Bleeding Love

c h a p t e r 22

"Jennette, get that dirty tissue away from your brother right this second!" Courtney scolds her daughter, while James screams for help.

I laugh, loving sibling bickering. They might be young, yet act like their teenagers. Living with the three of them makes me feel like I'm apart of a loving family. I have two younger children that I consider siblings and Courtney as my big sister or mother. I wouldn't have it any other way.

"Mom! She's touching me!" Jame's eyes widen, while Jennette pokes him every second.

"No I'm not. I'm not touching you." She giggles, throwing her head back and causing her tiny, blonde curls to bounce.

"Oh for the love of cheesecake." Courtney sighs, picking James up and carrying him to where I'm sitting while she lectures Jennette.

James smiles at me and I return him one too. He's very silly and will always manage to surprise me with one of his jokes each day.

"Knock knock!" He exclaims.

"Who's there?" I grin, playing along.

"Boo!" He smiles with a missing front tooth.

"Boo who?" I ask, giggling to myself.

"Aw, please don't cry!" He laughs, hugging me tightly while I squeeze him.

A month has gone by while I was living in L.A. Working at the cafe has been well. I've been receiving a steady income and Jess and I couldn't be anymore closer. There's still some tension between Ally and I. Every time I tried to confront her, she'd shoot me a nasty look and keep walking.

The kids are homeschooled, I teach them while Courtney has to work and then Courtney takes on from there while I work. It's a great idea and she plans on enrolling them into elementary school when the time comes.

Nick has been away for the whole month, spending some time with his best friend. He needed some guy time to grieve and move on. We plan on hanging out when he gets back and I'm not so frightened anymore. I still haven't seen anyone, but I'm looking into it.

There hasn't been any new news about Warren. My story has completely disappeared from the news channel, I'm rarely ever brought up. Life has finally turned around for me and it's been amazing. I wouldn't trade it for the world.

"Knock knock!" Someone exclaims from the front door.

I look at James and he shrugs his shoulders, clarifying that it wasn't him who said that. I bring myself to the front door and contemplate on opening it. I've been getting better at easing my nerves, but sometimes they'll get the best of me.

"Who is it?" I ask, not opening the door yet.

"Open the door and maybe you'll find out." I hear a laugh.

I know that laugh.

I swing open the door and jump into Nick's arms. A month is too long to be away from one of your close friends. Yeah, that's right. I admitted that we might have a friendship that is blooming. After having a deep conversation with Nick, I decided to tell him that I couldn't pour out my deepest, darkest secret and he understood my reasoning.

"Hey! How was your trip to Texas?" I untangle myself from his arms.

He responds, "It was actually really nice. I brought back a souvenir."

I loved souvenirs! I don't have many since Warren wouldn't let me visit any places in New York, but Mom and I got one when we visited the Statue of Liberty.

"Let me see!" I exclaim.

Nick grins and walks downstairs. It must be huge since I hear loud footsteps coming from the bottom of the stairwell. Nick walks back up by himself, making me confused.