I don't own Modern Family or any of the characters from the show, enjoy.


The 22th of December, 3:19 am. Haley's POV.

I stare up at the ceiling, in the dark room. The motel room is so dark, nothing but blackness surrounds the bed. But I feel safe wrapped up in Clay's strong arms, like nothing could hurt me here. My finger is slowly going up and down the deep and jagged scar on Clay's wrist. My mind is clear, I knew I wasn't keeping the baby and I knew me and Clay won't going to be together forever.

But what happened in the shower... was something else. I had slept with Clay plenty of times before, but tonight was different. There was so much passion and intensity... and yet, a tenderness. In the moment he was the only thing I could think about, he was the only thing that mattered. I forgot about my family, the baby and our futures, it was just him and me. We were the only ones in the world, there was nothing beyond this motel room, nothing beyond that shower.

I couldn't let this happen anymore, I just couldn't. It wasn't fair for me. I felt passion, closeness, even love, when we were in the shower. But, I wasn't going to lie to myself and say he felt the same things I did. Clay cares for me, I know that. But I was lying to myself when I said he loved me. When we are together, for me its making love, but for him its sex. I wasn't going to keep lying to myself, not anymore.

He's drawing small circles on my lower back, neither of us have said anything for a few minutes. We were just enjoying a comfortable silence, enjoying each other. But a thought pops into my head, what he said at dinner, about his mother. He lost her at four, four. As angry and as hurt as I am with her, I couldn't imagine growing up without my Mom. Let alone losing her so young, I wonder what it was like for him growing up without his mother. I knew he had lost his mother, but he had never really told me any details. It was just an off handed comment, I remember looking at him and feeling awful for him. But he seemed fine or maybe that's just what he wanted me to think.

I want to ask how she had passed. But you couldn't just ask that, could you? I couldn't get it out of my head, how had she passed? That's horrible isn't it? Wanting so badly to know how someone lost their mother, I really am the worst type of person. But still, it sits there in my head, how? I stare up into the darkness, wondering if I really want to bring it up. I mean do I? I bite my lip, fighting over asking or not in my head.

"Clay?" I ask softly, not taking my eyes off the ceiling.

"Yeah" he answers, still drawing circles on my back.

"How... how did you lose your mom?" I ask, his finger stops. I shut my eyes, immediately regretting asking him. Why would I ask, why did I have to know right now. "I'm so sorry Clay, I shouldn't have asked" I say quickly, hoping he doesn't hate me. "I really am..." I start but he cuts me off.

"She killed herself" he states, no emotion to his voice. Oh my god... she... she had killed... killed herself. Why did I ask? Why? I was no doubt just bringing up bad memories for him, I feel guilt filling my stomach."She.. slit her wrists, while taking a bath" he says, forcing it out.

My finger can't help but dig into the deep and jagged scar on Clay's wrist a little. He had tried to kill himself the same way his mother did, I am such a bitch for even asking. But part of me is grateful he told me, I knew a little more about him. His walls were starting to come down. He was starting to open up, he was starting to trust me, really trust me. I should say something back, but my mind is blank. I can't just lay here and say nothing, but what do you say in a situation like this. Just say something you idiot, anything!

"Clay..." I start, but he cuts me off again.

"We should get some sleep" he says, so softly, I barely hear him. "I'm tired" he says, sounding clearly upset.

And like that, his walls were back up. So quickly, I barely got to see them down. I want to tell him not to close up again, but what do I say? Am I going to talk him through losing his mother? I couldn't think of anything to say a second ago, how am I going to convince him to let me in? But still, a bit of anger builds up inside me, because he's shutting me out again. I was so close and he just closed up again. Couldn't he see that I'm here for him, like he is for me. That he could tell me how he felt, that he could talk to me about his past, his scars, his family.

"Clay" I say, sitting up and looking at him in the darkness. I know his eyes are on me. "You can't keep shutting me out" I say, softly.

He's quiet for a few seconds, long enough to make me nervous.

"I ain't shutting you out, Haley" he says, simply.

