Disappointed (Alex Wolff)

Chapter Seventeen: Aunt Macie

I flinch when someone comes up behind me and hugs me.

"It's just me," Alex whispers.

I turn around and bury my face in his chest and he rests his chin on my head.

"I'm not going to say that everything is going to be okay because I know this is going to be a really stressfull time for you. You will most likely feel depressed, but I will be here for you and I will not leave you. Please just promise me one thing, Jo," Alex whispers.

"O.. okay," I say, my voice almost inaudible.

"Never cut yourself again," Alex whispers in my ear, eventhough we are the only two people in the room at the moment.

Someone knocks on the door and we turn to find Dr. Stephanie.

"I'm really sorry, Jo. There is a man out here who wants to talk to you. It's about your house," She says.

"Shit," I say without thinking.

"He's in the waiting room," She says before giving me another sympathetic look, and walking away.

"Joanna Hawkins?" The man asked. I've seen my dad talk to him a few times. Oh my god. My dad was renting our house from him and we haven't paid this month.

"Just Jo," I tell him and he nods.

"Well I'm sorry for your losses, but there's nothing else I can do. Here,"He says, handing me a yellow sheet of paper. I skim through it and I have to stop my mouth from falling through the floor. He gave us- me thirty days to move everything out of the house! And that was thirty days ago!

"You can't take our stuff!" I tell him.

"I'm sorry, Joanna," He tells me, but I'm already pacing back and forth. This is really fucking stressful.

"I have no place to live," I tell the guy, and I notice Alex looking at me, but I ignore his glances. I'm not technically living with him. I'm just staying there.

"That's why we made contact with..." I stop listening when I notice a woman walk up behind him.

"Aunt Macie?" I ask and the woman's eyes swell with tears. She's my dad's sister, but she never came around often, and she could sometimes be a bitch, so I never really considered her family.

"Come here, Jo," Aunt Macie says and I hesitantly let go of Alex's hand to walk over to her. She pulls me into a hug and starts whispering how sorry she is for me.

The guy who owns my house clears his throat.

"As I was saying, we made contact with your aunt because you are still a minor. You couldn't pay for the house if you wanted to. I can let you go by and pack a few things, but that's it. You have until 8 p.m. to get what you need out of there," He says.

"I can drive you by there, baby," Aunt Macie says and I give Alex a pleading look because I really do not want to go with her. He smiles a little bit before walking over and taking my hand again.

"We were heading over there anyways. So I'll just drive her," Alex says.

"Are you sure? I want to help and I don't want to you to feel obligated to do this for her," She says.

"Since when?" I butt in.

"What are you talking about?" She asks me.

"You've never wanted to help before! Now that your brother is dead, you all of a sudden want to be here for me, for us? Well, if you can't tell, it's a little too late for that, so please just leave me alone," I practically push her out of the way as I drag Alex on the elevator. I rapidly click the 'door close' button just to make sure she doesn't get on with us.

"Alex, I'm scared," I admit as soon as the door closes.

"I know I said that you could stay as long as you wanted or until you were ready to leave. But the truth is I don't want you to leave, Jo," He tells me.

"What are you saying?" I ask and he squeezes my hand a little.

"Will you... uh.. move in with me?"

"Alex.."

"You don't have to if you don't want to. I just thought that.. I don't know. I'm sor-" I stand on my toes and give him a quick kiss to make him stop talking.

"Is that a yes?" He asks. His cheeks turn a light pink color and I think it's the first time that I've ever seen him blush.

"It's a yes," I confirm.

"What about your aunt?"

"What about the b- I mean, What about her?"

"You're still a minor, like the guy out there said. Don't you think it's a little weird for her to show up randomly? Didn't you say she never came around before?"

"Yeah... I don't really see your point," I tell him.

"What if she tries to take custody of you or whatever?" Alex says and my heart almost stops. I didn't even think of that, but it seems exactly like something she'd do.

The elevator stops on the first floor and Alex leads me to his car.

"She wouldn't do that," I lie and Alex just looks over at me as he starts the car.

"I still think it's weird that she just showed up out if nowhere," He says.

"Me too," I agree.

I stare out the window as we leave the parking lot. I check my phone and I see that it's almost 6:00 already. I have two hours until I'm never aloud to step foot into my house again.