⌜ chapter seventeen ⌟

Letty takes a deep breath as she raises her first and knocks on the door to the boys' apartment, hoping that it'll be Jack who answers as she looks down at her feet. The door opens, and she looks up to find exactly who she was hoping for.

"Oh, good, you're just in time for my complaints."

"Can I just have the stuff that I gave you money to buy?" The brunette asks as he walks over to the counter where he left said stuff.

"No." He says, and she nods, expecting nothing less. "You know, this whole Valentine's Day thing is one big scam. The greeting card companies, the candy stores — all try to rip off the innocent consumer."

"So, no date, huh?" She asks as she leans in the doorway near the hinges. She has absolutely no idea if Eric's sitting on the couch or anywhere else in the room, and she doesn't want to find out.

"I am so lonely." He tells her, and she chuckles as he walks back over to her. "So, what are your plans for tonight?"

"Well, I'm taking these next door and hanging out with the girls." She says as she takes the small boxes of chocolate from him.

"Getting them all high on sugar before you leave them with Hope and Jason for bedtime?"

"Yes, sir, that is the plan." She nods, mildly amused with herself, and he laughs.

"That's all you're doing?"

"No. Then I have to go home and kill Reggie because he's had My Funny Valentine on a constant loop for the last week." She tells him. "Which is funny — because he doesn't have a Valentine."

"Does anybody in that house?"

"Mhm. I have five." She smiles, and he raises his eyebrows in question. "The twins, Hope, Jason, and Shawn."

"None of those count."

"They do when the love of your life dumps you because he thinks that you're some violent murderer." She says and then looks down at the carpet between their feet.

"Are you okay?" He asks, and she nods.

"Yeah." She forces a smile as she looks back at him. "I don't really have the luxury of not being okay anyway. I have two toddlers to help raise and your pain in the ass brother to look after, so..."

"I can handle Shawn...if you need to—"

"I'm alright, Jack." She cuts him off. "Thanks for picking these up for me. The bookstore's finally getting some traction, and I've been pretty busy lately. I didn't have time to stop at a grocery store."

"You know, since you're back at the house, you could always go back to one job." He tells her, and she shakes her head.

"I wouldn't know what to do with myself. I've been working since I was seven."

"I didn't say to quit 'em both." He says, and she takes a deep breath.

"I'll have to pay back student loans after graduation, and I do still pay rent. Raising the twins definitely isn't cheap..." She shakes her head. "Besides, it keeps me busy. I'm not exactly a fan of downtime these days."

"You know, you and me could get dinner." He tells her. "Completely as friends."

"Thanks, Jack, but, uh... I don't think so. I just wanna hang out with the twins, and then head home to try and get some sleep." She tells him, and he nods.

Letty looks down as tears fill her eyes again, and she clears her throat. He then glances over toward Eric, who's sitting on the couch; the older boy's blocked by the door, so she has no idea that he's been there the entire time.

"Scarlett?" Jack reaches out and rests his hand on her arm.

"It's the first Valentine's Day since I was six that I'm not gonna get anything from him. Even before we dated, when he had another girlfriend, he'd still..." The brunette sniffs as she stands up straight. "I guess I should get used to it, huh? It's only the first holiday of the year."

"If it's any consolation... I don't think he's doing too hot either."

"I never wanted to hurt him. That was always what I was trying to avoid." She tells him. "I guess it's finally time I learn that if something seems too good to be true, it's because it is."

"That's not—"

"I'll see you around, Jack." She takes a step back and then turns to walk down the hall toward the other apartment.

About an hour later, Letty's playing with Faith and Joy when the phone rings. Jason walks over to answer it and then gets a frantic message from Cory to pass along to Letty. He hangs up the phone, shakes his head, and then looks over at the brunette.

"Are you aware that Shawn and his friends are completely insane?" He asks, and she nods as she looks over at him.

"Entirely, yeah. Why?"

"Three of Shawn's ex-girlfriends tricked him into going to a boathouse, then they handcuffed him there to keep him from his date with Angela." He tells her, and she raises her eyebrows, surprised by what she just heard. That's definitely a new one.

"Nothing normal ever happens to those two, does it?" Hope asks, and she shakes her head.

"No." Letty says as she gets to her feet. "Go play with Mommy." She tells Faith, who then runs over to where Hope's laying on the floor.

