|Difara Pizza| Avermiah ♥

[jeremy]

(( www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=71340508 ))

Jeremy was glad it was Saturday and he didn't have to work. The cool thing about teaching was that he had weekends and school breaks off to do whatever he wanted. The bad thing was...he wasn't allowed to show off his amazing girlfriend.
Truth be told, he'd been crazy about Avery since Ben introduced them last year at Somerset's kickback. She was blonde and beautiful and ridiculously funny. After talking to her for like five minutes he could tell that not only was she a surface beauty, but she was pretty on the inside, too. And smart...and sixteen. It'd been a year, and she was a year older now...but so was he. He could vote and smoke and buy alcohol, and she could...drive?
On top of that, even though it was technically legal with the age of consent, he could lose his job if the wrong people found out. She was his student. No, they weren't having sex, but still. It was inappropriate because of his position as her instructor. He just couldn't give her up. Maybe it was stupid, but Jeremy was almost certain that he was in love with her.

Whatever. It didn't matter. He'd finally worked up the courage to ask her out about a month ago, and everything had been amazing ever since. And innocent, too. It hadn't gone any further than kissing, and he was perfectly okay with that. Sure, he wouldn't have a problem making love to her, but he wasn't going to push it. He'd wait an eternity for Avery. She was worth it.
He probably looked like an idiot smiling to himself in a packed Brooklyn pizza place, full grown man sitting alone, not even ordering yet. He didn't care though. He was just waiting for Avery to meet him so they could have their food and then explore. He offered to come her way, but she said she'd rather come out to see him. Either way, he was going to give her her gift today, and tell her something he'd only ever said once to someone.
Excited? Yes. Nervous? You better believe it.

[Avery Fuller]

(( www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=71342233 ))

Sure, dating a teacher was weird. Maybe Carol and Thalia told Avery countless times that it was a bad idea. Maybe she hadn't told her parents exactly who this new guy in her life was. But as we all know, there's no telling Avery anything. When she decides she wants something, she makes sure its hers, even against the advice of those close to her. Avery knew deep down that Jeremy really cared for her, and she could tell he respected her.

Avery got out of the cab she'd taken from the train station, and entered the pizza parlor. As usual, she took some extra time to get ready. She wanted to make sure Jeremy saw her as mature, and didn't see a seventeen year old student when he looked at her. It was important to Avery that she was more than a teenager to him. She spotted Jeremy immediately, and hurried over to him to hug him and peck him on the lips. "Hey, you," She smiled at him after the embrace. She was a bit tense because she had to tell him about the baby. It wouldn't be long before he'd notice, and she was already scared that he'd feel her baby bump (that's not even there yet). Technically, the baby was conceived before they got together, but Avery still felt as though she had cheated on Jeremy.

All she could think about was him leaving her when she told him. What if he got angry? What if he didn't want to stay with her anymore? What if he got so angry he told administration that all this was her fault? What if he told her parents? What if-

Shut up, Avery. Breathe.

"Have you ordered yet?" She took his hand and gave it a squeeze, trying to push the negative thoughts out of her mind.

[jeremy]

Jeremy's heart jumped to his throat when Avery walked in. Could she be anymore beautiful? He really didn't want to know the answer to that, because if she did...he'd probably lose his mind.
He squeezed her hand back, "Yeah -- no, I was waiting on you. You look amazing, by the way. I can't even..." he shook his head and blushed. You'd think he was the underage one here by the way he was acting. He just got so flustered around her all the time. It made absolutely no sense that she was still single. He would have thought someone would swoop her up by now, someone as gorgeous as her.

"Oh, I almost forgot," he let go of her hand to reach into his pocket to get the little box out. He smiled at her and slid the blue velvet jewelry box across the table. "Don't kill me, I just...I really wanted to get you something. After paying for gas and food and all after Saturday's show, I had some cash left over so...yeah."
He smiled nervously, "Well go ahead and open it silly!" It was just a pair of earrings. Seven hundred dollar diamond earrings yes, and he probably wouldn't be able to get Benji that gerbil he wanted until after the next show, but still. And okay, maybe most of the money he spent for the earrings was actually out of savings and not from the show, but that didn't matter right? He didn't want to seem like a creep going out and spending money after only a month. He just...he really liked her. And he wanted to get her something to hopefully prove that.

