TWO
GRIFFIN
He watched the doors that led into the gym and the clock on the wall in equal measure. From nearby, Milo spoke up. "If you keep pacing, you're going to pace a hole in the floor, pal. Grab a weight bench or something, would ya? Some of us are trying to focus and can't with you pacing."
Griffin muttered a sheepish apology and settled on a weight bench, loading some weights onto it. He positioned himself on the bench and hoisted the barbell over his head, grunting as he brought it down and raised it again.
He was just starting to both give up on Theodora showing up to rehearse privately with him and get into a rhythm with his workout when a throat cleared from overhead. He opened his eyes to find Ava Jerome gazing down at him as she bit her lip. He put the barbell back on the metal hooks attached to the top of the bench and rose to a sitting position, grabbing a white towel to wipe the sweat from his brow. "What do you want, Ava?"
"We need to talk, Griffin."
"I have absolutely nothing to say to you. Don't you get it? We're done. Totally finished. Let go." Griffin grumbled, swearing quietly under his breath before falling silent.
Ava shuffled her feet and she seemed to be struggling with saying something. It had him beyond tempted to simply walk away and he'd actually gotten up with every intention in doing so, but what she said next stopped him in his tracks. "I'm pregnant."
Milo nearly choked on the sip of bottled water he'd taken and Griffin gazed at her, some serious internal conflict beginning to really bubble up from deep within as he struggled to process her news.
"We haven't slept together in almost 3 months."
"And according to my exam, that is exactly how far along I am. Do you really think anybody but you could be the father?" Ava replied, tapping her foot against the floor.
Griffin eyed her warily. Oh, he knew all about women like Ava Jerome. He knew that everything she said should be taken with a grain of salt. But it isn't a stretch, his mind reasoned, you did sleep together frequently up until a few months ago.
There was still something inherently dishonest about the look in her eyes. "Okay, show me proof and we'll talk."
Ava produced a sonogram and Griffin took it, biting his lip as he studied it intently. It seemed realistic.
Milo's brow raised and he chuckled to himself as he shook his head. Ava's gaze settled on him and she gave a warning glare. Milo cleared his throat and advised his friend, "Ya know, Google has everything."
Griffin's mouth opened and closed, opening again. Words weren't coming. On the one hand, he wasn't an idiot. Google did indeed have everything. On the other hand, he'd always wanted a family.
,, just not with Ava. At least not lately.." the thought burst into the forefront of his mind and instead of shoving it out, Griffin let himself have it for once. And then it hit him.
If Ava was really carrying his child, kind of further complicated whatever was happening between himself and Theodora Davis lately.
AVA
"I'm not lying. Do I look as if I'm in a position to lie, Griffin?" the lie rolled off her tongue easily. And the sonogram she'd given him wasn't even hers to give in the first place. She was just preemptively making a move before that little bitch Theo could further entice Griffin away from her. She had to do something to lock him down. She hadn't felt the way she felt about him since her time with Morgan. She wasn't about to step back and go down quietly, losing him to Theodora Davis, of all women.
So what if it wasn't true. If he thought it was true for the time being, that was all that mattered. She could get him back into bed and sooner or later, it'd turn up to be true. She had no doubt in her mind that Griffin was nothing if not virile, his high sex drive was the biggest perk of being involved with him.
,, all you have to do is beat Theodora from telling him that he's managed to get her pregnant first. The rest is a cakewalk, Ava. Nothing you haven't done a thousand times in the past to suit your purpose. You saw her buying those EPT tests earlier, if you want to pull this off, you need to step it up." she reminded herself as she took back the sonogram from Griffin. "Now you know. For the record, I don't want nor do I expect anything from you. I just wanted you to know. And I wanted to tell you how much I missed you." Ava really did her best to lay it on thick.
When she saw Griffin's eyes widen and fix on something -or someone, behind her, as he began to stammer, she turned. As soon as she saw Theodora standing there, shuffling her feet and dragging a hand through long brown locks, she gave Theodora a smirk. "I was just leaving. I'll let you two get to it."
She pushed past Theodora and as she did so, she lingered long enough to mutter in amusement, "I truly hope I didn't ruin your afternoon plans, Theo."
"Go fuck yourself, Ava." Theodora snapped in a barely calm tone. Ava walked out of the gym with a particular smug spring in her her step, leaving behind chaos in her wake as usual.
THEO
,, you don't even know if you're actually pregnant yet, slow down. Calm down. You've always had a bit of a wonky period. And the fact that you've gotten sick off and on two mornings / evenings in a row could be a diet related thing." Theodora took a few deep breaths as she wandered into the gym, scowling when she caught sight of Griffin and as per usual, Ava Jerome had the poor guy cornered up.
She made her way over and she'd been about to interrupt, but Ava's rambling confession stopped her dead in her tracks. She stood there frozen, her hand raised to rake through her hair as she let it sink in. Without context to go on, she found herself left to assume the worst. Her stomach churned and she fought back the urge to turn and immediately walk out of the gym.
