A/n: Thanks to Alyse, for telling me to end this story oddly. Thanks to all who reviewed, I love you all! And thank you to my computer, for not having a meltdown. I can't believe this story made it so far. I'm particularly fond of this one, and to those who also enjoyed it, there may be a sequel...^_^...Love,

- I’m with Sid vicious -

   I couldn’t believe it. If I told my mom she would kill me. My brain was spinning in circles and I couldn’t stop throwing up.

   We got home okay; Harley drove us, as promised. Once home I went to my room and collapsed. Nick just collapsed on the floor of my room, never making it to the bed. When I woke up, I was on the floor, clutched in his grasp once more. I escaped him and went to the bathroom and vomited again and again until I felt that if I puked one more time, my body would disappear. But it made me feel better and I went to the kitchen where Ellie was drinking some coffee, and petting Clash in her lap.

“ Oh Alice dear, your mom told me to ask you to run to Osco and buy some things.” She said as she handed me a list of medicines, cotton balls and such. I nodded and took the money she also held out. I checked myself in the mirror and took a piece of gum. I looked fine except for the bags under my eyes. But I felt so dirty and so disgusting. I wanted to take a shower, but something compelled me not to. I walked to Osco, and upon entering, veered to the right, where the medicines were. I was looking for some PMS medication, and I turned around and faced a wall of birth control paraphernalia and pregnancy tests. I felt the color drain from my face, yet my cheeks got red at the same time. We hadn’t used any birth control. I looked around to see if anyone was near me, and stepped closer to the tests. I gave them an once-over and then chose one that seemed worthy. I found the medication too and all that was left on the list was cotton balls. I re-checked the prices in my brain, and discovered that I didn’t have enough. I pulled out my allowance. I would pay for the pregnancy test myself.

“ So you want this separate?” the clerk asked me. I looked at her pretty, pouty lips and nodded. She looked to her right and then looked at me. “ You forgot to use protection didn’t you?” She whispered and I looked at her more closely. She was the freaky girl from Arthur’s party! I nodded once again. “ Take it for free.” She pushed it at me and shook my head.

“ I can't do that, I mean...” I stuttered.

“ Okay, that will be ten fifty six.” She said, not scanning the test and putting it in the bag. I stared at her and she winked. I handed over the money and she gave me back the change. I thanked her and left. Once outside I breathed a heavy sigh and got going back home. When I got back, I found Nick in the kitchen, drinking some coffee also, and Clash and Ellie were nowhere to be found. I poured some food in Clash’s bowl, and went upstairs to the washroom. I read the pregnancy test package and took it out. After following the directions, I laid it down for two minutes. Hopefully my mom wouldn’t find out about this, I thought to myself and I hopped around, trying to pass the time. After about two minutes I cautiously crept up to the windowsill where I had put it. I closed my eyes and was about to open them when someone knocked on the door.

“ Yes?”

“ Alice, did you go to the store? Did you buy the stuff?”

“ Yes mother, it’s in the kitchen.”

“ Oh, sorry.” She said and hopefully she left. I waited another few seconds and then opened my eyes. My heart sank, and it seemed to have fallen into my stomach acid, which ate it up. I clutched at my chest and staggered back. I couldn’t believe this. It was...positive.

***

   “ Alice, are you okay kitten? You haven’t eaten all day.” Nick said, sounding concerned and cradling me in his arms.

“ Nick I have to tell you something.” I tried to clear my throat but my mouth was too dry.

“ What’s the matter honey?” he asked sweetly and put his forehead to mine. “ You feel warm. Are you sick?” he hugged me even harder, making it difficult for me to tell him.

“ No. It had something to do with last night. But I just can't say it.” I felt like crying and tried not to. But the tears fell regardless. Nick raised his eyes to mine and I could tell he knew what was coming. Or something to that extent. He kissed my jaw and questioned me with his green eyes.

“ I'm...”

“ You can say it kitten.”

“ Nick, you got me pregnant.” I blurted out and didn’t know what to expect. I thought he would drop me on the floor in disgust, or push me away, or yell at me. He only held me tighter.

“ It’s going to be okay darling. It’ll be alright.” He whispered to me and rocked me back and forth as I wept. “ I'm sorry.” He added, in an attempt to make me feel better, which he succeeded. And at least I knew that he would support me.

“ But you know, you have to get checked at a doctors office, just in case. I don’t think you can only rely on the home pregnancy test.”

I nodded and hugged him tight. He kissed the top of my head.

“ And another thing.” He started to say and I felt my stomach wrench. He was going to say we had to kill it, that he didn’t want a child. “ We are not going to kill it. Alice, you’re going to have that child even if we have to give it up darling.”

I faced him and looked into his eyes to see if this was true. His eyes were reassuring and my heart fluttered. He was the best person I had ever met.

“ Come on. Lets go check for sure.” He got up and helped me stand. He took his keys and we went to his car.

   Upon arriving, sighed with relief that I wasn’t the only teen there. There were quite a few, even some that were already developing. I grasped nicks hand firmly and he walked up to the desk.

“ Do you have an appointment?” The nurse asked and Nick shook his head.

“ How long will the wait be?”

“ Not too long. All of our doctors are here today.” She said cheerfully. “ I’d estimate a half an hour.”

We thanked her and went to sit down. A few girls were here alone and a few were with their mothers.

