whirlwind

Four - Tears

"We need to talk."

That was the first word her father said the very second Cara walked in the door.

Nicolas had dropped her off at her house moments prior, locking the doors to the car and not letting her leave until she promised - no - swore to him that she wouldn't do anything dumb to harm to herself or the baby.

Cara nodded, promising that she wouldn't.

"Don't do anything stupid," he had told her, his eyes hardening.

Pursing her lips, she frowned, reaching out and placing her hand on his forearm, causing him to be surprised at the sudden contact, but She made no move to remove it.

"I promise you, that I won't let anything happen to the baby," Cara had whispered, making eye contact so that he knew she was being serious.

He seemed happy with her answer, and let her go, telling her that he would be keeping an eye on her.

Nicolas was very upfront with her, not pleasant, but not unpleasant.

She knew she would manage.

What she couldn't manage, however, was the way her father was looking at her.

As soon as she walked in, he grabbed her by the arm and pulled her into the living room, setting her down on the couch. Cara noticed her mother lingering in the corner of the room, a worried expression on her face.

What could this be about?

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"You know what's wrong," her father quipped, pulling out a piece of paper from his back pocket.

He threw it at Cara, and she raised her eyebrows, noticing it was an envelope.

"Open it."

Cara sent the man a weary glance, before beginning to tear open the envelope.

Looking inside, she saw that it was a few photographs. As she pulled them out, her heart sank, and she felt nauseous.

The first photo clearly showed Nicolas and herself, him smirking and herself laughing as he spun her around. The second photo was again of the duo, this time Nicolas' face was dangerously close as he dipped the girl low, her arms wrapping around him for support. The last, and most terrifying photo, showed Cara in his arms, his hands around her and her arms strewn along his neck as he kissed her.

Cara stuttered, gasping as she looked up at her mother and then her father.

"How did you get these?"

"When was this?" Hugh asked, ignoring his daughter's question.

"Who took these pictures?" She asked again, a fire igniting. He had invaded her privacy.

"Cara!" Her father snapped. "Answer me, damn it!"

Cara flinched at his voice, and watched her mother place a calming hand on his arm, which didn't do much.

"Do you know who he is?"

If she lied, there was a fifty percent chance that her father would believe it, and a fifty percent chance that he already knew the answer, so if she was caught in said lie, it would be worse for her.

"Nicolas Callaghan," she spoke softly, not making eye contact.

"Exactly, Nicolas Callaghan. He's my rival, Cara. If the tabloids caught wind of this, we'd have the press on our ass."

Cara's mother stood, still looking in the verge of tears.

"Did you have s*x with him?"

Cara was never a good liar, so to avoid answering, she inhaled and put her head in her hands, sighing.

They both knew what that meant.

She had.

"You're eighteen! He's in his 20's. It might as well be criminal," her father yelled, anger bubbling.

"Did he r**e you?" Her mother asked, hoping — praying — that she could find a scenario other than the possibility that her daughter chose this ending.

"Were you drugged?"

"No!" Cara angrily burst, standing. "I wasn't r***d, I wasn't drugged. It was my choice!"

At that, they both looked at her with the most disgusted looks she had ever seen, before leaving the room and slamming the door behind them, leaving her sitting on the couch. Quickly, she left up to her room, slamming her own door as she crumpled to her bed, sobbing into her hands.

"I really messed up now, didn't I?" She cried to herself, the only noise being her own.

"Cara?"

The girl immediately looked up, seeing a familiar shape sitting on her window frame.

"Benjamin?" She asked quietly. "You can't, you can't be here."

Ben had always been able to climb up the lattice against her wall, easily getting into her room. They had done this many times before, but after everything that happened, now wasn't the best time.

"What happened?" Ben whispered, moving inside, beside her and pulling her into a hug.

"My parents found pictures of Nicolas and I."

"They know about your...."

"Pregnancy?" She whispered. "No, but they know I slept with him."

Cara took a deep breath.

"I went to his house, Ben. I met him and his family for the first real time. I'm going through with this," she told him, watching his face.

In turn, Benjamin watched her face, brushing his hands through her hair, then cupping her face and kissing her cheek.

"If this is your decision, Car, you know I'll support you through it and help you in every way I can."

She smiled softly at him.

"Thanks, Ben. You don't know how much that means to me."

He laughed and shook his head, when footsteps quickly approached her room.

Cara panicked, but calmed down when she saw that Ben had already slipped out the window and had began working his way down.

Turning, Cara saw her mother open the door, still looking disappointed and sad, completely oblivious to Ben's visit.

"Dinner is ready."

"I'm not hungry," she bit, in no mood to put up with her own judgmental family.

The older woman frowned, but left and closed the door anyway.

Sighing, Cara laid down on her bed, folding her hands over her stomach when her phone rang, disturbing her brief peace.

Not bothering to check the ID, she knew it was Benjamin.

"What do you want, Ben?"

"I think it would be a good idea for you to eat something, love."

Cara was shocked at the voice, standing up when she heard it.

"Nicolas?"

She paused, turning around her room. He was somewhere which meant he heard the conversation with Ben and her parents.

"Are you eavesdropping?"

She heard his chuckle.

Raising her eyebrows, she stomped over to the window, flinging back her curtains to see a familiar man leaning against her mothers car in front of her yard. The window had been open the whole time — of course he heard.

Even in the sunset, she could see the grin on his face.

She raised her eyebrows.

"You were eavesdropping," she accused him.

He chuckled. "I'm just looking out for you, love. Now, go eat."

"But I'm not hungry," she protested, pursing her lips.

"It doesn't matter," Nicolas spoke. "You're eating for two."

With that, he hung up the phone and was gone.