A/N: Had an awkward moment when I didn't know what T. Swift song to use or Chrucy…It phased me that using any song off of Speak Now and even Fearless would probably earn me getting my head ripped of from Lucian fans. :P Anyhow, read on!
OH! And if you don't follow me on twitter, THIS IS A MULTI-CHAPTERED FIC. My other stories (if you hadn't noticed) are series oneshots. This story is meant to flow together. BTW: Twitter names used in this are meant to be fictional (obviously, since this is a fiction RPF story). That said, I apologize I actually used your name.
Heartbeat
Chapter 1
Against All Odds
Lucy stared at the small stick in her hand as tears ran down her face. A part of her wanted to scream and yell, and say she had no clue how this had happened. She wanted to be able to say that she didn't know how she was standing here with this situation in front of her. But she knew she couldn't do that.
Annie knocked on the door and called her name, and Lucy jumped. She wrapped her hands tightly around the small white stick and she looked towards the door. She stuffed it into the pocket of her jeans and then pulled her t-shirt down over it and walked over to the mirror. She wiped away the tears on her face and made sure she looked presentable before she opened the door.
Annie smiled at her. "Hey sweetie. Everything okay?"
Lucy nodded, forcing a smile on her face. "Yeah. Everything's great. What's up?" "Claire just called," Annie replied. "She wanted to know if we wanted to get dinner with her Kurt." Lucy pulled her phone out of her pocket and looked at the message on her screen. "I- um, Ian called. He's- We have to talk."
She pushed through the doorway without saying anything else and walked down the hall to her room. She pushed her door shut behind her and then walked over to her desk and pulled the stick from her pocket. She tucked it into her bag and then tapped her phone a few times.
Ian had texted her earlier in the day to ask if she had wanted to meet up for coffee. They had a lot to talk about. After she had left him after the Ustream a few weeks before, they'd left on the terms that they'd talk when she got back. After all, they hadn't really seen each other since hiatus had started.
It wasn't that she minded taking time away from her cast mates to spend with other people; it honestly wasn't. It was the fact that Ian was one of her closest friends, but it seemed that in the last two months, they had barely said anything beyond a text asking how the other was doing, here and there. The Ustream had been planned to remedy that, among other things.
She grabbed a bag from her closet and stuffed a few pairs of clothes into it as well before she grabbed her purse off her desk and then walked out of her room.
"Can you keep an eye on Jack for a while?" She asked as she walked towards the door. She snatched her coat off of a hook next to the door. "I'll be back when I can." Annie grabbed her arm as she reached the door. "What's going on?"
Lucy looked up at her best friend. "I just, I can't get into it right now. I need to talk with Ian." "That's just it, Lucy! Chris is your boyfriend! Why is Ian so important now?"
Lucy shook her head again. "Please, Annie. Just let me do this. I promise I'll explain later." She turned back to the door, and breathed a slight sigh of relief when Annie didn't try to stop her again. She opened the door, muttering under her breath, "I won't really have a choice."
She dashed out of her apartment building and then rushed to her car. She tossed her things haphazardly into the passenger seat as she started the car. Once it was running, she yanked her seatbelt across her body while pulling onto the road.
Her drive was quick. Ian's apartment building was less than a mile away, and before she knew it, she was pulling down into the guest parking in his building's parking garage. She threw her car into park, shut it down, and then grabbed her purse before getting out of the car.
She crossed the parking structure quickly and then punched the up button on the elevator. It couldn't come fast enough as she typed a quick text to let him know that she was there. The elevator finally arrived and she jumped into it, punching the button for the fifth floor.
She tapped her foot impatiently as she stood there, almost vibrating with how much nervous energy was racing through her.
The elevator finally opened again, and she stepped out, beat-footing it down the hall to Ian's door. When she finally stepped up to it, she was just about to lift her hand to pound on the door when it opened in front of her. Ian was standing in front of her. Lucy pushed past him without saying a word and tossed her bag on the coffee table before whipping around to face him.
"What's going on?" He asked. He knew he had texted her to ask if they could meet, but ever since then she'd seemed anxious.
"What's going on is we're fucked," she said.
Ian shook his head, blinking bewilderedly. "W-What?"
Lucy slapped him across the face with all the energy she could muster, though it only led to her trembling as she clenched her hands into fists. There were tears in her eyes.
Ian lifted his head back up slowly, bringing his hand up to his quickly reddening cheek. He had tears in his own eyes, but he looked incredibly pissed.
"What the fuck did I do?" He yelled at her.
