You And Me Together

I watched my parents leave the house. I shook my head a little, glaring at them.

"Aly, are you alright?" Joe asked, wrapping his arms around my waist.

"Yeah." I said, still glaring at the space my parent had been standing.

"Denise, boys. Can I speak to Alyssa alone for a minute please?" Paul asked. Joe released me, and walked into the kitchen. Everyone else followed him. I turned to face Paul.

"Here." He said, handing me my sweater. There was a little blood on the sleeve.

"I'd like to thank you. Who knows what would've happened if you hadn't stopped your parents, well, your father. I'm sorry how I treated you before. But I just want you to know, that I do think of you as part of the family." He said, resting a firm hand on my shoulder. I offered a weak smile. Inside, I wanted to break down and cry. But I couldn't.

"You're welcome. And thank you." I said. He returned my smile, and drew his hand back to his body.

"I'm going to go and surprise Claire and Katie." I said quietly. I watched from the corner of my eye as Nick and Kevin appeared.

"Can we come?" They both asked. I smiled, and nodded. Joe appeared next to them.

"I better come too than." He smirked. I felt my stomach jump a little.

"Okay, I'll call them first." I said, whipping out my phone. I dialed Katie's number.

Katie: Hello?
Aly: Hey.
Katie: Oh my God! It's Alyssa!
Aly: Yeah. Is Claire there?
Katie: Yeah, why?
Aly:I wanna come over.
Katie: But aren't you in like... Someplace else?
Aly: No, back home for a little while.
Katie: Okay, and the boys?
Aly: How else would I get here?
Katie: Point taken. But come over!
Aly: Be there soon.

I hung up, and put my phone away.

"Okay, let's go." I said, slipping my hoodie on over my body. I slipped my shoes on, and pulled my hood over my head.

"Are you cold?" Joe whispered, taking my hand and gently pulling me outside. I shrugged.

"Sure, let's go with that." I muttered. I watched as Kevin and Nick turned their heads towards me.

"What's wrong?" Nick asked. I shrugged again.

"Nothing." I lied. They saw right past the lie.

"Your lying." He said. See, what'd I say?

"Yup." I said, continuing on our walk.

"You both go ahead." Joe said, motioning for them to go on. They nodded, and walked towards Katie's house. I saw Kevin look backwards a few times.

"Tell me, please?" He asked. I sighed.

"I feel horrible for how my parents acted towards your family. How I acted towards my parents." I said, looking down at the blood stain.

"Aly, no ones mad at you. You stood up for yourself, okay. If anyone, the only people that are mad at you are your parents, and that's only because you slept with me. Okay?" He said, looking deep into my eyes. I felt my eyes start to sting.

"Let's face it Joe, they've never been happy with anything I do. I could become president of the world, and they wouldn't care. They'd still be disappointed in me."I said, looking back down. He rested his hands on my shoulders.

"First of all, Nick's going to be president. And second, I don't think that's true. And even if it was, they have no reason to be disappointed. Just because you don't do everything they want, doesn't give them any reason to be mad." He said, lifting my chin with his index finger. I sighed heavily, and opened my mouth to say something. Before I could even spit out a word, he crashed our lips together.