Chapter Text
Rebecca's POV
It's my 25th birthday today and I couldn't be happier. I have my loving family by my side and we're preparing for a huge party to celebrate it. I can't imagine now, that almost exactly two years ago, my life was falling apart.
***
I was 22, a young girl, with dreams I couldn't reach, even if I tried my best. I'm from an average middle-class family and was born and raised in the outskirts of Rome. I decided to go to Naples to study English there, cause my hometown was a disappointment in my eyes and needed some change after high school. I've had my fair share of failures in school and covid broke down my abroad adventure plans, which I originally made for escaping from the stressful uni life. It was already bad, but then of course, I went to the doctors and they've told me, my hormone levels were too low to have kids in the near future. Not that I was in a steady relationship and could financially support a baby at that moment, still, it felt like a knife in my heart. I've always wanted to be a mother and it wasn't as easy anymore to become one. I was pathetically in love with a guy from my campus and he of course ignored me romantically and the list could continue until eternity.
I was at my all time low, however, I couldn't be happier to see my childhood mate's road to success. He was a drummer of a four member band and they were already a name in Italy, after finishing as 2nd in the X Factor a few years back. In that spring, they won Sanremo Festival and could represent our country in the Eurovision Song Contest that year. Turns out, they were super talented according to the public's opinion too (of course, for me, they were awesome from the beginning) and succeeded there greatly. They went to various countries to perform, did tons of interviews and wrote new songs in the small amount of free time they've got. We had almost no chance to meet that summer, but Ethan called me one day to announce, they were going to play a show in Naples.
***
It was the middle of July, hot and sunny as it was supposed to be which meant I could put on a short dress, that I adored. I applied some make up on, a similar smoky style, that was Måneskin's signature look and I couldn't be more grateful to Victoria (the band's bassists) for teaching me the proper way to do it. It was my chance to have fun with my friends, that's why I planned to bring them somewhere after they've finished working for the day.
I didn't ask anybody to accompany me to the gig and following a short greeting session with the musicians, I was left alone in the backstage. The concert was as powerful as expected and they were hyped up enough to agree on going out to a bar with me. We had many drinks, endless laughter and they seemed relieved to be young fellows again, instead of celebrities, as much as they liked the rockstar lifestyle in general.
Maybe we took it further than we should have. I woke up next to Ethan in his hotel room naked. We were never intimate, I mean we hugged and kissed each other during multiple occasions, though we never went this far. I've known him, since we were 8 and 10, and I was the older one, I've considered him a young boy, not a potential partner. I also wasn't a 'one night stand girl' by any means, so it was a shock to be in that situation. He was sleeping peacefully, while giving out soft snoring noise. I couldn't stay any longer, I needed to escape, before he woke up telling me it was a mistake and ruined out relationship forever. I run away as quickly as possible. I was lucky, because all the others were still dead, after the night, which meant, I was able to walk out the door without giving any explanation or saying goodbye.
***
A month passed quickly. We sometimes texted casually, nothing too personal and honestly, I was glad Ethan didn't bring up the night we've spent in each other's arms. I didn't even know if he had any memories of that at all. My concerns about my health state started to grow when I was feeling strange most of the time. I was very anxious and couldn't eat, was dizzy occasionally and my period was late on the top of that. I've decided to go back to the doctor's for a check up, to see if my condition became worse or what else was wrong with me.
After I explained my symptoms, he made some tests and the results left me shocked. I was pregnant. My first thought was, whether the baby would make it inside my ill body, then it hit me hard: my best friend knocked me up, after a drunken fling. 'How could this happen? What will I do now? Are we ready for this? ' - my head was pounding from the flowing doubts.
I went home in a catatonic state and decided to ask Ethan to visit me as soon as possible. He was in the country and luckily, the next weekend was a short holiday for the group. Everything was in favour to ruin what we had for 10 plus years, in only a short few minutes. I had to think of ways to tell him the truth and it appeared to be the most frightening moment of my existence. I was pregnant. I had the little life, that I was longing for so long inside of me and I was just sitting there crying my eyes out.
'Is there any way worse than how it is now?' - I mumbled to myself while sniffing.