REMEMBER TO VOTE!!! :D :D :D

     Thump-thump. Thump-thump. Thump-thump.

            Chris’s steady heartbeat sounded in my ear, perfectly in tune with my own. He was still fast asleep, one arm splayed out over the edge of the bed, the other under my torso. Generally when people told me they liked to watch other people sleep, I felt a little creeped out, but now, I understood them completely. While he was passed out, I was able to see the side of him he rarely showed. The defenseless, innocent side of him. His chest rose and sunk with each breath, his breathing quiet and gentle. Smiling, I reached out my hand and brushed some of his hair out of his forehead, clearing enough space for me to plant a soft kiss on his warm skin.

            Slowly, his bleary eyes opened and slid over to mine. “Holly?”

            “Morning,” I whispered, arching my back so he could remove his arm from under me.

            “What time is it?” he asked, turning his head to glance at the alarm clock on his side table. “Nine? I’m going back to bed.”

            “We slept late enough,” I protested, sitting up and wrapping the bed sheet around my nude figure. “I’m hungry.”

            He groaned, letting his head fall back onto his pillow. “So you want me to get up and make you breakfast?”

            “Yes?”           

            “You know, you’re lucky I love you,” he muttered, forcibly sliding his body off the bed. “Isn’t the woman supposed to cook in the relationship?”

            I smiled innocently at him. “But you’re so good at it…”

            He laughed quietly, nodding. “Okay, okay. You do the dishes after then.”

            “Okay,” I agreed, keeping my eyes on his face. “Um, are you going to put any clothes on?”

            “Nope,” he responded evilly, sauntering toward the bedroom. “I’m feeling up to going in the buff today. Besides, you know you like looking.”

            My cheeks flamed and I dropped my gaze to the ground, involuntarily scanning over Chris’s toned body as I did so. It landed on my panties and I blushed darker, hopping out of the bed to pick it up off the ground. Keeping the sheets wrapped around me, I hurried over to my overnight bag and stuffed them in it. Then I rifled through it, finding a new set of lingerie and quickly throwing that on. Instead of dressing completely for the day, I just threw on a black long-sleeve shirt.

            A quiet meow came from the other side of the closed bedroom door. Padding over to it, I opened it and Milkshake came stumbling in, rubbing himself against my shin. “Hi!” I cooed brightly, scooping the kitten off the ground. “Oh, you’re so big now! I forgot about you last night! I’m so sorry! Chris must’ve purposefully locked you out.”

            “What if I did?”

            I jumped slightly in surprise, turning to find Chris—thankfully with pajama pants on—searching through the top drawer of his dresser. “You’re a cruel man.”

            He smirked. “Your eyes can be so cruel, just as I can be so cruel.”

            “Now’s not the time to be quoting David Bowie,” I responded, scratching Milkshake behind the ears. “I’m going to go feed him.”

            Chris opened his mouth to reply, but before he could speak, his cell phone started ringing. Curious to find out who it was, I loitered in his room a little longer. A frown appeared on his lips when he noticed the caller I.D. “What do you want?”

            I grimaced. Nice greeting.

            His frown was replaced by a serious expression. “Are you lying to me, Jeremy?”

            So it was Jeremy? I tiptoed closer to Chris, wanting to know what the blonde was telling him.

            “I don’t know. I don’t think so. Yeah, I’ll ask Holly.”

            “Ask me what?” I inquired, tilting my head to the side.

            He hesitated a minute before speaking. “Morning sickness… Can it happen the morning after?”

            My heart dropped into my gut. “It’s not supposed to, but…”

            “Did you two use a condom?” Chris asked bluntly. “I doubt that. Holly said that it usually doesn’t… Then you should listen to Casey. Yeah.”

            My mind raced, thinking back to health classes. Didn’t it usually take a while for symptoms of pregnancy to show? A week or two? I couldn’t remember exactly… The uncertainty caused my heart to beat a little faster. Casey couldn’t be pregnant.

            Suddenly my phone went off. This time I started, gasping. Chris threw me an amused glance as he tried to calm Jeremy down. I hobbled over to my purse where my phone was and pulled it out, hitting the answer button. “Hello?”

            “Holly?”

            “Lance?”

            “I’m so screwed, Holly. I’m dead. My mom’s going to have my head. My life is over.”

            I furrowed my eyebrows in concern. “What’s wrong?”

            “I think Lexi’s pregnant.”

            My eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. “What?”

            “This morning I woke up to find her puking her guts out in her bathroom.”

            “You’re at her house?”

            “Duh. My mom’s at my house. They live alone.”

            “Wait, hold on. Jeremy called too…” Both girls couldn’t be pregnant, could they? I didn’t even know for sure when morning sickness could happen! “I don’t think morning sickness can happen so early, but I’m not positive.”

            He swore quietly. “I’m dead. Screwed. We used a condom too.”

            “Shut up for a second,” Chris said loudly, startling me. “I’ll look it up. Instead of freaking out, hold her hair back or something. Yeah. Good idea, dumbass.”