"Than talk to me" I say, sounding more upset then I would like to. Tears are welling up in my eyes, again. I've never cried so much in my whole life, then I have in the last few weeks. I was going to blame the pregnancy, yeah it was the pregnancys' fault. I just want him to talk to me, confide in me. I feel Clay ball a fist, clearly he didn't feel like talking.

"I am talking to you, Haley" he says, calmly.

I sigh, crawling to the edge of the bed. I lightly put my feet on the carpeted floor and quickly stand up. I head for the bathroom, my hands balled into fists at my sides. This is why, I knew we won't going to work. We have been together for ten months, we are having a child together, he's met my family, but he was still shutting me out. He was still hiding behind his walls. If we're going to work, he needs to let me in. Couldn't he see that? That he couldn't just hide behind his walls and expect me to stay with him, we need to confide in each other, trust each other.

"Haley" he calls after me.

The lamp on the nightstand comes on, as I shut the door to the bathroom. I grab the gym bag from where I left it and open it, pulling out a pair of yoga pants and an old t-shirt of his. I know bad things happened to him growing up, but if he wouldn't trust me enough to confide in me, how could I trust him? I know it sounds silly, but I want honesty with him. That's what I liked about him, he was honest. Sure he wouldn't talk about his family, but it wasn't like he was lying about them. I pull them on, as the door opens behind me.

"What's the matter?" Clay asks, from behind me.

Once I'm dressed, I turn to face him. "What isn't?" I ask, a few tears slipping down my face. I feel anger building towards myself, since I promised myself I wasn't going to cry in front of him again.

"Haley..." he starts, taking a step towards me.

"No, I want this to work!" I scream, tears falling freely now. "But you just keep shutting me out or just shutting down!" I yell, taking a step towards him. "Why won't you just fucking let me in?!" I ask, shouting, as i punch him as hard as I can in his chest.

It doesn't seem to faze him.

"Sorry, I didn't want to talk about my mother killing herself" Clay says, the anger clear in his voice as he glares down at me.

"Oh my god, it isn't even that, Clay" I say, frustrated with him. "Its like when you broke three of your ribs and how did I find out? When we're making out, I take your shirt off and you're wrapped up in gauze, and you wouldn't tell me what happened" I say, wiping at my tears.

"Haley..." he tries, but I hold up a hand, stopping him.

"Or July fourth, we were suppose to get dinner and you didn't come home from work. I was scared that something had happened to you, then at two in the fucking morning you come home" I say, more tears fighting their way out. "And you were all beat to hell, your right eye swollen shut. Who cleaned you up, who?" I ask, crossing my arms over my chest, shooting him a questioning look.

He looks at his feet, not being able to meet my eye.

"Me, I was crying and shaking. And then when I asked you what happened, all you say is 'nothing, I'm fine'" I say, staring at him. " How can we raise a kid together, if you don't trust me enough to tell me anything" I say, with a sob escaping my lips.

"Daryl" he says softly, looking at his feet.

I look up at him, wiping at my tears. "Amber's ex?" I ask, staring into his dark brown eyes.

"Yeah" he says, putting a hand on my cheek and wipes away some tears with his thumb. "He was saying things, things about you and Amber" he says, his dark brown eyes on me.

Daryl had always been an ass, so it wasn't hard to guess what the things he was saying were

."I lost it and I hit him, then the next thing I know, four of his buddies jumped in..." he trails off, looking down at his feet. "I know how you feel about me fighting, so I just drove around for a few hours, more then a few hours. I was hoping you would be asleep when I got home, so I could clean up and..." he trails off again, looking over at the mirror. "I ain't like you Haley, I haven't had a lot of good in my life" he says, looking back at me. "And you're the first really good thing to happen to me..." he trails off. "And I don't want to lose you" he says, barely above a whisper. "Just give me some time... please"


The 22th of December, 11:17 am. Claire's POV.

My head is throbbing, I pull a pillow over my head. Hoping I can block out the horrible sun, I just want to sleep. Sleep is the only thing that will help, Jesus, how much did I have to drink last night? I remember being in the kitchen with Mitchell and Cam, where I started drinking... Then its mostly blurry... oh god. I sit up, my eyes shooting open. It hurt, given how bright the room is. But I don't care, I pull the comforter aside and get out of bed. I must have been very drunk, because there's no way Haley is pregnant... or is she...

