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Chapter 20

Nick was my good that was hiding underneath all the bad in this situation. He had been supportive, always checking on me to see if I needed something, or if I wanted to talk. I didn’t, but he always asked. The next time he asked, I was going to talk though. I wasn’t good at being a teenager. Chelsea told me that I had skipped over my teen years and went straight into adulthood. I agreed with her. Nick had taught me to talk about things until they were fixed, not ignore them. So that’s what I did. I faced everything instead of pushing them aside and ignoring them.

“Are you listening to me Ally?” Chelsea frowned.

I forked my soggy salad but then dropped it. I wasn’t hungry. “Yeah, sorry, I got distracted.”

“Are you coming this weekend or not?”

“No. I’m grounded until I die remember?”

“But you snuck out before; I bet you could easily do it again.” Yeah, and risk Nick going on another warpath. No thank you.

“Nah. I need to get back on Nick’s good side.”

“Please Ally?” She gave me a pout and I rolled my eyes.

“No Chelsea, find someone else to go with.”

“But you’re my best friend!”

“Just drop it okay? I don’t want to go!”

She sighed, “Fine. Sorry.” She took a sip of her Coke, “How’d Orlando go?”

I shook my head, “I’m better off without her.”

Chelsea nodded, “good. Fuck her. She doesn’t know what she’s missing.” I agreed. “Besides, if I had Nick as a father, I’d see no need to look anywhere else.” I stared at her. “Seriously Ally. I used to dream that I’d have at least one parent as awesome as he is.” She blushed a little. “Of course he’s gorgeous, but he’s so good with you, it makes me sick. That’s why I have to tease you about how perfect he is.” She stared down at her food, “I just wish I had a Dad like him sometimes. You know?”

“Yeah,” I said softly. Chelsea never talked about her home life much, mostly because she was embarrassed about it. But when she did, she always said something profound to me, mostly about Nick. And she just made me feel really guilty for taking him for granted.



“You’re late,” said Nick as I walked into the house.

“I really did go to French Club this time,” I said as I grabbed a bottle of water. “Sorry.”

He stared at me for a minute, “how was it?”

I shrugged, “boring actually. All we did was sit in a circle and talk in French. I thought, you know, we’d learn some culture or history or something. I don’t think I’ll go back.”

“Well, you tried it. That’s the good thing right?” I nodded. “How was the rest of school?”

“Did you know that Chelsea’s Dad cheats on her mom?”

I threw him off guard and he showed it. “Uh, no…”

I nodded, “He does. That’s why she’s a bit reckless. It’s her way of dealing with things.” He didn’t know what to say. “She had asked me how Orlando went and I told her. You know what she said?”

“What?”

“That if she had a Dad as great as you, she wouldn’t feel the need to look anywhere else. And she’s right. I took you for granted and I’m sorry. I never meant to because you seriously are awesome. You’re my Dad, but you’re one of my best friends too.” I took a sip of my water. “So, I’m going to sit back quietly and take my punishment. I’ve learned my lessons and I’m ready to deal with my consequences. I’ll go to school, come home and sit in my room and you won’t hear a peep from me. I promise.” He just continued to stare at me and I turned and walked up to my bedroom, ready to make things right again.



I looked up from my French book when there was a knock on the door. It wasn’t Nick, I could tell. Whenever Nick knocked on a door, he knocked to the tune of his favorite song, ‘Summer of 69’ by Bryan Adams.

“Come in,” I didn’t look up from my French book, because honestly, I didn’t really care.

“Ahem.”

If my eyes had gotten any wider, they’d probably fall out. “Alex!” I was off my bed and in his arms in seconds.

“Now that’s the reaction I wanted to see.” He kissed my hair, “how are you?”

Tears pricked the corners of my eyes, “so much better now that you’re here.”

“Good. Me too.”

“Why are you here?”

He smiled sadly, “We’re gonna be roommates for a little while, that okay with you?”

