When Worlds Collide
Chapter 10
By: Bella
"What?" Benji said in disbelief. "What makes you think that?"
"I'm late. I haven't been late once since I was 12 years old," she said in a hushed tone.
"Well, hopefully it's just a mistake. I mean, this happens to people sometimes, but they aren't really pregnant. Plus, we're always careful. There's no way," he said, trying to justify why it was impossible for her to be pregnant.
She looked back up at him with tears in her eyes. "Oh God Benj, what are we going to do if I am pregnant? My parents would kill me if they thought I was pregnant before I got married. And I can't tell them we got married without them. Either way my already rocky relationship would be doomed."
"I don't know what to say," he said quietly. "My mom would be so disappointed, too. I really don't know what to do, except take a test and see if you even are pregnant. Maybe you're not. You can't be."
---
"Time's up," Tristen stated the obvious, as she and Benji both had their eyes glued to the alarm clock waiting until it was time to check the pregnancy test that they had purchased earlier.
"Fuck, I can't look," Benji said. "Go look and tell me."
Tristen rolled her eyes. "Fine," she said, hurt that he wouldn't find out with her. Benji watched her as she walked into the bathroom and out of his view for a few seconds. She came back out slowly, with tears streaming down her face.
"It's positive," she said, as she sat next to Benji on the bed and continued crying. Benji was speechless. He sat there for a few minutes listening to her cry, and then got up and grabbed his wallet and room card off of the dresser that was next to the door.
"I need fresh air," was all he said, as he opened the door and disappeared through it. This made Tristen even more upset because now she felt alone. She laid down and watched tv for a few hours, but finally ended up crying herself to sleep that night before Benji had returned. While out, Benji went for a long walk just to think. He wound up so far away without even remembering everywhere that he had been, that he had to take a taxi back to his hotel because he didn't know the way back. Thinking hadn't done him much good though, and he still felt every bit as confused as he did when he had begun his walk.
He finally returned a few hours later, late that night, which woke her up. He turned one of the small lights on so that he could see, but once he realized that she was awake, he turned on a big light. Neither said a thing to the other, as he took off his pants and changed his t-shirt. He got into bed, but they didn't cuddle or even sleep facing one another like they usually did. Instead, they slept far apart on either side of the bed with their backs to eachother. Neither got a good night's sleep that night.
---
Benji and Tristen arrived safely to Michigan the next day, but still hadn't said a word to one another since the events of the previous day. Both looked tired and distressed which each of their bandmates noticed, but both Benji and Tristen denied that anything was wrong.
Pacifica had only two more dates left on the tour, but Good Charlotte would be playing until the end of the tour, which meant for another month. The original plan was that Tristen would continue to travel with Benji for the remainder of the Warped Tour, but they had gotten into a huge fight over telling everyone that they were already married, which eventually led to fighting about their lack of recent communication and who was to blame for it, and eventually resulted in the calling off of their engagement.
Each was forced to tell their bandmates about the situation, and this time told them the whole truth. Tristen decided to go home with her bandmates and live with her parents again. Benji and Tristen told their families, friends, and fans about their canceled engagement, but neither had the guts to mention the pregnancy. Neither had even had the guts to speak the other once it had been called off.
"How could I have been so stupid?" Tristen cried, as she lay on the couch in her large room while Trevor walked out onto her balcony and admired the ocean view. Tristen's favorite thing about finally being home again for the first time in ages was that she could hear the crashing of the waves in the ocean from her bedroom.
"You weren't stupid," Trevor said, walking away from the balcony and over to a giant bean bag chair that sat in front of her couch. "You thought you were in love. Love makes us do crazy things."
"No, what I did was stupid. You can be in love with somebody without marrying them the first day that you meet them! What am I gonna do? It's too late to get the marriage annulled, so now I will be a divorced, single mother," she said sadly.
"Tristen, it doesn't make any sense. At first you guys disagreed because he wanted you guys to tell your parents that you guys were already married, but you insisted that you don't, but now that you're not even going to have the big wedding you're going to have to tell your parents about it anyway. Unless, of course, you have some brilliant idea for a lie to tell that can cover up the fact that you will be divorcing him and carrying his child," Trevor said to her.
"I know," she said with a sigh. "It's all so fucked up."
---
-one month later-
"May I speak to Ms. Tristen McFaron please?"
"This is she."
"This is Shelby Rodriguez from Washington Mutual. I was just calling to inform you that your loan has been approved and all necessary steps in ensuring that your new home will in fact be all yours have been taken. All we need is for you and your fiance to sign a few papers. When would be a convenient time for the both of you?"
"I'm not sure about our schedules at the moment. Can I get back to you later this week?"
"Not a problem. I'll talk to you in a few days."
"Bye."
"Goodbye."
Tristen hung up the phone and immediately burst into tears.
"What's the matter, dear?" her mother asked her as she came into the kitchen to find her daughter sitting at the table sobbing.
"Benji Ebank Eour house," was all she could get out in between sobs. Her mother understood though and came over to console her. She sat down next to her and wrapped her arms around her daughter, which was something that she didn't do very often.
"You know, you two are going to have to talk at some point," she said, trying to make her daughter realize that sooner was better than later. "Whether or not you two get back together, you still have unfinished business that you need to take care of."
"I know, mummy," she said, using the nickname that she had used for her mother for as long as she could remember. "I know."
Later that afternoon, Tristen awoke from a nap that she had been taking in her bed to the sound of Benji's voice singing to her and and his acoustic guitar. Startled from her sleep at the sound of the music, her eyes fluttered open to see Benji sitting on the couch opposite her bed, looking at her while he sang and played his guitar.
"I'm so sorry that I have hurt you
And I'm so sorry that I haven't been here, too
I'm so happy that you're having my baby
And that's why I was thinking maybe
If you're feeling as lonely as I am
And you're missing me as much as I miss you that
We could be happy again
We could be happy again
We could be happy again
I want us to be happy again"
Tristen couldn't speak. She wasn't sure whether she was dreaming or whether he was really in her room singing to her. It felt to her like it had been ages since she had seen him or heard his voice, and she missed it so much.
"I wrote that on the plane," Benji said quietly, looking into her eyes with tears in his. "I know it's short, but I meant every word of it. I was talking to Joel last night and realized that I am my father. I always said that I would never be like him, and yet what I did to you and our baby was exactly what he did to us. I abandoned you and our child when I let you go."
"It's okay," she said, trying to sympathize with him. He looked like he was really hurting.
"No, it's not okay. It will never be okay. But last night I realized that I'm excited about having a baby. I don't care what my mom thinks, or what your parents think, or what anyone else thinks about us anymore. I love you, I know you used to love me, and we made a child. Trissy, I swear to you that I will always be here for you and our baby. I will be the best father ever. And I'll love you both more than anyone has ever loved anyone before," he said, letting a tear slip down his cheek.
Tristen got out of bed and walked over to the couch where he still sat. She sat down next to him and looked into his eyes.
"I still love you, too," was all that she could say. He hugged her and spoke into her ear.
"Can we be a family?" he asked.
"I would love to be a family," she said. "But I have something to tell you."
"What?" he asked.
"I'm not pregnant."