Heartaches Grow a Little Bit Stronger

Quietly I sighed to myself and did my best not to think about the stupid fight that had taken place over the phone between Kyle and me. Maybe it wasn't a fight; what exactly was there that we had disagreed upon? The fact that he had put Madison first before me? But he was right, Madison was still his fiancé and right now she needed him.

Family is important, and Madison's auntie was sick in the hospital. I shouldn't have gotten upset with Kyle about taking Madison to San Antonio for a family emergency. I shouldn't have even said anything about how jealous I was that he was with her. I had only called him to tell him I missed him, and that's all I should have said.

But no, I couldn't keep myself from saying anything else. I had questioned his love for me, and then Kyle had yelled at me. That's what made it sound like a fight to me; Kyle rarely yelled at me, but when he does, its usually when we're fighting.

Whenever we fight I feel like crap afterward, Kyle's my best friend and I hate when we fight. This time I felt a million times worse; this time not only my opinion was involved in our spat, but my heart as well.

"Janey, sweetheart," my mom called, getting my attention, "can you please help Marc and Jonathan take the extra food inside please?"

"Yeah, sure." I replied.

Reluctantly I uncurled myself form the fetal position I was in on the lawn chair, and got up to join Marc and Jonathan. As I approached, Jonathan gave me a toothy smile when he saw me, whereas Marc stood there, giving me a hesitant look. We set about our job in silence for a little while and then brought everything inside where Jonathan left us to make a quick trip to the store for my dad.

As soon as he had gone, Marc set aside the plate full of steaks he had been packing and then turned to face me. "Did you yell at Kyle earlier?" He questioned.

Slightly taken aback by his words, I felt my mouth drop ever so slightly in surprise before I regained my composure and replied, "no." I mumbled. "Kyle yelled at me, not the other way around. Why?"

"He called me about an hour ago or so." Marc said hesitantly. "He sounded ... I don't know, kind of upset? He mentioned that you two had gotten onto a little fight and that you said some things that you may or may not have meant."

"I told him that I didn't want him to call me, or see me until he was a single man." I admitted. "And honestly, I still don't know as to whether or not I really meant it."

Marc frowned softly, thinking to himself. "Why did he yell at you?"

"Because I said that he was being selfish, and was trying to keep himself from looking like the bad guy." I muttered. "But in my defense, he said that I was being selfish, because I was getting tired of waiting around for him to talk to Madison. I had asked him about whether or not he was going to have time to talk to Madison before you guys went to the East Coast and all he said was that he didn't know, like it was a no big deal sort of thing."

"He shouldn't have gotten angry at you," Marc said quietly, "he's been making you wait for a while now; if it were me I would have gotten impatient with him too."

"It's just ... I never would have thought that I'd been in this situation, Marc." I sighed. "I'm so confused right now, I don't know what to do."

"Are you having second thoughts about being with Kyle?"

"Sometimes," I answered truthfully, "sometimes I think that I should just put this whole thing to rest and let him be with Madison. And sometimes, like yesterday when I called him, I want him so bad that I cry."

"I can't say that I know what you're going through, because I don't." Marc said gently. "But I do know that my brother loves you with all his heart. He's always cared about you since that day we helped you unpack your things. He'll come around." He assured me.

"Yeah?"

"Of course he will, he'll keep his word, Alyssa." Marc smiled softly. "And once he shows up on your doorstep, asking you to be his girlfriend, you're going to have a hell of a time getting rid of him."

At his words, I felt a shy smile slowly begin to ease across my face. Knowing that he had been able to convince me, Marc took my hand, squeezing it tightly before he released it and went back to his work. Without another word, we finished putting away the food, and went back outside to join our families. Seeing that we had returned, my dad invited us both so sit down and share a few drinks with them, and we accepted his invitation.

Giving me a smile that was partially affected by alcohol, my dad handed both of us our own beers, letting us take a seat somewhere on the patio. Drinking my beer in silence, I listened as everyone else talked about random things. None of the conversations, however, were able to hold my interest or attention for too long, and I soon found myself wrapped up in my own thoughts.

When a new voice was added to the mix, I looked up just as Jonathan walked through the backdoor, laughing as he conversed with a new comer who was just behind him. Interested, I kept my eyes on the doorway until a familiar figure came into my sights. Staring at him with wide eyes, I felt my heart starting to beat rather quickly in my chest.

Kyle ended his conversation with Jonathan before he turned his blue gaze to me. Staring back at me for a few seconds that seemed like minutes, Kyle then made a bee line straight toward me, ignoring the questions his dad and step mom were asking. Not knowing what to do, I simply sat there, my drink in hand, staring at him like a complete moron.

