Chapter 8: Emotional Overdrive

Sean's POV

I unlocked the door to our apartment and flipped the lights on before stepping inside. Ellie followed close behind me and locked the door again. We went through our normal routine of taking our coats off, throwing them on the nearest chair, I opened the refrigerator automatically, Ellie checked the phone for messages... After she listened to the messages she got a cup down for me, setting it on the counter next to the fridge, just as I got out a liter of Coke. As I poured my drink I reached into the fridge and grabbed her a popsicle, placing it in her outstretched hand.

We really were a team.

"Tonight was fun," I mumbled before taking a gulp of my coke.

"Hmm?"

"It was fun. Tonight."

"Are you being... sarcastic?" Ellie raised an eyebrow in my direction.

I shook my head, "Nope. Just tired. Jack wore me out."

"Yeah, me too. Do you want to watch a movie?"

"Sure. Let me go feed the cats first."

"I'll pick one out."

I groaned inward. I knew she'd pick out something sappy. Ellie had been on a romantic movie kick. We had watched "Four Weddings and a Funeral", "Love Story", "Breakfast at Tiffany's", and "West Side Story" at our last few movie dates, as we liked to call them. When I shook the bag of cat food, Dolce and Gabanna immediately ran out of the bedroom and started to turn circles around my ankles. "Hey, guys. You hungry?" I poured a little food into their bowls and filled another bowl with fresh water.

"Don't forget to check the litter box!" Ellie called out although I was two feet away from her.

I groaned again and sighed as I walked towards the little closet where we kept the litter box. I hurried and cleaned it out and washed my hands. Disgusting. You would think Ellie would do it, since they are, technically, her cats, but somehow she always weasels her way out of it.

I jumped over the couch and made myself comfortable as Ellie stepped out of the bedroom. She had changed into a pair of sweat pants and a hoodie. "What are we watching?" I asked as she started to put a DVD into the player.

"Breakfast at Tiffany's."

"What? We just watched that!" I protested.

Ellie turned around, hands on hips, and shot me a look. I closed my mouth and settled back into my spot. Damn. She was in a mood.

"I'm sorry if it's one of my favorite movies, Sean. I never complain about all the times we watch Elimination Round Three. The least you can do is let me choose the movie once in awhile."

I rolled my eyes at her little speech. I had heard this so many times before. I could almost recite it from memory. "Whatever," I mumbled and leaned my head back on the couch. There's only so many times I can watch this movie in a week.

Ellie slipped onto the couch next to me and leaned her head against my shoulder. I gave the top of her head a little kiss and inhaled the scent of her hair. She smelled so... good. Almost intoxicating. I looked down at her little hands playing with my fingers and I sighed deeply. Did we really have to watch a movie? I'd much rather just... well...

I took Ellie's head in my hands and pushed it up so she was looking at me. "What are you doing?" she asked, trying to watch the movie.

I leaned forward and placed my lips on hers, giving her a deep, searching kiss. She kissed me back and then tried to pull away, but I held onto the back of her head. Finally she just gave into kissing me and sat up on her knees so she could get more into it.

I ran my hands down her sides and slid them to the back of her pants, pulling her so she was on top of me. This was the perfect way to end the day. After spending an entire night with baby Jack and having dinner with my MI teacher and his wife, I was finally going to make love to Ellie. I can't even remember the last time we've been close like this since we found out she was pregnant.

"I'm so tired," she whispered into my mouth as her hands slid underneath my shirt.

I pulled away a bit, "Do you want to stop?" Please don't stop. Please don't stop.

"No way," she whispered into my ear and then pulled my shirt over my head.

Ellie's POV

I snuggled up to Sean on the couch and sighed happily. If this is what living together is, then I'm so glad I decided to do it. Hopefully it'll continue to be this... uh... enjoyable. I grinned and buried my face into Sean's neck.

"So, was it good for you?" Sean asked in a deep tone.

I burst out laughing and looked up at him. "You are so cheesy..."

"Yeah, I know."

We continued to lay there in silence. Audrey Hepburn singing "Moon River" rang from the television screen and I looked over at the TV.

"I very well think that Audrey Hepburn could be one of my idols," I confessed.

"Why?"

"Oh, come on! She's an amazing actress and she did philanthropic work!"

"Sorry! I didn't know!" Sean laughed and tickled my sides. I swatted at his hands and pulled the afghan tighter around me.

"So, what are we going to do for my birthday?"

