Show My Cards, Gave You My Heart

I looked at myself in the mirror, feeling dissatisfied with the way I looked. I was bloated, and it ruined my plans of wearing this cute black, long-sleeved dress. I needed to hurry and find a new plan of action. Alex would be home at any time now, then we were to go to dinner at his parent's for Thanksgiving.

I sighed and settled with a baby pink dress, made out of lace, with my black Ugg boots, slipping a white beanie on my head. I walked downstairs, hearing car doors slam outside. I looked out the door's peephole, seeing the guys outside in the driveway. Alex pulled his suitcase out of the trunk of Jack's car and waved goodbye to them as they pulled out of the driveway. I waited patiently for him to reach the door before I pulled it open, throwing myself into his arms.

"Well hi." he laughed. "You ruined my plans. I was going to walk in and say, 'Honey, I'm home!'"

"Well, you guys are loud outside so it's hard not to notice."

"It's all Jack, babe, I swear." he poked my nose. "Let me in, it's freezing tits out here."

"What happened to all your warmth?" I giggled, running my hands down his chest, smoothing out his yellow plaid shirt.

"Jackasses had the air conditioner on." he rolled his eyes, dragging me into the warmth of the house.

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"Sure you are."

"Shut up." I smiled cockily at him.

"I'm hungry. Yo tengo mucho hambre!" he spoke Spanish, which actually surprising me.

"Qué?" I raised my eyebrow. "Studying up on your Spanish now?"

"Si," he smiled, giving me a small kiss. "vamos!" he grabbed my hand and pulled the door open. We walked to his car and got in. While he fixed the steering wheel and turned the heater on, I played with the radio, flipping through the presets then turning the knob.

"Buh?" I said, turning up the radio to hear a All Time Low song playing.

"Holy fucking shit, are you serious?!" he asked with a smile on his face. "We're on the motherfucking radio baby!"

I listened to a song that wasn't on their newest album. "What song is this anyway?"

"Toxic Valentine. I was asked to write a song and get it recorded for some movie."

"It's nice." I nodded to him.

He began to sing along with it. It sounded gorgeous. He hit the bridge, singing it way better than it was recorded. "'Cause I'm not the type to forget or to bury my head. Just take off your wings, they could never get you quite as high as I did, and you know it."

After two more choruses, the song went off. They started to play a rap song. "Dammit."

"What?" he smiled. "My song on the radio, then Lovers and Friends plays. I am perfectly okay with this."

"Okay." I shook my head, looking out the window, watching everything we passed fade away in the mirror.

"I'm not really ready for this."

"For what?"

"Dinner. I love my parents and I'm excited to see them, but family. So much family." he looked at me through the corner of his eye.

"How much, exactly?" I bit my lip.

"Lets see here. My grandma, Alan, my aunt Lydia and her husband Joe--or Joey," he paused to laugh. "I think Joey's on meth or something. Always. Hm, then my uncle Will, his wife Heather, their five thousand kids. God dammit, there's a lot."

"Holy fuck!" I shrieked. "So I have to make good impressions, don't I?"

"Well my parents and my aunt Lydia already love you so I don't think you'll have to work too hard." he smiled, grabbing my hand. "Also, be ready to face tradition."

"Tradition?"

"My cousin Jason and I always try to see who can chow down the most. Then I usually end up in the floor and I can't move. All the women leave the men in the living room to watch football while they go clean up the kitchen, then all the little animals go outside and play." he smiled evilly. "If they start questioning you about me, give good answers, okay?"

"No, I'm going to tell them how terrible you are." I smiled evilly back. "Take that."

He blew air through his lips, pulling into his parent's driveway. A lot of his family was already there. "Ready?"

"Yup." I popped the ending. We got out, meeting at the front of the car. He grabbed my hand and led me to the front door, stopping before he opened it.

"Also, watch yourself in here. We are mad perverts."

"Figures." I rolled my eyes. He twisted the door knob and gently pushed it open, leading me inside. We slowly moved into the living room, Alex being tackled by a dark haired boy. "Oh!" I stepped back, watching Alex being hassled, basically getting his ass kicked.