"Avs...I um...I need to tell you something," he took her hands after she saw the jewelry and looked her in those pretty blue eyes. "I know it's only been...I don't know, like a month since we were official?" Three weeks, five days, six and a half hours.
"But...I know what I want when I see it. And I haven't been with that many people, true, but...when you know, you know. And the older you get, you start to realize...why wait? Life's too short to hesitate and not say how you feel." He squeezed her hands. "Avery....I love you. You don't have to say it back, honestly. I just...yeah. I wanted you to know." He smiled nervously again, waiting for her response.


ooc:
They're the earrings in the set

[Avery Fuller]

Ooc: so im stuck on my phone :/ this might suck.
BIC:

Avery really loved spending time with Jeremy and the attention she got from him was definitely taking some getting used to after the ways she'd been treated before by other guys. Most guys either led her on, used her, or straight up ditched her for another girl, who may or may not have been her friend at the time. It wasn't exactly fair, especially since Avery was never one to do a mean thing to anyone. Except maybe Esme.

Avery glanced at Jeremy curiously when he began digging in his pockets, and when he passed the box to her, her jaw all but hit the floor. "Jeremy...!" Her cheeks were red, and she couldn't halo but smile when she opened the box. "You didnt... You really didnt have to, Jeremy!" She smiled and looked at the earrings again. "They're beautiful. Thank you."

Then, Jeremy began talking again, and Avery found herself blushing and smiling again. He said the L word. Love.. Yes, Avery was ecstatic to hear those three words, but her little secret kept jumping around in her brain, making her worry.

"Jeremy, I love you too. And I'm not just saying that. You make me feel special, like I'm worth something. I feel like a better person around you and you give me confidence in who I am. I feel important because of you." She smiled, then moved to his side of the booth to snuggle up to him a little. It wasn't overly PDAish, but it was obvious she was smitten.

Once the two had talked a little and calmed down off the earrings which were now in Avery's ears and the I-Love-Yous, Avery's face turned serious. "Jeremy, I have to tell you something." She took a deep breath. "I'm not leaving you or anything like that, I promise. Its just.. I don't want you to think any less of me or think I did this on purpose.. But people make mistakes and I'm only human..."

"Jeremy.... I'm pregnant. I know its a lot to take in and especially all this in one night but I can't hide it from you any longer. Now that I know you care about me so much, I couldn't keep it from you a day longer...." Her voice trailed off. Now she just had to hope that Jeremy wouldn't leave her.

[jeremy]

How could he go from feeling like the luckiest man in the world to...this? Avery was pregnant, and there was no possible way that it was his because they hadn't been anywhere close to intimate. Their relationship had been innocent and lovely and he had barely touched another girl since he met her a year ago. No, he had no reason to be that faithful, he just thought that at some point she would be his and he wanted to be able to say that since having met her, he hadn't been with another girl. Clearly though...he didn't mean the same to her.

He removed his arm from around her waist where it'd been since she moved over and put his hand over his mouth. He wasn't even sure what to make of this. They had literally just gotten together, and she was already cheating on him. That didn't say very much for their future, did it? This was probably going to be Jessica all over again. Him being hopelessly in love and her not giving a shit.
He could almost hear how the band — his family — would react...


Alex: Dude, this is why you don't fuck around with high school girls.
Charity: It's not high school girls that are the problem. It's whores. Just like Jessica. Jessica was a whore who did nothing but fight with you and cheat on you. This bitch is probably just Jessica Junior.
Benji: Hey now. She's not a bad person. I know her, people make mistakes.
Charity: That's not an excuse. Jeremy. I'm your sister. Listen to me. This girl is bad news.
Alex: You can do better. Way better. She's hot, but you don't need a fucking kid that's not yours.
Benji: Man...just protect yourself. Follow your heart, but protect it, too.

"I'm gonna go get our food," he mumbled and then waited for her to let him out of the booth.
When he was up, he was thankful for the longish line. He needed a minute away from her to think. What was he supposed to do? He'd need to talk to the guys (and his sister) before deciding anything. Not because he didn't make his own choices, but because they always had his best interest at heart. Ben was like the brother he never had, he and Alex had been best friends since they were in high school, and then clearly Charity was his lovably annoying little sister. So yeah, he'd have to talk to them first. Just because he needed some...outside perspective.

