I held the baby boy's gaze until my eyes began to sting with tears.

Never in my life had I felt so helpless and useless at the same time. My head told me to walk out of the room and not look back; the baby was Marcus' problem and responsibility. If I turned and left now, I'd never have to come and face him again. My heart told me to take the baby and sneak out the back door so nobody would spot the short girl running down the hallway with a carseat in her hands as she bolted for the door.

My heart was sure if I left the poor baby boy in Marcus' room that there would be a chance he claimed he never existed; he'd whisk the poor boy off into a foster home until they found him a secure home.

"I have to leave." I swallowed my words when his small hand reached out for me, clenching the end of his blue blanket in it. I shook my head, squeezing my eyes shut and sucking in a deep breath. "I have to go."

I started to turn on my heel when my eyes caught the little bit that was scribbled hurriedly across the yellow sticky note.

Don't tell Marcus. Please take care of him

It didn't take my fear long to set in, my eyes darting all over the room for any sign of who may have left the carrier on the bed. Whoever had done it had been sure that Mark was out of his room at the exact time he or she left the baby. Which left only thought remaining in my mind the second I turned back to the whimpering infant a few feet away.

Marcus wasn't supposed to know about him and whoever left the baby had known someone else was up here with him.

As much crap as Marcus and I had been through over the last few years, there was still an unwanted, large part of me that still cared for the conceited jock. He had still spent the first ten years of our lives by my side and protecting me from the world I had been afraid to face. Despite the hatred he had for me now, there was no way I was going to let his son take the brunt of it.

"My Daddy is a Sheriff." I explained to the baby in the carrier, tearing the sticky note off the handle and shoving into my small handbag. "He'll be able to help me find your Mommy."

The infant stared at me with wide, shocking, electric blue eyes dancing with curiosity over the entire situation. I honestly couldn't blame the poor little guy; his mother had abandoned him and his father was a conceited ass and there was a complete stranger taking him home with her. I would be curious and confused too.

"My name is Paige."

I am talking to an infant as if he can understand me; my mental health level is beginning to scare me.

"I'm going to take you home tonight. Who knows when this party will end?" I muttered, gripping the handle until I felt it digging into my palm. He continued to stare up at me as I peaked out of the room to make sure the coast was clear. Shaking my head, I jogged down the steps quickly, praying no one would cast a second glance in my direction. For once in my life, I was okay being invisible to most of the population of our high school.

I hurried around the staircase and toward the back door, my eyes falling on the spare set of keys hanging off the hook. I had seen Marcus' brother twirling them around his fingers various times. I started toward the set of keys, stopping dead in my tracks when I heard someone clear their throat behind me.

All anxiety and adrenaline drained as I slowly shifted my body toward the sound.

Zane Dryer stood in the foyer, arms crossed as he leaned into the wall, head inches from an old picture of Mark's kindergarten graduation. "You care to explain what you were going to do with my keys?"

"I was just admiring how shiny they were?" I responded, cursing under my breath when I realized how stupid and uncertain my answer was.

I had admired Zane from afar for as long as I could remember. Where Marcus got all the muscle, brawn, and looks; his brother got a lot of brains, so much that he was nearly considered a genius because his IQ level had surpassed average a little over a year ago.

It wasn't that he was bad looking, he still had the Dryer blue eyes and lopsided smile that had girls fawning over him as much as his brother; he just forced it into everyone's psyche that he was looking for something serious rather than a fling that would result in sex and nothing else. It was one of the many things I respected about him, even if he could be just as arrogant and big headed as his older brother.

"Paige-" I could tell by the tone that seeded itself in his voice that his eyes had fallen on the carrier.

"It's not what you think." I lurched forward suddenly, stirring the quiet baby awake. His lips began to tremble, tears clouding his beautiful eyes. "Can I please take your car, Zane? I'll give you the money and return it tomorrow. I need to get out of here."

Confusion flickered in his eyes, "Why? Paige, what's going on? Are you okay?"

If I didn't have a baby about to start crying at my side, I would have taken into consideration that Zane Dryer might actually have a heart. His words also made me question if there was a part of him that still cared for me.

"I can't explain right now." I clenched the carrier in my hand, "Please, Zane."

"I'll drive you ho-"

"Dad will get suspicious." I shot back before he could finish. He ran a hand through his messy black hair and nodded, making a gesture toward the keys.

"You owe me an explanation as soon as you get home." his eyes drifted back toward the baby, his Adam's Apple bobbing as he swallowed. "Understand?"

"Yes. Thank you!" I ripped the keys from the hook and slipped out the back door, catching his questioning eyes following me as I shut the door gently in his face.

*

Slowing Zane's car to a stop in front of my house, realization finally began to sink in. My eyes fluttered toward the back seat, the baby boy squirming around in the carrier, arms stretching outward as if he were beckoning me to pick him up. I was terrified to even touch him; he looked so fragile.

"We're going to find your Mom, I promise." I assured the boy as I unstrapped the carrier from the backseat and turned it toward me, glad to have him facing away from his own seat.

Just as I started to twist him around so I could buckle him more comfortably, the carrier slid and crashed to the ground, pieces of it breaking off in every which direction as I held the baby boy close to me, my heart pounding against my chest.

"I'll clean that up later." I mumbled. He seemed preoccupied with my outfit and hair. His tiny hands wrapped around the hem of my dress, catching a few ringlets in it as he tugged down gently.

I slung my purse over my free shoulder and kept my hand on the baby's back, heading up my driveway with blurred vision. I crept on to my porch, keeping my right arm wrapped securely around the baby's body as I unlocked the door with my left hand, kneeing the door the rest of the way.

My parents sat on the couch, Mom's head against Dad's chest as they watched what looked like some sort of romantic comedy on Netflix. "You're home early."

The baby in my arms didn't give me enough time to come up with an answer. Mom immediately shot up from her comfortable position beside my father, hand cupped over her mouth.

"Paige, please tell me that's one of those lifelike dolls you get from Home Ec." Dad whispered, rising from the couch. I shook my head, my own lips beginning to quiver as my mom gently pried the baby from my fingers.

"Who's baby is he?" she breathed, looking from the baby to me.

"I'm calling the station and we can fi-" Dad started.

"No!" I dug through my pocket and held out the sticky note to my dad.

"Oh." he staggered back in shock, as if the thought of the town's star player having a child was the beginning of Armageddon.

"What? What is it?" Mom shifted the baby in her arms. "Paige?"

"The baby. . ." I couldn't get it all out, not with the look Dad was giving the infant in my mother's arms.

"The baby is Mark's."  

***AN**

*Not Edited*

Hope you guys enjoyed! It will start making sense as the book goes on, what happened between Paige and Mark, I mean. 

Let me know what you thought! 

~ChasingMadness24