They had come so far.  Anne Lydian played with the bracelet Jonathon had given her for her sixteenth birthday, remembering the first time she had received it.  Six months of dating had just ended, and Jon had come to her door in the middle of the night after hours of wondering if he was welcome.  Now, as he sat across from her in his truck—his pride and joy—she could see the same unsure worry in his blue eyes.  They had come so far, after so much pain and turmoil.  He suddenly turned off the ignition and faced her fully.  “Annie, what’s wrong?”  She gulped and her eyes began to tighten.  “Oh, don’t cry, what’s wrong?”

            “Jonathon,” she barely uttered.  “I’ve been thinking…about that night a few months ago.”  He immediately looked down.  That night; two words that rarely came in conversation between the two.  It stood for something they were both ashamed of, something they had been trying to forget and would try to forget for the rest of their lives.  It was raining and Anne’s parents were at a business trip in Dallas for the weekend.  Jon had arrived at the Lydians’ country home at five o’clock to study but didn’t leave until seven o’clock the next morning.  They were incredibly thankful no one had seen Jon slip away before breakfast, because any ideas assumed would have been correct.  They had dated off and on for a year and a half.  Some might have said it was about time.

            However, there was something special about Anne and Jon.  It wasn’t that their relationship was like what everyone else assumed, all candy and soda.  While their friends fell apart, blamed each other, and did more and more things they would grow to regret, Jon and Anne had placed their center on the rock of Jesus.  He had yet to lead them wrong.  Sitting there in the black Toyota a few yards from the main school building, Anne was doubting everything she had ever been taught.  “I regret not telling our parents.”

            “Annie,” Jonathon said quietly, as if someone would hear, “if you wanted to tell them, you should have told me.  I…just thought that we decided together we weren’t going to.  Our peace is settled, isn’t that all that matters?”  Anne wiped at her cheeks, tears arriving more easily.

            “I know, I’ve moved on,” she replied.  “I just don’t like lying to my parents.”

            “It’s not lying,” Jon said, sitting back.

            “It’s not revealing the truth!” Anne exclaimed, finally looking up.  “We should have told them as soon as they got back.”

            “We wouldn’t be together right now.”  He began to drum his fingers on the steering wheel: a nervous habit.

            “That’s God’s decision,” Anne muttered.  “What…what I’m trying to say is…”  He watched her, seeing the incredible difficulty she was having.  “We need to tell them today.”

            “Today?” Jon repeated, almost smiling, as if it were a joke.

            “This isn’t funny, Jonathon!  We took a vow and we broke it!”  He glanced back down, clearing his throat.  “Even if we do get married, we didn’t wait!”  Anne sighed deeply, holding her forehead on the edge of the car door.  “God, what are we going to tell our children, Jonathon?  The Lord says that sex before marriage is wrong, but then again, we didn’t care to honor His word, and we turned out all right!”  The color began to slowly drip from Jonathon’s drawn features. 

            “Annie…” he whispered, taking her hand slightly.  She was sniffing, refusing to look at him.  She could only see her own faint reflection in the car window, deep brown eyes pouring out her heart.  “Honey, we talked about this.  We didn’t tell our parents, yes, but I thought we could dismiss this and move on.  We’ve come so far and we’re so strong...”

            “How strong do you think we are, Jon?” she replied.  Jon blinked back a skipped heart beat as Anne’s lip rolled back, fighting more tears.  “Strong enough to raise a child?”  She felt his grip about her fingers tighten.  “Jonathon, I’m pregnant.”  He couldn’t help but wince.  She watched his whole world collapse before her, his back turning over as his head dropped into his palms.  Jonathon, the world’s best boyfriend; the kind of guy that let you wear his letter jacket and decorated your car to ask you to prom, began to weep.  Anne buried her eyes on his shoulder.  She could feel him shaking, which scared her more than anything.  “I’m so sorry, Jon, I’m so, so sorry…”  He shook his head and kissed her forehead.  She was afraid to look at his eyes, for she knew how they glowed when he was upset and it would shatter what was left of her.

            “Don’t’ say that,” he mumbled.  “Just…don’t say that.”