He didn't stop until he reached the place where I was sitting, and reached down, pulling me to my feet and wrapping an arm around my waist in one swift motion. I didn't have any time to react before he leaned over and pressed his lips gently to mine. I could only imagine what sort of reaction my parents, as well as Kyle's parents had had to Kyle's sudden appearance and actions. I didn't bother to look, though, because at that moment I was too caught up in the kiss to focus on anything else.

It wasn't until Kyle pulled away from me that I realized I had a few, stray tears running down either side of my face. Kyle was quick to wipe them away with his soft fingers.

"I didn't think that I would see you today." I cried softly.

"Shh," he cooed, "come on, sweetheart."

Not daring to look at anyone's questioning stares, I let Kyle lead me into the house, and upstairs to the bedroom that his parents had kept for him. Whispering sweet words to me the entire time, Kyle never removed his arm around my waist until we were sitting on his old bed.

"Alyssa, I love you." He whispered softly before he kissed my lips gently once again.

Not wanting him to pull away, I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, holding him as close to me as I could. Knowing what I wanted, Kyle took his time and made our kiss long and loving. It was only when Kyle placed his hand on my cheek that I agreed to let him break the kiss, and pull away from me.

"Will you be my girlfriend?" He asked softly.

"Yes." I whispered, without hesitation.

Kyle's eyes lit up like never before when he heard my answer and his bright smile pulled across his lips. Returning a soft smile, I reached up and ran my fingers through his hair, pushing it away from his face. "What are you doing here, Burns?" I asked.

"I wanted to be with you." He said quietly. "So ... I broke up with Madison, and I came back for you."

"I'm still mad at you." I mumbled.

The smile faded from Kyle's face and was replaced by a small frown. "What did I do?"

"You made me wait a long time for you, Kyle." I muttered. "You had me thinking that you didn't love me."

"I'm sorry Alyssa, you know that I - "

"Am not the kind of boy who breaks up over the phone." I sighed. "I know, Kyle, its just that ... I don't know. Neither of us had been in that type of situation before. I guess I had expectations and you had expectations."

Kyle wrinkled his nose slightly, making a face. "What kind of expectations did you have for me?" He questioned.

"I told you." I mumbled. "I expected you to dump Madison sooner."

"Allie J," he sighed, "look, I'm sorry I didn't do it sooner, but I did it. Can you please just let it go? We're together now; I don't want to spend our first day together with you being mad at me. I love you, Alyssa and I'm here now." He whispered quietly.

As he spoke, the light in his eyes grew dim as the sadness passed through them. He was hurt by the fact that I was still upset with him. I agreed with him ... I didn't want to spend our first night together being mad at him, or even possibly fighting. Shaking my head slightly, I reached up and kissed his lips softly.

"I'm sorry." I whispered. "I love you."

Who would have thought that a simple apology would have been enough to bring that glint back to Kyle's eyes?

"Our parents are probably downstairs interrogating Marc and Jonathan." Kyle grinned. "They must be going crazy because they don't know what the hell is going on."

"Yeah." I agreed. "Jonathan is probably just as confused as our parents are, and Marc," I paused slightly, glancing out of Kyle's window to check if I could see anybody on the patio, but I couldn't, "Marc probably doesn't know whether or not he should come clean with the truth or not."

"Want to go rescue him?" Kyle asked.

"Face the music?"

"Mhmm." He mumbled. "We have to do it sooner or later ... preferably sooner so that we can clarify things."

"We're gonna come clean with the truth?"

"Well ... just for now, we can say that Madison and I broke up, so that you and I could be together." Kyle said slowly. "But ... later on tonight we should probably sit down with our parents and tell them exactly what happened this summer."

"Do you think they'll be ... 'disappointed' with us?" I asked quietly.

"I think that they'll be surprised and caught off guard," Kyle admitted, "but I think that the most important thing to them is that we're happy."

"I'm nervous." I mumbled.

Kyle raised an eyebrow, wanting me to elaborate.

"It's been a while since I brought home a guy to my dad." I grinned.

Kyle laughed loudly before he stood up, and pulled me up with him. "Technically you're in my home, babe." He smiled.

"Well then," I giggled quietly, "I guess I should have said that it's been a while since I've brought a guy to my dad to get his approval." I teased.

"Think he'll approve of me?"

"Of course." I smiled.

Kyle gave me a cute smile and then leaned over to kiss my cheek. "Come on, babe." He said quietly. "Time to face the parents."

"Alright." I mumbled. "Just to let you know ahead of time, I'm going to expect you to do all the talking."

"Fine." He huffed, giving me a fake pout. "You're sleeping alone tonight."

"Jerk." I grinned.

Kyle laughed in response and then took my hand in his, squeezing it tightly. Giving me one last reassuring smile, he turned around and led me out of his room and into the hallway. Hopefully our parents will have the patience to listen to us.