AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Just then, I heard the front door to the apartment open. Katy came home from work pretty early most nights since I’d moved back in with her. The only reason she did was to check up on me, but I never teased her about it. I was grateful and I enjoyed being here with her again. I missed our friendship. It was nice to be able to spend time with her and anyway, I was starving, uh.
“Maddie! I’m home!”
As I slung my feet sideways off the bed, the pads of my heels pressed into the hardness of the wood floor underneath. My bare feet squeaked as I exited the room and headed down the hallway towards the kitchen. Running my fingers through my hair, I shook it as I released my fingers from it and then I stopped, frozen in place.
Grey stood there. Weary rage gathered under his eyes as he glared at me.
“Grey,” Katy warned. “You promised.”
Only half-listening to Katy, I kept my attention on Grey. His dark gaze took my breath away. A nervous swallow lurched down my throat as the instinct to flee took over and sent a jolt of adrenaline through me. Stunned, I staggered back as he began to come towards me. I bumped against the dining room table, turned, and with a shriek I took off running towards the bedroom. As I did, I yanked one of the dining room chairs out from under the table.
I heard it groan against the floor as Grey banged into it. He threw it to the ground and it rattled along the floor, a horrifying indication my efforts had done little to slow him. Moisture wicked from my mouth as I fled, my legs threatening to give way and betray me.
“Maddie!” Katy screamed from the kitchen.
Oh shit, oh no!
Frantic, I ran inside the bedroom and turned, slamming the door behind me. I heard Grey’s footsteps as he closed on me and my hands shook as I grabbed hold of the lock on the door. Moistened by panic, they slipped as I tried to lock it. Just then, Grey twisted the handle and I screamed in fright. With a final lunge, I rammed my shoulder against the door, leaning into it with all my might. Desperate, I pressed my thumb against the lock and at last, it clicked in reassurance.
“Maddie!” Grey yelled as he pounded on the door.
He hit it so hard, I thought it might split open. Shrinking away from it, I covered my ears with my hands and retreated towards my bed.
“No, no, no…” I whispered. “Please no.”
“Open the goddamn door, Maddie!”
“Grey!” I heard Katy shout. “Stop it! You’re going to break the door!”
“Stay out of this, Katy!” Grey roared.
“That’s it!” she exclaimed. “I’m calling the police.”
“Call the goddamn Marines for all I care, Katy! Fuck off!”
I heard her march down the hall as Grey jiggled the knob once again.
“Maddie,” he said with a firm tone. “You’ve got to let me in. We have to talk.”
I scooted across the top of the mattress until my back pressed into the wall. The cool feel of it through my t-shirt caused me to shiver. Gathering two handfuls of my bed sheet, I swept them into a cocoon around my body, leaving only my head above it. One way or another Grey would come through the door.
The only question was how.
“Maddie,” he said as the intensity in his voice drained away. “Please, I only want to see you.”
As I hesitated, I noticed the knob twist the other direction as he released it.
“Katy,” he called out down the hall. “Put the goddamn phone down. Don’t be ridiculous. I’d never hurt her. Jesus Christ.”
Just then, his knuckles rapped with a ginger cadence against the door.
“Come on, Maddie. Please.”
I pursed my lips and after a few moments, I released my death grip on the sheet and moved it away from my body. I slid off the bed, and a few cautious steps later I arrived at the door.
“Maddie,” he said with a hint of tenderness.
Reaching down, I cupped my hand around the knob and as I twisted it, the lock popped open. Still uncertain, I cracked it a mere fraction and then took several quick steps back, crossing my arms at my chest and tugging my shirt down in an effort to hide my secret.
Just then, Grey swept the door open. With his palm pressed flat against it, he walked inside. I’d never seen him look like he did. Exhaustion defined his expression as he walked towards me, wordless.
My nerves got the better of me and I attempted to turn away from him but as I did, he closed on me and swallowed me with his embrace. My breath hitched my throat. I resisted an urge to cry for fear he’d demand an explanation. Instead, I melted into him. Turning my head into his chest, I wrapped my arms around him.
We stood in complete silence, joined together at last.
