"Isn't this something you should be doing with Jordan?" Alyssa asks me.
Right now we're currently standing in front of a house, waiting for the real estate agent. Jordan and I both decided that we would get a house in our hometown because we both plan on spending more time here. I mean, this is where everyone is at.
"Jordan is going house shopping with Troy. We both decided that we would get advice from our friends and which ever we both decide on, Jordan and I will compare it to the house he and his friends decided on." I explain to her.
"I can't believe you two are moving in, let alone getting married." She shakes her head.
"We're not getting married until next year. I don't even want to think about planning another wedding." My mind goes to Shawn and how he turned out to be the fiancé from hell. I'm grateful that I didn't marry him.
I look over to Alyssa and her mind seems to be somewhere else. Ever since the whole thing with her kissing Daniel at the church happened she's been acting weird. We talked about it a little, but she didn't go into details about why she did what she did.
"Alyssa, talk to me." I demand.
She snaps back into reality, trying to pretend like she's okay. "I'm fine."
"No, you're not. You keep ignoring Troy and it seems to be the only thing on your mind lately. I need you to help me pick a house. I have to live in whatever you choose, so I need it to be a good one. So, let's talk about whatever it is that's eating you up so that you can focus on helping me choose a house." A take a deep breath after I finish saying what I have to say.
She sighs, looking up at the sky. She's getting her thoughts together. She stares back at me and she's giving me a look that tells me she's afraid that I'm going to judge her for whatever she's about to say.
"Please don't hate me." She says.
"Alyssa, I could never hate you." She's being over-dramatic.
"I think I'm still in love with Daniel." She waits for me to say something, but all I can do is stare at her.
I open my mouth to say something, but close it again. Maybe she wasn't being as dramatic as I thought she was earlier. I pinch the bridge of my nose, trying to figure out what to say to her.
"I thought you liked Troy?" I ask.
"I do, I just– I don't know. Daniel and I have been talking a lot more lately and I feel like we just picked back up where we left off. I care for Troy, but let's be honest, he isn't exactly boyfriend material. I mean, he's great in bed but sucks at being a boyfriend." She tells me.
I thought that by her explaining things, I would understand, but I'm just more confused than I was a second ago.
"So, what are you going to do?" She stares back at me, contemplating the question.
"Break up with Troy until I figure out what this thing I feel for Daniel is. It's not fair to Troy." She says and she's right. She's going to end up making them fight over her. Again.
"I think that's the right thing to do." I tell her as the real estate agent pulls up.
The lady gets out of the car, putting on a plastic fake smile. She seems to be having a bad day because I notice the big coffee stain on her skirt and when she steps onto the sidewalk she trips, causing all of her papers to fall onto the ground.
Alyssa and I both rush over to help her pick them up. She's scrambling to get all the papers, but as her luck would have it, the wind begins to blow.
"Are you serious!" She yells up into the sky.
I stare wide eyed at her, convinced the lady has lost her mind. I kind of feel bad for her because we've all had those days where nothing has went our way. We catch as many papers as we can before returning it to the woman.
"Thank you. I'm so sorry. This isn't how I wanted us to meet." She apologizes.
I wave her off, "No worries. I'm Abby and this is my friend Alyssa."
"Kayla." She puts out her hand for us to shake it and we both shake her hand, giving her a polite smile.
"Well, I'll show you the house before anything else happens." She jokes and we awkwardly laugh at her misfortunes.
We walk inside of the house and it looks just as great as it does on the inside as it does on the outside. I can already imagine all the furniture I want in here and where I want it to be.
"This house has six bedrooms and five bathrooms. It has a pool outside along with a very big back yard. The upstairs is just as beautiful as the downstairs and is perfect for a couple that are looking to have kids in the future. The neighbors are very friendly and they will respect your privacy as long as you don't give them a reason to break it. I'll show you everything on the first floor." She tells us and we follow her lead.
"I don't know about you, but I'm already bought." Alyssa whispers to me, still amazed by the house.
"I think I am too." The only problem with the house is that it's really big for two people. Jordan and I haven't talked about kids and I don't want to either. It's a little too early to have a conversation about kids. We're not even married yet.
Kayla shows us all the rooms on the first floor before showing us the whole second floor. She also shows us the back yard and I smile at how beautiful the backyard is. The space is absolutely perfect for having parties and what not. The patio is beautiful and I can't wait to add furniture to it.
