Alex stomped into the bathroom like he usually does when he is angry with her. He didn't even say anything this time he just hit her. She cried out but it was no use, nobody ever helped her, not even Howie. He raised his hand to hit her again and all she could do was duck and cover. But she never felt the blow, instead she looked up to see Howie and Alex fighting and they were going at it.
"Stop fighting." She heard Nick yelling as he grabbed Alex while Kevin snatched up Howie.
"We need a group meeting and everyone needs to attend." Alex said all out of breath.
Howie helped Linda off the floor. "Why didn't you tell me?" He asked, there seemed to be some hurt in his voice.
"I didn't know." Linda cried she moved away from him, she thought he was angry with her. Instead he put his arm around her and held her until Alex calling for them bugged him to death.
They all sat around the makeshift entertainment room on the bus. "So your really pregnant?" Kevin asked with a look of shock on his face.
"How far along?" Alex said and exhaled a plume of smoke.
"I don't know." Linda said.
"Well estimate" He said, he wasn't in a good mood.
"Well I would say about 4 months." Linda said and heard all the gasps around the room.
"So it’s too late to get rid of it?" Nick whined at her.
"Of course its too late you fucking idiot!" Brian yelled at him.
"What are we going to tell the press?" Kevin asked.
"I know guys," Howie said as he squeezed her hand under the table "Lets get rid of her." She squeezed his hand back.
"No way, if she had something to tell the press before, she really has something now." Nick said in his whiney tone.
Brian asked the question they all really wanted to know. "Which one of us is the father?"
A hush fell over the room since nobody knew the answer to the question. They all promptly got in an argument over who had the strongest sperm. Linda and Howie just walked out the room and let them argue amongst themselves.
They climbed into Howie's bunk and held each other. "What is going to happen Howie?" Linda asked. It was amazing how vulnerable she seemed.
"I don’t know… just go to sleep… you need your rest." He said trying to lighten the mood.
"I guess your right." Linda said. She fell asleep quickly but Howie just lay there. He smoothed her hair back and kissed her forehead. He just looked at her; looked at how fragile she was. "I love you." He said to her even though he thought she couldn't hear him. But she wasn’t really asleep and she heard every word he said. Howie shut his eyes and let his thought consume him. He was almost asleep when he felt Linda kiss him on the lips...
