Brooke opened the door to find Alissa sweating and in a panic on the doorstep. She hadn’t even moved out of the way when Alissa charged down the hallway.

Brooke was going to say something snide as she followed Alissa into the kitchen but when she saw her cousin’s face, she didn’t dare say anything.

Alissa sat down in one of the chairs, put her arms on the table and dropped her head on top of them. She started sobbing and Brooke had no idea what to do.

“Alissa, please tell me what’s wrong. Did you and AJ have a fight?”

Alissa just shook her head no. 

“Then honey I’m confused. The only time I’ve ever seen you this upset was when something happened between you and AJ. You need to calm down and tell me what’s wrong.”

Alissa continued to sob and Brooke brought over a box of tissues. All she could do was hug her cousin.

After a few minutes, Alissa’s sobbing subsided enough so that Brooke could ask her what was wrong again. Alissa just picked her head up and stared at her cousin.

“I’m pregnant.”

Brooke’s jaw dropped and she stammered over her words. “Are you sure? I thought you were on the pill.”

“I am.” was all Alissa said before she started crying again.

“Well, I’m going to be a moron for a minute but I thought that you were pretty safe on that. Did you forget any days?”

“No.” Alissa cried. “I asked the doctor and he said that when I had strep and was on the antibiotic, the pill wasn’t working properly. I didn’t even think about that. AJ was leaving on tour soon and all I concentrated on was that!”

Brooke sighed. “Nobody in your position would think about that.”

“I should have Brooke. I don’t know what I’m going to do.” Alissa put her head back down and started crying again.

 ----------------------------- 

AJ was surprised when he called Alissa to see how she was feeling and the call went right to voicemail. Considering what happened the last time he went on tour, he started to get nervous.

“Why isn’t she answering?” he asked Nick getting anxious.

“Will you relax J? You said yourself that she felt like crap and that she should get some rest. Leave her be and try calling her again tomorrow.”

“Ok.” AJ said and followed the guys out to the sound check.

------------------------------ 

Alissa spent the night at Brooke’s. She didn’t want to be alone and she had no idea what she was going to do. Tossing and turning all night, she finally got up at 7 and found Brooke in the kitchen.

Brooke had no idea what to say to her cousin. She didn’t want to upset her again but when Alissa went to pour a cup of coffee, Brooke put her hand on her arm and shook her head no.

“You’re not supposed to drink a lot of caffeine, if any, when you’re pregnant.”

Hearing those words again was like a blow to the stomach. Alissa sat down at the table and started to tear up again. Brooke sat next to her and just held her hand.

“What am I going to do?”

“My first suggestion? Go to the doctor and make sure they got the test right.” Brooke said matter-of-factly.

“What happens if it is right?” Alissa looked at her helplessly.

Brooke sighed knowing this was not what her cousin wanted to hear. “Tell AJ.”

Alissa started to cry again. “I can’t do that. I told you how he was freaked out by the whole thing at the hospital. How am I going to tell him this?”

“AJ loves you. He’s going to be ok.”

“No he’s not. You didn’t see his face. He may love me but he is definitely not going to be ok with this!”

“This is a pointless argument until we know what the test definitely says.” Brooke handed Alissa the phone. “Call the doctor and make an appointment for today.”