Lizzie walked out of the room in a daze. She wasn’t pregnant. She couldn’t wait to tell Jonathon. She smiled impishly at him. “What’s wrong?” he asked.   

            “Nothing…I’m not pregnant!”

            Jonathon’s mouth dropped. “W-what?” he asked.

            “I never was pregnant…it was a mistake…”

            “Thank God!” Jonathon said hugging her close. 

            Lizzie was silent as he held her.

            “Liz?” he asked concerned as he leaned away from her. “Are you okay?”

            “Yeah, I didn’t want to raise him…or her by myself anyways.”
            “You wouldn’t have been by yourself,” Jonathon said. 

            “Who would have helped me?”

            “I would have…what kind of friend do you think I am?” Jonathon teased. 

            Lizzie remained silent and smiled back weakly. “Let’s go,” she said wanting to be rid of this place. 

            “OK…Liz, are you OK?”

            “I’m fine….why wouldn’t I be fine?”

            “I don’t know…forget it…” Jonathon said feeling stupid.

♠

            Once they arrived at the apartment, Lizzie went to her room and shut the door. Jonathon decided not to risk getting yelled at so he opted to go get a large extra cheese pizza for them. A while after he left, Lizzie wandered out of her room and saw that he wasn’t there. Great! This is just great… her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. 

            “It’ unlocked, J.T.,” she called.

            She went to the fridge to get him out a Pepsi and one for herself too. She heard the door open and his footsteps. Then she felt arms encircle her waist and lips on her neck. Lizzie’s heart beat a little faster. She turned in his arms, eyes closed, and he kissed her passionately. She heard the door opening but ignored it. He was leading her towards her room. She giggled, but he cut it off with another kiss. She faintly heard a voice calling her name but pushed it aside, then her mind registered the voice. J.T.? Then who’s… Her stomach contorted, as she pushed the guy away and made a mad dash to the bathroom. Eww! Who did I kiss? She asked herself rinsing out her mouth. Then she went to the front door and opened it up. 

            “Hey, Lizzie, what took so long?” Jonathon asked pizza in hand.

            She threw her arms around him, careful to avoid the pizza. “I’m so glad to see you.”

            She felt one of his arms encircle her and his warm breath on her hair. “I’m glad to see you, too,” Jonathon said trying to cover his confusion. His arms tightened as he asked, “Who’s he?”

            Elizabeth looked behind her and gasped. “Uh-that’s Tyler Kinkirk…Do you remember him?”

            Jonathon’s jaw clenched. “Yeah, I remember him.”

            He hated Tyler all through school…and you dated Tyler too. “Get out of our apartment, Tyler,” Lizzie ordered.

            “Oh come on, Bethy. You were kissing me pretty nicely just a few seconds ago.”

            Elizabeth felt herself blush. “I didn’t know you were you. I thought you were someone else and you knew it,” she said blushing more.

            Tyler smiled wickedly. Oh no! He wouldn’t.

            “Do you know who she thought I was?” he askedJonathon.

            He would. She glanced at Jonathon. Please don’t hate me, she pleaded silently.

            “Who?” Jonathon asked, more interested than he wanted to be. It’s not you, Jonny-boy.  

            “You. Isn’t that hilarious?”

            Jonathon’s mouth dropped open, and he looked down at Lizzie. She had tears in his eyes and running down her face.

            Jonathon lifted her face up and brushed away her tears with his thumb. He waited until she looked at his eyes. “Really?”

            She slowly nodded then looked back at the floor.

            He forced her eyes back up to his. Then he kissed her cheek.

            Lizzie looked searchingly in Jonathon’s eyes and smiled at what she saw there. Lizzie went up on tiptoe and kissed him squarely on the lips. He smiled back at her and then smirked at Tyler. “I guess we know who she really wants.” Jonathon possessively put his arms around Lizzie who’d turned to face Tyler. She was grinning like crazy. This is so wonderful! 

            After Tyler left, Lizzie sat on the couch with Jonathon. His arm was around her, and her head was on his shoulder. Lizzie smiled at him, and he smiled back then kissed her. “You know what?” Jonathon asked.

            “What?” Lizzie asked.

            “Maybe we shouldn’t be living together anymore.”

            “What!?”

            “Liz, I had a hard enough time before I knew that you liked me…I don’t want to do anything to screw this up, like last time”
            “J.T.,” Lizzie said turning towards him. “You didn’t do anything last time. I did…and it was the stupidest thing that I’ve ever done…”

            “Really?” he asked searching her eyes.

            “Really…my mom was right you know…if I would’ve stuck it out in high school…we could already be married and having a baby.”

            Jonathon stilled.

            Lizzie looked at him oddly. “J.T.?”

            “Do you really think that we would have made it this far?”

            “Yeah, I do.”

            “Liz?”

            “Yeah?” she asked snuggling against him.

            “I love you.”

Lizzie’s throat clogged and tears spilled from her eyes.
            “Liz?” Jonathon asked concerned.

            She shook her head and said, “I love you, too…I just can’t believe that you love me…not after what I—” Jonathon silenced her with a kiss. 

            “You silly woman,” he said lovingly. “I’ve always loved you. You have always had my heart, and you always will.”

            Lizzie smiled and kissed him. Then she sighed contentedly. So this is what it feels like to be in love. Why didn’t I figure it out sooner?