"Phil!" I call out, as I quickly walk out of our room. I just need him to tell me I had too much to drink and that Haley is fine, that my little girl is fine, she's just dating a douche. I go down the stairs as fast as my hung over body can carry me, I round the corner and go down the hall into the kitchen. Phil is sitting at the table looking at his I-pad, a pot of coffee near him. He looks up at me, a slightly sad smile on his face. Its that smile that tells me I wasn't wrong, that Haley is pregnant.

"Oh god, my baby" I say, pulling out a chair and slowly sitting down at the other end of the table from Phil. I put my head in my hands, It couldn't be true, it couldn't. This doesn't happen to our family, this happens to other people. Oh god, no, no...

"You remember what Haley told us, then?" he asks, letting out a sigh. I look up at him and nod, tears in my eyes. He nods back, looking away from me. "Do you remember what you said, after she told us?" he asks, looking back at me.

I stare at him for a few seconds, going over everything I can remember from last night. Me and Mitchell talked about Cam's 'little' crush on Clayton, then at dinner I said a few less then kind things to Clayton, then... No, I didn't...

"Oh god" I say, putting my hands over my eyes.

I can't believe I said those things to my own little girl, in her time of need, Jesus, I'm turning into my Mother. When I told my parents that I was pregnant with Haley, my Dad took a swing at Phil and my Mother just laughed and said that she wasn't surprised. I remember how that crushed me, how I had cried the whole way back to our apartment. Even though I can only remember about half of what I said last night, what I said to Haley was worse then anything my Mother ever said to me.

"Jesus, Phil" I say, tears slipping down my face. "I can't believe I treated her like that" I say, looking over at him.

"Them" Phil says, before sipping from his coffee.

"Them?" I ask, my mind racing to remember who else I had insulted last night. God, I hope it wasn't Cam. This will be worse then the time Luke told him I didn't think he could bake.

"Clay" he says, looking over at me.

I let out a breath, thank god.

"I'm not too worried about that tattooed asshole" I say, wiping at my eyes. "I'm more worried about our daughter" I say, looking at him.

Phil sighs and rubs his eyes. "We need to talk to them and apologize for last night, then, maybe talk about their plan" he says, looking up at me.

I didn't like the 'their plan' part, but yes everything else I agreed with.

"Right, we need to let her know we're going to be there for her" I say, nodding. I then look around the kitchen, realizing we're alone. I look back at him, with a questioning look. "Where are the kids?" I ask, biting my lip slightly.

"Alex and Luke are at your father's and, well, Haley and Clay stayed the night at this little motel downtown" he says, slowly, clearly knowing I wouldn't be too happy about this.

"You let her leave with him?" I ask, glaring at him.

"Claire..." he starts, looking at the table.

"No, Phil" I say, cutting him off. "You let our daughter, our pregnant daughter leave with that animal" I start, getting more upset with each word.

"Stop it!" he shouts. It catches me off guard, Phil never yells, never. I stare at him, my mouth hanging open slightly. "It doesn't matter how we feel about Clay, the only thing that matters is Haley and the baby" he starts, talking normally. "And you probably didn't notice last night between finishing four bottles of wine and bringing up Clay's dead mother, that Haley really likes him, not to mention, he's the father of our grandchild" he says, calmly. I bite my lip and look down at the table. "So, we should try and be nice" he finishes, then looks down at the table himself.

"How do you know where they're staying?" I ask, changing the subject.

"Cam came by and got a few clean clothes for them" he says, looking back up at me.

"Well, we need to talk to her as soon as possible" I say, rubbing my forehead. My hangover is still killing me.

"Yeah, that's what I told Cam" Phil says, standing up. He walks over to the cabinets and gets a glass, filling it up with water, then he grabs the aspirin. "I ask Cam to ask them, if they would come over, so we could talk this through" he says, setting the glass of water and the aspirin down in front of me.

"Both of them?" I ask, with a little more bite to 'both' then I wanted.

"Yes, both of them" Phil says, walking over to his seat. "We're going to be nice" he adds, sending me a pointed look.

"Yeah, yeah"I mutter, opening the aspirin and getting two. I pop them into my mouth and down the glass of water.

