CHAPTER 23

In front of them stood a blonde girl with blue eyes. She was only wearing a white shirt. A shirt that Evelyn knew all too well. It was their High School shirt. She knew it belonged to Alexander because on the lower corner of the shirt was Evelyn's and Alexander's hands printed with paint. Evelyn started to feel sick. She threw herself into Dawson's arms, digging her face into his chest. Dawson held her tight but made no attempt to leave.

"We're looking for Alexander Khinbert."

"Oh, dear are you his little brother? You look identical to him."

"Yes. Can you tell us where he is?" Evelyn's grip on Dawson's shirt tightened. Did she want to hear the answer to that?

"He's taking a shower. Rough night, you know." The blue eye blonde said with a wink.

"I'm sorry, you are?" Dawson didn't like this girl.

"Desirae. I'm Alexander's girlfriend." Dawson could feel Evelyn stop breathing. He patted and caressed her back. "Would you like to wait for him?"

"No need. Thank you." Evelyn said under her breath as she pulled Dawson away.

"Desirae, who was that?" A male voice said emerging for the restroom.

"It was nobody." Desirae said sitting down on the bed.

"Yo' take that shirt off! Alexander won't be too happy if he sees you wearing it. You know it's his favorite shirt."

"Lighten up a little Shaun. He will never know I was wearing it." Shaun walked over to Desirae and gave her a small kiss on the lips.

"Take it off." He said again. Desirae scuffed as she took it off and tossed it where she had previously found it on Alexander's bed.

'I wonder if I went a little too far with my joke?' Desirae thought as she looked at the now closed door. 'That girl was Alex's girlfriend, wasn't she?'

"What's on your mind?" Shaun asked as he handed Desirae her clothes from the floor.

"Where's Alex?" She started getting dressed and picked up her long blonde hair into a ponytail.

"I don't know. He knew you were spending the night, so he wanted to give us some privacy."

"He doesn't like me, does he?"

"You could say you're not his favorite person. Not after he told you a thousand times, he had a girlfriend and you still tried to get in his pants." Shaun chuckled, handing the girl the rest of her belongings.

"You know about that and still hooked up with me." Desirae winked at Shaun.

"What can I say, I'm up for casual sex." Shaun opened the door for Desirae once she had gather all her things. "See you around." He practically kicked her out now that she thought about it.

'You shouldn't have rejected me. I wouldn't have done what I did.' Desirae thought as she saw a picture of Alexander and his girlfriend before she left the room.

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"Evelyn slow down. Evelyn… stop!" Dawson called out to Evelyn who was fast walking to who knows where. All she wanted to do was get out of there as soon as possible. Dawson grabbed her shoulders and turned her to look at him. "We need to find your dad and Matthew. Do you have your phone on you?" Evelyn didn't say anything as she handed her phone to Dawson. He dialed Maverick's number; he shared their location. Evelyn and Dawson met Maverick and Matthew up, they were close by.

"What's going on, where's Ale?" Matthew asked as soon as they were hearing distance.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Evelyn immediately questioned Matthew. He should know that Alexander was dating someone new, right?

"What are you talking about, sis?"

"Why didn't you tell me Alexander was dating?!" Evelyn punched Matthew in the chest as tears escaped her eyes. "Why? Why? How could you?"

"What? Evelyn what are you talking about?" Matthew grabbed her hands. Trying to make her stop. She leaned her face on his chest and continued sobbing.

"We went to Alexander's dorm. A blonde girl opened the door. Apparently, Alexander is dating her." Dawson was the one to explain the situation. Matthew scratched the back of his neck before holding his sister tight.

"Desirae, was it?" Matthew asked. Dawson nodded. "I knew she was after him. I didn't know he had actually fallen for her tricks." He held Evelyn tighter in his arms. "I'm sorry Ev. As soon as orientation ended Alex and I stopped hanging out with each other as often. Our schedules differ so much I hadn't seen him or spoken to him in a while." Meanwhile Maverick was standing on the sidelines. His hands were fisted but he was trying his best to stay calm. It was for the best. "Let's go sit down." Matthew led them to a shaded bench and sat Evelyn next to him. She had stopped crying by now, but she still looked sluggish. "What exactly brings you all here?" Matthew still didn't know the news. Evelyn coughed out something that had been stuck in her throat since leaving Alexander's dorm room.

