We Used To Be Friends

Chapter Nineteen

A/N: I had planned on having this chapter done about two days ago; however, I wasn't happy with every single draft I wrote. So it's taken me a while to find a draft I like. Anyway, thank you so much for the warm reviews. They are very appreciated! Enjoy!

Dave entered the lounge to get some coffee and saw Carter putting on his coat. "Is your shift over already?" He asked, reaching over to get a cup.

Carter turned to face his friend. "Yeah, it's finally over."

Dave laughed. "So are you and Abby doing anything tomorrow?"

Carter looked at him strangely. "No, not that I know. Why?"

Dave laughed harder. "Oh man! You are kidding, right?"

"No. What's so funny?" He was starting to get confused and a little angry that Dave was laughing at him like this.

"Tomorrow's Valentine's Day." Dave informed.

"Crap." Carter sighed. "Hey, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"I can't break up with Abby on Valentine's Day, can I?"

Now it was Dave's turn to look at Carter strangely. "No, you can't. Well, obviously you can but then you're considered heartless." Dave explained. "Why do you want to break up with Abby?"

Carter thought about his answer for a moment before replying. "She's great and I enjoy spending time with her, but…"

"But what?" Dave asked, looking at him expectantly.

"I don't love her as anything more than a friend, and it would be cruel to lead her on. She's not my soul mate."

"So you're certain that you want to break up with her?" Dave asked, hoping that his friend was certain. He and Shelby had been hoping that Carter would finally realize that dating Abby while being in love with Lucy was a bad idea.

"Yeah, I am." Carter nodded. "So how long do you think I need to wait after Valentine's Day before I do it?"

"I'd wait a couple of days." Dave advised.

"What if she wants to do something tomorrow night? Both of us aren't working." The last thing he wanted to do was lead Abby on now that he knew he wanted to break up.

Dave grinned. "Well, you could always take my shift tomorrow night. I was hoping to spend tomorrow with Shelby, but then I got roped into working. If you took my shift for me, you'd not only be helping yourself, but you'd be helping me too—especially since I'm hoping to propose to Shelby soon."

Carter smiled. "You're gonna propose?"

"Yeah. I know it may seem sudden because we've only been dating for a few months but it feels right."

"Well congratulations." Carter nodded.

"Hold off on the congratulations. She hasn't said yes yet." Dave replied, nervous about asking Shelby to marry him.

"She will." Carter grinned. "And don't worry about your shift tomorrow. I'll gladly cover for you."

"Thanks." Dave smiled.

Carter looked at his watch and saw that it was starting to get late. If he wanted to catch Lucy before she went to bed, he would have to hurry. "I better get going. I think Lucy's really close to opening up about her problems."

"That's great!" Dave exclaimed. "Shelby will be glad to hear that."

"Good luck with tomorrow." Carter replied, leaving the lounge. He knew he was right on the verge of getting Lucy to talk to him. Now it was just a matter of time until she let him in.

Lucy sat on the couch, reading over the pamphlets she got from the clinic she went to earlier. She had decided that she needed to make sure that she was indeed pregnant, so she went to go get checked out at a clinic on the other side of town. She had met with a doctor and also a councilor to discuss her situation. Talking to someone about what happened was hard at first, but Lucy ended up spending close to two and a half hours talking to the councilor at the clinic. It had made her feel better about everything, and it had given her a new outlook. Releasing a sigh, she placed the pamphlets on the coffee table. While at the clinic, she got a ton of information about rape survivor support groups and about her various options concerning her pregnancy. Obviously, she could have the baby. But she could also have an abortion or give the baby up for adoption. Since she was only about six weeks along in her pregnancy she was still eligible to have an abortion, but she still had some time to think about it before she needed to make a decision. She wasn't looking forward to Carter coming home from work because, even though it was going to be hard, she knew that she needed to let him know what happened. She had been in denial about it for too long. She was brought out of her thoughts when Carter came into the apartment.

"Hey, good, you're still awake." He smiled. He knew that it was late for her. She usually went to sleep at eight, but for some reason, he had a feeling that she would still be awake. "I brought pizza with extra cheese cause I know that's your favorite."

"Great." Lucy replied as he came over to the coffee table and started to set the pizza down. But Lucy noticed the pamphlets were still sitting on the table and quickly scurried to hide them underneath a magazine. She only hoped that Carter hadn't been able to tell what they were about.

Carter noticed that she was hiding what looked like pamphlets, but decided not to say anything about it. "Are you hungry?" He asked.

"A little." She nodded.

"We need plates and drinks." Carter concluded.

"I'll get them." She quickly volunteered. This way, she could grab a beer for him and some water for herself.

