mila (listentoteeth) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2018-01-06 17:51:00 |
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Entry tags: | #september 2017, gavin, gavin x mila, mila |
Who: Gavin & Mila
What: Unexpected news
Where: The Back Porch Pub
When: Noon'ish, Tuesday 09/26
Status: Complete
Gavin had just about had it with the damn fog. His gnawing anxiety was now mostly irritation and wariness which was a step up from that mind-numbing terror he'd felt all Sunday but still. He was ready for the fog to lift and he and Caden decided to open the bar on Tuesday despite the fog still being thick and annoying. They had regulars who'd no doubt show up and people were getting stir crazy all around town. He opened up that morning and texted their sometimes-employee Miles to update their facebook page and ask him to come in for the day. As luck would have it, Miles had crashed his car in the fog that morning so there was no way he was coming in just yet but he'd try. Gavin took that to mean he wasn't coming at all so he texted the rest of the gang before going about getting the place ready to open.
Mila was tired of the fog too. She hadn't ventured out much at all since it rolled into Point Pleasant on Saturday night, and she had started feeling a bit under the weather anyway, so she'd more or less stayed in bed since Sunday afternoon. Aaron had come over quite a few times to keep her company, which had been really nice. She hadn't been feeling well, but he seemed content enough to lay with her in bed or on the couch and watch television rather than getting naked. That had been nice too, although Mila really did enjoy the naked bits. She was hoping she could knock out this cold, or whatever it was, soon so she could go back to enjoying her boyfriend properly.
Unfortunately being home also meant she wasn't working, and if she wasn't working, she wasn't getting paid. The bar hadn't been open for a couple days, so there was nothing she could do about it, but when Gavin texted her that morning to ask her to come in for a bit, Mila realized she needed to get her ass out of bed and go earn some money. The fog was still pretty bad, but if the bar was open, that meant some of the regulars would show up and at least she would come home later with some cash in her pocket.
After taking a long shower and getting dressed, Mila grabbed her keys and headed toward the bar. She drove slowly and carefully and was a bit surprised to see more than a couple cars that had driven off the side of the road, and one that was still facing a tree, it's front hood looking like an accordian. As she turned down the street toward the bar, she thought she saw two people in the fog fighting, but the fog itself seemed to swallow them up and they disappeared from her view. "What the hell," she muttered, shaking her head as she managed to park without incident. She grabbed her purse and hurried toward front of the bar, thankful that the OPEN sign was lit up so she had a target to run toward. As soon as she stepped inside Mila drew in a breath, ignoring how her stomach rolled uncomfortably.
Gavin was behind the bar and Mila walked toward the door toward the back so she could lock up her things and put on her apron. "I'd say it looks like the apocalypse out there, but I can't see anything well enough to know for sure," she told him. "Is it just you here?"
Gavin grunted the affirmative, vaguely gesturing around them. There weren't even customers in yet and he hoped that wasn't a sign of things to come. Their regulars wouldn't let a little fog stop them if they found out it was open so it was probably just a matter of time. "Miles crashed his car," he muttered. "He'll try to be in later. I'm still waiting for the others to answer." He gnawed on his lip for a moment as he looked over at her. "Thanks for coming in." It was bad out there, he couldn't really blame any of them if they didn't want to leave the house.
Mila paused at the door, both taken aback by the thought of Miles being in an accident, and Gavin actually thanking her for being there beyond an acknowledging grunt. She would have asked if Miles was okay but if he told Gavin he'd try to be in later, then he was at least in one piece. "It's no trouble," Mila murmured, even though her body disagreed. "I think we'll do okay if it's just us, if you work the bar. I mean, if no one else can make it in. I'll be out in a second." Mila pushed through the door so she could put her things away. When she returned, she was tying her apron behind her back, ignoring the tiny twinges of discomfort in her stomach. "What can I do to help?"
There was plenty to do, especially since the power had been out and they needed to make sure the backup generator had kicked in and go through the frozen goods. They'd learned the hard way that investing in one of those was a good thing as power outs always caused trouble. It couldn't be said they weren't busy even before the first customer came strolling in. Predictably it was old man Joseph Lucas, followed closely by another regular. As much as Gavin did not enjoy seeing his dad it was a relief to have people showing up so he let that one go for now.
Mila had sort of been hoping for a few more minutes of quiet so she could get herself feeling straight again, but she wasn't surprised to see Aaron's dad walk in, followed by John Cox. At least there were people there to buy drinks and leave her tips. Maybe not the best tips, but money was money. Neither ever ordered anything overly complicated, so Mila didn't mind letting Gavin retreat to the back to do whatever he needed to do. She was about to tell him so when the nausea she had been feeling suddenly intensified. Her stomach muscles clenched painfully and Mila instinctively knew what was coming next. Without hesitation, she grabbed the plastic garbage bin beneath the bar and promptly lost her breakfast inside of it.
