Heartaches Grow a Little Bit Stronger

Under the stare of my parents' eyes, I cowered slightly and tightened my grip on Kyle's hand. Kyle glanced at me and then gently shook my hand off before he wrapped his arm around my shoulders, hugging me close to his body.

Though there were four other people in the room, besides Kyle and me, the only other person I seemed to be able to focus on was my dad. While my mom sat on the opposite couch with Kyle's dad and step mom, my dad stood just behind them, his arms crossed in front of his chest while he gazed upon us with a stern look on his face. His reaction to when Kyle and I had fed our 'cover story' to the rest of our family at the barbeque was what I had expected: surprised at first, and then toward the end a little bit moody. I've honestly never seen anyone sober up as quickly as my dad did when he found out that there was something going on between Kyle and me.

However, it wasn't how he reacted that bothered me, it was how he didn't react. He hasn't spoken to me since Kyle showed up. Hell, he hasn't even looked at either of us until we came inside the house.

"So," Kyle's dad said slowly, "you said that you two had something else to tell us?" He asked hesitantly.

"Um," Kyle paused slightly, glancing at me before looking back across the living room to our parents, "well ... Alyssa and I ... " Kyle trailed off, unable to think of a way to phrase his words.

"When we were away for Warped Tour, Kyle and I snuck around together." I said simply. "No one else really knew about it, except for Marc and Caleb."

"What about your brother?" My mom asked.

Thinking to myself, I nodded my head. "Yes, Tomas pretty much knew about it too."

"So basically ... you're telling us that you've been cheating on your fiancé since the begging of summer, Kyle, with my daughter?" My dad asked bluntly.

"It's not like we just decided one night to start messing around." Kyle mumbled.

"I don't care what it was 'like'," my dad snapped meanly, "is that or is that not what you're telling us?"

"Yes," I whispered, "that's what we're telling you dad."

My dad was silent for a few seconds, during which I took the chance to look up and lock my eyes with his. His usually handsome face held an unreadable expression, and I bit my lip, hating not knowing what was going to happen next.

"I see." My dad finally spoke, his voice quiet, and unrevealing of any emotions. "Well, thank you for telling us the truth, but I think that Janelle and I need to continue this discussion with our daughter back at our place. Alyssa, come on, we're leaving."

"But dad - "

"Now, Alyssa." He growled.

Sadly, I turned and looked up at Kyle, who in turn gave me a sympathetic look. "I'll come over later." He whispered before he kissed my forehead gently.

"No disrespect Kyle, but please don't come over until you're asked." My dad said impatiently. "Alyssa, get up, now. We're going home."

Slowly, I nodded my head as a small, frightened tear escaped from my eye. Quickly, Kyle wiped away the culprit tear and then pressed his lips to mine, stealing one last kiss from me before he pulled away, and helped me to my feet. Squeezing my hand tightly, he whispered a quiet 'I love you' before he released it, letting me join my parents who were now standing beside the front door.

Without another word, we left the house, my mom leading the way while I father brought up the rear. Halfway across the lawn, my mom reached behind her, and took my hand in hers. Glancing over her shoulder, she gave me a soft smile and then patted my hand, the first sign of reassurance I had received from either one of my parents.

It was quiet inside our own house; Tomas was most likely upstairs in his room, reading. After we got inside, my dad slammed the door shut behind him, and started yelling at me before I even had a chance to turn around and look at him.

"Damn it Alyssa, I thought you would have had a little more class than to run around with a boy who was engaged to someone else!" He yelled. "We fucking raised you better than that!"

"Dad, I didn't go on tour with the intention to get with him." I mumbled. "I ... he ... we just ... dad, I love him." I cried softly. "I love him so much."

"Alyssa, you just spent the last five years with a different boy, who had left you what ... two and a half months ago?"

"Mark!" My mom gasped. "How dare you bring that up right now?"

"I'm just saying," my dad growled, "you just got out of a nasty breakup, and leave for two months, only to come back in love with a different boy?"

"I love him," I repeated; I somehow got the idea that if I said it enough times, he would believe me.

"Alyssa Jane Parker, Kyle and Madison were engaged for one year, and in the course of two months you two had ruined that!" My dad yelled. "What possessed you to go out, and do that?"

"Mark, stop talking to your daughter like that right now." My mom said sternly. "You should know better than to ask her those kinds of things, you should have known that sooner or later something was going to happen between her and Kyle."

"Janelle, they got together, while he still had a fiancé!"

"You heard Kyle when he said that it wasn't their intention to go out and run around behind Madison's back." She said. "Cut them some slack, Alyssa and Kyle have liked each other ever since we'd moved here. And you knew that first night you had to send Kyle home that he was going to make Alyssa his girlfriend, so don't you dare start acting like this right now."

