Chapter Four: Don't Make This Harder Than It Has To Be

Rory

"Who would have thought that a park could be so relaxing?" Marco said while yawning. We had gone out to lunch, and then I suggested the park. Now we were lying on the ground, looking up at the sky.

"Who wouldn't think that the park was relaxing?" I countered. I was having such a good time just being with Marco. Just the fact that he was there next to me was enough to keep me happy for the time being. I thought less and less about Rex's death and more about the present.

"Well, there's just usually a bunch of screaming kids and their parents running after them and screaming," he said. "Just a huge mass of screams and yells and all of that. But it's actually quiet," he said, sounding amazed.

"Yeah. Central Park was always my favorite place. That's why I love my parents and my siblings. We live right next to the park," I said.

"Why didn't we ever go together?" Marco asked me, propping himself up on his elbows. I did the same, turning to look at him, before answering.

"Well…things just happened over Winter break, and…" I trailed off, not wanting to get back on the topic.

"Yeah, that's true," he said, squinting his eyes at me because of the sun. "We should go sometime," he suggested.

"Marco," I sighed out before letting myself fall back to the ground. "You have a boyfriend."

"So what? That doesn't mean I can't have a friend. And friends hang out together. Besides, Jesse has friends. He hangs out with my ex boyfriend," he pointed out.

"And so do you," I replied, meaning myself.

"I don't care Rory. I want to hang out with you, so I'm going to." He moved closer to me and looked down. With him up over me like that, I wanted to kiss him, but I knew I couldn't.

He leaned down further and just looked into my eyes. It was like he was searching for something but couldn't find it.

"I love your eyes," he said finally.

"Thanks," I choked out, nearly a whisper. I couldn't resist him then. I lifted myself up to kiss him. Our lips were almost touching, and he closed his eyes. But then I realized what I was doing. I couldn't let Marco cheat on Jesse. Jesse would never forgive him, and then Marco would hate me for ruining their relationship.

I lay back down softly, and Marco opened his eyes. Letting out a sigh, he stood up and looked away, obviously uncomfortable and a little embarrassed. I knew how he felt because it was exactly how I felt. I stood up next to him and sighed myself, causing him to turn and look at me.

"We should get going," was all I said. He nodded his head in agreement and we began walking back to the bus stop.

Thomas

I lifted a fist to Remy's door and knocked. Theresa held my other hand tightly, as if she was even afraid to be there. I didn't blame her. I knew what it felt like when someone forced themselves on me.

After I knocked a few more times, he finally pulled it open so hard that the door slammed against the wall behind it, echoing throughout the hallway.

"What do you want?" he complained, scratching the back of his head.

"We have to talk," I said in the most menacing way possible. I narrowed my eyes at him and puffed out my chest a little. I was definitely bigger than him anyway, but I wanted to make him feel even more inferior than he already should have.

"Fine, come in. I'd love you have you," he said sarcastically. Smirking I waltzed right in, making sure to keep an arm around Theresa's waist. Remy needed to understand that she was with me, not him.

"Listen you little creep," I started as soon as the door was closed. "You better not lay a hand on my girlfriend ever again," I spat. "I know how you seduced her and now she's pregnant!" I yelled. "I should beat your ass right now."

"And risk being called a gay basher?" he shot back. "Doubtful."

I lunged at him, but he jumped back before sitting down onto his bed.

"Besides," he added. "I didn't seduce her. I couldn't seduce a girl if my life depended on it. Much less a girl like Theresa. She's the one that came onto me. So before you come to me, you better get your facts straight."

"You're such a liar!" I yelled. "She's having your fucking baby and she didn't even want to sleep with you!" Instead of answering, he just laughed.

"Oh please. If that baby's even mine. It's probably not mine or yours. Theresa likes to sleep around. She always has."

"Don't talk about her like that!" I yelled back. "This is all your fault Remy! That baby…." But I didn't get to finish. Because she cut me off before I finished, and before Remy could argue further.