He came back to the table two slices of spinach and tomato for him, and pepperoni for Avery, not knowing what she would want. He also brought back two cokes in Styrofoam cups, but instead of resuming his place next to her on that side of the booth, he slid in the other. And being a descent human being, he knew she couldn't really blame him.
They ate in silence for a bit — well, he assumed she ate, because he didn't look up at her once. He just stuffed his pizza in his mouth and consumed every thought he had in that greasy Brooklyn style pizza.

When he had finished though, he realized that he needed to talk to her again. Or he could just leave. Leaving was also an option, and she probably would understand. Avery was no fool, and from the little information she'd told him about her past, he knew she was no stranger to being hurt. If he were correct, someone she loved had a child with another person, too.
"Okay," he folded his hands on the table and looked up at her. "Two questions come to mind: When and why. That's what I want to know first, and then we can talk details. I don't want to...I'm not talking about what's going to happen to our...relationship...if you even want to call it that anymore," he mumbled the last part under his breath and sighed. He didn't want to be mean to her. Isn't that crazy? Even after finding out the girl he was head over heels for was knocked up with someone else's kid...he still put her before himself.

Typical Jeremiah. Setting himself up for heartbreak.

ooc:
He's not going to leave her, I swear. This is just his first reaction. Please don't let her cry, because if she cries, he'll cry XD

[Avery Fuller]

Jeremy just walking away like that didn't really ease Avery's mind or anything. He didn't say anything except that he was getting their food. She hung her head, picking at her nails, a nervous habit. She had ruined their perfect night, basically. Who knows what could have happened tonight if she hadn't dropped this on him? Then again, she'd pegged Jeremy to be more supportive than he was being at the moment. He loved her, right? Didn't that mean he'd stay with her, even through hardships? Even though this wasn't his baby, Avery was still his girlfriend and they'd just exchanged "I love you"s. That meant something, right?

They ate in awkward silence- Well, Jeremy ate. Avery took a couple bites, but she really wasn't hungry anymore. She felt sick to her stomach. She'd really hoped Jeremy would react differently than he was. She didn't expect much, given the news she'd just told him, but she'd still hoped that he wouldn't totally shut down the way he was.

"First of all, if you're going to leave, don't drag it out. Been there, done that, and I'm not trying to go back to that. Second, I didn't cheat on you. I don't do that, and I never would. I've had that done to me and I would never put someone else through that." Avery sighed and took a deep breath, trying to compose herself so she didn't start to cry. "I know exactly how you're feeling, because I've been on your end before. I mean, I didn't love him like I love you, but I know it hurts. I know what its like, but I did not cheat on you. This happened before us, i was being stupid and reckless... Just a stupid teenage statistic. I understand if you don't want to.." Avery took another deep breath. steadying her voice so it didn't shake. "I understand if you don't want to be with me anymore, but I'd really love to have you here to help me through this. I can't imagine being with anyone else, especially in this situation. I love you, Jeremy."

She left it at that, and looked back down at her hands again, waiting to hear his reply.

[jeremy]

Well that was a relief. At least it had happened before they got together. It still hurt like crazy, but he felt somewhat better knowing that she wasn't a cheater.
He sighed, "I want to be here for you, Avery, I really do. But you have to look at it from my prospective — I'm an adult. I have bills to pay, I have work, I have...I have a lot of shit going on. I know this isn't going to be easy for you, but...aside from love, can you give me a logical reason to stay with you being pregnant with someone else's child?"

It hurt him more than she could imagine to say those words. He wanted to just be like aww, it's okay. We'll be a family and raise this baby together, but that just didn't make sense. Not only would it be painful for him to be the "father" of a child that wasn't his, but he'd be putting himself though unnecessary hardships. More bills, diapers, sleepless nights, doctor's appointments, it was just too much! It would be one thing if it were his child, but it wasn't.
And then there was what his family would do and say. He would never hear the end of it if he stayed with her. They would tell him he was stupid. Hell hath no fury like an angry Striefer. Charity would probably go nuts on Avery. Probably only one Facebook because she was nineteen and too smart to go to jail, but still. And his mom would cry. Just because they were both over protective and seeing him go through something so difficult when it could be avoided...

