[just_muse_me] 5.1.1. Marilyn Ferguson quote
5.1.1. “Over the years your bodies become walking autobiographies, telling friends and strangers alike of the minor and major stresses of your lives.” - Marilyn Ferguson
Co-written with asinthecity
[Follows THIS]
Luke felt sick. No, really. He did. After Tab all but screamed and sobbed her confessions at him, he stumbled into the nearest seat and proceeded to just stare at the closed bathroom door. A numb déjà vu was settling over him. He'd been here before but in a very different capacity. No wonder he wanted to throw up. Not that he expected it to be the same with Tab, but she did meet him soon after breaking up with her ex...
He shook his head. If he kept on that train of thought, he'd end up in tears and if he ended up in tears, he'd walk out and run. He owed it to Tab and to himself to grab his balls and not let this suck him into another vortex of misery. But there was a chance it could be the ex's, right? Not like before... she wouldn't cheat on him, would she? No. No, she wouldn't. But the timing... Luke didn't know if he could go through this again.
He put his hand over his mouth and let out a rough, ragged breath. His eyes turned back to the bathroom door. Standing up, he had to grab the back of the sofa so his legs didn't give way under him. He forced his feet to move in the direction of the bathroom and he knocked on the door. "Tab," he said, his voice sounded much more choked than he intended it to. "We have to talk about this."
Tab was slumped on the floor of the bathroom. She felt exhausted. Exhausted, and sick, and miserable. She still had made no move to pee on the fucking stick, and she didn't want to. She wanted to just try and get through this and hope she was wrong. Hope that she really was just late because of all the stress.
She crawled over to the door at the sound of Luke's voice and stayed down on the floor as she reached up to turn the handle. She hadn't locked it, and the door open a little as she peeked up at him from under her red fringe.
As she looked up at him and her heart caught in her throat. She'd told him she was late and that she loved him all in the one breath. Of course they had to talk about it. She just couldn't find her voice.
Luke nudged the door open a little more so he could fit through it. He went in, closing the door behind him. He eased himself down on the floor beside her with his back against the door, knees drawn up so he could rest his arms on them. He could hardly find his voice himself. His cheeks felt hot and throbby like his blood pressure was through the roof; he had to swallow before he made any attempt to speak or more than words probably would've come out. "How late?" he asked quietly.
Tab kept over by the bathtub and watched him quietly. He came after her. That meant something right? She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and sniffed. She tried to speak, but nothing came out. She took a breath and cleared her throat.
"Six days," she managed in a whisper.
They'd met on September thirteenth. Just under a month ago. Six days meant she hadn't had her period in five weeks... His chest just clenched tighter as he tried to work out the maths in his head. If she was pregnant, and she didn't use condoms with her ex-
"Fuck," he mumbled before he could stop himself. When he met her eyes, he couldn't shake the fearful expression on his face. His forehead creased as he watched her helplessly. "Are you going to take the test?"
Her ex wasn't even entering any of her thoughts. He really did feel like a past chapter in her life. All she could think about was Luke, and that it had to be Luke's kid because anything else would just break her heart. If she was going to fuck up like this, she needed it to be because of Luke.
She turned her head to glance up at the test that sat on the sink, still mocking her with it's stupid fucking sky blue box. She glanced back at Luke and shrugged. "I'm scared, Luke."
Luke nodded and gripped his hand around his wrist. "Me too, but that's not going to take it away, is it?" he murmured. He was scared of more than just the result. He was scared of what he'd do if it came out positive. Could he stay with her if there was a chance it was her ex's? Right now, with memories of his past still fresh and aching in his mind, he just wasn't sure of anything. He put his head back against the door and bit hard down on his lip as he fought the urge to cry. It wasn't supposed to fuck up like this! It was perfect. It felt perfect. Why couldn't it stay like that?
"You need to take the test," he said, almost pleading for her to do it. "You have to." He knew there had been a couple of times they hadn't used condoms, but she was on the pill! She'd been on the pill since she'd started seeing him. What was going on?
Tab reluctantly uncurled and stood up to get the test. She tore open the packaging, taking pleasure in ripping the box into unnecessary shreds. She took out the stick and looked at it as she pulled her mouth to the side. She was doing it because Luke needed her to. Because he told her to.
