34. Alec

34

ALEC

O nce Tessa leaves, the air in the room feels thick with tension, our conversation drifting into silence. Why is it that we can't seem to go a single day without antagonizing her?

I glance at the clock, tension gnawing at me. It's late. We should probably go to bed soon. Suddenly, a loud bang rattles the door.

"What the fuck?" Jace asks, the three of us turning our heads to look.

I get off the bed when another series of heavy knocks follow, urgency behind their rhythm. Yanking the door open, I spot Matteo standing there, his face a mix of anger and worry, his forehead creased with lines, and his hands clenched by his sides.

"We need to talk. Now." Matteo's voice is sharp and nearly breathless. "Tessa's in the hospital."

"What?" My chest tightens, the words hitting me in the gut like a punch. Devin and Jace spring up, coming to stand with me as Matteo tells us what happened.

"Her tires got slashed," Matteo explains, his jaw clenched. "She called Valencia and we came out to check on her. Whoever did it stuck a threatening note to her windshield and it gave her a panic attack. We took her to the hospital. Guys, this stalker thing just got a whole lot worse."

I blink, trying to wrap my head around what he's saying. "Oh God." I feel sick to my stomach. We could have prevented this. When she needed us most, we pushed her away, again.

Matteo's glare deepens. "What the hell is up with you guys and Tessa anyway? I know you're involved with her in some way."

Guilt twists in my stomach as his words hang in the air. I look at Devin and Jace, both tense and silent. This is on us. We have to come clean.

"It's…complicated," I start, my voice low. "We were messing around at first. Then things went wrong between us, but we realized that we care about her. More than we should, probably."

Matteo's eyes narrow. "Care about her how?"

I let out a sigh. "We want more, we were talking about that today. We were going to ask her to be with us but then her laptop got stolen and everything kind of blew up from there."

Matteo's expression shifts, surprise flickering across his face. He shakes his head slowly, trying to piece it all together. "So, you've got feelings for her?" he asks, clarifying my words.

"Yeah," Jace mutters, stepping forward. "But she doesn't know that yet. And now this…hell, we didn't think it'd get this bad."

Matteo's face softens, but the tension stays. "Well, you'd better get your shit together then because I have more news for you. Tessa is pregnant. She told us when we came to get her, that's why we took her to the hospital. She's having a miscarriage from all the stress."

The air escapes from my lungs. "She's…what?"

"It's probably yours," he says, giving us a heated glare. "You need to step the fuck up and be there for her, so she doesn't have to go through this alone."

I glance at Devin and Jace and they look equally as stunned, the words still processing in our brains.

Tessa is pregnant? And it's our kid? A mix of confusion and hurt bubbles up as I realize she never told us this herself.

"You better do the right thing here," Matteo warns us. "I'm going back to the hospital. Valencia is there with her and I want to look after the both of them."

He leaves without another word.

I run a hand through my hair, trying to gather my thoughts.

Devin speaks, his voice cracking. "We really fucked up."

"Yeah," I agree, feeling dazed.

"We did some horrible shit to her. We could have put her life in danger with our stupid pranks."

"I can't believe she never told us," Jace mutters, sinking down to the floor as he comes to terms with the information we've just learned. "I feel like a sack of shit. No wonder she was so angry with us. She probably hates us now."

"We have to fix this mess," I say, my voice low. "Like, immediately. We can't let her think that we don't give a damn that she's been attacked again."

Devin sighs. "It's time we put our egos aside. We've spent enough time letting our pride get in the way of having a relationship with Tessa, but I'm done screwing everything up with her."

"Me too," Jace agrees.

Devin stands up, pacing by the window. "I just…this can't be real," he mutters, his voice tight. "Tessa's pregnant? With our baby? How the hell did we not know?"

Jace leans against the wall, arms crossed, staring blankly at the floor. "We didn't exactly give her a chance to tell us, did we?" His tone is bitter, regret cutting through his words.

I slump back onto the edge of the bed, head in my hands. "What do we do now?" My voice sounds small, lost. This is a mess, and we're in the middle of it.

