Love Thy Neighbour *editing*

"Do you supply the morning after pill?"

"Niall," I shouted, looking under the bed, "Have you seen my-"

"It's hanging on the back of the door," he called back, reappearing from the hallway. "Do you know where my-"

"In the wardrobe," I told him, taking my school tie from the peg on the door watching as he raked for his shoes in the wardrobe. Over the past week, we had got ourselves into a routine, but that was about to be put to an abrupt halt, given that we needed to go back to school again. It had been a struggle to get out of bed that morning, despite the fact that I had slept for eleven hours straight the night before.

"Are you going to have something to eat before we leave?" Niall asked, sitting down on the bed. I sighed, rolling my eyes as I did so.

"Yes, mum," I muttered, reaching for my school bag. He pulled me onto the bed next to him, and I lay back, staring up at the ceiling. I would have been quite happy just to lie here with him for the rest of the day. Forget school and forget my friends; being with him was all that mattered at that precise moment in time. Niall lay back beside me, his fingers sprawling out over my stomach. The last few days had been that of complete bliss. There had been no fighting or arguments; we had just been completely content with each others company.

"Are you sure you're okay to go in today?" he murmured, looking at me. I stared back, biting my lip.

"I can't just stop going to school because of Baby Peanut," I said, stroking his cheek. "I've got exams."

"And what happens if you go into labour in the middle of one?"

I snorted, wriggling at the thought of it. Eurgh, how off-putting would that be? You're just scribbling down your answers for your History exam and then all of a sudden, there's this giant whoosh of water landing on the floor. Ah well, shame it wouldn't be a biology exam; I was sure that watching a live birth would do wonder for their test scores.

"Then your son will be born into the world with about twenty spectators," I replied cheerily. Niall rolled his eyes and his hand found mine. We lay there for a few more minutes, neither of us saying anything. Talking about the birth made it seem all the more real; we were going to be parents. In about five months, give or take, we would have a baby. We would have a baby and, apart from a dozen baby-gros and a Moses' basket, we were completely unprepared for its, rather imminent, arrival.

"Right, darling," Niall groaned, sitting up and looking round at me, "As much as I would like to stay here all day, we have to go to school." I smiled and got up, stretching. I picked up my school bag and attempted to swing it over my shoulder. It was heavy; I had a History textbook, an English jotter and three Sociology hardbacks. I was doing pretty well lifting it, but Niall took it from my hands and swore loudly.

"Do you know how much this weighs?" he exclaimed, his eyes wide and shocked.

"It'll balance me," I tried. "I have all this baby weight at the front and then my bag at the back; it's evenly distributed!" I could have sworn Niall muttered something about evenly distributed his left buttock, but I ignored him and walked towards the door, taking hold of my school bag strap and dragging it across the floor. I would work out how to get it on my back later; it was too early in the morning for my brain to start working.

"Evie!" Tommy shouted from his room. He was in a really good mood now that he had reclaimed his bed. Now that Auntie Francis had moved in with Declan, everything was a lot more peaceful. For one thing, mum wasn't always tripping over her crap. And there was no more incense. God, that stuff made me want to throw up.

"Yeah?" I called back, popping my head through the door. He was sitting on the floor, surrounded by toy soldiers.

"Can you tell mum that I'm going round to Kai's tonight?"