AU: They've Gotta Be Mine

[Carter Chevalier]

Late 2013

Rya Darcy was pregnant. And despite her promiscuity, she said the only viable option was that that baby was Carter's.

Nothing about this situation was okay. Both still in high school, he had no idea what he was supposed to do. He'd gone through this once already - a pregnancy scare with a girl - and at least in that instance it turned out that the child in question wasn't his. That was a year ago. Still, she was seventeen, and he was nineteen, and a year didn't make a situation like this any easier. A baby. Her baby. His baby.

No, not baby. Babies. It had to be babies if it was a product of a Chevalier. Just as he and his twin were. Just as his father was. It was just a thing that happened, and it sure as hell wasn't going to change.

At any rate, when she told him, he'd left in such a hurry. Without much word, Carter had stepped out of the situation. The first person he went to was - of course - Dom, who promptly turned his phone off and refused to give it back. From his own, he called their father and explained everything. Understanding as he was, Lancelot Chevalier did his best to offer no judgement. He asked if he should visit, and both boys said no. He asked to be kept in the loop, and both boys said they'd share every piece of information they would.

All that was left was to go back. Back to the dorm he'd walked out of. Back to her. It took hours - he'd left her for hours - but he was back at the door now, fingers wrapped into a fist as he knocked.

Then he leaned his forehead against the closed door.

"I'm sorry." He started, rare as it was for Carter Chevalier to give, even when warranted, "I... Needed time."

[Aryana Darcy]

Life was such an easy thing to run from, what with all the distractions that could be taken advantage of - alcohol, sex, swimming. It had always been easy to forget the problems that she had, even if those problems seemed so minuscule in the moment she was currently having.

It had come as a complete shock, though shock didn't hold enough emphasis to truly explain the minute she had realized her period was late, and it couldn't even begin to compare to when she saw two lines on that stick. Two. Two for pregnant.

The initial wave of nausea hit her the moment she saw the first test, but she still held hope that it was a mistake. It had to be. But after the fourth time she had taken it, there was no denying the fact, no matter how hard she wanted to. Even so she couldn't bring herself to admit it. Pregnant. Pregnant. Pregnant

It took her days to even wrap her head around the concept, and after those initial few days, she forced herself to begin the process of narrowing down the potential 'fathers'. The Hydrokinetic most definitely did have a nasty habit of sleeping around, but lord if she knew who half the men were. She were equally lucky if she did, or equally lucky if she didn't. However, in this case, Rya found the answer easily.

Carter.

Carter had been the only viable option considering he had been the only man she had slept with in the time of her last cycle and this one that was supposed to happen. Women, she was sure was a different case, but quite obviously she was safe with that. The only part of this that was left, after allowing herself to cry (which she rarely ever let herself do), was tell him.
Tell him. Ruin him.

And when she did muster up the courage to tell him, she decided it would be best to just say it. Straightforward. No sugarcoating. "Carter, I'm pregnant."

The first thing she saw was immediate denial, and he had wanted to know how she knew it was him, and so Rya explained. And then he was gone.

The rest of the time was spent with her head in her hands, even hours after he left, trying to figure out what she had done. Why she had done this to herself, and why she had done this to him. Of course, if she were being logical, it wasn't simply her in this, but he had a major role in this as well. But she wasn't being logical, Rya didn't think she was capable of logic in the moment. She hadn't even called her own mother to admit the mistake. Her mistake.

But when he heard the common room door open and shortly after a light thud on the door, she didn't need to hear his voice to know that it was Carter. Rya listened for a moment before pulling her head from her hands and moving towards the closed door, to face something almost nightmarish.

"I don't blame you," Was all she said. It was all she could say, really, as she did everything in her power to avoid his gaze.

[Carter Chevalier]

Lingering as he had been, Carter simply waited for any kind of response. There was nothing he could do to propel the situation where they were at that moment. Everything was in her court, as he allowed it to be. She could have easily told him to go away and he would have likely seriously considered the act. At this point, he most definitely owed her more than one.

But her voice cut through the air, and the blonde couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"I'm glad." He replied. Now more than ever, it felt as if he needed to be honesty. He had to be grateful that she wasn't angry with him over his decision to leave so abruptly; the only person Carter could ever confide in in a moment of stress was, of course, his twin brother.

But there he was. Now. Composed to the best of his ability. He was a Chevalier. And Chevaliers didn't run from their problems, however hectic they might have been. "Can I-" He started, easing back from the closed door slightly, but he was hardly about to be the one to open it first, "Can we talk? Would you like to?"

[Aryana Darcy]

The door had been open to the blonde, a fact she ensured remained true each time he wished to Grace her with his presence, but never had she thought it would be on these terms.

There were so many thoughts running through the Brit's mind as the door opened, and some being so ridiculous she wanted to punch something. Shallow. They were shallow, as shallow as "Well it could be worse, at least you were knocked up by a rich guy." But Carter was more than that - he wasn't just some idiot she could mooch off of. His money had always been the least of her concerns. He was a friend, a damn good friend at that, and now she went and potentially ruined everything for Carter, even if that notion was hard to admit.

