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Iris
Author's Note - Last chapter... hope that the ending is worth it...
When the day comes that they’ve planned the interview on PopStar (because they were the first to return Patrick’s calls) Liam exclaims that he doesn’t want to go.
“Look at my hair!” he exclaims, as though it is the worst tragedy on the planet. His hair looks the same as it always does to me, but I don’t say anything. After all, it might be nice not to stay home and watch the interview alone.
“Liam, you’re such a girl sometimes,” Patrick says, rolling his eyes. Liam just grunts and pulls a beanie over his head.
“I’m not going. I never say anything, anyway. I just stand in the background and have the fangirls scream at me,” he says, and I can swear that he’s almost pouting.
“Fine, you girls can stay here and watch,” Craig says, slipping his hand into Patrick’s.
“Fine with me,” Liam replies, grinning. Tom hugs me, and they leave. After we hear the car pull out of the parking lot, Liam turns the television on.
“The interview isn’t going to start for another two hours,” I remind him. He shrugs and flops onto the couch.
“I don’t care,” he replies, “Oprah is on,” he tells me, flipping to the correct channel. I join him on the couch, barely holding in a laugh.
“You want to watch Oprah?” I ask him, raising my eyebrows.
“Shut up. Patrick Dempsey is supposed to be on this episode,” he comments, tucking his feet underneath him and turning the volume up as the theme music starts. I sigh, and, since I’m not a big fan of Oprah or Patrick Dempsey, I try to find something else to do. I go upstairs and clean our bedroom, making the bed and organizing the drawers. After that is done, I debate whether to clean the other’s rooms as well, but decide against it, because I don’t know what I might find in there. I go downstairs and, luckily, Oprah is nearly finished. However, there’s still an hour left until the interview is supposed to air. I know it’s silly, but I miss Tom, and I want to call him, but I know I shouldn’t distract him from getting prepared.
The next hour goes by slowly, but before long it is time for the interview to air. I join Liam on the couch and we turn the volume up, popping the tape in to record it.
The show starts the same way it always does, and Beth looks into the camera to introduce the band. After she does this, they all walk out, Patrick in front, with the others walking behind him, Shane being the last to come out. The fans seem to hush when they see Shane, and I know that they’re wondering about the photograph.
“So, we all want to hear about the picture in Play,” Beth says, and the fans start screaming, “Shane, why don’t you tell us what’s going on? Your fans are very curious.” She looks at him, as do the rest of the guys. I can tell that Tom is getting a little nervous though, and Patrick is itching to talk, but he doesn’t say anything.
“Yeah, well it’s a little complicated. You see, the girl in the picture is not my girlfriend, or my fiancée or whatever. She’s actually Tom’s fiancée,” he says, and Beth looks very confused.
“Okay, well the thing is, she wanted to propose to Tom, right? So she asked me to go with her to pick out the ring. That’s why we were at the jewelry store together. I know it sounds a little weird, but that’s how it is,” Shane says, “right Tom?” he asks. Tom nods and holds his microphone up to his mouth.
“It’s true, we’re engaged now,” he says, and holds out his hand to show Beth. The camera zooms in on the ring, and I feel myself flushing.
“Aw!” Liam says, gently elbowing me, “that’s so cute,” he adds. I say nothing and just watch my fiancé there on screen, admiring how beautiful he looks.
“Well, now that you’re engaged, are we going to be seeing more of her now?” Beth asks. Tom shrugs and looks at the others.
“We’re going to be busy with the wedding and everything. Then once the baby comes, she’s going to be…oh. Shit.” I swear that the entire studio goes silent when he utters the word “baby”. Patrick, Craig and Beth are all staring at Tom with confused and shocked looks on their faces. Shane looks like he wants to smack Tom upside the head. Tom has the open-mouth fish look on. And I am completely, utterly shocked. I can’t believe he would say that on live television where the whole world is watching – including my sister and my parents.
“You’re PREGNANT?” Liam exclaims, looking over at me. I can’t even answer him, I am so shocked.
“How far along are you? How come you didn’t say anything?” he wants to know. On screen, Tom is trying to backtrack and take back what he said, but it’s obvious that no one is buying it. Shane interrupts him and starts talking about something else.
“It was supposed to be a secret until I started showing,” I tell Liam, still staring at the screen, “I can’t believe he said that on television!” I exclaim, and suddenly I feel angry. I stand up.
“I don’t think he meant to say it,” Liam says, standing up with me, “I’m sure he’s sorry.” I ignore him and leave the room. I walk up to our bedroom and sit on the bed. I don’t know what to think now. I thought Tom understood that I wanted this to be between us for a while, but now the entire world knows – including my parents. What will they think of me? I’m not even married yet and I’m pregnant. I was the good girl when I was younger, and sex before marriage was not something they expected from me. Things weren’t going to be the same anymore.
