The Story of Us (Book 1 of "The Story of Us" Series) [Completed]

Chapter 34 - Just A Dream

[Harley]

Finding out that Nick had been arrested for drunk driving and cocaine possession was probably the most shocking thing that has ever happened to me besides finding out that I was pregnant and finding out my mother was dead. I never expected it to happen. I should have seen it coming though and that was my own fault.

I'm not sure why I put so much faith into Nick. He's let me down so many times before but I thought this time was going to be different. I thought we had worked through everything and that we were on the road to happiness, whatever that was. I knew he wanted me back to the way we used to be before all the problems and the split, Paris and Ashton and the wedding plans.

Deep down, I really thought we were going to get to that point, especially after Ella came. But once I heard that magic word "arrested," I knew that day would never come. How was I supposed to trust him with what was going to be the most precious thing in my life if he couldn't even be straight with me about being clean and sober? I couldn't and I wouldn't trust him.

It sounded bitchy at the time, but I didn't want him anywhere near the baby or me until I knew he was clean and really clean. There was no way I was going to bring this child into the world with a crack-sniffing father who drinks and drives. Sure, we all make mistakes but at that point in his life, how many mistakes had Nick made like that?

The stress was eating at me. My management and publicist kept calling me, wondering if I had a statement about Nick going into rehab. Then I somehow got thrown into the gossip. The craziest gossip story was that Nick and I were getting married, I caught him cheating and he went on a bender. Yeah, because I could get Nick to commit to marriage. I couldn't even get him to commit to being a father to his own child, much less commit to being a husband.

The stress was getting to me so bad that my blood pressure had sky rocketed through the roof. I was spotting at one point and my doctor had to make a house call one night since he didn't live far from me. He told me I could either be admitted to the hospital where I was certain to get some rest or he could put me on complete bed rest at home.

There was no way I could go into the hospital without someone finding out so I opted for bed rest at home. I moved from my bed, to the living room sofa or to the bathroom. That was it. I tried my best not to let it bother me, but I couldn't help it. I was hurting, not only from the stress I was under but because deep down, I was hurt that Nick lied to me. That he didn't trust me enough about what he was feeling because we had been so honest with each other for that past year and a half. And something changed, what I don't know, but it hurt me.

[/Harley]

[May 2006]

Nick stared out the sliding door window of his private room at the Betty Ford Clinic. He had been in the clinic for ten days and since then, he felt like he was jail all over again. He woke up at 6:30 in the morning, took some medicine that was prescribed for him after an initial consultation. The doctor said he suffered from anxiety and depression.

Nick wanted to tell the man if his ex-girlfriend was pregnant with his kid, he would have anxiety too, but he didn't.

When it came time to talk in group sessions, he just talked about partying, being famous and what kind of trouble that could get you in. He never talked once talked about Harley and their situation. He couldn't. He didn't trust the random people in his group sessions, especially the chick who he knew was a friend of Paris'. No way in hell.

"Nick," a male nurse said as Nick looked over to see the tall, slender black guy standing there. "You wanted me to let you know when you could use the phone. You can now."

"Thanks," Nick smiled, climbing off the bed. He walked to his door and out into the hallway, making his way down to the living area of the male section of the hospital. He hated the living area because it reminded him of a hospital and he hated hospitals.

He sat down, dialing Harley's number and sighed, listening to it ring.

"Hello?" Harley asked, not recognizing the number. "Is anybody there?"

"Hey, it's me, don't hang up," Nick said as Harley sighed, leaning back against her bed's headboard. "I finally got telephone privileges today and I wanted to call you and check on you and..."

"Nick, don't worry about us. You didn't worry about us when you were out getting arrested," Harley said as Nick took a deep breath.

"Harley, I know you're mad at me..."

"Nick, that doesn't begin to describe what I've been going through," she said. "Seriously, why didn't you tell me you were freaked out? I would have helped you through it. How many times have we had this conversation about keeping stuff from one another? I thought we were past that."

"We were..."

"Don't call me anymore while you're in there, Nick," Harley said as she took a deep breath. "I won't answer it, if you do. You can fill up my voice mail all you want, but I won't listen to it."

"Harley..."

"Nick, I can't deal with this right now!" she yelled, causing him to jump a little. "It's not good for me and it's not good for the baby so please, get better and leave me the fuck alone." With that, Nick heard the phone click and sighed. She had hung up.

He hung the phone up, looked at it and picked it back up. He was going to call her until she talked to him, even if it meant annoying the hell out of her.