She still didn't want to take it. Unfortunately for her she'd had an entire pot of tea between talking to Riley and waiting for Luke so she couldn't even use the excuse of not having to pee. She was desperate to pee.
"Riley said it didn’t have to be pregnancy. It could be stress... He said that if it's anymore than seven, or ten days then we really need to worry. Or I really need to worry." She looked at him as she moved over to the toilet. "Close your eyes?"
Luke was so discontent that he hadn't clicked that to take the test she would need to use the toilet. Now he just felt like a selfish idiot. He stood up, wanting to offer to read the instructions or anything to help. What he really wanted to do was hug her and he reached for her reflexively but just ended up putting his hand up to his head and grabbing his hair. "I-I'm sorry... I can go out... you probably don't..." He turned to the door and leaned forward to softly bang his head against it. "Shit, I'm sorry. I shouldn't be reacting like a complete arse."
"I do," Tab replied as she stuck the test into the front pouch of her hoodie and worked on getting her jeans down. "I need you here. I'm being selfish, but I can't help it. I can't do this without you."
She took a deep breath and stared at his back as she tried to relax. Out of habit she started to hum, got the test out from her pouch and waited for the inevitable tinkling. "Why do you have to pee on a bloody stick anyway?" she asked. "Isn't there something slightly more dignified? And you're not reacting like a complete arse. You're being honest."
"I'll make it up to you by peeing in front of you too, if it helps. I can do undignified," Luke offered, unsure of what else he could do to show he cared, despite the freak out. He closed his eyes. "And no, I'm not..." he added in a small voice.
"You mean like when I farted in bed the other night?" Tab couldn't help but let out a shaky laugh, both embarrassed and amused at her own indignity. She blinked, and still watched his back as she did the test. "What do you mean? You're scared, and your worried and that's all cool. What else is there?"
"Hey, if you can't fart in bed with your boyfriend, what's the point? I don't want you spontaneously combusting on me." Luke kept his head against the wall, trying to give her some sort of privacy. "The timing. The fact I've been here before..."
"You sure? I'd make one hell of a fireball. It'd match my hair." She finished up and stretched to rest the stick on the edge of the sink. She huffed out a breath and placed her head in her hands as she stayed on the toilet. "You've... you got someone pregnant?"
"Too messy," Luke decided. He wrapped his arm around his stomach in an effort to get it to stop turning nervously. "No, someone else got my girlfriend pregnant."
Tab's head snapped up and she quickly yanked up her jeans and rinsed her hands before she moved over to Luke. She slipped her arms around his waist and laid her head on his back. Her hands covered his arm and she held him tightly. "I'm sorry. I didn't know."
"You couldn't know. I told you I wasn't being honest." Luke put his other hand over the top of hers. "Ignore me. I'll deal, okay? Whatever happens."
"What a bitch. Your ex, not you. I could never do that to someone. I've been a whore in my time, but not like that." She kissed his back. "We have three minutes before we find out the whatever."
"Some things are just plain fucked." Luke's head felt like it was going to explode. "It's the whatever that scares the shit out of me. It's not that I don't... I mean, if we... if you... but..." He couldn't form the sentence no matter how much he tried. What he really needed was a drink.
Tab pulled back and turned him around so she could see his face. "I love you," she said softly, repeating the one thing that had gotten swallowed in the lateness scare.
"I love you, too," Luke told her, watching her eyes. "I've wanted to tell you for days but I was worried I'd freak you out."
"Kind of hard to freak me out right now, huh? I'm already freaked out as far as I can get." She reached up to caress the side of his face and held his gaze. "I'm sorry I make you step on eggshells."
"It's alright. I kind of talked to Benny a bit about it all. Caught him without a nurse wrapped around his dick." Luke laughed nervously and then closed his mouth, swallowing.
"Wow, seriously? That has to be rarer than gold right now." Tab stepped back from Luke to give him some space as she perched herself on the edge of the bathtub. "I didn't mean for any of this happen, Luke. At least not the current freak out. I thought you should know, though."
"I know." Luke drew a shaky breath. Without her as a distraction against him, he started to pace back and forth in front of the bathroom door. "Y-You realise there is a grey area, right?" he finally asked.
