zachxcampbell

[zachxcampbell]

fromloverstolie:

“Of course I would. It might be the only shot I have at having a kid, I wouldn’t risk it,” Ridley explained, trying to defend her side of the situation. She didn’t want to get in a fight over it, not when the results were negative anyways. “You’re older than me, you’ll get wrinkles before I do, so I would be careful what you say,” she told him, punching his arm playfully. “Let’s hope. My looks are pretty much all I have going on for me.”

“It wouldn’t be your only shot” Zach corrected, and might’ve been a little offended that Ridley seemed to think a slip up or accident would be the only way she actually gets children. “True, but I get better with age, obviously. Plus you’re already in love, there’s no going back” He said with a smirk as he rubbed his arm that she punched him in. “And your punches, apparently. They’re getting harder.”

[zachxcampbell]

fromloverstolie:

“No, it wouldn’t. We’re a couple. Couples discuss these things. I wouldn’t just force a baby on you,” she reassured him. If she was looking for a surefire way to ruin their relationship, that would probably do it. “You don’t know that. I’ll be 35 years old, maybe I’ll grow old and get really ugly.”

“If it’s an accident and we’re not ready then I wouldn’t want to keep it, but I’m sure you would, so let’s just be thankful the test was negative” Zach said, already knowing that if the test was in fact positive they probably wouldn’t be discussing it so calmly. “If you grow old and get really ugly we’re breaking up” Zach said jokingly to lighten the mood, “You’re gonna look fine, Ridley, like you always do.”

[zachxcampbell]

fromloverstolie:

“I know that, but I’m just not sure I could go through with either options. It would be like forcing you to have a baby when you don’t want to,” she told him with a sigh. “Ten years? It’d be fun not to be old and wrinkly when I give birth, you know. Whatever, it’s fine. It’s better than just a firm no.”

“Well it would be up to you” Zach said with a shrug. He was more than aware that if Ridley was pregnant and he didn’t want to have the child, the decision would ultimately be hers whether or not to keep it, luckily for them the results were negative. “You’re not gonna be old and wrinkly in ten years, Ridley.”

[zachxcampbell]

fromloverstolie:

“Well, thank you. For not being a jerk about it. I know you don’t want kids, i just thought for a second there that maybe we would just be, like, kinda stuck with it,” she tried to explain, although it didn’t really make sense. Ridley looked up at him, the way he wasn’t completely shutting down the possibility of kids giving her hope. “So you’d be willing to try? Eventually? I thought you were completely opposed to the idea.”

“Well we wouldn’t be stuck with it, I mean there are a lot of options like adoption or abortions and things like that” Zach suggested with a shrug. “Eventually, yeah, maybe I will be willing to open myself up to the idea. You know, somewhere down the line in like five or ten years or something.”

[zachxcampbell]

fromloverstolie:

Ridley had expected to freak out about the test, the possibility that she might be pregnant. She expected him to be relieved if it turned out to be a false alarm. What she didn’t expect was for him to be so sensitive about her feelings. He wasn’t even completely shutting down the idea of kids in the future and she knew he wanted. “I think I just fell in love with you even more,” she told him with a smile, placing her hand on top of the one on her stomach. “I thought you’d be mad about the test. And then mad that I was disappointed.”

Zach was capable of being a decent person, the problem was that he usually never felt inclined to or didn’t think people were worth the effort, but Ridley most definitely was. Especially when he knew how fragile she probably was due to recovery and if the idea that they would have a future with children and a family kept her happy then he’d consider the idea he once found so ridiculous. “I’m not gonna be mad about a stupid pregnancy test. I know you want kids someday, maybe not today, but someday.”

[zachxcampbell]

fromloverstolie:

Ridley shrugged, trying to not let how disappointed she was show. She didn’t want to get in a fight over this with him, especially not after that. “I just - I guess I don’t feel like celebrating that much,” she told him, forcing a smile on her face to lighten the mood. She leaned forward in his embrace, burying her face in his neck. “I’m just a little disappointed I guess. I’ll get over it.” 

It was difficult for Zach to deal with the fact that he and Ridley wanted different things. On one hand he wanted to make her happy but on the other hand he was also terribly selfish which prevented him from even considering the idea of children soon. “We’ll have kids when we’re both ready, and then we’ll definitely have to celebrate” He said, placing his other hand over her stomach as he leaned in and kissed her cheek. He didn’t think he’d ever be ready but he wasn’t going to say he’d never be ready and crush all her hopes. He knew how sensitive this subject was so he held back some of his thoughts to spare Ridley’s feelings.

[zachxcampbell]

fromloverstolie:

Zach’s reaction came as no surprise to Ridley. He’d made it clear that he didn’t want kids, but part of her had hoped that if something like this happened he’d change his mind. Apparently not. “Yeah, I know,” she said, still trying to avoid his blue eyes. She couldn’t see him celebrate right now, not when she had been imagining her life if the results had been positive moments earlier. She was disappointed and he wouldn’t understand why. “Congrats.” She opened the garbage can and dropped the stick into it, followed by the box it came in.

Zach knew that his views on family and children didn’t exactly match up with Ridley’s in terms of what they wanted in the future, and they had agreed to deal with those things as they came, but it was hard not to see how disappointed Ridley was with the results. “It’s congrats to the both of us” He added, taking a step closer towards her as he let his hand wrap gently around her waist, “What’s wrong, is there more bad news?”