"I was thinking" Phil says, looking down at his coffee. "I would talk to Clay, man to man, in my office and let you and Haley talk quietly down here" he says, looking up at me, with a questioning look.

I stare at him for a second, wondering what 'man to man' meant to Phil. If it were my Dad or Cam, I could easily guess that Clayton would get a black eye, but Phil? Why did he want to talk privately to Clayton, maybe give him advice or maybe threaten him? Ha, this is Phil. He probably wanted to talk to Clayton about his tattoos or something like that. I didn't like the idea that I wasn't going to get to glare at Clayton the whole time, but I would like to be able to speak to Haley alone and say I'm sorry, because I really was.

"Sounds good" I say, with a small smile.


The 22th of December, 11:38 am. Haley's POV.

"Babe, you alright?" Clay asks, over the sound of the shower.

I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand. "Yeah" I say, weakly.

Today was starting off great, my morning sickness is finally kicking in. I stand up and head for the door, after last night I wasn't sure how things could get any worse, ha, little did I know about the joys of morning sickness. Besides throwing up, today hadn't been too bad so far. Me and Clay had got a few hours of sleep, then a few minutes after eleven, I woke up and found Clay gone for his morning run. Then I laid awake, thinking about what Clay told me last night. I just kept seeing him getting kicked and beaten, because of me. Over some miss guided attempt to defend my honor, I didn't care what some ass like Daryl said I did or didn't do. I hated that Clay got beat-up over me. Clay was as tough as they come, but it didn't mean I wanted him to get hurt because some guy is being an ass. At least Daryl got his licks too. I remember seeing him and two of his buddies a few days after the fourth, Daryl's nose had clearly been broken recently and he had a black eye.

I lay back down on the bed and sigh, pushing the thoughts of Daryl aside. I had called my uncle Cam to see if he would get us some clothes from my parents' house, since I didn't want to deal with them first thing. He had happily agreed to, which I was thankful for. Because I wanted to focus on thinking of a way to tell Clay, that I wasn't keeping the baby. I wasn't sure if it was too late for an abortion or not and I wasn't sure if I even wanted one. I was leaning more towards adoption, maybe my baby would end up with a loving couple like Mitchell and Cam. Still, I had to tell Clay first. I wasn't even sure how he would take it, I mean, I still wasn't even sure if he actually wants this kid. Part of me wants to believe he does, but another part of me knows that's just wishful thinking. He didn't want this baby, he was just trying to do the right thing. To stand by me and our child, that's just the kind of guy Clay is. There's a knock at the door and I know who it is.

"Coming!" I shout, getting up from the bed and going to the door. I grab the handle to the door and pull it open.

"Hello sweetheart, how are you?" Cam asks, giving me a warm smile and pulling me into a big hug.

Its a little silly, but the hug does make me feel a little bit better.

"I got my first taste of morning sickness, literally" I say, jokingly.

"Oh you poor thing" he says, pulling back from the hug, with a slightly sad smile. "Now come on sweetheart, I got you and Clay some clothes" he says, putting his hand on my lower back and then guides me back into the room.

"I can't thank you enough Cam, I really can't" I say, smiling at him.

"No sweetie, we're family and that's what family does" he says, putting his hand on my shoulder. "Now sit down" he says, guiding me to sit on the bed. He then pulls his shoulder bag around and opens it. "I got you a fruit salad and a bottle water, because you need to start eating right, now that you're eating for two" he says, with a smile and hands me the water and salad.

I smile at the salad, tears welling up in my eyes again. This damn pregnancy, but this was so unbelievably sweet.

"Thank you Cam" I say, trying to fight the tears back. "Sorry, I'm acting so stupid" I add, covering my face with a hand.

"Oh its okay, sweetie" he says, smiling down at me. "Its probably just the pregnancy, you should know, it makes your emotions go crazy" he says, sitting down next to me and pulling me into a side hug. "So don't worry about it" he says, squeezing me.

"Thanks" I say, wiping at my eyes. I feel silly, I really do. I mean its just a fruit salad, that he got just for me. He is the sweetest man alive. Oh god, I'm doing it again.