The phone rings, but I don’t get up to answer it. I can tell that Liam does because it stops ringing after the second ring. A few minutes later I can hear him thumping up the stairs until he’s at the door of the bedroom, which I’d stupidly left open.
“Tom is on the phone,” he tells me, a little breathless.
“I don’t want to talk to him,” I say to Liam.
“He says he didn’t mean to say that. He’s sorry. Why don’t you just listen to what he has to say?” Liam asks me.
“I don’t fucking want to fucking talk to him,” I growl.
“Okay, fine,” Liam says, raising his hands defensively before he leaves the room. I lie down on the bed and stare at the ceiling, thinking to myself. It seems like only minutes pass by, but it must be much longer, because eventually I hear the doors downstairs opening and closing. The guys are home. There are voices and then footsteps up the stairs. My stomach feels queasy and I don’t want to look at Tom. I don’t know what to say to him.
He comes into the room and stands in the doorway, rubbing the back of his neck and looking at me, clearly nervous. I still love him, I know that, but I’m angry with him for telling the world about our baby, the baby that was supposed to stay secret for a little longer.
“I can’t believe you said that,” I say finally. Tom takes a step closer. I don’t want him to come closer. I don’t want him to hug me and tell me he’s sorry and that he didn’t mean it. I want to be angry at him.
“I’m sorry,” he says. I close my eyes, take a deep breath.
“I just… I can’t talk to you right now,” I say, “I don’t want to yell at you or ruin anything. I just want you to know that I’m mad at you. I thought that we were going to keep the baby a secret for a while, and then you went and talked about it on live television and my mom was watching and she knows that I’m pregnant, and that I didn’t tell her, and that we had sex before we were married… Tom, I can’t do this right now.” I cover my face with my eyes. I don’t want to look at him anymore. I know that he probably thinks I’m being silly, but I don’t think he realizes how much this meant to me.
He puts his hand on my back. I know he wants to calm me, but I don’t want to be calmed down.
“Don’t touch me!” I said, moving away from him. I move my hands away from my face, still refusing to look at him.
“I’m going downstairs. Please just leave me alone for a little while,” I tell him.
“Sweetie, I...” he says, and he sounds worried. I know he’s sorry, but I’m not ready to forgive him just yet.
“I don’t want to talk right now,” I say again. There’s a pause, and I hear Tom take a deep breath. I’m afraid to look at him, because I know I’ll start crying.
“Well, I’ll be downstairs if you want to talk. I’m sorry,” he says again. There is another pause, and then the door opens. I don’t look up until I hear the door close, and Tom’s footsteps down the stairs. Then I turn the lights off, pull the covers over my head and cry myself to sleep.
I’m not sure how much time has passed, but when I find myself being shaken awake, there is no light streaming in through the windows. I blink, rub my eyes, and look up. Shane is standing there, looking down at me. I sit up and he joins me on the bed.
“Tom cooked some lasagna,” he says, “are you hungry?” I am hungry, and Tom’s lasagna is good… but I’d just made a complete fool of myself, getting angry for a stupid reason. He’s not going to want to talk to me. I tell this to Shane.
“That’s not true. You and Tom need to talk. No one likes seeing you two argue. Please come downstairs?” Shane asks. Finally, I nod. I’m being immature anyway. I wipe my face and walk down the stairs with Shane. The others are sitting at the dining room table when we get there. There’s an empty seat next to Tom, and I take that one. I turn to face Tom, and he’s looking at me as well.
“I’m sorry,” I say, “I shouldn’t have gotten so angry with you,” I add.
“It’s my fault. I should have thought about what I was going to say before just blurting it out,” Tom says.
“Oh, shut up. Just kiss and make up already so we can get to this lasagna before I starve,” Liam grumbles. Tom leans down and kisses me. I know things are going to work out perfectly.
March
I’m standing in front of the altar, facing Tom with the Justice next to us. Craig, Patrick and Liam are sitting in the pews, along with my parents, Tom’s parents, and my sister. Shane is standing up with us because we’ve chosen him to hold the rings. My heart is beating so fast that I’m afraid I won’t be able to hear when it’s my turn to speak. Tom is smiling at me and holding my hands. He looks so beautiful in his tuxedo, wearing that tie that I gave him, his hair as crazy as always. I almost can’t believe this is happening.
“Do you, Thomas Parker, take this woman…” the Justice asks. Tom swallows and looks at me and I’m scared that he’s going to say no and leave me.
“I do,” he answers. Then it’s my turn. The Justice repeats the question and Tom waits for my response. I take a deep breath in through my nose before answering.
“I do,” I say, and I can hear my mom sniffling in her pew.
“I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride,” the Justice says. Tom gives me that tiny smile and he pulls me towards him and we’re kissing in front of everyone, but they all disappear and it’s just Tom’s lips on mine, my hands in his hair. I can hear Liam whistling and we part.
“I love you,” Tom tells me softly, and even though tears are streaming down my cheeks I know this is the happiest moment of my life.
