.:Chapter One:.
Carlos muttered something about having to go back to his apartment. Stephanie nodded, quiet as well. The two had been lying on the couch, her in his arms, ever since they had read the results. That had been two hours ago. They had two hours to let everything sink in.
It still hit her hard whenever she thought about it.
She was pregnant, with Carlos's baby. It wasn't that she didn't love him, she loved him with all of her heart, but she wasn't sure if they were ready for what was to come. At this moment she knew that they weren't. Stephanie sat up and pushed her long hair out of her face, allowing Carlos to get off of the couch. He bent down and gave her a hug and a kiss on the forehead before giving her a wave, leaving the apartment.
Stephanie watched him as he left her apartment. For a few moments, she sat there in silence; once again, staring at nothing .She then squeezed her eyes shut. It was a hopeless thought, but what if she could block it out? Block the reality that was going on with them right then. Then things would be ok. Then they could go back to the way things were, two eighteen year olds that hung out with each other and their friends while selflessly supporting each other in their careers. How hard could that be?
When she opened her eyes, she reached her hands up to her face and realized that she had been crying. A part of her knew what was going to happen, even if the most rational part didn't, at least not at that moment. She couldn't have an abortion; she knew that, she was strongly against it. She was going to have that baby; she just hoped that Carlos would be with her every step of the way to help her with it. It wouldn't be fair…to either of them, if he didn't. But she didn't want to force him into it either. The shock of everything fell onto her at that one moment as she pictured where Carlos was at that moment, what he was doing.
Tears welled up in her eyes and her breathing started to quicken. She knew exactly where he was at that moment. Right then he was walking down the hallways. With each and every step he took, he was getting further away from her. He was had to have still been thinking about what was going on between the two of them, what he was going to tell his friends when he got back. If he was going to tell his friends. Everyone was going to know eventually, but now wasn't the time. In a few moments he would be at the elevator, ready to push the button so the elevator could get to his floor, so he could get back to his apartment. By the time he reached his apartment, it would be too late for her to try and catch him.
Stephanie leapt to her feet and raced to the door to her apartment. She skidded to a quick stop before she ran smack into the door and flung it open, before racing towards the elevator, her long hair flowing behind her as she ran. As she turned the corner, she could see the elevator and knew that he would be there. She rushed through the hallway quickly, past the paintings and the few tables with plants sitting on top for the little decoration that Bitters could afford. They passed by her in a blur as she ran Then she stopped. The elevator doors had already closed.
She was too late.
Stephanie slowly walked over to the elevator doors. She looked at them; the doors reflected her image back at her. Her hair was long and wavy, beautiful like always. But her eyes were red and puffy, her cheeks wet. Anyone that looked at her could easily see that something was wrong. There was no denying that. But no one could fathom the demons that she was dealing with.
Stephanie whispered Carlos's name at the closed doors. She expected him to pop up behind her and yell 'surprise' it would be such a Carlos thing to do. But she knew he wasn't going to be there. They both needed some space, some time to themselves.
He was going to be in there, she knew it. He'd come back. He had to.
Stephanie collapsed to the floor. Her sobs quickly turned to complete wails of despair, frustration, and fear. Anyone could have come up to her and held her in their arms and said that everything was going to be ok.
But she wouldn't believe any of them.
A/N: Sorry this was a short beginning chapter, I wanted to show what Stephanie was feeling before I got to the Carlos angst. That's the main point of the story of course. I hope that you guys liked it. Thanks to KendallCoverGirl804, winterschild11, BookWorkKendall, chocolate-colombo, and paulag.2011 for reviewing.
Don't worry, like I said, this and the prologue/epilogue are the only short chapters. They're longer after this one.
Cheers,
-Riles