You Saved Me

“I feel like I haven’t seen you a lot lately. What’s been keeping you so busy?” Bobby asked Friday morning while making eggs and bacon.

“Just…ya know….hanging out with friends. Oh! I forgot to tell you! I’m the lead in the school play! I’m Cinderella! Isn’t that great?!” she called down the hallway mirror excitedly.

For some reason, she was putting more work into making herself more…presentable….for school.

Changing up her hairstyles. Wearing a little bit more make-up than her usual eyeliner. Changing her uniform somewhat like rolling up the long sleeves and rolling her skirt up to show a little bit more leg. Not that it showed a lot. Just, at regular length it came to her knees but when she rolled it up once or twice it would come just a little bit higher than her knees.

“That’s great. I’m surprised you wanted to be in the play. Ya know, not wanting the attention and all….” Bobby trailed off, flipping a few pieces of bacon over.

“I really hadn’t planned on trying out for it, but the girls talked me into it and turns out, I’m pretty good at acting. Then again, if I wasn’t I wouldn’t be very good for the this program now wouldn’t I?” she asked, sending him a quick smirk before checking her hair one more time before entering the kitchen.

Bobby knew that she was in the W.P.P. but he didn’t really know why. He still thought that her parents died in a fire. But that still didn’t stop him from thinking, what would the reason be that she had to be enlisted in the Witness Protection Program?

Luckily, for Brittany, he didn’t ask a lot of in depth questions. Just little things like, what her favorite color was and what was her favorite sport.

“Breakfast’s ready!” he called to her, not realizing that she was already seated at the table, waiting to be served.

She chuckled slightly, seeing him jump when he turned around, but held out her plate for him to put half of the eggs on it along with a few pieces of bacon.

He put the rest of the eggs on his plate and the remaining bacon as well before taking a seat at the small round table that was shoved against a wall and asked, “So, going to the game tonight with the girls again?”

“Not tonight. It’s an away game. We don’t travel.” she said with a slight chuckle before taking a bit of her eggs.

“These are so good. Ya know, you say you don’t know how to cook but you really do a good job!” she praised him after she swallowed.

“Only breakfast.” he said cheerfully, but then a confused look came across his face, making Brittany stop her fork halfway to her mouth and ask him what was wrong.

He looked up at her and shook his head before saying, “Nothing. Nothing’s wrong. I just….never mind.”

“Please? Come on! I’ve lived here for about a month and half now. You can say it.”

“Well…” he started, looking down at the table and then looked up at her and finished.

“You know I don’t want to pry into your life or anything…but…can I ask you something?”

“Sure.” she said as quickly as possible so her nervousness wouldn’t be noticed in her voice at how different he was acting.

“Ya know when I picked you up from the airport….and your suitcase. Ya know what I’m talking about?” he asked, having his fork pick at his eggs while he asked, as if afraid that she would start yelling or screaming at him.

“Yeah….” she drew out the word, not really seeing where this was going.

“I just wanted to know why you wouldn’t let me touch it. Was there something breakable in there that you didn’t want me to break or something?” he finished and then scooped up a whole bunch of eggs and crammed them into his mouth. Incase the conversation didn’t go well he didn’t want to have to eat with her in awkward silence.

“Oh…” she trailed off, remembering how weird it must have looked for him to be letting a girl, that he didn’t even know, live in his house, for who knew how long, and having her be all weird about her suitcase.

“It’s just that….that suitcase…carries something that’s priceless to me.” she finished, setting her fork down on the side of her plate and started playing with her hands that were in lap.

She’d never told anyone what it held. No one ever really asked her, she never gave them the chance to see how weird she was about it to begin with.

He didn’t say anything to her, waiting for her to continue, and she seemed to sense that.

She took a deep breath and let it out and then took another deep breath.

