It has been exactly 2 weeks since they last saw each other, but it felt like a fucking lifetime. It was sad; they were both sad, but they both came to realize that taking time apart was probably the best option for them right now. There was just too much pain, too many hidden emotions and feelings, that taking a break from each other just seemed like the only choice at the moment. Of course, they still cared about one another, there was no doubt about that, but they just needed to grow. He had hurt her so much, broke her heart in a way she has never experienced before, and he had to grow up and learn how to change his behavior, because if he doesn't, he's gonna lose her for good.

It was a cloudy evening. Alvin had just arrived home from work about an hour ago, and was now laying in bed, with his guitar in his hands, aimlessly playing whatever song came to mind. Music always did soothe him, especially in trying times like these. He sat up in bed and turned to his open window, towards Brittany's house. He missed her so damn much, and hated how their relationship came down to this. They were doing so well; even though neither of them have officiated any actual feelings between each other, it was the happiest Alvin had ever felt, and he fucking ruined it with his own stupid behavior.

Another hour passed. He thought back to the last moment he saw her, a moment that haunted him beautifully. The sad look in her eyes as she kissed him one last time, before telling him that she just needed to be apart from him for a while, before he agreed. Brittany went from wanting to be around him as much as she could, to not wanting to be around him at all, and Alvin almost didn't want to forgive himself for it. She probably wanted nothing to do with him, and he understood. It was his fucking fault.

However, when his phone unexpectedly started to vibrate, with Brittany's name on the screen, he had to blink twice just to make sure he wasn't imagining things. She was calling him, which was the last thing Alvin would have expected, but he scrambled to grab his phone before answering.

"Hello?"

There was a long pause on the other end, as if she had second thoughts on calling him, but she finally spoke up. "...Hey, it's me."

God, it felt like a fucking lifetime since he last heard her voice. But she sounded fine, normal, as if there was nothing wrong in the world, and for some reason, Alvin felt relieved.

"Brittany," he said. Saying her name out loud for the first time in 2 weeks made him feel like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. "What's up?"

"Nothing, just, um, wondering if you're busy right now," she said.

"No, I'm just chilling at home," he said. He put his guitar on the ground and sat back in his bed. "Why? Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong," she sighed deeply. "I just...I just wanted to talk to you, that's all."

That made Alvin's chest ache a little. She sounded sad, and knowing her, he knew that she wanted to see him as much as he wanted to see her, but like they had both agreed, it just wasn't the right time to do so.

"Oh," that was all he could say at the moment. "Well, I'm glad you called, Britt. I, uh, I miss you."

"I miss you too," she said, and there was no hesitation when she said so. There was another long pause on her end, before she took a deep sigh. "Um, so, what are you doing right now?"

"Nothing, really. I just came home from work. I'm probably gonna chill for a bit before going to the gym later," he told her. "How about you?"

"Same. I mean, I've been doing nothing all day. There really isn't much you can do when you're two weeks away from having a baby," she said.

Alvin laughed a little. "Man, two weeks. That isn't too far away, huh. It honestly feels like yesterday when all of this started, when I first found out that you were pregnant and everything. Remember when you were having second thoughts about keeping the kid?"

She sighed deeply, feeling a little guilty that she had once thought about either aborting or putting the baby up for adoption. "Yeah, I remember."

"And now you're about to have a baby of your own. Fucking crazy," said Alvin.

"Ugh, tell me about it. I can't wait until my body is back to normal. I can't wait until I can actually do things again without wanting to rip my hair out. Do you know how damn difficult it is to put on shoes when you're pregnant? It's miserable," she said.

Alvin chuckled again. "How have you been feeling lately?"

"Honestly? Nervous. I mean, I try to tell myself that I'm ready to have a baby, but I know I'm not. I've only read one book on pregnancies, and I haven't even gone to any mommy-to-be classes. I still don't know how to put a baby in a diaper, or even know how to hold one," she sighed.

"You'll be fine. It'll come naturally to you," said Alvin. "Man, our first night with the baby is gonna be a fucking long one. If...if you want me to be there, I mean."

That broke Brittany's heart a little. "Of course I want you to be there. Why wouldn't I?"

"...Because you said you didn't want me to be around the baby unless I change," his voice was a little low and sad.

