Chapter 20- Some things fade, some fade faster

As April and Casey left the diner, they saw Summer coming against them. Casey gritted his teeth. "Hey Summer, can we talk to you for a minute?" he called.

Summer looked apprehensive but nodded anyway. "Sure what's up?" she wondered timidly.

"You know what's up." April gave their class mate a knowing look. She couldn't believe that Summer could just stand there and act innocent.

Summer lowered her gaze to April's stomach. "Yeah, I know exactly what's up. Little Miss "I'm So Perfect" has gotten herself into a bit of trouble." She grinned.

"Eye's up here!" Casey told her, getting really annoyed.

A look of realisation crossed her face. "Oh, don't tell me you're the babydaddy!" Summer exclaimed excitedly, as if she was ready to pass on the news at a moment's notice. "What about Buckton? Did another backseat opportunity come calling?"

"Not that it's any of your business, but I'm not the father. So why don't you tell me who you found out from?" Casey wondered venomously.

Summer wasn't letting it go that easy though. "Dex? Xavier? I bet it was Xavier. He's always been easy. But then again, Dex has always been desperate."

April knew she had to take control of the situation like Casey had done in the diner. The moment Summer walked in there, she would be told of the recent revelation anyway so April wanted to at least use the information to her advantage. "Those are my friends you're talking about! Fine if you want to know who my baby's father is so badly, I guess I can tell you." Summer was practically drooling at the mouth waiting to find out. "It's Heath."

Summer's face fell just as Stu's had. "The baby's father is Heath Braxton?" she wondered, disbelievingly.

Casey nodded. "So that makes me and Brax that baby's uncles. Now do you want to tell us who told you?"

"It was Sasha." Summer said straight out. "There I told you." She said and walked away.

April and Casey looked suprisedly at each other. She kind of knew all along that it couldn't have been Dex and she should have suspected that it was Sasha. She never really liked April anyway so it wouldn't have been at any loss for her. "It was Sasha." She repeated.

Casey nodded. "So I guess that's our next port of call?"

April shook her head. "No. I think we've interrogated enough people today." She said quietly. "It doesn't matter who told people, the main thing is that people know. I guess the cat is out of the bag."

They walked along the seafront in silence. April had so many thoughts going through her head that she needed to get sorted out. Today had been a strange day for her. She didn't think that she would need to deal with all this yet, but looking back on it, April thought herself naive to expect the secret to last much longer. She knew she would have had to face up to this sooner or later and she was kind of glad that it was over with. Well April knew she would have to deal with the fallout of the recent revelation but it was better than having people whispering about her behind her back and spreading rumours about who the baby's father was.

Xavier was walking in Casey and April's direction but quickly changed his route when he saw them. April frowned and hurried after him. "Xave! Xave!" she called and he hesitated before turning around. "What's wrong?"

Xavier looked at her disbelievingly. "Are you serious? What do you think is wrong? I'll give you a hint, it might have something to do with the fact that you're pregnant by Heath Braxton!"

"Good news travels fast I see." She replied.

Xavier grimaced. "I would hardly call this good news. How could you be so stupid?"

April sighed. "You know that is becoming a bit of a cliché at this stage! I've got it from nearly everyone. I think I know very well at this stage what people think." She snapped.

"Well it's the truth. You know when we became friends again, you failed to mention that you were sleeping with the biggest sleazebag in town!"

April nodded. "See! We're friends. Friends support each other. And frankly, what I get up to with Heath is none of your business."

"Good, because I don't want to know anyway. If you're with Heath, then we're not friends anymore. I can support you with this." Xavier said shortly before walking away.

April couldn't believe that he had just said that. They had been friends for such a long time and now he wanted nothing to do with her. They were always really close and now he was acting as if that meant nothing. The day was just going from bad to worse. April's eyes began filling with tears.

Casey frowned and hugged his friend. "He'll come around." He promised. "This is just a bit of shock for him. It's a bit of a shock for everyone."

April wasn't so sure. "He's never been like that with me before. Even during everything that happed with the chemicals and everything else. I'm going home." She said and began walking away. "Tell Heath I'll catch up with him in a while. I just need time to think."

When April got home she sat on the couch in silence. Irene, Bianca and Liam were out so she had the house to herself. April just sat there for nearly two hours contemplating everything. She couldn't believe that Xavier was making her hate him. He knew her better than most and he was just giving up. April's phone kept ringing and she switched it off. She wasn't in the mood for talking to anyone. Just as it was getting dark, Bianca walked in the door.

"There you are! I've been trying to call you for half an hour." She said, slightly out of breath and a bit flustered.

April shrugged. "I switched my phone off. "

Bianca bit her lip and sat down on the arm of the couch. "April there's something I need to talk to you about. Xavier-"

April didn't want to hear it. "Xavier made his thoughts perfectly clear. I don't need him in my life. I've got Heath and you and Liam and Ruby and-"

Bianca lost her patience. "Listen to me April!" she half-shouted and April stopped talking. Bianca took a deep breath. "Xavier's been in an accident."