Sierra found herself nervously twisting her fingers together. It was completely ridiculous for her to have agreed to come to Natalie's birthday. It was just she had been caught off guard by the invitation that she had replied without much thought. Now that she was at the restaurant her mind was a buzz with a thousand different thoughts.

Sierra didn't have many girlfriends. Scratch that, she had one girlfriend, Reagan. She was certain that the reason their friendship had even blossomed to begin with was because Reagan had wanted to be more like her and Sierra had been lonely. Now, they were the best of friends but the motivations in the beginning was a little cloudy. 

The truth was most females didn't like Sierra, and she was usually suspicious of any that did like her. High school had not been kind to her. Females could be downright evil when they wanted to be, they didn't fight you outright like a man. No, they schemed and planned their attacks, waiting for the moment that would be the most emotionally and socially scarring. 

Scottie grabbed her hand under the table, "Calm down. You're starting to make me nervous." He whispered to her under his breath, lips turning up into a teasing grin. 

It was a dangerous idea for her to be spending more time with Scottie and his family. The more she was around him, the more her heart longed for more and the more her stomach soured with guilt. Sierra needed to tell him about the baby, their baby...but it seemed impossible to get the words out of her mouth. She was beginning to suspect that had everything to do with the way he looked at her. It was as if he saw something in her that other people had missed. Scottie looked at her as if she was worth a damn and Sierra like that. 

She knew It couldn't last, that she would muck it up, but she wished it could, "Do you really think she was being serious when she invited me? I don't want to intrude again or..."

His finger pressed to her lips, "My sister invited you because she liked you and she wanted you here. Trust me, she doesn't say things she doesn't mean." Sierra stared into his eyes, wanting to believe what he was telling her. Still in the back of her mind her insecurities screamed at her. Scottie dropped his hand, tilting his head, "I guess the old you is still in there..." 

Her cheeks flamed at his remark, "What do you mean?" 

"I mean, you are letting me see behind the curtain. That you're actually a real person and not just a walking fantasy." He smiled at her in a way that made her stomach flutter, "I like you this way more..." This was bad. She was getting in too deep and if she wasn't careful she would drown. Sierra pulled her hand from his, ending the moment they were sharing. 

"The birthday girl is in the house!" A cheerful voice remarked, drawing their attention. 

Natalie moved through the tables, looking stunning in her black corset and skirt. She walked with her head held high, leaning into her bedazzled cane as she maneuvered toward us. Sierra's gaze drifted to the coloring of a tattoo that slipped up over her left shoulder and slither up her neck. She hadn't noticed it last week at lunch because her hair had been down. It was a beautiful piece, a dragon, which seemed oddly fitting.

Scottie rose up from his seat like a gentleman and pulled out the seat opposite Sierras, "For the birthday girl."

Natalie gave him a gentle smile, "You spoil me too much." She rested her cane against the table and lowered herself into the seat. Sierra watched the interaction with interest. They seemed to have a close bond, though she suspected that had come about more so after Natalie's accident. Scottie had divulged this information to her before their first meeting to take away any potential awkwardness. 

Natalie turned her silvery gaze toward me as Scottie pushed her closer to the table, "I am so glad you made it. I had a little bet going with my brother that he would scare you off before my birthday."

"Yes, It's silly to bet against me, Nat. You never bet against a sure thing. I've told you that a hundred times." Scottie remarked as he took his seat next to Sierra, "I should be thanking you. You just made me fifty bucks richer." He turned and winked at her. 

"Twenty-five bucks richer you mean..." Sierra interjected. Scottie's brows furrowed in slight confusion and she gave him her dazzling smile, "A real gentleman would give a cut of his earnings to his partner."

The muscles in his face relaxed back into a grin, "Well, what's mine is yours, baby-doll. We're in this together."

Natalie let out an amused chuckle, "You two are so cute I'm going to vomit. I love it." Her comment had Sierra blushing, realizing she had gotten caught up in Scottie and let her mask slip a little too much. Thankfully the waiter came and took the attention elsewhere. 

The dinner was actually fun once Sierra relaxed. Natalie was an interesting woman. She was a magnet person, similar to Chloe but unlike Sierra's sister, Natalie showed that she was as flawed as anyone else. She drew attention to her flaws intentionally, and Sierra found that admirable. She wished she were strong enough to do that. 

Sierra looked up when her name was called only to be met with cold liquid splashing into her face. The shock had her blinking, body glued to her seat as she tried to comprehend what had happened. It only took a moment to recognize the face staring down at her with hurt and disgust. Marcy, Jason's girlfriend. Karma truly was a bitch tonight. 