Brittany sighed deeply, remembering the hatred in her chest when she spewed those words at Alvin. "About that, um, look, there's another reason why I called today. I'm just gonna be blunt about it, but...I know that I said that we should take time apart from each other, but...but I don't think I can do it anymore."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I mean, I don't think I can do this for much longer, Alvin. It's already been a month, but it feels so much longer than that," she said. Her voice was gentle.

"Yeah, I get it. Look, Britt, if you're looking for a reason for us to start again, I just want you to know that I have changed. I mean, I'm back to who I was before this whole situation went down between us. That shit that happened, the shit that I caused, it was a mistake. My old habits got the best of me, and I shouldn't have let that happen," he said.

"I know. Besides, you were only acting like your old self because you had controlled yourself for so long," she said.

"Exactly. But I'm not that person anymore. I mean, sure I'll go to a party and hang out with friends and have a drink once in a while, but not to that extent anymore. I saw what that did to you, Brittany, and I don't want you to go through that again," he said.

"It's more than just me. I saw what it did to you, Alvin. It was ruining you, and it was almost impossible to stop you from hurting your own self," she said.

"Yeah, I know. I'm sorry, Brittany. And all that stuff I said about you, about us not being together, it...it was just my anger getting the best of me. You know how I feel about you," said Alvin.

Brittany stayed silent for a moment. The ache in her chest as she thought back to his words, asking her why the fuck she cared about what he did when they're not even together, burned a deep hole in her chest. But she understood. She has said some pretty nasty stuff to him out of anger as well.

"Are you busy tomorrow?" she asked suddenly.

"Well, I'm working until 5pm, why?"

"Do you wanna come over after? You can have dinner here if you'd like. Besides, there's...there's something I wanna show you," she said.

"What is it?" he asked.

Brittany took another deep breath. "I went back to the doctor's a few days ago, just for a check up. The baby is perfectly healthy and everything, but I received an updated picture of the ultrasound and I want you to see it."

Alvin couldn't help but smile to himself. He knew that she was giving him a second chance, because she could see a change in him. And despite Brittany telling him that she didn't want him near their child, Alvin knew that she was now feeling the complete opposite. They only had a few more weeks left to go before their baby arrived, and Alvin just wanted to make things right once and for all.

"Yeah, of course, I'd love to," he said.

"Sounds good. So see you tomorrow?" she asked.

"Yeah. I..." he trailed off. He so badly wanted to tell her how much he loves her, but knew it just wasn't the right time to do so. "...I'll see you tomorrow, Britt."

And he couldn't goddamn wait to see her.

Alvin went to bed early that night. It was weird; he has always been someone who was able to stay up all night. Back during his wild, partying days, he would sometimes pull several all nighters in a row, and would sometimes show up to work without sleeping for two or three days. One time, he had hit up six different parties in three nights and hadn't had a single ounce of sleep at all. But now, Alvin could feel himself growing more tired, and he has now been late to work twice this week because he had slept through his alarm.

His phone started to buzz beside him, and Alvin felt himself immediately wake up, though he kept his eyes closed. His phone kept on buzzing, and it was starting to annoy him so he sat up and looked at the clock. It was 3am. Who the fuck was calling him at 3am?

At first, he wanted to ignore it, but then realized that it could be Brittany calling him. But when he saw that one of his best friends, Ryan, was calling, he could tell that this was something he probably wanted to ignore, but shouldn't.

So Alvin sighed and put his phone to his ear. "What?"

"Yo, Alvin?" Ryan said, a little too loudly into the phone. "Where are you?"

Alvin's eyebrows furrowed. "I'm at home? It's past 3am, where the fuck else would I be?"

"Okay, good, uh...we got a problem here," said Ryan.

Alvin sighed. He already knew what was going on. He knows his friends more than he should, and he's been in that position way too many times. "Lemme guess, you guys are somewhere, drunk?"

"Just a little," said Ryan. "Okay, a lot. Tyler, Oscar, Ivan and I decided to hang out at the bar tonight, and Ivan knew one of the bartenders and they kept giving us drinks for free. Long story short, we're all fucked and can't drive home. I already got a DUI last year, and I can't risk it."