She watched him pace before she gave a small shake of her head. Grey areas were in everything. She just wanted to know which particular grey area he was thinking of.
Luke stopped and turned to her, his eyes threatening to spill over with tears. "Please don't make me say it," he pleaded.
Tab covered her mouth and stomach. She shook her head emphatically as she stood up and backed away even further. "I couldn't! I just couldn't. I'd rather try and be a mum than do that."
Luke didn't realise what she was on about at first, but he soon put his hand over his forehead. "No, fuck. That's not what I was talking about. If you're pregnant it could just as easily be your ex's as it could mine!"
He reeled a little as the words flew out of his mouth. "I'll be back. I need a drink." He grabbed the doorknob and pulled the bathroom door open. The drinks were in one of the kitchen cupboards and he grabbed the first bottle, unscrewing it and taking a long swallow. He capped it and put it back, returning to the bathroom almost as quickly as he'd left it.
Tab couldn't breathe. As soon as the words were out of Luke's mouth she felt like she'd just been punched in the stomach. She'd sunk to the floor once again, rocking back on forth as she cradled her head in her hands. She didn't even look up when Luke came back. She could have used a fucking drink too, but if she was pregnant there wasn't much chance of alcohol getting past her lips was there?
"No," she whimpered. "No, it can't be. We didn't--not since before the crash."
Luke slumped against the door again and slid back down it. "Right after your last period, right?" he guessed hoarsely. Fuck, Scotch really burned your sinuses.
Tab turned her head to face Luke. "No, before. My period was over just before the crash."
Luke looked at her, the emotions pooling up inside him. He was scared if he said something, it would just come out in a wave of tears and he was really supposed to be the male in this situation. "You haven't slept with him since your last period?" he asked, trying again to wrap his head around the timeframe.
"No. I haven't," she reiterated. She let her legs slide out in front of her and gazed at Luke. She wasn't saying it to stop him worrying about her ex. She genuinely hadn't slept with him since her last period. The only other guy was Flynn, and they had been safe. Super safe. Her slips ups, if any, had been with Luke alone.
Luke put his hand on his chest. "Oh thank god," he choked out and then leaned forward to put his head in his hands. "Thank fucking god." The whole last fifteen minutes he'd spent all but convinced he was about to lose Tab and it hurt more than anything had in long time. He'd had relationships, but none like this. None that made him ever want to put his whole life, heart and soul on the line for.
Tab scooted across the tiled floor towards him and gently rest her hand on Luke's shoulder. "Do I get to keep you?" she asked in a small voice. "No matter what the stick says, will you still be mine?" Tab had spent more than fifteen minutes worried that she was going to lose Luke. Now she just needed to know.
Luke lifted his head. "Of course you do. I love you," he said through a heavy exhaled breath. "I just reserve the right to freak out for, say, a few weeks if it has two blue lines."
"I love you, too!" She couldn't help but notice she'd said those words three times within nearly twenty minutes and she was still okay. Well, besides the whole pregnancy test and still feeling like she wanted to cry. "I get to freak out too, okay? We can both freak out."
She leaned back and got to her feet as she walked over to the sink to look at the test. Better they found out now before they drove themselves crazy. Her face stayed impassive and she looked at Luke. "You ready?"
"No," Luke said nervously. "Yes. No. Fuck, yes. Shit, can I throw up first?"
He pushed his hair back and stood up, the pacing resuming. "Yes... okay, yes..." He paused, looking at her as he chewed on his lip.
Tab looked back down at the stick and blew out a breath. She held it up for Luke to see. The little square in the middle of the plastic stick was clean. "No lines. I'm not pregnant."
Luke opened his mouth and then closed it again, then floundered a little with the help of his hand waving helplessly in the air. "Well, then, where is your period?!" he cried. He pressed his hands over his mouth with a small squeak. "Ohthankfuckinggod!"
He unzipped his jeans and quickly started checking his nether regions and then stopped with another sigh of relief. "No grey hairs, even if I swear I feel like I've had twenty years shed from my life in fright."
Tab threw the stick into the sink and shrugged. "Guess I just stressed it away. Maybe it'll take another day, or two?"
