The Secret I Tried to Keep

Chapter 55

*Chandria's POV*

I knew I wouldn't have been able to go to sleep without talking to Zane first. I grabbed a jacket and went out to my car. I drove the short distance to Zane's house and knocked on the front door. Presley opened the door with a hopeful face. When she saw me her face went to one of worry. She wasn't here, which could only mean...

"He isn't here, is he?" I asked knowingly. She looked at my guiltily.

"He stormed out about an hour ago after his appointment with Dr. Murphy. I thought he would get some sense into him and come back, but..." Presley trained off. I sighed. I really did not want to deal with this right now. I punched the bridge of my nose before I took a deep breath and let go.

"How did he seem?" I asked tiredly.

"Like Zane 2014," Presley said. Great, that was sophomore Zane who began blazing a path through every female in school twice as fast as he did the previous year.

"Why?" I muttered to myself. "Do you know where he went?" I asked. She grabbed a coat and I tossed her my keys.

"No, but I have a GPS tracker on his phone," she said. I raised an eyebrow at her as I got in the passenger seat. She shrugged.

"What? I learned my lesson last time. Just don't tell him that it's on," she said. I swore I wouldn't tell him before she pulled up his location and we followed it. It ended at some swanky hotel downtown. I sighed and shook my head. And here Tyler was worried about Zane still being in love with me. We waited in the lobby since we couldn't get an exact room. I sighed and rubbed my hand over my stomach.

"I thought you were going on a date with Tyler tonight?" Presley asked after a moment of silence.

"I did," I shrugged.  "He cut it short because he felt bad for getting in Zane's way. Isn't that ironic," I said sarcastically. Presley sighed in frustration.

"He's so predictable. Time after time, no matter what; he goes right back to his old habits," Presley thought out loud. I nodded in agreement.

"Why do you think I gave up?" I asked rhetorically. "I can't keep chasing him down every time his feelings get hurt. I have more to worry about. I haven't even gone into labor yet and I'm constantly babysitting," I ranted. I sighed and stood as I paced.

"Dria... What are you going to say to him?" Presley asked hesitantly. I shrugged as my hands held my lower back.

"I'm sure something will come out," I muttered. We waiting in the hotel lobby for almost half an hour, watching people filter in and out. Finally, I spotted Zane. His eyes widened when he saw us and he walked right up to us.

"Presley? Dria? What are you doing here? How did you find me?" He asked in surprise.

"I needed to talk to you but you were... indisposed," I said as I looked him over. I knew what he was doing up there by the hickeys on his neck and his slightly swollen lips.

"Dria, I-" Zane started. I held a hand up and stopped him.

"I don't even care, Zane. I'm used to it," I said. He looked at me confused.

"I thought you were going on a date with Tyler tonight," he said. I found myself glaring at him.

"Oh, you actually remember his first name this time... I did, but you ruined it. Tyler wanted me to exhaust all of my resources with you before being his girlfriend. Well, I'm thoroughly exhausted," I said as I turned to leave. Zane caught my arm.

"Wait, what?" Zane asked. I sighed and turned to face him again.

"Tyler called it off because he thought you were still hung up on wanting me romantically, you know, I'm getting really tired of saying that," I said

"So you're here because you wanted to talk about getting back together?" he asked. I grunted in frustration.

"No! I came to see if there even was a reason to not date Tyler, and clearly there isn't. You're holding up just fine without me," I said.

"I do need to talk to you, Dria," he said seriously. I nodded and took a calming breath. I was getting tired and cranky. Zane walked ahead a bit before he looked at me expectantly. I followed and placed a hand back on my lower back. We walked out to the bench next to the fountain and took a seat before Zane turned his body to face me.

"You really like Martin, don't you?" Zane asked me. I nodded.

"He's a really good guy," I said with a light smile. Zane sighed and rubbed his hands down the front of his jeans.

"I talked with Dr. Murphy today and she said something... interesting. She said I might be in love with the idea of a complete family, not just you. And I think she was right. I love you Dria, but I'm more concerned about our little girl growing up in a broken home," he explained.

"All that matters is that both of her parents will love her... whoever they'll be," I said a bit guiltily. I had yet to decide if I wanted to go the adoption route or not and it was driving me crazy.

"If you want me out of the way, I'll stay out of the way, Dria. I just want to know my little girl, and I want her to know that I love her," he said.

"The responsible thing to do would be to give her up for adoption, but I don't think I can't," I admitted.

"Then don't. If you're worried about money, don't be. I'm going to start working for my dad and learning the ropes while I take college courses. Eventually, I'll take over the company," he said. I was glad that Zane finally figured out what he wanted to do after graduation.

"That's good, Zane," I said encouragingly. We were both quiet for a moment before he sighed.

"I didn't even feel bad earlier tonight. I'm tired of fighting with you, Dria," he said. "I don't think we're good as anything other than friends. And you were right... Tyler is a good guy," Zane said. I looked at him shocked. Zane was letting go. He wasn't being a stubborn asshole.

"Really?" I asked. He nodded.

"Really," he confirmed. I pulled him into a hug and released a breath I didn't even know I was holding.

"Thank you," I breathed. He chuckled as I pulled away.

"I need to learn how to start working with you instead of against you," he said. I stood and Zane's hands went to my stomach.

"We should go get Presley and get me home. I'm drained," I said with a chuckle. Zane smiled before he stood, too.

"Let's go then," he agreed. We began walking back to the entrance of the hotel in a much better mood than when we came out. When we reached the door, Zane turned to me confused. "But seriously, how did you two find me?" he asked.