"Faggot!" the boy said with a strong British accent. He laughed and got up, helping Alex out of the floor, giving him a hug. "What's up cousin?"

"Not much, not much." Alex laughed. "You scared the fuck out of me though."

"Sorry."

"It's cool. Ah Jason, this is my wife, Haley."

"Hi." he smiled, taking my hand in his, shaking it carefully.

"Hello." I smiled back, looking down at my feet.

"Well where's everyone else?" Alex looked in the living room, seeing that it was empty.

"Everyone's outside. I just came back from the bathroom and ran into you."

"Oh lovely." he laced his fingers through mine. "C'mon, love."

He led us to the back door, sliding it open. Everyone stood watching tons of children run around in the backyard.

"Son!" Alex's dad turned, patting him on the shoulder. "Haley, it's good to see you."

"Hi Mr. Gaskarth." I smiled. "It's good to see you too."

I kept a hold of Alex's hand while he pulled me across the yard to where his mother was. He let go of my hand and tapped her on the shoulder. She turned and looked at him blankly, making me laugh. "Hi Alex."

"Hello mother of mine." he hugged her.

"Haley!" she pushed him away, pulling me into her arms.

"Dissed by my own mother?"

"I don't think she likes you, babe." I giggled. "It's lovely to see you, Mrs. Gaskarth."

"Psh. Bitch." he scoffed at me.

"Alexander!" she scolded him, slapping his arm. "You are such an ass. How do you put up with him, Haley?"

"It takes patience." I grimaced.

"Ha ha ha." he rolled his eyes. "I love both of you too."

I grinned and put both of my arms around him. "I love you too son. But thanks for telling me that you were coming or not." she sarcastically said, shaking her head.

"I didn't know he was going to be home today up until last night."

"I was busy last night and I told Haley when it was late. I would've called but I knew you two would be in bed. Plus I was trying to pack my things before we left to get on a flight back home. We got in super early and I crashed at Jack's last night. Sorry mother."

"It's okay."

The two babbled on but I didn't listen. I was too busy examining the rest that was there. I swear to God, you could tell who all was out of the Gaskarth bunch. The same eyes and smile on every one of the males, and one on a woman. Even the children looked the same.

"Ready to start meeting people?" Alex whispered in my ear, nearly scaring me out of my skin. He laughed quietly and drug me over to a tall redhead holding a child. "Aunt Caroline?"

"Yes Alex, dear?" she turned, smiling lightly at me. "Oh, you must be Haley. I've heard so much about you. I'm Alex's Aunt Caroline."

"Hi." I nodded. "I hope they're good things too." I laughed nervously.

"Very good things. Isobel was truly correct when she said you were beautiful." she laughed. "But how'd you end up with this loser?" she patted his arm.

"Because, I'm just so irresistibly sexy." he smirked.

"Don't flatter yourself, babe." I snorted. "And thank you."

"You're very welcome." she smiled.

"Who's this, Caroline?" a familiar looking man walked over, who had to be her husband.

"What's up Uncle James?"

"Who let you in?" he glared at Alex.

"I actually let myself in, thank you." he replied mockingly. "And lets not be an asshole, there's women present."

"Watch yourself boy."

"Check yourself boy." Alex laughed, wrapping a arm around my waist, pulling me in direction of a new crowd of people standing around. "He's Caroline's new husband and he is a fucking dickhead, I cannot stand him. He always looks for reasons to anger me." he whispered to me before we reached the new crowd.

"Oh. I like your aunt, she's nice." I whispered back, placing a kiss on his cheek to make our whispers look less noticeable.

"Babe, this is my Aunt Jane, Aunt Heather, Uncle Will, and Jason's girlfriend, Rachel."

"Hello." they all said in unison.

"Hi." I replied, shaking all of their hands as they held them out to me.

I received the same compliments over and over again. Alex's mom announced dinner was ready. Alex pulled me inside, holding me close to him while everyone else fixed their plates. Once they were done, he made me one, then him his own. We sat down next to each other at the large dining table with the rest of his family. Before we were allowed to eat, they went around the table stating what they were thankful for.

"Alex, what're you thankful for?" his mother asked him.

"I'm thankful for everything I have. My family, my beautiful wife, and my band and best friends." he smiled, nodding to me. "What are you thankful for, love?"