"They could have at least had the decency to wait until Kyle broke up with Madison." My dad retorted. "That's a fucked up stunt they pulled and you know it, Janelle."

"The only thing I know, Mark, is that Alyssa and Kyle are in love. So what if they went off behind someone else's back? At least Kyle had sense enough to end things with Madison, and at least they had the guts to tell us the truth."

"I still don't like that shit," he growled, "and I am not happy about this, Alyssa." He said, glaring across the living room to me. "I don't approve of you and Kyle being together."

The harshness of his words seemed to hit me like a slap across the face, bringing painful tears to my eyes. I stood there, looking blankly back at him, determined not to cry in front of him.

"Yeah," I whispered, "well I don't need your fucking approval. I don't live under your roof anymore, I don't have to listen to anything you say to me. If you don't like the fact that Kyle and I are together, then stay the fuck out of it."

My dad stared back at me in shock, unsure as to whether or not I had said what I actually said. He recovered in a matter of seconds though, and crossed the living room in a few quick steps before he brought his hand up, slapping me across the face.

"If you don't want to listen to anything I say, then get the hell out." He growled lowly before he turned around, and disappeared up the stairs. A few seconds later, I heard their bedroom door slam and then nothing but silence.

"Oh, sweetheart," my mom whispered as she carefully cupped my face in his hands, examining my cheek.

"I'm fine, mom." I muttered thickly as I brushed away her fingers that were lightly tracing the tender spot underneath my eye.

"Alyssa, don't listen to your father." She whispered. "I'm happy that you and Kyle are together. I don't care about what happened between you two on tour. Kyle makes you happy, and you make Kyle happy. In all honesty, I'm surprised that you two haven't gotten together sooner."

"Dad's never been happy with any of my boyfriends." I mumbled. "Why should Kyle be any different? I should have known better than to think that dad would be okay with all of this. He's too old fashioned. He doesn't understand the fact that some things just ... happen. Kyle and I never had the intentions of getting together. We were going to wait until the end of tour, after Kyle broke up with Madison before we got together. But ... one day ... we reached the moment where we couldn't wait any longer." I whispered.

"Go to Kyle." My mom instructed. "I'll talk to your dad."

Silently, I nodded my head and turned away from my mom, heading out the door without another word to her. During the walk over to Kyle's, I felt the tears falling randomly down my cheeks, tears that I hadn't let dare fall in front of my dad; I wasn't going to let him know how much he hurt me.

I didn't want to go through the living room, I didn't want Kyle's parents to see me like this. I went around to the side of the house, to the terrace that came to a stop just below Kyle's window, and expertly began to scale it like I had done so many times before. Before long, I was just underneath Kyle's window, and I reached up, knocking on the window. I listened to the hurried footsteps and then the window slid open.

"Alyssa, sweetheart," Kyle gasped quietly as he reached out, and helped me inside. "Alyssa, what are you doing - " He stopped his sentence short when he saw my tear stained face. A sad look across his handsome face, and he gently wiped the tears away. "Alyssa, what happened?" He mumbled when he saw my already swollen cheek.

"My papa slapped me." I whispered. "He didn't like it when I said that I didn't have to listen to anything he said."

"Alyssa," Kyle mumbled, his voice barely a whisper. He opened his mouth to say something else, but thought better of it and closed it, taking me in his arms instead.

"I just wished he'd be happy for us." I cried softly. "I thought he'd understand how much I love you."

"He does." Kyle assured me. "He just ... doesn't know how to react. Let's face it, Alyssa, this whole thing was the last thing anyone would have ever expected. Sure, they say that they're surprised it hasn't happened sooner, but still ... it was quite the entrance I made when I showed up today." He added with a soft laugh, trying to lighten the mood.

Sniffing slightly, I pulled away from him and wiped the messy tears away. "You've always been a showoff." I muttered.

My boyfriend gave me a cute smile and then kissed my lips softly. "Only when I'm trying to impress you." He admitted shyly.

"Goof." I whispered.

Kyle laughed quietly, and then shrugged his shoulders. "Do you want to go back to either my place or your place?" He asked. "We can take a nice, long bubble bath together and afterward I'll give you a massage ... clothing optional." He added with a soft smirk.

"Kyle Burns," I sighed softly as a small smile pulled at the corners of my lips. "That sounds good, but first I just want to lay here and cuddle with you for a little while."

Kyle nodded his head. "Good deal."

With that, he tugged me down onto his bed, and then lay behind me, cuddling me from behind. With one arm wrapped protectively around my middle, Kyle reached over, placing some small, gentle kisses along my neck and jaw line.

"I love you." He whispered quietly.

"I love you, too, Kyle." I whispered back.

Taking a deep breath, I let it out slowly and closed my eyes before I fell asleep to the steady sound of my boyfriends breathing.