Requested by kaatjedeee

Soundtrack: "Photograph" by Ed Sheeran

"Loving can hurt,
Loving can hurt sometimes
But it's the only thing that I know, know
When it gets hard,
You know, it can get hard sometimes,
It is the only thing that makes us feel alive
We keep this love in a photograph,
We make these memories for ourselves;
Where our eyes are never closing,
Hearts are never broken,
Time's forever frozen still"
.....................

"You ready to go? Helen just picked up Owen," Will says, coming into the master bedroom of the apartment he and Natalie share. Not finding her on the bed or near the closet, he looks around and sees the bathroom door is closed and hints of light peek out from under it. "Hon?" He knocks on the door gently. "You in there?"

There's a clatter as something falls.

"Damn it," Natalie mutters. "Yeah, I'm coming," she calls from inside.

"Alright, I'll be in the car."

As Will's sneakers softly pad away, Natalie picks the box up off the floor with shaking hands. There's an ivory pregnancy test lying on the counter and the timer on her phone quickly approaches zero. She turns her back, trying to avoid the persistent paradox of the hope for and fear of two pink lines.

A breath in. A breath out. A breath in. A breath ou-

The breath hitches in her throat as the timer pounds out a ring. She whips around to face the counter, taps the OK on the phone screen, and stares.

She stares, not at the test, but at herself in the mirror. She wonders if she should throw the test away without a glance and just go to Will as if nothing had happened, as if she had just been trying to find her phone or her sneakers or her comb.

But that would be lying.

Picking up the test, she keeps her eyes trained on herself in the mirror. Slowly, carefully they follow down her face, down her maroon outfit, and down her arms to finally rest on the damned white stick.

Two pink lines. Pregnant.

She figures that she should take another one soon, but looks at a clock on the wall and practically runs out of the bathroom, down the stairs, and to the apartments' parking lot.

Hopping in the passenger seat of her white Honda, she gives Will a quick kiss on the cheek. Her fear of two pink lines has dissolved to reveal the happiness underneath.

"What took you so long?" Will asks, not unkindly, as he speeds down the highway that leads to Med.

"Well," Natalie says, looking down at her hands and grinning. "Technically, I was finding some consolation for a fear of mine."

His brows furrow. "Technically?" He makes a hard turn onto an exit ramp and pulls up to the stoplight that follows it. "What's that mean?" The light turns green and he almost puts the pedal to the metal out of fear that something's wrong with her.

She doesn't really know how to start, so she chooses her words silently.

"Nat, is something going on? Are you alright?" He pulls into a Med employee parking spot and parks, then puts a hand on her shoulder, his concerned brown eyes trying to catch her downcast ones. "Natalie?"

"I missed my period three weeks ago. So, this morning," here, her voice becomes shaky, "I took a pregnancy test."

He shakes his head slightly, unable to comprehend the words she's saying.

"And it was positive, Will. It was positive." She looks up at him, trying to find a smile, a frown, something other than the blank expression he's giving her.

Slowly, slowly, a smile spreads across his face. "You're not joking?" At the shake of her head, he reaches over and pulls her into a fierce embrace. "Wait." He laughs. "This means we've gotta go schedule an appointment to confirm."

They rush to get out of the car, then link hands and walk into Med, laughing and looking at one another, their love clearly persistent and never-fading.