Sean wrinkled his forehead and gave me a confused look, "Birthday? What birthday?"

"Oh, you're so funny. My birthday. Which is next week."

Sean scratched his head and then snapped his fingers, "Oh yeah! You're birthday..."

I rolled my eyes, "I think I like the 'tough' Sean better..."

"As opposed to what other Sean?"

"Oh... never mind..." I teased.

I grabbed the remote and turned the movie off before wrapping the afghan around my body and heading towards the bedroom, leaving a very naked Sean behind.

"Hey!" Sean bolted off of the couch and chased after me, picking me up, and throwing me playfully on the bed.

"SEAN!" I screeched, knocking his hands away as he reached out to tickle me. "What's your problem?"

"What?" Sean pulled back confused.

"You don't pick me up and throw me. I'm pregnant. Way to go." I shot him a dirty look and got under the covers.

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize I was-..."

"Well, actually think next time. I just hope the baby is okay..."

Sean looked at me hurt, "I'm sure it's okay."

"Well, if it isn't- it's all your fault," I snapped. I reached over and turned off the lamp next to my side of the bed, leaving a very confused Sean in the dark.

Sean's POV

"So now she won't talk to you?" Jay laughed and adjusted his backpack. "You have to admit... It's sort of funny."

"No, it's not," I snapped. I just wanted to punch something I was so pissed off. I make one little mistake and Ellie acts as if it's the end of the world. It's not like I even threw her hard. More like I placed her on the bed. Why did she have to go and act as if I was some neanderthal?

Jay smirked and shook his head, "Whatever, she'll get over it. It's hormones."

I nodded in agreement but silently prayed that she'd be over it by lunch. There was no way I could sit near her and have her ignore me one more second. The rest of the weekend had been miserable. She had barely spoken to me, she kept complaining about how her stomach hurt her, and she'd continually make little comments like "I hope the baby is okay" or "I can't feel the baby kicking anymore" to try and make me feel bad.

And I do feel bad. There's no doubt about it. Why can't she see that? I strolled down the hallway until I saw her talking with Ashley at their lockers. Maybe she'd be nicer with Ashley around. I guess I had to try something. I can't have Ellie ignoring me the rest of my life.

"Hey Ashley... Elle..." I flashed them both a quick smile before leaning against the locker next to Ellie.

Ashley gave me a smile in return and nudged Ellie in the ribs. Ellie ignored the gesture and just stared at me. Okay, this has gone on long enough. "Ellie, can I talk to you?"

She rolled her eyes, but followed me into a nearby classroom. What was I supposed to say? I had already apologized a ton over the weekend. What more could I do? "Listen, I know you're pissed, but I wasn't thinking, okay? I know my actions could have really hurt the baby, but I just... I don't know... I'm sorry. Seriously. Can you forgive me?"

She bit her lip and looked away for a second before looking back at me. "Fine... I'm just really nervous, okay? I don't want anything happening to the baby. It's the most important thing to me right now. Can you understand that?"

"Of course! And it's the most important thing to me, too. Besides you, that is." I quickly threw in that last part to score extra points. Just as I expected, Ellie broke into a smile and wrapped her arms around my neck.

"I'm that important to you?"

"Definitely." I kissed the end of her nose and she kissed my chin. Seriously, if anyone was looking at us right now, we probably made them sick. We're like a huge sugar overdose. But one you can never get enough of.

Jimmy's POV

"So I expect everything is fine between you and Sean now?" I took a seat next to Ellie in speech and drama. I had ran into Sean on my way end, a huge smile on his face.

Ellie grinned a little bit, "Yeah. How'd you know we were fighting?"

"Everyone knows when you fight. It practically makes the morning announcements," I joked.

Spinner rushed into the room and sat down at the small table we were at. "Dude, did you guys read the play for today? I didn't. I'm going to fail the quiz. I have no idea what anything is about."

Ellie let out a long, suffering sigh and leaned forward on the table. "Okay, run down of Lysistrata starting... now. Okay, men are fighting in the Peloponnesian War. Women are sick of them fighting. They want the war to end. So Lysistrata calls a meeting of all the women... The women decide they are going to deny sex to their husbands until the war ends. The older women are going to seize the Acropolis. The men suffer because they can't have sex. They decide that they'll stop fighting. A big orgy follows. The end."

Spinner wiggled his eyebrows, "Maybe I will read it..."

"Ah, Spinner the sex-starved!" Paige breathed as she sat next to him. "I'm sure you'll fully understand the pain the men are going through."