"So, what do you think?" Kayla asks.
"It's great, but I'm thinking it might be a little too big. I mean, it's just me and my boy– fiancé." I correct myself. I can't believe Jordan is my fiancé.
"Well, eventually you'll want to have kids right?" She asks the question I hoped she wouldn't have asked.
Alyssa sees me hesitate to answer and steps in for me. "I think we're just going to leave it as an option. I'm sure she'd like to discuss it with her fiancé."
Kayla nods her head, "That's fine. I can show you a few smaller houses if you'd like."
"That would be great." I tell her.
Jordan and I are going to have a lot to discuss tonight. Right now we're staying in Troy's guest room. We both decided that staying with our parents was a little awkward, so Jordan asked Troy if we could stay with him until we find a house.
Kayla ends up showing us two more houses, but none of them satisfy me like the first one. The house is absolutely perfect, but I don't plan on having kids until I'm at least thirty four. The house would be absolutely too big for just two people. I hope whatever house Jordan picked out will be perfect for the both of us.
Jordan's pov
"Who the hell lived here last? Austin Powers?" Troy asks as he looks at the furniture in the house we're in.
The lady who's showing us around laughs at him. "An old couple lived here last. They're getting their stuff moved out now."
"You should offer them some advice about how to decorate their home." I hit Troy on the arm, telling him to shut up.
"Sorry about my friend. He didn't want to come." I apologize for him.
"Most men don't like house shopping. It's understandable." She gives us a warm smile.
This is the third house we've been to and seems to be the most promising. Sydney is right; I don't like house shopping. I keep thinking about what Midget might want and nothing seems good enough for her. All the houses we've been to so far haven't been big enough. I'm sure she doesn't want to live in a small house then later on have to move into a big one. I mean, I'm sure she's going to want to have a few little Jordans and Abbys running around in the next couple of years. I know I do.
"So, what do you think?" Sydney asks.
"This is a really nice house. The best we've seen so far. I'm just trying to think about when we expand our family." I tell her.
She nods her head, understanding. "As you should. There's three bedrooms in this house so when you do have your first kid, you'll have somewhere to put them."
"The yard isn't really that big." I add in.
"I can try and find another house with a bigger yard." She offers.
"It's okay. I'll just discuss it with my fiancé on what she wants. Thank you for your time today." I shake her hand before saying goodbye to her.
When Troy and I get in the car, I instantly get out my phone to call Abby. I have a missed call from her and a few messages from her saying that her and Alyssa were going to grab something to eat from The Grill. I call her back anyway.
"Hello." She answers in the first couple of rings.
"Hey, Midget. How did it go?" I ask.
I hear her sigh on the other side and I figure it must have been just as stressful for her as it was for me.
"That bad?" I ask.
"It wasn't horrible. I found a house that would be perfect for us, there's just one problem." She tells me.
"Well, what is it?" I tell Troy to head to The Grill before tuning back into my conversation with Abby.
"We can discuss it later. Are you coming to The Grill?" She asks.
"Yeah, we're headed that way." I tell her.
"Don't come. Troy and Alyssa aren't in a really good place right now." She reminds me and I roll my eyes. They really need to get their shit together.
"Alright. Meet you back at Troy's then?" Troy looks over at me, confusion written on his face.
"Yeah. I love you." She says.
"I love you more." I hang up the phone before she counters with I couldn't possibly love her more than she loves me. We always do that, but I end up winning most of the time. She says it's because I'm childish and it's a child's game, but we both know the truth.
"So what the hell are we doing?" Troy asks.
"Your house. Alyssa doesn't want to see you." I lean my head against the window, needing a nap from all the house hunting we've been doing today.
He gives out a dry, humorless laugh. "She kisses another guy and then doesn't want to see me. She acts like such a fucking child sometimes. I mean, we're adults. She's going to have to face me sometime."
I hate to burst his bubble with what I'm about to say, but I'm just looking out for him. I care about both him and Daniel. I don't want to see their friendship end over a girl.
"You know there's a possibility she could still want Daniel, right?" I ask and watch as his hands tighten on the steering wheel.
"She doesn't want Daniel anymore. She only kissed him to stop his panic attack." I knew he would be in denial.
