"Mitchie!" I heard Alex call as I ran my fastest down the still slightly crowded corridor. I didn't bother to turn around; I didn't want to hear what she had to say. I just snapped. "Mitchie!" She yelled again, sounding extremely confused, like she really didn't know what she'd done. "Mitch, wait!" Once again she tried and this time I turned around, allowing her to see my most likely red eyes that were filled with tears.

I felt people watching us, I knew that there were people around but I just didn't care.

After she'd said what she did to Ms. Sutton about what he had done to our lives, about how he'd ruined them by bringing a baby into it and making me how I was, I just didn't want to listen to any shitty excuses from her.

"No! Alex, I heard what you just said? We're a fucking burden? Well, you know what? Fuck you; I don't need you through this shit if that's how you're going to react to it." I hissed at her, uncaring to the whispers that I could hear about us throughout the almost silent corridor. People were staring and watching as we fought and I just couldn't give less of a shit that they were. "Why didn't you just fucking tell me that that was how you felt? Why didn't you say from the beginning that you don't really want to be a part of it?" I quizzed her angrily, an eyebrow raised and my arms folded across my chest.

I was making a special effort not to mention exactly what we were fighting about so people in school wouldn't realise. They could assume what they wanted; I just didn't want them to actually know.

"What the flying fuck, Mitch? I never said that-" She began to attempt to explain, grabbing my wrist when she finally caught up to me and lowering her tone considerably when I was in actual earshot. As soon as her hand caught my bare wrist I growled and forcefully tore it away before taking off again and beginning to run the length of the corridor.

Then it all happened at once and I was lying flat on the floor with a blinding pain in my stomach. I heard a piercing scream from Alex and a few laughs from other students which caused me to look back and realise that I'd tripped over a bump in the flooring.

I let out a strangled cry as the pain in my stomach reached sudden new levels and I instantly feared for my baby's life. I couldn't have just hurt her, I couldn't have!

"Mitchie!" Alex yelled at me, worry and concern evident in her tone of voice. If I wasn't in so much pain, I would have still been pissed at her but I just couldn't be whilst I was lying on the floor with a blinding pain in my pregnant stomach and people laughing at me, the only person making at attempt to help being Alex. "Shit, where does it hurt?" She asked uncertainly, making an attempt to turn me onto my side to get me off of my stomach.

"Ow! Don't touch… my stomach…" I told her through shallow breaths. I was trying to concentrate on breathing rather than the stabbing pain.

"Shit! Someone call a fucking ambulance already, someone get Ms. Munroe!" Alex called out to the people surrounding us who just laughed at her.

"Alex, she just fell over, calm your shit." Someone from our close group of friends joked with Alex and I could literally feel the glare radiating off her.

"Just do as you're fucking told without questioning it, for the love of God!" She yelled, frustrated, trying desperately to calm my terrified tears by stroking my hair. "Mitch, it'll be okay, baby. You'll be fine, you both will," She whispered into my ear, barely audibly.

"No! You don't want us, you don't want us," I cried to her in hysterics. Just then my mom appeared next to me and exchanged a few rushed words with Alex. "Mom, I'm scared…" I trailed off tiredly. The pain in my stomach was quickly just becoming an extremely strong throbbing pain, causing my entire body to feel numb and uncontrollable, like if I even attempted to get up I would either make it worse or fail miserably.

"I know, baby, I know," She whispered back to me, kissing the top of my head and sitting on the floor next to Alex. "Has anyone called an ambulance yet?" My mom yelled, clearly just as angry as Alex. I looked around the mess of people and noticed Bethan looking at me with worried eyes; she knew that something was wrong and I knew that it was her that went to get my mom.

"Why would we? She only fell over, Jesus…" A girl began to ask, only to be cut off by Alex.

"I'm so sorry, Mitch. We don't have our phones; it's the only way we're going to get an ambulance quickly… They're going to find out eventually anyway…" She began to say. I knew exactly what she knew she had to do and nodded slightly to give my permission. "She's fucking pregnant, you bunch of dicks! Now someone call my girlfriend a fucking ambulance because if she loses this baby because none of you wanted to call one, I swear to God, it'll be on your consciences for the rest of your lives." Alex announced shakily, running her hands through my hair and scratching at my scalp slightly. I wanted to push her away, to scream at her, to remind her that we were still fighting, but I simply didn't have the energy.

