The first time the thought crossed my mind, I was in the girl's locker room putting on my swimsuit for swim practice at the gym. I held my boobs and gave them a light squeeze, a tenderness erupting from them.

I turned to Kinana, caressing my breastsoutside my swimsuit. "I think I have cancer."

She let out a giggle as she rummaged through her bag, looking for her swim cap. "What makes you say that?"

"My boobs hurt."

Kinana cheered as she finally found her swim cap and looked up at me. "Maybe you're pregnant." she joked. She was joking, I knew, but a pang of anxiety sprouted in my chest, behind the sore boobs, and down to my stomach. But as quickly as it came, it left, leaving only the idea in my mind. I was on the pill, birth control. Being pregnant was not a possibility.

I stuck my tongue out at her and flipped her the bird. "If I was, which I'm not, you're being stuck with it."

She put her swim cap over her stomach. "I'll just have one of my own in like ten years. I would be so cute pregnant, though. You would too."

"I would not. I don't want some demon baby in me."

Kinana chuckled once more. "Yeah, because any baby you'll have will be satanic."

This conversation followed me in the next couple of weeks. When it occurred, I didn't give it much thought. There was no way I could be pregnant. Boobs get sore all the time. I had started running along with the swim work outs because of unexpected weight gain, probably due to all of the stress of senior year. My beautiful boobs were sore after running for so long.

Things with Gray were as if Homecoming never happened. I sat with him and we talked the entirety of class, every day. I was glad we didn't just ignore each other, I respected him too much. As much as I wanted to maul his face every morning and fantasize about that magical night, it was best if we stayed friends- meaning pretending we didn't fuck each other raw on Natsu's pool table half drunk.

This morning I was a wreck. I had woken up with a sudden and low nausea, one I had been experiencing for the past couple of days. I had previously just ignored it, letting it go away as the day went on, but this morning whatever viral sickness that had taken over me won by a landslide. I forced myself to hurl in the toilet, making sure I was quiet enough to not wake up my mother with my sudden illness.

Gray could tell I was out of it. He did his typical entrance and slammed his notebook on the desk next to mine. I had my head resting on the desk, my mind elsewhere. The nausea had subsided by then, but I was still scarred that it happened at all. No one likes throwing up right before breakfast, which I still forced myself to eat. I then hurled that up, too.

Instead of saying a joke, he paused. "Dude, are you okay?"

I coughed up a laugh and lifted my head. "I think I have food poisoning or something."

He sat down in his chair and put his elbows on the desk. "Well, good thing Dr. Fullbuster is here. Now tell me your problems."

I rolled my eyes and rested my chin in my hands. "It's hard to explain. I started feeling nauseous a couple of days ago, but it would go away during the day. This morning was the worst one though," I put my head back on the desk. I was slightly fatigued, too, but I didn't tell him that. "And I wouldn't trust you to take care of a stuffed animal, let alone a human patient."

Gray ran a hand through his raven hair and put the other over his heart. "I'm hurt, Juvia, seriously. You don't think I'd be a good doctor?"

I was quick with my response. "Fuck no. You can't even put a pen back together."

"That was one time, Ms. Mom I Threw Up."

I let out a long sigh and made eye contact with him. "So, Dr. H-E-Double Hockey Sticks, what's my diagnosis?"

Gray opened his notebook and started writing out something, hiding it with his left arm from my view. When he was finished, he ripped it, folded it in half, and slid it over to my desk.

I opened the note, not sure what to expect.

Juvia Lockser has Chlamydia. Prescribed: a peach and a plum

"A peach and a plum, eh?"

Gray shrugged his shoulders. "It was what I could think of at the time, not enough time to make a funny joke."

I folded the note back up and shoved it in my notebook. "Well, I'll be sure to get my prescription filled."

Gray let out a yawn. "Seriously, though, if it's something that's bothering you just google it. The worst it'll tell ya is that you're pregnant or something." A sudden pang of anxiety again. The fact that this word was being thrown around like a football could not have been a coincidence. "Which is impossible, because we were safe. You're on birth control."

Thanks for the reminder. "Yeah I probably just ate something. I had Panda Express on Sunday."

"Panda Express always makes my stomach hurt."

