"Fuck," I muttered, leaning my head back as I swallowed a huge bite of pancakes.

Josie smiled, folding her arms on the table in front of us. "Are they good?"

"Bro, takeout breakfast for the fucking win," I muttered, dousing the pancakes in syrup again.

"Wait, you don't like school breakfast? I thought everyone loved those shitty ass sausage biscuits."

I looked over at Eros, grimacing. "Fucking nasty. Swear to God the meat isn't even real."

He chuckled, taking a sip of his water as he pulled Josie closer to him. I scanned the lunchroom for Henry, and found him and Zach disappearing together.

Why Zach, I wondered- Henry and Zach had been enemies since they'd literally laid eyes on one another.

I felt a gentle tap on my shoulder, making me turn around and see Amelia standing there.

"Oh, hey," I said, standing up quickly, "h-here. Take my seat."

She bit down on her lip and looked up at me. "N-no thanks. I just wanted to talk to you for a sec."

"Yeah," I said, leaving Josie and Eros to themselves.

Amelia and I walked towards the exit, standing at the door. She made sure no one was around or within hearing distance, pulling me closer to her.

"How are you?" She asked.

I nodded. "I'm eating pancakes. You should try some, they're amazing."

She nodded. "Well, I'm glad."

"How are you?" I softly asked, brushing my hand against her stomach softly.

She pushed my hand away, looking away from me. "I'm fine. I got sick this morning."

"Seriously, eat the rest of my pancakes, since you probably threw up everything else-"

"I'm good," she said, smiling up at me, "food kind of sounds unappealing now."

"Yeah, I can imagine," I said, "I'm sorry."

She looked up at me, chewing on her lip. "I literally have to wait three weeks before I can get an appointment."

I nodded. "Okay, well, I support you."

She seemed guilty, just by the way she was twiddling her thumbs and avoiding eye contact if she could.

"D-did you already do it, or something?" I asked, my stomach flipping at the possibility.

"No," she said, "I thought about it, I can't lie."

I bit down on my lip. "Yeah."

"I'm sorry," she said, "for the way I've been acting. I was worried. I still am. But if this thing's gonna provide you with some temporary joy, I shouldn't take that away from you."

"No, I understand," I said, shaking my head, "I-I can't pin the responsibility of literally waking me up in the mornings and keeping me on the right track on an unborn child. It's a lot of pressure on you, too."

She pressed a kiss to my cheek. "You'd be a great dad, if that makes anything sting less."

I rested my cheek against her temple, closing my eyes. I clenched my jaw and pressed a kiss to her head, pulling away from her. "Don't you have that big debate thing today?"

"Yeah," she laughed, "the pregnancy hormones will really come in handy for that."

I chuckled, reaching down to grab her hand. She smiled up at me and pulled my hand up to her mouth, pressing a kiss to it.

"Let's do something this evening," I said, "I don't really care what, just something."

She nodded up at me. "Okay."

I pulled away from her, shooting her one last smile. "Good luck today."

"Yeah," she said, backing away from me with a soft smile.

I walked back to my table, looking down at Josie and Eros as they watched my every move.

"So you two are official now?"

"What? No," I said, sitting down at my spot.

"Why were you guys all lovey dovey?" Josie asked, lifting an eyebrow.

"You guys have been lovey dovey since you were six and just made it official," I deadpanned.

Eros smiled, looking away from the two of us.

"Amelia's just being a really great friend right now," I said, "that's all."

Josie smiled, covering my hand with hers. "I'm glad. You need those right now."

I nodded, taking another huge bite of my pancakes. "You know what I need more? Pancakes."

~*~

"Woah, Mom," I said, gently grabbing her arm before she slipped.

She laughed, stepping off of the ladder. "See, that's why I've always left the ladder work to your father."

"Because he's so graceful and so talented," Dad said, "you're done with this, I'm assuming?"

"Yes, get it away from me," she giggled out, watching as he threw the ladder over his shoulder and walked out of the room.

"It's looking good," I said, smiling.

She nodded, resting her hands on her hips. "Yeah."

"Is there any reason you guys are remodeling this room in particular?" I asked.

"Yeah, your mom's pregnant!" Dad yelled from the other room.

"No, she's not," Mom said, "Fred, you can't joke about things like that."

"I was kidding," Dad said, "you and your sister are more than enough."

Mom laughed, shaking her head. "He doesn't know what he'd do without you two."

