St.Luke's

Anna walked calmly into a stall and leaned over the toilet. She wasn’t pleased to find that she was pregnant, but what confused teenaged girl wouldn’t be. She let her head throb and her taste buds die at the revisitation of her last meal. She rinsed her mouth out in a sink and gulped down some water.

“What did I do to deserve this?” she asked her reflection. “What about me huh? What the hell am I supposed to do with a baby?” then another realization hit her. “Oh bloody fucking hell” she groaned slumping down the floor. She sat there her head buried in her hands.

She groaned again and tugged at her hair. She looked up at the ceiling, searching for an answer. “Dear God,” she hadn’t prayed in she didn’t know how long. She thought God had abandoned her. “Please, if its not too much trouble, do you think that maybe,” she shuttered at the last part. It felt like God had hit her over the head with a reality check. “Please let the baby’s father be Alex.”

She didn’t know how long she sat in there on the floor, unconsciously rubbing her hand over her stomach. She cried silently and just let the tears roll down her cheeks. She stood after a while and headed out. She knew she would have to tell Alex and Aaron that one of them was the father. She also knew that Alex would slam Aaron’s face in if it turned out that Aaron was the father.

Knowing that eventually she would have to tell him she set off for the Azure commons. She walked in a trance. Her body found its way while her mind set off to ponder everything that was going on. She came to the commons and walked straight through all of the odd stares. She wondered if they could tell. She hadn’t been able to until the results came back positive. She walked straight into his room expecting him to be there, but she found an empty bed.

She really didn’t want to be alone, she wanted him to be here so that she could curl up with him and tell him that she was so afraid. He would say that she was being silly and that of course the child was his. He would hug her tight and tell her that in a few short weeks they would be married and that they could be together always. Reality has a habit of bringing you kicking and screaming back into the real world. She sat on his bed and laid down. She could smell him in the blankets and pillows.

‘This is stupid.’ a voice said ‘Life isn’t kisses and music notes.’ A light clicked on in her head. She went to her room and grabbed her guitar and headed down to the sewing shop in the school basement. She played and sang every song she knew and then some. She scribbled the lyrics onto a piece of scrap paper and put it in her pocket. She began to sing Faith Hill again.

She let the music flow and the notes consume her body. She sang until she was hoarse and even then she kept singing, hoping that her baby could hear her. Praying that one day she could tell her son or daughter about how she would sit in the school sewing shop singing herself hoarse. She laughed at that thought. She played every tune again before she carried the instrument back up the stairs to her room.

She entered the room and found it surprisingly empty. “Where is everybody?” the answer came from her own stomach. “Dinner time.” she smiled. She took her time walking down to the dinning hall. When she entered all eyes were on her.

“And here she is ladies and gentlemen, the first of the young ladies to be affected by our country’s marriage law, Miss Anna Vaughn.” the headmaster announced dramatically. Anna stopped dead. Her mother had been serious that she had sent in an acceptance letter for Aaron? Oh god. She must have turned a shade of scarlet or two because the headmaster said “Don’t be shy dear come up here.” he motioned her to the front. Apparently her feet comprehended the command because she began to walk towards the headmaster.

“And now the happy groom, Mr. Aaron Wilson.” Anna felt all the color drain from her face. The scene before her swirled, but she refused to faint or cry or both. She watched him saunter up to the front and take her hand.

It was practically an out of body experience. She stared around at the faces in the crowd. ‘Alex,’ her brain fuddled for some comprehension. ‘Find Alex. He can make everything better.’ She stared into the faceless audience and found that everyone was cheering for Aaron to kiss her. Her brain froze. Haze rose in her mind and only one thought made any sense ‘Alex.’

She bolted away from Aaron. His hand tried to hold her there but she refused to be held back. She sprinted down into the jeering crowd. She shoved people aside and tried to make her way out. An arm reached out and snagged her. She yanked away and fell. It was as if she were drunk. She couldn’t focus. The person who had grabbed her looked down at her with sympathy.

“Come on honey.” it said and pulled her out of the dinning hall, out of the mass of people who were happy for her, when she wanted to die.

Anna didn’t know where they were going. She could barely stand she felt so ill. The person kept pulling her along. She kept stumbling and tripping, but every time the person would help her up and pull her further. They arrived in a room that seemed familiar. “Alex.” she began to cry.

“Shhh, honey.” the voice said “Its okay. Don’t worry. Shhhh.”

Anna curled on the bed she had literally fallen over. “No.” she was sobbing. She cried and cried. The person didn’t leave her side. Eventually she calmed down enough to realize the person was a guy. He stoked her hair and wiped away the tears that stained her flushed cheeks. He pushed the hair out of her face and kissed her cheek.

“No.” she pushed him away weakly “I need to find Alex.” she stood to go, only to fall back on the bed.