“ Hey.” One of them turned to me. “ You’re pretty lucky, you know that?”

I let go of Nick’s hand and turned to look at her.

“ What do you mean?”

She motioned at Nick.

“ As soon as mine found out, he ditched me.” A couple of other girls were listening to our conversation.

“ Yeah, me too.” One said.

“ As soon as I said the word, he rushed outta there like his ass was on fire.” Another retorted.

“ Well your boyfriends are jerks.” Nick suddenly piped up and silence fell upon the girls. “ I would beat the shit out of them, if I were you.”

“ Aw, and he’s so sweet too.”

“ He’s going to be a good father.”

“ Yeah, you lucky girl.” We all had formed a circle and we talking about our situations. I got all their numbers and we decided to hang out every Friday night as part of a young teen mothers group. I never thought this would happen to me. I mean, half of us didn’t even know if we were pregnant for sure.

“ Next!” the nurse called, and they all looked at me.

“ Good luck.” The girl nearest to me gave me a pat. I nodded to them and held my held my head up high. Nick grinned at me as I skipped into the room that the nurse indicated. I sat in a chair and Nick stood by me. A different nurse came in and looked at Nick in surprise.

“ Well I can't say I often have a guy in here.” She laughed and looked at me. “ You could kick him out if this is uncomfortable, which I promise it will get.”

I looked at Nick and smiled.

“ Honey, could you leave for a while?”

He smiled down at me just as sweetly.

“ Yes dear.” He said leaving the room.

“ Well girl, we have a lot to get through.” The nurse sighed and turned to me.

***

   “ I have to come back tomorrow.” I told him on the drive home. I couldn’t keep the smile off my face. I had a good time chatting with the nurse about this kind of situation and she made me feel so good about it, not dirty. Speaking of which, I was supposed to take a shower. Nick drove to some weird rocky road, which I’ve never seen before. I didn’t feel like asking him where he was taking me and he didn’t say anything either. I put my head to the window and looked out. Once the car rolled to a stop, Nick turned the radio station off. I looked out the window and saw that we were at some old abandoned house. He got out of the car and grinned at me to do the same. I slowly got out and bounded over to him excitedly. He smiled and nodded and took me into his arms. He led me around the back where there was a bench swing. He sat me down and we swung in the silence. Nick kept turning to me and smiling and then turning away. I was extremely confused. He finally turned to me and took my hands in his.

“ Alice, I know what I did was stupid, and now we may have to suffer the consequences, but I just want to tell you, that I love you. And that I’ll always be here for you no matter what. Those girls made me realize that there are a lot of bad people out there. I mean, look at my father as an example. I don’t want to be like him. I would never do that to my son, I promise.” He looked away for a second. “ That’s why...” he closed his eyes.

“ What?” I asked getting frightened that he would leave me. I shook his arm and his eyes popped open. They seemed to smile at me.

“ Nothing darling, I’ll just always be here. No matter what. Okay?” He touched my face. I could only nod; I was so sentimental. He leaned into me and engulfed my mouth with his, that sweet-tasting breath falling upon me. I wondered if he was going to ask for my hand in marriage. But that was just plain stupid of me. He was almost eighteen and I was four months away from that. The night was falling on us and I looked up to the stars. Nick wondered where I was gazing and looked up too. He titled his head at the sight and made a strange sound.

“ What’s wrong?” I asked him gently. I looked around. “ Where are we?”

“ We’re at my old house where I used to live before my mom died. I used to...” he choked up and fell silent.

I watched his eyes tear up slightly, and it reminded me that there was a part of him inside me, creating another being. I didn’t urge him to continue but he did all the same.

“ I used to sit out here with my mom, and we used to swing and watch the stars. She’d point out the planets and the constellations. No matter how cloudy the skies were, no matter how rainy, if I wanted to go out and sit and swing, she’d take me. Sometimes, we’d drag this inside and sit and look at the ceiling.” He started to chuckle. “ One time, we got bored and painted our own stars and constellations with glow-in-the-dark paint. We’d turn off the lights and lay on the floor, naming our imaginary stars.”

“ I never got to know my dad.” I said quietly. “ You know.”

Nick nodded and wrapped his arms tighter around me. He put his forehead to my shoulder and we stayed quiet for the remainder of our visit. Until Nick forced me up to see if the house was still open. He grabbed my hand and dragged me to the front door. He tried to open it but it wouldn’t open. Nick pondered for a bit then lit up. He ran around to the side of the house and I heard an excited yelp.

“ Alice! Come on!” I ran to where he was, and saw that he got the window open. He let me in through first, and then he climbed in. We were in a hallway with what appeared to be pale yellow wallpaper, but most of it was peeled off. I spun around and the dust lifted from everywhere and got stuck in the cobwebs. Once in, Nick took my hand again and led me to a pretty mahogany door. He pushed it open and a strange green glow engulfed the dark hallway. A gasp got caught in my throat. We were in a large room with covered furniture and the ceiling was sparkling with millions of green stars and comets. It felt like a scene out of a movie. I looked at Nick and the stars were reflected in his eyes.

“ This is...where I want to be. Forever with you, darling.” His soft words touched my ears and I trembled. I needed no prompting. I fell into his arms and knew that from now on, my world would revolve around him, more than it already has. I loved him, and I'm sure Johnny would’ve wanted it this way. This love, like the song sung to me long ago it seemed, has no title. It just is.