Dear readers, I know it's been too long and I know this will be too short but I'm finally finding my teenage muse again. I hope you'll enjoy this little chapter. I'll try to get some more out soon.

…

20.

Elliot had another month to prepare for his final exams and he and Olivia had agreed to keep their contact to a minimum for now, because Olivia didn't want to jeopardize Elliot's graduation in any way. He loved her all the more for it. He missed seeing Olivia regularly though, and cherished the little moments between them; a wink in the hallway, a smile at the bus stop and the occasional stolen kiss in between classes or after school. Even without seeing her much, he knew they were good. He felt connected to Olivia in a way he had never felt connected to anyone before, not even to his brothers or his sisters.

And then the news dropped.

Gossip traveled at lightning speed in highschool and it only took half a day before the entire school knew: Kathy had a bun in the oven. Naturally, Elliot's name was mentioned in the gossip as well. It wasn't that long ago that he was her boyfriend after all. But Elliot was having none of it.

"It's not mine. It can't be!" he huffed as he and his two best friends walked out of the school building.

"How can you be so sure, El?" Brian asked. "The way I remember it, you were going at it like bunnies at the time. They say she's almost three months along and you broke up about three months ago. The timeline fits man."

Elliot shook his head as the friends left the school grounds to get a soft drink down the street.

"No way. I was very careful always to use a condom after the first time."

"After the first time?"

Elliot wiggled his head and glanced at Brian and John.

"Well … we didn't use anything the first time. But we did after that and she got her period, so I didn't knock her up that one time! I just know it!"

"And you're sure your condom never broke?"

"Absolutely. It's not mine. No way!"

He was adamant about it but he was also desperate to talk to Olivia, to let her know that whatever she'd heard, it wasn't true. It couldn't be.

Meanwhile, Olivia had been shocked to hear the news about Kathy. The blonde wasn't in school today, but her cheerleader friends had been unable to keep her secret for long. She was pregnant at seventeen!

No matter how hard she tried, Olivia couldn't stop her mind from wandering … and she couldn't help wondering if it could possibly be Elliot's baby. Her stomach was in knots just thinking about it. Her boyfriend … having a child with someone else! The rumors about the pregnancy varied a bit. Some had her pregnant for two months, others for three, and someone was certain that the blonde had already been showing at cheerleading practice the week before - which would mean she was even further along than three months. And that could only mean one thing.

"Olivia," Beth whispered in class. "You gotta go talk to him. Today."

Olivia nodded without looking up, so their teacher wouldn't look in their direction. She pretended to be busy writing out an assignment and Beth added softly,

"I'm sure it's Nick's."

"You can't be sure."

Beth was silent then and Olivia chewed on her pen. Was this really happening? Just when she had found a boy that she could really see herself be happy with? The school day just dragged on and Olivia got even more jittery when she didn't see Elliot between classes or at lunch.

Elliot was also getting nervous. He really wanted to reassure Olivia that nothing would come between them. He had to trust her now not to jump to conclusions but he knew how easy it was to get carried away with rumors. On top of that, several other boys were making suggestive remarks that were clearly aimed at him. Some referred to him as daddy and others were wondering out loud if he was planning to knock up any more girls, like that brunette they'd seen him with. By the end of the day Elliot was ready to throw some punches and Brian was right there with him. The two friends got into a yelling match with three other kids in the hallway and Elliot was inches away from punching someone's nose in when Ms. Benson came walking up to them with Ms. Malloy in tow.

"What's going on here?" Serena boomed, and the boys who had challenged Elliot quickly scattered, leaving the two angry friends alone with their English teacher and the social worker.

"Nothing, Ms. Benson," Brian said quickly, giving Elliot some time to calm down. "We had a small disagreement with those boys but we'll be on our way now."

Brian pushed his friend, hoping they could make a clean exit quickly, but Ms. Benson wasn't done with them yet.

"What kind of disagreement?"

"Nothing that concerns you, ma'am," Elliot said as politely as he could manage. He had made an effort to sound calm, this was Olivia's mother after all, but he knew he'd sounded harsh anyway.

Ms. Malloy was studying Elliot's demeanor but he wasn't in the mood to have his emotions dissected. He just wanted to leave so he could hopefully talk to Olivia about Kathy.