"Only twenty? I'm about ready to sleep for fifty." She watched him and tried to stifle the laughter at seeing him check his nether regions for greys. Then she burst into tears and hid her face behind her hands. "Fucking bloody tear ducts!"
"Well, stress it back! Now I'm just worried something else is wrong!" Luke urged, his voice higher than normal. Delayed reaction of panic, it seemed. "Shit, we are so using three condoms for the next week until my heart recovers." He went over to her and wrapped his arms around her.
Tab slid her arms around his waist as she buried her face into his chest. His heart was racing just as fast as hers, and it was almost a comfort that they could even be scared to the same degree. Everything about them was in sync, even when their world was about to fall apart. "Deal. I'll just try and not cry at everything. If it doesn't come in two days I'll call Riley back."
"Yes, and if he doesn't want to talk to his sister about periods, tough shit." Luke drew in a breath and let it out slowly. "Whoa, that was... heavy. And more than a little fucking terrifying. Is it possible to get a headache from just sheer relief?"
"Yeah, because I have one too." She looked up at him and couldn't help but smile. "You know what else though? We did all this and you didn't have your shirt on. That's... hot in a twisted way."
Luke smirked. "You know, I came home with a huge boner and now I'm just half naked with a migraine. That's gotta be love at its most deepest."
"And I peed in front of you. That means this is a forever type deal. No escape," she replied with a smirk of her own. "I'm sorry I ruined your boner. I would've really enjoyed that kind of home coming."
"Well, there's always tomorrow," Luke reminded her with a smile. "And all the tomorrows after that."
"I like tomorrows." Tab hugged him tight. "Right now though, I think bed is good. Sleep is much needed right now."
"Bed," Luke agreed with a nod. "I have a feeling I'm going to wake up hungover tomorrow, and I'm not even drunk. That really could mean a whole other day in bed. Then we can be bright and sparky for the party."
"The party! Bugger, I forgot about that. Then I am definitely joining you in bed for tomorrow too. We can be emotionally hungover together." She looked up at him and wanted to say something else, but couldn't work out how to phrase it. She gave a shake of her head, and rest it against his chest again. His heartbeat had started to slow, as had hers.
pullmysteth, prvdsrhythm & naughtynrse referenced with permission
Word Count | 3,249
Co-written with asinthecity
[Follows THIS]
Luke felt sick. No, really. He did. After Tab all but screamed and sobbed her confessions at him, he stumbled into the nearest seat and proceeded to just stare at the closed bathroom door. A numb déjà vu was settling over him. He'd been here before but in a very different capacity. No wonder he wanted to throw up. Not that he expected it to be the same with Tab, but she did meet him soon after breaking up with her ex...
He shook his head. If he kept on that train of thought, he'd end up in tears and if he ended up in tears, he'd walk out and run. He owed it to Tab and to himself to grab his balls and not let this suck him into another vortex of misery. But there was a chance it could be the ex's, right? Not like before... she wouldn't cheat on him, would she? No. No, she wouldn't. But the timing... Luke didn't know if he could go through this again.
He put his hand over his mouth and let out a rough, ragged breath. His eyes turned back to the bathroom door. Standing up, he had to grab the back of the sofa so his legs didn't give way under him. He forced his feet to move in the direction of the bathroom and he knocked on the door. "Tab," he said, his voice sounded much more choked than he intended it to. "We have to talk about this."
Tab was slumped on the floor of the bathroom. She felt exhausted. Exhausted, and sick, and miserable. She still had made no move to pee on the fucking stick, and she didn't want to. She wanted to just try and get through this and hope she was wrong. Hope that she really was just late because of all the stress.
She crawled over to the door at the sound of Luke's voice and stayed down on the floor as she reached up to turn the handle. She hadn't locked it, and the door open a little as she peeked up at him from under her red fringe.
As she looked up at him and her heart caught in her throat. She'd told him she was late and that she loved him all in the one breath. Of course they had to talk about it. She just couldn't find her voice.
Luke nudged the door open a little more so he could fit through it. He went in, closing the door behind him. He eased himself down on the floor beside her with his back against the door, knees drawn up so he could rest his arms on them. He could hardly find his voice himself. His cheeks felt hot and throbby like his blood pressure was through the roof; he had to swallow before he made any attempt to speak or more than words probably would've come out. "How late?" he asked quietly.