The seconds ticked by as he cradled me. Soon, I heard Katy come down the hallway and stop just outside the door. After a moment or two, when she realized Grey wasn’t going to do me any harm, her footsteps squeaked in the other direction.
Grey never acknowledged her presence or my awareness of it. He tightened his hold on me, squeezing me to a point of near discomfort. With a deep exhale, he eased his embrace and lifted one hand to the top of my head. Grey stroked my hair, caressing it from the crown down to my neck, smoothing it as he did.
“Grey,” I whispered into his chest.
“Shh…” he replied as he pressed his lips to the top of my head. “Shh.”
After another moment or so, he repositioned his hands on both sides of my head, turning my face up to meet his. Overwhelmed by my shame and terrified of the confession to come, salty tears at last betrayed me.
Yet a soft smile came to corners of Grey’s perfect lips. His chocolate brown gaze lingered on my face, as it heated with rivulets of moisture. With his thumbs, he smoothed them away, brushing tender strokes across the skin of my cheeks.
“Maddie,” he began. His voice cracked a little. “I’m not upset. I promise. Whatever is going on, you can tell me.”
I averted my gaze and with a sniffle I broke loose of his soft embrace. As I turned and began to walk back to the bed, he continued, “Is it… the picture? What’s happened?”
“No, no, it’s not the picture. No,” I muttered.
As I plopped down on the bed, he walked over to me. I swished the sheets across my stomach. He didn’t seem to notice.
“Look,” he began. “Whatever it is. You can tell me.”
I chewed my lip.
“Because whatever you’re doing here, Maddie,” he said, as he lifted his arms up and gestured around my small bedroom. “It can’t continue. It just can’t. If you’re this sick, we have got to get you to a doctor. I’m not going to allow you to suffer like this.”
I was out of time and options. Exhausted by the demands of evasion, I balled the sheets together in my hands and looked down at the floor.
“Maddie?”
Inhaling, I took one final swallow and drew my eyes up to his.
“I’m not sick, Grey.”
He scoffed. Grey shook his head as a withering exhale sputtered from between his lips. Frustration creased his brow.
“I’m pregnant, Grey,” I confessed. “I’m… pregnant.”
Sternness spread to his lips as he thinned them at me. He looked down at me for several moments in silence. At last he raised his chest a fraction and crossed his arms over it.
“I see.”
I bit my lip and avoided his gaze once again. A chill pierced me.
His voice turned stern, businesslike. “When were you planning on telling me this?”
I groaned and rolled back on to my bed, swaddling myself with the sheets.
“I don’t know,” I whispered.
“What?” he replied. His voice had an edge to it. The tone cracked against my heart like a whip.
I remained motionless, unable to form a response.
“Maddie.”
Closing my eyes, I squeezed them shut and fired back, “I. Don’t. Know!”
The chill consumed me now as I lay there with my back to him. My body began to shake and I drew my legs up to my chest, trying anything to offset the sudden iciness in the room.
“Are you in danger?” he asked. “Are you dealing with complications? Is that why you’re here?”
Shocked, my eyes flipped open. One look at my expression would have given me away for sure. Doing my best to keep a hard swallow silent, I lied, “No, it’s nothing like that. Just normal pregnancy issues.”
He cleared his throat. “All right then. That’s good to know.”
Relieved for the moment, I continued to stare at the wall.
“You told me you were on birth control, Maddie.”
My eyes drifted closed. The joy I’d hoped to share turned to crushing loneliness as he hovered nearby, cross-examining me. Grief spread across me, filling me with despair. This could just as easily been done over the phone or even a text message. The joyful reunion I’d longed for was not to be, not with him.
“I was,” I grumbled. A tear streamed down my cheek and spread across the pillow.
“So how is it you’re pregnant? Exactly?” he said. Before I could answer, he continued, “It seems to me that if you were, this wouldn’t have happened.”
“It’s not foolproof, Grey,” I hissed.
“Apparently.”
I heard him turn and begin to walk to the other side of them room. The heels of his loafers clopped against the floor as he moved.
“Does Katy know about this?”
“Yes,” I said with a growing frustration in my voice. I felt like I was being interrogated. “Of course she knows. She’s my best friend.”
