UNEXPECTED

Chapter 12

Once Clay got home that night, he put his bike away before quietly entering his house. Clay looked around to make sure his parents weren't around before gently closing the door behind him and making his way upstairs to his room. As soon as Clay was safely in his room, he removed his shoes, socks, and pants before changing into a plain gray t-shirt. After Clay was changed, he then went to his bathroom and examined his injury in the mirror for a few seconds before wetting a small washclothe and gently dabbing around the cut to remove the dried blood from his forehead.

The next morning, Clay woke up and was a bit sluggish to get out of bed. After letting himself wake up a bit, the boy eventually got out of bed and headed straight for the bathroom to take his usual morning shower. Taking a little longer than he usually did, Clay couldn't help but get lost in his thoughts as he felt the warm water hit his bare back.

Once Clay got out of the shower, he wrapped a towel around his waist and stepped over to the counter, wiping the condensation from the mirror hanging above the sink. After the mirror was somewhat free of condensation, Clay briefly stared at his reflection, leaning in slightly as he moved his left arm up and flinched a little as he barely touched the cut on his forehead. After examining his injury again, Clay left the bathroom and headed back to his room to get changed and ready for school.

After Clay ate some breakfast by himself, due to his parents already being at work, he grabbed his backpack and left the house, grabbing his bike and mounting it before biking his way to school. He didn't stop by Hannah's house to walk with her, because she wouldn't be at school for a couple days since both the girl and her parents thought it would be best to take a couple days off to rest. But Clay wasn't off the hook yet, as Hannah had asked him to come over after school, and he knew he wouldn't be able to hide the hard-to-miss cut from her.

Throughout the day, nothing really interesting happened. All the classes were as boring as usual - even more so without Hannah being there. Students teased and picked fights with each other just like they always did. Lunch seemed to never end, since Clay ended up sitting outside at a lunch table all alone. During Communications Class, Clay barely listened to Mrs. Bradley as he would often find himself staring at Hannah's empty desk, resulting in the teacher having to pull his focus back to what she was talking about.

When the school day finally came to an end, Clay went straight to his locker and gathered his things before walking through the double doors and to the bike rack to get his bike. The teen wasted no time as he freed his bike and instantly left the school grounds to make his way to his friend's house, as requested.

Clay decided to take a detour on his way to Hannah's house. He figured that some famous hot chocolate from Monet's would hopefully help soften the subject that the boy knew they were bound to discuss once he got to the Baker's house. After Clay got the hot chocolate, he carefully made his way to Hannah's house.

When he finally arrived to the desired location, Clay saw that Hannah's parents were home as well. He sighed to himself when he saw this, knowing that they would want to question him about his injury as well.

Dismounting his bike, Clay securly latched it to a nearby tree before walking up to the front porch of his friend's house and knocking on the front door. After he knocked, Clay took a step back as he waited for someone to answer the door. Hearing a muffled "I got it" come from the other side, Clay involuntarily smiled to himself as he saw the door being opened.

"Hey, Helmet." Hannah greeted with a smile. But her bright smile soon faded when she saw him. "What happened to you?" She asked, her voice instantly sounding concerned for her best friend as she noticed the hard-to-miss cut decorating the left side of his forehead. Clay sighed with a slight chuckle. "I found out you were pregnant. That's what happened." He said in a joking tone. "That's also why the call got ended last night, too. I didn't hang up on purpose. My main focus was on trying not to get hit by a car." He explained as if it was nothing. "But don't worry. I'm fine." He said with a reassuring smile. Seeing as Hannah still looked a little worried, Clay decided to lighten the mood. "Hot Chocolate?" He questioned with a grin, holding up one of the two beverages he got from Monet's. Hannah smiled at this, not being able to fight it off since Clay's smile was so contagious.

After a little bit, Clay and Hannah were sitting together in her room on her bed. The two had watched a couple movies, because neither really wanted to talk about what they both knew they had to talk about. "So, it's Bryce's?" Clay asked, breaking the silence as he felt so uncomfortable about his question. "Yeah." Hannah said with a sigh. "Does he know?" Clay asked. "No. And I really don't want him to know." Hannah said. Clay nodded in understanding. "Well, just so you know, you won't have to go through this whole thing alone." Clay said, getting Hannah's undivided attention as she looked at him. "You've got your parents. But you also have me to help you through it." He said. The boy's friend stayed silent after hearing this. "I mean, I know it's not mine. But I really don't care. I'll be by your side the whole time. And, when the time comes, I'll be a better father to Bryce's baby than he ever could or would be." Clay said, sounding completely and utterly serious. The boy smiled a reassuring smile at Hannah as she just stared at him, too surprised by his words to say anything. "You mean it, Helmet?" She asked, the suprise seeping through her voice. "Of course I do. I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm not like every other guy in this town. I'm not going to leave the girl I love more than my own life just because she dropped the "I'm pregnant" bomb on me. I'm not going to let you go through this alone. And you can sure as heck bet that I won't allow this baby to grow up without a dad." Clay said, gently placing a hand over his friend's still-flat stomach at the end. Hannah smiled and blushed at Clay's words and gesture as she placed her hand over his and smiled at him.

Her smile soon faded slightly; however, as she realized something. She realized that Clay had told her that he loved her four times now, and she hadn't said those three words back to him once.

After their conversation, the two teens had decided to watch another movie, but neither teen was really paying much attention to it. Clay was too busy being distracted by the feeling of his friend running her hands through his hair as he lie in front of her with his head in her lap. And Hannah was too lost in her own thoughts about feeling bad for not telling Clay that she loved him too - because she really did love him too, and she definitely wanted him to know that.

Not long into the movie, Hannah made up her mind as she paused it, gaining Clay's attention in the process. "You ok?" Clay asked, after taking notice of some sort of conflict or guilt in the girl's eyes. "Helmet, there's something I want to tell you." She said, making Clay slightly anxious. "What is it? You can tell me anything, Hannah." He said in a comforting tone as he sat up and placed his hand on her arm. "It's something I should've said a while back." She told him. Clay stayed silent as he waited for Hannah to tell him whatever it was she wanted to say. "I love you too, Clay." She said, giving him a small smile as he blushed noticably at her words. "I'm sorry I didn't say it back sooner." She said, feeling the need to apologize. Clay simply brushed off her apology. "You don't need to apologize about that." He told her, giving her his contagious warm, friendly smile. Slightly surprising him, Hannah leaned forward and wrapped him in a tight hug. After a second or two, Clay returned the hug as he wrapped his arms around her waist, making sure to be careful about the baby.

Later on, like he suspected, Hannah's parents had asked him about the cut on his forehead, and he told them exactly what he told Hannah, since she had told him that they already knew about the pregnancy - just not who the father of the baby is. After that, Hannah's parents proceeded to invite Clay to have dinner with them, to which he gladly agreed to after getting the "ok" from his parents. Hannah's father had decided to question Clay during dinner, but Clay simply just restated everything he had told Hannah about how she had him to help out with the baby, about how he would not let the child grow up without a father, and about how, when the time came, he would be a much better father to thenbaby than the biological father would and could ever be.