Suddenly, the room erupted in gasps and some wicked laughter which was quickly stopped by the teachers that had emerged from their nearby classrooms upon hearing Alex's announcement about me. "Okay, everybody, I want this corridor cleared now!" Came the booming voice of the principal who had appeared from an apparent meeting in a nearby classroom. Quickly the students in the corridor dispersed and it was soon only the principal, Alex, my mom, Ms. Sutton and me.

When I woke up again I was in a hospital bed, hooked up to some machines that were beeping steadily to monitor my heartbeat. "You're awake," whispered Alex. I wasn't sure how long it had been but she looked tired and incredibly distressed.

"What are you doing here?" I asked her bitterly, not attempting to move from my uncomfortable position for fear of hurting myself or the baby... if there was still a baby, because the pain in my stomach seemed to have subsided whilst I was out of it. I didn't want to risk it starting up again.

"I'm here because I love you and I love our little girl. I wasn't exactly going to leave you. I wanted to explain to you, I think you got the wrong end of the stick."

I wanted to laugh but I couldn't, I still didn't know whether or not I was still pregnant and then I remembered Alex announcing my condition in the middle of the corridor. "Is the baby okay?" I asked her reluctantly. I didn't really want to go to her for help but I was desperate to know. If I'd lost the baby because I was stupidly running from her and not watching where I was going I'd never forgive myself.

"She's strong, Mitch, she's a fighter just like her mom. It was close but the doctor said she's fine. If it had been left any longer like the cunts at school wanted to do then you would have lost her but you didn't. They want to keep you in for a couple of days to monitor you and keep an eye on her." She explained, resting her hand on top of mine softly, only for me to whip it away quickly.

"You don't want us. You know I'm okay, you can leave now," I spat at her, thinking that that was probably what she wanted to do. She loved me, not my baby.

"Mitchie, are you crazy? Just let me explain…"

"Fine,"

"I didn't mean what I said in the way that you think I meant it, okay? I love you and I love our baby, I just hate what he did to you and the circumstances this all happened in. I hate that he traumatised you, made you wake up screaming, forced you to sleep in your mom's bed all the time and put a cork in our sex life but I don't hate, reject or blame you or whatever else you may think, okay? I don't like how you got pregnant one bit but that doesn't mean that I love our baby any less and I certainly don't blame her." She explained dramatically as she grabbed my wrist and held it still.

"But you kept saying 'as if it wasn't enough,' and then you mentioned my pregnancy as if it was something horrible." I reminded her venomously without leaving any room for her to question whether or not I was beginning to calm down a little at her words.

"I know it could have come across that way to you but, Mitch, please, I swear I didn't mean it like that. It's shitty circumstances, a shitty father and shitty other consequences like how traumatised you are but that doesn't mean I love our little girl any less! Jesus, Mitchie. I love you, I'm fucking head over heels in love with you and that's not going to change. I love you and our daughter but that doesn't make what he did any better, the fact that you're pregnant certainly doesn't compromise what he did and make it an acceptable thing, okay?" She asked me with pure frustration and genuineness lacing her words. I knew that what she was saying, or trying to say, was making sense and I knew that she really meant every word of it.

Suddenly the angry fire inside me was extinguished and I was filled with love for the girl in front of me again. I nodded softly and reached forward, resting my hands softly on her cheeks and gently guiding her head down so I could capture her lips softly between mine.

The gentle, loving kiss only lasted for several seconds but it was all that we needed to express the words that the both of use were struggling to find. I knew what she meant; I knew that she still loved the baby and me. She knew that she was forgiven and that I needed her.

"I love you, okay? I don't ever want you to forget or question that." She whispered against my lips as she rested her forehead against mine lightly, running her fingers through my slightly knotted hair.

"I know... and I'm sorry. I love you too, I just overreacted." I replied as I closed my eyes slowly and relaxed with my forehead against hers. "Come and lay with me?" I questioned hopefully, deciding that even if there wasn't enough room in the cramped hospital bed, we could make room.

Alex nodded and I shifted slightly, noting that the only remote pain that I felt was when I sat up abruptly but that was more like just a dull ache. Alex grinned and squeezed herself onto the bed, just about fitting onto it with her arm resting underneath my shoulders and her other hand relaxed on my stomach.

