October 23 (fast forward a month)

Rose's POV

Tap-tap-tap.

I tried again, gripping Mark's window ledge harder.

Tap-tap-tap.

"Rose!" Mark exclaimed, bewildered. "What are you doing here?" He wrenched the window open. Finally, it was pretty cold at this point in October.

"Is your roommate home?" I asked, my voice laced with urgency.

"No, why?" Mark replied, curiosity evident in his voice.

"Great, I need to tell you something really important," I said, relieved that his roommate wasn't there. I had never met this Roger roommate of his, and I didn't want him to find out before he even gets to know me, with Mark not yet introducing me to his friends, I didn't want this to be his first impression of me.

"Um, sure, okay? Come on, Rosie, it can't be that serious," Mark said, a touch of nervousness in his voice

"What did you just call me?" I said, shocked. Mark had never called me by a pet name before

"Rosie... are you okay with that?" he asked, his voice wavering slightly

"I think it's kinda cute. I mean, I already call you Marky, or Pookie, or Marky-poo," I said, grinning.

"So, what were you going to tell me?" he questioned, plopping down on the couch. I took a deep breath and sat down next to him.

"I'm pregnant," I blurted out, the weight of the words hanging in the air.

"WHAT?!" he shrieked, jumping up from the couch. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm fucking sure! I took, like, twenty freaking tests!" I exclaimed, frustration seeping into my voice.

"Are you sure it's mine?" he weakly attempted to question.

"What is wrong with you?!" I said, feeling a surge of anger. I jumped up from the couch, ready to storm out.

"Wait!" he cried out, then immediately pulled me into a hug, stroking my hair as I sobbed into his arms. I felt a twinge of awkwardness and was sure he felt awkward too, but I didn't let go. I hadn't cried in forever. "I'm sorry," he whispered into my ear.

"It's okay, and yeah, it's yours. I know I might seem like the type, but... I really am not, to… you know" I said

"So, do you know when..." he stammered, his voice filled with uncertainty.

"Um, I'm not actually sure. But it might have been the night you stayed over at my place, and I tied you to my bed with your scarf," I said, grinning at the memory. Mark blushed, and I found it endearing.

"So, are you keeping the baby?" he asked, his voice gentle.

"I'm not sure, probably abortion. I mean, I don't want to mess up my life just because I got knocked up. I'm only fucking 23, and I have a whole life ahead of me," I said, my voice a mixture of uncertainty and determination.

"Okay, I support you either way, even though this is really awkward and slightly problematic since practically every time we see each other, we have sex," he confessed, a touch of embarrassment in his voice.

"Well, there's... yeah, I can't think of any exceptions either. But that's because you have a lot of pent-up sexual frustration, and I have copious amounts of frustration in general," I chuckled.

"Yeah..." Mark blushed

"Well, at least look on the bright side. I get to meet your friends now!" I perked up, excited. "We've been dating for a month, and I still haven't met them!"

"What? Why?" Mark asked

"Why do you look so shocked? We've been dating for a month, and you still haven't introduced me to your friends, even though we are literally fucking each other almost every other day!" I exclaimed, a mix of frustration and eagerness in my voice.

"Fine. You can meet them the day after tomorrow, Thursday, at the Life Cafe," Mark said, looking somewhat defeated.

"Yay!" I cheered, feeling a surge of happiness.

"When do I get to meet your friends?" he asked, his curiosity piqued.

"I have no friends. You are literally the only person I talk to other than my colleagues," I stated defiantly, not letting even a tinge of vulnerability seep into my voice.

"And yet, I know next to nothing about you, including who your colleagues are," he replied

"Well, I teach, and most of my colleagues hate me because it's my first year teaching there, and ever. Plus all I know about you is that you're a dorky Jewish filmmaker who keeps getting bullied by his roommate, and you're overly protective of your camera and scarf," I said defiantly, the words tumbling out.

"Touche," Mark grinned, his eyes filled with a mixture of amusement and affection.