Tab kept over by the bathtub and watched him quietly. He came after her. That meant something right? She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and sniffed. She tried to speak, but nothing came out. She took a breath and cleared her throat.
"Six days," she managed in a whisper.
They'd met on September thirteenth. Just under a month ago. Six days meant she hadn't had her period in five weeks... His chest just clenched tighter as he tried to work out the maths in his head. If she was pregnant, and she didn't use condoms with her ex-
"Fuck," he mumbled before he could stop himself. When he met her eyes, he couldn't shake the fearful expression on his face. His forehead creased as he watched her helplessly. "Are you going to take the test?"
Her ex wasn't even entering any of her thoughts. He really did feel like a past chapter in her life. All she could think about was Luke, and that it had to be Luke's kid because anything else would just break her heart. If she was going to fuck up like this, she needed it to be because of Luke.
She turned her head to glance up at the test that sat on the sink, still mocking her with it's stupid fucking sky blue box. She glanced back at Luke and shrugged. "I'm scared, Luke."
Luke nodded and gripped his hand around his wrist. "Me too, but that's not going to take it away, is it?" he murmured. He was scared of more than just the result. He was scared of what he'd do if it came out positive. Could he stay with her if there was a chance it was her ex's? Right now, with memories of his past still fresh and aching in his mind, he just wasn't sure of anything. He put his head back against the door and bit hard down on his lip as he fought the urge to cry. It wasn't supposed to fuck up like this! It was perfect. It felt perfect. Why couldn't it stay like that?
"You need to take the test," he said, almost pleading for her to do it. "You have to." He knew there had been a couple of times they hadn't used condoms, but she was on the pill! She'd been on the pill since she'd started seeing him. What was going on?
Tab reluctantly uncurled and stood up to get the test. She tore open the packaging, taking pleasure in ripping the box into unnecessary shreds. She took out the stick and looked at it as she pulled her mouth to the side. She was doing it because Luke needed her to. Because he told her to.
She still didn't want to take it. Unfortunately for her she'd had an entire pot of tea between talking to Riley and waiting for Luke so she couldn't even use the excuse of not having to pee. She was desperate to pee.
"Riley said it didn’t have to be pregnancy. It could be stress... He said that if it's anymore than seven, or ten days then we really need to worry. Or I really need to worry." She looked at him as she moved over to the toilet. "Close your eyes?"
Luke was so discontent that he hadn't clicked that to take the test she would need to use the toilet. Now he just felt like a selfish idiot. He stood up, wanting to offer to read the instructions or anything to help. What he really wanted to do was hug her and he reached for her reflexively but just ended up putting his hand up to his head and grabbing his hair. "I-I'm sorry... I can go out... you probably don't..." He turned to the door and leaned forward to softly bang his head against it. "Shit, I'm sorry. I shouldn't be reacting like a complete arse."
"I do," Tab replied as she stuck the test into the front pouch of her hoodie and worked on getting her jeans down. "I need you here. I'm being selfish, but I can't help it. I can't do this without you."
She took a deep breath and stared at his back as she tried to relax. Out of habit she started to hum, got the test out from her pouch and waited for the inevitable tinkling. "Why do you have to pee on a bloody stick anyway?" she asked. "Isn't there something slightly more dignified? And you're not reacting like a complete arse. You're being honest."
"I'll make it up to you by peeing in front of you too, if it helps. I can do undignified," Luke offered, unsure of what else he could do to show he cared, despite the freak out. He closed his eyes. "And no, I'm not..." he added in a small voice.
"You mean like when I farted in bed the other night?" Tab couldn't help but let out a shaky laugh, both embarrassed and amused at her own indignity. She blinked, and still watched his back as she did the test. "What do you mean? You're scared, and your worried and that's all cool. What else is there?"
"Hey, if you can't fart in bed with your boyfriend, what's the point? I don't want you spontaneously combusting on me." Luke kept his head against the wall, trying to give her some sort of privacy. "The timing. The fact I've been here before..."
"You sure? I'd make one hell of a fireball. It'd match my hair." She finished up and stretched to rest the stick on the edge of the sink. She huffed out a breath and placed her head in her hands as she stayed on the toilet. "You've... you got someone pregnant?"