"Now, eat up" he says, standing up and opening his shoulder bag again. "I got Clay something too, I'm sure he's hungry too" he says, looking at me. "Where is..." he starts, but stops as the door to the bathroom opens.

Clay comes out with a towel wrapped around his waist and Cam turns and sees him.

"Haley have you seen my..." he stops, spotting Cam. "Um... hey Cam" he says, backing up towards the bathroom. "Didn't hear you come in, I'll just be a second" he says, closing the door.

Cam turns around and shoots me a questioning look. I try not to roll my eyes at Clay, for acting so weird.

"Don't mind him" I say, standing and smiling at Cam. "He's a bit shy about... his body and his sca... well, its just a thing" I say, with a shrug.

"I don't see why" Cam says, smiling at me. "You're a lucky girl" he adds, with a wink.

I giggle, blushing slightly and smiling down at my feet. "Thanks, I don't get it myself" I say, looking back up at him, a slight blush still to my cheeks. "He used to box and was fine being shirtless in the ring, but for some reason if he's not in the ring he doesn't like taking his shirt off around other people" I say, nodding. God it sounded less weird, in my head. "Um, if you give me our clothes, I'll give them to him, so he doesn't just hide in the bathroom" I say, smiling at him.

"Oh, sure sweetheart" he says, handing me the shoulder bag. "And don't worry about it, you should see Mitchell at the beach" he says, with a wave of his hand."Oh, and I wasn't sure what you guys wanted, so I just grabbed a few things" he says, smiling at me.

"Thanks again, I really can't thank you enough" I say, putting the bag on my shoulder.

"Don't mention it" he says, waving it away.

"Alright, let me give my weird boyfriend his clothes" I say, jokingly. I go to the bathroom and knock on the door. "Clay, I'm coming in" I say, opening the door.

He looks over at me as he buttons up his gray button up shirt. "I'm almost done" he says, looking back at the mirror.

I close the door behind me, rolling my eyes at him. "Do you really want to wear that shirt all day?" I ask, walking over to him. I step in front of him and straighten the collar. "I've told you before, but you should know" I say, looking up at him. "No one will care about your tattoos or... well, you know. The scars" I say, looking down at his shirt.

"Yeah, I know, its just..." he trails off, looking up at the ceiling. "Nothing" he says, looking back at me.

I bite my lip and look at his collar, playing with it like I'm still straightening it. "We talked about this last night, remember, about opening up a little" I say, looking up at him.

He sighs and nods. "Right" he says, with another nod. "Your family already doesn't think... very highly of me, I... I just don't want to give them anymore ammo against me" he says, avoiding my eyes, a slight blush to his cheeks.

I nod. "Alright, but just so you know" I say, looking him in the eye. "I think you're being silly" I say, giving him the shoulder bag. "Your clothes are in there, come out when you're ready" I say, smiling at him.

He leans down and kisses me, I can't help but smile into the kiss. He pulls back and smiles down at me, I just smile back up at him.

"Thanks, for being... um, understanding and shit" he says, with a shrug.

My boyfriend has a way with words, doesn't he?

I put a hand on his cheek, smiling at him. "That's what I'm here for" I say, stroking his cheek. "I ain't here just to be arm candy after all" I add, jokingly.

He smiles, then kisses me again. I can't let this lead anywhere, I just can't.

I pull back from the kiss and bite my lip. "I should get back out there" I say, looking up at him.

"Right" he says, with a nod.

I go to the door and back out into the room, closing the door behind me. I smile at my uncle Cam.

"Is everything alright?" he asks, looking over at me.

"Yeah, you know, couple stuff" I say, nodding as I walk back over to the bed. You know couple stuff, like trying to get your emotionally damage boyfriend to open up a little and not hide behind his walls all the time.

"Oh I know, I swear Mitchell can be so hard headed sometimes" Cam says, shaking his head and a hand.

I smile at him, as I sit down next to him on the bed. "Yeah, Clay is so weird about somethings" I say, shaking my own head.

"Well, you have to love them anyways, faults and all" he says, smiling at me. "I know I do" he adds, bumping his shoulder lightly into mine.

"Yeah" I say, shortly. Not wanting to think about love right now.

