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jennaferz

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Beth

The man came back in; he held a needle in his long, slim white fingers. "Now, this will only take a second," he repeated, and she squeezed her eyes shut, bracing herself, fingernails digging into the white paper that she lay on top of.

And she opened her eyes just in time to watch him bringing the needle closer and closer to her quivering body.

"Stop."

The man looked up; annoyance was evident in his eyes. "Stop?"

"Yes," she whispered, and she was surprised to feel tears streaming from her eyes. "I can't do this. I can't kill this baby."

"It's not murder," he said patiently, and she could tell this was a rehearsed speech, one he had given on so many previous afternoons to so many other shaking girls with no more remorse than he showed now. She shook her head, sat up, and swung her legs off of the bed.

"I just can't do it," she told him, her voice shaking, and he nodded resignedly.

"You're making a mistake," he told her. "You're too young. You know you're too young. This is going to ruin your life."

"You don't know anything about it," she spat at him. "You don't care about my life. All you care about is how much fucking money you can make off of the murder you commit every day."

She didn't stop to hear his response. She held her head high, took a deep, steadying breath, and walked out of the clinic into the bright and blinding sun.

She closed her eyes tight against the light. What was she doing? What had she done? She shook her head once more, trying to clear her head of these guilty thoughts and pain-filled realizations, but they wouldn't stop. She had made so many mistakes, hurt so many people. She thought about the words she had just said. You don't care about my life. She hadn't cared about Tobin's life, or Kris's life, and for a startlingly painful moment she hadn't cared about this child's life.

She had destroyed lives.

She stared around her. People bustled past, heads ducked down away from the world, and in each face she could see the pain behind the mask. For the second time that day, she asked herself when she had become this person. How had she allowed herself to change in so drastic a way that it led to this?

She had no place to go; she knew that. Her mother wouldn't want her now; she could hear her now. You have disgraced this family. She had no friends, no close relatives.

And so she turned and looked into the sun. It had been so long since she'd seen it for what it truly was: a beautiful, bright light just trying to help point the way.

She felt her lips curve into a small smile as she walked into the sun.

Kris

It had been so long since she had felt this good.

Tobin wouldn't stop kissing her, and to be honest, she didn't want him to. She had missed him so much, and she loved him so much, and she never, ever wanted this to end--

"Ahem." Nick's pointed cough broke them apart, and they both turned to look at him, annoyed.  "It's kind of awkward sitting here watching you make out," he explained.

"So leave," Tobin suggested, and Kris's laugh was stifled by Tobin's lips pressing once more against hers.

"Excuse me," Nick said loudly.

Kris made sure her sigh was heard as she pulled once more away from Tobin. "What?"

"Before I go," he announced, "I think I deserve a thank you."

Kris rolled her eyes. "Oh, my God, Nick--"

"No, he's right," Tobin interrupted. "We really owe it to him that we're back now."

She stared at him. Was he serious? His eyes were large and sincere as he gazed back at her.

"I guess you're right," she said slowly.

"So, thank you, Nick," Tobin said, grinning at him.

Nick grinned back. "My pleasure."

"Now get out," Kris told him, turning back to Tobin, and the second she heard his footsteps on the stairs she sat down on Tobin's lap and began to kiss him once more.

But this time it was Tobin who pulled away. "Kris?" he said softly, thoughtfully.

"Yeah?" she breathed, her lips only inches away from his.

He took a long, shaky breath. "I missed you," he whispered, and she smiled.

"I missed you too." She leaned in to kiss him, but again he stopped her, placing a finger on her lips.

"Will you do something for me?" he asked.

"Anything," she told him, meaning it with all her heart.

He took a deep breath and opened his mouth...