"You don't kiss someone like that and it just be to stop their panic attack. She kissed Daniel the way I kiss Abby every day." I counter.
"Shut the hell up, Jordan. You're always trying to make something out of nothing. She's the first girl I've ever actually wanted a relationship with, okay? So stop trying to ruin it." He snaps.
"I just want you to open up the possibility that she might not choose you." I say before looking out the window. He doesn't reply to me, mostly because he knows I'm right. Hey, he had to hear it from someone.
When we get to his house, he throws his keys on the counter and goes into his room. He slams the door behind him, making it known that he's pissed. I go up the stairs to the guest room and finish planning the surprise trip. Both Ryan and I came up with the idea of planning another trip because the last one didn't work out too well. I know Daniel could use the distraction along with Naomi. We both decided on Paris since that's where I wanted to take Abby anyway. I plan on proposing to her again on the Eiffel Tower. A lot more romantic than proposing during sex without a ring.
A couple of hours into booking everyone's room, Abby walks in and falls onto the bed. I chuckle at how she's overreacting before closing the laptop and going over to her. I place my hand on her back and she turns her head to face me, resting her head on her arms.
"We can talk about it now or later." I prefer now to get all the stressful stuff out the way.
"Go get the laptop, please. I'll show you the house I picked out for us." I nod my head, getting the laptop and handing it to her.
She types in a few things before pulling up several pictures of this beautiful house. It's absolutely perfect. I don't see why there might be a problem. Before I can comment, she decides that she should see the house I chose and then we say what house we chose at the same time. When I show her the house I chose, she seems to fall in love with it. She couldn't possibly like this house. Maybe she's just pretending so she won't hurt my feelings. I mean, I'm not good when it comes to stuff like this.
"Okay, on three we say what house we both like. One... two... three." I say.
"Yours." We both say at the same time.
"Mine?" I asked, astounded.
"You like the house I chose?" She asks, just as shocked as I am.
"Well, yeah. It's a little big for us right now, but eventually we both plan on expanding our family." She's giving me a look that tells me I'm not going to like what she says next.
"I was thinking the house you chose would be perfect since we probably aren't going to have any kids until I'm like thirty four." She says and my eyes nearly pop out of my head.
"Abby, that's ten years away." I tell her, making sure she realizes what she just said.
"I know. I'm still trying to work my way up in my career. By the time I'm thirty four, I would have accomplished everything and will be ready for kids." She says.
I stand up, needing to move around. Has she gone absolutely nuts? I'm not waiting ten years to have my first son or daughter. Five is acceptable, but ten? Hell no! She sits up, facing me.
"I want kids sooner than that Abby. Ten years is a long time." I say.
"If we're having one kid, what does it matter when he or she comes?" She asks and I almost laugh at her. She thinks I want one kid?
"Abby, I want at least two kids if not three. That's why I want to start sooner because I don't want to be forty something when we have our second child. That means I'm going to be sixty something when my kids are adults." I say.
"And what's wrong with that?" She raises her voice.
"I want to be young when I have my first and second kid. I want to be able to teach them how to play football without having severe complications like arthritis and shit. When you're old, Abby, you can't do young things!" I somewhat yell at her.
She rolls her eyes, "You're being dramatic. I don't want to have kids any time soon. So we're going with the house you chose."
"Like the hell we are. This is a decision we're both making, so stop trying to make it yourself. I want a kid before I'm thirty."
She comes over to me, standing in front of me. "Well, I don't." She counters.
"Stop being selfish!" I'm beginning to get frustrated from her stubborness.
"I'm not being selfish." She has this little grin on her face as if this conversation isn't that important. The fact that she's not taking me serious is pissing me off even more.
"Yes, you are! I can't believe how you're being right now! I'm asking for one thing and you can't even give me that? After everything I've done for you! I've done nothing but show you how much I love you and that I'm willing to do anything for you, and when I ask for one thing you can't sacrifice your little ten year plan for me! After Shawn tried to fucking kill you, I was there for you! I never left your side even though he was the guy you chose! You fucking left me for him and then when he kicked your ass, you fled back to me, but I stayed. You know why? Because I love you and sometimes I get the feeling you don't love me the way I love you!" She stares at me, tears in her eyes but I'm not backing down this time. I had to get that off my chest because I'm right.
"I only went back to Shawn because I was scared to be with you again, but you had already had my heart. I can't believe you would throw that in my face." She walks pass me, about to open the door but she stops.