Lucy stared him down, clenching her jaw as tears started to roll down her face. "I'm sorry," she whimpered. "I know it's my fault, not yours…I just…"
She shook her head, walking over to the couch. She sat down and wrapped her arms around her body, rubbing her hands up and down her upper arms.
"What are you talking about," Ian asked. His anger was dribbling away quickly. He was more worried about why she was so upset. He walked over to her and sat down next to her, gently placing an arm around her. "Talk to me, Goose."
Lucy shook her head, looking up at him. She loosened her arms and gently reached up to the red mark she'd left on his face. "I'm really sorry. I'm just really scared right now."
Ian reached up and pulled her hand down off his face. He held her hand in his own. "Just tell me what's wrong. What happened?"
Lucy sniffled, wiping away some of the tears on her face. "I was looking at the calendar because we go to work next week, and you know how I write everything down."Ian nodded. He moved his hands up to her face and wiped away her remaining tears. "So what did you miss?"
"My period," Lucy muttered. "I'm pregnant, Ian. And there's no way that the baby could be Chris'."
Ian stared at her blank-faced for a few moments. He squeezed her hand lightly. "You're sure?"Lucy nodded. "Chris and I were barely together. I told him I wasn't ready, and that when I was, I'd let him know. We didn't even do anything until the end of February. But with you…""Valentines day," Ian murmured.
Lucy nodded, whimpering. "I didn't even think about it at first. I had toiletries and everything packed for that trip, and I never used them. I didn't think about it. Everything in the last few weeks has just been about going and going and going, I guess I figured I was too stressed by all the work I had to do."
"Are you absolutely sure," Ian asked her.
Lucy nodded again. "I should've started my cycle almost a week ago. I'm- I n-need to make an appointment with my physician, but I'm positive that I'm pregnant."
Ian took several deep breaths, soaking in the information. After a few long minutes of silence, he turned his attention back to her. "What about Chris?"
Lucy shrugged, shaking her head again as her bottom lip trembled. "I'm an idiot? I should've broken up with Chris after we had sex."
"We were drinking, Luce. I doubt he would hold it against you."
Lucy looked back at him. "I was drinking, Ian. I know how you are about alcohol. I was stupid. I thought that maybe if I continued dating Chris, that the feelings I was having would go away, but the longer it's gone on, the more guilty and stupid I've felt."
"What do you mean?" Ian asked.
Lucy pulled her hand from his and wrung her hands together. She stared down at the floor. "I knew you had feelings, Ian. More than what I did. When we went on break, I figured the distance would be good for us. I thought, maybe if we were apart for a while, then you would find someone else. Then I started dating Chris, but the next thing I knew the fans were going nuts and one minute they were happy and the next I'm being told I'm a bitch because of all of this, and-"
"Slow down," Ian coaxed her. "Take a breath."
Lucy shook her head. "You don't know what it's like, Ian. The kind of weight that causes, when everyone is telling you that you're dating the wrong person, and you're a whore, and your boyfriend is an idiot getting in the middle of something indestructible. Even I knew they were right, but I was too scared to admit it. I was too afraid that you'd be just like all the other guys in the last few years."
Ian shook his head. "I'd never do that to you, Lucy. Not ever."
"I know that now," she replied. "I just- On Valentines Day, I kept thinking about how hundreds of kids couldn't be right. A-And I knew that it wasn't just kids. I knew there were girls close to my age who saw it in you, and I just wanted to deny it. But when we were here, I kept thinking maybe if I kissed you, I'd be able to feel what everyone saw. The next thing I knew…"
"We were in my bed," Ian replied softly. "But that really doesn't answer my question. What're you going to do about Chris?"
Lucy shook her head. "What can I do? I mean I guess I could give him the option of continuing this, but is that really fair? My heart's not in it. I think the best thing to do is just end it."
"And what about us?" Ian asked. "Or is there an us at all?"
Lucy laughed softly. "Ian, we've never even been out on a date."
He tilted his head at her. "Really, Luce? That's what you're worried about? We've been kissing each other for two years, and we've had plenty of conversations over coffee and dinner. So tell me, what's stopping us now?"
"Let's just take it slow right now," she replied. "I need to talk things over with Chris, and then we need to make some decisions."
She moved to get up off the couch, but Ian grabbed her, inadvertently causing her to land in his lap. He rested his arms loosely around her.
"I want this baby with you, Lucy. I'm sure of it."
Lucy chuckled, resting her head against his. "We're going to be in so much trouble."
"At least we won't be alone." Ian replied. He rubbed his hand up and down her back comfortingly and kissed the side of her head.
They sat like that for a few moments, but it quickly faded away when Lucy's phone went off.
