Quinn was sitting in the corner of the waiting room, the eerily quiet waiting room, when James finally reappeared. He sat down a couple of chairs away from her and she looked over at Chris for support. Chris nodded her head and she took a deep breath and slid over. She didn't know what to say, what to do. She couldn't blame him for whatever emotions he was feeling at that moment whether they were pain or anger. Knowing James the way she did, she knew there was anger but there was more hurt than anything. Lying and betrayl were words he hated and he didn't tolerate them in his life. She timidly placed her hand on his thigh and stopped breathing when his legs stiffened,
"Can I talk to you please?" He sighed heavily,
"Why not. Everyone else wants to talk to me." He stood up and she quickly followed behind him as he left the room.
They remained silent until they reached the parking lot,
"Where are we going?" He didn't say anything he just unlocked the car and sat down. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, giving herself an unconvincing pep talk, before joining him in the car. She didn't know what to say, she just sat there and played with her jeans as her eyes began to water. She could see him shaking his head and the silence was broken when he turned to her,
"What do you want to talk about?" Her tears fell and she couldn't look up at him as she answered,
"Nick. I'm sorry." He laughed snidely and it made her skin crawl,
"Oh now? Now you want to talk about Nick? Before you didn't want to talk about him. When I didn't know he was the father." She nodded as she wiped her eyes,
"I know and I'm sorry." He sighed and shook his head,
"No, I don't want to hear about you being sorry. It's a little too late for that." It probably was too late. She made things harder than they had to be and she knew it would take time for him to forgive her.
"It didn't have to be like this. What was the big deal with me knowing he was the father?" She shook her head,
"I don't know." For so long it was about her. She didn't want anyone to know. She didn't want Nick to know. She didn't want to face Nick because she was too afraid of what his reaction would be. She didn't want it to get out, didn't want to be the slut that trapped Nick Carter to get his money. It was all about her, she suddenly realized the only reason she didn't tell anyone, even Nick, that he was the father was because of her own selfish reasons. Nick was right.
"What? Did he give you some money so you wouldn't tell anyone? Did he pay you off?" Guess that was a fair question even though it hurt that he thought she could be paid off. She shook her head,
"No, he didn't know either." He shook his head even more and his voice became louder,
"Why were you protecting him? Letting him off easy?" She didn't have any answers, not ones that made sense,
"I don't know." He sighed loudly once again and threw his hands in the air,
"What do you know? When did he find out? When did you tell him?" This was when he was going to be upset. If he hadn't already remembered Nick was at her house she was about to remind him,
"He found out for sure the night he and Larry came to the house, when you were there." She looked over to see him staring at her in disbelief,
"Why didn't you say anything then? Or tell me the next day? What the fuck is your problem?" She didn't have a problem and she didn't know how she was supposed to respond to his harsh words. He never talked to her like that. In fact the only time they had major fights were when they argued over the issue of Mac's father,
"I don't know." She knew that made him even more angry,
"I just didn't. I always thought I'd be able to tell you. I didn't think it would come out on TV." He snorted,
"Well what do you expect when he's a fucking star?" He shook his head,
"You have done nothing but lie to me. You said Larry was your friend but actually you had been sleeping with Nick. How long? Have you been seeing him while we were dating? What? Was Larry your cover?" She didn't think his mind would think up such things but now that she thought about it, she could understand why,
"No, I haven't been seeing him. Ok, Nick, we were together for a little while and I never saw from around the time I got pregnant until Mac was like four months. Then he just showed up at my place that night you were there. We aren't sleeping together." Until after she said it she had forgotten that she and Nick had indeed slept together recently. There was no need for her to tell him that, nothing could be gained from it.
"Why should I believe you didn't sleep with him that night? You weren't honest with me. You've never been honest with me when it comes to him." She shook her head,
"I did not sleep with him that night James. I promise." It was the truth, that night she didn't sleep with Nick.
"Whatever, I don't know how you honestly expect me to accept that. I'm supposed to just believe that? You acted like you only knew him through Larry and come to find out now that you were sleeping with him." He started the car and didn't bother to look at her,
"I'm going home. I'll be back tomorrow to see Mac." She nodded,
"Ok, I love you." He didn't answer and she wasn't going to push him by commenting on it. She stepped out of the car and it didn't go unnoticed that he said he was coming to see Mac.
She sat underneath a tree and she thought of nothing but how the tabloids found out. She figured it was possible that it was because of Nick. He just walked off a tour with no real explanation. People probably saw him around and followed him. From there the tabloids probably paid hospital workers to get information, it was the only logical explanation. They knew Mac's cuurent condition, her name, it had to have been one of the nurses on the floor. Who else could it have been? Why did this have to add to her problems? As if a sick daughter wasn't enough to deal with she had to deal with people butting into her life. This was the type of thing she wouldn't have to deal with if Nick wasn't Mac's father. This was why she felt her selfish ways were justified. Then there was the matter of his holier than thou, know what's best, do the right thing, judgmental, no life having fans. They were going to rip her apart. It was going to be her fault that she got pregnant. She should have known better, and she should have, but they would find some way to dismiss Nick's responsibility. She was only after his money, that's why she got herself knocked up. And obviously she found a way to trick him into the whole thing. She pulled her knees to her chest and lay her head down as she cried. Why was everything such a mess? What had she done to deserve this?
Everyone except Quinn and Chris had went home for the night and Chris was busy trying to get her to go home,
"Quinn, come on. You need to get some sleep." She covered her mouth with her hand as she yawned, she was exhausted,
"No, I need to be here for her. Someone has to, its not like Nick is here for her. He's probably out partying like he's always done." Chris shook her head,
"I know you're upset with Nick and you have every right to be but I doubt he's partying. He looked exhausted. Besides, that's not fair, everyone went home." Quinn glared at Chris,
"Well, everyone isn't her father, he is and he should be here. Period." She leaned against the wall and slid down to the floor and cried as Chris joined her,
"It's going to be ok. You'll see."
Chapter 56
Reunited
Stories