"THERE IS NO BABY!" she yelled as loud as she could.

The room fell silent as we let her words sink in.

"What?" I asked softly.

"You lied to both of us?" Remy asked, equally surprised.

"Not exactly. There's no baby anymore."

"You killed his baby?" I asked in awe. "We were going to raise it together Theresa! We just talked about this before we came here. You let me agree to that when you knew there wasn't a baby anymore? How could you do that to me? How could you even do that to him? Remy is my sworn enemy and I wouldn't wish that on him!" I yelled. I was so angry.

"Don't come to my defense," Remy said to me. "She's done it before."

"What? Exactly how many kids have you conceived together?" I directed the question at Remy this time. I didn't really want to talk to her about this right now.

"It wasn't my baby before. It was in tenth grade. After that dance…" he trailed off, looking at me with sympathy.

"What?" I whispered. I held back tears. I couldn't cry in front of Remy.

"When Theresa and I were together…and she cheated on me with you. She got pregnant and had an abortion. It was your baby Thomas."

Lindsey

"How's Kate?" I asked Sarah. She was getting dressed after our second time having sex that day.

"She's okay. She's just freaking out about everything. I don't know how she's going to deal with the baby. I really don't think that our dad is going to let her keep it. She wants to, but he disagrees right now. I don't think he'll give in either. He wants her to put it up for adoption," she explained.

"Does she know if it's a boy or girl yet?"

"No. She's not going to find out either. She said she doesn't want to know because it'll make everything harder when she gives the baby up. She told me that if she even sees the baby or hears it cry, she'll want to keep it. But that's not happening."

"Tell her I'm sorry. Thomas is really going through some hard stuff with his family, and he's just scared to be a dad. Tell her that he'll come around eventually," I said, trying to reassure her.

"But he can't. My dad would kill him anyway. And it would completely ruin the trial."

"I'm so sorry that we got you both into this situation. If I could take it back, I would. Not the fact that I love you…I'll never take that back. But all of the trouble I got you into…" I trailed off, becoming more upset with each word.

"Lindsey, it's not entirely your fault. Neither of us should have been in a bar or even drinking at this age. I guess we've both learned a huge lesson. But I wouldn't take my love back either. Or the time we got to spend together. I love you," she said, hugging me.

"I love you too," I told her, kissing her one last time.

"I have to go now," she said, tears trailing down her cheeks.

"I know. I'll never forget any of this," I said.

"Goodbye."

Then she got up and walked out of my life. I couldn't say goodbye because I didn't want it to be the last time I talked to her.

Andrew

"Hey Jesse," I said into the phone. "Do you want to go somewhere for awhile? Rory's not back yet so…" I trailed off, unsure of what to say. I wished I could come right out and say it: I think I like you. I want to spend time with you.

"I can't, sorry. Marco just called and said he was on his way. We're going out to dinner," he replied.

"That's okay. I guess that means Rory's coming back soon. I'll hang out with him," I said, trying not to sound disappointed.

"Okay cool. I'll see you in class on Monday then." I could tell he was about to hang up.

"Wait!" I called into the phone.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Why don't we hang out sometime tomorrow?" I asked, giving one last attempt. It didn't work though. I heard him sigh through the phone.

"The truth is Andrew…We can't hang out anymore. I don't want to hurt you, but after the conversation we had today, I realized that I need to spend more time with Marco. I can't ruin our relationship," he said quickly.

"I…"

"I'm sorry Andrew. I gotta go. Marco just got home." I heard a kiss as Marco greeted his boyfriend. He hung up the phone before I could even say goodbye.

At that moment, I felt so alone. I waited for Rory and he never came. I had no idea where he would have gone, but he didn't even come back to hang out with me; his own brother. Lola was sleeping at the end of my bed, so I couldn't play with her either.

I decided to take a walk. Anything was better than sitting in my room alone.

Marco

"So, what do you want to do tonight after dinner?" I asked Jesse while we were waiting for our food. Gracie was asleep in her car seat that was placed on the chair next to Jesse.