"Thanks." He smiled. As soon as she disappeared into the kitchen, he became tempted to life up the magazine she had stuffed the pamphlets under in order to find out what she was hiding. But he resisted that urge, knowing that if Lucy caught him snooping she would never trust him again.

Lucy walked back out into the living room and handed Carter a plate and a beer. Then she went and sat in her usual spot on the couch. "We haven't done this in awhile." She stated, grabbing a piece of pizza.

"I know. I missed it." He replied, opening up his beer. He noticed that she hadn't grabbed a beer like she usually did, but didn't want to mention it.

"I did too." She whispered. They continued to eat their pizza in relative silence, both of them not wanting to ruin the moment. About twenty minutes later, they had finished eating and were still sitting in silence.

"I…" They both started a sentence at the same time. Carter laughed at the situation, while Lucy just gave him a small smile.

"You can go first." Carter relented.

"No, you can go first. Please go first." Lucy insisted.

"I wasn't going to say anything important. You can go ahead." Carter told her. He was going to tell her about Dave's plan to propose to Shelby, but thought that maybe he shouldn't ruin the surprise.

"Ok, if you're sure." Lucy nodded. "I was just going to thank you for this morning. I was a complete mess."

He looked over at her and gave her a reassuring smile. "I'm just glad that I could be there for you. I'd do anything to help you Luce. You know that, right?"

"I know." She nodded, taking a deep breath. "I took your advice and I saw a counselor this afternoon."

"That's great." His smile became wider at the thought of Lucy actively seeking out help for her problems. "How did it go?"

"Ok I guess." She shrugged. "I think I'm ready to tell you what happened, if you're still interested."

"I'm interested, but only if you're sure you're ready to tell me. In the past, you've seemed pretty determined to keep me in the dark."

"I know, and I shouldn't have done that. But I can't change the past. I can only hope to make the future better." Lucy replied.

"That's a good attitude to have." Carter praised.

"You know, before you came home I had my entire speech planned out. I knew exactly how I was going to tell the whole story but now, it's gone from my memory."

"You don't have to tell me right now if…"

"I want to tell you…I need to tell you." She took a deep breath. "I'm just not sure where to start."

"How about the beginning?" Carter joked, trying to lighten the mood.

She smiled at him and then stood up, beginning to slowly pace around the room. "Ok. I guess I'll start at the beginning then. It all started on New Year's Eve. Shelby dragged me to this party. I wanted to leave before I even before I got there. It's like somehow I knew that I shouldn't go, but I did anyway…I stayed there for a while but I wasn't having any fun so I left. I was only a couple of blocks away from the apartment when I felt myself being pulled into a nearby alley. The guy pushed me up against one of the walls and threatened me. He told me that if I made any kind of noise he would kill me." She paused, trying to contain the tears that were threatening to fall from her eyes. "I did nothing to stop it. I didn't fight him…I couldn't fight him." Finally she couldn't contain the tears. She sunk to the floor and buried her face in her hands, letting the tears flow freely.

Carter immediately got up from the couch and kneeled down next to Lucy. He wasn't sure what to do or what he could do without scaring her off. Could he hug her or would that only aggravate her more? What could he do in this situation? "Luce?"

Lucy looked over and saw Carter kneeling next to her. "He raped me Carter…and now I'm pregnant. What am I going to do?" She sobbed.

It broke his heart to see her so upset. At the same time his head was spinning. He had all but figured out that she had been raped after finding the torn dress in her closet, but finding out that she was pregnant threw him for a loop. He still wasn't sure how to react to the news, but knew that he had to do something to comfort her. So he pulled her close to him so that she was now leaning up against him and crying on his shoulder. He gently stroked her hair. "Everything's gonna be alright Luce. I promise."

A couple of hours later, Carter looked over at Lucy. The slow, even breath sounds coming from her let him know that she had finally cried herself to sleep. After letting her cry on his shoulder for a while, he moved her back to the couch so that they could both be comfortable while she cried. He still held her in his arms, hoping that he could think of the right words to say to her. He felt horrible that she had to go through this. She didn't deserve this. He wished he could make everything better for her, but had no idea how to do that. He had no clue what she needed from him, so he offered the only thing he could—a shoulder to cry on and an ear to listen to her. Anger swelled within him as he thought about the monster who had raped his Lucy. "I don't know what you need from me Luce. I don't know what to do to make everything ok for you but I can promise you this. No matter what happens, you're not alone. I'm never leaving you. That guy better watch out because if I ever find the bastard who did this to you, I swear I will kill him. I'm not gonna let anyone hurt you ever again." He whispered softly, hoping that he didn't wake her up.

Lucy didn't open her eyes, but she was awake and she heard what Carter had said. While his words had comforted her, they also scared her somewhat. This whole situation scared her. She had no idea what she was going to do about this baby.