"You said it."

I hid my smile behind my hand and tried to focus on hitting the key points of the play again. But, seriously, how could I do that when I had Paige sitting across from me constantly yapping? Frustrated, I closed my book and turned my attention towards her. If I couldn't study, I could at least figure out what she was complaining about.

"...And then she had the nerve to tell me that I wasn't be a very good captain. Okay, so I've missed a few practices lately. I've been busy, you know? I'm sorry if Manny thinks I'm letting the squad down, but there are more important things going on."

"Such as what?" I asked. Somehow I knew she was going to say... shopping, boys, and makeup.

"Well... umm... schoolwork," Paige stuttered. "...uh... shopping and... well, I don't know. But there are."

"Well, cut Manny a little flack. I mean, she's probably sick of having to clean up after your messes."

"Excuse me! My messes? What does that mean?"

Ellie leaned her cheek on a fist and cleared her throat. "I think he means that you're piling all the responsibility of running a squad on Manny when you are the captain. You wanted to be captain, now start acting like one. That means you don't miss practices, games, or pep rallies. Manny isn't going to be your go-to girl for much longer."

"I think you're completely wrong, Ellie Nash. I think you should apologize!"

"Hey, I'm not trying to be mean here. I'm just saying the truth. Did you honestly think Manny was going to let you push her around and not get sick of it? Manny's a pretty tough girl. Why did you even start the squad if you didn't want to be a part of all of it?"

Paige pouted for a moment and then opened her mouth, "Because I like cheerleading. It's simple as that."

"And why do you think you should be captain?"

"Because I have great ideas!"

"Then use those ideas. If you like it that much, boyfriends and shopping won't get in the way."

Paige sat back in her seat and seemed to be thinking. Ellie went back to looking at her book and Spinner and I shared a look across the table. Since when did Ellie give Paige advice? And so freely? Without any malice behind it? I had half expected Ellie to throw in the fact that she thought cheerleading was sexist and wrong and everything else... but, she hadn't.

Paige finally spoke up again. "Well, thank you for the advice, Ellie. I'll keep it in mind."

I jogged to catch up with Ellie in the hallway. "Hey, so you giving Paige sound advice? That's a bit too weird."

Ellie laughed and adjusted her bag on her shoulder, "I blame it all on hormones. It's a real drag- being overly emotional... sometimes I find myself feeling sorry for even Paige Michaelchuk."

"Woah!" I chuckled. "That is bad."

"Just be lucky you can't get pregnant. It's a roller coaster. I feel like a complete wreck most of the time."

"I can only imagine... So, your birthday is coming up." I tried to act nonchalantly about it, but I have a feeling I failed miserably.

Ellie noticed. She looked up at me with a weird look on her face. "Wow, that wasn't a major switch in topic or anything..."

I held my hands up in defense and we stopped in the middle of the crowded hallway. "Okay, so Sean needed me to figure out what you want. He says he's been looking all over for something but he can't find anything."

"Well, that's just tough. He'll have to search harder."

I grabbed her shoulder as she started to walk again and kept a steady pace with her. "Okay, so... he's completely lost. Do you know what it's like for guys to have to buy presents for girls? We go stupid. We don't know what to do. Spinner gave Paige a locker for their anniversary one year... That is how lost we get."

Ellie shook her head and laughed. "A locker?"

"Yeah... Sad, isn't it?" I put my arm around her shoulder and burrowed my head into hers. "Please tell me?"

"Okay, what is in this for you? There has to be something."

"Well, Sean did mention the fact that he'd help me hook up this system in my car. I'd rather not spend the extra money if I can get it done for a cheaper rate."

"Uh huh..."

"And, I'd be helping you guys out. Sean gets the money and therefore that helps out him, you, and baby."

"Uh huh..."

"So, what's it going to be?"

She stopped walking and turned to face me. "Okay, fine. Let me think about it, though, okay?"

"Right. Thanks, Elle." I gave her a quick hug and hurried to my next class. Helped out a friend and got a sound system installation at the same time. This weekend, I'd be cruising down the strip with some sweet tunes... and a lovely Miss Aden by my side.

Marco's POV

I pulled out my little notebook and flipped it open to a new page. I looked around the table and noticed that everyone was present and accounted for: Jimmy, Ashley, Craig, Paige, Spinner, Hazel, Alex, Jay, and, of course, Sean. "Okay, so everyone's here and we can begin. Ellie is at Caitlin's, right Sean?"