Jeremy sighed, "I'm not leaving you, okay? I...I really do love you. And one thing isn't going to change my mind on that, no matter how big it is. I didn't wait around like a love sick puppy for a year to give up this easily. I am...it hurts, okay? Not going to lie. Knowing that you're having a child with someone else drives me crazy.
"I don't know where to go from here, and I don't know how I'm supposed to..." he shook his head. He was going to say get through this, but then he realized he was being selfish. She didn't intentionally get pregnant. She was seventeen! She didn't go out, trying to conceive! It just happened. And he believed her when she said she was sorry. Avery wasn't a liar. Especially not to him.

He reached across the table and took her hand, "I can't tell you what's going to happen to us, okay? But what I do know is that I'm going to be in your life no matter what. Maybe...maybe not as a father to your child, but...I'll be here. I don't know...I have a lot to think about, you know? Regardless though...I love you. And that's not going to change." He gave her a weak smile, and squeezed her hand a little.

[Avery Fuller]

"I know you're an adult, and I almost am one too. I know that we can't drop school and work and dreams for my recklessness but I need you to help me Jeremy. You don't have to give me money or a place to stay but I need some emotional support. I don't know how much you know about me or things I've been through but I need some stability. I don't want to say this, Jeremy, but I need you to tell me what is going to happen. I don't want to think you're going to stay with me just to have you change your mind the second I start showing or the second I have this baby." Avery knew that Jeremy wasn't the father of this baby but she really needed his help. At this point, he was her support system, aside from Carol and Thalia. His help was crucial.

"I don't want to make you stay, Jeremy, but..I need you." She whispered. Even though she probably was sounding a bit desperate, Avery couldn't help but continue. She was almost begging him to stay. "I can't do this by myself. Maybe I can't give you some great reason to stay with me. I love you, and you love me. When you love someone you're there for them no matter what gets thrown at you."

Avery forced a close-lipped smile when Jeremy offered her one, but he could probably tell it was difficult to muster. She had so much on her mind, and having Jeremy say he doesn't know what's going to happen really hurt Avery.

ooc: im sorry this kinda sucks. I'm really tired XD

[jeremy]

Jeremy sighed. He felt like she was guilting him into it. Like he had no other choice, because she was saying she'd be nearly totally alone without him. He didn't feel right saying he would do it when he wast totally sure. He was hardly twenty-one! He didn't know if he was capable of being a good father figure. And on top of that, if he committed, he would do it one hundred percent. Jeremiah Striefer didn't half ass anything. He'd feel obligated to give Avery a home. For her and her child, pay for medical expenses, diapers, anything she or the child might need because that was just the type of person he was. But how would be actually do that?
It would be one thing if it were his child. He would have to find a way. Most of his money came from the band. His bills were payed from the money he made monthy through the school. He'd have to do extra shows to earn enough money, become a private guitar vocal or bass teacher...he'd have to exert himself so much, because if he told Avery he was going to support her, he'd do it fully.

He looked down, "You know I want to say yes. I want to say that I'll be able to be a father to your child, but I just...I don't know that right now. I know it sounds stupid, but I really need to talk to Alex and Ben before I can give you a straight answer. CTB is just starting to take off, we're trying to get the album together, we've been spending all our free time writing songs for it...I can't just take on a big responsibility like this without at least talking to them.
"You have to understand, if I tell you I can do this, I'm doing it fully. I'll do everything for you and the baby. Which is why I can't give you a straight answer right after finding out, no matter how much I want to."

He took a sip of his drink and leaned back in the booth. "What I can tell you is I love you very much. That is never, ever going to change. Nothing you could ever do will make me not love you." He knew on the inside that he would end up telling her yes. He just didn't want to say it and then something happen where he changed his mind. He needed to be sure. It was better to leave her wondering for a few days than give her hope for it to just fall through.

[Avery Fuller]

"I know, I know.." Avery sighed. "I understand." Even though Avery felt like this had to be handled and decided right this second or else it never would (much like any other situation), she knew that it was a lot to put on Jeremy. She was seventeen and stupid, and he was twenty-one and an adult. He needed time to figure things out, and even though it was less than ideal for her at the moment, she needed to be understanding if she really wanted him to be here for her.

"I love you too, Jeremy." She smiled finally and took a sip from her drink, then a bite from her pizza. Avery crinkled her nose when she found that the pizza was cold and soggy now.Oh well.

"Did you wanna go do something else tonight or what?" Avery scooted to his side of the booth again, doing her best to keep her mind off the situation at hand.