Since You've Been Gone

chapter 46- new year's eve

hearts content- brandi charlie

"Are you sure you don't want to come tonight?" Layla asked from the bathroom adjoined to her room. She was getting ready for the New Year's party that the football team threw every year, and this would be the first time that I wouldn't be going with her.

"I'm 98% sure that they do not want to be responsible for a heavily pregnant teenager, Layla." I laughed.

"Oh," she waved her hand as she picked up a beauty blender to apply her foundation. "Who cares. It's your birthday eve!"

Layla's rich umber colored skin couldn't be more different from my pinkish ivory skin, but growing up, neither of us had really noticed. We were just Layla and Hope. Two hard-headed girls who ran around town barefoot, without a care in the world.

Sure, we couldn't share foundations or concealers when we were getting ready to go out, and there were definitely minor cultural differences between the two of us, but none of it mattered.

When Layla sauntered into my life at eight years old, with her sassy attitude and beautiful curly hair, I knew immediately that we were bound to be best friends. I couldn't even begin to imagine what my life would be like if she had never moved to Vandalia and walked into Mrs. Smith's second-grade class.

Layla had kept me alive when Connor left. She sat and cried with me over the blond-headed boy who we both loved. She helped me realize that it wasn't my fault and got me acclimated to life without Connor. And God has she been a lifesaver during my pregnancy.

There was no way in hell that I would be where I am without her.

"Why are you crying?" Layla frantically asked as she rushed over to my side.

"Because I love you." I sobbed.

Layla looked at me for three seconds before she burst into a fit of laughter. "Oh my God, I thought you were about to give birth on my bed."

"You sound like a hyena." I huffed, wiping my tears.

She continued to laugh and rested her head on my shoulder as her horrendous bursts of laughter turned into soft chuckles. "I love you too, my little incubator."

"Oh, get off me." I scoffed.

--

"So," Connor was standing at the foot of his bed, with his back turned towards me. He was putting on a new shirt, and as he lifted the fabric above his head, his entire back seemed the ripple, showing off the insane number of muscles he had. Fuck, he was hot. "Do you want to eat Mexican or Chinese tonight?"

He knew me too well. Those were my favorite kinds of food, and truthfully, I could eat either all day, every day.

"You pick." I mumbled.

"Nuh uh." Connor shook his head and got back onto his bed, sprawling out beside me. "It's your birthday, not mine."

"It's not even my birthday yet." I groaned.

"It's your birthday in China, right now."

"Is that your reasoning for why we should get Chinese food?"

Connor shrugged beside me, laying his head on my chest. "Nope." He nuzzled his head into my neck and sighed, his breath fanning out across my skin. "I knew as soon as I even mentioned Mexican, that's what you would want."

And he was right. I'm a proud whore for Mexican food.

So that was what led us to where we were now, tucked under the soft material of Connor's duvet, hungrily devouring our respective dishes full of excellent Mexican cuisine.

A part of me was sad that I wasn't at the New Year's Eve party down the street, where I would usually be undoubtedly drunk before the sun was fully set. It was one of the only nights that I allowed myself to get absolutely shitfaced, even if I regretted it in the morning.

But most of me was just as happy that I wasn't at that party. Instead, I was sharing a gigantic bowl of queso with the love of my life, wrapped in covers that smelled exactly, like Connor watching – you guessed it – Jersey Shore. I had all of my favorite things.

"What's that smile for?" Connor questioned.

"I'm just happy." I grinned.

Things were finally starting to slow down, and I was beginning to see them fall into place. I was exactly where I was supposed to be, and I was okay with that.

"You deserve to be happy, H." Connor set aside our food and pulled me into his side, kissing my forehead as he did so. "You deserve the world."

Looking back on the past couple of months, I smiled to myself. The scared girl who was in a broken relationship with a cheating boyfriend and just found out she was pregnant would have never even imagined being in this place. Wrapped in the strong arms of the boy she's loved since she was born.

These last seven months have been the hardest months of my life. I've been pushed to what I thought was my limit and then sent even farther. I've lost friends, become the butt of the jokes at school, and left a relationship I thought would be for a lifetime.

And yet, here I was. Alive and kicking.

I was doing everything I thought I wouldn't be able to do. Or should I say what I thought I wasn't going to be capable of doing.

In less than two months, I would be giving birth to hopefully a healthy baby, who I was determined to give the best life I could. Four months after that, I would be graduating high school, and two months after that I would be moving into college.

"Thank you." I mumbled into Connor's chest.

"For what?" His hands were working through my hair, making me close my eyes.

"For being here. For loving me."

"There's no place I'd rather be, H." Connor rested his chin on top of my head. "I'd follow you to the ends of the earth Hope Stryker. No matter what life throws at us or where we end up, you'll always be home."

My heart beat a little faster at his words. Man, did I love this boy. 

"I love you."

"I love you, with every fiber in my body." Connor whispered in my ear as the woman on the TV began the countdown to midnight. My eyes were heavy from the relaxing movements of Connor's hand in my hair and the outrageous amount of Mexican food I consumed, but I didn't miss the words he whispered as my eyes finally closed. "Happy Birthday, baby."

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i am so sorry that it has been so long since i updated last. i've had half of this written for over a week and i could never find the time to finish it. even now i am not very happy with this chapter :(

got my second covid shot yesterday and i def feel like i got ran over by a truck so... but get vaccinated!!