"Yeah," she said, making room for him to enter. "Yeah, we can. Please."

This was going to be more than interesting, knowing that Rya hadn't been able to confess to her own mother. Just telling Carter, explaining it had to be his, this baby, was one of the hardest things she had done. Rya never asked for help, but this would be something she couldn't do alone, if she even decided to keep it.

[Carter Chevalier]

As the door opened, Carter took a breath. The kind of intake that was so heavy it forced his shoulders to rise. Especially as the door opened. Instincts took his physicality to its usual level. Back straight. Shoulders back. Head high. She opened the door for him, and he looked right at her.

Silence. Somehow, it was deafening. She looked so different now, like the sight of her in lighter moments was a distant memory. Like things hadn't been so perfect just yesterday.

She wanted to talk, and that was good. Had she been against it, he likely would have given her that space. Things were on her terms completely now, and that was strange for someone as overtly decisive and controlling as he. But she deserved that much. It was all he could do to remind himself of that. With hesitation lining his steps, he finally forced himself into the room. Hands linked together behind his back, and in that moment he wished he'd brought his stress balls with him. Perfect cylinders of malachite he could bend to his will to exert any overt aggression.

With his hands on their own, he curled his fingers around his wrist, drumming his fingertips onto his lightly.

"You start."

[Aryana Darcy]

Much like the Terrakinetic in front of her, Rya wished for the comfort of water running through her fingers, the relaxation that surfaced as her hand skimmed the surface of her element. But neither one of them, figuratively and literally, were in their element. While the prospect of a child was absolutely terrifying, the Brit had felt incredibly uncomfortable with the idea that Carter had been standing here watching her, seeing her in the way that she was.

However fearful she was, Carter had given her the floor to speak, and Rya hadn’t even the slightest clue where to start. There could be an apology, but what would that stop? Nothing. Those words have never meant anything to her, and she wasn’t about to succumb to useless words just because nothing else was passing through her mind.

“Right, I start.” She said quietly, looking to anything of comfort in that moment. At her walls that sported drawing after drawing, at the empty cup on her nightstand, at the tangled sheets on the corner of her bed. Anything.

“I wish it wasn’t true.” Which, ultimately, was a given, but it was a start the girl required to even begin to process and word what was surfacing in her head. “I hate this. I hate feeling sick, not knowing how I’m going to tell my mother that I’m pregnant. But what I hate the most is that I brought you into all this. I hate it.”

[Carter Chevalier]

Carter thought it was only right to give her the chance to speak first. After all, he'd taken the right away from her the moment he stepped out of the room without so much a a look back. There must have been a lot on her mind in the time he'd left her; she had every right to offload it all on him.

He turned around and looked at her finally in the silence. Stoic and proud just as always, Carter did his best to maintain the stonewall expression Chevalier's were so good at. So famous for. A touch to his skin and a hand might turn to stone itself at the cooled notion of his own features. He could do this. He mightn't have thought so, but Dominique certainly did. And their father had faith in him to do the right thing.

Carter didn't even nod to acknowledge her statements. Her feelings. He didn't need to; she knew he was listening, else he wouldn't be there at all.

But the first sign of wear formed when she first mentioned him. A small twitch of his eyebrow, low with the crinkle in his brow.

"I brought myself into this." He reasoned, doing his absolute best to keep a level nature to his tone. "Let's make that clear. There's no singular point of fault. I am not blaming-" A steady raise of his hand then. He said she could speak, and so he had no right to interject.

[Aryana Darcy]

Fault had always been easier to place on other people, and taking responsibility for her actions had never been easy. It wasn't an easy thing for anyone, but In that moment it seemed easier to place everything on herself rather than remind herself that he also had a part in all of it. That this was their mistake rather than just her own.

Rya stood up then, after his hand raised and his words fell short. He was very clearly giving her the floor, and part of her respected that. The hydrokinetic didn't know where that move was going to lead her, but she decided on the wall towards the far left of the bed, the wall covered in artwork from the years she spent at Hammel. From 13 to 17.

"What are we going to do, Carter?" She started again, arms crossed across her midsection. "I'm not fucking mother material." Her voice raised then, but the gesture was not meant for him. It was meant for herself.

[Carter Chevalier]

Carter immediately wished he'd been able to take the edge out of his tone. Raising his voice in any capacity was a bad decision here, but there were some things that needed to be stressed. He had given her the floor to speak and ruined it in a single second of work. Now she was asking him questions; like he'd ruined that too.

There were a myriad of things she might have expected him to say in that moment. She panicked. He was panicking, too. But he could hardly reach out to her.

