9. Leaving The Nest

*Thanks for the comments people left :) hope this is okaay ^_^*

She kept hold of his hand as they walked in to meet the person who was going to show them the apartment. He looked a little dodgy but she was with Drake so at least she had some security. He didn't talk for long before leading them up the stairs, Nicki already had a kind of weird feeling about the place but she didn't want to seem like she was turning her nose up so she kept quiet.

"See, it ain't too shabby." He opened the door after the man just left them to look for themselves.

"It smells funny."

"Nicki, we can get rid of the smell." She could tell he was getting annoyed with her whiney behaviour but she had a good reason. He continued to look over the place as she just stood in the middle of what she assumed was supposed to be a lounge room area. "Aren't you at least gonna look around?"

"I'm doin' it in my own time." She stood still for another few seconds just to prove her point as he stared at her before she walked towards a bedroom. It wasn't as small as she was expecting which was a plus. Letting her eyes scan across the room she flinched when she felt his arms wrap around her from behind.

"This should be the baby's room, 'cause it's smaller." He was resting his head on her shoulder even though he had to crouch considerably to stand like that.

"So you're dead serious about this? You wanna move outta your Mom's place?"

"Positive. Besides, how we gonna carry on livin' in the basement once you've had the baby?" He pulled away and turned her to face him.

"Yeah, I suppose it ain't fair." She looked up at him and frowned seeing his face. "What?"

"You okay? 'Cause you're really, really pale." He emphasised his words as he looked over her. Truthfully she felt incredibly sick but figured it was just morning sickness. "Have you eaten today?"

"No, I couldn't keep anythin' down this morning."

"Aight well, let's finish up here real quick and we'll stop somewhere to eat on the way back." He smiled before grabbing her hand as they looked at the last room and the bathroom before leaving. He still hadn't told her that he'd actually put a deposit down but the way things went it seemed pretty positive. The car ride was quiet since she'd fallen asleep against the window almost as soon as he'd set off. He was keeping a close eye on her, especially since he noticed how hot she felt. KFC wasn't his first choice but they were passing by and she hadn't eaten since the day before so it would have to do.

"Nicki?" He shook her gently to let her know they were there, he thought she'd have perked up a little after being asleep but if anything she seemed worse. They made their way inside nonetheless and queued for their food before finding a table. Like an animal he quickly tucked into his food only just realising that she'd pushed hers away. "Nic, you gotta eat somethin'."

"I know but just the smell is makin' me feel like I'm gonna throw up." She ran her hands through her hair before shutting her eyes and exhaling slowly. He stopped chewing and looked over her face to try and see what she was thinking but he knew that look all too well.

"The restroom is right behind you, do you want me to come?"

"No, I'm good." Without saying another word she got up from her chair and walked swiftly to the bathroom. He felt really bad that she was having a hard time as he delightfully scoffed his face. He was finished in no time and was just waiting for her to return. After almost five minutes had passed he was beginning to worry but seeing the door open he relaxed.

"You just wanna leave?" His question was answered when she nodded her head weakly. For the rest of the trip home he tried to drive smoothly but had to stop twice for her to throw up again.

***

"Has she had anything to drink?" Sandi had her hand held to Nicki's forehead as she slept on the couch. She was burning up.

"I'm not sure, I know she hasn't eaten anythin' and she can't keep any food down."

"Could you go get me a cool towel?"

"Sure." He did as he was asked and brought the towel through to her and just watched as she folded it neatly and pressed it to Nicki's head.

"Maybe if she wasn't wearing such a ridiculously large jumper she'd wouldn't be running a high temperature!" She shook her head and attempted to lift it but Drake stopped her.

"No, leave it. She hasn't got anythin' on underneath." He felt his breath being held in his throat before a wave of relief washed over him when she pulled away.

"Oh. Well, just keep this held to her head and see if she cools down a little. If not then she's goin' to see a doctor." She raised her brows at him as she stood up and walked away letting him squeeze on to the couch with Nicki. She looked completely drained. His Mom was right though, keeping the hoodie on was probably making her ten times worse. Carefully balancing the small, neatly folded towel on her brow he slid his hands underneath her and pulled her up off of the couch.

"I'm gonna take her up to the spare room, it's hot as hell in the basement."

