Cecelia's POV:
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I'm surprised to find my brother staring at me when I wake up from a nap Saturday. He's sitting on the end of the couch, just staring. I wipe my eyes to make sure I'm not seeing things, because the doctor gave me some pills that make me loopy. He's there though, still staring. I awkwardly wave and he finally breaks contact to look at his clasped hands.
"Ashton had to go home, something about his mom yelling at him about something. I just let you sleep," he tells me.
I look around to notice that there is in fact an absence of Ashton. He probably didn't clean his room or something. Grace is a clean freak and Ashton could care less if he sees the floor of his room. I sit up, careful not to get my leg wrapped up in the blanket. This cast is heavy and annoying, stupid giants. They need a good helping of karma.
"I was wondering if you might want to go get lunch?" He asks. I look at him like he's crazy, because let's be honest here, its starting to seem that way. The look quickly makes him explain. "I just think we need to talk and we haven't eaten yet. I mean, obviously you haven't eaten, you just woke."
"Okay, okay," I cut him off before he keeps rambling. "You'll just have to let me get ready."
He looks relieved and nods his head. I motion for him to hand me my crutches and start the weird walk/hop to my room. I hate crutches. I feel like I'm swinging, which I love, but not when I'm standing. I grab shorts that will go over the cast and a baseball tee. I get a bath as fast as I can, but its not really that fast since I have to have my leg hanging out of the tub.
I get dressed and towel dry my hair throwing it up in a simple ponytail. I make my way towards the stairs, already dreading not listening to Ashton's advice of staying on the upstairs couch to avoid this problem. After a weird five minutes of dragging my crutches and foot, I finally make it. Archer looks at me quizzically when I walk in the kitchen.
"Why didn't you call for me, I would've helped you."
"Its okay, I managed. Ready to go?" I ask.
He nods and I follow him out to his truck while staring longingly at mine. He looks back at me and laughs. "You'll be back to driving in no time," he promises.
"I know, but why couldn't they of broken my left leg?" I pout.
He shrugs and opens the door for me. He puts my crutches in the back while I get in. He gets in and starts the truck and I smile when its on a country station. "Where are we going?"
"I don't know," he admits sheepishly. "I hadn't gotten that far. I was just hoping you'd say yes."
"There's a little restaurant that has the best pancakes and breakfast on the planet," I suggest.
"Breakfast for lunch, I like it."
He enters the address in his fancy GPS and we're off. Its silent, but its not entirely uncomfortable. He's a gentleman and helps me out of the truck and opens the door for me. The waiter seats us and we look over the menu. I order pancakes and he orders some platter with a million things. I don't get where boys put it.
"I know you don't like me, " he starts off.
I raise my eyebrow. "Oh really, why do you think that?"
"Because I'm distant and moody and you have this bad look on your face when you look at me," he informs me.
"Its not that I don't like you, I just don't really know you. Plus, that's offensive, its just my face," I scowl playfully.
"Sorry," he says. "I know you don't know me and I don't know you. That's my fault, but I want to change that."
"Well, so do I, but why were you like that in the first place?" I ask sadly.
"Remember how I told you that my parents weren't on board with this?" I nod. "Well, they were threatening to come and force me to go back home. They kept calling and it kept ending in fights. I don't want to go back, you're here. I love them, but I already love you."
"Well that explains you're moodiness. Why did you keep your distance?" I ask.
"Their threats were getting serious. They said they would call the police. I didn't want to get close to you and then be forced home, because in the end they have the final say. I know that's not fair to you, but I thought it'd be best," he explains.
"I kind of get it, but police? Isn't that a little far?"
"They're protective and worried. If you knew them, you'd understand," he tells me.
Our food arrives and I thank the waiter because, when someone brings you food from the heavens, you thank them. I smother mine in butter and syrup and dig in, the conversation is momentarily forgotten. Archer is also enjoying his food immensely. After I've eaten half of my stack, I take a drink to continue the conversation.
"So, what's going to happen?" I ask.
He holds up his hand, telling me to wait for him to swallow his food. Then he gives me a big sloppy smile. "I have good news."
"That is?" I ask impatiently.
"I'm moving, here," he tells me excitedly.
"No way. How did you go from police to convincing them to move here?" I ask disbelievingly.
"I video chatted with them and had a serious conversation. I told them that I wasn't going anywhere that didn't have you. You're here, so I'm going to stay here. They're my family and I love them, but your also my family. They hung up and called back 30 minutes later telling me that if that was the case, then they'd move here."
"That's it, they're just going to uproot their lives?" I ask, still not convinced.