"I... Believe everyone has the potential to step up when they need to." Carter replied instead. It was the type of mentality that had been drilled into him for the longest time. There was nothing about his father's voice that sounded scolding hours ago. If the elder of his two sons was still who he raised him to be, he could do this. If she wanted to. It all depended on what she wanted.

This wasn't his to dictate, and that was scary. "Only if you want to."

[Aryana Darcy]

Stepping up to a challenge had never been something the brunette had ever been afraid of, but a challenge to this caliber made her stomach clench. It wasn't the money she was concerned about, especially considering the Chevalier twin had plenty of it and had a very prominent future ahead of him, and it wasn't that she wouldn't have the support of what little family she had. Her fear lied in the fact that she didn't want to fuck up a child as badly as she had been fucked up.

How the fuck was she supposed to love a child when she could barely even utter the damn word?

His words did little to ease her fears, and instead brought up an incredibly significant point. Rya didn't have to carry this pregnancy through. She didn't want to carry the pregnancy through. But part of her was terrified of the prospect of going against her mistake. Their mistake.

"This," She said, her arms tightening their grip around her stomach, "This situation is fucked. I- I don't know what I want to do." The only thing she could do was hope, hope and wish for things that couldn't possibly happen. Wish to turn back time, do things differently. "I just don't want to fuck up a child as bad as I was fucked up."

[Carter Chevalier]

What Carter offered was likely the most logical choice. When it came to the grounds of her body, the choice was ultimately hers to make. He wondered what his life would become if she chose to carry this through. Children amidst an incredibly young couple could make or break any person. He wasn't sure where they would land; he wasn't confident enough to want to find out.

Carter knew it was likely his job to try and calm her down. This was the kind of situation that no one was ever prepared for; he didn't want to let her down or disappoint her in any capacity. If someone was supposed to be stoic, he supposed it would be him. His breakdown had happened in the sightline of her brother. She didn't need a glimpse of that now.

"Children." Carter pointed out, and immediately he regretted it. So much so that he waved his hand after the word left his lips.

[Aryana Darcy]

There was little she felt would rattle her even further than the news she had just confirmed three times over. She was pregnant, Carter was the father, and unless she fixed the problem with a doctors visit, there would be something growing inside of her. The Hydrokinetic was well aware of the physical consequences their actions made on her, although she couldn't even begin to comprehend the complexity of the emotional and mental consequences. Rya had figured the worst news had been presented until he spoke.

A single word uttered, his hand waving dismissing the topic as if it were nothing worth mentioning. "Children," he said, an insinuation that there would be more than one child, as though he was entirely sure of himself within that statement, despite his desire for her to, so it seemed, forget it had even been said.

"Children," She repeated, dismissing the wave of his hand with ease. "That's reassuring. Fucked with a friend. At least they'll have somebody to talk to." That was, if she was even having children. She understood full well that he had been a set of twins, but they were a rarity, unless of course it was in his bloodline, which made it very plausible. However, Carter rarely spoke of his family life, though he rarely said anything without meaning.

"How many in your family are twins, Carter?"

[Carter Chevalier]

The way Rya repeated the word Carter offered made him positive that she wasn't going to take it in a good way. Of course, this situation was a disaster. He doubted she wanted a child with him at all, let alone two. The natural reaction he gave wasn't something he wished to offer, but then again,, sooner was likely better than later. Right?

But then came the inevitable question. He should have expected it, really. Eyebrows rose momentarily before he closed his eyes, fingers pinching the bridge of his nose. He felt the inner workings of a hefty headache before his forehead, and it seemed nothing could help it go away.

"My father and his brother." He started, nodding his head once, "Their father and his brother."

Another wave of his hand, this time extending out as he opened his eyes to look at her again. "And - It... Goes back a while." Carter offered, though they were hardly the words she wanted to hear.

[Aryana Darcy]

Rya's fingers twitched as her anxiety rose, each generation he spoke adding to the pot until the Hydrokinetic was ready to boil over. Twins. A single year out of high school would be the time she would have two children, and if the past repeated itself, twin boys. With Carter Chevalier.

Every word that came from his mouth at that point had been a word she didn't want to hear. Each word he spoke made it more clear that there would have to be a decision made, and while she considered the alternative with a single child, if there was a possibility of two, she couldn't bring herself to make it. Financially, the children could be taken care of if she decided to keep them.

Every move she made then made the walls feel even closer, and flight seemed like a very comfortable idea in that moment, but where could she go? "Carter," was all she could say as her eyes landed on his gesturing hand.

[Carter Chevalier]

It must have been daunting to learn of her impending child. More because Carter was offering the idea of twins. If they were his - and her reaction to his lineage practically proved that it was - then she had every right to feel sudden concern. They weren't ready to have a child, let alone two.

He had to wonder what was going on in her head. If she were trying to connect the dots as intently as he was.

His stressed name oddly reminded him of how his mother used to work to scold him. The heightened tension practically had him cringing, but he did his best to remain as stoic as ever. He was used to that feeling by now.

"What? I can't help that."