There was a lull in the conversation. "Anyway, Natsu's having a party this weekend for Halloween if you want to come. Cana still won't shut up about that game of flip cup." He mumbled, just loud enough for me to hear. Heat rose to my cheeks and I turned my head so that he couldn't see.

There Gray was, cute as a button, the hottest boy in my eyes, inviting me to another party, just for us to hook up again and never talk about it. There was an opportunity I had to decide to take or not, and while it was tempting, I wanted to feel better before I drank any alcohol. Juvia and vodka is already alcohol poisoning. "I'll see how I'm feeling. I don't want to drink with this bug I have."

He nodded in agreement. "I'm telling you, google you're symptoms, and let me know about that party. It'd be, uh, cool if you came. Or whatever."

"Yeah, yeah. Or whatever."

At lunch, I wasn't hungry. The nausea from this morning was still lingering, yet I craved something I couldn't have: anything but the school cafeteria food. Today was the best day of the week, too- chicken sandwich day, and I couldn't find any will in me to want to eat that. Instead, I went to the library. Gray told me to google my symptoms and that was exactly what I was going to do.

Nausea. Sore boobs. Mild fatigue.

Of course, pregnancy came up multiple times. But that was impossible. I was on the pill. I took it everyday at 9pm, on the spot. My phone alarm to remind me was the Scooby Doo theme song, basically yelling at me to take my no-baby vitamin every day. I even remember taking it at Homecoming, before Gray found me on the dance floor and we got it on. For someone as irresponsible as I was, I was extremely responsible about my birth control.

Anxiety, or nausea, lurched in my stomach again. I hit the backspace button and typed up a new question.

Is is possible to get pregnant while taking birth control?

My jaw dropped at the results. I could have thrown up, not from the nausea, but from fear.

Birth control is only 98% effective.

That left a 2% margin of failure, a 2/100 chance of conceiving a child having unprotected sex while on the pill. Gray and I didn't use a condom- we were relying on the 98%.

The more I thought about it, the more it all made sense. I couldn't remember the last time I had a period. I didn't think anything of it, as my birth control specifically made my periods fairly irregular. It explained the unexpected weight again, the nausea, strange food cravings and aversions, the tender boobs, and the fatigue. While I wanted to faint in the library, I held my composure. There was still the 98% that I wasn't pregnant, that I was just experiencing some new stomach bug that was just like pregnancy except without a baby.

I needed someone to turn to that wasn't my mother. My mother would scream at me for being so reckless, so stupid, so irresponsible for getting pregnant at 17. Yet, she was the same, except younger. And it's not like she was a great mother, either. I couldn't tell my mother, and if I was to be pregnant, she wasn't going to find out until I poop the demon baby out.

I whip out my phone.

Hey coach Mirajane, I have some girl business I need to talk about that I can't talk about with my mom. It's really serious.

My swim coach was the queen of confidentiality. I couldn't tell my friends, not yet. I needed to know whether it was true or not first. And an adult. My phone vibrated in my lap.

Of course! What's wrong Juvia?

I took in a deep breath.

I think I'm pregnant

My phone was quick to vibrate again.

I'm checking you out of school.

I sat uncomfortably in Mirajane's car. My stomach hurt from anxiety- there could be a baby in me. We sat parked in a convenience store parking lot, looking at the entrance as if it was the gates of hell. She put a tender hand on my shoulder. "Remember, Juvia, no matter what that test says, you're still strong for taking the initiative of taking it, and that you have many options moving forwards."

Perhaps choosing Coach Mirajane was the wrong choice. She was always so damn optimistic. "Thank you again for coming to get me."

I had cried in her arms once she came and got me. I told her everything, from the act itself on Homecoming night, to my symptoms and my fears. She calmed me down and told me it was all going to be okay, which I hoped was true, and that she would buy me the pregnancy test. "Of course! I have to look out for everyone on the team, including you. Now we're going to go in and buy the pregnancy test. I'll pay for it and meet me in the bathroom?'

I nodded and unbuckled my seatbelt. My movements felt heavy as Mirajane walked beside me, leading me to my impending doom. I ignored the isles and went straight to the bathroom. I didn't want to see what the different options of pregnancy tests were, that would stress me out too much. I also didn't want to see the baby food isle. All I can think in my head is no babies allowed.

Luckily the bathroom was a single stall. There was a knock on the door and I let Mirajane in. She handed me the test. "All you have to do is pee on it and we wait for the results."

