After being separated in a dramatic move, Connor Harding is moving back home. His ex-best friend Hope Stryker, is terrified and torn. After three years without contact and lots of family drama, the two have fallen off. Their friendship isn't the sam...
"Hope, you have to get up. C'mon." Layla was standing in the doorway of my bathroom, leaning up against the door frame.
"Layla," I emphasized. "I am trying to tell you that if I get up, I am going to throw up all over you."
Morning sickness was no joke. I woke up nearly every morning with the overwhelming feeling to vomit everything I had consumed in the last 24 hours. Then once I felt like I was capable of starting my day, another wave of nausea would hit me, and I would be back on the floor. To say the least, my toilet and I were getting closer than I could have ever imagined.
"So, you're saying you are going to just lay on your nasty ass bathroom floor forever?"
"Yes, that is exactly what I'm saying, Layla." I groaned.
"I'm sorry, but we are not spending our last day of summer on the bathroom floor. Get up." Layla latched onto my forearm that was resting on the toilet seat and carefully brought me to my feet. "You good?"
"Yeah, yeah," I mumbled. I knew that Layla was right about enjoying our last day before school started, and I was sure that if I had protested anymore, she would have stopped pestering me about going out.
"Good. Now brush your teeth and put on a bikini. Connor is coming to pick us up in ten minutes."
"Lay, I can not wear a bikini. Do you see how noticeable the bump is?" I turned to the side and gazed at my growing belly. I had gone to a doctor in the neighboring town, and he had confirmed that I was eight weeks pregnant. I won't lie, I cried as soon as I got in the car.
"Hope shut the fuck up. You look like you just had Chipotle nobody would ever guess you were pregnant." She rolled her eyes.
Begrudgingly I followed Layla's orders, my feet dragging the entire time. By the time we were making our way downstairs, I could hear the crunching of Connor's truck tires along my gravel driveway.
"Okay, Momma, I'm leaving." I walked up behind her and wrapped my arms around her waist. She was standing, looking out the window, watching Beau and some of his friends toss the football around in the backyard.
"To where?" She turned towards me with a stern expression on her face. Ever since we went to the doctor and confirmed that I was pregnant, she had been watching over every move I made.
"Connor is picking us up, and we're going to go out on the boat," Layla answered. "We'll be back in time for dinner. Everything will be fine, I promise."
"Be careful Hope, please." My mom's eyes were pleading with me.
"I will, I promise."
Connor impatiently honked his horn from the driveway. That was our queue to make a run for it, so Layla and I rushed out to meet him.
"Thank God. I thought the two of you would never make it out." Connor groaned.
"Oh, give it a rest." Layla sassed.
"To be fair, I had no idea that we had plans for today." I murmured. I still wasn't feeling great, and their bickering was not helping the continuous nausea I was feeling.
"You know you would be bored without us." Layla scoffed, and Connor stuck his hand out for her to give him a high five.
Within 15 minutes, the three of us had arrived at the lake, and Connor had quickly undocked the boat.
I won't lie the warmth of the sun, and the blowing wind felt amazing on my skin. With my constant morning sickness, I had been staying in bed, so it was nice to get outside and enjoy the sunny weather.
Connor drove the boat to a less populated corner of the lake, and Layla quickly jumped into the water.
"Get in Hope," She shouted as she floated on her back.
"Not a chance!"
"Ugh, you suck." She groaned. I rolled my eyes and turned to look at Connor, who had taken the seat next to me.
"Are you really not going to get in?" He asked.
"It's probably cold." I lied.
He looked at me as if I had grown three heads, "Hope... it's the end of August, not December." Connor went to stand up and grabbed my hand, bringing me up with him. He pulled me behind him to the edge of the boat, where he raised his eyebrows at me. "C'mon."
"Connor, I really don't want to go." My arms were crossed over my chest, and for a split second, I thought I saw Connor stare directly at my breasts.
"I really don't care."
"Connor..." I whined.
"Hope..." He mocked.
As I went to say something sarcastic, I felt Connor's arms wrap around my waist and throw me over the edge of the boat.
"Is it cold?" He laughed.
"I hate you." I sputtered, brushing my wet hair away from my face. Connor did a perfect dive off of the boat and joined Layla and me in the water. Show off.
The three of us swam around the area surrounding the boat for what felt like hours. We were splashing each other, and Layla and I took turns hopping onto Connor's back attempting, to push him down into the water. It felt like we were 10 again and had no worries in the world. I missed days like this.
Just as we were getting ready to head back to the docks, a boat full of cheerleaders called Layla over, so Connor and I were waiting for her on our boat. We were both enjoying drying off in the heat of the sun.
"You look good, Hope," Connor spoke as I was admiring the tall willow trees that dotted the edges of the lake.
"Huh?" Did I look good? In what way? Like 'Oh, hey Hope, you look nice today' or 'Damn, Hope. You look good.' Very big differences.
"You look really good. Like, I don't know, you just, look happy." He mumbled. I couldn't tell if it was the sun that had turned his cheeks red or whether he was blushing.
"I'm trying," I looked down at my barely-there bump before gazing at Connor. "There's nothing I can do now. It's still hard to process, but I figured I have to try to not make myself so miserable."
As I finished speaking, Connor turned his eyes to look at my stomach. I would have paid a million dollars to find out what was running through his head. His gaze was so intense that I could only imagine what he was thinking.
"Do you think I would be a terrible person if I put the baby up for adoption?" I whispered. The thought had been persistent in my head and some nights, I stayed up thinking about it. I had spent hours envisioning all of the different scenarios; keeping my baby, giving it up for adoption, I even thought about sneaking away to get an abortion.
"Hope," Connor's hand went up to my cheek, and his thumb rubbed up and down my cheekbone. "You are the only person who can make that decision. If you're asking if I would hate you or some shit like that, then the answer is no. If you think that is the best thing for you and this baby, then I will support you through it all." His eyes were full of sincerity and compassion.
"Thank you, C." I laid my head against his shoulder, and he wrapped his arm around my shoulder.
"Always, H." —————- oooooou!! it's heating up? what's the deal with aspen & connor? will hope keep the baby?
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