Between You & Me || Luke & Jai Brooks

Chapter XXIV - Who's is it?

The doorbell sound echoes through the hall; I can hear it through the door. Alicia opens the door almost instantly and ushers me into the lounge room. "I have the results here, but I haven't looked at them." She's sitting straight-backed and upright on the chair, and she looks shocking. Dark circles rim her eyes and her cheeks look hollow. Her hair seems more sparse than usual. I don't know how Daniel hasn't noticed a difference.

I gaze at her sympathetically, and give an encouraging nod. "I guess it's best to get it over with."

She takes a deep breath through her nose and stands abruptly. "I think I'll go to the bathroom to check. It's really... difficult for me. I'm sorry." I nod understandably, a little disappointed that she feels she needs space, but accepting as I should be. She walks with a slight limp and her shoulders sag. The poor girl looks completely worn down.

From the time the door clicks shut to the time it opens, I gaze around, taking in every inch of the room. I haven't been to Skip's house since the party, that dreaded party, and it looks different somehow. More dusty, dirty, with the air of a discarded area. Alicia obviously hasn't had her mind in the right place recently, understandably, and the room has been left to its own devices. I cross my fingers in my hoodie pockets and pray that the test comes up positive.

The sound of the handle clicking round makes me jump a little, I'm so deep in thought. I hear no footsteps but suddenly, Alicia is at the end of the hall. Her calm façade has disappeared, tears streak her pasty white face, the dark circles more prominent. As I watch, a tear slips down past her lips and under her chin. She doesn't need to tell me. I already know.

****

Luke's pov.

"She's pregnant, I know she is! But why isn't she telling me?" Skip is walking back and forward across my lounge room, counting repeatedly on his fingers.

"Skip, look, I really dont think-"

"Luke! I'm telling you, she is! The way she's walking around, moping, not doing her hair or makeup, always holding her stomach..!"

He may not be smart, but he's definitely observant. I'm stumped on what to say.

"Then I asked about it. And she said she was." He adds, and I smile as though that's a good surprise to me.

"Well that's great, Skip! A baby! No one would've guessed you'd be the first to-"

"But it doesn't work!" He spins to face me, fingers still outstretched.

"What do you mean, it doesn't work?" I ask nervously, tugging at my lip ring with my teeth, a habit I've recently developed.

"I mean, it doesn't work out! The timing's not right, she said 5 weeks, it's been 6 weeks, then 2 since we last fucked!" Skip yells back, pacing and running his fingers through his highlighted quiff.

"You can't know that for sure, you must just have your timing's muddled a bit, which is unders-"

"I don't fucking have my timing's muddled! For fuck's sake, Luke, listen to me! I remember, because I said to her we should get her on birth control, and we should do it before the party because when I get drunk there's no stopping me! There was a week unti- Oh holy fuck. The party. The party. Luke, I need a fucking list of who was there that night!"

I'm alarmed at how quickly he came to the conclusion, the right one for once. I can't think of any way to throw him off track, so I stall. "Look, Skip, you can't possibly expect me to get a complete guest list! There were hundreds of-"

Daniel launches himself over and grabs my shirt close to my neck. I almost lose it, ready to knee his balls, but his expression is not aggressive. His eyes are pleading, pooling with tears, and his bottom lip is trembling. "Luke, I'm begging of you. I need to know! If she's pregnant, and it's not mine- it can't be mine- I need to know who it is. I have to."

I tug my lip ring again as he loosens his grip, then drops both hands by his sides. "I... I guess I could try..."

Skip puts one hand on my shoulder and looks me right in the eyes. "Thanks, man. I love you."

I smile weakly. "Me too, mate."