"And he says:Our song is slamming screen door,
Sneaking out late, tapping on your window
When we're on the phone and you talk real-"
Lucy groaned, pulling her phone from her pocket. "I guess I'm telling him today." She moved off of Ian's lap and stood up, crossing her left arm across her body as she answered her phone and brought it up to her ear. "Hey."
Ian stood from his spot on the couch and walked over his bedroom. He snatched a black sweatshirt off his bed and pulled it on before zipping it up and walking back out to the family room. He walked over to the kitchen and grabbed a glass out of the drying rack in his sink and filled it with water, watching warily as Lucy talked to Chris. He wasn't necessarily trying to eavesdrop on her conversation, but he was worried about how Lucy was going to handle telling Chris that she was pregnant.
"I'm not upset," she murmured softly as she paced the floor of Ian's apartment.
He took a long drink from his glass of water.
"No, I just-…" She sighed. "I know when I tell you what I have to tell you, you're going to be upset."
She paused, looking up at Ian. He heard the garbled speaking of what sounded like just tell me what's wrong.
"I did something a few weeks ago, and I-" Lucy shook her head as tears started to run down her face again. "I know that you're going to want me to say it was a bad or stupid choice, but I don't know that it was."
Ian settled his glass on the counter and walked over to Lucy. He could see that she was becoming more upset the longer the conversation went on.
What did you do?
Lucy opened her mouth to speak but the words didn't come. Ian could tell that it was eating at her, trying to have this conversation. He put his hand out, offering silently to do it for her. She looked at him and then weakly passed over her phone. Ian took it from her, wrapping his free arm around her in a hug. She buried her face in his chest, fisting his sweater in both hands as she wrapped her arms tightly around him.
"She's pregnant," he said finally. "And it's not your baby."
There was a long pause on the other line. Ian pulled the phone away from his ear wondering if Chris had hung up. The conversation was still going on.
"How can you be sure of that?" Finally came over the line.
"Lucy knows her own body," Ian replied. "Look, she didn't intend for this to happen. Neither did I. It just did." "And this is Ian I'm talking to?"
"Yes," Ian replied with a heavy breath. "Look, I'm sure you have a lot of questions and-"
"I really don't. I just don't understand how I thought such a slut could be as pure as I thought she was."
Before Ian could reply with the slew of comments and curse words he'd been dying to say to the older man for over a month, the line clicked dead.
"Well, that was a lovely conversation," he muttered as he pulled her phone away from his ear. Within seconds, Lucy's phone buzzed with a new text message.
Lucy lifted her head and took the phone from him. She furrowed her brow as she read the text message and then opened her twitter feed.
"What's wrong?" He asked.
"Chris is blowing up his twitter feed," Lucy muttered as she sat down on his couch. Ian walked over to her and peered over his shoulder as she read the comments on her screen.
ChrisZylka
Sad when you find out the girl you
trust the most is boning her REAL best friend.
Lucy tapped her phone as the screen lit up with one new tweet.
ChrisZylka
Hope they just love that bundle of obvious
alcohol-induced sex. lucyyhale
Lucy shook her head tossing her phone lightly onto the coffee table. She crossed an arm over her lap and rested her elbow on her knee, covering her mouth with her hand.
Ian shook his head, grabbing her legs and pulling her so that she was facing him, resting her legs in his lap.
"Hey. Don't let what he's saying get to you. God knows he's probably gonna get bombarded with fifty-thousand tweets about how he never deserved you. God knows all those fifteen year old girls are right."
Lucy laughed as Ian brushed a strand of hair out of her face. "You really think so?"
Ian nodded. "Why wouldn't I? I've always loved you, Luce."
Lucy giggled softly, closing her eyes as she rested her head against Ian's shoulder. "I guess its not entirely unlikely that when they say sometimes you're looking for what's right in front of you, is true. I'm only sorry I didn't realize it sooner."
"Life is a learning curve," Ian replied softly. "Don't you remember what our girl Taylor said? You never know everything." Lucy laughed again. "You and Taylor Swift. You sure you're not with the wrong girl?"
Ian lifted her head, resting his finger under her chin. "I'm absolutely positive."
Almost on cue, both of their iPhones started to buzz obnoxiously on the coffee table as a bombarding of text messages started to fly in.
"I really hoped that this wasn't going to start now," Lucy said softly. She reached forward and grabbed their phones, and then handed Ian his. They both opened their inboxes.
"Well," he said. "I've got messages from Holly, Chad, Marlene, Keegan, Tyler, and my sister." Lucy giggled as she scrolled through her own text messages. "Annie, Claire, Marlene, Troian, Ashley, and Shay, my sister." She let out a surprised laugh. "Even Kurt texted."