“That suitcase holds everything I have left of my parents. It’s kinda like a little shrine to them so to speak. Like I still have them with me everywhere I go. Pictures of them. Pieces of clothing that they wore the most. Like my mom’s apron and my dad’s favorite flannel pajama set.” she said and then looked up, cracking a smile as if seeing it like it was going on right in front of her.

“I swear, if he could have worn them every night and not have my mom yell at him to clean them , he would have. He loved those things. All because I gave it to him for a father’s day present when I was 4. Well, I didn’t technically give it to him. My mom bought it for me to give to him. But he still loved them.”

She finished her memory and then looked down at her hands, trying her hardest to not cry.

She hadn’t really thought about them in a while.

And now she knew why. It hurt to much to think about them.

It hurt knowing that she’d never smell her mom’s freshly baked chocolate chip, m&m cookies. It hurt to know that she’d never be able to run to her dad and have him pick her up and fly her around the house making airplane noises. It hurt to know she would never have another mother and father again. At least, not her real ones.

“I’m sorry I asked…” Bobby said softly, looking at her with sad eyes while she quickly wiped at her eyes to make sure no tears were falling.

“Don’t be. It’s not the question that bothers me. It’s the answer I have to give.” she said while looking up at him and giving him a fake smile to know she wasn’t upset.

“But I’m gonna be late for school. Better get going!” she said while standing up and heading for the door.

“Hey Trisha…” Bobby called after her while getting up from his seat and turning around to look at her.

She stopped and turned around and watched him slowly outstretch his arms towards her.

She felt tears in her eyes as she walked back quickly towards him and started to cry softly while he locked her in embrace.

“I’ m sorry for what happened to you. It really sucks.” he whispered into her ear while she cried a little bit harder into his chest.

He rubbed her back and gave her a quick kiss on the head before suggesting she stay home from school today and he would call her in if she wanted him to.

She cracked a small smile from his offer, but declined it saying that she needed to go to school to have a distraction. Otherwise she would think about them too much.

“Crying never helps anything. And neither does reminiscing. It all just hurts one way or another.” she said as he looked down at her questioningly. Debating if he should call her in anyway.

“I really need to go though. Thanks for breakfast.” she said while breaking the hug and wiping at her face to get rid of any tears and then gave him a small smile.

It was nice, having him hold her like a father would when his child had problem. Even though it wasn’t her actual father, Bobby was the closest she’s had for the last 9 years. All the other ones tensed up whenever they heard her crying or left her alone.

“Ok.” he said skeptically while sitting back down in his chair.

She started to collect her backpack and running through her mental checklist if she had all her books and homework when he said, “And if you do want to come home today, just call. I’ll say yes.”

She smiled at the back of his head and truly felt grateful that she finally had a guardian like him.

He was truly different from everyone else she lived with. They either asked to many questions or didn’t ask any besides her name and age. He knew when to ask and when to stay away. She really couldn’t think of anyone other than him than she’d rather live with besides her own parents. He reminded her of her father in some ways, which you’d think it would be tougher, but it wasn’t. It was like she had her dad with her.

“Ok. And thanks.” she said while opening up the front door and looking back, giving him another smile when he asked, “For what?”

“Everything.”

And with that, she gave him one more final smile before closing the door and making her way towards the truck.

* * * * *

“Coppers?! What’s wrong? You feel sick or something?” Coach Turner called to her while he made his way towards her and Jessica on Court 1.

They still had to play against Joe and Jon because neither team could ever win a game, it somehow always remained a tie.

Up until today anyways.

Brittany wasn’t in the mood for tennis. Or school in general.

She was seriously thinking about calling Bobby and having him say it was ok for her to go home.

She tried to not think about her parents, but everything today so far somehow reminded her of them.

Like in her math class the teacher was talking about fractions and multiplying them and stuff and it reminded her of her mother when she was going to make 3 dozen cookies and Brittany helped her measure the ingredients. And in Study Hall she heard some guys, a few tables away, talking about baseball, the sport her and her dad always sat down and watched together, despite that fact that she would always fall asleep half way through the 3rd inning.