"I'll call the house, see if one of the guys can pick you up from the boathouse." Jason says as she starts for the door.

"Thanks."

—

Letty walks into the boathouse, and all three boys immediately look at her. "Scarlett!" Shawn sighs in relief as she makes her way over to him.

"What do you think you're doing?" One of the three girls questions as she reaches out and grabs the brunette's arm.

The older girl turns to look at her. "Get your hand off of me before I call the cops and have you all arrested for kidnapping." She tells her, and the blonde lets go.

"Have I ever told you how much I love it when you get scary?" Shawn asks as she walks over to him.

"Do you ever date normal girls?" Letty questions as she pulls her lock-picking stuff from her back pocket.

He nods. "Angela." He tells her, and then, as if on cue, the girl that he named walks into the boathouse with Cory following right behind her.

"What do you three witches think you're doing?" She questions.

"Angela!" Shawn smiles as Letty moves to his other side to unlock the second set of handcuffs.

"We're doing you a favor, Angela. You just don't know it." The same one that grabbed Letty says, and the older girl turns to look at her.

"What I do know is Shawn would've been here for our date if it wasn't for you guys." Angela argues as he walks over to her.

"I tried. I wanted to be with you more than anything tonight." Shawn tells his girlfriend before hugging her.

"The defendant will refrain from using his charm to sway the witness." The same girl from before says, acting as though this whole thing is some kind trial.

"And we're not leaving until you admit that you're not boyfriend material." Another adds.

"Aren't you the same psycho who forced Shawn to stop being friends with Cory?" Letty questions as she looks at the one who grabbed her. "You broke up with him first, and then he broke up with you because you're— Oh, yeah — psycho."

"Nobody asked for your opinion, trailer trash." The first girl says, and she smiles.

"Hey!" Eric yells as he takes a step forward.

"Yeah, that's right, sweetheart. I am from the trailer park." Letty nods as she looks at the three girls. "And if you know that, then I'm sure you know plenty more. So, why don't you take a hike before I show you how those rumors got started? Because I am the one girl in Shawn's life that you never wanna mess with."

"What's going on in here?" Reggie questions as he walks in, looking at all of the teenagers.

"Go home. Hope for better luck next year." The brunette tells the three blondes who had Shawn handcuffed to a ladder.

"Jack, you got Shawn?"

"Yeah." The older Hunter boy says as he looks over at him, confused by the question.

"Good. Scarlett, get your ass in the truck." Reggie tells her, and she looks at him.

"You wanna try that one more time?" She questions.

"Get your annoying, insubordinate ass in the truck before I carry you there myself."

"Insubordinate, huh?" She quirks an eyebrow at him. "You my father now?"

"Scarlett, just go." Shawn whispers as he walks up behind her. He places his hand on her arm as she glares at Reggie. "I'm fine now, okay? So, maybe it's time that you actually try taking care of yourself. Instead of burying how you feel under anger that only ever ends up getting you into trouble. Let him help you like you've always helped me. Go home, Scarlett."

"The problem with that, Shawn...is that I no longer have one." Letty tells him before walking away from him and moving past Reggie to leave the boathouse.

—

Letty's sitting on the bathroom floor, staring up at the reason that she's been so scared and so angry lately. Her period's late, and she's been hoping that it would just start and she wouldn't have to pee on that stupid little stick that could change her world more than its already been changed.

She hasn't wanted to go through this. But the more time passes and it doesn't happen, she knows that she has to take the test. So, she took it, and it has the results by now, but she can't bring herself to get up and look at the lines. She's terrified of what the answer is.

For over an hour, the brunette sits on her bathroom floor with tears in her eyes. The boys are all asleep by now, seeing as it's after midnight. What a way to spend Valentine's Day.

Sometime after two in the morning, she finally decides that enough is enough. So, she pushes herself up off of the floor, feeling the ache in her muscles from sitting there for so long, but that isn't the worst part. She's more than just scared, she's petrified. And she's nauseous.

Letty walks over to the counter and she picks up the stick.

One line. Not pregnant.

Her shoulders sag as relief floods her body. That's the answer that she was hoping for. And every ounce of her wants to believe that's it and that's that. But a nagging feeling in her gut keeps reminding her that luck has never really been on her side.