(TW: Mentions of vomit. Not very long though and doesn't go into detail. Skip to ~~~ if needed.)
Meanwhile...
I sat in the corner, heavily breathing with my eyes closed. "You are just a ray of sunshine, aren't you?" I rested my left arm over my stomach. Irene, you're gonna be a pain. Aren't you? I thought sleepily.
"Y/N?" A voice called from around the ruin.
"Over here!" I pressed my back against the wall and pushed myself up to my feet. Aaron rounded the corner not long after.
He looked me up and down. "What are you doing over... here..?" He trailed off as he spotted the puddle of vomit near the bushes.
"I'm fine really." I tried to wave him off.
~~~
"No that's it. You've been 'sick' a lot recently." He put air quotes around sick. "What's wrong with you?"
"No, really," I rubbed the back of my neck and stepped in front of the bushes. "I'm fine. It's probably the change in the air. We are quite a bit north-"
Aaron crossed his arms. "Don't lie. You're brother told me that you are quite used to travel so nothing of the sort should affect you."
I could tell that Aaron wasn't going to back down until I told him. "Shit," I mumbled. "Um... well... Oh great..."
"Just tell me."
"I really don't want to. You- You're gonna tell my brother and I don't want him to know. There's no need." I crossed my arms, too, except I did it protectively.
"I won't tell him if you tell me."
Damn, he's good at bargaining.
"Well... Heh heh." I closed my eyes and turned my head away. "Funny story..." He sighed a bit, but it was one of those patient sighs. "I'm pregnant." I looked back up to catch the look of surprise.
"What?"
"Yeah..."
Aaron sighed heavily and took a deep breath in. "When... When did you..."
"See that's the other funny part." I laughed sadly. "It... um... wasn't my choice. And I'm around 3 months along."
"3 months? Already?" I nodded. "Does anyone else know?"
"Lucinda and Hailey know. But that's because they cornered me."
He opened his mouth but hesitated. "Who's... the father?"
"Well..."
Aphmau's POV
"They sure are taking a while." Katelyn sighed.
I put a hand on her shoulder. "Garroth told me that Jace tasked Aaron with looking out for Y/N. I'm sure he's probably just having a hard time getting her to open up." I looked at the ruin that hid their location. "I hope it's nothing too serious."
When they finally came back over, I could tell that Y/N felt nervous. Or at least she appeared so. She's so good a hiding and disguising her emotions that I have no clue how she's feeling 90% of the time; which probably isn't that much of a shocker.
As they walked back over, I could see the change in the relationship they had. He knows something I don't, and I'm not quite sure how to feel about that.
"Is everything alright between you two?" Katelyn asked.
Y/N nodded while Aaron responded. "Yeah, she was just calling Jace. Nothing too important."
Hmmm...
Your POV (Bit later)
Once we rounded the corner, I gasped at the sight of the cathedral. Before I could even think about containing my excitement, I hurried off toward the tallest structure in the city. "Y/N! Wait! Where are you going?!" Aphmau yelled. I could hear footsteps following me but I didn't stop.
I was around 5 blocks (city blocks) away from the entrance when I fell into a collapsed tunnel, reflexively yelping out. "Y/N!" Katelyn yelled.
From my spot on the floor, I looked up at the three above me. "Hi!" I smiled.
Aaron scoffed and looked away with a half-smile. "Hi..." Aphmau smiled back. "Are you ok?"
I nodded.
She turned Katelyn to say something, and I took the opportunity to stand up and brush myself off. Luckily I landed on my ass and not on my stomach. While they were debating what to do with this new situation, I looked down both ends on the long dark tunnel. I couldn't see anything but my heart told me what would be at the end.
"Everything alright?" Laurence suddenly appeared and asked. "We heard yelling."
"Everything's fine," Aphmau replied.
Aaron chimed in next, looking back down at me. "Well except for the fact that Y/N fell down a hole."
"Hey!"
Laurence laughed at my annoyance. "Well, I'm glad everything is fine." He looked down at me next. "How did you even land down there?"
"Long story. I saw something and I guess I couldn't hide my excitement about it. And then I fell."
"That didn't sound very long to me." Katelyn's sarcasm was clear.
Aphmau's head peeked over the edge. "Do you need help down there?"
"No, I think I know where I am. There shouldn't be any problems."
"We should get in contact with the others." Laurence turned his attention to Aph as he spoke.
She nodded and disappeared over the edge again. "That would be wise. Then our group would be whole again."
"Not to be rude or anything, but has anyone else noticed the structure on the edge of the ruins?" My ears perked up as Katelyn mentioned the cathedral. "It's the only thing still standing."
"Oh yeah." Aph's voice sounded distant.
I traced my hand over the wall as they continued discussing the cathedral. There were no stable footholds and nothing my hands could get a decent grip on. I don't see an easily accessible way out.
"Before we can even think about going over to explore that, we need to get Y/N out first." Aaron's statement sounded more like a command than a suggestion; which makes sense if Jace put him 'in charge of me'.
"Is there anything for you to use to climb up?"
"Not that I can see, Aph," I replied. "But don't jump down!" I hastily added.
Katelyn leaned over the edge. "Why not? Doesn't look like that long of a fall."
"You want to explore the structure at the edge, and jumping down here won't get you there." I picked up a broken piece of stone and threw it as far as I could. After a few moments, it hit the ground out of view. "This tunnel is at least 30 ft that way and probably equal in the other. Not helpful."
"Fine. If we aren't going down and you can't get up, how are you getting out?"
I pondered this for a moment. "One of you lean down and put your hand out as much as you can. I'll jump and you can help pull me up."
"Here." Aaron leaned down and reached his hand out toward me. I took a deep breath, stepped back a few paces, and then ran and jumped, reaching my arm up as far as I can.
Our hands collided and he got a good grip on my wrist. With a little help from Aaron, I pulled myself up back onto the street that I fell through. "Are you ok?" Laurence asked.
"Perfectly fine." I sighed out before choosing my next words carefully. "Just... worn out."
"Are you sure?" Aaron prodded.
"I'm fine." I snapped, glaring at him to keep his mouth shut.
"Mood swings much?" Laurence mumbled. "Anyway, let's head to that structure, and then we can get ahold of the others."
As we approached the foreboding building, I smiled. They looked up and around at it. Aphmau had a look of amazement and adventure in her eyes. The others looked more curious about the place. But I didn't expect them to get the same emotions from here.