"Is this about the news that is buzzing around school about Miss Malone?" Ms. Malloy asked them.

Ms. Benson folded her arms in front of her chest demonstratively and Brian took a small step forward, stepping in front of Elliot while answering the social worker,

"Well, yeah, since you asked. Everyone's saying it's Elliot's kid, but it's not. It can't be and people need to leave him alone."

"It can't be? That's not what I heard, Mr. Cassidy," Ms. Benson said snidely, addressing Brian but looking straight at Elliot.

"Well, you weren't there, were you," Elliot said, stepping forward as well, and he wasn't trying to hide his anger anymore. "It's not mine. It's probably from Nick or maybe some other guy she banged after him. I washed my hands of her after she cheated on me and she was not pregnant when we split!"

"Elliot, maybe we should talk some more in my office," Ms. Malloy suggested, but Elliot shook his head. He was too riled up now to talk and Ms. Malloy wasn't the one he wanted to talk to anyway.

"We've talked plenty. No offense ma'am, but I did my time in your office and I didn't do anything wrong this time, so if you don't mind, we would like to leave now so we can study for our exams."

Ms. Malloy made a gesture indicating that she couldn't stop them from leaving, but stressed again that he was always welcome for a little chat. Elliot turned around, needing to get away from Ms. Benson's scrutiny. He knew it would be even more risky now to go and find Olivia and it made him feel like punching a wall. He held it together though, knowing that Ms. Benson was probably keeping an eye on him, and they joined John and Gwen in front of the school. Olivia was in front of the school too, standing on the sidewalk outside the gate with Beth and Pamela, and he knew they must have been hanging around waiting for him to show.

Elliot looked at Olivia and nodded in the direction of her bus stop. Olivia responded with a curt nod of her own. They would meet around the corner down the street just like before.

…

"It's not mine, baby. It can't be."

Elliot had started talking even before she had reached him, and she ran the last few yards until they were chest to chest. She grabbed the front of his open denim jacket on both sides and tugged at it.

"How can you be sure?"

"I was real careful. I swear."

Olivia bit her lip. She wanted to believe Elliot; desperately so. But how sure could he really be at this stage?

"What if it's yours anyway El?"

"It's not mine!"

She moved her hands up Elliot's chest and rubbed his shoulders gently, hoping he would really listen to what she was saying. Because she had to know.

"El. Listen to me. Just imagine for a moment, okay? What if someone was carrying your child? What would you do? Would you want it?"

Elliot shook his head and told her,

"I don't want to have a kid with Kathy."

"But what if you are?" she insisted. "Or if you had one on the way with me?"

Elliot's eyes instantly softened and he finally seemed to focus on what she was saying.

"I'd want it with you, baby. I'd definitely want it with you."

"And if someone else was carrying your child? Would you ignore it? Or would you want them to kill it?"

Elliot bowed his head then, until his forehead collided gently with hers. She could hear him swallow, twice, before he took a breath to answer her. And suddenly she already knew what he was going to say. And she was right.

"No," Elliot whispered. "I wouldn't want it dead. And I couldn't ignore it. Not my own kid."

It was Olivia's turn to swallow hard. She knew Elliot was a good and decent boy. She should have known he'd want to do the right thing if he got a girl pregnant. And she knew that there was a good chance she was going to lose him to Kathy after all.

"Liv."

Olivia closed her eyes and didn't look up when Elliot tried to make eye contact with her.

"Olivia," Elliot tried again. "Kathy's baby … it's not mine. I swear it's not. And I'll do whatever it takes to prove it. I don't want to get back with her. I want to be with you and only you."

Olivia felt tears welling up in her eyes. The feeling of dread she'd had all day was finally catching up with her. She didn't want to lose Elliot but she just wasn't meant to be happy, ever.

"Liv. Please say something. I don't know what else to tell you," Elliot implored, and she could hear the panic in his voice. He didn't want to lose her either, but what could he do?

"This isn't going to go away, El," she said softly, her voice trembling.

Elliot reached up to cup her cheek, forcing her to finally look up at him. His heart broke a little when he saw her tears.

"I'll take every test they have, Liv. I won't be trapped like this. No way. Not now that I know who I really want to be with!"

…

A/N: Your thoughts?