Mercedes knew that running away wouldn't fix her problems, in fact, she knew it would probably make them worst. Before she had been a pregnant teenager, now she was a homeless pregnant teenager with no real means of income. But she knew this was going to happen the minute that damned little pink plus sign showed up on that equally damned pregnancy test.
When she was about 11, her mother sat her down and gave Mercedes "the talk" and made it very clear that sex before marriage was a very serious sin and if her parents ever had any proof that she had committed that sin, she would be out of the house and on the street faster than you can say "I didn't mean for it to happen!" And Mercedes Jones was not just going to wait around until her parents found out. She wasn't going to watch her mother cry and hear the names her father would call her, wasn't going to quickly part her bags and run out the front door, see it slam shut and then dissolve into tears. No, she was getting out of there before any of that, Mercedes was leaving on her own terms.
"Can I ask you something?" Sam's voice broke through Mercedes thoughts.
"I guess, sure."
"Have you been to a doctor yet? You know, for the baby." Sam glanced over at her, temporally taking his eyes off the road. They were about mid-way to New York.
"No, I haven't had the time." It was party true; she didn't want her parents seeing the bills either.
"Oh." Silence reclaimed the car. She looked at him. Sam was staring at the road, he looked tense; his jaw clamped tightly shut. She leaned over and planted a small kiss on his cheek.
"I love you. Thank you for coming with me." He looked at her through the corner of his eye. This was only the second time she has told him she loved him.
"I love you too. And you don't have to thank me for coming. What else was I going to do?"
A.N. Wow, an update! It's been a while. Sorry about that.