A few days past and things seemed as tho they were on a schedule. Almost everyday, it was the same old thing, and after the first 3 weeks of the tour, Simone found herself growing bored. Sure, she loved being with Taylor and his family, but she did miss her parents, her brother and mostly Ashna. Sure, they had talked a few times on the phone, but it all didn't seem the same.

While at Chicago, Simone celebrated her 16th birthday. Only Taylor knew that it was her birthday because his parents were already under the impression that she was 16 because she had driven before and they would be infuriated if they found out that she was driving illegally.

One morning, after Simone had brushed her teeth, she noticed that she was late with her period. She thought nothing of it, considering that she had been irregular most if the time, until she started taking the pill. After the doctor put her on the pill, she had been like clockwork, but she was a about a week late this month.

Thoughts crammed into her head. "Omigod, this is not happening." she thought. She went out of the bathroom of the bus, and went to look for Taylor. "Tay! Where are you?" she asked loud enough for the entire bus to hear her.

"Huh?" Taylor asked, sticking his head out of his bunk.

"Tay, we need to talk." she said, noticing that he was on the phone. He pulled himself back into the bunk and quickly got off with whoever he was talking to. She crawled into the bunk with him. He had a serious look on his face. He knew that she had something serious to say.

"What's up?" he asked, a little uncomfortable. He didn't like the look on her face.

"Well, as you know, I'm taking birth control." she started. Taylor nodded his head. "And, well, usually, I get my period right on time, I can always pinpoint the exact day...exactly 28 days."

"...Okay..." Taylor trailed off. "So?"

"Tay, I'm late. By a whole week." Simone whispered so no one else could hear her. Taylor shrugged his shoulders, cluing that he didn't know what she was getting at. "I, um, think that I might be pregnant."

The words hit him like a blow to the stomach. He struggled to catch his breath. "Oh man, this is bad." he said. "But how? We were so careful. Plus, it was only that one time that we did it."

"I know. Don't you think that I haven't already thought about everything? I mean, this is so, like, 'Whoa', you know?" Simone said, sounding a little angry, but she wasn't angry. She couldn't be angry. How could she?

"But I still don't understand. With you on the pill and I had... I had stuff...how?"

"What about that time in the pool?" she asked him. He took a deep breath, then set his head against the wall. She was right. That was definately a possibility. "Did you, you know -- "

"Sim, I didn't mean to let it happen. But, isn't the birth control pill suppose to stop it?"

"I forgot to take it that day, Taylor. I forgot it." she said, then reality hitting her at full force. Tears built up under her eyes and her lip quivered. "I can't be pregnant. I'm only 16."

"I'm only 15." Taylor said. The tears fell down her cheeks, and he reached over and wiped them away. "Sim, please don't cry about this. I mean, it's not totally a crisis. It's not like I can't afford to help you out with everything. Trust me, I am not going to run away from this."

Simone hugged Taylor. She loved him som much. She really needed to hear those words from him. She knew that he wouldn't have run away from this, but now that she was reassured, she felt even more secure about their relationaship.

"I love you, never forget that." Taylor said.

"I won't, and I love you, too." Simone said, then kissed his lips. He placed his hand on her stomach. She looked down and smiled. "Well, I am not sure that this is for sure, but I was never late before when I was on the pill, so, I am just assuming right now."

"Yeah, I understand." Taylor said, still holding her stomach. "We can't tell anyone about this until you know for sure, ok? I mean, if this would ever get out, can you imagine the things that people would say?"

"I know, and I won't tell a soul." Simone promised, just imagining what would happen if this did leak out. Taylor and his brothers would be ruined. She didn't want to do that. 'This can't be true. I can not be pregnant' she told herself one last time before slipping away out of Taylor's bunk. When Simone returned to her own bunk for the night, she silently cried herself to sleep.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The next few days went by so slowly for Simone. Whenever someone would look at her, she felt as tho they knew her secret. And with her not getting her period the next week either, she was sure, almost 100% sure that she was pregnant. There was no other logical explanation. But she didn't have any symptoms, no morning sickness, fatigue or nausea. She was truly confused about everything.

