Disclaimer: I don't own anyone, other than Brielle.
Rated: M
Warning(s): Slash, Het, Exotic Dancing, Strippers, Mpreg, etc.

Phil awoke to an extreme wave of nausea and an almost painful knot in his stomach. Slowly, he climbed out of bed, his feet narrowly missing Jeff's prone body, and he made a mad dash for the bathroom. He barely made it to the bathroom in time before he violently revisited what he had had for lunch and dinner the day before. The room swirled around him and he closed his eyes. There was an ache in the back of his head like it had been hit with a hammer.

Phil knew that it couldn't be caused by alcohol, because he was Straight Edge and part of that was that he didn't drink. And it couldn't be the food that he had eaten; because he had prepared all of that food himself and it had tasted fine. When it seemed like he had finished, he climbed to his feet and walked on wobbly legs over to the sink. He ran some water into a little Dixie cup and used it to rinse his mouth out. What could it be, then?

Briefly, he wondered if it could be… no, that couldn't be it. He shook the idea off like it was a bad taste in his mouth and tossed the Dixie cup into the trashcan by the toilet. As he made his way back to the bedroom, he tried to think of all of the possible things that it could be other than that first impossible idea. And the more that he considered it, the less impossible the idea seemed. It made his stomach turn.

Rather unceremoniously, Phil stretched out and plopped down onto the bed. The obnoxious creak of the springs echoed in the silence and woke Jeff. Jeff was immediately at attention. His eyes were wide open, but they were unfocused. He had a look of total shock on his face and he quickly rolled over onto his stomach and leaned on the end of the bed, before he used it to climb onto his knees. He looked at Phil, who laid face-down on the bed.

"Phil?" Jeff called out softly. Gently, he reached out and shook the smaller man's shoulder. "Philly? Are you okay? I heard a loud noise and I was worried that…"

Phil cracked one eye open and scowled. "The fuck? Jeff, do you even realize what time it is? And weren't you supposed to sleep in the spare bedroom?" Phil asked.

"I… I didn't want to sleep in there because you were mad when you went to bed, and you know that I hate to go to bed with unvoiced emotions." Jeff told him.

When Phil realized that he wasn't about to sleep anymore, he rubbed at his eyes and sat up in bed. "C'mon up and sit next to me." Jeff did as he was told. "Now, what is this about 'unvoiced emotions'? What do you want to talk about?"

Jeff looked at him uncertainly. "You were so mad at me when I asked if I could sleep in the spare bedroom."

"I wasn't mad at you." Phil denied. "I was shocked that you would ask that because I wanted to work through it."

"I do want to work through it. I'm just… I feel like such an idiot. I'm so uncomfortable in my own skin." Jeff said.

Phil shook his head. He didn't know what to say about that. Jeff shouldn't feel like an idiot, because all of this… it wasn't his fault. He couldn't control the fact that there was a selfish idiot out there who wanted to hurt Jeff so badly that he would take that sense of self-security away from him. Hesitantly, Phil reached out for him like he wanted to take his hand. However, when his hand was halfway out, he yanked it back fearfully.

But Jeff took Phil's hand and held it. He bridged the gap between them, the gap that had been there ever since Jeff came home and told him that he had been raped. Phil closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He wasn't an extremely emotional man; he wasn't the kind of man that could just spill his emotions out at the drop of a hat. He just wasn't wired to work like that. But he could try. For Jeff, he could try.

"I never liked the fact that you had to work as a stripper. You deserve so much better than that. I could help you find work that is better than that. You would never have to worry about the threat of harm again." Phil pleaded with him.

"You know that I can't do that, Phil. I have a contract!" Jeff exclaimed sadly. He knew that Phil really wanted him to quit, but he just couldn't do that. He needed to feel like he could still earn some money for Phil.

"Then, at least, don't take another extra shift. Try and defend yourself a little bit better, okay? I don't want to lose you. Not when there is a chance that…" here, Phil trailed off.

Jeff's eyes widened with worry. "Not when there is a chance that what, Phil?"

Phil looked down at his stomach and sighed. He would have to confess to it sooner or later. "Not when there is a chance that I could be pregnant."