"Well, my mom does shirts, you know, for groups and stuff. She's the lady that prints whatever you want onto the shirts. She works from home, so that doesn't matter. My dad is transferable because they have an office here too. Plus, they're not deeply rooted in the community and our neighbors hate us because of my mom's garden gnomes. They break the rules or something and she won't remove them."
"Don't you have friends you don't want to leave, a life you don't want to leave?"
"I didn't have any friends at my school," he says, embarrassed. "So, I don't mind leaving it behind."
"I find it hard to believe you didn't have any friends. You seem perfectly fine to me," I defend.
"Its not because I was so unlikable. I messed with the wrong people my first day freshman year and I was branded untouchable. If you associated with me then you got the brand too. Nobody wanted to risk that."
"I'm sorry, but you couldn't of done something that bad."
"I didn't really," he admits. "It was just to the wrong people. I had just gotten my lunch and I was heading to my table. Ill admit, I wasn't the most popular guy, but I had a small circle of friends since elementary. I ran straight into the most popular guy and my food landed on the front of him. It was chili. You can imagine what he looked like," he says with a small grimace.
"So what, he branded you and everyone listened to him?"
"Nobody wanted to cross him and be like me. If I tried to talk to other outcasts, he bullied them. It was better just to keep to myself."
"If I ever see him, I'm going to beat him up," I promise.
"I don't doubt it," he laughs.
"Now you've got me all excited about you moving here," I tell him. "You might end up like Ashton and the guys. They spend a lot of time at my house."
"I'm sure I will, not that my mom will like that. Oh, and when you meet her, she might act a little hostile because of the whole ordeal. She's kind of stuck up, but you'll love my dad. Big teddy bear."
"Ill deal," I laugh.
We get the check and after an argument, he pays. We make our way to his truck and then home. When we pull in the driveway we're greeted by multiple trucks and cars. He parks and looks questioningly at me.
"Must be Emmet and some of the guys for the party. It is already almost two," I inform him.
We're greeted with chaos when we enter. Guys are moving fast back and forth from inside to outside. I think food is being made in the kitchen, not sure. Emmet is barking orders at people and Ashton is calmly leaning against the wall watching it all. He smiles and kisses my forehead when I walk up to him.
"Hey, how was lunch?" He asks.
"Good, what's going on here?" I laugh.
"They're trying to get ready for the party, but its a bit disorganized."
"A bit?" I laugh. "Why didn't you help them?"
"I thought it was funny." He pouts when I playfully push him. "For your information, I am doing my job. Emmet told me to watch everyone and if anyone was slacking tell him."
"Boys are useless, when is Coach gonna be here?"
"Offensive. You wound me," he dramatically grabs his heart. "He should be here any second to man the grill."
"Good, I'm going to help the clueless boys in the kitchen. Help the boys in the back."
"That is not my job."
"It is now and if you don't do it I will personally hunt you down and beat you with my crutches," I warn.
"So feisty, I like it."
"Ashton!" I scold, but he winks and runs away from my swinging crutch. Ill get him back for that later.
I go into the kitchen and Emmet is swinging a spatula while yelling. Poor Nate is trying to boil macaroni, but Emmet is telling him he's doing it wrong. Seriously, how do you mess up macaroni? When Nate sees me he shouts in relief.
"Cece!" Emmet shouts at me. "About time you got here. What are you doing on your feet? Sit on that stool right now!"
I obey with a roll of my eyes. Archer sits next to me, silently absorbing everything happening in the kitchen. "What are you doing to the poor boys?" I ask Emmet.
"Nothing they don't deserve. They just won't listen!"
"Leave them alone," I defend and Nate, Blake, and Leo shout thank you.
"Hey Leo?" I ask.
"Yes?"
"You didn't drink my chocolate milk did you? Because I really don't want to have to go to the store for more."
"Not funny," he groans and we all laugh, except Archer who doesn't understand what were talking about.
"Inside joke," I clue him in. "He has an obsession with chocolate and went as far as stealing the teacher's when he stepped out of the room."
He nods along and Leo protests. "I did no such thing and you guys know it. You're all just mean."
"Why on earth would we lie Leo?" Emmet asks innocently.
"Because you're evil and out to get me," he grumps.
Coach walks in the kitchen at that particular moment and yells into Nate's ear, who is trying to balance a tablespoon of something. Of course though, the contents spill into the sink and Nate starts cursing under his breath. Coach laughs heartily and slaps him on the back. He greets the rest of us before heading out of the back door. So much for him being mature, he's just as bad as them.
"Hey I'm gonna go get the music, Ill be back," I tell them.
