𝐀𝐪𝐮𝐚 𝐄𝐲𝐞𝐬 ✓

42

"Okay fine. Just one more time." I beg, making Lexi roll her eyes. She rears her hand back and launches my last shot at redemption towards my face. I open my mouth and lean my head back to catch the Skittle only for it to bounce off my tooth painfully and land on the floor.

"You're terrible at that," Lexi laughs. "I don't know how you can be so good at dancing but so uncoordinated." I roll my eyes and make a face at her.

"Sorry that not all of us can be athletes," I tease, smiling and burying my feet underneath her to warm them up while we snuggle up and watch our favorite movies together. Lexi shakes her head and smiles at me before turning her attention back to the television where our movie is rapidly ending.

By the time the credits start rolling, Lexi is up and off the couch, rushing into the kitchen and rifling through the fridge. I lean my head against the back of the couch and watch as she grabs another handful of food to bring over. Lexi places everything onto the coffee table carefully and lowers herself into her seat, using the remote to choose something else.

"No. No. Just watched that. Maybe," I say, being picky about our movie choice until we both settle on re-watching The Walking Dead from the beginning. Lexi starts eating leftover pizza that was in the fridge as the show starts to play and I grab the bag of pretzels and munch on those, both of us silent as the pilot gets more and more intense.

I watch with intrigue and disgust as the first sign of gore is displayed on the screen, only one half of what used to be a person's body still able to move and function on the screen. I hear Lexi say "Oh my god," from beside me as she rushes up and runs into the bathroom. I dart up to follow her and hear the sounds of her puking her guts up into the toilet. I gather her long ponytail in my hands and away from her face as she grabs the sides of the porcelain bowl.

I cringe and rub her back until she's finished and she flushes the toilet before sitting back on the ground. Lexi looks up at me and notes my surprised expression. I was not expecting tonight to turn out like this at all. I don't know what to say and just settle on grabbing a cloth and wetting it with cold water before handing it to my best friend. Lexi's skin, which is usually tanned from spending so much time in the sun, is unusually pale and flushed with perspiration dotting her forehead.

I watch curiously as her eyes snap open and her head darts to mine, waiting for her to speak her mind. "My period is late," Is on the bottom of the list of things that I thought that she was going to say.

"What the fuck? Are you serious?" I exclaim and she nods with her eyes still wide. I stand up from my spot beside her on the floor quickly and hold my hands out to help her up. "We need to get a test. Like now," I say, determinedly, dragging her through the apartment and quickly slipping on my shoes before locking the door behind us.

"I don't know..." Lexi says nervously but I take charge, knowing that she needs to know whether or not she needs to worry. Letting this go on longer will only make it worse, and Chase will know if she's hiding anything. I tell her exactly what I'm thinking and she nods her head but stays silent, allowing me to do this for her. We walk down the dark street towards the nearby convenience store, and I've never agreed with the name of a building more than I do right now.

The bell chimes as we step inside the brightly lit store and the bored cashier doesn't even bother to look up as we do. I lead Lexi straight into the aisle where pregnancy tests are shelved and grab a pack that comes with four in it, because we're not taking any chances. I pay for it while Lexi looks through the snack aisle quietly, probably overthinking but I try to hurry so that she can't spend too much time alone with her thoughts. Once this all blows over, if it does, I will help her to completely forget about it and we will laugh about the situation.

The walk home is fast and before I know it, we're back in my apartment with four pregnancy tests in hand. I immediately take Lexi into the bathroom and open up the box too quickly, dropping three tests into the sink. I take a deep breath, shake out my trembling hands, and pick up the tests, handing them to Lexi so that she can do them all at once. She nods and I step out to give her some privacy but walk back in once she's done to keep her company while we wait.

The three minutes go by agonizingly slowly and without saying anything, Lexi looks to me and I do the honors of flipping the tests over to look. All three of them read negative and I breathe a sigh of relief. I want nieces and nephews one day but Lexi and Chase are both so young. Lexi smiles, looking beyond relieved, and hugs me.

"Thank you, Faye. You have no idea how scared..." She starts but trails off when her voice cracks. I know that Lexi isn't completely set on having kids yet, because in her mind a career is the only thing that she really wants for herself, and that is her choice. A choice that could have gotten taken away just now. Not to mention her chances at the Olympics. There is no way that she'd be able to compete next year if she had gotten pregnant.

So much for a relaxing girl's night.