“Yeah. I just don’t feel well today. Do you think that Jess could play by herself or you be her team mate?” she asked sadly.

She heard him sigh under his breath before saying, “Yeah. Go sit on the bleachers over there and watch at least.”

“Thank you Coach Turner.” she said softly while putting her racket down inside the box it went in and made her way out of the fenced in area to sit on the small silver bleachers that were next to the courts.

She sat on the third one, feet stretched out in front her, ankles crossed while she leaned back onto the fourth one and sighed.

She knew Bobby didn’t mean to ruin her Friday, but he did. Now all she could think about was her parents, and how much she missed them.

She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn’t even realize someone making their way towards her until they sat down next to her and asked her a question.

“Hey Britt. What’s wrong?”

She looked over to her left and say a worried look on his face.

“Just…nothing. What are you doing Joe? Turner’s gonna get pissed that you’re not playing.” she said back, fully realizing that he was sitting next to her.

“Actually he’s kinda happy. Jess and Jon are playing singles against each other. Now he can watch and not play.” he answered her back and then turned his head toward the tennis courts to watch everyone.

“How did you manage to get out of playing?” she asked, turning back towards the tennis courts as well, still in her depressed mood.

“Said I was sick too.” was all he said while watching a kid named Brad throw down his racket out of frustration because his partner missed the ball.

“Why?” she asked after a couple silent minutes passed.

“Cuz you looked like you have a lot on your mind and need someone to talk to.”

“I really don’t want to talk about it. It just hurts even more.” she said and then looked up at the sky, squinting her eyes briefly before looking back towards the tennis courts.

“Well, I’m here if you do feel compelled to talk about it. I hate seeing you sad.”

She couldn’t help the small tug at the corners of her lips and turned her head away from the tennis courts to hide it from him as he continued.

“Maybe I could make you feel better. Like tomorrow. We’ll do something to make up for your crappy day today.”

“As in like a date?” she asked, trying to hide the panic in her voice and not shake.

“Well it doesn’t have to be a date. It can just be two friends hanging out.” he said, not looking away from the tennis courts.

Brittany looked at him from the corner of her eyes and watched how relaxed he looked compared to how tense she must look.

“Why would you do that Joe? So what if I’m having a bad day? I get them a lot.” she said, directing her eyes back to the tennis courts, trying hard to not show any of the frenzy she was feeling from just him being so close to her and saying that he hated seeing her sad.

At her comment she saw his head snap towards her and look at her confused for a second before saying, “I’ve only seen you have one bad day other than this and it was the day before your birthday.”

She looked over at him briefly from hearing him say that and tried not to cry.

It didn’t really help her depressed mood considering she was already missing her parents enough to begin with.

“Plus…” he continued. “It’s what friends do. Make them feel better when they’re having a rough day.”

“Thanks Joe.” she said, turning her head back toward the tennis courts as he did.

“It’s just one friend, helping out another friend. So…?” he held out and looked rather worried at her answer.

She couldn’t help but smile fully now from hearing his way of trying to cheer her up. He wanted to hang out with her, attempt to make her feel better when he had no idea what it was that had her all depressed in the first place. But that didn’t seem like a thing that would stop Joe.

Like he said, he didn’t like seeing her sad, so he was going to make her happy somehow.

“So what?” she asked while turning her head towards him and giving him a small smile which he returned before saying, “So you wanna hang out tomorrow? And I promise, it won’t be like a date or anything.”

That actually kinda hurt a little bit. I kinda wanted to know what being on a date with Joe Jonas would be like…but whatever…it’s just easier then.

“Sure. What time should I be at your house?” she asked, noticing his half worried face break into a toothy smile.

“Let’s say between 11-11:30. We’ll have lunch.”

“Isn’t that kinda a date thing though?” she asked back while laughing slightly.

