Summer was in the middle of answering an email about spring alumni weekend when she heard raised voices out in the hallway.
“You can’t just go back there.” Linda said
“We literally just need to talk to her.” A male voice said
“I’m sorry, but unless you have an appointment—” Linda started
Summer froze. The voice belonged to Ryan. She knew it immediately.
Before she could react, her office door swung open. And there they were. Will, Gabe, and Ryan, all standing in the doorway of her tiny office in the alumni center. Summer stared at them in horror.
Ryan looked annoyingly relieved.
“There you are.” Ryan said
He looked just as nervous as Summer felt. Gabe at least had the decency to look vaguely guilty.
“We tried texting.” Gabe said
“You blocked us.” Ryan accused
“You’ve been avoiding us.” Will said, quietly
Summer shot to her feet so fast her chair nearly rolled into the wall.
“You cannot be here.” Summer said
Her coworker, Linda, appeared behind them looking deeply frazzled.
“Summer, I’m so sorry, they just—” Linda started
“No, it’s okay.” Summer said, way too quickly
It was absolutely not okay. Because not only were the three boys standing in her office, they were standing in her office looking unfairly good.
Ryan was wearing one of those stupid backwards hats again. Gabe had his hands shoved in the pockets of his hoodie. Will looked like he hadn’t slept.
And every single one of them was staring at her.
“Can we talk?” Ryan asked
“You cannot show up at my office!” Summer exclaimed
“You ghosted us for two months!” Ryan shot back
Summer immediately looked around in panic.
“Please stop saying things so loudly.” Summer said
“Linda.” Summer said, desperately
“I’m gonna go.” Linda said
She backed away toward the hallway with the expression of someone who absolutely intended to gossip about this later. The second she disappeared, Summer shut the office door and turned back to them.
“What are you doing here?” Summer asked
“We’ve been trying to talk to you but you never answer.” Gabe said
“You disappeared.” Will added
“You owe us an explanation.” Ryan said
Because the worst part was they weren’t wrong. She had disappeared. She had ignored every text, every awkward run-in, every look across campus. Because it had been easier. At least until now.
“You don’t want to do this here.” Summer said, quietly
Summer looked at the clock on her desk. 4:12PM. Forty-eight more minutes. Her stomach twisted.
Slowly, she grabbed a sticky note off her desk and scribbled down her address.
“Come over after I get off work.” Summer said
All three boys looked surprised.
“You’ll actually be there?” Ryan asked, immediately
Will looked at the address in Ryan’s hand, then back at her.
Summer nodded. For a second, none of them moved. Then Gabe gave her a small nod.
Ryan looked like he wanted to say more, but Will grabbed the back of his hoodie and dragged him toward the door.
“See you at six.” Will said, softly
Then they were gone. Summer stood in the middle of her office staring at the closed door. Her heart was pounding so hard she thought she might throw up.
At 5:58, Summer seriously considered pretending she wasn’t home.
At 5:59, she considered climbing out the fire escape.
At 6:00, there was a knock on her apartment door.
Her apartment was small and painfully tidy in the way that only happened when she was stressed. She’d spent the last hour cleaning things that didn’t need to be cleaned and rearranging the same throw blanket on the couch approximately seventeen times.
“Summer. We know you’re in there.” Ryan called, through the door
Summer closed her eyes. Then she opened the door. The three boys were standing in the hallway.
“You look good.” Ryan said
“What? She does.” Ryan said
“You’re still annoying.” Summer said
“Missed you too.” Ryan said
Will looked like he wanted to smile.
“Can we come in?” Will asked
Summer stepped aside before she could change her mind. The boys filed into her apartment, immediately making the space feel too small.
Ryan looked around curiously. Gabe shoved his hands into his pockets and hovered awkwardly by the couch. Will stayed closest to her.
“Okay. What the hell happened?” Ryan asked
Summer looked down at the floor.
“I panicked.” Summer said
“That much was obvious.” Gabe said, quietly
“You left. You left and then ignored us for two months.” Ryan said
Summer pressed a hand to her forehead.
His voice was softer than the others’. That somehow made it worse. Summer looked up at him.
“I didn’t know what to do. That night wasn’t supposed to happen.” Summer admitted, quietly
“You say that like we planned it.” Ryan said
“You know what I mean.” Summer said
The room went quiet again. Summer could feel her heartbeat in her throat.
“I’m gonna get water.” Summer said, abruptly
Before any of them could respond, she fled into the kitchen. Her hands were shaking so badly she nearly dropped the glass.
“Get it together.” Summer muttered to herself
She braced her hands against the counter and took a deep breath.
Summer turned too quickly. Will was standing in the doorway to the kitchen.
“You don’t seem fine.” Will said
“I’m just tired.” Summer said
Will frowned. Then his eyes flicked past her shoulder to the fridge. Summer’s stomach dropped. Because attached to the fridge with one of her Boston College magnets was the ultrasound picture from her appointment. Will went completely still.
“Summer.” Will said, slowly
Summer turned around. The sonogram was staring right back at her. For one horrible second, she considered lying. Then she looked back at Will. At the way his face had gone pale. At the way he was staring at the picture.
“Is that...” Will started
Summer couldn’t breathe. Behind him, she heard Ryan and Gabe coming into the kitchen.
“What’s taking so lo—” Ryan started
He and Gabe stopped. All three of the boys were staring at the sonogram now. The room felt impossibly quiet. Ryan looked at Summer. Then at the picture. Then back at her.
“No way.” Ryan said, softly
Summer wrapped her arms around herself.
