniel isn't the father. Not unless he somehow came to Memphis without you telling me."

All of a sudden, Kim's expression turned cold. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, eyes distant as she came to terms with what Lindsay had just told her. Lindsay was actually worried that she was going to start crying again, but she didn't. Instead, she shrugged.

"Yeah. I knew that."

"So…what are you going to do? Do you want to try and get in touch with Dave? I mean if he's the father, he probably has the right to know about it."

"God, no!" Kim exclaimed, exhaling loudly as she turned to Lindsay, a pained desperation in her eyes. "Lindsay. Do you mean it when you say you'll be there for me, no matter what I decide to do?"

Lindsay gave her a look to say that was obvious. "Of course I mean it!"

"Well then, you have to promise me you won't try and contact Dave. I don't want him to know anything about this."

Lindsay wasn't sure that was such a good idea, but she nodded her head anyway. After all, it was Kim's choice, not hers.

"I promise."

"Ok." Kim kept her glare on Lindsay. "Then you have to promise me something else. I'm gonna tell Daniel that he's the father. You have to promise me that you won't tell him, or ANYONE, the truth."

For a moment, Lindsay couldn't speak. It was the most horrifying thing she had ever heard Kim say, and the scariest part was that she was completely serious about it.

"What are you – Kim, no! I can't do that!"

"Lindsay!" Kim was hysterical now, her eyes darting all over the place. "This is my baby. It's my choice, ok?"

"Well yeah, but it's not his baby! Kim! You can't do that to him! How could you even think about doing that?"

"You just said that you would support me." Kim was close to tears again. "I'm asking you to do this one thing for me."

"Kim, no." Lindsay too was nearly in tears, because she couldn't believe she had to stand up to her best friend like this. Mostly, she couldn't believe that Kim would be willing to do something like this.

"Linds, please." Kim was desperate now, and for a moment all that could be heard was the strained breaths coming from both of them. "If he finds out the truth, then me and him are over. He would never forgive me for that."

"I thought that was what you wanted?" Lindsay felt her voice getting louder.

"Well yeah, but-"

"But nothing. Kim, you've done nothing but be horrible to him for weeks. How do you think he's going to feel if he thinks he's going to be a dad, then finds out it was all a lie? You would be ruining his life! I'm not going to let you do that to him. It's not fair."

"Fair?" Kim exploded. "Who cares about fair? I love him so much Lindsay, I can't lose him. I can't."

"Then you need to talk to him." Lindsay sighed. "Tell him what's going on. You two need to stop being so awful to each other, and start being honest. But Kim, I'm not going along with this. Daniel might be a total jerk sometimes, but he doesn't deserve to be lied to like that."

There was silence for a while. Kim began patting her stomach, pure angst on her face.

"I can't believe there's a baby inside me right now. It's just so weird."

Lindsay tried to suppress her smile, but couldn't. After a while, she was laughing, and then Kim was laughing too. They started laughing so hard, neither of them could stop. It was pure hysteria taking over, but it was nice to not be crying for a while.

"Stay at my place tonight." Lindsay suggested. "We can hold off telling people, at least for one more night."

Kim accepted enthusiastically, pulling Lindsay into a hug that they stayed in for a while. Her parents didn't even seem to mind when Lindsay brought Kim inside, insisting they had enough dinner for her. Lindsay assumed it was because they could tell the two of them had been crying all afternoon, but luckily enough they didn't question them.

Lindsay pulled out the spare mattress for Kim later that night, realizing with pure guilt that the last person to sleep on it had been Daniel. She realized when she fell asleep that night, that her reasoning for wanting to tell Daniel the truth might have been more selfish than she first thought.