"Here, let me help you this time," Archer offers. "Hop on my back."
"Are you crazy, I'm not getting on your back." I say, but when I look at the stairs I change my mind. "You better not drop me. I will hurt you."
I hand him my crutches and he crouches down. I take a deep breath and hop on as best as I can. He does that weird hop thing so that I'm more secure on his back. He walks down the stairs and into my room. He sets me down as he scans my room.
"I've never been in here, its nice," he comments.
"Thanks. I just have to get my iPod. We'll have to hook it up to the outside system."
"Oh, is that complicated?" He asks.
"Nope, really simple actually. The hookup is right inside by the sliding glass door. It's just a chord that you plug in to the iPod. It should work since I got it fixed a couple weeks ago. Big speakers are too hard to deal with."
He takes me back upstairs and I plug it in. I click on a playlist that has music we all like and it starts playing through the speakers outside. Everybody cheers, well the ones who aren't being forced into things by Emmet. I hobble into the kitchen and, against Emmet's wishes, help the boys finish the food. We set it up on the counter and by that time the hamburgers and hot dogs are done. We all get in line, get our food, and head outside to find a seat. I sit in one of the swings around the fire and Ashton sits next to me.
"Before we dig in, I'd like to say something," Coach yells over us. "You guys really gave it your all in the finals after Cece got hurt and that is truly something great. You guys still need some work, but I think you are an amazing team and I am proud to be your coach. I just want to thank you all for a wonderful year. Dig in!"
We all laugh and raise our glasses, well plastic cups. We chat and eat. Emmet starts a mini food fight with some of the guys, but I'm not all that surprised. A piece lands on me and I threaten to beat them with my crutches like I did Ashton. They keep their food to themselves after that.
"I had fun this year," Ashton tells me after we've finished eating.
"Me too," I say. "Very eventful."
"Yea," he laughs. "But I like some of the events."
"I'm sure you do."
"I love you," he says seriously.
I turn to look at him. "I love you, too."
"Yea, yea. We all love each other," Emmet yells as he wraps his arms around us from behind the swing, making me jump.
I totally forgot were not alone and the guys still don't know. I glare at Ashton, but he just smiles at me sheepishly. I raise an eyebrow and he pouts. I raise both and he huffs in defeat.
"I don't like you," he grumbles.
"Get over it," I retort.
"What are we talking about? What happened to all the love?" Emmet asks.
"I have an announcement to make," Ashton says, still grumbling.
"Oh here, Ill help you," Emmet says.
"What? Emmet no-"
"Hey everybody, shut up! Ashton has something to say!" He yells.
All eyes turn to us and Ashton punches Emmet's shoulder. "What, just trying to help!" he defends.
"Hurry up with it!" Easton yells.
Ashton stands up and awkwardly clears his throat. "Well- uh- you see-"
"Him and Cece are dating!" Emmet shouts over his stuttering.
Its silent for a second before the claps and wolf whistles start, along with some about times. Ashton and I stare wide eyed at Emmet. He smiles cheekily and comes to sit down next to me.
"What, you think I wouldn't know that my two best friends are dating? Ashton's problem with you suddenly vanishes? I'm not stupid, give me some credit. Plus, you guys suck at trying to hide things. You're just lucky that the guys suck at picking up on things," he explains.
"Well, thanks for that then," Ashton laughs.
"I don't work for free," Emmet says and holds out his hand.
Ashton shoves him from the seat and takes his place. The party continues until about seven before it starts to clear out. Emmet, Nate, Leo, and Blake stay to help clean up. I supervise because my leg is killing me and I'm tired.
"You guys want to watch a movie or play a game? I don't know about you, but I'm staying the night," Emmet says.
"Good job inviting yourself," I compliment sarcastically.
"I thought so."
We all head towards the stairs, but I stop when I realize I left my phone outside on the swing and I forgot to text Caroline back. "Hey, Ill be right there. I forgot my phone outside."
"Why don't you let me get it?" Ashton suggests.
"Its okay, I got it. Don't start anything without me."
I unlock the back door and make my way towards the swings. I pick my phone up and unlock it to check her message. I hear a rustle and look up, but I cant see anything. I decide to call her because it'll be easier to make plans. I'm waiting for her to answer when something covers my mouth. I normally wouldn't freak out because its probably just one of the guys, but there's a cloth that smells weird and I cant breathe.
I drop the phone and use my strength to push the arm away. I scream and try to make a run for it, but the arm grabs me and puts the cloth back over my mouth. The crutches fall away in the struggle and I claw at the arm. The last thing I remember before I black out is thinking, I hope someone heard me.