"Well, I have something I need to tell you" he says, putting a hand on my knee. I look over at him, with a questioning look. "When I stopped by your parent's house to get your clothes, I talked to your father and he said that he will like it if you two would come over for lunch. So, you guys can talk about last night" he says, rubbing my knee. "I know, that's probably the last thing you want to do right now, but you need to talk to them" he adds, his free hand shooting up and down. "Your mother had too much to drink last night and didn't mean any of it" he says, nodding. "She loves you, I hope you know that" he adds, with a small smile.

I bite my lip and look down at my bare feet. "I don't know if I can do this" I say, shaking my head. Even as I say it, I know I wasn't talking about just my parents.

"Oh sweetheart, you're lot tougher then you think you are" he says, grabbing one of my hands in both of his. "And you aren't doing it for just yourself, you're doing it for the baby" he says, putting a hand on my belly.


I would like to thank Tricksk8er for reviewing again. I'm glad you're still enjoying it Trick and no problem, you've been kind enough to review every chapter, so the least I can do is show my thanks. Thanks again Trick.

I would like to thank Russianeyes718ouat7ncis for reviewing again. I love Jay on the show and hope I'm doing him justice, so I'm happy that you like him. I'm planning on doing a lot with him later on in the story, so you have that to look forward to. And I'm happy to hear that you like Clay and Haley together, since I know a lot of people on this site hate OCs, but this story only really works with an OC since the family had already met Dylan and because of Clay's personality and past play a big part in the story. And I didn't wanna make Dylan OOC, because I actually find making a character OOC worse then a bad OC (Which hopefully you guys don't think Clay is). Anyway, Thanks again Russ.

I would like to thank Cheeseymeerkatpuns for reviewing again. I'm happy to hear it and hopefully I can keep it up, thanks again for taking the time to review Cheesy.

I would like to thank Korkman2 for reviewing again. I wish I was getting payed to write and maybe (Hopefully) one day I will, but til then I would keep writing just for fun. Thanks again Kork.

I would like to thank What Do U Need Me 4 for reviewing again. I hope it does. (Still hearing cow... damnit)

Thanks again.

I would like to thank GleekDirectionerCM13 for reviewing and following this story. I just want to say your review made my day, thank you. I really am trying to nail all the great characters from the show, so its nice to hear I'm doing a good job. I'm not sure you know where I'm going with this, but hopefully you like where I'm taking it (Even if it is where you thought I was taking it the whole time ;). ) Anyway, thanks again for reviewing Gleek.

I would like to thank 0412934532 for reviewing again. Haley is in a tough place and she just wants to do right by her child, so I guess you'll just have to keep reading to find out if Haley, Clay and the baby get their happy ending or not. Thanks again Numbers Lady and hopefully I can update soon.

I would like to thank Noleb for reviewing again. I'm happy to hear it and hopefully this chapter wasn't too boring, since this chapter is just a tiny bit of filler. Anyways thanks again Noleb.

I would like to thank PrettyLittleGG for reviewing again. Thank you and no problem, thank you GG for taking the time to review again. I hope I can update soon and not keep you waiting too long for the next chapter. Thanks again GG.

I would like to thank TikTakJabberJay for reviewing. Thanks, I'm glad to hear it. I hope I can keep it up and keep you reading. Thanks again Jay.

I would like to thank Misa3000 for reviewing and following this story. I'm happy to hear it, hopefully I can keep it interesting and keep you reading. Thanks again for taking the time to review Misa.

I would like to thank ODA for reviewing. Thank you, I'm glad you're enjoying my story so far and I ain't going to lie, you saying I'm the only reason you come to the TV section made me smile like the idiot that I am all day. Now on the whole doing a sequel to this story thing, hmmm... I hadn't thought about that just yet (he writes lying through his teeth.) But that is one idea, but you never know. But that said. I want to do right by this story and write an ending that is somewhat fitting, but I'm not going to say if its a happy ending or not. So, I guess you're just going to have to keep reading to find out (He writes grinning evilly.) Thanks again ODA.

I would also like to thank Amberiffic and xxDegrassilover16xx for following this story, thanks guys.

And now I would like to thank you all for reading and finally remember all reviews are appreciated. Much love to all you guys and girls. (I'm never using gals again, never!)