we were all talking to the doctor when justin and i noticed clay was awake.
"hey. how do you feel?" justin asked.
"they're gonna keep me here, aren't they?" clay asked, turning away from us.
"yeah. i was arguing about it with them. i was... i was yelling about it a minute ago." justin replied.
"so i guess... congrats. you are full-on the good son." clay told justin.
"dude, come... come on, man. i'm sorry. i'm sorry that... that kylie and i haven't been there to help you. i'm sorry that shit's so wrong." justin said to him.
"i'm not crazy. i'm just scared." he said to us.
"i know, clay. we are too." i said.
"do you, uh, want us to stay with you today?" justin asked.
"no. i'm kind of... embarrassed." clay replied. just then, matt and lanie walked in.
"good morning, sunshine." matt said.
"dad, we talked about 'sunshine.'"
"see, classic clay. he's fine." justin spoke up.
"the doctors would feel more comfortable if they kept an eye on you for just a little while longer. okay?" lanie said to him.
"'okay,' as in i get a vote?" clay asked.
"we'll get you out of here as soon as we can." matt said to him.
i got to school and saw diego standing at my locker.
"what do you want?" i asked him, opening my locker.
"where were you this morning?" diego asked me.
"i had a family thing." i replied, closing it and walking down the hallway with him.
"what kind of family thing?" he asked.
"unfortunately for you, that's private." i replied.
"does it have to do with jensen and his crazy ass outburst?" he asked.
"oh for fuck's sake, diego, leave him alone." i told him.
"y'know, winston told me what zach said the day of the school shooting." he said, stopping me.
"what'd he say?" i asked him.
"he said that he beat the shit out of bryce the night he died." diego said. "so maybe you are hiding something and you're not telling me." he said, smiling.
"well maybe you shouldn't talk to other people about my friends or shit you know nothing about." i replied.
"what the hell is wrong with you? why have you been acting so fucking weird and distant?" he asked me.
"diego, i don't have time for this." i told him, walking away. "i have to be somewhere." i said to him.
i met up with justin in an empty classroom and we began making out until i looked at my watch and
"justin, i really gotta go."
he kissed me once again.
"how do you think clay is?" i asked him.
"he's not okay." justin replied, shaking his head.
"nothing is. zach told winston that he beat up bryce." i said, sitting on the table.
"fuck! uh... what?" justin asked.
"winston told diego." i replied.
"so you're... you're still seeing diego?" he asked me.
"he's, like, on a damn mission. i... i can't just drop him. i have to handle shit." i told him.
"okay, but is that all this is? it's just you handling him, or whatever? i mean we're having a baby, kylie." he said to me.
"yes. and i'm not sleeping with him or doing anything i'm doing with you, if that's what you're wondering." i said to him.
"alright." he said.
we walked out and went to our individual classes until we got called to the office saying that clay had escaped from the hospital he was at.
"he left?" i asked.
"you mean he escaped." justin said.
"yes." sheriff diaz said.
"how?" justin asked.
"still unclear." diaz said. "justin, kylie, i know that clay and i have history, but i am still here for him. and i'm worried. he's in a fragile mental state." he told us.
"yeah, you can thank bolan for that." justin replied.
"it's not safe for him to be alone right now. he could act out violently."
"he wouldn't hurt anyone." i said to him.
"not even himself?" dean foundry asked.
"do either of you know where clay is?" diaz asked us.
"i have no idea. but anywhere's safer than this school." justin said. "come on, kylie."
we walked out and justin pulled out his phone.
"what're you doing?" i asked.
"i gotta talk to zach. i'll see you." he said, walking away from me.
after school, justin and i were in my room with analeia, who was sleeping, and we just began talking.
"so if we have another girl, i really want you to name her juliette amber." justin told me nervously. "i know my mom is going to be so happy to hear about the baby because she always asked me to name my girl after her." he said, smiling.
"you're so sweet, j." i said, caressing his cheek. "of course." i replied. "any ideas for a boy name if he's a boy?" i asked.
"if this sounds selfish, i don't mean it to be, but i kind of think we should name him justin james." he replied. "i'll call the little guy 'jj.'"
"james, like... like after my dad?" i asked him, with tears in my eyes.
"yeah. i know how much he meant to you and stuff, so i just figured—"
"no, it's perfect, baby. it's absolutely perfect." i said, placing both my hands on his cheeks and kissing him.
"i can't wait to marry you after graduation." he said, smiling.
"you have the most amazing smile, justin foley." i said, smirking.
"what else?" he asked me, sitting cross cross on my bed.
"well, you give the most amazing kisses, the most amazing hugs, the most amazing cuddles..." i said, playing with his hands. "and i mean the sex isn't too bad." i joked.
"ha ha you're so funny." justin said, smiling and kissing me.
we continued kissing until we heard a door shut. we know matt and lanie had gotten a call about where clay was, so i was assuming that they had found him and brought him home. when we looked out the window, they all walked to the outhouse.
"should you go back there, check up on him?" i asked justin.
"um, no. i'll probably let him have a break from me. he probably needs it." justin said, not breaking eye contact with the jensens.
"alright, well, we better get to bed. especially since you have your college interview tomorrow." i said, happily.
"oh don't even remind me. i'm so fucking nervous, babe." he said to me.
"well let's get some sleep and then i know you'll ace it tomorrow." i said, turning off the lights. he got into bed and cuddled with me, snoring in my ear loudly.
but i loved him for it.
the next day during class, justin and i were talking about our group project when deputy standall opened the door to our class.
