Tree Hill High School, Sports Hall

"Hey Davis! This is where the action is!"

Startled, I looked up when Justin addressed me upfront. He had a right to reprimand me, because as a coach of the 'Ravens' he expected from us to be focused on the training. And I wasn't in the least focused because a few feet away, the girls from the cheerleading team, led by Lydia, performed their figures. I still hadn't overcome the shock about the news that Lydia was pregnant and Jamie's threat of beating me up. So I had deliberately avoided her and also ignored her text messages because I had been afraid Jamie would find out about it. I had tried not to cause any more trouble for Lydia. So I had been relieved that Justin would coaching us today, not Jamie. I forced myself to focus on the game again, but it wasn't long before I was distracted again. And this time it was because Lydia just wanted to teach a new team member a new figure and therefore was about to take a step onto the back of another girl. I couldn't just watch and do nothing! I ran from the field, over to the group of girls that were training, clasped my arms around Lydia's waist and pulled her back to the floor. "Are you out of your mind?" I snapped. "Ever thought about that you might crash to the floor?" She looked at me with wide-open eyes, and I realized that my behavior had really shocked her. As she wriggled out of my grasp and then turned to her team, I thought for a moment she wanted to ignore me. But then she spoke to the girls.

"We'll take a short break," she said firmly. "Have a drink and rest. I'll be back in 15 minutes."

I quickly glanced at Justin, who looked at me stunned and gave him an apologetic look.

"Come with me!"

Lydia grabbed my arm and steered me outside. She hesitated for a moment before finally pushing me into the girls' dressing room and then closed the door.

"What's gotten into you?" She exclaimed furiously. "How could you do that in front of the two teams! That was so embarrassing! What were you thinking?"

I pointed to her belly. "I don't think you should do any acrobatic exercises in your condition!" I said, looking at her reproachfully.

"What do you care?" She asked snippily and turned away.

"What I care?" I echoed stunned. "That's my baby too!"

"Really?" She crossed her arms over her chest. "May I quote you?" She cleared her throat. "A baby is a responsibility for your entire life. And who wants that at our age? This is ruining our future!" She mimicked.

I could only stare at her for a moment, because I remembered my words. "That was... theoretically spoken," I said lamely. "I wasn't thinking of a 'real' baby. Oh, and by the way, you also lied to me!" I returned the accusation. "You said you had gotten your monthly bleeding, although you were already pregnant, am I right?" When she nodded and then dropped onto the bench, I sat next to her. "Why didn't you tell me the truth?"

"I... I was scared," she admitted hesitantly. "I had done the test only a few hours earlier, and it still felt so unreal. I thought if I told you that I got my bleeding, I would get it for real. Foolish, don't you think?"

I shook my head, then reached for her hand. "And then you got drunk and jumped into the pool," I said softly.

"I don't know why I did that," she said with tears in her eyes. "I just didn't think about the consequences. I just wanted to forget for a moment what I had learned."

"You could have died." It was a simple statement and something that had been on my mind the whole time. "You wanted to kill yourself and our baby." When she suddenly smiled, I looked at her confused. "What's so funny about that?"

"You said 'our baby'."

"It is, isn't it?" I frowned at her and then gently wiped the tears from her cheeks. She moved closer and leaned her head against my shoulder.

"Yes, it's our baby," she said softly. "And I'm glad you saved us."

Reluctantly, I placed my hand on her belly. "Do you already feel anything?" I asked in a low voice.

She shook her head. "Not yet. It is still too early."

I withdrew my hand and nodded. "Yes, it's very tiny." I noticed her confused look and smiled. "Jude showed me the ultrasound picture," I explained. "Do your girls already know that you are pregnant?"

"Sawyer and Izzy know it," she admitted. "The others not yet. I wanted to wait a little longer."

"Do your parents already know?"

"Yes, I told them. My dad reacted pretty cool. My mom needed a little longer to get used to it. What about your parents?"

I shook my head. "So far they don't know it yet. I'm still waiting for a better chance to tell them."

"You realize that everyone is going to speculate on what we're doing in the girl's dressing room for so long, right?" She asked, grinning. "After that, we can no longer deny that we're together."

"I didn't want to deny that," I confessed softly and looked deep into her eyes. "And I will also be there for you and our baby. No matter what others might think about that."

"Oh Davis..."

As she wrapped her arms around my neck and pressed her lips onto mine, I suddenly felt hot. Gently, I ran my hands over her body, her breasts and her belly, then paused. "We'd better go back to the others," I said in a hoarse voice. "Aren't the 15 minutes over yet?"

Chuckling, she pulled back. "Do you know what just crossed my mind?"

"What?" I asked, trying to breathe more calmly.

"That we can sleep together without using condoms."

I smiled. "Yeah, a real plus. Just not here and right now!" I jumped up quickly as she tried to put her arms around my neck again.

"Will we meet later?" She rose slowly.

