Chapter 88

Chapter 12 "I don't know," I said into the phone. "Please, Poppy," Belle practically begged. "I know you're not fond of Mina, but she's actually really nice. And maybe if you get to know each other better, she'll accept the fact that Grayson has a girlfriend. And we haven't really hung out recently." "I know, but... I don't know, I'm not really in the mood to go out anywhere," I said. "You're not really going out," Belle pointed out. "You'll still be in the building, just in my apartment. Please? Pretty please?" I sighed, knowing she wasn't going to stop asking. "Fine, I'll come over. What time?" "In about ten minutes," she said. "Thank you, Poppy." I hung up and tucked my phone back into my pockets. I really didn't want to leave my apartment because I had been feeling the morning sickness a lot and I didn't want anyone finding out that I was pregnant quite yet. Grayson walked into the apartment, dropping a few grocery bags on one of the counters. "Hey, Flower," he said. "Feeling better?" "Eh, not really," I said. "By the way, Belle wants me to hang out with her and her friends in about ten minutes." "And you're going even though you've been feeling sick?" he asked with a raised eyebrow as he started putting the groceries away. "She's my best friend," I said. "No, I am," Grayson said. I rolled my eyes. "You know what I mean. She really wants to hang out and I won't be out of the building." "True," he said. "Mind helping me with the groceries? I bought a lot of food since you have quite the appetites." I began taking the perishables out of the bags and put them in the fridge. "And who's fault is that?" I asked. "Why are you blaming me?" he asked. "I don't control your appetite." "Yeah, but the baby does," I said. "And who's sperm made the baby?" "Don't turn this on me," Grayson said. "It's not fully my fault. And speaking of, are you sure you want to wait until Thanksgiving to tell your family? It's at the end of next month." I shrugged as I closed the fridge. "I don't know. I want to tell them in person, but I don't want to see their reactions. Yes, I know that's a paradox, but... I don't know. It's all too much thinking about it." "If it's any help, I doubt they'll be mad at you," Grayson offered. "You're not in high school and you'll be nineteen when the baby is born. And I know how understanding they are, especially your dad." I gave him a faint smile. "Thanks. But I still think I'll wait until Thanksgiving. Will you be going to your parents' home for Thanksgiving?" Grayson stopped putting the groceries away, almost freezing in his place. "Oh, sorry. I... I didn't... I forgot... I'm sorry." "It's fine," he said quietly. "It won't be my first Thanksgiving without them, after all. Besides, I'd rather spend time with your family than mine. They never beat me and left me." I wrapped my arms around him, hating seeing him look so sad. He hadn't seen, or even talked to, his parents for over a year. I didn't know if they were trying to contact him or not, but I wouldn't be surprised if they weren't. They didn't even show up to his high school graduation. "I'm sorry," I said again. "It's okay," he reassured. "I'm getting used to it." He pulled away from me and gave me a smile. "I love you." "I love you, too," I said, returning the smile. "And I love our baby," Grayson said, his hands moving to my waist. "I don't care if he or she isn't born yet. I already love them. I know you're scared about raising our baby, but we can do it. We'll do fine and I'm sure we'll have a lot of people to help us if we really need it." "You know, you always know what to say," I said, kissing his cheek. "I should be heading over to Belle's apartment. I won't be gone for too long." "Alright," Grayson said. "Text me if you need anything." He gave me a kiss before I left the apartment and went to Belle's. Once again, Devon was at work. I doubt he would like if a bunch of girls were in his apartment while he was home, so it was considerate of Belle for wanting all of us to hang out when he boyfriend was working. Belle allowed me inside with a smile. Nobody else said hi, and I couldn't blame them. Mina liked my boyfriend and her two friends seemed to always follow her. I didn't really care, though. I was only here for Belle. I sat down in the same chair I did last time, trying not to pull out my phone and text Grayson like I did last time. "So, I ordered some pizza and it should be here any second," Belle said. "Oh, good," Mina said. "I've been dying to have pizza lately but I can't have it ordered to my dorm and I'm usually too busy to go out. Did you order cheese pizza?" Belle smiled and nodded. "Cheese and pepperoni." It was in fact a few seconds later that the doorbell rang. Belle quickly answered and and paid the pizza delivery guy before closing the door. She placed the two boxes and the coffee table and told us to dig in. I would be lying if I said I didn't have that many slices of pizza. I made sure the others were done eating before I kept eating. I probably had about five slices. And I was still hungry. "Wow," Belle said. "You have quite