[zachxcampbell]

fromloverstolie:

Arguing about if a surprise baby was a good thing or a bad thing seemed like the worst possible idea right now, so Ridley just kept her mouth shut. “We have options,” she said quietly, even though abortion would most likely mean the end of their relationship. It might’ve been what he wanted, but it wasn’t what she wanted. She looked down at the stick and saw one single line. Negative. “Yeah, it has good news. It’s negative,” she said sadly, her eyes fixated on the pink line.

“Options like abor––” He cut himself off once Ridley revealed it was a negative result, which in turn caused a relieved sigh to escape out of Zach as he ran his hand through his hair. There was a small smile that surfaced that he couldn’t really help because the thought of having a child was already making him stressed out so hearing that he wasn’t was very good news. “Thank god” He muttered. Despite his own reaction, Ridley clearly seemed more disappointed by that fact than he was, “We’re not ready for kids” He added, though what he really meant was that they were never going to be ready for kids, or at least he wasn’t.

[zachxcampbell]

fromloverstolie:

“I mean… there’s a possibility I might be. I’m never late, this never happens,” she muttered, trying to do the math in her head. They slept together every other night and the pill wasn’t always 100% safe. It was a definite possibility. “I don’t know, I was waiting for the results before you came in. Should be any second now…” She went into the bathroom and wrapped the test in a tissue, bringing back to where Zach was waiting for her. “Are you mad?”

Zach was beginning to worry a little now since there was no way he wanted a baby, not when his career was lifting off and when he and Ridley were barely on solid ground. There was just no way. “I’m not mad, I just don’t want to deal with a pregnancy or a kid” He said, honestly, though it was no secret that the whole idea of having a family of his own was unsettling. “So, can you tell me that this stick has some good news or?”

[zachxcampbell]

fromloverstolie:

Ridley’s face fell when he immediately spotted the box on the counter, urging her to tell him who it belonged to - as if it could’ve belonged to anyone but her. Running a hand over her face, she sighed and picked the box up, throwing it in the garbage can. “I’m late. I just wanted to take a test and make sure there was nothing to worry about before you got home,” she explained, glancing up at him. “Don’t freak out, it’s probably nothing. I - I’m just never late. And if I am… you know, I wanted to find out now. It should be ready any second now…”

“Well is there something to worry about?” Zach asked, raising his brow at Ridley. The idea alone was enough to completely terrify him considering they had talked about kids before and he was very much against having them, which couldn’t be said for Ridley. “What’s it say?” he said, his arms crossed over his chest now and his mind running through a million different scenarios. 

[zachxcampbell]

julian-keaton:

“Believe me when I tell you that the only mistake she made was getting back together with you.”

“Really? I mean I personally think it’s the best decision she ever made aside from getting her act together.”

[zachxcampbell]

julian-keaton:

“I’m doing nothing of the sort to Catherine. After all, you so assuredly know that Ridley is loyal to you, right?”

“Maybe not anymore, but you did. I don’t hold Ridley’s past mistakes against her, I don’t know if Catherine would do the same for you though.”

[zachxcampbell]

julian-keaton:

“You sound so certain that she hasn’t already. You’re not interested in my relationship, Zach, but the attempt was flattering. Anyway, don’t you have a lecture to give or something?”

“I am absolutely positive she hasn’t, actually. You’re right, I’m not, but I do think Catherine probably doesn’t deserve to be cheated on and lied to.”

[zachxcampbell]

fromloverstolie:

For the first time in weeks, Ridley skipped the job hunting and only left the apartment once Zach was out the door. She hadn’t been this nervous in a long time, causing her to snap at the innocent lady who sold her the home pregnancy test she bought at CVS. Every month, like clockwork, Ridley was never late, but this month she was, which caused her to imagine every possible nightmare scenario - the first one being Zach finding out she was pregnant. Images of him yelling at her were playing in a loop in her head as she waited for the results, sitting on the edge of the bathtub. Zach would come home in a few hours and hopefully this entire thing would be sorted out by then. At least that was the plan before she heard the front door open and remembered the empty box just sitting on the kitchen counter where she’d open the damn thing. Rushing out of the bathroom, she closed the door behind her and forced a smile on her face, hoping Zach just wouldn’t see it. “Hey, you’re home early.”

After class, Zach usually went back to his office and holed up there to answer student’s questions and finish some side research papers he was writing for some scholarly journals, but ever since he and Ridley got back together and had been in such a good place, he actually couldn’t wait to get out of the office and back home. Walking through the door, Zach placed his bag on a hook by the door before setting it on the kitchen table where he happened to catch sight of a pregnancy test. He could hear Ridley from the bathroom but his mind was seemingly spinning at the sight, “Whose is this?” He asked, though it seemed to be a stupid question considering who else could it have been. 

[zachxcampbell]

julian-keaton:

“Perhaps that’s what she’s told you. And yet she seems to always make her way back.”

“She’s not coming back to you, besides aren’t you off living happily ever after with Cate? Though I can’t imagine that lasting all that much longer.”

[zachxcampbell]

julian-keaton:

“Your girlfriend likes me, and somehow that makes it all better.”

“She tolerates you, there’s a difference.”

[zachxcampbell]

julian-keaton:

“I meant your problem with me, Campbell.”

“I just don’t like you, actually. In case that wasn’t obvious enough.”