"hey there, can i borrow justin foley and kylie andrews for a second?" the sheriff asked. our teacher looked at us and we nodded and walked out.
"is... is everything alright?" i asked, softly grabbing justin's hand, justin closing the door behind him with his other hand.
"um, i'm sorry to pull you both out of class like this, but it's important." he told us.
"what is it? is it clay? matt and lanie gave him the day off. he... he's still recovering." justin told him.
"no, it's not about clay. it's about your mom. it, uh... it appears she passed away yesterday. we got the call this morning." alex's dad informed justin.
"she... what?" justin softly asked.
"yeah, she was found by a patrol car. routine sweep, down by the docks." the sheriff replied.
"seth?" i asked.
"no, he's still upstate. we checked with the bureau of prisons, and there's no sign of foul play." bill replied.
"what happened? did... did she like, OD?" justin asked.
"there is some evidence for that, but we're waiting on a toxicology report. i know you two hadn't been in touch for quite some time." he replied.
"yeah, um... we hadn't." he said, looking down.
"so, so sorry, buddy." bill told him.
"thank you... for telling me." he said, sniffling.
"do you want me to give you a ride home? to the jensen's?" bill asked.
"he's right, j. you should take the day off." i said, putting my hand on his arm.
"i can talk to principal bolan, tell him what's going on."
"if it's all right, sir, i'd like to stay at school. i'm... trying to keep my attendance perfect. and i've got a college interview today."
"okay. here if you need, alright?" he asked justin.
justin nodded and walked away. i ran up to him and followed him to where he went to.
"justin." i said to him.
"kylie, leave me alone." he said.
"i can't do that, baby." i told him, grabbing his arm.
"a little bit after... after we first started dating, my mom started dating seth and... and right after everyone got the subpoenas for hannah's trial, i said something that pissed him off and he choked me." he began. "after he choked me, i called out for my mom and she just walked away like he didn't just do what he did." he said, beginning to cry. "but she... she was my mom, kylie." he said, looking at me and letting his tears spill. "she was the one i had when nobody else wanted to be there for me. now she's dead. she died without me. i didn't even get to tell her i was gonna be a dad." he said to me. he cried and fell to the floor, me falling with him. i held him in my arms and let him cry all the tears he needed to.
after his breakdown, he went to his college interview. i waited for him in the car and saw as soon as he came out. when he got in the car, he was silent.
"j, you want to talk to me? please?" i asked as we drove off.
"no, kylie. i don't." he said, looking out the window.
"well i'm assuming diaz or standall said something to matt and lanie, so they're going to want to talk." i said, keeping my eyes on the road. "so i know you don't want to talk to me, but at least talk to them, alright?"
"get off my back, ky, i know." he said, still not looking at me.
we got back to the house and let justin change into something more comfortable. when he came back down to the table, he looked like he'd been crying. we talked for a few minutes before justin spoke up.
"i don't... i don't want clay to know. um... he needs to get better, and, um... i don't really want to be in the way of that." justin explained with his hoodie up. one of my hands was on his leg, trying my best to comfort him.
"you could never." matt said to him.
"what would you like to do for a service?" lanie asked.
"a service?" justin asked her.
"yeah, a funeral. a memorial?" she asked him.
"i don't... i don't want a service. she didn't have any family or friends, so..." he trailed off.
"she had you." matt said to him.
"she didn't, really." justin said, looking at them.
"maybe we take a day... as a family. we could scatter her ashes in the river." lanie suggested.
"i don't fucking want anything! okay!?" he exclaimed. then he began to laugh sadly. "i don't need some bullshit service so that you all can feel better about some broke junkie being dead!" he exclaimed. "sorry. uh, i just... i've been to enough funerals in my life."
"of course." matt said, softly.
"justin, love. what can we do?" lanie tearfully asked.
"i'm good. really. really. thank you." he said, getting up and walking upstairs to my room.
"kylie, you okay?" matt asked.
"i'm pregnant." i replied, looking up at them, playing with my fingers. "i know that it was stupid of me to not get birth control, and if you want to kick me out, you can." i said, quickly before lanie interrupted me.
"kylie, honey, no. we could never in a million years kick you out." she said to me. "do you... do you know who the father is?" she asked.
"justin." i replied, letting the tears spill from my eyes.
"when... when did this happen?" matt asked.
"the camping trip." i replied. "i just thought clay was so mad at me and i was fighting with diego, so i stayed in my tent after everything. then justin heard me cry and came in, we got to talking, and now i'm pregnant." i said to them.
"have you been to see a doctor?" matt asked.
"i took a test with tony a few days ago, before the shooting drill." i said, sniffling.
"okay, well we can go to the doctor soon, okay? we can... we can get through this." lanie told me, grabbing my hand.
"thank you." i said, wiping my tears away.
i walked up to my room after talking to clay's parents and closed the door behind me, seeing justin sitting on my bed, numb. as soon as i sat on the bed, justin spoke up.
"marry me, kylie." justin told me.
"what?"
"marry me."
"we've had this conversation, justin. i thought we were waiting until graduation. i mean, we're so young and we just turned 18. plus, we're raising a small baby." i told him. "are you sure about this?"
"i'm more sure about this than anything. i mean, we're having a family like we always talked about, always planned." he said, grabbing my hand. "life... life is short, kylie, and i love you, my baby, and my daughter more than anything. you made me a better person. even when i didn't know how to love you, you showed me. you showed me that i was capable of being loved." he said, causing my eyes to tear up.
"yes, justin. yes, of course i'll marry you." i said, crying and hugging him and kissing him.