“Honey, just lay down, he’ll be here soon.” the voice said.

“Oh Alex.” she whispered into the blanket covering the bed. “I wanted so badly…” she noticed that he was removing her shirt. “No.” she pushed him weakly again “Leave me alone.” she began to sob. “I just want to wake up.” she buried her head in her hands and kneeled on the bed crying. “Wake up.” she kept saying in desperation. The open shirt was forgotten.

“Honey, listen to me.” she looked up and saw through puffy eyes, James Sasser. “If we don’t get you into some different clothes you’re going to over heat.” he looked at her so kindly.

“Okay.” she wiped at her puffy eyes and tried to stand.

“You don’t move.” he said watching her fall back on the bed. He went to his dresser and grabbed one of his t-shirts. He took it back to the bed and sat down next to the child like red head. “Here.” he pulled her shirt off. Then he convinced her to remove her shoes socks and skirt and replace them with the shirt that engulfed her.

“I really need to find Alex.” she protested as he tucked her into his sheets.

“I know hon, I know.” he pulled the covers up “I will go find Alex if you promise to wait right here. Is that okay?”

“No.” she mumbled but made no move to stop him. James walked toward the door. “James?” he turned “I wish we could have at least gone out. I think it might have been fun.”

“But you already knew it was Alex, before the law you knew. Didn’t you?”

She looked at him, not really sure how she had known even before the law had come out she had known Alex was going to be the one. “I think I did.”

James smiled and closed the door. Anna lay awake and rather ashamed and embarrassed. She wished she had just kissed him and gotten it over with. Her mind saw him in the crowd. She hadn’t seen him, but she had recognized him subconsciously. The look he was giving her was one of loathing and protective animal instinct.

Anna began to feel tears again. She heard a door open and close. “Alex?” she asked the person.

“Yes love?”

“Alex I don’t want to marry him. Its you always and only you.” he sat on the bed and Anna threw her arms around him sobbing again, uncontrollably. “Oh Alex, say you can make it better.” she pleaded hugging him still.

“Turn over.” he said quietly.

“Why?”

“I’ll give you a back rub, it’ll make you feel better.” he purred.

Anna turned onto her stomach and he lifted up the t-shirt. Unclasping her bra he began to knead into her aching muscles. It hurt, or rather, it burned. Her back was so tense. She tried to relax but it hurt so much. The kneading became harder. She could feel every finger digging into her skin. Anna let silent tears fall. it hurt so bad. She didn’t want him to stop though. She deserved every bruise, every mark. She had given up without a fight.


“Alex, it hurts.” she whimpered.

“It won’t for much longer.” he purred “Relax.”

She tried. With every new dig into her back she began to wince. She could feel every muscle and every nerve he hit. She thought he was getting rougher. “Alex, if you go any rougher then I’ll bruise.” she said, wincing yet again.

He dug his fingernails into her back and drew a drop of blood. Anna whimpered. ‘What’s going on?’ she managed to comprehend before there was a sting so hurtful she turned to look at him. “Alex what the hell?” she could feel dark even bruises forming on her back.

“Who said I was Alex?” Anna focused harder. Her eyes and mind caught the scene in mid stride. Aaron Wilson smirked back at her. “You were expecting prince charming?”

“Aaron?” her mind was still full of haze but it was clearing, fast. “Go away.” she said.

“No.”

“Pardon?”

“No. You are going to be my little wife, I don’t have to listen to you, or even like you. There is only one reason I am marrying you and that is because I don’t want some half assed, used up little whore that’s uglier than a cow. Besides only one other had you before me. You really were Wise’s little bitch though weren’t you. I bet you screamed. I bet you screamed for mercy and let him take you. My little angel must have had tears streaming down your face, just like you do now. It gives you a heavenly glow.”

“Thank you?” did he just call her beautiful?

“I knew you would like that.” he crept closer. Anna was still laying on her stomach. “Like this?” he dug his fingers into her back. Anna whimpered. “Thought so.” he kissed one of the bruises he had left.

Anna moaned. The pain and pleasure were mixing and she couldn’t tell which she felt more. Aaron kissed her and kept rubbing. She wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of seeing her cry. He began to rub less harshly, kissing his way down her spine. She shivered and whimpered when he licked one of the scratches he had left.

“Ohh.” she moaned but stopped in mid breath when she heard the door open. All the while Aaron kept kissing all of her bruises. “Alex help me.” she begged.

“Hey ass hole.” came a voice. “Get the hell away from my girl.”

Aaron stopped and Anna whined in protest. “What?” he looked around and barely saw the fist that hit him. He went down and didn’t get up.

“Are you okay?” Alex asked. “What happened? Did he. . .” he caught sight of the bruises and scratches. He laid down next to her and stroked the markings. “What has he done to you?” his touch made goose bumps ripple to the surface of Anna’s skin. “You didn’t want him to stop did you?” he questioned, gently tracing the scratches.