Sean pulled his hat off and placed it on the table. "Yeah, she's working," he rubbed his eyes and leaned his elbows on the table.

I gave a brief nod. "Okay, down to business. Ellie's birthday party is this Saturday. So, where are we going to have it?"

Ashley spoke up, "I talk to my mom but she said she'd rather we had it somewhere else. So, anybody else want to offer?"

Jimmy raised a hand, "We can have it at my place."

"Awesome," I wrote down Jimmy's apartment next to Where:. "Screen TV, pool table, card table, awesome sound system... What else would we need?"

Jimmy gave a proud smile and intertwined his fingers with Hazel's. "What about food?"

I looked down at my list at my scribblings. "Well, I started brainstorming a few food ideas. There's always pizza..."

"No, we have pizza way too much as it is," Sean frowned.

"Okay, so pizza is out. Um, Chinese? Ellie loves Chinese?"

"Therefore, we eat it all the time, too."

"What don't you guys eat?" I was starting to get annoyed with Sean's constant interference.

"Very funny, Pretty Boy."

I scowled at Sean before returning to the matter at hand. "Okay... umm..."

"Italian?" Craig offered. "She likes Italian food, doesn't she?"

Ashley's face brightened, "That's right! It wouldn't be too hard, right? Chicken Alfredo or something? We could get some baguettes and butter and we could make a big salad..."

Everyone nodded at Ashley's ideas and I quickly jotted them down. "That sounds great. My mom will have some good recipes. She loves my mom's cooking."

"Maybe your mom could even make the pasta?" Hazel asked.

I agreed and made a mental note to ask my mom if she'd have the time to make it this weekend. "Okay, then. Jimmy, you're going to make some cd mixes?"

"Sure. What should I put on them?"

"The Rolling Stones, The Clash, The Cure, umm... Nine Inch Nails..."

Paige interrupted me, "Sorry, but some of us want something we could actually dance to if we wanted."

"Fine, Jimmy just put whatever on there. I doubt Ellie will really care."

"I doubt anyone will really care. Who's getting the alcohol?" We all looked towards Jay.

Jay threw up his hands. "Why am I always the go-to guy for booze?"

"Because you can get it."

"Fine. What do we want?"

"Beer."

"Tequila."

"Rum."

"Vodka. Please."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll see what I can do. Ellie can't drink though, you guys."

Sean smirked, "Aww, Jay. Thanks for being all concerned about my girlfriend, but we know that. That doesn't mean the rest of us can't."

"You think Ellie's going to want to stand around while everyone gets wasted? Poor girl..." Alex muttered.

"Then I won't drink," Sean replied. "I'll just make fun of all you guys with her. Her video camera may come on handy this weekend."

"Woah, we're talking about the same thing here, right?" Jay wiggled his eyebrows. "If not, I want to see that video when you're done. For Ellie, not you."

"Shut up, jerk," I snapped. I hate when people talk about Ellie like that. Any girl actually, but especially Ellie. "Okay, back to work. Who's getting the cake?"

Ashley, Paige, and Hazel all raised their hands. "I can't believe I'm getting Ellie Nash a cake," Paige scrunched her face up as if she were in pain.

I chose to ignore her antics. "Okay then, Sean just make sure you get Ellie to come to Jimmy's."

"Okay."

I let everyone go, but I stayed behind to look over my plans once again. Okay, I think I have everything. Location, food, and I was getting her a present on Friday. I closed my notebook and grabbed my backpack. I just really wanted Ellie's birthday party to go well. Nobody deserved it more than her.

Sean's POV

"Hey Jimmy. Wait up." I ran after Jimmy and slowed down to walk with him. "Did Ellie tell you what she wants?"

"Yeah, about that man... I thought she was going to. She acted like she was going to. And then she kind of just... didn't. She says you oughta know what she likes by now. Sorry, man."

"You told her that I asked you to do it?" I can't believe it. Now I was going to have to go home and listen to Ellie complain about how I don't even know her. That I don't know anything about her. That I have to ask Jimmy to find out what she wants for her present. I'd never hear the end of this.

"Man, she figured it out. I'm not a good liar or anything. She knew something was up."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah..." I rolled my eyes and slapped him on the back. "Well thanks anyway... And, you know, I'll just install the sound system for you. I need the money."

"Thanks, man. Sorry I couldn't get anything out of her. Good luck."

"Yeah, I'll need it."