Griffin locked eyes with her and it was obvious from the look on his face that the last thing he wanted was for her to show up now and hear what Ava was apparently dying to tell him. Deep down, she knew her father's sister well enough to know that Ava could be -and most likely was, lying through her teeth, but for as well as she knew Ava by now, she also knew that she definitely had no way to be entirely sure that Griffin hadn't been screwing them both at the same time.
She definitely couldn't deny that Griffin had quite an impressive sex drive. She had absolutely no complaints, either, she was always too tired and satisfied after each of their encounters. She was also in too much of a hurry to get back to her place, put as much distance between the two of them as she could, but that was a story for a different time. ,, you know it's more than just sex with him. He makes you feel alive again. You're even falling for the damn guy and the harder you fight it, the harder it becomes to fight. If he's screwing both of you, can you really handle finding that out?" the thought came and Theo did her best to shove it down. To bury it deep. But like every single time the thought surfaced lately, it seemed to linger. To nag and eat away at her. It was starting to drive her crazy and honestly, at this point until just now, she hadn't been entirely sure why she kept fighting and kept her defenses up so well. Hearing Ava say that she might be pregnant and it might belong to Griffin, well.. It was just a reminder of why she had to fight and work to keep him out.
Ava's hushed statement as she shoved past a few seconds later had Theodora feeling yet another sharp pang of jealousy. It seemed to happen every single time she caught Ava in the process of cornering Griffin up lately. "Go fuck yourself, Ava." Theo snapped before she could stop from doing so. Ava gave her a menacing smirk. "Upset, Theo?"
Theodora rolled her eyes and as Ava walked out of the gym she fumed to herself quietly, "Fucking bitch. Can a house just land on her already?" which prompted Milo to laugh. Griffin finally seemed to be at a point where he was processing the bombshell Ava dropped on him and Theodora did her best to pretend to be unbothered. "Sorry I'm late. Traffic."
Griffin swallowed hard and nodded. He stepped closer to her before he could stop himself and frowned a little, frustrated when Theodora's immediate physical response was to step away. "Did you still want to practice?" she asked, mostly to change the subject. Before she started to rant and literally everything on her mind, including her own current suspicion that she might be pregnant too and all the fears that went along with that particular thought, came pouring out. If she started, she'd never be able to stop herself before she laid it all on the line and told him exactly how she felt about him.
Because showing him in the small and subtle ways she tried to whenever they were together, it just didn't seem to be enough somehow. It definitely paled in comparison to the way he always seemed to go above and beyond when he was with her. She'd never felt so taken care of in her whole life. It was a shock to her system and one she wasn't willing to let herself get used to, fearing the worst to come sooner or later. ,, especially if you tell him you're pregnant and he decides that this was just a fling for him all along. You know how hard it is to shake that woman somehow, Theo. Don't be stupid."
Griffin nodded. "Yeah. I was waiting on you."
Theodora managed a weak smile and nodded. "Are you sure you're up to it? Hurricane Ava and all that." she motioned towards the door Ava had just walked out of a minute or two prior. Griffin nodded again. They locked eyes yet again and as usual, despite knowing full well that she was probably the world's biggest fool at the moment, Theodora couldn't seem to stop herself from drowning in the depths of Griffin's eyes. Or stepping close to him all over again.
She wanted to turn and walk out. If anything, she had even more of a reason to distance now. Even more of a reason to really stop and consider what good would come of opening up to Griffin just a little more, maybe trying to let him in.
She kept hearing Ava's little bombshell repeating over and over in her head.
She was starting to feel sick to her stomach again and she wasn't sure whether it was real or whether it was just a visceral reaction to Ava potentially being pregnant with Griffin's baby also.
,, get a real test at the hospital. Once you find out if you're pregnant or not, decide what to do from there." Theodora made up her mind and then she did her best to sort of shove everything out of her head. Griffin was gazing at her in concern. He stepped even closer, their bodies lightly brushing together. Theo tilted her head slightly, a brow raised as Griffin rested the back of his hand against her forehead.
"Maybe I should be asking you if you feel up to rehearsing again this afternoon. Are you alright, Theo?"
"Yeah, yeah. I'm good. It's probably just a combination of too much work, a stressful afternoon in court and the fact that I kinda skimped on lunch because court ran over." Theo said it quick. A little too quick if she had to judge by the look in Griffin's eyes right then.
And that feeling that she was going to be sick was only growing more intense until she felt the bile rising in the back of her throat and her hand raised. She shoved between Griffin and Milo and she bolted to the bathroom.
GRIFFIN
"Yeah, no. That didn't seem weird at all." Griffin muttered, gazing at the closed womens room door. Before he could stop himself, the urge to go to her and to make sure Theo was actually alright and not just pretending to be took over and Griffin walked himself right into the bathroom, covering his eyes as he warned the one or two other women present, "I'm just here to make sure my girl is okay. Theo?"
"Third stall." Theo called out as she started to dry-heave. "You shouldn't be." She took a few gasping breaths and continued, "You didn't have to come in here, Griff. I'll be fiiine." she did her best to reassure him, even as it felt as if she was going to empty the entire contents of her stomach into the bowl of the toilet. The door to the stall opened and she felt his hand tangle in her hair, holding the thick braid out of the way.