"Okay, well lunch is almost done when you're ready to eat." She smiled at him carrying her cautiously up the steps until he disappeared. He shut the door behind him and lay her on the bed before opening the window wide and drawing the curtains a little to block out the light. Now came the tricky part of trying to undress her without waking her up. Slowly and steadily starting with her sleeves he pulled her arms out one at a time before trying to shimmy the fabric up over her head, which was an epic fail when it got stuck and he accidentally woke her.

"Sorry babe, we gotta take this off. You're on fire." She merely mumbled in response and let him take it off for her as she fought to keep herself awake. He was starting to get even more worried when he looked down only to see her asleep again. Sighing aloud to himself he moved down to her leggings and pink socks, removing all clothing except her underwear before getting her under the fitted sheet. It was really cool in the room at that moment os he just prayed her temperature would come down. He lay with her for a while and was still holding the towel to her face when he saw her whole body heaving. Without thinking he jumped up to grab the trashcan and held it to the edge of the bed as she leant over but nothing was happening. Rubbing her back soothingly he held the trashcan up and looked down at her worriedly. "You good?"

"Mm."

"You really need to eat somethin' Nic. You've got nothin' in you, you can't even throw up any more." Hearing a small knock at the door he turned to look just as his Mother was entering.

"How is she?"

"Not too good." They both stared at her weak and fragile state as she lay still on her side with her eyes shut again.

"Aubrey she looks like she's getting worse." She stared at her son's face for a second and bit her own lip as he watched his girlfriend, suddenly darting forward again she saw him hold the trashcan in place as her body started to heave, but still nothing was coming up. "Oh this is ridiculous I'm going to call Dr. Truman and ask him to come over." Disappearing nearly as quickly as she'd shown up she shut the door behind her, leaving Drake to start freaking out. What if she stayed in with them? Then she'd definitely know she was pregnant. But not telling her was just denying the inevitable, she was going to find out sooner or later anyway. Maybe this was the time to spill. He listened to her on the phone, he voice drawing nearer as she climbed the stairs and came back into the room.

"He gonna come check on her?"

"Yeah, he said he'll be over within half an hour." She crossed her arms over herself and took a seat on the chair by the window as she spoke.

"Look, Mom there's somethin' I really think you should know." He ran his hand nervously up the back of his neck and over the top of his head whilst taking a seat next to a lethargic Nicki. He had no idea how she was going to react and quite seriously he was scared. Not just about her being disappointed with him but for Nicki to lose more people out of her life would just be catastrophic, she'd literally have nobody but him and her friends.

"What is it?" The furrow in her brow deepened with worry.

"I'on even know how to tell you." His stalling was another sign of how nervous he was, something which Sandi instantly picked up on. Her mind was reeling with the idea that he'd gotten involved with some people from his past again.

"Aubrey, just tell me?" There was an extremely long pause whilst he collected himself to just blurt it out quickly.

"Nicki's pregnant." She had to strain her ears to catch what he'd said but she definitely heard it. His head was low and he was picking at an embroidered pattern on the bed sheet as he tried to avoid her eyes.

"Aubrey, if this is some sort of stupid joke I-"

"It's not a joke Mom! You think I'd actually joke about somethin' like this?!"

"Oh my God." Standing up slowly she folded her lips and shook her head. "Aubrey you told me-"

"I know what I told you and I'm sorry but it's happened and there's nothin' we can do about it except keep movin' forward."

"Oh God." She continued to switch between which foot she was resting on as she thought. "How far along is she?" Her eyes were focused on Nicki as she talked lowly.

"Just over four months."

"And she's keepin' it?"

"We decided that's what we wanna to do."

"You do understand that a baby is a lifetime responsibility? Not just somethin' you have a crack at for a while and then stop when you realise it's not all fun and games?"

"Of course we do! Why you gotta be treatin' us like kids all the time?"

"Because Nicki is a child Aubrey! She's sixteen for God's sake!" No longer able to hold herself together she breathed a sigh of relief when the doorbell sounded. "I'll get that, I need to go clear my head." She walked out briskly leaving Drake to bask in the silence of the cold room. He couldn't believe this was how it was going down, and Nicki didn't even wake up through the whole thing. He readied himself when he heard their voices approaching the doorway.

...

*Hope this was alright and thanku to those who left comments on the previous chapter :)*