Alvin rolled his eyes to himself. "And you're calling me because...?"

"Can you please come and pick us up?" asked Ryan.

Alvin raised an eyebrow. "So, you want me to pick up my four best friends, who are drunk, even though they didn't invite me to go out?"

"Well, we wanted to, but after everything you told us about what happened between you and Brittany, it was probably best not to," said Ryan.

Alvin rolled his eyes again. "That was a joke, jackass. Look, Ryan, it's 3am and I gotta wake up for work in 5 hours. Can't you guys call a cab to pick you up?"

"Can't afford a cab. We're all broke right now," said Ryan.

"How? I thought you said the drinks were free?" said Alvin.

"Yeah, but we stopped by the liquor store beforehand and blew all our money there," said Ryan. "C'mon, Alvin, it's just this once. I would be doing the same for you if you were in my position."

Alvin sighed. God, he really didn't want to leave his house right now. He was tired, and the thought of driving his car in the middle of the night to pick up 4 drunk people just pissed him off. But what kind of friend would he be if he just left them there? He's had his share of irresponsible drinking, and has had each of his friends come save his intoxicated self at least once in his life.

"Fine," Alvin groaned. "What bar are you guys at?"

"Poison Anchor," said Ryan.

"Are you fucking kidding me? That's half an hour away," Alvin sighed deeply. "Okay, fine, stay there. I'm gonna fucking kill you guys when I see you. You owe me big time."

It was almost 4am when Alvin arrived at the bar where he found his stupid fucking friends waiting for him at the front. Alvin was a little annoyed and extremely frustrated, but knew he couldn't blame them. He couldn't even recall how many times he's been in this position, but nevertheless, he watched his friends stumble into his car. Ryan sat in the front, and he seemed to be the most sober and comprehensive one of the group right now.

"If anyone throws up in my car, I'm kicking you out," said Alvin, before he started up his car. After 5 minutes of silent driving, he spoke up again, "So, am I dropping everyone off at their house?"

"Well, uh, we were wondering if we could crash at your place tonight," said Ryan.

"Not happening," said Alvin.

"C'mon, man, just this once. We'll all leave tomorrow morning the moment we're all sober," said Ryan.

Alvin took a quick glance in the rear view mirror. Tyler had already passed out, and Ivan and Oscar looked like they were moments away from passing out too, and he couldn't help but roll his eyes. "No, I have work in the morning, which I have to wake up for in just a few hours. No offence, but I don't have time to deal with all this bullshit right now, especially since I'm trying to prove myself to Brittany."

"Brittany? C'mon, Alvin," Ivan spoke from the back. His voice was slurred. "Look, we know you care about her and shit, but we miss the old you. Going out isn't the same anymore when you're not around. Remember all the old times when we would all party and get high and hang out until like, 6am?"

"Yeah," replied Oscar. "Things just aren't the same anymore, ever since you got some chick knocked up."

"And ever since he fell in love," Ivan half laughed. "We thought Alvin Seville never settled down?"

Alvin was starting to get annoyed. More than annoyed, actually, but decided to keep his mouth shut. They were intoxicated and didn't know what the hell they were saying. It wasn't until he felt a light, yet aggressive shove on his shoulder from one of his friends trying to get his attention. The shove caused Alvin to swerve just a little.

"The fuck, guys!" Alvin fired. "I'm fucking driving, so don't touch me!"

"Oh, you mean like this?" Ivan bopped the side of Alvin's head before letting out a loud laugh.

"Okay, that's enough, jackass," Ryan whipped his head around to look at his drunk friend, but he completely ignored him.

One thing led to another, and Ivan and Oscar were drunkenly causing a commotion in the backseats before they decided it would be funny to get out of their seats and reach over into the driver's seat, shove Alvin's hands away, before taking control of the steering wheel themselves. It all lasted for about 5 seconds, but it felt like the longest and most terrifying 5 seconds of all time. The car swiveled to the left, then to the right, then to the left again, before Alvin got control of the wheel and returned to the right side of the road.

"What the hell!" Alvin yelled at them. "Are you guys fucking insane?"

Oscar laughed. "Relax, dude, we were only playing around. Jesus, when did you become so serious?"