She turns and looks at me, tears streaming down her face. "Since we're throwing shit in each other's faces, if I didn't love you I wouldn't have taken you back after everything you put me through. The bet and sleeping with Eleana. I took you back because I'm still that weak little girl in high school who's madly in love with Jordan Collins."
She exits out of the room, slamming the door. My brain keeps telling me to chase after her, but my feet won't move. She left me speechless and in shock. She's right. How the hell can I question her love for me when she's put up with so much of my shit. Neither one of us is perfect. I fall back on the bed, needing a moment to cool down. I'm still upset and it's probably best that we both calm down before we try and talk to each other again.
Abby's pov
I speed walk down the sidewalk, the tears falling rapidly down my face. I'm pissed, but mostly hurt that Jordan would say that to me. He acts like I've been nothing, but a burden to him. I have no idea where I'm going, but I know that if I didn't get out of there I probably would have slapped Jordan.
I'm so lost in my own thoughts that I'm not even paying attention to where I'm going. I run slap into someone, causing them to spill everything in their hands onto the ground. Classic Abby.
"Dammit. I just bought those eggs." The person says before turning to me.
"Abby?" I freeze in my spot when I recognize the person as Virginia. Just my luck.
"Are you okay?" She asks, concerned. Okay, this isn't normal. Wait, she's probably going to make some mean remark following her question. I wait for the remark, but it never comes. She just stares at me, waiting for me to answer.
"Why don't you come inside of my house? You shouldn't be walking around by yourself at night. You know predators prey on pretty girls like you and myself." She picks up her things and I stare at her, never once in my life thinking that Virginia would call me pretty.
I come out of my shock state to help her with her things. I offer to pay for the stuff that she's going to have to throw away, but she waves me off, telling me it's fine. When we get inside of her house, I look around it. I see a couple of pictures of her with Jake and a lot of pictures of her with her son. I automatically look around for a little boy, but don't see anyone.
"He's with his dad if that's what you're wondering." She says.
"I–"
She cuts me off, "It's fine. Jake told me he told you guys about Carter and me. He trusts you, so I trust you."
She walks over and hands me a tissue, and I thank her for it. She gestures for me to follow her into the kitchen and I do. I sit down at the table while she begins to fix something.
"Would you like some tea?" She asks.
"Tea is fine." I say.
She nods her head and for a while it's silent between the both of us. I don't know how I ended up here. I mean, this is awkward as hell for me. We used to hate each other. I'm still unsure of how I feel about her.
"Will you relax. I'm not going pull a surprise attack on you." She notices my fidgeting and I put my hands under the table, out of her view.
"Sorry, this is strange to me." I admit.
She laughs, "I guess I understand why you would be reacting the way you are. I did cause you hell for most of your middle school and high school life."
"Most?" I say.
"Okay, all of it. Sorry by the way. I blame my parents for making me a spoiled brat as a teenager." She brings the tea over to the table before sitting down along with me.
"So, I'm guessing that famous football player of yours was the reason why you were crying?" She raises an eyebrow and I wonder how she knows about Jordan and me.
"How did–"
"Jake comes home and tells me everything. The boy is like a gossip machine, but I love him nonetheless." She smiles and I can truly see that she cares about him.
"Where is Jake?" I ask.
"He's at work. He usually works late, so if you want to wait until he gets here you're more than welcome. I know you two are best friends and he's like your go to person to vent to." She puts three cubes of sugar in her tea before passing it to me.
"No, that's fine. Jordan and I just got in an argument. We both said some stuff that was real shitty to say." Just thinking about it makes me want to cry again.
"What about?" She asks.
"Kids." I let out a breathy laugh.
"You're pregnant?" She asks, shocked.
"No." I quickly say.
She lets out a relieved breath. "Goodness, that would have been a disaster. I doubt Jordan is ready for kids."
"Actually, I'm the one that doesn't want kids. Yet. He wants to have kids in the next couple of years while I want to wait until I'm thirty four." I can't believe I'm talking to Virginia about this.
"My, my, things have changed. You aren't the same Abigail Monroe." She notices.
"I guess I grew up." I say.
She smiles, "I like this Abby. She would have gave me a run for my money in high school."
I laugh a little, "Any advice for Jordan and me?"