“Not really. Well, yeah, but it doesn’t have to be. Unless you want it to be…” he stuttered out, not really sure how to word it correctly without making it seem rude.

Crap! If she wants it to be a date and I say it’s not, then it sounds like I don’t like her. But if I say it is a date and she doesn‘t want it to be, then I might scare her away.

Joe had a mini panic attack in his head and it seemed to show a little bit since Brittany chuckled at his panicked face.

“Chill Joe. If you want it be a date, it can be. You just have to promise me something.” she said, still laughing slightly.

“What?” he asked, letting his nerves calm down a little bit from hearing her words.

“You can’t make any moves on me. I don’t kiss on the first date.” she said with a small laugh and turned her head back towards the tennis courts to see the class putting their stuff away into the box along with the balls.

He laughed lightly at her comment and nodded his head in agreement and said, “Ok. No putting the moves on you. That’s gonna be tough though.”

“What?” she asked flatly, not expecting to hear that comment come out of his mouth.

It was always a bit of a toss up if he really liked her, at least to her anyways. She could never tell, and with his last comment, it defiantly put a whole new perspective on their ‘relationship.’

“Just cuz it’s not really our first date if you think about it.”

“What are you talking about? We’ve never went out before.” she said, getting up from the bleachers. Half of the reason being to follow everyone inside and the other half to cover her shakiness from how this conversation was going.

He got off the bleachers too and walked next to her, trailing behind the rest of the class while Coach Turner retrieved some balls that had escaped the fenced in area.

“Well not fully. But we did have dinner.”

“That was at your house. With your family.” she said back, shaking her head slightly with a chuckle and looking towards the ground.

“Ok. I’ll give you that. But Wednesday night at the old Stagecoach building. We went together.” he said, taking a stab at it.

“We didn’t leave together.” she informed him through her slight laughter.

“Only because you would’ve been late if we would have.” he said, raising one of his fingers to emphasis his point.

“True. But! There were with other people. It was more of a group of friends hanging out than an actual date.”

“I’m sure Beth and Danny considered it a date.” he shot back at her and a smug smile formed on his face when she didn’t have anything to say back to him.

“Fine. So it was somewhat of a date.” she said, giving up on trying to find a reason as to why it wasn’t.

Why am I fighting this? I want to go on a date with him and have him be charming and sweep me off my feet. I’m not fighting it, it’s a technique to see how he characterizes our outings together, which he obviously thinks are dates.

“So does that mean I get to put the moves on you and get shot down?” he asked while holding the gym door open for her.

“Who said I would shoot you down?” she asked back before entering the girls locker room, giving him a sweet smile along with her comment.

She caught a glimpse of his smile that widened a little bit more from her comment as the door shut behind her.

Did I actually just say that? Holy crap! What the heck is going on with me? I can’t get involved with someone! I’m running from a psyc-”

“So I guess Steph’s parents are going out of town for their anniversary. So there’s a possibility of a party at her house tomorrow. Coming?” Jess asked her while slipping on her shoes, bringing Brittany from her thoughts.

“Can’t. I actually have plans.” she said quickly while turning the dial on her gym locker.

“With who?” Jess asked, forgetting about putting her other shoe on from the new information that Brittany was about to spill.

“Joe. He said we’re gonna get lunch tomorrow I guess.” Brittany said, oblivious to how Jess’s mouth dropped open out of awe.

“You mean…as in like…a date. You’re going on a date with Joe Jonas?” Jessica asked excitedly, making Brittany’s eyes widen from how loud she was being.

“Geez Jess. I don’t think everybody in the school heard you!” she shot back at her friend while pulling her outfit out of her locker and looking around at all the girls that were giving the two confused looks from Jess’s outburst.

“Sorry.” Jessica muttered before pulling her other shoe on but then got a confused look on her face.

“What?” Brittany asked as she saw her friends facial expression.