“No.” she breathed out.

“Do you want me to finish it?”

“Yes.”

“Okay.” he rubbed her shoulders and stopped suddenly. He kissed every bruise and scratch. “What did you tell him?” he skimmed his tongue along a cut.

She whimpered again “I told him that it hurt.” she winced at the words.

“Were you going to just let him hurt you?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because he is right, I am a whore. I could have stopped the headmaster. I should have tried to stop him. I could have…” she took a sharp breath. She could feel him stroking every sensitive muscle in her back.

“I was going to let him hurt me, Alex.” she whispered into the blanket. A tear fell. “I don’t deserve you. My mother won’t let me marry you. But I want you.” she sat up and faced him “It was the first time we met that I knew. It was love as of the first moment.” he pulled her into a hug and she winced. It hurt from the fact that Aaron had touched her and he was willing to forgive her. It hurt more because of the tender places in her back.

“Does it matter what your mother thinks? Do you really care?” he pulled back and looked her in the eye. “I don’t and I think I deserve you, so whether you like it or not I will have you.” he wiped away another tear. “No more crying. I’ll marry you and if you don’t like it, tough.” she smiled “Don’t worry about anyone but us, okay?”

She nodded. There was a groan from the floor. Alex stood and glared at the lump. “You looking for another beat down Wilson?”

“Only if the prize is my wife.” he sneered at Alex.

“No. No prizes, no treats to the winner. Just two guys duking it out and I can guarantee that you will be sorry if you accept.”

Aaron groaned. He rolled over and stood up. Clutching his ribs he sneered at Alex then winked at Anna. He glared at Alex again “Bring it on Serrano.”

“Name the time and place. I’ll kick your ass here and now if you would like.”

Aaron lunged at Alex. Alex caught him in the jaw with a punch. “Stop it.” Anna didn’t want Alex in trouble for fighting, but the two had obviously not heard her. They wrestled each other to the ground throwing punches and each got in several good hits. “Guys this isn’t funny. Stop.” she ordered slightly louder this time. It distracted Alex for one second, and in that momentary lapse Aaron delivered a punch to Alex’s face. He had meant to break his nose, but had managed a severely split lip.

“Stop it.” she screamed, clasping her bra and ignoring the pain she jumped off of the bed and ran toward them. “Stop it.”

An arm stopped her in mid stride and pulled her back. “You don’t want in the middle of that.” Anna looked up and saw James there again. “They’ve been waiting to settle this fist to face for a long time, I don’t think you could take more than three punches in the state you’re in.”

She tried to pull away but was held fast by James. “Let go.” she barked at him. “Stop it.” she shouted at them, hoping to appeal to reason “Stop it, I don’t want you in trouble.” she had meant to say it to Alex but both guys looked up from their brawl and stared at her. “You two are acting like children. Stop it or. . .or…” she couldn’t come up with a good reason. James still held her close. “I might just marry James if you two don’t stop it right now, damnit.” she hugged a very dumbfounded James and snuggled into his chest.

“You have to be kidding?” Aaron was the first off of the floor. “You would marry pretty boy?” he laughed. He started toward the pair of them with a wicked grin. “Come on Sasser, you know you couldn’t handle the little fire ball.”

Anna grabbed tighter onto James. “Looks like she doesn’t need ‘handling’, but maybe a little love wouldn’t hurt too bad.” he pulled Anna behind him and smirked at Aaron.

“Guys?” she piped up. “Don’t.” she was half pleading and half ordering.

“Anna?” the three looked back and saw Alex standing there, bloody lip and all. She stared wide eyed at him. That blood had been on a count of her. “Would you really marry him?” there was no jesting tone in his voice.

She took a step forward and stopped only because Aaron was so close and James was still holding onto her. She stared intently at him. She was trying desperately to send him a telepathic message saying that she would marry James only if he died.

“Well?” he asked oblivious to the fact that she was trying to give him a clue without saying anything. “Would you?” he was staring daggers at her.

“No.” James let her go and she ran to him. “I would never.” she hugged him. She heard two things then. She heard James’ heart crack and the sound of hatred taking over two of the three guys. She didn’t care.

“So I don’t even get a chance?” she heard James ask. “Its either one of them but not me?”

“It Alex,” she said through her fear “Then you,” she stared straight at Aaron “and finally,” she paused and whispered so softly that the three of them almost didn’t hear. “death.”

“So you would kill yourself before marrying me?” Aaron asked. When Anna nodded she saw his eyes flash murder. It was a split second before she wished she had not said that.

A/N: Well well well. I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter. Hehehe. Did you see it coming? Muhuhahahaha. I already know how its going to end, but I wouldn’t mind hearing what you have to say. How do you think its going to end?