"And what about your Mom and Jamie?" I asked skeptically. "They won't be happy to see me again."

She shrugged. "Mom wouldn't mind and I can handle Jamie. He didn't mean it when he threatened to beat you up. In fact, he just wanted to protect me. But now everything is settled. And we really should talk about what to do next."

"Are you going ahead? I'm coming later," I said, giving her a quick kiss. I had no idea what to do next - with us and the baby. I simply hoped that we would grow into the role of being parents over time. But a big obstacle was still ahead of me; I had to tell my parents, which I really wasn't looking forward to. Sighing, I got up and went back to the sports hall.

Sports Hall

For a moment, I watched Davis and Lydia leaving, before turning to the boys, who were furious about that one of their players had just left the field in a game. They couldn't know what was going on and it wasn't my place to tell them, but we couldn't continue without Davis. "Okay guys," I said to the team. "We're calling it a day." I heard outraged shouts and saw disappointed faces, wondering if I should follow them to remind them of their obligations to the teams. Because even the cheerleading team was confused and didn't know what to do. I had just decided to follow my brother and his girlfriend when Sawyer approached to me.

"Leave them alone," she begged. "I think it's important that they get to talk to each other."

I nodded hesitantly. "Davis was a nervous wreck. The news that he's becoming a father were a shock."

"Yes, Lydia didn't feel any better," she admitted. "We texted half the night. She just couldn't sleep and asked me for help."

"And what did you tell her?" I inquired curiously.

"That she should talk to Davis." There was a slight smile around her mouth. "And that's exactly what both are doing now. So don't disturb them."

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. "Okay, I'll go take a shower and change my clothes." I was about to turn around and leave when she called me back.

"Justin, wait!"

Slowly I turned to her and looked at her questioningly. "Is there something else?"

She nervously glanced at the girls standing together and whispering. "We still haven't talked about what happened in your room back then," she said quietly.

My heart skipped a beat and my mouth went dry. I was hoping she had forgotten about that. But apparently she was just as unable as me to forget the kiss. "I'm sorry," I said embarrassed. "That won't happen again." Did I see disappointment in her eyes?

"I'm not sorry," she confessed in a low voice. "And do you know why?"

I shook my head mechanically. "No, why?" I watched as she shifted nervously from one foot to the other and struggled to hold my gaze.

"Because I love you," she said quickly.

My heart beat hard against my ribs as I was looking for an answer. "Sawyer, I..."

"No, Justin, let me finish," she begged softly. "I can't help it. I'm in love with you since you held me in your arms after I had the accident. I tried to suppress my feelings and when I learned that you were going to leave Tree Hill, I wrote the poem. Everything that I feel for you, my fears and desires, I had written down. At first I didn't want you to know who wrote the poem. But after the day on the beach, when you saved me, I knew I had to tell you."

I could only stare at her while my throat was getting tight. Did she have any idea what she was doing to me with this confession? "I... I'm leaving Tree Hill in a few weeks," I stammered. "The thing with us... we have no future together."

"Are you just saying that because you're going to L.A. or because you think I'm too young for you?" She asked directly.

I had to smile involuntarily. "You mean I'm too old for you," I corrected.

"I'll be 17 in three months." She raised her chin defiantly. "And in one year I'm 18."

"I'll be 23 by then." I turned to the girls and groaned, when I noticed that they were eyeing us curiously. "We shouldn't discuss this here," I whispered to her. "Come to the River Court tomorrow after school. We can talk there."

"Okay."

Her smile left a warm feeling in my stomach and I watched her when she went back to the girls. I was about to go to the exit when Lydia came running into the hall.

"Hey, is it over?" She asked in surprise, pointing to the empty playing field.

I nodded. "And your team is just packing things up. Were you and Davis having a talk?" I asked concerned.

"We talked about everything," she nodded and smiled. "And what about you and Sawyer?"

"With me and Sawyer?" I repeated, confused.

"We girlfriends have no secrets with each other," she said with a smile. "I know everything."

I stared at her in horror. Who else knew about the kiss? "I... I have to go now... take a shower," I stammered and hurried to leave the sports hall. I urgently needed a shower to sort my chaotic thoughts, when Davis crossed my path as I was on my way to the dressing room. "Hey, little brother, are you okay?"

"You're not mad that I just ran away?" He asked cautiously.

"Yes, I am mad," I admitted. "But I also know why you did it. Only the other guys from the team didn't know what was going on. You simply stopped the game and left. You can't just do that."

"I know." He lowered his head in shame. "I panicked when I saw Lydia trying to perform the figure on a girl's back. She's pregnant, damn it!"

I put my hand on his shoulder. "Calm down," I said soothingly. "Nothing happened. But I think you should tell the other boys from the team soon. Maybe then they won't be so angry with you anymore. And now we should take a shower and change clothes." When he nodded in agreement, I entered the dressing room with him and then went to my locker to get my shower gel.