"You and my lovely in-laws for taking good care of me for the past year. It means a lot, thank you so much." I smiled to the three of them.

"Anything for you, baby. I just want you happy."

"I agree Alex," his dad said. "Just as long as you're save and happy."

"Thanks."

"No problem."

Alex held my hand under the table, twirling circles into the back of it with his thumb. His cousin, Jason, and his pregnant girlfriend, Rachel, said their thanks, then we prayed. After praying, we all dug into the food. Mrs. Gaskarth made a fantastic turkey with mashed potatoes, corn, gravy, green beans, and stuffing. The family talked as we ate, Alex adding his input every now and then. I thought I was going to die when Jason flipped corn at him. Alex responded by flipping potatoes back across the table.

All was funny until he knocked my glass of wine off the table, spilling it onto my lap. "Shit!" he stood up, pulling the glass from my lap, patting the skirt area of my dress with napkins. "I am so sorry, baby."

"It's okay." I gulped, helping him try to soak it out of the fabric.

"Idiot." someone mumbled across the table. I looked up to realize it was James. I swallowed the lump in my throat and looked back down to the wine stain.

Alex scoffed and shook his head. "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay. It's no big deal."

"Haley, you have clothes updstairs in Alex's closet. Please go change." Mrs Gaskarth said, smiling at me.

I nodded and stood up, waking out of the dining room. Alex followed behind me, apologizing every step of the way. "Alex, really, it's fine."

"No, it's not okay. I feel terrible for ruining your dress It's all my fault, I shouldn't of tried to get him back."

"Shut up, it's fine." I said, pulling open his closet doors. I looked in there to see a pair of skinny jeans that had holes in them and a light purple tank-top with laced straps laced around the bottom hem. I kicked my boots off and pulled the jeans up my thighs, under my dress. "Alex?"

"Yeah babe?" he asked, being pulled out of his little daydream.

"Are you okay?" I giggled. "And can you unzip me?"

"You can zip it up, but you can't unzip it? I don't get it." he shook his head, pulling the zipper down. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just thinking about how great this room is."

"What's so great about it?" I asked, pulling my arms gently from the sleeves, letting the dress fall to the floor.

"Last Halloween when you stayed with me, then our one month anniversary, and when you were staying with me for that time, all those cold nights that I kept you warm. I miss all that."

"Oh."

"I wish I could be home more often." he sighed.

"I wish you could too." I pulled on the tank top, looking in the mirror. It barely covered my hips. "Dammit!"

"Here." he laughed, pulling off his black hoodie. I slid my arms through the holes, pulling the tank top down a little so it covered a bit more.

"I go from classy to trashy looking."

"You look fine."

"Okay." I rolled my eyes. "Lets get back before they think something funny's going on."

"I wish." he took a step forward, brushing his body against mine.

"No." I smiled, walking away from him. I ran to the stairs, trying to get down them before he caught up to me. Unfortunately he did, sweeping me off of my feet. "Alex, put me down."

"No, I will not. You're mean to me, so I'm going to be mean to you."

"Alexander William." I slapped his chest.

"Fine then." he put me down to my feet before we got to the doorway of the dining room.

"Asshole." I shook my head, grabbing his hand, and pulled him to our seats. We sat down like nothing was different.

"All better?" Isobel asked from the end of the table.

"Yes." I laughed, looking up at Alex. "Confiscate the wine from you."

"Just for that, I'm going to spill it again."

"No, it'll be all over you this time." I narrowed my eyes at him. "If on me, it'll be on your hoodie."

"You're convinced, huh?"

"Mhm." I smiled, picking up my fork to eat more of my food.

Everyone talked and finished eating. Like Alex said he would, try to outdo Jason on food. He came out successful. All the men herded into the living room to watch a football game, leaving all the women to clean up.

I picked up all the plates, glasses, and silverware from the table, carefully moving them to the sink. I helped Mrs. Gaskarth rinse them off and put them in the dishwasher while everyone else cleaned up the table and counters.

"So how are things going?" she asked me, handing me a plate of turkey to put in the refrigerator. "I know you've started a new school but I don't know how it's been for you."