"I'm pregnant." She said in one go. Matthew thought he had heard wrong. He looked from Evelyn, to Dawson, to Maverick and then back to Evelyn.

"How…" this time it was Matthew who coughed out. He cleared his throat before continuing. "How far along are you?"

"I don't know exactly, but maybe 1-2 months. I wanted to go to my first doctor's appointment with Alexander…" As soon as his name left her mouth the tears started pouring out again. Sophia and Jane had suggested going to the doctor's as soon as they found out, but Evelyn objected to it, saying that Alexander needed to be present too.

"What's going to happen now? Are you still going to tell Ale?" Evelyn immediately shook her head. Everyone was surprised at her response.

"He doesn't need to know. He's…" She swallowed a lump in her throat. "He's already starting a new life. He doesn't need me to keep him back. He doesn't need to know." The last part she said while looking at everyone. It was more of an order.

"What are you going to do now?" Matthew didn't know how to react. He was furious at Ale for doing this to his little sister, but he was also concerned for her, and he didn't want to show her how upset he was.

"I'm taking her away." This time it was Maverick who answered. Evelyn turned to look at him confused. "It was Sophia's and Jane's idea. I agreed with them. You, me, and Dawson, we're moving away." Dawson turned to look at Maverick, they were really hoping it wouldn't come down to this. Evelyn looked down at her feet before looking up at her father.

"Where will we go? The farther, the better."

"We can figure it out back home. I already messaged your mom and your mom." He said to both Evelyn and Dawson. "They'll be waiting for us at the house."

"I'm sorry I can't go back with you guys." Matthew felt his hands tight. He didn't know how to make his little sister feel better. He felt like a failure as a big brother.

"It's ok. I'll handle things from here on out. We should get back on the road then." Maverick hugged his son goodbye. Matthew went and hugged Evelyn.

"I'm sorry." He said to her in a whisper. He held her tight for a second before letting go.

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"I'm sorry you have to go through all this without Alex's support. I thought I had raised him differently." Jane held Evelyn tight as she sobbed in her arms. They had gotten back not long ago, and Dawson had filled them in on what had happened.

"Know that you're not alone sweetie." Sophia said as she sat on Evelyn's other side. She patted her daughter's back to soothe her sobbing. Maverick walked into the living room with a cup of warm honey tea. Dawson sat across from the moms and sobbing girl. He wanted to kick Alexander's butt so badly. But no matter how many times he tried contacting him, the call was sent to voicemail.

'Why the fuck isn't he answering?' Dawson was fuming pissed. He felt ashamed to be called his brother.

"I already made some calls. We can leave next week if you want, or is it too soon?" Maverick sat next to Dawson as he handed him a glass of water. Evelyn looked up at her father, her eyes were now swollen from all the crying.

"The sooner we leave, the better."

"Alright."

"Mom, you're coming with us, right?" Evelyn hadn't stopped to think about her mother. She finally realized that her father just said her, Dawson, and himself. Sophia shook her head.

"No sweetie. I'm staying back with Jane. After all, Matthew needs a place to come back to during breaks." Evelyn's eyes started swelling up again, filling up with tears.

"I can't do this to you and dad. You just got back together and because of me…"

"This was our idea. You don't have to blame yourself for anything. Your father and I can see each other every now and then. Don't worry about us grownups. Your well-being is what's important right now. You need to have a healthy pregnancy so you can give birth to a healthy baby." Sophia held her daughter in her arms. She was trying so hard to be strong for herself. This was their idea. They wanted her to be in a healthy environment away from everything that could remind her of Alexander. Away from Alexander himself. Evelyn had decided not to let him know about the pregnancy, moving away was the best she could do.

"Dawson, please take good care of them both." Jane said, standing up from her seat, switching places with Maverick. She held onto Dawson's hands tightly.

"I'll protect her and the baby. I promise." Jane hugged her son tightly.

"You've become an amazing man. I'm so proud of you." Dawson returned the hug and held her tight. She didn't know how much those words meant to him now more than ever. "I love you, Dawson."

"I love you too, mom."

"I'll always be a phone call away. Whenever you want to hear my voice. Whenever you need motherly advice. Whenever you just want someone to listen to you, I'll be a phone call away." Sophia said to her still sobbing daughter as both she and Maverick held her tight. "I love you, Evelyn."

"I love you." Evelyn said in between cries. Maverick turned to look at Sophia and mouthed an 'I love you.' Sophia did the same.