I nodded as I unboxed it. Stupid pink stick was my gateway to hell. I sat on the toilet and held the stick under, peeing a lot more than I probably needed onto the stick. I handed Mirajane the non-pee side of the test so that I could wipe and wash my hands.

All we had to do was wait.

Mirajane set a timer on her phone for two minutes. It was going to be the longest two minutes of my life. "So, Juvia, do you have an idea of a plan for what you're going to do if this test is positive?"

My eyes were on my feet and the gross tiled flooring. "Uh, I guess tell Gray. I can't tell my mom, she'd freak."

She took my hands and forced me to make eye contact with her. "You know you always have me if you need someone in your corner."

I smiled at that. I had her, Erza and Jellal when they weren't making out, Kinana, and Gray. not my mom, not my dead dad, no one else at Magnolia High School. "I know."

Her timer went off, meaning my death sentence was upon me.

I looked at the plastic stick on the bathroom counter and almost fell to the floor.

Pregnant

No. I couldn't be. But it all made sense. There was some gross Gray and Juvia hybrid baby growing inside of me. I gave Mirajane a glossy eyed glare and she knew. She wrapped me up in a hug as I cried. I didn't want to be pregnant- I had the rest of my senior year to deal with. I was going to apply to college, get first place at the regional swim meet, and have so much more meaningless sex with boys I don't care about.

The only sex I've had that had meaning was with Gray, and currently I was holding our consequence.

Mirajane let go and patted my back. "I want you to remember your options. You can keep the baby, put it up for adoption, or if you choose and I won't judge you for, you can terminate it. We don't know how far along you are so it might be too late, but it's still an option."

As much as I wanted to, I couldn't abort this baby. I have to see this through.

I nodded and looked towards the mirror. I lifted my hoodie to see if it was obvious and I was just stupid and ignorant. There wasn't much of a bump, but I could see where the unexpected weight gain went. I just looked slightly bloated, nothing out of the ordinary, but I had barely eaten today. There was a small human growing in me.

"I just need to think. And talk to Gray. And eat. I'm very hungry."

Mirajane laughed at that. "Well let's get you some chicken nuggets and get you back to school. You have an important conversation."

By the time that I got back to school, 7th period was just ending. I found Gray at his locker, looking as handsome as ever, getting his stuff for hockey practice. He saw me in her peripheral and lit up like a Christmas tree. "Hey Juvia, are you feeling better?"

Thanks for the concern Gray, but no. I'm currently holding your demon baby.

I rubbed the back of my neck anxiously. "Actually I need to talk to you. Either now or after your hockey practice. I'll, uh, buy you a milkshake. It's kind of important."

I didn't wait for his response, I just turned my heel and went back the way I came, straight to my car in the parking lot. I wanted to sit and think before facing him again. He had my number, anyway, so once he tells me before or after his hockey practice, I would look at him dead in the eyes and tell him that I'm expecting to poop out a baby in like seven months. Mirajane told me that Homecoming was eight weeks ago, meaning I was about two months along.

My phone vibrated, distracting me from my nervous pregnancy thoughts.

I don't have practice today. Meet me at Makarov's?

Makarov's was the best diner in town. It had the best milkshakes, best french fries, and the best tunes. I typed out a response and put my car in reverse to drift out of the parking lot.

yeah i'll meet you there

I had ordered him a chocolate milkshake before he arrived. He wasn't too far after me, but the milkshake was ready before he came. I took a sip out of mine, strawberry flavored, as I heard the bell over the front door ding. I looked up and saw him, beautiful amazing Gray Fullbuster, the father of my unborn child. His face was light and full of joy, I bet he thought I planned this meet up for good news. Poor thing.

I sat in the booth in front of me. "Ooo, chocolate, my favorite."

I grinned as he took a long sip. "Fucking duh, you only mention how much you crave a chocolate shake like twice a week."

Gray paused with a brain freeze. I put my hand over my mouth and laughed at him. What a fucking idiot.

"So... what did you want to talk about?"

I hoped he had an idea of what it was, I had clearly been crying all day. "I, uh, did some research. Googled my symptoms. Found out some cool facts."

He looked at me expectantly. "...Like what?"

