Steal a Kiss in the Dark

December 21st, 2013

"Mooooom!" I whined from the living room. I was on the couch with my feet in the air and my head to the ground and scrolling through Tumblr. Occasionally I'd scroll through the 'Mia Albrecht' tag and laugh at the old photos that the crazy hustlers would find.

My upside down mother then entered the room, "Yes Mia?"

"Wanna go Christmas shopping?" I questioned keeping my eyes on my phone.

She chuckled, "Sweetheart, why the hell are you upside down?"

"Wanna go Christmas shopping?" I repeated.

"If you tell me why you're upside down," she laughed in response.

I shrugged before turning myself around so that I was sitting properly. "Just wanted to."

"Let's go," she smiled with her keys in hand. "I was already planning on it anyway."

I rolled my eyes with a smile before going to my room. Quickly, I pulled a pair of black skinny jeans on with one of the oldest items of All Time Low merch I had. After brushing through my hair I pullted it back into a sleek ponytail and went back downstairs.

"Can we take my car?" I beamed. I hadn't left the house since I'd been back to Baltimore and I just wanted to drive my own car.

My mom smiled and nodded before setting her own keys down on the table beside her. At the same time she grabbed my keys and threw them to me. With my right hand I successfully grabbed them out of the air and headed out the front door.

"Jack!" I yelled to my lanky friend that was next door. It had lightly snowed the night before so he was out shoveling. Clearly still mad at me for last night, he looked in my direction, flipped me off, and went back to shoveling.

Shrugging his asshole ways off I opened the driver's side door and sat down. As I put the key into the ignition my mom sat beside me. She looked over at me as I was backing out, "What's up with you and Jack? I get you guys mess around and flip each other off, but there's at least a smile every time."

I sighed driving past his house now, "He's mad at me because I told him to get off my pizza last night."

She rolled her eyes with a smile, "Your friendship has not changed at all since high school."

"I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not," I admitted slamming on my brakes and pressing on the horn. "You fucking idiot!" I yelled at the moron in front of me that braked for no actual reason.

Again, my mother laughed at me. Being away for those few years was a good thing for our relationship. We used to fight about anything and everything, now we seemed to be getting along as well as we did when I was five. Then again, I hadn't been home for even a week yet.

It was going to be a quick mall trip. I knew exactly what I was getting each of the boys. They were all simple boys with simple interests.

Sick of the lack of music, I pressed play on the CD player. I had forgotten that Alex and I had the volume ridiculously loud when we drove up from Charleston. Due to this, my mom was thrown off guard by Britney Spears loudly saying, "You better work bitch." Alex and I had finished our road trip to Baltimore by playing the newest alnum release from Britney, and that was Britney Jean.

"Well okay then..?" My mother asked while giving me a questioning look.

I shrugged, "Alex and I party hard when we drive..?" I then reached over and switched discs. Unsure of what was already in the player, I was pleasantly surprised to find out I switched to a Green Day album, Dookie.



December 25th, 2013

"Merry Christmas," I smiled as I entered my boyfriends house. Trailing behind me was a large storage bin filled with red and green wrapped presents.

He smiled, glanced at the presents, and kissed my cheek. "Merry Christmas to you too. The others are going to be here in a half hour or so."

"That's a half hour for us," I winked before giggling.

He then grabbed my waist, "Oh yeah?"

"You're a dork," I giggled before hauling the bin of gifts to the tree. As I was arranging the array of presents I heard my ringtone, "My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark" by Fall Out Boy.

"Hey mom," I answered. "What's up?"

"Ask if she wants to come over," Alex whispered to me.

"Honey," she quietly sighed into the phone. "Can you stay over at Alex's house tonight? There's somebody here and I'd rather you not come home."

"Is everything alright mom?" I asked now worried. "Do I need to call the police?"

"No dear, I just don't want you home tonight," she nearly whispered. "Just have a good Christmas with your friends."

"Why don't you just come here mom? Alex said that would be fine."

"I'll try..." she trailed off. "I've got to go now."

My mom hung up, and I turned to Alex, "That was weird. Something's up. She told me to stay here tonight because she didn't want me home."

"We should go over there," Alex responded as his face twisted in worry as well. He grabbed his keys and I followed him out.

Once we got to my house I noticed an unfamiliar car in the driveway. It was a brown Buick, clearly old. The paint was faded and chipping, and the bumper was rusting quite a bit.

Alex got out of his car first before coming around and opening the door for me to exit. He grabbed my hand, and together we walked side by side into my childhood home.

Everything appeared to be in order. Nothing looked like it was missing, there were no signs of a struggle or a break it. Something had to be up though, never did my mom sound that stressed out. At that exact moment, a man's voice could be heard saying, "Chrissy, I just want to see my daughter. Is that really too much to ask for?"

"In this situation, yes. You don't deserve to see Mia. You were missing for twenty-four years of her life!" I heard my mother yell. My heart sank at her words. For the first time in twenty-four year my father showed up in my life.

Knowing I couldn't handle the confrontation with my mom's ex-boyfriend, I turned to Alex and quietly asked if we could leave. He understood, and the two of us were quickly out of there.