"Save a shit ton of money, not have to worry about paying for college out of my ass in a year, you know," he said, peeking in the room.

I flipped him off, making him chuckle and pat the wet doorframe before he walked away.

"I'll bet you ten he won't even notice the paint on his hand," I said.

"Well, you're right," she said, "and I don't want to be out ten bucks, so I will not bet on that."

I smiled, looking down at her. I felt like Mom was back, and that was a relieving feeling.

"Hey, can I tell you something?"

She nodded, sitting down on the window seat. "Of course."

I sat next to her, biting down on my lip. "I've been going through some stuff lately."

She looked over at me. "I know."

I simply looked at her, and saw that she already knew what I was about to tell her.

"You know," I said.

"I could tell when we walked in," she softly said, "a mother knows, you know."

I leaned my head back. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"I knew you'd tell me when you were ready," she said, "and that's not something someone needs to push out of you."

I nodded. "Well, you just made that ten times easier."

"Does your dad know?" She asked, gently grabbing my hand.

I nodded, smiling over at her. "Yeah. He was the first person I told."

She pressed a kiss to my shoulder. "I know it's had to be confusing for you."

"Yeah," I said, "yeah, it's definitely been that."

"You really like this guy, yeah?" She asked.

I nodded, looking over at her. "Yeah."

"He's a cutie," she said, standing up as she patted my leg, "if that's what you want, and that's what makes you happy, then I support you always."

I smiled. "Thank you."

My phone buzzed and cut off my train of thought- I knew it was Zach. He told me he'd text me after swim practice, and I was more than excited to hear from him.

It wasn't Zach, though- instead, a number that wasn't saved to my contacts.

"Mom?"

"Hmm?" She pleasantly asked, sweeping the paintbrush across the wall.

"Cordelia just texted."

"Cordelia, ex Cordelia?"

"Y-yeah," I said, still a little blindsided by her message.

"What did she say?" She asked, resting her hand on her hip as she turned to face me.

"She asked if we could talk. That she regrets the way she acted. Same old bullshit."

"But you're Henry, and you're going to talk to her. Because that's what you do. You give people chances."

I braced my elbows on my thighs, biting down on my lip as I sighed.

"It's okay to just talk to her," she softly said, "maybe she's genuine."

"The chances of that are very slim," I muttered, mustering up the courage to text her back. I wanted to just leave her on read and not even take a second look at it, but Mom was right. I gave people chances, even when they proved to be the least deserving of them.

"Where do I get that from?" I asked.

"What?" She asked.

"The chances thing," I said.

She smiled. "Your father."

My phone buzzed yet again, making me pick it up.

"She asked to meet."

"Are you gonna?" She asked.

I sighed. "You know me."

She smiled. "I know you."

~*~

I pulled Amelia's hair back into a ponytail in my hand, parting my lips as she bobbed her head up and down on my length.

"Fuck," I muttered, keeping my eyes locked on her. I braced my hand against my steering wheel, unintentionally beeping the horn in the process.

She jumped, making me laugh and look down at her. "I-I'm sorry."

She shook her head, taking every inch of me in her mouth. I leaned my head back against my seat, avoiding moaning at the top of my lungs. I didn't want to give away the fact that I hadn't gotten head in ages.

Truthfully, I hadn't been anywhere near in the mood since my life had started going downhill. But now? It was all I'd thought about for days.

She came up with a loud gag, making me grab her face and pull her lips to mine. She sloppily slipped her tongue in my mouth, tugging at my hair.

"Come here," I muttered against her lips, grabbing her hips. I pulled her into my lap and leaned my seat back, trailing my hands up her sides and to her chest.

"You know, my mom would kill me if she found out I was fucking the guy who got me pregnant."

"What she doesn't know won't hurt her," I said, "come sit on my face."

"Hero."

I smiled up at her, grabbing her neck. I pulled her lips down to mine, using my free hand to lift her skirt and squeeze her backside.

"You're squeezing bones."

I laughed, pulling away from her. She matched my laugh and rested her forehead against mine, biting down on her lip.

"Give yourself some credit," I said, giving her ass a slap.

She giggled, sitting upright. I watched as she peeled her fitted shirt off of her body, and smiled when I realized she didn't have a bra on underneath.

"You've gotten more confident," I said, "I like it."

"Shh, don't mess it up."

I snuck my hand between our bodies and rubbed her bud through her underwear, earning a quiet moan from her.

