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jennaferz

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Beth

She walked into the clinic, drawing a deep breath. The receptionist glanced up from examining her long, manicured nails. "Hey, sweetie. Have a seat, we'll be right with you."

Slowly she sat down, glancing around her. It was strange to think that everyone in this room was pregnant. Some showed, some didn't, but it was almost frightening to think that every woman in this room had someone growing inside them. And every one of them was about to kill it.

She shivered. When had she become one of them?

A man came in, glanced around, and pointed to the girl next to her, who stood. She was pale, and looked frightened; she couldn't have been more than fourteen.

Beth laid a hand on her arm. The girl glanced down, eyes wide and scared. "It'll be okay," Beth said quietly, reassuringly. "Trust me, hun, okay? Everything is going to be okay."

Something in the girl's face relaxed and she nodded. "Thank you," she whispered, and followed the man into the back.

Beth sat back, drawing in a shaky breath. The woman sitting next to her leaned over and said, "That was very nice of you."

She glanced at her. She was a beautiful woman who looked to be about thirty-five, and she had to have been at least four months along. "She just looked so scared," Beth whispered. "I could empathize."

The woman nodded sadly. "I think," she said quietly, "that everyone here is here because they are scared."

Beth thought about that for a moment. "You're right," she said finally.

The woman smiled at her. "How old are you, honey?"

"Seventeen," she whispered, squeezing her eyes shut.

The woman slid her hand into hers and squeezed it. "It looks like," she said, "you need to hear a little of your own advice. Everything is going to be okay. It'll be fine, okay?"

"Okay," Beth whispered, but she didn't feel any sense of relief.

The woman squeezed her hand once more and then dropped it. "I'm Rebecca, by the way," she said. "You might know my son. I had him when I was just your age."

"Who is he?"

"His name is Tobin," Rebecca said, almost reverently, and Beth was shocked that she didn't faint.

She struggled for something to say. Oh, he's the father! Oh, yeah, I know him, I've had sex with him so many times I've lost count. Oh, Tobin! Yeah, he hates me. Mmhmm. Because I'm a stupid, good-for-nothing, backstabbing slut.

"You okay?" Rebecca asked, concerned.

"I'm fine," Beth whispered. "I--I just really need to get this over with."

So when the man returned, Rebecca stood, taking Beth by the arm and leading her over to him. She took him aside and spoke to him for a few minutes, and when they returned, the man beckoned to Beth. "Come on back," he said, and she nodded and followed him into the crisp white room. "Lie down," he said, pointing to the bed.

"This will only take a second," he said. "I'll be back shortly."

And she found herself alone, hands resting on the curve of her belly, staring around at the stark white of everything around her.

Tobin

When his phone rang, he glanced at the caller ID, and when he didn't recognize the number, he slid it aside, letting it ring.

But then they called back. And when he still didn't answer, they called back again.  Finally he snatched his phone and put it to his ear, pissed off and frustrated. "What?" he spat.

"Tobin?" a male voice said. "This is Nick."

"Nick?"

"And," a female voice said, "Kris."

His heart nearly stopped. "Oh, my God," he breathed. "Kris. I--I've missed you so much..."

Nick cut in, and Tobin found that his heart was beating wildly. Finally. Oh, God, finally he could work this out. "Don't you want to know why I'm calling you?"

"Okay..why?"

"To ask why you did that to her."

Tobin recognized the words. They were the same ones he had spoken to Nick when he had called him. "I didn't want to hurt her," he said finally, just following the script, but meaning every word with all his heart.

"Then why did you?"

"I'm sorry," he tried to say, but his voice failed him, and it ended up coming out so quiet he was sure they hadn't hurt him. He cleared his throat. "I'm sorry," he repeated, throat choking up with tears, and he shook his head. "I just...I...I don't have an excuse. I'm a flat-out asshole," he said, practically yelling now, trying to stop his tears, "there, are you happy? I hate myself, is that good enough for you?! Beth is gone, she's aborting the child, this is all over, but you still want to make me hurt."

There was a long silence. Finally, he heard a choked sob on the other end. Kris. "I'm sorry," he said finally. "I didn't mean...I..."

"You're right," Kris whispered, and once more he felt his heart stop. "It was me that was wrong all along."

"No--"

"Yes," she sobbed, and he could hardly breathe for crying. "I won't say none of it was your fault, but I should have understood. I should have listened to you. I..."

He ran downstairs, outside, and got into his car, peeling out while still concentrating on what Kris was saying.

"I love you," she was whispering. "Tobin, I loved you all along."

"Oh, Kris," he whispered, just as he pulled up in front of her house. He hung up the phone and walked inside, up the stairs, into her bedroom. He ignored the shocked looks on both Kris and Nick's faces and pulled her into his arms and kissed her like he would never stop.