"Have you told anyone about this?" His eyes pierce into mine. I contemplate lying to him but decide that's a hole I don't want to dig myself out of.
"No."
"So you have been faking a pregnancy for five months?" He is freaked out. I'm sure he is wondering what kind of person does that.
"I didn't exactly fake it. No one asked about the baby. I haven't seen Dakota in person since my Dad's funeral. Not for lack of him trying to see me. I guess I just felt guilty and ashamed."
"You know what happened to the baby isn't your fault, right? Things like that just happen, Blake."
"I just couldn't tell him, or anyone. I kept thinking, what if it was because I was stressed, what if it was because I worked out, what if it was because I didn't eat right. I couldn't shake the feeling that I could've done something different." It feels so good now that someone knows what happened. I have kept this inside for so long it almost feels like setting the flood gates loose. I understand that the way I went about handling everything wasn't the healthiest, but I couldn't shake the feeling of everyone placing the blame on me. I was doing enough of that for everyone.
"You shouldn't have gone through all of that alone. I'm sorry you felt like you had to." He squeezes my knee.
"I'm sorry about all of this mess. Thanks for bringing me here." I can't bring myself to look at him. I am so embarrassed about everything.
"If I could take all the pain away from you, I would." He seems apologetic.
"It's not your pain to take." I look up at him. He places both hands on my cheeks.
"Can I kiss you?" He is hesitating about an inch from my lips.
"You still want to?" I question.
"It's literally the only thing I want." He leans in and plants his lips on mine, just a simple light kiss.
He pulls back, his hand still tangled in my hair.
"Want me to start the shower for you?"
"No. I don't want to take this off yet." I cross my arms and pull his sweatshirt closer to me.
"I never thought I'd be jealous of an article of clothing." He laughs and pulls me onto his chest as he lies back onto the bed.
"Are you hungry?" He asks. After all that has happened over the past few hours, food doesn't sound too appealing.
"Pizza?" He smiles.
"Actually, that sounds really good."
He calls the pizza in, fumbles through his backpack and hands me my phone.
"I picked this up off the boat. The screen is busted. I'm not sure if it still works." He places the broken phone, which is less than a week old, in my hand. Honestly, I wasn't even worried about my phone.
"Shit!" I instantly remember leaving my camera on the boat.
"What is it?" He raises an eyebrow.
"I left my camera! Oh my Gosh! What if it rained!?" I am frantic at this point, I didn't give two shits about my phone, but the camera is special. Mostly due to the fact it came from Judson, but it's the most thoughtful gift I've ever gotten.
"It's okay, I will send someone after it. I have insurance on it, so it's fine. Don't worry about the camera." He pulls his phone out to send a "save the camera" text. I power my phone on at the same time, and the messages flood in.
Mom- Honey, where are you? I missed you at the hospital? What happened!?
Mom- Is it true? You aren't pregnant? Dakota is talking crazy!
Cami- Text me back. I'm coming to you.
I give Cami the info for the hotel because she deserves the truth. Judson opens the door for the pizza, except it's not the pizza guy. It's Cami, she already found me. When I said she was better than the FBI, I wasn't joking. She pushes by Judson brushing shoulders with him.