The next tour date was rough, for everyone. Isaac and Taylor had gotten into yet another argument. They were at Minneapolis and as usual, Simone was laying back on the little table directly behind the stage. As the concert was over and she was getting up to go meet Taylor backstage, she suddenly felt a little bit dizzy. She thought nothing of it, and continued to walk. Her legs became weak and she fell down onto her knees. Her eyes blacked out for a few seconds. She blinked away the darkness, and lifted her left leg to get up again. When she was on her feet, her head was pounding so much, and then she felt a sharp pain in her stomach. She cried out, then her legs collapsed and she crumpled helplessly to the floor. Then everything went totally black.

Taylor looked around for Simone. He could not see her anywhere. She usually sat directly across the room from him, so they could see each other, and occasionally steal gazes from the other. But she was nowhere to be found. Taylor frowned in disappointment, then continued to sign the autograph.

"Ike, have you seen Simone around anywhere?" he finally asked his brother. Maybe he had seen her somethere.

"No, I haven't." Isaac said. 'Huh? She's not around here anywhere? Hmm, this is really strange. She is usually around after a show.' He thought to himself. "Maybe you should ask Mom or something. Maybe she got sick, I dunno." He said, then turned his attention back to the fans.

Taylor excused himself from the table he was sitting at. He went to look for his mother, which wasn't that hard of a task, considering that all of his little sisters and brother was all around her. "Hey Mom, you haven't seen Simone lately, have you?"

"No honey, I haven't, sorry. The last time I did see her tho, she was behind the stage, like she always is, on that little table thing that it always set up. She might be back there, I don't know." Diana supplied the useful information. Taylor thanked her, then walked towards the back of the stage. He saw something on the floor. As he got closer to it, he noted that it looked like a person lying on the ground. Only when he kneeled down next to the person and pulled their hair away from their face, did he realize that it was Simone. He gasped and fell back onto his heels.

"Simone!" he shook her gently to wake her up. She didn't move. 'Omigod, what happened to her?' His heartbeat quickened. "C'mon Sim! Wake up!" he shook her with more force. Slowly, her eyes opened.

"Taylor…where am I? What happened?" she asked, trying to sit up and her speech a little slurred. The pain in her head was almost as painful as the sharp throbbing in her stomach. She uttered a little cry.

"Sim, what happened to you?" Taylor asked.

"I don't know." She said. The pain in her stomach grew, then she held onto her stomach. "Omigosh, Taylor, what's wrong with me?"

"What do you mean?" Taylor asked, looking her over from head to toe. She didn't seem physically hurt. "Sim! Answer me!!" The pains grew sharper and more unbearable. She scrunched her face up in discomfort.

"OW! Taylor, there's something wrong with my stomach. It hurts so so much!" Simone cried, tears building up under her eye lids. Taylor didn't know what was going on. The tears ran down her face as Taylor slipped his arms around her waist to pull her up. "Tay! It hurts!"

"You have to see a doctor. Pregnant or not, this isn't natural or normal." He said, guiding her walk. Her legs were so weak, she was helpless.

"No! I can't go to the doctors! This could get you into trouble!" she said, as he set her down into a chair. Then he looked into her eyes.

"Right now, I don't care about anything else but you getting better. You're going to see a doctor whether you like it or not. I'll go get my mom and tell her that you have really bad cramps or something like that and that you never had them this bad before, and that you need to go into the hospital." Taylor said, getting up to get his mother. She was about to protest, but he was already gone.

Diana approached Simone with a motherly smile and helped her up. "Go with my mom. She'll take you to the emergency room. I'll be there as soon as I can." Taylor said, then kissed her gently and quickly on the lips.

'No, Taylor! I don't want to be alone with you mother! What if she finds out the truth?'