            I sighed lightly. “Chris? Lance says Lexi’s throwing up too…”

            “You’re kidding. No, not you. Apparently Lexi’s sick too. No, she’s with Lance, stupid. No. Just shut up for a minute.”

            “Are you going to Google it?” I questioned, watching as Chris made his way to the desktop in the corner of the room.

            He nodded. “I doubt it can happen so early, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.”

            “Yeah,” I agreed, feeling my stomach churning. Casey and Lexi couldn’t be pregnant. That was impossible… Suddenly, I felt like I was the one who was going to be sick.

            My eyes widened when I realized I was going to be sick. I dropped my phone, flying into the bathroom, and dropping to my knees in front of the toilet before retching. Seconds later I heard Chris come to the doorframe. “Holly? What’s wrong?”

            “I don’t feel good,” I groaned, my stomach heaving.

            “You too? Jeremy. Do you not understand what shut up means?” he snapped after a second. “No, nobody is pregnant. Holly, will you be okay alone?”

            I waved him off, breathing deeply and rhythmically. “I’m okay. Find out what’s happening.”

             “Sure.”

            After a few seconds, I figured I was okay enough to stand. Pushing myself to my feet, I flushed the toilet, moving over to the sink. I rinsed my mouth out thoroughly, making sure the taste of acid was out of my mouth before stepping back out into the bedroom. I picked my phone up off the floor. “Lance? Are you still there?”

            “Yeah! Where’d you go? Don’t leave me hanging like that Holly!”

            “Sorry, I felt sick—”

            “You too? Oh my God, thank god. At least I won’t be a lone teenaged parent.”

            I pressed my lips together firmly. “Lance, she’s not pregnant.”

            “How do you know?”

            “I don’t, but I’m pretty sure—”

            “My mom’s going to chop of my—”

            “Lance,” I interjected exasperatedly. “Calm down. We don’t know yet.”

            He snorted. “You’re just in denial.”

            I shook my head. “Lance…”

            “Ah, I found it,” Chris announced. “Yeah, once second.”

            “Aaron? What are you doing here?” Lance suddenly said from the other side of the phone. “What? You’re sick too?”

            I froze, listening intently.

            “Food poisoning? From the potatoes? Who said that?” There was a pause. “Oh. I haven’t been on Facebook yet. Are you sure?”

            My shoulders sagged. “What is he saying, Lance?”

            “Apparently there’s quite a few people sick this morning,” he informed me, sounding completely relieved. “The potatoes are giving people food poisoning. The school’s calling houses now. Damn.” He let out a shaky laugh. “That scared me.”

            “You’re telling me,” I muttered.

            “It says here that morning sickness usually starts after two weeks,” Chris told both Jeremy and myself. “Unless you have Michael Phelps sperm, it’ll take awhile for the eggs to be fertilized.”

            I nodded. “I thought so. But the reason why everyone is sick is because of the potatoes. It’s giving some people food poisoning.”

            He frowned, relaying the information to Jeremy. “I guess that’s why I’m not sick. I didn’t get to eat any.”

            “I’m going now,” Lance notified me. “See you.”

            “Bye,” I said quickly. “That’s good. That was a bit of a scare…”

            Chris nodded his agreement, ending his conversation with Jeremy and tossing his phone onto the bed. “Although, even if you had been pregnant, I would’ve been happy.”

            “What?”

            “Well, I wouldn’t be happy about the fact you’re only eighteen, but I’m looking forward to the say when I hold our baby girl in my arms.”

            Taken aback by his unexpected words, I couldn’t form a coherent sentence right away. “I… Uh… But…”

            He laughed, taking in my expression. “Don’t worry. I plan to wait until you’re out of college, Holly.”

            “So do I,” I breathed. “You scared me for a second.”

            “Well, I am growing older every day.”

            “Not that old,” I countered. “When I graduate you’ll only be twenty-six.”

            He smirked. “That’s if you pass.”

            “Hey!”

            “Kidding,” he said easily, mussing up my hair as he walked by me. “Should I make breakfast now? Or will you just throw it back up?”

            I placed my hand on my stomach. “I’m hungry, so I better not throw it back up.”

            “If you do, I’ll hold your hair back.”

            I smiled wryly. “Oh, you’re the best.”

            “Thanks,” he responded with a wink. “Best in bed and best as boyfriend.”

            “I-I didn’t say that!”

            “But it’s true.”

            “Chris!”

            Laughing again, he waved his hand at me before disappearing around the corner. “I love you, Holly.” 

____________________________________

IMPORTANT (IMPORTANTE):

I forgot to mention in the last chapter of ASR, but I'm going to be making a book about their daughter's life... and her relationship with her teacher. You know? Like mother, like daughter, like grand-daughter ;) And there will be some familiar characters in it! However, Chris and Holly will have about the same role in it as James did in this series. You won't have to have read APR/ASR to read the new one. There will NOT be another story about Chris and Holly. I'll be doing some random oneshots though, after the Watty Awards are over because I won't be able to add any chapters after November 30th.

And also, I haven't put up the epilogue. I'd expect that maybe Nov. 30th. Remember, you have to be a fan to see it. I need to show some appreciation to them some how :D

Facebook in external link! :D