It Ends with Us

Shit. I guess this is happening sooner rather than later.
I slowly bring my hands up to my mouth, not sure what to tell her. How
much to tell her. I had no idea until this moment how much it’s been
killing me that I haven’t been able to talk to her about this. I almost feel a
little relieved that she reads me so well.
I walk to her bed and take a seat on it. “Allysa,” I whisper. “Sit down.”
I know this is going to hurt her almost as much as it hurt me. She walks
over to her bed and sits down next to me, pulling my hands to hers.
“I don’t even know where to start.”
She squeezes my hands, but says nothing. For the next fifteen minutes, I
tell her everything. I tell her about the fight. I tell her about Atlas picking
me up. I tell her about the hospital. I tell her about the pregnancy.
I tell her about how, for the last six weeks, I cry myself to sleep every
night because I have never felt so alone and so scared.
When I’m finished telling her everything, we’re both crying. She hasn’t
responded to what I’ve told her with anything other than the occasional
“Oh, Lily.”
She doesn’t have to respond, though. Ryle is her brother. I know she
wants me to take his past into consideration just like the last time it
happened. I know she’ll want me to work things out with him because he’s
her brother. We’re supposed to be one big, happy family. I know exactly
what she’s thinking.
She’s quiet for a long time as she struggles through everything I’ve told
her. She finally lifts her eyes to mine and squeezes my hands. “My brother
loves you, Lily. He loves you so much. You have changed his entire life and
have made him someone that I never thought he could be. As his sister, I
wish more than anything that you could find a way to forgive him. But as

---

your best friend, I have to tell you that if you take him back, I will never
speak to you again.”
It takes a moment for her words to register, but when they do, I start
sobbing.
She starts sobbing.
She wraps her arms around me and we cry over the mutual love we have
for Ryle. We cry over how much we hate him right now.
After several minutes of us sobbing pathetically on her bed, she releases
me and walks over to her dresser to retrieve a box of tissues.
We’re both wiping our eyes and sniffling when I say, “You’re the best
friend I’ve ever had.”
She nods. “I know. And now I’m gonna be the best aunt.” She wipes her
nose and sniffles again, but she’s smiling. “Lily. You’re having a baby.” She
says it with excitement, and it’s the first moment I’ve been able to share
any sense of joy over my pregnancy. “I hate to say it, but I noticed you put
on weight. I thought you were just depressed and eating a lot since Ryle
left.”
She walks to the back of her closet and starts pulling things out for me.
“I have so many maternity clothes to give you.”
We start going through clothes and she pulls down a suitcase and opens
it. She begins to throw things toward the suitcase until it starts to overflow.
“I could never wear these,” I tell her, holding up a shirt that still has the
tag on it. “They’re all designer. I’ll get them dirty.”
She laughs and shoves them into the suitcase anyway. “I won’t need
them back. If I get pregnant again, I’ll just have my people buy me more.”
She pulls a shirt off a hanger and hands it to me. “Here, try this one on.”
I take my shirt off and then pull the maternity shirt over my head.
When I get it into place, I look in the mirror.
I look . . . pregnant. Like you-can’t-hide-this-shit pregnant.
She puts a hand on my stomach and stares in the mirror with me. “Have
you found out if it’s a boy or a girl?”
I shake my head. “I don’t really want to know.”
“I hope it’s a girl,” she says. “Our daughters can be besties.”
“Lily?”
We both spin around to find Marshall standing in the doorway. His eyes
are on my stomach. On Allysa’s hand still on my stomach. He tilts his head.
He points at me.

---

“You . . .” he says, confused. “Lily, there’s a . . . do you realize you’re
pregnant?”
Allysa calmly walks to the door and puts her hand on the doorknob.
“There are some things you are never, ever to repeat if you want to keep
me as your wife. This is one of those things. Understood?”
Marshall raises his eyebrows and takes a step back. “Yes. Okay. Got it.
Lily is not pregnant.” He kisses Allysa on the forehead and looks back at
me. “I am not telling you congratulations, Lily. For absolutely nothing.”
Allysa shoves him all the way out the door and closes it, then turns back to
me.
“We need to plan a baby shower,” she says.
“No. I need to tell Ryle first.”
She waves her hand dismissively. “We don’t need him to plan a shower.
We’ll just keep it between the two of us until then.”
She pulls out her laptop, and for the first time since I found out I was
pregnant, I feel happy about it.

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