"Too messy," Luke decided. He wrapped his arm around his stomach in an effort to get it to stop turning nervously. "No, someone else got my girlfriend pregnant."
Tab's head snapped up and she quickly yanked up her jeans and rinsed her hands before she moved over to Luke. She slipped her arms around his waist and laid her head on his back. Her hands covered his arm and she held him tightly. "I'm sorry. I didn't know."
"You couldn't know. I told you I wasn't being honest." Luke put his other hand over the top of hers. "Ignore me. I'll deal, okay? Whatever happens."
"What a bitch. Your ex, not you. I could never do that to someone. I've been a whore in my time, but not like that." She kissed his back. "We have three minutes before we find out the whatever."
"Some things are just plain fucked." Luke's head felt like it was going to explode. "It's the whatever that scares the shit out of me. It's not that I don't... I mean, if we... if you... but..." He couldn't form the sentence no matter how much he tried. What he really needed was a drink.
Tab pulled back and turned him around so she could see his face. "I love you," she said softly, repeating the one thing that had gotten swallowed in the lateness scare.
"I love you, too," Luke told her, watching her eyes. "I've wanted to tell you for days but I was worried I'd freak you out."
"Kind of hard to freak me out right now, huh? I'm already freaked out as far as I can get." She reached up to caress the side of his face and held his gaze. "I'm sorry I make you step on eggshells."
"It's alright. I kind of talked to Benny a bit about it all. Caught him without a nurse wrapped around his dick." Luke laughed nervously and then closed his mouth, swallowing.
"Wow, seriously? That has to be rarer than gold right now." Tab stepped back from Luke to give him some space as she perched herself on the edge of the bathtub. "I didn't mean for any of this happen, Luke. At least not the current freak out. I thought you should know, though."
"I know." Luke drew a shaky breath. Without her as a distraction against him, he started to pace back and forth in front of the bathroom door. "Y-You realise there is a grey area, right?" he finally asked.
She watched him pace before she gave a small shake of her head. Grey areas were in everything. She just wanted to know which particular grey area he was thinking of.
Luke stopped and turned to her, his eyes threatening to spill over with tears. "Please don't make me say it," he pleaded.
Tab covered her mouth and stomach. She shook her head emphatically as she stood up and backed away even further. "I couldn't! I just couldn't. I'd rather try and be a mum than do that."
Luke didn't realise what she was on about at first, but he soon put his hand over his forehead. "No, fuck. That's not what I was talking about. If you're pregnant it could just as easily be your ex's as it could mine!"
He reeled a little as the words flew out of his mouth. "I'll be back. I need a drink." He grabbed the doorknob and pulled the bathroom door open. The drinks were in one of the kitchen cupboards and he grabbed the first bottle, unscrewing it and taking a long swallow. He capped it and put it back, returning to the bathroom almost as quickly as he'd left it.
Tab couldn't breathe. As soon as the words were out of Luke's mouth she felt like she'd just been punched in the stomach. She'd sunk to the floor once again, rocking back on forth as she cradled her head in her hands. She didn't even look up when Luke came back. She could have used a fucking drink too, but if she was pregnant there wasn't much chance of alcohol getting past her lips was there?
"No," she whimpered. "No, it can't be. We didn't--not since before the crash."
Luke slumped against the door again and slid back down it. "Right after your last period, right?" he guessed hoarsely. Fuck, Scotch really burned your sinuses.
Tab turned her head to face Luke. "No, before. My period was over just before the crash."
Luke looked at her, the emotions pooling up inside him. He was scared if he said something, it would just come out in a wave of tears and he was really supposed to be the male in this situation. "You haven't slept with him since your last period?" he asked, trying again to wrap his head around the timeframe.
"No. I haven't," she reiterated. She let her legs slide out in front of her and gazed at Luke. She wasn't saying it to stop him worrying about her ex. She genuinely hadn't slept with him since her last period. The only other guy was Flynn, and they had been safe. Super safe. Her slips ups, if any, had been with Luke alone.