I forced myself to smile. "Did you know that birth control is only 98% effective? Even if you take it responsibly, at the same time every day without taking any of antibiotics, as those mess with the efficiency of it too, there's still a 2/100 chance of becoming pregnant."

"But you're not, right? You just have some stomach bug or something."

I let out a nervous laugh. "No, Gray, I am. I am, ugh, pregnant."

He nearly spit out his milkshake. "But how?"

I rolled my eyes. "Well, when a boy and a girl really like each other-"

He swatted at me. "No, I mean how- didn't we use protection? Plus there's still the 98%..."

"Gray you said you didn't have any protection, but since I was on the pill, we didn't care. We fucked, raw, on Natsu's pool table, if you'd like to remember."

"But the 98%-"

I held my hands up to stop whatever panic episode he was starting to have. "But the 2% was still there. And I was having my symptoms before I told you about the nausea. My boobs have been sore, I've been tired, and I can't tell you the last time I had a period. I took a test today, my swim coach checked me out of school and we went to the convenience store. It was positive, Gray."

There was a long moment of silence. I could tell he was deep in thought. I understand, though- he just found out he was going to be a father. When the test came back, I immediately started to cry. We all have different ways to cope with grief.

"What do you want to do?" He finally asked.

I let out a sigh. "There's no way I can take care of this baby. I'm literally trailer park trash, Gray, it would be so awful for whatever this baby is. But I don't want to abort it. I have to see it through."

He cocked an eyebrow. "Well, what's the other option?"

"Adoption, I think. I still have a long way to go before finalizing a decision, but I think the obvious choice is to put this bitch up for adoption."

Gray nodded, in a trance. "I couldn't take care of it either. I have a full ride to FTU to play on their hockey team. Adoption is the best option."

My heart was broken. This baby was unborn, yes, but it didn't have any parents who wanted it. But it will find love somewhere. Maybe I'll hunt for someone who wants it. I don't want it to be unloved.

"Yeah, I just thought I'd tell you about it, considering it is your baby. I didn't know if you would have wanted it or not."

He sighed into his milkshake. "Can I see it?"

I paused at his question. "I mean, there isn't much of anything. I just look like I ate too much cheese."

Gray shook his head. "I know but like, I don't know. I guess its just weird that you're growing a baby in you. I wanna see it."

I did a 360 scan of the diner to make sure there was no one around. Luckily we were the only people there, the only people from our school, anyway. I stood and lifted up my hoodie. Gray stared at my bloated belly, even though there was barely anything there. "So fucking weird," he mumbled under his breath, his eye unblinking as he marveled at my pregnant stomach.

"I know. Try being me. Eventually I feel it perform satanic rituals in there." I patted it lightly.

Gray was quiet for a moment. There was a small voice inside my head that was telling me to be melancholy. I was staring at Gray, the father of this bug inside of me, and I was sad that neither of us wanted it. Gray would be a great dad, putting it on his back for daily piggy back rides or some shit like that. I would just watch and scoff, like I do with anything remotely fun. I expected him to at least want it a little bit, maybe even make whatever chemistry we had together something sustainable. Instead, he's got his future planned out for him. He doesn't want a baby.

"Are you going to tell anyone else? Your mom? Erza?"

I let out an audible scoff. "Oh h-e-double hockey sticks no. I definitely can't tell my mom. I'm going to hide this shit until I poop it out on the operating table." I took a sip of my milkshake. "I'm only telling you and my swim coach until it's too obvious to hide. I don't want to make a big deal out of it."

"But eventually you're going to be too big to fit into your clothes-"

"I'll just buy new ones. People hide pregnancies all the time. Plus, even if anyone at school finds out, I'm already slut shamed. It's not like they can come up with new ways to put me down."

Gray smiled into his milkshake. "I like the way you think, baby mama."

I wanted to punch him, but also kiss him. "Do not call me baby mama!"

"Thanks for the milkshake, by the way."

I giggled mid-sip. "Anything for my baby daddy."

"Okay I think I see how you feel."

a/n

OMG thank y'all so much for the love and support on this fic. the nice reviews and the likes and follows and all that keep me going and make me want to update this I love yall so much and I don't even know you

idk when the next chapter will be- i move back to school (3rd year woop woop) in a week and updates won't be as quick after each other. but it shall be updated! not enough teen pregnancy fanfictions on here (and you'd think there would be more..)

anywho, catch ya later!

- abby