Where We Left Off (A Hunter Hayes Fanfiction, Book 2 of the HunTia Trilogy)

Chapter Seventeen

NATASHA'S POV:

A range of emotions cross Hunter's face. Shock, realization, happiness and some others that even I don't recognise.
"You think she could be pregnant?" he asks me excitedly.
"I don't know, but it's a possibility." I suddenly feel self conscious.
"Are you okay?" he asks, noticing my awkwardness.
"Um... I can't be sure that she's pregnant unless..." I trail off.
"Yes?"
"When... oh god, I can't believe I'm about to ask this," I mutter. I gulp, and try again. "Have you two ever... you know..."
"Oh," he says, catching on. I look up and see he's just as red as I must be. "Uh..."
"Yes or no?"
"Yeah... you know... the honeymoon. But that was our first time, and only time since... no wait, no it wasn't. Um, I think about three weeks ago, we both had some champagne, and... well..."
"It only takes one time," I say grimly. "But that's given me enough information. The time frame fits. You said she started having nightmares and stuff a week ago?"
"Nightmares... nightmares! Trey said that Peyton's been having nightmares because of the baby!" He stands up, and starts pacing. "Cravings... wait, are they still cravings if they aren't pickles and ice cream?" he asks me, and I can't help but laugh.
"Yeah, they still count as cravings," I say. "It also makes sense, you know, back aches, headaches and stress. She's been sleeping a lot, and eating a lot- it all fits!"
"Oh my god! Yes!" he says, over the moon about the good news. "I was so scared that she was ill, but she's going to have a baby! A baby!! Oh my god. She's going to have my baby!" He laughs, running his hands through his hair.
"It still isn't certain, but it's likely." Something occurs to me. "Hunter, if you're here, where's Tia?"
He suddenly goes pale. "Oh no! She's at home!"
"Wha- you left her there?!" I ask him, horrified.
"I didn't think- I didn't-"
"Alright, you're leaving, right now." I practically push him out the door. "Listen, she's going to be an emotional wreck when you get home. Don't tell her that she might be pregnant, she'll panic. Tell her tomorrow, when she's recovered a bit."
He suddenly hugs me. "Thanks. I owe you a ton."
"It's fine," I say, slightly flustered. I mean, I know I was a close friend of his now, but I was still a Hayniac.
"I'm gonna go. Thank you!" he says again, before climbing into his car and pulling out of our driveway.
I watch him go, and my worst fears come back. I remember a conversation Tia and I had a while ago.
We had been messing around, while watching a James Bond movie, and somehow, we started talking about kids.
"I don't know how to act around kids. To me, they're kind of scary." She took a bite of the pizza she had made.
"So you won't want to have kids?"
"Probably not."
Hunter was happy. But how would Tia react?

HUNTER'S POV:

I turn off the car after pulling into the driveway of our house and sit there for a moment. I wasn't sure what mood Tia would be in right now. I hope she's okay.
"Tia?" I call, walking inside. She doesn't answer, and I get slightly worried. "Tia, honey, where are you?"
Nothing.
I start looking through the rooms.
Music room: empty.
Bedroom: empty.
Guest bedroom: empty.
Bathroom: I can hear the shower running.
I sigh in relief, and open the door. But when I see Tia, I'm shocked.
Knees drawn up to her chest, she's sitting down on the floor of the shower, She's still fully clothed, but the water's running, soaking her. She isn't looking at me. She's looking down at her knees.
"Oh, Tia," I sigh. "My love, what are you doing?"
She looks up slowly. "You came back."
"Of course I did," I say, walking towards the shower. I notice that she's shivering. I feel the water, and I'm shocked. The water can't be more than 41 degrees *for all my Aussie readers, 41 degrees Fahrenheit is about 5 degrees Celsius*.
"Tia, this water's freezing!" I cry, grabbing a huge, fluffy towel from the towel rack, turning off the water, and wrapping the towel around her shoulders. "Why are you fully clothed under water this cold?"
"I don't deserve you," she murmurs. "I'm a horrible wife. You should hate me."
"I don't hate you," I say softly, tucking the wet strands of her thick, black hair behind her ear. I hug her, not caring that I was now soaked. She feels warm. Too warm.
I feel her forehead with the back of my hand, and then feel her neck.
"You have a fever, Tee," I say, wrapping her in the towel tighter. She just nods, looking helpless. I think for a minute. What would Ma do in this situation?
"Okay, Tee, you're going to take a warm shower, and I'll make you some soup. When you get out of the shower, you can go to bed, and I'll bring you your dinner."
She doesn't say anything again, and I worry about her. Already, I'm regretting leaving her alone for so long. She must have really thought I wasn't coming back.
I help her out of the shower, and leave her to her business, while I walk into the kitchen and start making her some soup. It's one of the dishes I can actually understand, considering that it only consists of putting a few vegetables, some meat and stock into a saucepan and letting it stew. I remember what the dried herbs look like from when I mistook it for yeast, so I add some of that to some potato and cooked chicken. I put in some salt and pepper and let it simmer on the stovetop, before going to check on Tia.
She's changed into her favourite pajamas again, and she's sitting up in bed, cupping her elbows with her hands.
"Are you okay?" I ask, going to sit beside her. Without warning, she begins to cry.
"Oh, Tee," I say, hugging her. She still feels incredibly warm, and I know the fever's affecting her.
"It hurts so much, Hunt," she whimpers, still crying.
"What does?" I ask softly.
"Everything," she whispers. "Everything hurts. My back, my head, my arms, my legs- everything." She starts crying into my chest again.
"No, love. Don't cry. It's okay," I say in my most soothing voice. "Do you want your dinner?"
She sniffles, before shaking her head.
"It'll make you feel better if you have something in your system," I say, trying to persuade her. She hesitates, before nodding.
I go back to the kitchen and ladle some soup into a mug, before walking into the bedroom again, and handing it to Tia.
"Here you are," I say, taking a spoonful of the stuff and feeding her. She eats it, closing her eyes, and groans slightly in pain. She still looks like she's on the verge of tears.
"I'm so sorry, Hunt," she says sadly.
"What for?"
"I know you'd never cheat on me. I know you'd never do anything to hurt me. But I keep hurting you, over and over." She takes a shaky breath in, and the tears start flowing down her cheeks again.
"Tia, I know. It's okay." I wipe her tears away with my thumb.
"No. It isn't okay. You've always loved me more than I deserved."
"Don't say that. I'm not angry at you at all. I promise." She looks up to see if I'm lying, and when she realizes that I'm telling the complete and honest truth, she gives a small smile.
"You're beautiful," I murmur, stroking her warm, damp cheek with the back of my hand. She blushes pink, and I press my lips to her forehead.
"I love you too," she says, before I feed her some more soup. "The soup is good, by the way. What did you put in it?"
"Leftover chicken, potatoes, stock and dried herbs."  
Her eyes widen slightly. "You're sure it wasn't yeast, right?"
I laugh. "Positive." I feel her forehead again, and she's still pretty warm. I'd guess that she's about 102 degrees *39 degrees Celsius*.
"Tee, do you want some Tylenol or something to help for your fever?"
"Do we even have any?"
"Maybe. I'd have to check."
"I don't think we do. That's okay. I can stick it out... probably."
"I don't think you'll be able to. I've never known anyone to have had a fever as high as yours."
She sighs, leaning back into the pillows. "We'll have to wait and see then, won't we?"
The whole night was horrible.
Tia was in a really bad way. One minute she was sweating, the next, she was shivering. I gave her as much water as possible, since that was what Ma always used to do, but it didn't seem to finally work until about 4 am. Tia was really weak since she had started coughing and wheezing at around midnight, and she couldn't breathe properly for about an hour. Now she lay in my arms, still warmer than average, but much closer to normal than before.
Was this a normal thing? Did women who were pregnant get sick like this often? Does that make it my fault that she's so sick now?
I hold her closer and murmur "Tia, I'm so sorry."
"It isn't your fault," she says, drifting off slowly. She falls asleep. 
What if it is though? I think. What if it's all my fault?

*A/N: Thank you all for all the comments and votes yesterday!! It made a tiring day worth living through.
VOTE, COMMENT AND- well, you should know the drill by now :)
Nethii <3*