Luke put his hand on his chest. "Oh thank god," he choked out and then leaned forward to put his head in his hands. "Thank fucking god." The whole last fifteen minutes he'd spent all but convinced he was about to lose Tab and it hurt more than anything had in long time. He'd had relationships, but none like this. None that made him ever want to put his whole life, heart and soul on the line for.
Tab scooted across the tiled floor towards him and gently rest her hand on Luke's shoulder. "Do I get to keep you?" she asked in a small voice. "No matter what the stick says, will you still be mine?" Tab had spent more than fifteen minutes worried that she was going to lose Luke. Now she just needed to know.
Luke lifted his head. "Of course you do. I love you," he said through a heavy exhaled breath. "I just reserve the right to freak out for, say, a few weeks if it has two blue lines."
"I love you, too!" She couldn't help but notice she'd said those words three times within nearly twenty minutes and she was still okay. Well, besides the whole pregnancy test and still feeling like she wanted to cry. "I get to freak out too, okay? We can both freak out."
She leaned back and got to her feet as she walked over to the sink to look at the test. Better they found out now before they drove themselves crazy. Her face stayed impassive and she looked at Luke. "You ready?"
"No," Luke said nervously. "Yes. No. Fuck, yes. Shit, can I throw up first?"
He pushed his hair back and stood up, the pacing resuming. "Yes... okay, yes..." He paused, looking at her as he chewed on his lip.
Tab looked back down at the stick and blew out a breath. She held it up for Luke to see. The little square in the middle of the plastic stick was clean. "No lines. I'm not pregnant."
Luke opened his mouth and then closed it again, then floundered a little with the help of his hand waving helplessly in the air. "Well, then, where is your period?!" he cried. He pressed his hands over his mouth with a small squeak. "Ohthankfuckinggod!"
He unzipped his jeans and quickly started checking his nether regions and then stopped with another sigh of relief. "No grey hairs, even if I swear I feel like I've had twenty years shed from my life in fright."
Tab threw the stick into the sink and shrugged. "Guess I just stressed it away. Maybe it'll take another day, or two?"
"Only twenty? I'm about ready to sleep for fifty." She watched him and tried to stifle the laughter at seeing him check his nether regions for greys. Then she burst into tears and hid her face behind her hands. "Fucking bloody tear ducts!"
"Well, stress it back! Now I'm just worried something else is wrong!" Luke urged, his voice higher than normal. Delayed reaction of panic, it seemed. "Shit, we are so using three condoms for the next week until my heart recovers." He went over to her and wrapped his arms around her.
Tab slid her arms around his waist as she buried her face into his chest. His heart was racing just as fast as hers, and it was almost a comfort that they could even be scared to the same degree. Everything about them was in sync, even when their world was about to fall apart. "Deal. I'll just try and not cry at everything. If it doesn't come in two days I'll call Riley back."
"Yes, and if he doesn't want to talk to his sister about periods, tough shit." Luke drew in a breath and let it out slowly. "Whoa, that was... heavy. And more than a little fucking terrifying. Is it possible to get a headache from just sheer relief?"
"Yeah, because I have one too." She looked up at him and couldn't help but smile. "You know what else though? We did all this and you didn't have your shirt on. That's... hot in a twisted way."
Luke smirked. "You know, I came home with a huge boner and now I'm just half naked with a migraine. That's gotta be love at its most deepest."
"And I peed in front of you. That means this is a forever type deal. No escape," she replied with a smirk of her own. "I'm sorry I ruined your boner. I would've really enjoyed that kind of home coming."
"Well, there's always tomorrow," Luke reminded her with a smile. "And all the tomorrows after that."
"I like tomorrows." Tab hugged him tight. "Right now though, I think bed is good. Sleep is much needed right now."
"Bed," Luke agreed with a nod. "I have a feeling I'm going to wake up hungover tomorrow, and I'm not even drunk. That really could mean a whole other day in bed. Then we can be bright and sparky for the party."
"The party! Bugger, I forgot about that. Then I am definitely joining you in bed for tomorrow too. We can be emotionally hungover together." She looked up at him and wanted to say something else, but couldn't work out how to phrase it. She gave a shake of her head, and rest it against his chest again. His heartbeat had started to slow, as had hers.
pullmysteth, prvdsrhythm & naughtynrse referenced with permission
Word Count | 3,249