Author's Note: Okay, so... I should work on the reception chapter to my other story, BUT this was just rattling around in my head and I couldn't get rid of it! I've never written anything like this, and I don't want to say why because it will give it away (although it says at the end and don't you DARE cheat and go look now!) but if you're not into what it is then please forgive me. I didn't used to be. Now I am. Ah well.
GUESS WHAT PEOPLE!! I'm out of school for the summer. What does that mean? I'm going to actually have TIME to write! Woot! Expect me to update better in the future now that I'm actually able to breathe.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. What do I own? The plot? No. The characters? No. My mind? No, not even that. Vasya, my darling muse that is currently refusing to talk, owns that. Ah well, thus is my life. Read and review, please!
"Whoever this is, you had better have a good reason for calling me this early in the morning or there's going to be hell to pay," Tala growled into the phone.
"Hi, Tala," a whispered voice came through the phone.
"Miguel? What on earth has possessed you to wake me up on a Saturday morning when you knew I'd be asleep?" Tala asked. Tala smiled as he felt Claude snuggle closer to him in his sleep, and wrapped his free arm tighter around his boyfriend.
"It's about Kai," Miguel replied, obviously distressed.
"What's wrong?" Tala asked, turning deathly serious. "Is he okay? Do I need to call Bryan and arrange a little disappearing act for someone?"
"I don't know," Miguel sighed. "He's been acting really weird lately. Whenever I ask him what's going on, he just tells me it's nothing to be worried about. I don't have a clue what's going on, and I'm really worried about him. I don't know what to do, Tala. I didn't know who else to turn to that could help me."
Tala frowned, suddenly deep in thought. Miguel had been dating for almost two years now, much longer than the three months that he and Claude had been seeing each other. Tala had never seen Kai as happy as he has been ever since he and Miguel started dating, and that happiness had increased when they had taken their relationship to another level just two months before. It didn't make sense that Kai, who had been so happy lately, suddenly was anything less than perfect.
"Tala, are you still there?"
"Yeah I'm here, I was just thinking," Tala murmured, and glanced down as he felt Claude shift positions as he began to wake. "How long as this been going on?"
"About a month," Miguel replied. "Everything was fine until about a month ago. Now he gets upset really easily and he hardly lets me hold his hand because he doesn't want to be touched. Tala, what if he doesn't want to be with me anymore?"
Tala winced. He'd heard Miguel upset before, but he'd never heard Miguel sound quite so broken before. "You' are being ridiculous. Kai loves you more than anything in the world. He's not going to leave you."
"How do you know?" Miguel practically yelled. "You haven't talked to him! How do you know that he hasn't suddenly decided we're not meant to be together? How do you know he hasn't realized he doesn't love me after all?"
"Miguel, stop being stupid!" Claude said, having wrenched the phone from his boyfriend's grasp upon hearing Miguel's outburst. "I'm getting dressed and coming over. Now." With that, Claude handed the phone back to Tala and got up to get ready.
"Do you know where Kai is?" Tala asked.
"He's probably at the park. He's been spending a lot of time there lately."
"I'm going to grab Spencer and we'll go talk to him. You just relax and talk to Claude," Tala said as he too got up to get changed.
"What about Bryan?" Miguel asked.
"Are you kidding?" Tala laughed. "Bryan is with Ray. They have plans today already."
Fifteen minutes later Tala and Claude were walking down the street towards Kai and Miguel's apartment. Tala had his arm wrapped protectively around his boyfriend as he led him quickly down the street.
"You're walking awfully fast," Claude said. "What's the hurry? You have absolutely nowhere you have to be today."
"I'm meeting Spencer at the North entrance to the park in ten minutes. By the time we get you to Miguel's, I'm going to have to run to make it."
"Yeah, because they're a ten minute walk to the park in the first place. Good thing you run all the time!" Claude laughed. When the two finally reached Miguel's door, Tala gave Claude a quick kiss before Claude let himself into the apartment and Tala took off running towards the park.
"You're late," Spencer said as Tala came to a stop in front of him. "Brooklyn was here earlier, and he said he saw Kai at his usual spot. He won't be too hard to find."