"I've got you wet," I whispered.

She nodded, parting her lips as she rested her head against mine. "Yeah."

"Does anyone else do that to you?" I asked.

She shook her head, grabbing my face with both of her hands. "Mm mm."

I had a bad habit of losing control, and I knew that's what was about to happen.

She's carrying your child, man. Even if it's not for that much longer.

I grabbed both sides of her underwear, pulling them down her legs. She kicked them off and lifted her skirt, moving her hips against my leg as I opened my console to find a condom.

"You're soaking my pants," I said, smiling up at her as I sheathed my length.

She moved all of her hair to one side, obviously enjoying herself. I picked her up and lowered her down onto my length, both of our moans mixing.

"Fuck," I groaned, bracing my hand against my window.

"Oh, my God," she moaned, "Hero, you're so big."

I bit down on my lip, squeezing my eyes shut. Don't boost my ego, Amelia.

"You like my dick, don't you?" I asked.

"Hmm?" She asked, her eyes meeting mine.

I grabbed her neck, pulling her down to me. "I said you like my dick, don't you?"

She nodded, biting down on her lip. "Y-yeah."

"I bet you think about it all the time," I said, pushing my hips up to meet hers, "I bet you think about me fucking you all the fucking time."

I roughly grabbed her face, giving her cheek a slap. I parted my lips, stopping her hips. "I-I'm sorry."

"No, do it again," she pleaded.

"No," I said.

"Please, do it again," she whimpered.

I pulled her lips to mine for a kiss, slowly thrusting my hips into hers. She moaned into my mouth, bracing her hands against my chest as she moved her hips against mine.

"Hero," she whimpered, wrapping her arms around my neck. She buried her face in my neck and I grasped her backside, pushing my hips into hers at a fast pace.

I was, honestly, winded- but impressed with myself. I'd forgotten how much of a workout sex was, and I'd figured my stamina would've been absolutely depleted after the recent state of events.

Adrenaline, baby.

"Your pussy's my favorite," I whispered, earning her eyes.

"That just means the world to me," she whispered, biting down on her lip as she giggled.

I used my free hand to rub circles around her bud, earning a loud moan from her. She seemed to be enjoying herself, so I didn't change my pace, I didn't change anything.

"Hero," she whimpered, "I-I'm about to come."

"Don't look away from me," I said, "I want to see you when you come for me."

She nodded, closing her eyes. I grabbed her face, making her eyes shoot open.

"Fuck!" She moaned, her body falling against mine in a seemingly extremely intense orgasm, just judging by the full body tremors she was having.

I lifted her hips off of me and finished myself off, letting out a groan as I came. She braced her palms against my chest and watched me come.

"I-is it gonna stop?" She innocently asked, biting down on her lip.

"I haven't came in forever," I said, "fuck."

"Oh, is that why there's so much?" She asked.

"Y-yeah," I said.

She leaned down and trailed her tongue up my abdomen, catching the bit that had somehow landed there in her mouth. She smiled up at me and I grabbed her face, smiling down at her.

"You're good, Amelia," I said, stroking her cheek.

She climbed over into her seat, making me reach into my backseat to find the towel I knew was in here. I leaned my seat up, holding the towel out to her.

"I think you need that more than me," she said, nodding down at the obvious mess I'd made.

"You go first," I said.

She quickly cleaned herself up, slipping her shirt back on over her head. I grabbed the towel and wiped up my mess, throwing it in the back when I was done.

"When's the last time you had sex, Hero?" She curiously asked, looking over at me.

"When I got you pregnant," I muttered, rubbing my eyes.

"That was a while ago," she said, "Hero King going that long without sex?"

"Well, you know, life falls apart, boning someone really isn't the first thing on the list of priorities."

She smiled a sympathetic smile. "I-I was just joking."

I looked over at her, clenching my jaw.

"Why are you excited in even the slightest about this baby?" She asked.

I shook my head. "I can't explain it."

"I mean, I thought it'd scare you off when I told you."

"Well, I'm not a deadbeat," I said, "and I'm not going to let you do the bit of pregnancy you're going to do by yourself."

She looked over at me, a smile tugging at her lips. "You're going to be a great dad one day. And a great baby daddy."

I chuckled. "Well, that is the goal, after all."

We sat in silence, simply staring at each other for a few seconds.

"I should get home," she said, lowering her eyes.

"Yeah," I said, "yeah, I'll get you home."

~*~

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