I knew what that meant. Divorce. I smiled and nodded, “of course. You know how much happier I get when my favorite Godfather is around.”

He laughed, “Considering I’m your only Godfather…” He pulled away from the hug, “I’m counting on you to smother me with love the next few weeks.”

I bit my lip, I wanted to cry again, “how long are you here for?”

He shrugged, “I figure I’m always welcome here, so why not pick a bedroom and get comfortable.”

I grinned, “I love a full house.” And I did. Growing up, I was surrounded by lots of people. When we toured, we were surrounded by people every day. Then at home, we usually always had visitors, whether they were family or friends of Nick’s. A full house reminded me of happy times and that was just what I needed right now.

“Good, cuz I need one right now.” He squeezed my shoulder, “come downstairs for a little bit.”

“I can’t, I’m grounded.”

He chuckled, “well, I unground you.”

I laughed, “No it’s okay. I don’t mind being grounded. I want to get back on Nick’s good side, make him trust me again.”

He sighed, “You’re a good kid Ally.” He pulled me out of my room, “but come downstairs anyways. He’ll understand this exception.”

Alex walked right into the kitchen while I slowly poked my head around the corner. I caught Nick’s eye and he grinned, waving me into the room. “Why are you hiding?”

“I’m supposed to be in my room.”

He rolled his eyes, “you’re excused for the night, come join us.”

I thought a night of laughing with people that I loved most would be the trick to get her off my mind. But it wasn’t. Not only was the thought of her keeping me awake, but the thunder outside was monstrous. I hated thunderstorms with a passion. When I was younger, and the storms rolled in when it was dark outside, I made a fort in Nick’s closet and we spent the night pretending we were somewhere else. He liked to pretend we were sailing the Caribbean while I used to have us on a safari in Africa.

“I knew you couldn’t sleep,” Nick whispered as he made his way up the stairs.

I bit my lip, “You know me well. What are you doing up?”

“Can’t sleep.”

“I was just headed to your closet actually. Remember those nights?”

He laughed, “How could I forget? Those were some of my best nights. You were so creative.” He led me into his bedroom and I jumped when the house shook from the thunder. “So, where are we going tonight?”

I sat up against the wall and smiled, “I just want to go back to a time where I was blissfully unaware off all the bad things in life.”

He smiled sadly, “Me too. Want to talk about it?”

“No. I’m hoping if I ignore it, I’ll eventually forget about it.” That was going to be hard. It was still all I could think about. How she told her husband that I was just interviewing for a job, like she hadn’t given birth to me and then ditched me for Mickey Mouse.

“You know that’s no way to deal with things,” he said.

I didn’t want to talk about it. “How are you doing? Handling it?”

“I knew this was going to happen,” he said softly. “But it doesn’t make it hurt any less. I just wanted you to not get hurt, but that didn’t happen.”

I scoffed, “because I was stupid.”

“Not stupid.”

I rolled my eyes, “fine then. Ignorant.” I scooted over to him, “if BJ hadn’t of invited her here then I would’ve been fine, but…”

“The bait was dangled,” he finished for me. It was. Once I saw her, and talked to her a little, there was no going back. “I want you to explain something to me Ally.” I nodded and rested my head on his shoulder. “Explain to me what you said earlier, about taking me for granted, because you know that’s the last thing I think you’re doing.”

I shook my head and hooked my arm though his, “No. I was. I was running around chasing someone who didn’t exist when I had someone better waiting for me at home.” When I thought of it like that, it brought tears to my eyes. Because it was true. I had been chasing around a mother who didn’t exist; I was chasing the thought of her, when Nick had been at home, providing me with everything I ever needed.

He kissed my forehead, “That’s not the way I see it.” He squeezed my shoulder, “why don’t we pretend we’re standing atop the Eiffel Tower, just us two, and feeling like we can conquer the world.”

I looked up at him even though we were surrounded by darkness, “I can conquer the world as long as you’ll stand behind me.”

“It’s a good thing I like standing behind you then huh.”

It was a very good thing.