They lookked up at each other.
"What do you want to tell people right now," Ian asked Lucy.
Lucy shrugged. "Right now? Except for a family and a few people, I'd like to keep it between us." "So what should we say?"
Lucy pursed her lips as she thought for a few seconds. After a moment, she looked back at him. "That we're just trying to figure things out. I mean, I have to tell my family and Annie and Claire the truth. I'll tell Troian, Ash, and Shay in a few weeks. Whoever you decide to tell is your own choice. I just don't want it splashed all over page six when I haven't even seen a doctor yet."
That said, Lucy began typing out a mass reply to her sister, Annie, Claire, and Marlene that she and Ian were dating, and pregnant. She also asked that they give her a bit, and that she would explain to each of them individually.
On his own phone, Ian sent a quick reply to his sister, Holly, and Keegan, alerting them as well that he and Lucy were dating.
He laughed as he read through the messages individually.
Momma Bear:
Did you finally get her, rookie?
Chris is taking to twitter like a mad man.
Another text message, a few moments later.
Wait, is she pregnant too? What did I miss?
Ian smiled as he read the text. People often picked on their relationship because of their very obvious and joking twitter arguments. His friendship with Holly was that of a mentor/student relationship in a lot of ways. She understood things about the business that he had yet to learn. But more than that, Holly had known from the day Ian himself had realized it, that Ian was in love with Lucy. She had always supported him, and often was his sounding board when Ian needed someone to blow off steam to about the relationship. He adored the comradeship between them. She was great to have around when he couldn't talk to his mom or sister.
He opened a tentative text reply and began to type.
It happened on Valentines Day. Didn't now what
was going to happen, so I didn't say anything.
I'll tell you more later…or leave it to Luce.
And yes, she is. Shh. We're only telling a few ppl.
He sent off the text message, only to realize he had one back from Keegan.
Keegan:
Took you long enough. V-Day?
Nice one. Did you at least give her flowers?
"How'd your sister react?" Ian asked as he continued reading his text messages.
Lucy turned her phone around and showed him the conversation.
Megs:
SERIOUSLY! Legit squealing right
now!
Ian laughed. "That's lovely."
Lucy nodded, turning her phone back around. "Annie said she wasn't surprised. I'm sure she had it figured out the minute I went storming out of the apartment saying I had to come over here. My twitter feed is a little more crazy than that.
Curious, Ian opened his own twitter feed and opened the interactions tab. It was blowing up faster than he could read some of them.
lucianlives
IANMHARDING wait, lucyyhale is pregnant!
WITH YOUR BABY?
mrzfitz
ianmharding and lucyyhale are legit together?
FANGIRLING RIGHT NOW!
"I'm taking to twitter right now," Lucy told him as she continued pushing on the screen of her phone. "And for now, denying pregnancy rumors. I don't want it known publicly until we've seen a doctor and out of the first trimester. Is that okay?" Ian nodded. "It's the logical way to do things."
lucyyhale
There's nothing better than
kissing your best friend just because you can.
lucyyhale
chriszylka if you love somebody,
you love them all the same.
"What's the reply to Chris for?" Ian asked her as he leaned back against the couch. Lucy was already leaning back against it, next to him.
"Just making a point," Lucy replied. "Besides, I posted something just for you right after that." She blushed as she said that, turning her attention back to her phone.
"Aww," Ian said. "Favorite-ing that tweet right now." After a moment of consideration, he opened a new text message to her.
Lucy Hale:
I kinda love kissing my best friend too
:*
He sent the message and then went back to his twitter feed.
H_Combs
Sees that ianmharding must really
have something to smile about lucyyhale
He chuckled and went back to his own feed and began to type.
ianmharding
You capture my attention, I'm anticipating
I'm watching, I'm waiting for you to make your move
ianmharding
Carefully listening, don't want 2 miss a thing
Keeping my eyes on you, got me on my toes
"That might be the most cheese ball thing you've ever posted on twitter, Shmian." Lucy commented as she continued typing like a mad scientist on her phone.
"I'm sorry," he teased. "I thought we were trying to be cryptic. Song lyrics can be cryptic."
Lucy nodded, looking up at him with a smirk. Ian leaned over and kissed her chastely. It was quick and innocent, mostly just because he wanted to.
Lucy smiled at him and then looked back down at her phone. She lifted it up and snapped a photo of him as he turned his attention back to his own phone, immersing himself in a discussion with Sarah.
"Did you hear back from Marlene?" Ian asked her.
Lucy looked up from her phone. "She said we'd talk about it more when we go back to work. I think she's worried about having to change the entire storyline."