Both of their customers made loud grossed out noises as she threw up and then Joseph looked at Gavin with a toothy grin. "You knock this one up too, Gavin?" he said snarkily before laughing a little and waving his hand as if he could already smell the vomit.
Gavin shot him a deathly glare before scurrying over to Mila, patting her back awkwardly. "You okay?" he muttered and somewhere underneath the worry he was actually a bit relieved to see she'd found something to throw up in so it wouldn't be a pain in the ass to clean it up. "Come on, come to the back. Let's get you some water."
Everything felt so shitty that Mila didn't even care that she'd grossed anyone out. Maybe if it had been anyone but Gavin's dad and John Cox she would started apologizing, but they were both assholes, so she didn't care. Actually, she did care, mostly because Gavin had to deal with it. It wasn't like she could have stopped it, and if she'd tried to run to the back bathroom, it would have gotten all over the floor and kitchen. Mila held her hand over her stomach, gagging a bit, unsure as to whether or not more was coming. But she felt Gavin's hand on her back, which was oddly nice, and tried to ignore Joseph as she reached weakly for a napkin to wipe her mouth. She might have told Gavin's dad to go fuck himself if the 'joke' hadn't triggered something in the back of Mila's mind.
Keeping the napkin crumpled in her fist, Mila straightened, pausing once as she felt her stomach clench again. Once she was sure she wasn't going to be sick, Mila let Gavin walk her to the back. Joseph would probably help himself to the beer, but whatever. "I'm so sorry," she murmured to Gavin before finding the nearest seat and sinking into it. Despite the stomach ache and the desire to apologize to Gavin, her mind was racing now, counting back days and then trying to add them all up in her mind. "I've just been feeling a little under the weather. I didn't think I was that kind of sick. I’ll get it cleaned up, I promise."
Gavin grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge in the back and brought it to her. He opened it up before offering it, frowning with some concern as he sat down next to her. "Don't you worry about that," he muttered. "I've got two kids and I run a bar, I've cleaned up worse." It was a damn inconvenience, her being sick, but that really was something she couldn't help so he wasn't going to be an ass about it. "You think you can drive back home?" It was really turning out to be a shitty day, wasn't it. Like everything that could go wrong would go wrong.
Mila took the water with a murmured 'thanks' and took a small sip. It felt good on her sore throat. God, she hated throwing up. She hadn't done it since last winter when she'd gotten the flu. And she certainly didn't have the flu now. Mila took another drink before looking at Gavin. "I'm not going to leave you here all alone. My stomach is feeling better. I just... do you mind if I walk down to the drug store and get some medicine?" And a pregnancy test, if her math was right, which she hoped to god it wasn't, but now the panic was settling in, taking place of the nausea. She didn't think she could focus on work until she was able to put this particular concern to bed. Mila was probably just overreacting. It was Joseph Lucas's fault for putting the possibility in her head. "I won't be gone more than ten minutes."
Gavin gave her a skeptical little frown. "You sure?" he said, because she definitely seemed to be coming down with something and it wasn't unusual to feel a better for a little bit after throwing up. He also didn't much like the thought of her walking out in that fog all by herself, it gave him the creeps to be out there and Mila was practically family with how long she'd been hanging around. "I mean, you take as much time as you need, I can take care of this place by myself for now."
"I'm sure," Mila murmured. If she went home now she would drive herself crazy doing nothing, even if she did end up getting sick again. Sleep was out of the question. She took a breath and stood, thankful that her stomach didn't rebel. Maybe the nausea had passed. "I'll be back as soon as I can." The nasty taste in her mouth told her she needed to buy some mouthwash too. Mila took a step toward her locker before she paused. "Um, do you need anything?" She still felt terrible that Gavin was the one having to deal with her, but he had been pretty great so far. Caden would have been annoyed, and Aaron... he would have probably over-worried. Yet, she was thankful he wasn't there at the moment. Mila would rather it be Gavin, since he wouldn't make her feel awkward.
"Nah, you just... hurry back," he muttered though he didn't really need her to come back in a hurry, it was more about her getting back safely. If anyone else had showed up already Gavin would have offered to go for her, even if he didn't like the fog. He was more capable of defending himself than she was although the things he feared weren't exactly easy to fight. "Still think you should head on home if you're coming down with something."