"Relax? Fuck, I'm doing you all a favor here. I shouldn't even be doing this right now, I-"

But before Alvin could get another word out, a flash of red and blue lights appeared out of nowhere and was now following him from behind. The feeling was sickening, and he felt his chest sink to the bottom of the fucking floor. His chest started to race and he felt sick. Fucking hell. No, no, no. This was the last thing he needed right now. But Alvin slowly pulled over, with the cop car doing the same. He watched from the mirror as the cop exited his car, and made his way towards Alvin's window.

Everyone was quiet all of a sudden.

The cop tapped on the window, and Alvin rolled it down. The cop bent down to look at Alvin in the face, and when Alvin saw the familiar mustache and green eyes, he knew he was screwed.

The police officer sighed and shook his head. "I had a feeling it was you, Seville. Haven't seen you in a few months. And here I was, thinking that your troubled days are over."

Alvin gulped. He has encountered this cop before, and has luckily been let off with nothing but warnings. But there was a horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach, telling him that he may not be too lucky this time around. "Officer Craig, I can explain."

"Mhm, I'm sure you can," he peered in the backseats for a moment before turning back to Alvin. "Wanna tell me why you and your friends are driving around and swerving on the road at four in the morning? Or should I just assume that you're out causing trouble yet again?"

"I-I..." Alvin couldn't get a single word out, and he knew he probably looked guilty by doing so.

Officer Craig sniffed the air before his nose crinkled. "The smell of alcohol explains everything. Now, I've given you three warnings in the past, which is three times too many. I'm tired of chasing you around, Seville."

"Me? Why the hell am I the one being blamed?" Alvin's eyes widened.

"Well, you're behind the wheel, aren't you?" The officer said. "And besides, I've dealt with you too many times. You, my friend, are in a lot of trouble."

It was the next day, and Brittany was in a good mood, well, better than the last few weeks, at least. She was anticipating Alvin coming over later, and she couldn't wait to see him. Of course, things were still broken between them, and things needed to happen before their relationship can heal again, but she just wanted to see him again. This also may be a chance for them to talk and to start fresh again, maybe not to the level they were at before everything went downhill, but they needed to start somewhere.

Besides, their baby was arriving in just a few weeks and there was no time for bullshit and drama.

Brittany stepped out of the shower, got into a new pair of clothes and tied her hair up in a towel before reaching for her phone. She froze for a bit before seeing that she had received 7 missed calls, and 2 unread text messages from Simon.

And suddenly, her good mood had disappeared into thin air, because Brittany had a horrible feeling about this, and she knew it probably had something to do with the boy she loves more than anything, the boy that broke her heart. Brittany's fingers were trembling as she swiped her finger across her phone screen.

Message from: Simon Seville

1:23pm:

Brittany, call me as soon as you see this

1:24pm:

Its urgent. Please call

So Brittany did just that. She paced around her room as she waited for Simon to pick up. She peered outside her window and noticed that Alvin's car wasn't in the Seville's driveway. That only made her more upset and anxious.

"Brittany?" Simon finally picked up.

"What's going on?" Brittany asked. Her voice was frantic.

"Okay, just calm down first, I don't want this to upset you more than it should," said Simon.

"What's that supposed to mean? Simon, what the hell is going on?" she asked.

Simon let out a huge sigh. "It's Alvin. He got himself into some huge trouble last night."

Brittany heart felt so damn heavy. She sat on the edge of her bed, and gripped onto her phone, trying to mentally prepare herself for whatever was coming next. "What did he do? God, Simon, what the hell did your brother do this time? Where is he?"

There was silence, as if Simon was afraid to tell her.

But he finally did.

"He's in jail, Brittany," he said. "He got arrested last night for drunk driving, and they're gonna keep him locked up for three months."

Oh no! They got it all wrong! Alvin was only being a good friend, but now everyone thinks that he was out being reckless again. How do you think Brittany is gonna react to this? And what's gonna happen now, with Alvin being in jail? And with the baby arriving so soon!

Remember, I'm still taking votes and opinions on what the baby should be! Refer back to the ends of chapters 10 and 15 for a reminder.

Thanks so much for reading, and I can't wait to read some feedback so please REVIEW! Lets hit 720-725 reviews before the next one!

See you in the next chapter :)