2.31

"So this is where you're hiding," Ty walked over, sitting on the ground under the tree beside me.

"As if your System didn't tell you where I was," I rolled my eyes, looking up from my knees. I'd cried until my eyes were red and raw, my voice raspy, and my throat sore.

"Technically, System can only detect Hannah, but what about you? Do you know your name?" He asked, playing with a random twig.

"Luna," the name felt both familiar, but foreign on these lips.

"Lex's Luna?" Ty's eyebrow raised, then his eyes looked down at the swords at my hips, "that makes sense."

"Do all immortals know each other?" I asked, grateful for the distraction.

"No," he chuckled, "but I ran into him a few years back."

"Years? As in this lifetime?" Excitement bubbled in my stomach. Did that mean Lex was here?

"Yeah, he's a Doctor too," Ty laughed as if Lex being a doctor was humorous for Lex. I tried to picture it, but all I could think of was Wang Lei's face.

It frustrated me that I didn't know what Lex looked like originally. Yet no matter how hard I try, anything beyond Mo Zhiyue's life was just blank, like it never existed.

"He was looking for you," Ty finally continued, my foot tapping on the ground with nervous anticipation, "poor chap's been here since his body was just a kid."

"But he was alive in the other world when I died and I came straight here," I frowned, trying to make sense of the timeline.

"Don't strain that little brain too hard," Ty laughed again, pinching my cheeks, "gosh I just love baby immortals."

I pushed his hand away, scrunching my face in disgust. "I'm not a baby, System said I'm over six hundred years old."

"Sure," Ty chuckled, "want my System to send out a signal for Lex to follow?"

I nodded my head, instantly forgetting my previous displeasure, "yes please."

Hope filled my chest at the prospect of meeting Lex again. He was my soulmate, my companion of over six hundred years. Even if I couldn't remember it. Even if I was still a little mad at him for what he had done on my last day of being Zhiyue.

He could keep me safe, but would he help me keep another man's baby safe? Had we raised a baby before? Six hundred years was well over six normal human lifetimes. We got to have done it at least once before right?

My heart was pained at the idea that I could have had a child before and never would I meet them again, or even remember them.

"Come on, we should head back before Will sends out a search and rescue team," Ty stood up, pulling me to stand with him.

"One foot in front of the other, thatta girl," he guided me to walk slowly back to the others.

***

Whilst vomiting up my dinner on a poor unfortunate tree I felt warm hands run up and down my back. I glanced up to see Holly and Leo looking slightly flustered.

Had I interrupted them making out? This was the first normal thought I'd had in a while, bringing a wide smile to my otherwise gloomy face.

Holly rummaged in her bag and handed me a torn-up t-shirt being used for rags. I wiped clean my mouth and swigged mouthwash from my own bag.

"Why are you still sick, I thought you were better?" Asked Leo, whose hand still rested on my back.

"Shut up," Holly nudged him in the ribs with her elbow.

Had Holly guessed? Shit.

"It's just the after-effects of my coma, it'll come and go."

"We're not kids," Holly uncharacteristically blurted out, "you know, you can tell us what's wrong Hannah we wanna help."

"No, you're still kids," I grumped, shaking my head at even entertaining the thought of telling at least somebody other than the doctors. That would make it feel all the more real and I wasn't ready to face reality yet.

"Get back inside, it's too dark to be sneaking about," I chastised them, shooing them away.

I felt uncontrollable sorrow at Holly's look of disappointment as she obediently turned around and went back inside the store's back door.

"Did you have a falling out?" Victoria leaned against the door frame that the teens had just gone through, blocking my path.

"It's nothing," I sighed, wanting to just collapse somewhere comfortable and sleep.

"How far are you?" she asked, not giving me room to deny it, her eyes staring straight at my stomach.

"I'm not," I denied a little too quickly.

"Don't bullshit me, nobody's listening, is it Noah's or that kids?" She asked, her tone not sounding all that pleasant.

Something told me that whatever answer I gave, it wasn't to be Noah. In the dream, her family was close to Noah's, she was a bit two-faced around Hannah.

"A-Alex," I stuttered, finding it hard to both lie and confront the energy she emitted.

"You'll have to at least tell Will eventually, he's been through enough shit as it is, it'll hurt him to know you're keeping this from him, more than the fact you're pregnant," she chided me a whole lot harsher than I had to the teens. Made me really feel the eighteen years of age Hannah was.

"And take better care of yourself, he and Noah being constantly worried over your ass are putting him and the rest of us at risk."

I couldn't decide if I liked Victoria or not.

She didn't threaten to tell anybody and had her priorities right. Noah and Will were essentially the two main reasons everybody around me was still alive. Which was a tremendous strain in itself, adding the pressure of me flitting between two guys and getting knocked up not knowing which was the father, could they really handle it?

Besides, going off the predictions for the future, having Noah's child was the worst possible scenario for this kid. However, I couldn't bring myself to lie to Alex.

I found Alex whilst he was on guard in the night, he was in charge of the vehicles with Matt and Luke. It was dark, but they had solar lanterns dimly lit that I used to guide my way.

"Alex, can we talk for a minute?" I asked, tugging at his jacket sleeve.

He turned to the other guys and when getting their approval we climbed inside the jeep to stop both the dead and the living from hearing us.

"What's wrong?" Alex asked, twisting to face me completely.

"You know how you said you would follow me, even if I was sick?" I asked, my voice smaller than it should be.

"Jeeze, what is it Hannah you're driving me crazy?" Alex reached out to firmly press on my arm as if scared I would slip from his grip.

"I'm pregnant," I said out loud for the first time.

A huge rush of relief escaped my lungs in a sigh as I exhaustedly leaned back into the car seat.

Alex's grip trembled, and when it loosened slightly, my heart fell in fear he'd let go. Too focused on my fear I never noticed him leaning over to me, where he quickly pulled me into a tight embrace.

"You've had to deal with that all by yourself," he gave me a quick squeeze before letting go and sitting back properly in his seat.

"I-I'm okay," I felt confused at his warm reaction, I'd expected something much colder.

"Is it mine?" he asked the tender question.

"I-I don't know," I bit my lip trying to stop the stuttering, "it's either you or N-Noah."

"Okay," he let out a sigh, if I didn't know any better it sounded like relief but I couldn't decide what for. Was he relieved there was a chance it wasn't his kid? Or was he relieved that only Noah was his competition? Why did it sound more like the latter?

After a few, agonisingly long, minutes Alex finally spoke his thoughts aloud, "if you want to keep him I will help raise him regardless."

I blinked, this was the least of my expectations. "But what if I find out it's Noah's after they're born?"

"Did he do that to your neck?" he asked, pointing at his own neck to the location Noah had bitten then hickied.

I shrunk my neck in response as if it could hide the mark.

"He's my baby as long as you tell me he's my baby and even if you don't tell me he's my baby I'm looking after him whether you like it or not."

Just what had I done in my past life to have deserved to land myself in this great buddha's hands? Due to my obviously different life choices, I had met him in this timeline, whereas Hannah had never met him before.

"O-okay then," I stuttered, nodding my head hoping he would just calm down. I felt like I might have touched a sore spot of his. It made me realise just how little I knew about him and how I'd like to find out more.

Painfully, I forced myself to explain a bit about my future plans.

"Then I need you to know we won't be staying at the place we're going to, especially if this kid is born with black eyes."