Mila opened her locker, mindful of the bottle of water in her hand. She pulled out her purse and gave Gavin a faint smile. Oh god, she hoped she was coming down with something, and not... someone. "I'll be alright, Gavin. I'll take something for it and if I don't start feeling better in say... an hour, I'll go home, okay?" She already felt bad that she was leaving him here alone with two assholes out front, but she wouldn't be useful at all until she got this over with. Mila slipped her purse on her shoulder and started for the back door. "I'll be back."
Gavin grunted and nodded, frowning after her. Mostly he just really didn't need to get sick too but with a woman it could be something that was most definitely not contagious. He hoped for her sake that was not it, a single girl working a crappy job... Shaking his head he headed back to the bar to get the trashcan cleaned out and make sure the assholes out there weren't drinking all the supplies.
"This is the problem with hiring women," Joseph was saying. "Did she get a little too drunk? Women can't handle their liquor."
Gavin ignored him, not mentioning that he'd seen his old man throw up from time to time too. He was just talking shit, it was what he did.
It took Mila close to ten minutes just to get to the drug store. The fog made the walk difficult and Mila had been overcome with panic, although she couldn't figure out if it was from what was weighing on her mind, or something else. Something far worse. By the time Mila stepped into the drug store, she was panting, looking behind her as if something was going to come out of the fog and get her. The paranoia seemed to ease up as soon as she was inside and made eye contact with the elderly clerk behind the register. Swallowing, Mila headed back toward the pharmacy where the condoms and pregnancy tests were located.
It took her nearly twenty minutes to get back to the bar thanks to indecision and fear as she stood in front of the pregnancy tests. Once she left, she all but jogged back down the street, even running the last block. She thought she heard someone screaming in the distance, but the sound was so faint and cut off before she could really stop and listen. It was like a fucking ghost town. A creepy, scary ass ghost town.
Sweaty and out of breath from running, Mila hurried into the bar and headed directly for the back again, ignoring Gavin and the others who sat in front of the counter, drinking. She felt gross and out of sorts, but there was no nausea, for which she was thankful. Mila locked herself in the bathroom and tore open the box she pulled from her purse. It was really kind of ridiculous, pregnancy tests. One small stick she had to hold in her urine stream, but her hand was shaking so badly from nerves that she nearly missed. Once she capped the test and set it on the sink, Mila began to reach into her purse for her phone to set the timer. Only she didn't need to wait the three minutes instructed on the box because a second pink line began to darken as soon as Mila set the stick down.
"Oh god," Mila whispered, grabbing the folded up instructions again and frantically tearing them open to make sure she was reading it right. One line. Not pregnant. Two lines.... "Oh, fuck." Mila dropped the paper and picked up the test, holding it up to her face to make sure she wasn't seeing things. "Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck!"
Gavin didn't usually bother people in the bathroom but Mila was sick and he was worried. He hadn't really thought she'd only be gone ten minutes, not with the fog being as thick as it was, but he'd started getting worried when she'd been gone more than twenty minutes. When she came back the way she did, doing her beeline for the bathroom and staying in there a while Gavin just worried more. He poured Cox another drink then headed to the back, pausing outside the door for a few seconds as he debated whether he was being concerned or creepy. He had just decided to give her a little more time in lieu of being a creep when he heard her swearing in there. That gave him pause again and he knocked lightly on the door. "Everything okay in there?"
Unaware that Gavin was right outside the bathroom, Mila jumped when he knocked at the door. God, she should have just gone home. Swallowing hard, Mila's gaze shifted back to the stick in her hand, and those two bright pink lines that seemed to signal doom. What was she going to do? What would her parents say? Her mom was going to wail and pray for her soul, and her dad would just stare at her in disappointment and worry about what people at church would say. And when they found out it was Aaron's? Oh, god. What was Aaron going to say? Ask her for an abortion? Dump her? She had no money. Guys at a bar didn't want to tip a pregnant waitress. She wasn't ready for any of this. What was she thinking?
Feeling overwhelmed and a bit shell shocked, Mila pulled open the bathroom door to find Gavin standing there. She opened her mouth to tell him she was fine but she burst into tears instead, clutching the test in her fist. Mila didn't even realize what she was doing before she stepped forward to press her face against Gavin's chest, her growing sobs muffled by his shirt.
Gavin had very firmly decided that Mila was sick and he'd half expected her to still be throwing up or at least feeling very weak. What he was in no shape or form prepared for was her crying and for a few seconds he just stood there, baffled as his body tried to decide how to react. "Hey," he finally said softly, bringing one hand up to her back in some sort of a comforting gesture - or so he hoped. Women did not cry about having a stomach ache so the reality of the situation was sinking in even if he hadn't seen the stick in her hand before she flung herself at him. "It's okay," he murmured, though it wasn't really something he could promise.