"We go to the hospital," Devin says, stopping mid-pace, his eyes locking onto mine. "We need to be there for her."

"What if she doesn't want to see us?" I blurt out, the fear clawing at me. "She accused us of being part of this stalker thing, and she left pissed off. What if we just make things worse?"

Jace pushes off the wall, his voice hard. "Worse? Alec, she's in the hospital. Probably scared out of her mind, thinking she was losing our kid. And you want to leave her alone?"

"I don't want to leave her alone!" I snap back, standing up. "I just…what if she blames us? What if she doesn't want us there? We've messed with her head enough. Maybe we should let her come to us."

Devin shakes his head, his face twisted in frustration. "No. This isn't about what's comfortable for us . We've been selfish enough already. It's time we do the right thing."

"What if showing up isn't the right thing?" I shoot back, pacing now, my heart racing. "We've been at each other's throats for weeks. She probably doesn't trust us. How are we supposed to help if she can't even look at us?"

Jace steps between us, his voice calm but firm. "We've got to try, Alec. We can't just sit here and do nothing while she's going through this. If we don't show up now, we might lose her for good."

The weight of his words sinks in. The thought of losing Tessa, for real, after everything…it's unbearable.

Devin steps closer, his voice softer now. "We've hurt her, yeah. But this is our chance to show her that we're serious, that we're here for her no matter what. It's not about fixing everything in one night, but it's about being there. For her. And for the baby, if…if there's still time."

I stop pacing, the gravity of the situation crashing down on me. Devin's right. Jace is right. We've got to go, no matter what happens next.

"Alright," I finally say, my throat tight. "Let's go. We can't let her face this alone."

Jace nods, and Devin grabs his jacket. Together, we head for the door, ready to face whatever's waiting for us at the hospital, hoping it's not too late to make things right.

The drive to the hospital is short but the silence is deafening. The tension between us is thick enough to cut with a knife.

As we head inside, Devin marches up to the desk and asks about Tessa but the receptionist refuses to tell us anything about her, citing safety concerns.

"What now?" I ask, feeling completely lost and out of my element in this situation. I'm usually so good at staying in control but being around Tessa makes me feel very much out of control.

"I'll call Matteo," Jace mumbles. "Give me a sec."

He heads outside to make the call and Devin and I stand there together while the receptionist eyes us with suspicion.

"I hope she's okay," he says, his voice trembling with worry. "I hope they can save the baby."

I shove my hands in my pockets. "Me too. It has to be pretty scary. I just want her to know she's not alone."

Devin nods. "I'm not letting her go anywhere on her own anymore. Not until we've caught this stalker asshole."

The stalker stuff was pushed to the back of my mind after the pregnancy revelation but when he brings it up, it reminds me of how much danger Tessa is in right now.

"I don't want to let her out of my sight," I admit. "Not anymore."

Jace comes back in, looking grim. "Matteo gave us her room number but said to wait another fifteen minutes before we head up there because she's being taken for an ultrasound."

Devin walks over to one of the benches near the waiting area and sits down, slumping over as he puts his head in his hands. I join him, placing one hand on his back while I try to keep myself together.

It feels like this is all our fault. I keep thinking that if we'd just listened to Tessa, if we'd just shut the fuck up and believed her for once , she wouldn't have been walking to her car so late at night. She wouldn't have stressed out so bad that she had to go to the hospital.

And maybe she wouldn't be losing the baby.

Before I know it, Jace is nudging me.

"Matteo texted and said we can go up now," he tells me. Devin and I stand up and follow Jace to the elevator where we make our way to the fourth floor.

Once we find Tessa's room, we knock on the large door. Valencia answers, a scowl on her face at the sight of us.

"Go away," she growls. "Tessa doesn't want to see you right now."

My heart is in my throat. "Please?" I beg, glancing around the side of the door but Valencia blocks my way.

"I'm not letting you assholes in. She doesn't need more stress. Get out of here and don't come back!"