I must have fallen asleep again because when I awoke I was being shaken slightly by my mom who was standing next to the two police officers that had taken care of me after the incident and the school's principal. "Hey, Mitchie," Greeted the younger of the two officers kindly with a sad smile as her eyes landed on my belly which was still covered by Alex's hand.

I looked to my left and saw Alex in the position she had been previously; her head resting on my shoulder as she slept soundly, letting out the quietest and most adorable snores occasionally that I had ever heard. "Hey," I greeted back groggily, shifting slightly to try and relieve some of the tension in my neck from sleeping in the awkward position.

"We were asked to come in by your principal following the news that he was informed of this morning... around sixteen weeks, aren't you? I mean, assuming that it's his," The police officer added quickly, making a good, informed guess about how far along I was in my pregnancy.

"It's his, I've never whored around with guys and I haven't slept with anyone since him." I quickly told them, trying to defend my own dignity.

"Okay then, well we need to discuss that with you. As you know, the case will be going to court soon when all of the evidence is gathered up but now that's going to have to wait until the little one is born. With all of the evidence that we already have, he doesn't have much room for denial but once we've had the baby DNA tested then he'll have no room whatsoever. He'll definitely get a good, long sentence. I've spoken to my boss and he said that with the newest addition to our evidence he is actually looking at a minimum of around eight year's imprisonment and when he's out he'll have no rights to your child, there's no way he'll ever be allowed to see it, so you don't need to worry about that." The police officer explained kindly without once averting her gaze from my stomach. I turned to face Alex again and saw her grinning; clearly having heard what had been said about Mr. Douglas' sentencing. I was just slightly worried.

"Her. He'll never be allowed to see her, I'm having a girl," I quickly corrected her once again. "Will DNA testing hurt her? I mean… I don't want her to be affected by it in the slightest, especially not if you have enough evidence anyway; I don't want to have to put my new born baby through trauma or pain just to add to the already set-in-stone evidence." I asked worriedly, placing my hand on top of Alex's to rest on my stomach.

"No, it will simply be a small swabbing of saliva from inside her mouth and possibly a finger print; don't worry, we won't hurt her."

Relief washed over me as I nodded in agreement, finally allowing the news of his potential sentencing to make me happy now that I knew my baby wouldn't come to harm. "I'm not going to be able to hide this at school; especially not now that Alex had to announce it. I'll have a noticeable bump in the next couple of weeks, as if this one isn't huge enough. I'm wearing baggy shirts right now but my skirt is already getting a little tight around the waist, I doubt I'll be able to fit into my uniform much longer, Sir." I told the principal once the police officers had excused themselves, after giving me a contact number for after the baby was born.

"I'm sure we can make a special exception for you, Mitchie, given the circumstances. Just out of curiosity… Are you planning on telling people who the father is?" He asked, making it pretty obvious that he wanted to know how much damage control he would have to do.

"I… No, we'll stick to our side of the scholarship deal, don't worry. He was everyone's favorite teacher, I doubt it'll go well if I tell them that he's the reason I'm pregnant. If I have to I'll just explain that it's a police matter now but other than that, I'm not planning on going into detail," I explained the thought process that I'd had pretty much since Doctor Stevens told me that I wouldn't be able to hide it for much longer.

"Very well then, thank you. I must leave now; I need to pick my children up from school. I'll see you back at school when you're ready, Mitchie. I'll see you tomorrow, Alexandra, Ms. Munroe." He bade us all goodbye before making a quick exit through the large door, leaving Alex, my mom and me alone in the hospital room.

"How are you feeling?" My mom asked finally after a few moments of awkward silence as she took a seat on the visitor's chair next to the bed, opposite the one that Alex had previously been occupying.

"I've been better, I won't lie. I still have a headache from this morning and my stomach feels like I have really uncomfortable period pains but other than that I'm okay." I told her honestly, shifting so that I was lying on my side and facing her with Alex lying behind me.

Instantly I felt the bed shift, signalling that Alex was moving, before I felt Alex's breasts pressed tightly and firmly to my back and her arm slung over my side which conveniently left her hand to rest on my stomach again. "That's good then, I guess. I'll see if I can find a doctor to give you some more pain relief, you should be okay to have some now."

Once my mom left, I felt Alex's soft lips pressed to my neck gently after she moved my hair.

"I love you, baby. And I love our baby too. Never forget that."

"I won't."