It wasn’t okay and Gavin of all people would know that. Granted, she wasn’t fifteen, but it still felt hopeless. Mila could only shake her head against him as she cried. It wasn’t fair to unload on Gavin and she would be appalled at herself once she was able to get her emotions under wraps, but right now he was there and Mila couldn’t help herself. A headache had started to throb in her temple by the time she pulled away. Ignoring the wet splotch she’d left on Gavin’s shirt, Mila wiped her eyes, still clutching the stick of doom. “I really fucked up,” Mila muttered, more to herself than Gavin. She fucked up and she had to figure out what to do about it. A tiny voice piped up in the back of her mind, reminding her that the test could be wrong and she should just go buy a new one. But her gut told her otherwise. She was late. She just hasn’t realized she was late until Joseph Fucking Lucas opened his fat mouth. Feeling emotionally drained, Mila brought her gaze up to Gavin’s face and blinked, as if finally realizing what she had just done. Poor guy. Mila quickly wiped the tears from her cheeks and stepped back. “Oh Jesus, I’m sorry Gavin. I just... shit, I’m sorry. That was really inappropriate of me...”
It hit Gavin pretty hard that this was how a woman should react when she discovered she was pregnant but hadn't been trying to be. Upset, scared, crying. It made him feel stupid about the past all over again but this was not the time or place to be focusing on that. "It's okay," he said again though he meant it differently this time. "You might not be," he added. "Or it might not be viable..." He had no idea if Mila was dating anyone but he didn't think so which meant it was even worse. No boyfriend hanging around the bar just to see her meant no boyfriend there to support her and Gavin knew too damn well Mila was very unlikely to want an abortion. "You wanna sit down? Go home? What do you need?"
It might not be viable. What did that mean? Mila knew he was just trying to make her feel better, and maybe it was silly to be so despondent until she had seen a doctor. The crying had seeped the majority of her energy and Mila wiped at her eyes again before she walked past Gavin to sit again. She glanced at the pregnancy test in her hand, sort of hoping that the second line would miraculously be gone. But it was still there and she clenched her fist around it again. "I need money, so I'm going to stay and work," Mila told Gavin. "I mean, after this mess clears up." She motioned to her splotchy cheeks and puffy eyes. "I'm sorry. I should have waited until I got home, but your dad said... and then it was just..." Mila waved both hands around before she slouched a bit in her chair.
Gavin wasn't going to kick her out if she wanted to work and he watched her for a moment before nodding again. "Okay, clean yourself up, take a few minutes, come out when you're ready, yeah? It's not busy out there, I can take care of it for a bit." After a slight pause he added hesitantly, "Anyone you need to call?" It was none of his business but he was willing to give her more time to get herself together so it didn't hurt to ask.
Mila was thankful that Gavin was understanding, but she didn't really expect him to kick her out or be a dick. Gavin was Stoic King of the Grunts, but he'd never been an asshole to her. His question drew her attention and she felt a laugh sort of stick in her throat. "No one that's going to have a different reaction than mine," she said. Roxy, maybe, but now wasn't the time to call her best friend with this kind of news. Mila breathed in and out slowly before grimacing a little as she straightened in her chair. "Can you... not tell anyone? Not that I think you would but... I'd rather no one know about this until I can tell... the right person." Gavin wasn't much of a talker, but Mila couldn't take the risk that he might just mention her problem to his brothers, and she so didn't need Aaron finding out that way.
"Not my business to talk about," Gavin said and it wouldn't be unless - or until - it became a problem at work. He doubted she had someone who was going to step up and do the right thing so becoming a problem at work was a distinct possibility but not for a while yet. "I'll put a plug in those idiots out front too, alright?" He gave her a small smile he hoped was reassuring and then headed out to the bar again to make sure the two idiots in question weren't behind the bar helping themselves to the top shelf stuff.
She honestly had no idea if Aaron would step up and 'do the right thing'. Mila wasn't entirely sure what the right thing was just yet. She felt like they had something good going, but guys and babies... pregnancy could change a man's mind in an instant. Mila was still feeling a little shell shocked and overwhelmed and she gave Gavin a small, grateful smile, watching as he disappeared through the door. She took her time, breathing in and out, occasionally glancing down at the pregnancy test in her hand. Finally she stood up and returned to the bathroom to slip the test into her purse and throw the box and instructions into the waste bin. It had a lid so she didn't think about anyone actually seeing it. Mila washed her face and once she felt like she looked halfway decent, she shoved her purse into her locker again and headed out to the front to get focused and work. She would get through the next few hours, get home and maybe call Roxy. Right now she just needed to focus on making some money.