“You can still come to Steph’s party. It’s at night. Unless…” she said, a smirk forming on her face.

“Unless what?” Brittany asked, completely confused and somewhat scared from Jess’s smirk.

“Unless you’re lunch date goes really well and lasts all night…” she finished, and if possible, her smirk growing bigger.

“I doubt that. We’re just hanging out. Two friends. Hanging out. Getting food. That’s it.” Brittany rattled off while taking off her gray t-shirt and replacing it with her button up white shirt.

“Sounds like you’re convincing yourself more than me.” Jess said back to her after grabbing her school bag, getting ready to leave the locker room.

Brittany looked at her, eyes wide and jaw dropped at her comment.

Is she right? Am I so nervous about this date with Joe that I’m trying to tell myself it’s really not one. Does that even make sense? Yeah, ,kinda like reverse psychology or something like that…

“Catch ya later!” Jess called to her before pushing open the door from the locker room but took a step back and said, “You better hurry up too. You got some company. Which I must say, looks delicious right now.”

Brittany looked at her confused as Jess gave her a wink before leaving the locker room for good.

She quickly changed, trying to find ways to possibly get out of this ‘date’ with Joe, but that came to an abrupt halt she opened the door and saw him leaning against the wall, ankles crossed along with his arms across his chest.

“What’s up Joe?” she asked nervously while making her way towards him slowly.

“Can’t I walk you to class?” he asked in a hopeful voice while pushing himself off of the wall.

“Yeah. I just…if I would’ve known you were waiting for me I would’ve changed faster that’s all.” she said, sending him a smile in the process when she caught a glimpse of his teeth shining at her from his smile.

“It’s no big deal. I can run to my next class anyways. Besides, Mr. Pac is normally 5 minutes late anyways for his own class.

She felt a blush creep across her cheeks as he stuck out his left arm for her to grab onto, which she did, and they began their walk to her English class.

“So, are you excited about our date tomorrow?” he asked her as they walked out of the gym.

“Yeah. But what exactly are we doing?” she asked, smile evident on her face from just thinking about the fact that she was going to be going on her first official date tomorrow.

Can you really count it a date when you’re 7 years old and it’s a school trip to the zoo? Not really. So this was her first official date. Also, it’s kinda hard to go out on dates with people when you move all the time. And the fact that she never really let anyone get this close to her before.

“I’m not quite sure…but gimme a couple of hours. We’re gonna do something that’s gonna be great.” he said, smile on his face as well while he walked down the hallway with her by his side. He caught a few glares from guys as well, which boosted his ego a little bit.

“Ok. It better be.” she said back to him, laughing slightly from her own comment, but stopped her laughing when she could see her room coming into view and a question that was looming the back of her mind for a couple of days now , made itself known again.

“Joe? Can I ask you something?” she asked so quietly that she was worried that he didn’t even hear her. But luckily he replied with a “Hmm?” and turning his head to look at her.

She stopped walking, making him stop as well and look at her confused.

“Why are you being so nice to me? I don’t see you going around and asking other girls out on dates when their in bad moods.” she asked looking down at the ground, afraid that he would think she was ungrateful and start yelling at her.

“Well…” he unlocked arm with her and stood up straight, looking around the hallways as some remaining students started to jog to their class, hoping to beat the bell.

“Well what?” she asked, standing straight to and looking at him, attempting to read his face but got nothing.

She noticed one side of lips get pulled up slightly, and as he bent towards her, like he was going to whisper something in her ear, he said quietly, “You’re special.” and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before turning around walking down the hallway to head towards his class.

Right when his lips touched her cheek, a few things happened simultaneously like her heart stopping. Her breathe getting caught in her lungs. Her cheek tingling from where his lips had landed. Butterflies in her stomach. And most importantly, the huge smile that made it’s way across her face.

That was, until the bell rang, wiping her smile off of her face as she turned around sprinted to class.

Crap! What am I getting myself into?!?!