She finished and Griffin let go of her braid, making his way over to the sink to grab a handful of napkins from the dispenser. Theodora took the napkins as he held them out to her and gave him a weak grin. It was probably meant to reassure him but it did anything but that. He gazed at her in concern. "You feel kind of warm."
"Yeah, I mean.. Did you just miss all that?" Theodora gestured towards the flushing toilet as she took a deep breath or two. As she wandered over to the sink and splashed water on her face, Griffin realized that she hadn't said a single word about Ava's little announcement and he knew she'd heard at least a little. And for some reason, it was important to him that he made her understand that he hadn't been seeing them both.
He pressed against her from behind and they locked eyes in the reflection of the mirror mounted on the wall in front of them. "I need you to know that I was not still sleeping with her when we, uh.. You know."
Theodora simply shrugged, turning to face him. "It's not like we were a thing, Griff."
But something in her eyes led him to believe that despite the way she seemed to be pretending not to care right now, she was at very least, irritated. He didn't want to get his hopes up or read too much into the look in her eyes, but if he were going to, he'd almost want to think that she was upset. That it hurt her, hearing Ava drop that bit of news on him just minutes ago.
"I mean it, Theo. I haven't been with anyone else but you since the first time we…" Griffin went quiet and Theodora took a shaky breath or two. "Can we not talk about any of this now? Please? I'd just really rather not." she pleaded before going quiet.
"We have to talk about it at some point, damn it." Griffin insisted, quick to apologize. "Look, it's not just sex for me, okay? It's not. I'll do whatever it takes to prove that."
Theodora swallowed hard, and she seemed to be lost in thought. "I just wanted you to know that I haven't been with Ava in months." he repeated himself, a lot firmer. "I'm done with her. And if she is pregnant, we both know her well enough to know that the baby probably isn't mine like she's claiming."
Theodora nodded. "Yeah, that's true. But what if it is, Griff? What then, hm?" she asked the question as she eyed him expectantly. Griffin mulled it over. "I'll figure something out."
Theodora nodded. His answer seemed to have her going quiet. She still looked as if something were really bothering her, but he knew better than to keep pushing. Because the last time he tried to push and get them talking about their recurring flings as of late, she went above and beyond to make herself scarce for a week or two and it nearly drove him crazy.
She seemed mostly okay right now. Maybe he needed to leave it alone for the time being. Maybe it was her way of hinting that for her, it was just sexual.
It was really starting to drive him crazy, not knowing one way or another.
"We should get back out there." Theo spoke up, cutting through intense internal conflict on his end. Griffin shook his head. "Nope. What I'm going to do is drive you back to your place. You need to be resting. Getting over whatever you're coming down with."
Theodora finally relented after a few seconds and held out her keys to him. Griffin pocketed her keys and together, they wandered out of the gym, across the street to where she'd parked her Jeep. Griffin opened the passenger door and guided her up into the seat and he walked around, getting in on the driver side. Instantly swearing and lowering the volume of the radio when he turned on the Jeep and it roared to life, the full blast sound of a Motley Crue song nearly deafening him. Theodora managed a weak laugh and Griffin asked as he chuckled quietly, "How do you hear anything again?"
Theodora shrugged and leaned her head back against the headrest. "This is probably just a bug, ya know."
Griffin nodded, agreeing on the surface. But deep down, he felt just the slightest sliver of hope and found himself really wishing it wasn't just some bug.
Because she was it for him, he'd known it for a while now. He just couldn't seem to bring it up or do anything beyond do his best to show her how he felt and she seemed mostly oblivious to that, truth be told.
Sam had mentioned not so long ago that it was just the way her sister had always been, that she'd been through a lot when they were kids and the best advice she could give him to pursue her little sister was to stay patient. Stay in the picture and really show her that he wasn't just going to leave.
It's what he fully intended to do.
"I'm gonna stop by the market. Maybe they have chicken broth or something." Griffin spoke up when the silence between them got to be just a little too overbearing.
"Griff, no. You don't need to stick around and catch whatever this is. I'll be fine, okay?"
"No, I'm staying. I'm worried about you. I want to stay, so I'll stay."
Theo looked as if she'd argue so it came as a surprise to him when for once, she just didn't do it.
Maybe he was starting to get through to her.
,, If Ava's little announcement at the gym didn't just set everything back a few thousand steps." Griffin thought to himself, taking a deep breath. Either way, he knew what he wanted. And he knew that in order to have it, he'd have to keep trying. Prove to Theo that he was different from everyone else.
Because this was the first real thing he'd felt in years and he was determined not to lose it before he even got the chance to begin it.
A/N: First of all, I wanted to thank every single one of you who have stuck around for yet another re-write. You don't know how much it means to me, especially the review I've gotten because I'll be honest. I definitely wasn't expecting it to happen. I wouldn't blame you guys if you were all fed up with me re-writing at the drop of a hat by now. As far as this chapter, all I can say is drama llama, oops. I realize that there's a lot of angsty conflict and internal shit happening here but sooner or later hopefully, these two idiots will get their shit together.