“I was going to tell you.” Summer said
“I don’t know!” Summer exclaimed
Her voice cracked. The boys all looked startled.
“I didn’t know how. I didn’t know what to say.” Summer whispered
Nobody said anything. Summer could feel tears burning behind her eyes.
“I’m pregnant.” Summer said, finally
The words hung in the air. Ryan sat down heavily in one of the kitchen chairs like his legs had given out. Gabe just stared. Will still hadn’t looked away from the sonogram.
“How many weeks?” Will asked, quietly
There was another silence. Then Ryan looked up.
“Seven weeks?” Ryan asked
Summer nodded once and Ryan's eyes widened.
“So... one of us...” Gabe started, carefully
“I don’t know. I don’t know who's the father.” Summer said
Ryan looked at Gabe. Then Gabe looked at Will. Then Will looked back at her. And to her complete shock, none of them looked like they wanted to leave.
“You should’ve told us.” Ryan said, finally
“You’ve been dealing with this alone?” Gabe asked
The tears came before Summer could stop them.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I know this is insane and I know you probably hate me and—” Summer started
“Why would we hate you?” Ryan asked
“Because I’m pregnant!” Summer replied
“You’re eighteen! All of you!” Summer said
“You keep saying that like we don’t know.” Gabe said
Will finally looked away from the sonogram and back at Summer. His expression was softer than she’d ever seen it.
“You’re not doing this alone.” Will said, quietly
Summer stared at him. Ryan nodded immediately.
“Yeah. We’re here.” Ryan said
“We don’t care which one of us it is.” Gabe said
“You don’t?” Summer whispered
The three of them looked at each other. Then Ryan shrugged.
“It’s our baby either way.” Ryan said
And somehow, impossibly, that made Summer cry even harder.
The second the door to Summer’s apartment closed behind them later that night, the three boys stood in the hallway in complete silence.
“What the fuck?” Ryan said, very loudly
Will immediately smacked him in the chest.
“No, seriously, what the fuck?” Ryan asked
Gabe looked like he might throw up.
“She’s pregnant.” Gabe said, faintly
“Yeah, no shit, Gabe.” Ryan said
“What? You guys are acting weirdly calm about this!” Ryan exclaimed
“We just spent the last hour telling Summer she wasn’t alone! I’m not gonna freak out in front of her!” Will shot back
“Okay, well now we’re not in front of her!” Ryan said
That was apparently enough to break the dam. Because suddenly they were all talking at once as they practically ran down the stairs of her building.
“She’s actually pregnant.” Will said
“One of us is the dad.” Gabe said
“Or maybe all of us are emotionally the dad?” Ryan asked
“That’s not how biology works, Ryan!” Gabe said
“I know that, Gabe!” Ryan exclaimed
They made it all the way back to campus before any of them calmed down even slightly.
By the time they got back to Will and Gabe’s dorm, Ryan was pacing.
“I’m eighteen.” Ryan said, for probably the fifteenth time
“So you’ve said.” Gabe muttered
He was sitting on Will’s desk chair with his head in his hands.
“I’m serious! I’m eighteen! I’m supposed to be worried about, like, chem homework and hockey and whether Coach is gonna yell at me tomorrow!” Ryan exclaimed
“You should probably still worry about that.” Will said, weakly
“I do not know how to take care of a baby.” Ryan said
“You think I do? The most responsibility I’ve ever had is that cactus my mom made me take to school and it died in, like, a week.” Gabe said
“It wasn’t your fault.” Will said, automatically
“You’re right. Because I forgot it existed!” Gabe said
Ryan stopped pacing and pointed at him.
“Exactly! We can’t have a baby! We can barely keep ourselves alive!” Ryan exclaimed
Will was sitting on the edge of his bed, staring blankly at the floor. He hadn’t said much since they left Summer’s apartment. Now he looked up.
“She had a sonogram on her fridge and she heard the heartbeat already.” Will said
The room fell silent. Because there was really a baby. A real baby. Ryan sat down hard on Gabe's bed.
“Oh my God.” Ryan said, softly
For a second, none of them spoke. Then Gabe let out a shaky breath.
“Do you think she’s okay?” Gabe asked
Will looked up immediately.
“She’s terrified. She’s been doing this alone.” Will said
“And we showed up and basically cornered her at work.” Ryan said
“We didn’t know.” Gabe said, quickly
“I know, but still.” Ryan said
He leaned forward, elbows on his knees.
“She looked so scared.” Ryan said
That shut all of them up again. Because she had. Summer had looked like she was waiting for them to leave. Or yell. Or tell her they wanted nothing to do with any of it. Instead, they’d promised they’d stay. And they meant it. Even if they were absolutely freaking the fuck out.
Ryan flopped backward dramatically onto the bed.
“My mom is gonna kill me.” Ryan said
“You think your mom is gonna kill you? My mom is gonna somehow make me feel guilty and disappointed at the same time.” Gabe said
“My mom’s gonna cry.” Will said
“Summer’s brothers are definitely gonna kill us.” Ryan added
“Oh, absolutely.” Gabe said
“Great. So not only are we having a baby, we’re also probably gonna get murdered by a D1 athlete and an NHL player.” Ryan said
Will was quiet for another second.
“I don’t care who the dad is.” Will said, softly
Ryan and Gabe looked at him. Will shrugged, eyes still fixed on the floor.
“It’s our baby.” Ryan said
Will looked between them, still looking a little shell-shocked. Then Ryan pointed at him.
“But if it gets Gabe’s hair and your face, I’m gonna be pissed.” Ryan said
For the first time all night, Gabe and Will both laughed.
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