"Wasn't it just after that that you promised me you wouldn't sleep with her?" I asked.
"I didn't! After you told me you would break up with Andy and asked me not to—I swear, Nikki, I didn't."
"That doesn't leave a very big window of opportunity for getting pregnant," I muttered.
"I didn't even care about her," he said, sounding newly annoyed. "I only did it because you slept with Andy."
I thought my heart couldn't sink any lower, but it did. "I didn't sleep with Andy, you fucking idiot!" I yelled. "He's Mr. Christianity, I would've had to marry him first."
"But you said—"
"It wasn't true! I was trying to get back at you," I said, feeling like I was going to be sick. I was starting to feel frantic, so I pulled myself together, refusing to let him see me lose it.
“But you said—”
"It doesn't really matter now, does it?" I said.
"Nikki..." he said, not knowing what to say, but wanting to say something.
I looked down at him as coldly as I could. "If you think I'm going to be as stupid as my mother was, you are seriously mistaken. I'm not about to wait around and let you fuck with my emotions while you're fucking Kayla."
"I'm not—"
"You did," I said, cutting him off. "You will again. I'm not stupid. You are, after all, your father's son," I said scathingly.
"It was a mistake. I never meant for this to happen."
"No, Nobles never do," I remarked.
"If I would've known you didn't even sleep with him, I never would've—"
"Oh no," I said, stopping him before he could finish. "You're not pinning this on me. This is your fault, and I won't take the blame. I won't do what my mother did, wonder what I did wrong, if I should've moved faster. Actually, I guess you were fucking me first, so I don't suppose I could have moved any faster. I guess I just wasn't enough for you, huh?"
"It's not like that," he said.
I shook my head. "It doesn't really matter now, does it?"
He just looked at me, saying nothing.
"God!" I said, trying not to let him see that my hands were starting to shake. "I'm so stupid. I knew this would happen, I knew... that I shouldn't have trusted you. But I was stupid enough to think you were different. I thought you weren't like him. I'm such an idiot. Congratulations, Derek, you fooled me."
"I didn't fool you, Nikki. I didn't get her pregnant on purpose," he said, standing up.
"No, I guess you didn't do that part on purpose, Derek, but what did you say when I asked if you two were back together?"
He stood there silently, not answering. Finally, he said, "I can't just... I have to take responsibility, Nikki..."
I choked on something that might have been a laugh. "Of course. Well, good luck with that. You have fun with Kayla and your responsibility," I said, turning to walk out the door. Then I stopped and turned around, throwing the keys on his bed.
He picked them up and tried to give them back to me. "I want you to keep the car."
"I don't want it," I stated. "Give it to Kayla."
I turned to leave, but I paused just long enough to say, "I hope you know I really do hate you for this."
He looked as if he might actually cry. But he didn't, he just said, "I hate myself for this, too."
I nodded. "Good."