"It's great. I love it a lot more than I loved Dulaney."

"Do you have James as a teacher? He teaches at Malcolm. He used to sub at Dulaney too, maybe you've had him then?"

"You know, I thought he looked familiar!" I shook my head. "I don't have him, but I will second semester, but I think I had him in Dulaney. I can't remember."

"He hated Alex in school. I think that's why he carries a grudge on him here." she whispered to me, looking over her shoulder to see if anyone else had heard.

"Oh. But Alex isn't bad." I raised a eyebrow.

"I know. All the teacher's I've heard from really loved him."

"But then again, he isn't that good. He got me sent to the principle's office last February." I laughed.

"What for?" she handed me more leftovers to put away.

"He tickled my side, somewhere where I do not like to be touched. I screamed, fell in the floor, got up and smacked the hell out of him. I got a pink slip for disruption of class and violence."

"Oh my God! I would've grounded him if I knew this!"

"It's okay, I got my revenge." I smiled evilly. "Remember that big calculus test we had? I distracted him and he didn't study. He got a terrible grade. Then I also hacked into his locker and stole his books."

"He deserved it." she laughed and shook her head.

"He did."

"So.." she started, giving me a unsure look. "I know this may be a little off the wall, but I want to know. Am I going to get grandchildren out of you two?"

"We've talked this over already. Right now we're trying, but not too much effort is being put in since he's on the road and gone all the time. I hope to get pregnant this spring or summer. Don't worry, you'll get something out of us eventually." I smiled.

"Oh good, I'm proud."

"Babe?" I heard Alex call to me from the doorway, his voice sounding angry and short.

"Yeah?" I turned to face him.

"Are you ready to go?"

"Oh, uh, sure." I nodded. "Bye Mrs. Gaskarth."

"Bye dear. Alex, come back soon before you leave again, okay?" she hugged me, then hugged him.

"Yeah, I will Mom. Bye." he waved to her, walking over to his aunts cornered at the other side of the room. He gave them all hugs one by one and returned to my side, lacing our fingers together.

He pulled me quickly out of the house, and down the sidewalk, to his car. We got in and sat in silence for a moment. "Well, that was fun."

"Was it?" he rolled his eyes. "Remind me not to come back here for this."

"Why not?"

"Because, I really can't stand that asshole James."

"What'd he do?" I asked, pulling my hair up into a ponytail.

"The jackass started trash talking you and Brooke." he scoffed. "He said he's seen you two in the hallways. Then he made a comment saying that you dress slutty and act like a complete lesbian towards her." he bit his lip, trying to control his anger.

"Sorry, I'm not a lesbian. I don't dress like a slut either. I dress like all other girls. Jeans, t-shirt, hoodie. I have my days where I like to wear dresses and boots or a skirt and flats."

"He's a jackass. To hell with him."

"I was kinda ready to go home anyway. I feel kinda awkward there with all of your aunts. I feel like I just got stared at more than I got talked to." I giggled, trying to lighten his mood.

"They're just like that. What'd you and my mom talk about?" he smiled, pulling into our driveway.

"This and that. My school, then you and I."

"And you said?"

"That I liked my school?" I shook my head. "Duh."

"No about us. Did she start in with the wanting grandchildren speech?" he raised a thick eyebrow, grabbing my hand and led me to the front door.

"Yeah." I nodded, pushing the front door open. We didn't make it very far. We sat on the sofa, cuddled close together under a blanket. He turned on a football game to watch while I laid there, soaking in his warmth.

"You tell her we're trying?"

"Yup. I told her she'd get something out of us eventually." I smiled, leaning up to kiss him. "Hi, I love you."

"Hey." he laughed. "I love you too."

He wrapped his arms around me and caressed my back. "I think it's a good idea for the lovely Thanksgiving nap."

"I do agree." he nodded, kissing my head.

I laid there listening to the sounds of the TV with my eyes shut. He was still awake, surprisingly, cheering on whoever was playing. "Shut up."

"Sorry." he laughed quietly. I came close to sleep finally after a moment of silence. I dozed off with him playing with my hair and caressing the palm of his hand up and down my spine. Best way if you'd ask me.