Meeting Me Halfway (HSMTMTS Fanfiction)

Chapter 100. Everything Worked Out.

I give him a slightly confused look, but I soon put a hand in my pocket. It felt like some dvd almost. I look down into my pocket and gaze at the small cassette.

"Keys, right pocket." He pays his attention back to Jaxon. I try to process his words as I reach behind him, taking out the truck keys.

I put on my coat and head outside. I pull the cassette out of my pocket and take it out of its cover before examining it. Listen..think and decide? What does he mean?

I unlock the truck and go into the drivers seat. Of course he knows that the truck has a cassette player.

I breathe out a shaky breath as I put the cassette in and wait for it to boot up. I fix my jacket and rub my hands together. Okay, maybe it was colder than I anticipated.

"Hey." Ricky's voice comes on. It was raspy and would cut out every now and then.  "Uhm, it's like..2 AM in the morning and I can't sleep. Maybe that's not important but you can't blame me. You just called us toxic and I don't really know how to react to that."

I begin questioning why he made this. Is he just ranting to me or something?

"But I don't blame you. I'm a jackass. I'm different than the old Ricky you know..and I'm sorry, but I'm mostly sorry that I'm telling you this the way I am right now. A cassette. Sort of feeling like Hannah Baker right now but..I'm not necessarily dead right now. So that's cool."

I shuffle in my seat and wait patiently. I notice that the player says that this cassette is 7 minutes long.

"You're right. I'm hiding something and it is the reason why I've been straight up lying to your face, but please believe me here." I hear some shuffling in the background. "Sorry if you hear that. I'm sitting outside and it's kind of cold."

I snort and roll my eyes.

"So, Skye. You know her..y'know..the bitch. I've been seeing her because..she's..she is pregnant."

I feel my heart drop.

"What?.." I say quietly to myself. The cassette goes on, not letting me think.

"She is pregnant and yes, I'm the father. Me, Richard Bowen. I figured it out a month ago. Skye has been following me just to tell me that she was going to give it up for adoption but I don't want that." He sighs, "I'm going to keep the child. The child..is a girl."

He slightly laughs in a, I'm guessing, happy tone. I was still finding my way to process everything.

"Me and Skye had gone through names the last time I saw her, except today doesn't necessarily count. Athena. That's her name and I couldn't love it more. She's due soon. Skye is now 9 months pregnant. Athena is coming real soon Nini."

I hear tapping in the background. He was probably tapping his foot.

"I'm asking for a lot, I know, and that's why I don't have the guts to tell you face to face, and I apologize, but I also can't tell you face to face because we're not safe. By the time you get this, you would have already seen Will and Jaxon."

Now. He's talking about now..and he knows the 2..god. Is this right? What?

"You know that Jaxon lives in Chicago. He's with me, they both are. I met Jaxon in Chicago and we grew close into things that we shouldn't have. Right now you're at a party. Your family party and though you may not know, they're people watching you. People from Chicago that know Kant and Lachlan are here."

I find myself looking around in discomfort. I felt unsafe in a matter of seconds.

"Nini," he snorts, "I want to raise this child with you. I can't lie to you anymore, I really can't. And I know that this is a lot to process, especially in a cassette but just know that if you don't want to..I understand. I also need you to understand though. You cannot talk to me about this face to face. When you walk back into the apartment or where ever you went, I'm going to ask how you're feeling. Tell me the truth, but don't say anything about this pregnancy."