I Have Problems, but So Do You

~Raven's P.O.V.~

After that lovely family moment, we decided to just sit and hang out in the basement for awhile. We were just sitting around and goofing off.
"Yo, Sky, You think Jade's gonna be alright?" Matt asked. He was sitting next to me and Bryan. I looked to Skylar.
"Yeah I know she will. She's strong. Dude you should of seen her last week. She was the one who beat up her Uncle. Not me." Our mouths fell open. I knew she was tough, but not THAT tough. Suddenly, I heard laughing coming from the stairwell. I heard a loud thud and stood up. Jade was on the floor. She stuck her hand up into the air and gave us a thumbs up.
"I'm ok!" She yelled. We all laughed at her. She got up and sat by Skylar who wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her forehead. I looked up at Bryan and he smiled down at me. He leaned down and kissed me. I pulled away and looked at her. I noticed her necklace. I quietly gasped.
"Oh my gosh Jade! Is that the necklace Skylar gave you!?" I asked. It was beautiful! She smiled and nodded. Everyone erupted into "Awwww"s and she blushed. Skylar was blushing, too.
"Aw, look at them they're blushing!" Larson said. Jade smiled sweetly and flipped him off. We all laughed.
The rest of the day was spent by just laughing and messing around. All in all, it was a great day. Bryan left a little early because he felt a little sick. I walked him to the door and kissed him good bye, saying that if he needed me to, I could help him out tomorrow. He declined, but said that he'd call me if he needed me. I nodded and gave him a hug. With that, he left.
Soon, everyone else left and said good bye. I hugged each of them good bye as they left, still thinking about our special "family" moment earlier today. It was amazing.
I got into my pajamas and collapsed on my bed, falling asleep immediately.
I woke up the next morning to the sound of my alarm and groaned. I hit the 'Off' button and got up. I took a quick shower and threw on my All Time Low shirt, black skinny jeans, and My Chemical Romance hoodie. I laced up my Batman Converse and went downstairs to grab an apple. A few seconds later, Jade and Skylar came down the stairs. We left for school.
We got there early and just kind of stood around. I couldn't find any of the band members, and Bryan was home sick, so I just stood around with Skylar and Jade. Finally the bell rang and we all went our separate ways. My classes went by quickly and I spent most of them texting Bryan under the table.
The bell rang and I walked to lunch. I spotted Larson, Kory, and Matt all at one table and they waved at me. I smiled and walked over to their table. I sat down between Larson and Matt and they both bumped my shoulders, squishing my small figure. I flailed my arms like a dinosaur.
"Ah! You're squishing me!" They laughed and pulled away. Just then, Skylar walked over and sat down.
"Hey." He said. I smiled over at him and he smiled back. Just then, I heard a familiar laugh and turned around to see Jade walking with some random emo guy. Every one else must have heard her too, because they turned around to look.
Jade glanced over at us and then just kept walking with him. They walked right out the door without a second glance. I felt the overwhelming sense of hurt cloud my head. I turned around slowly and looked over at Skylar. He had his mouth hanging open.
"Skylar... Um... New friend? Maybe she's just showing him around?" I even heard the hurt in my own voice. He looked over to me and slowly closed his mouth.
"I have to go..." He muttered and stood up to leave. He walked off and Larson ran after him. I sighed and got up.
"I'm gonna go talk to Jade." I said.
"We'll come with, okay?" Matt said as he stood up. Kory nodded and stood up with him. I just sighed.
"Whatever." I said and walked out the door with Kory and Matt right behind me. I looked around and spotted Jade and the random kid on the grass. I set my mouth into a straight, emotionless line and walked over.
"Hey, Jade." I said with a bitter sweet tone. She looked up at me.
"Oh, Raven. This is Josh." She said and pointed to the guy, who was staring at me for some reason.
"Jade, didn't you want to at least say hi and introduce us to your... Friend?" I asked in the same tone. I gave Josh a bitter sweet smile. He was still staring at me.