"Hopefully not," Ian replied.
Lucy nodded, looking back down at her phone. "Claire is going nuts. And she's ripping Chris's head off over twitter…Which reminds me…" She tapped on her screen a few times and then went over to Chris' page. Her finger lingered over the unfollow button or several moments as she stared at his photo. It was a picture of the both of him. Lucy felt a pang of sadness in her chest.
She honestly did feel bad. She had really liked Chris, and had never intended for the relationship to go south. She actually thought he might be the right guy for her when she first met him. She never thought that things would end up going the way they did.
Even so, as she could see his most recent (and still coming in) tweets, she knew she couldn't continue to follow him. He was being very slanderous about her, and she knew reading things like that wouldn't bode well for her. She tapped the unfollow button, thought she couldn't stop herself from reading.
chriszylka
What a winner. Liquor her up
and get her in bed. Great job, ianmharding
claireleahy
chriszylka ianmharding this coming from the guy
who was using her as a rebound.
chriszylka
claireleahy maybe so, but at least
I really loved her.
claireleahy
chriszylka yep, so much so that youre
already putting LOVE in the PAST tense.
Careful, your idiot is showing.
chriszylka
claireleahy careful, your bitch is showing.
claireleahy
chriszylka try this one one for size:
RT lucyyhale ianmharding in the disorder,
You are the peace sign.
'You're not being very subtle," Ian told her as she continued reading the feed.
"Sorry," she replied with a laugh. "I'm trying to piss of Chris. He isn't being very nice right now."
"In the kind of ways that would make me want to punch him?" Ian asked.
Lucy looked up at him. "In the ways that his twitter mentions are going to be spammed for days by Lucian fans demanding for him to shut up unless he wants them to kill him."
"Oh, that's not already happening?" Ian chuckled.
"Au contraire," Lucy said. "They're going nuts on him."
Ian peered down at her phone and saw some of the comments he was making to Claire. "Really subtle, he is. And so well mannered."
"Of course," Lucy replied.
Ian laughed. "Go take a look at Holly's page."
Lucy tapped on her screen and went to her following page, and clicked on Holly's twitter name. The page opened a moment later.
H_Combs
Funny how true colors come out
When people can't handle rejection.
chriszylka lucyyhale ianmharding
H_Combs
Ha! No way, rookie. RT ianmharding
C'mere, Holls. Let me love you.
H_Combs
Not true. Just happy to see my babies happy.
Team Jason. RT ianmharding even H_Combs is a closet
Lucian/Ezria fan.
Lucy finally closed her twitter feed and dropped her phone into her lap, watching as Ian continued to type on his phone for a few more moments before he finally set his down. He turned towards her.
"This day has gotten better very fast, because of you. Thank you," Lucy said.
Ian smiled at her. "I can't possibly let you continue to cry. It makes me sad to see you said. Like I said before, I love you, Luce. Nothing is going to change that. And I don't really see anyone saying they don't approve. At least not anyone who really matters." Lucy nodded. She scooted forward so that she was closer to him, her legs still draped over his lap. Ian wrapped his arm around her and kissed her forehead.
"I'm tired," she said softly as she rested her head on his shoulder. Ian rubbed his hand up and down her arm for a few moments.
"You want to sleep here? Cause I know you know that my bed is a whole lot more comfortable."
Lucy nodded. "I'm too lazy to walk there, though."
Ian laughed. He slipped his arm under her legs and Lucy wrapped her arms around his neck. It took a moment, but he pushed himself to his feet and carried her the ten or so feet to his room, resting her gently against the bed.
"I'm not breakable," Lucy teased as she snuggled against the bed. "Just pregnant."
"With my baby," Ian murmured softly. It was the first time he'd said that, and it almost felt strange on his tongue. Even so, it made him smile. He turned to walk out of his room, but Lucy reached out and grabbed his hand. "Aren't you going to lay with me?" She pouted.
Ian rolled his eyes. "I suppose. I guess I could use a nap too."
He walked around the bed and then laid down on the opposite side. Lucy turned her head to look at him.
"You're so far away."
"So scoot over," he said cheerfully.
"You scoot over," she whined. "I'm too tired."
Ian shook his head at her as chuckled, He moved over the six or so inches between them and moved his arm so that she could snuggle up against him. His arms wrapped loosely around her and he held her hands, lacing their fingers together.
"I'll call my doctor later today and ask her to order a blood test. I have to go in for my physical tomorrow anyway for work."
When Ian didn't reply, she looked over her shoulder. He was already asleep. She just chuckled and turned her head back around, burying her face in his arm. Soon enough, she was asleep too.