Rylie felt Luke's exceptionally long fingers wrap around her small hand, and the immediate feeling of warmth soothed her nerves slightly. They stepped in unison into the hotel, and was greeted by a chaotic lobby of tourists and suitcases. Rylie's heart was pounding as she dreaded the judgment Katie's face would give off. She had so many people to tell, and feared for every reaction. This was not something she could predict; she had never guessed she would be having a baby at 18, and never really thought about having to tell anybody. It was a nervous anticipation that she hated to feel because it crept into her lungs, making the oxygen in the air deplete and the dreadful cloud of depressing smoke fill her body, draining her of any good outcome.
She led Luke to the elevator, and quickly pushed the button for the third floor. The elevators closed, and a silence deafened her ears. Not even any elevator music.
"What's your sister like?" Luke broke the silence as he chewed on his lower lip, breaking the tiny scab from his previous addiction. "Will she like me?" Luke was probably just as nervous as she because they were raising the baby together, and even if it wasn't his, Michael would want him to step up and take responsibility. They hadn't had time yet to let everything sink in, and as soon as the adrenaline wore off, the real realization would be enough to sweep them off their feet.
"I never really saw her as a sister until recently. She was always a snobby prep, but while I was sulking over you, she helped me a lot. We're more alike than I thought." Rylie appreciated her sister now that they had gotten through that hard two weeks. They were closer than they have ever been, and it felt nice to really have a close family member to lean on. "She's cool..." Rylie added.
"What about you mom?"
Rylie laughed at the statement. Her mother would surely hop on that plane to Australia, and beat the living daylights out of her. That really wasn't fair because she had Katie at 19, which is still pretty young. However, no one can forget she's prefect, and Rylie never was.
"My mom...won't take it well..."
The elevator doors slid open, revealing a horrible rose wallpaper, and olive green carpet.
"All this time, you had been right in this hotel..." Luke shook his head in astonishment as he climbed into the claustrophobic hallway.
"So close but so far away..." Rylie stifled a laugh at the pun, but she could not bring herself to put a smile on her dejected face. Her stomach lurched with a ferocious intensity of what was next. Katie had never met Luke, and only seen Michael once, but yet she would have to hear the news Rylie was pregnant. Her baby sister...
"This is it..." Rylie stood in front of the door and pulled a card from her bag to unlock it. The predicted look on Katie's face played in her mind even after Luke wrapped his loving arms around her frail waist, and left a gentle kiss on her temple. She felt the pad of his thumb trace against her jawline as he pushed loose hairs away from her cheek. She tried to hold in the inevitable tears, but very few fell from her eyelid, and she batted them away with her eyelashes before Luke noticed. She didn't know exactly why she didn't want him to see her tears fall, but she tried to pull a strong face. His touch on her skin made her want to retreat with him somewhere where only they could go, and just go back to before everything happened. Even though she was okay with the child, and after what happened, Luke and her were stronger as a couple, she wanted so badly to go back to when things were simple and she didn't know about the song, and Michael wasn't dead. It was so much easier to be happy. She didn't have to have her guard up all the time. It was a amazing how many obstacles she had faced in so little time.
Instantly when the door opened, a flustered Katie frantically stuffing clothes in her bag appeared before Rylie's eyes. Katie's hair was pulled up in the messiest of buns, and she tried to balance her phone between her ear and shoulder as she grabbed clothes off the floor, and allowed them to remain mangled in her suitcase. So unlike Katie.