"Oh, um, right." I turned back to her and her eyes were little slits.
"Did you know that your BOYFRIEND," I put an emphasis on that word. "Skylar ran off because he now thinks that you've got eyes for the new kid?" I asked, now with anger in my voice. Her eyes went wide and Josh looked at her.
"You have a boyfriend?" He asked in a deep voice. He had a shocked tone and I turned to him.
"Yes, yes she does, and he also happens to be my BROTHER." Josh looked at me, but now had a shocked look on his face. He turned back to Jade.
"You... Didn't tell me that you had a boyfriend..." He said. He looked down and then back up at me.
"I'm sorry, um..." He trailed off, not knowing my name.
"It's Raven." I snapped. His eyes grew wider. "And these guys are Kory and Matt, who happen to be two of Skylar's best friends and two of mine, too. You're lucky that my boyfriend Bryan isn't here, because he is Skylar's number one best friend. He would've been pissed." Somehow, Josh's blue eyes got even wider and his face fell the slightest bit when I said the word "Boyfriend".
"I-I'm so sorry, Raven. I swear I didn't know that she had a boyfriend." Looked down and his face was sad. I felt myself soften a little.
"I would say that it's okay, but it really isn't, but I'll forgive you. I don't know about Skylar, though, so watch yourself." Josh nodded and looked up at me.
"Thank you, Raven, for forgiving me." I just nodded. He stood up.
"It seems like you two need to talk, so I'll go now. Bye, Jade. Bye, Raven." Jade waved and I just nodded again. As soon as he left, Jade got up and turned on me.
"What the hell was that for? What, so I'm not allowed to make new friends?" She was giving me her mad face. Normally, it would've scared me, but I was mad.
"I never said that. You're just not allowed to flirt with a new kid while you're still dating my brother." I said in a harsh tone.
"I wasn't flirting. I'm the first friend Josh has made, but you had to go and scare him off!"
"Good! Because I don't need him ruining your relationship with my brother. He may be older, but that doesn't mean that I'm not protective of him."
"Yeah, well maybe you're a little too protective of him!"
"What is that supposed to mean?!"
"Oh, nothing, just that you threaten to break my face if I break his heart!"
"That's what I say to all of his girlfriends! I told him that about you, too!"
"I don't care what you told him! Ugh, you ruin EVERYTHING!"
"OH, SO NOW I RUIN EVERYTHING?! WHO'S LETTING YOU STAY AT THEIR HOUSE, EAT THEIR FOOD, AND USE THEIR BATHROOM?!"
"I THINK THAT YOU SHOULD JUST-." I cut her off.
"I DON'T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT WHAT YOU THINK!! SHIT, YOU JUST BROKE MY BROTHER'S HEART!!" Her eyes went wide in surprise at my using of cuss words.
"Raven I-."
"I DON'T WANT TO HEAR ABOUT IT!! UGH, JADE!! YOU AND YOUR STUPID DRAMA!! YOU ALWAYS MAKE THINGS WORSE, AND YOU KNOW THAT!! YOU FUCKING KNOW THAT AND YOU DON'T GIVE A SHIT!! Ugh, I'm done!" I stormed off, leaving Jade with a gaping mouth. Matt and Kory gave her one last glance and then followed me to who knows where. I decided that I needed to leave. I walked to the parking lot and took out my keys. I turned to the boys.
"Can one of you please give Skylar a ride?" They nodded and gave them both a hug. "Okay, well, I'm gonna go."
"Where, Raven?" Matt asked with worry in his voice.
"I... Don't know yet. Probably to Bryan's. So, bye, guys." I opened the car door and got in. I started the car as I put my seatbelt on and waved to them as I backed out of the parking space. I drove away, not quite sure of where I was going.
I was driving along when I saw a boy walking. He looked familiar and as I got closer, I realized that it was Josh. I sighed, knowing that I had to do the right thing. So, I slowed down and rolled down my window.