Tala nodded and the two walked into the park, eventually straying from the real path and onto a path that very few knew existed. Eventually they reached a little clearing with a waterfall, and found Kai sitting by the waterfall on the grass and gazing into the water. Tala and Spencer sat on either side of him, but he didn't even acknowledge their presence.
"Kai, what's up?" Tala asked casually, and felt relieved when Kai looked at him. The worry returned when he noticed the blank look in Kai's eyes, though.
"Hi, Tala," Kai mumbled before returning to staring at the water. Tala and Spencer exchanged worried glances, before returning their attention to Kai.
"Is something wrong, Kai?" Spencer asked quietly.
"I'm fine, Spence," Kai replied quietly. Tala frowned.
"Coming from you, you'll understand if I take that as a clue that you're not fine. Miguel is worried sick about you, and I'll be damned if I don't figure out what's going on with you right now," Tala practically growled.
"I just haven't felt like myself lately," Kai sighed. At the look he received from Tala, Kai sighed again, wrapping his arms around his knees and resting his head on them. "For about a month I haven't felt like myself. I don't feel sick exactly, but I'm so tired and I snap at Tyson easier than I used to. Some mornings I'll wake up and feel okay, but other mornings I'll wake up and feel like I have the flu. I don't get the flu."
The three of them were silent for a moment, as Tala and Spencer tried to digest this information. Suddenly Spencer tensed. Tala gave him a curious look, but Kai didn't even seem to notice.
"Tala, how about you go and see what Claude is up to," Spencer said, giving Tala a look that told him he needed to talk to Kai alone. Tala nodded, easily getting the hint. He placed a hand on Kai's back gently, before jumping up and going back to Kai and Miguel's apartment.
"Tala!" Claude half yelled as Tala entered the apartment. "Where are Spencer and Kai?"
"Spencer wanted to talk to Kai alone about something. I didn't really ask any questions about it," Tala said as he sat down in the living room. Miguel glanced up at Tala, and Tala nearly winced. The look in Miguel's eyes was about as broken as his voice had been earlier.
"Hi, Tala," Miguel said quietly. Tala glanced at his boyfriend to see the blonde giving his friend a very concerned look.
"Hi, Miguel," Tala replied gently.
"Did you talk to Kai?" Claude asked, as he sat down in a chair, not wanting to show affections to his boyfriend when his best friend was feeling so down about his own relationship.
"He said he isn't feeling like himself. Some mornings he wakes up and feels like he has the flu, it's so bad. He doesn't know what's wrong. Miguel, I don't think he's any less in love with you than he's ever been; I think he's scared because he knows something's different and for once he can't explain it."
"Why didn't he just talk to me, instead of making me worry like this?" Miguel frowned, still not really convinced.
Tala chuckled, shaking his head. "Probably just being Kai, honestly," Tala said. "He used to do this in the abbey. There was one time where he sprained his wrist. He refused to talk to us about it because he didn't want to worry us. He didn't realize that he was making us even more worried than we would have been if he would have just told us."
"What happened when you guys found out?" Claude asked curiously.
"Spencer gave him a lecture about not telling us and then patched him up. We trust Spencer more than any doctor, because that's what he became for us in the abbey. We didn't trust their doctors because they cared more about experiments than actual healing, so if we got sick or hurt we went to Spencer. That's why more than half of his personal library at his and Brooklyn's place is filled with medical books."
Miguel nodded slowly, before sinking into the couch and sighing miserably.
"Don't worry, Miguel," Claude said gently. "If something's wrong with Kai, Spencer will figure it out."
The three of them continued to sit there for a few hours, just talking and trying to cheer Miguel up. Eventually after putting on a movie, Tala and Miguel fell asleep. Claude was close to sleep as well, when there was a knock at the door. Claude jumped up and ran to the door.
"Claude," Spencer nodded as he came inside, followed closely by Kai, who was currently looking as if he had just seen a ghost. "Can you get Tala for me? I think Kai and Miguel need to talk."
"Sure," Claude nodded, before running back into the living room and shaking his lover. "Tala, Spencer and Kai are here. Spencer wants us to clear out so Kai and Miguel can talk," Claude said as Tala began to sit up groggily. Claude pulled the redhead out the door faster than Kai and Spencer could register.