"Recognize me? I bet you know who I am and I know all about you..." She hissed between her teeth, bitter tears filling her eyes, "I hope you enjoyed yourself, slut." With that said, she turned and walked away. She was had come in like a hurricane and torn away Sierra's mask, revealing to everyone what laid beneath. 

Sierra could feel the curious eyes of bystanders burning into her. The guilt that she had messed up Natalie's birthday gnawing at her. The knowledge that she had helped and facilitated the breaking of another girl's heart needling at her mind. This was never a scenario she had envisioned taking place and now that it had it made her hate herself a little bit more. 

"I'm sorry." She knew an apology at this point was useless but she said the words anyway. Natalie grabbed the napkin from under her silverware and held it out toward Sierra. There was no judgement written on Natalie's face as if this sort of thing happened all the time. 

She grabbed the napkin and dabbed at her face, "Thank you." The words came out softer as she struggled to push them past the lump in her throat. She dropped the napkin onto her plate, "I think I'm going to go." Sierra was beyond embarrassed. 

"We haven't even had cake yet." Natalie remarked as if nothing had happened, "And I haven't finished telling you embarrassing stories about Scottie. I have a lot." 

Sierra felt even worse by the kindness Scottie's sister was showing her after what had happened. She shook her head, "I've got an early morning. Thank you, again." She snatched her purse from where it was hanging on her seat before striding away from the table as quick as her legs could move her. She ignored Scottie calling to her, making it out the door and a few feet down the sidewalk before he caught up to her. 

"Sierra, wait!" Scottie grabbed hold of her wrist, pulling her back. 

Sierra yanked herself free from his grip as she turned to face him. She could feel the tears wetting her cheek, "What do you want from me?"

"I just want to make sure you're alright. I don't know what happened back there and I don't need to. It's not any of our business. Natalie and I would really like you to stay..." 

Sierra found herself letting out a bitter laugh, interrupting whatever he planned to say next, "What happened in there was karma." His brows furrowed at her comment, "I'm not a good person, Scottie. I'm actually the worst kind of person." 

"Not you're not." 

"Yes I am." She snapped, feeling a rush of anger, "That girl back there, I fucked her boyfriend. Not once, but regularly and I liked it. He was great in bed." Sierra knew she was saying this to hurt Scottie, to push him away. It was what she did best. 

"I never thought you were a saint, Sierra." She wanted to scream at the fact that he wasn't being scared off by her lashing out, by her telling the truth. This was all too much for her. She was drowning in the bed she had made for herself. 

"I'm pregnant, Scottie." The truth came rushing out. 

Scottie blinked at her slowly as he processed the what she had said, "The father..."

"It's yours."

His brows furrowed and his lips pinched together. Sierra stood like a statue as his eyes searched hers before drifting down to her stomach, "How long have you known?" All the gentleness was gone, now he sounded distant and businesslike. It made her heart tighten in her chest. 

"Two weeks..." She watched Scottie's chest expand as he sucked in a deep breath. 

"That's why you were avoiding me?" She nodded her head as her shoulder fell inward. The anger was gone, replaced by a deep sense of remorse. Sierra could have done things differently, handled the situation better but fear had gotten the better of her. It always did. She was one to run and push people away before they could get the chance to hurt her, "Did you decide what you wanted to do?"

"I'm keeping it." He gave a stiff nod to her answer. She wondered what he was thinking, what excuse he would use to get out of it, "Look, I'm not expecting anything from you. I don't want anything from you." 

"You must have a pretty low opinion of me." Scottie tucked his hands into the pocket of his jeans, giving her a mocking smile that made her feel sick to her stomach, "Were you ever going to tell me the truth? Or were you going to sneak off when you couldn't hide it anymore, taking away any of my choice in this matter? Did it ever occur to you that I might want to be involved in our child's life?" 

Sierra bit at the inside of her cheek, "Do you to be involved?" 

"Of course, I fucking want to!" He snapped, causing her to flinch. Scottie reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to calm himself down, "I don't think we should have this conversation right now." He let his hand fall to his side, "I need to get back to my sister and I need some time to think about all of this. I'll call you, later." There was no parting goodbye. He simply turned and walked away. He hadn't invited her back in to finish the birthday dinner, not that she blamed him. 

Sierra place her hand on her stomach, watching as Scottie disappeared back into the restaurant. Her heart felt like someone had tied a boulder to it. She had to remind herself that even if he didn't ever forgive her, at least he wanted help care for the baby.

That was the most important thing, now.