the appetite, Poppy. I've never seen you eat five pieces before." "I skipped lunch," I lied. "I was busy writing a paper for my Intro to Marine Biology class." "Ugh, I hate writing papers," Belle said with an eye roll. I was thankful she believed me. "But today, we are taking a break from university. What should we do?" "Oh, I know!" Jenna said. "I've been trying these new nail designs that look amazing! We can totally do manicures!" "Perfect!" Belle said. "I'll go get my nail polish and stuff. Be right back." When she was in her room, Mina turned to face me. "So, Poppy," she said. "You and Grayson. You've been dating him for a year and a half, right?" I nodded. "How serious are you?" "Pretty serious," I said. "We're promised to each other." Mina raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really? After a year and a half? Isn't that a little short? I mean, you can break up anytime." "Yeah, I really don't think we will," I said. "He wouldn't have given me a promise ring if he didn't see us lasting and I wouldn't have accepted it if I didn't see us lasting." "You never know what can happen," Mina said. So far, Belle's idea of us getting to know each other better wasn't working. I was going to try being nice to Mina for Belle's sake, but it was going to be really hard. Belle came back into the living room and dumped her pedicure supplies on the coffee table, moving the pizza boxes out of the way. "I love doing my nails so I have a lot of colors," she said. "All different shades because I hate using only one shade." "Great," Jenna said with a smile. "Can I try doing someone's nails?" "Oh! Do mine!" Bianca said. "I'm in need of a new color." As soon as one of the nail polish bottles were opened, I was starting to feel a bit sick. My sense of smell was a bit stronger now, which was making the nail polish smell disgusting for me. I took deep breaths, trying to push the feeling out. "Poppy? Are you okay?" Belle asked. "Mhmm..." I muttered. "Just feeling sick." "Maybe you shouldn't have had five slices of pizza," Belle said. "It's not the pizza," I said. "It's the smell. It's strong." "It's not that strong," Mina objected. It was for me. I closed my eyes, trying to relax and block out the smell. It wasn't working, unfortunately. I really didn't want to leave Belle's apartment since she really wanted me to hang out with them, but I really couldn't handle the smell. "I think I'm going to go home," I said weakly. "Yeah, of course," Belle said. "Don't worry about it. I'm not going to force you to stay if you're not feeling good." I gave her a smile, a weak one, before standing up from the couch. However, I immediately felt dizzy and nearly toppled over. Belle was nearby and, thankfully, was able to catch me. She sat me back down on the couch. "Poppy, just sit here," she said. "I'll call Grayson to get you." Not even a minute after Belle called Grayson, he showed up. Belle let him in and he hurried over to me. "Hey, are you okay?" he asked, crouching down in front of me. "Yeah," I said. "It's just the smell is strong and I was already feeling sick." "Poppy, you've been feeling sick for a while," she said. "Are you sure it's just the stomach flu?" I nodded. "Yeah, positive. It's the stomach flu and the stress that's making me feel sick." "Oh, okay," Belle said. "Well, go home and rest. We'll hang out another time." "Yeah," I said, still feeling sick. "When I'm feeling better, for sure." "Alright, let's go, Flower," Grayson said, standing up from his crouched position and pulling me up with him. I still felt a bit dizzy, so he put his arm around my shoulder to keep me steady. He led me out of the apartment and to ours. When we got inside, Grayson led me to the bedroom and helped me on the bed. "Grayson, I'm fine," I said. "I don't have to rest." Grayson raised an eyebrow. "You were already feeling nauseous," he said. "Just rest for a little bit, okay? You're going to have to start taking things easy." I sighed, knowing Grayson was right. "Okay. Can you cuddle with me?" Grayson chuckled before climbing into bed with me. He wrapped his arms around me and I rested my head on his chest. "You're lucky I'm a cuddler," he said. I rolled my eyes. "You're seriously the best boyfriend ever, though," I said. "I know I am," he replied. "I know things are going to be different for us now, but I want you to know that I will always be here for you. I'll always be with you, no matter what happens." "And thank you for that," I said. "I went through such a hard time with the thing that happened with Ben, but you were there for me afterwards. You were the only person to talk to me when the whole school hated me and you were the first person I fell in love with." "I better be the only one you'll ever be in love with," Grayson said, half-seriously and half-jokingly. "Of course," I said. "You're the only one I ever want to be in love with." "And you're the only girl I ever want to be in love with," Grayson said. "I love you so damn much, Poppy. And I won't stop, no matter what." "I love you, too," I said with a smile before closing my eyes to rest.