"You need to tell him," Spencer whispered, placing a comforting hand on Kai's shoulder. Those brilliant eyes looked up at him and the fear and sadness there was written so plainly that it tugged at Spencer's heart. "It's going to be okay, Kai. You've got plenty of people that will help you get through this. Tala, Bryan, and I go to hell and back for you, and you know that. I promise you, everything is going to be fine."
"What if Miguel leaves me, Spence? I can't have him leave me now, I really can't. I need him," Kai said, on the brink of tears.
"Miguel is better than that. He's not going to leave you because of this. If anything, he's not going to even let you go to the bathroom by yourself, he'll be following you around so much!" Spencer said, desperately trying to ease Kai's fear. Kai smiled a little, and hugged Spencer tightly.
"Thank you, Spencer. I'm glad I have you as a friend," Kai said. Spencer nodded, before making his own exit and going after Tala and Claude. Kai sighed and walked into the living room, to find his gorgeous blonde lover asleep on the couch.
Kai immediately felt guilty the moment he saw Miguel. Kai had long since gotten used to the peaceful look that was always on Miguel's face as he slept. The look now was one of discomfort and worry, and Kai knew in his heart that he was the cause of it.
"Miguel?" Kai whispered, as he knelt down and brushed some of the hair away from Miguel's face. The blonde instantly opened his eyes, and sat up. He reached towards Kai hesitantly, as if he was afraid Kai would pull away from him.
The hesitation at touching him tore Kai up inside, and he lunged at Miguel, clinging to him for dear life as he finally allowed himself to cry. Miguel was stunned, but he instantly wrapped his arms around his boyfriend and rubbed his back soothingly.
"Miguel, I'm so sorry," Kai choked out. "I'm so sorry for how I've been acting. You don't deserve this. You deserve so much better than me."
Miguel tensed, and pulled away slightly from Kai, before forcing Kai to look him in the eyes. "Never say that again," Miguel said forcefully. Kai was about to protest, before Miguel gave him a passionate kiss that made Kai completely forget what he was about to say. "Kai, I love you more than anything in the world. It doesn't matter if we deserve each other or not, because I'd be willing to make arguments that you deserve better than me. What matters is how much we love each other, and how much we want to be together. I want you in my life, now and forever."
"Miguel, I'm sorry," Kai said. Miguel gave him a stern look, but Kai shook his head and continued. "I'm sorry I'm acting like this. I can't help it, really. Spencer said I should expect to be more emotional than before."
"So something is wrong?" Miguel asked, tightening his hold on his boyfriend.
"I don't know," Kai murmured, getting a very confused look from Miguel. "I guess it depends. I mean, it's not something we've ever talked about before, so I guess that's why I'm so afraid to tell you. I'm afraid that you're not going to be happy."
"Are you happy?" Miguel asked quietly, running his hands through Kai's hair.
"I'm happy, but I'm also terrified out of my mind," Kai replied, giving Miguel a weak smile.
"Kai, I can't figure this out. Please, tell me what's going on," Miguel asked.
Kai took a deep breath, before turning in Miguel's lap so he was straddling him. "Apparently, one of the experiments that they did on me back in the abbey was a little more complicated than any of us could have imagined. Spencer's not worried about the others, for reasons you'll probably quickly understand, but with me it's obvious why this happened."
"You're confusing me, Kai. Please, just tell me."
Kai placed a hand on Miguel's cheek, before leaning down to kiss him. Miguel wiped a stray tear from Kai's cheek, and Kai took that hand in his own. Kai then took a deep breath, and looked straight into Miguel's eyes. "Miguel, I'm pregnant."
Gasp! See what I mean? I've never written Mpreg before. I'm so sorry if anyone that was reading this is now dissapointed because I threw that in, and I'm sorry it hasn't been mentioned, but I didn't want to ruin that and I figured I'd rather apologize profusely than spoil something I wrote. Forgive me while I hang my head in shame.
If you're wondering, no, I don't think this is complete. I can't just leave it like that, now, can I? Muahaha.
Thanks for reading!