"Hey, you need a ride?" I asked him. He turned and looked up at me with wide eyes. He didn't say anything, so I did. "Well? Do you?"
"Um, I'm fine, thanks." He said, obviously not meaning that.
"Come on, get in." I said. His eyes got even wider, but he got in on the passenger side when I stopped.
"Thank you." He said softly.
"Mmhm... Look, I'm sorry for going off at you. It's just that my brother gets hurt easily and when he saw you with Jade, he ran off. I just got mad and took it out on the wrong person at the time. So, I'm sorry." I saw him look over at me out of the corner of my eye.
"Thank you for apologizing. And I understand, but I swear, she didn't say anything about a boyfriend." I nodded.
"It's okay, I forgive you. Just, don't flirt with her anymore, okay? Strictly friend zone only." He nodded.
"Okay, I promise. If I do flirt, I allow you to beat me up." I laughed.
"You think that I wouldn't even if you hadn't allowed me to?" He let out a soft laugh.
"I guess that you would've still beat me up, even though you're kinda tiny." He was right. I'm only 5'4" and I'm pretty skinny. I laughed again.
"Don't underestimate me. When I get mad, there's no stopping me, despite my size." He laughed again, thins time louder. I smiled a bit. I realized that I was just driving in one big circle, because there's the school again!
"So, um, do you want me to take you home?"
"No! Um, I mean not now, please." I felt my eyes widen as he yelled no. We were at a stop sign and I glanced over at his arms which were peeking out of his jacket.. Sure enough, they were covered in scars like mine.
"Josh, do you cut?" I asked as I started moving again.
"Huh? How did you... Oh." He realized that I could see his arms. "Um... I have some... Family issues..." He trailed off, looking down. I pulled up my sleeve.
"It's okay. I understand." He looked over to my arm and his eyes went wide as his saw all of the words scared onto my arm.
"Raven... Wait, does that say abuse?" Shit. Well, there's no going back now. I sighed.
"My... Dad. He abuses me. He has for two years now." I stopped on the side of the road to show him my stomach. When I started lifting my shirt, he put up his hands.
"Whoa, I just met you." I let out a short laugh.
"No, stupid, I'm not stripping. I'm showing you this." I lifted it so that he could see the big, purple bruise still on my stomach from when my dad punched me. He eyes went wide.
"Oh my God, Raven. I'm so sorry." I put my shirt back down and looked at him.
"It's fine... You just can't tell anyone, okay?"
"Okay."
"Alright, so where do you need to go, because I have to go make sure that my sick boyfriend is okay." I put my seatbelt back on and started driving again.
"Oh, um, you can just drop me off at my house, I guess." I looked over at him and he was biting his lip like I do when I get nervous or excited, but I think he did it out of nervousness.
"Are you sure? Because I can take you somewhere else."
"No, it's fine. I'll tell you where to go." He gave me the directions and we were soon there. He got out and I rolled down the window.
"Bye, Josh. See you tomorrow." He turned around and gave me half smile and waved. I waved back as I drove away to Bryan's house. I got to his house and got out. I knocked on the door and soon, he opened it. I smiled.
"Hey, Bry. How ya doing?" He smiled and gave me hug after he let me in.
"You didn't have to come." He said.
"Oh, it's no problem. I just had to see how my boyfriend was." I pulled back and smiled. He leaned down and gave me a quick peck on the lips. We walked to his room and he laid back down onto his bed. I sat down next to him and looked at him.
"So, cutting class?" He asked. I smiled.
"Yep, just to see you!" He laughed and pulled me closer.
"You know that I love you, right?" I laughed.
"Well, I don't know..." He pulled me even closer with a smile and gave me sweet, long kiss. I pulled away and smiled. "Now I know. And of course, I love you too." I kissed his nose and he grinned. We spent the rest of the day on his bed, talking about random stuff and holding each other close. All of my problems slipped away as I realized that I was truly happy and with my love.