"Well, we could spend the night in our room," he suggested. "Or we could…"

"What?"

"I'm not sure. There's not really anywhere else we can go with the baby. Except maybe the park," he said, shrugging his shoulders.

"I love your eyes," I said, looking down at him.

He raised himself up to meet me. Our lips were so close. I closed my eyes, waiting for it to happen…

"Marco?" Jesse called out.

"Yeah, what? I'm sorry," I said, embarrassed. "I was spacing out."

"So, no park then?" he asked.

"Uh, no thanks. We should just stay in."

I was really getting sick of sitting at home every night. Of course it's great to be with Jesse, but we don't spend quality time together. We usually start a movie, and then Gracie wakes up, interrupting it. Or we'll actually start making out and fooling around, and then, surprise, surprise; Gracie wakes up and interrupts us.

"Are you okay?" Jesse asked, reaching across the table and holding onto my hand.

"I'm fine," I lied. "Just a little tired."

"Well then, why don't we get our food to go, and we can go to bed early," he said, grinning.

"Sure, that'd be great," I told him, forcing a smile.

Remy

The silence in the room was uncomfortable. Thomas was holding back tears. All of us could tell. Theresa didn't say a word, and neither did I. I knew exactly how he was feeling. I'd just found out about my own baby too. I was upset, yeah, but not surprised. Theresa can never be trusted. I finally spoke, breaking the silence.

"I'm sorry," I said.

"I'm sure you are Remy," he shot back, glaring at me. "I'm sure you're so sorry that you had to be the one to tell me about my dead kid. I'd have a two year old right now!" he yelled. "I bet you're sorry to have to tell the person you hate the most in the world that his girlfriend killed his baby and never told him about it!"

"Thomas, I know you're angry," I said as calm as I could. "But I know how you feel. I just found out the same thing."

"You have no idea how I feel!" he yelled back. "You have a family Remy! I don't have that, but I could have two years ago." At this point, he did start crying. I felt terrible. I don't think I ever felt worse in my life.

"Thomas," Theresa whispered.

"Don't talk to me!" he yelled. Without another word, he turned and left, slamming the door behind him.

I turned to look at Theresa, and she was in tears.

"How could you do that?" she yelled. "I didn't want him to know! That's why I never told him."

"I don't want to talk to you either!" I yelled right back at her. I was starting to feel the same anger as Thomas, and I wasn't sure what I would do if I had to see her. I held the door open and waited for her to leave.

With tears in her eyes, she took one last look at me and walked out, pulling the door closed behind her.

Jesse

"The baby's asleep," I said, crawling over to Marco and kissing him. He turned the television off and turned towards me, smiling.

"Why don't we go lie down then?" he asked. I followed him over to my bed and got on top of him, trailing kisses from his chin to his chest. I took my shirt off to match his naked torso, and he rolled over so that he was on top.

"I'm so glad we can have some time together," I whispered, kissing him again. I slipped my tongue into his mouth, letting my hands explore every inch of him that I could touch.

"Me too," he mumbled into my mouth. He reached down and started pulling my pants off. I grabbed his hands to stop him.

"Are you sure about this?" I asked.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"I don't know. We just haven't…"

"Shhh," she said, kissing me again.

"Okay," I agreed. He started pulling my pants off once again. We made out while our clothes went flying. Feeling his hands all over me made me feel alive again. As corny as it sounds, I almost felt like it was the first time I was happy since Rex died. "I love you Marco," I whispered as he sucked on my bottom lip.

Marco paused and didn't say anything. He looked into my eyes and smiled.

And then, Gracie started to cry.

A/N: This chapter takes place on Saturday, January 7th. I know, I'm sorry I've written three chapters for just one day, but I can't help it. I just like to leave you wondering and all that. There will be a huge time jump at some point because I want them all to have graduated by the tenth chapter at least. I was trying to make it five, but that's only one chapter away and I definitely can't work that.