"Honey, where you both went wrong at was trying to plan it. A kid can't be planned, trust me. It'll happen when it happens and when it does, it'll be the best gift God could ever give you." I can tell she really loves Carter. I can't believe I'm saying this, but she's right. Jordan and I should just stop trying to plan everything and just live in the moment. That's what we've always done best.
"You're right. Thanks for the advice. I never thought once in a million years that I would be talking to you about this stuff." I give her a small teasing smile and she laughs at me.
"Honestly, me either. I definitely wouldn't talk to me after everything I've done to you. What I did the night of prom was so messed up. If I could go back and make things right, I would." She looks truly sorry, but her apologizing isn't going to do anything for me. I'm over all of that. It's in the past and that's where I would like it to stay.
"Don't worry about it. I mean, I think I kind of got you back with my right hook." I joke.
For a second she doesn't laugh, but after a couple of seconds she starts laughing and I join in with her. Maybe if she hadn't been a complete bitch to me in high school, we would have been great friends. My phone begins to ring and I pull it out, checking the caller ID. Jordan.
"Lover boy?" She asks.
"Yeah. I should probably go and talk things out with him." I say.
"You should." We both stand up and she walks me to the door. I turn around to face her to say a couple of words before I leave.
"Thanks for the tea and advice. We should hang out sometime. You, me, and Alyssa." I offer, but realize Alyssa might not be so willing to hang around Virginia. Even if she has changed.
"I'll take you up on that offer one day." She smiles.
I turn and leave, heading back the way I came.
"Abby!" She calls my name, causing me to stop and turn around to see what she wants.
"I didn't see it when I was younger, but now I do. You and Jordan are really meant to be together and I'm glad he met you. You've really changed him." She tells me before closing the door to her house. I stare at her door for a while, taking in what she just said. She's right about one thing, Jordan and I are meant to be together. That's how it has always been and will be.
My phone continues to ring as I'm walking down the sidewalk. I'm trying to gather what I want to say to Jordan before I get to Troy's house that's why I'm not answering him. I should probably send him a text, letting him know I'm okay. I take out my phone, typing the message to Jordan.
"Abby!" I hear someone call my name and I look up to see Jordan running towards me. So much for the message. I put my phone away as he approaches me.
"Forget about everything I said. I was wrong. I know you love me and that was real shitty of me to say. All of it. I just got really mad and I should have–"
I cut him off, "No, you were right. We should have both came to a compromise. I love you Jordan and sometimes I forget to show you how much I really love you. I'm still getting used to being back with you and not living my old life anymore, but I do love you. Let's not worry about having kids right now. It'll happen when it happens, but so that we'll be prepared, let's get the house I chose today."
He grabs my hand, looking me in the eyes. "Midget, you don't have to do that. If that's not the house you want then I'm perfectly fine with what you want. My home is wherever you are."
His words bring a smile to my face and I can't hide it even if I tried. This man drives me insane, but I wouldn't trade him for the world. I place a gentle small kiss on his lips before staring him passionately in the eyes.
"What I want is you. I don't care if we're living under a bridge. I'm choosing the house because I want to be prepared for when we have kids. Besides, some friends might decide they want to stay over. We'll have room for them if we get that house." He smiles down at me before picking me up and spinning me around.
"You make me the happiest man on earth, Midget." He kisses me with so much passion that I'm almost not able to keep up with him, but eventually my lips move along with his like I knew they would. Kissing Jordan is second nature to me.
We pull back at the same time, a goofy grin on both of our faces. We're both young and in love. We probably don't even know what we're doing, but all we need to know is that we have each other and everything else will fall into place.
"Let's go before some stranger reports us for PDA." Jordan says.
I smile before taking his hand. We walk back to Troy's house only to find him yelling on the phone with someone. I turn to Jordan, wondering what that's about.
"He's been on the phone with Alyssa for about an hour." Jordan leads me upstairs and I make a mental note to call Alyssa tomorrow.
When we get to our room, we begin to make out feverishly. We both help each other strip which causes us to both end up on the floor because we're in such a rush. Jordan lands on top of me, squeezing the life out of me but all I can do is laugh.
"Smooth, babe." I tease.
"Hey, you're the one pulling at my pants like you're trying to rip them off." He fires back, smirking at me.
"That's because I was." I smile and he smiles at me before continuing to kiss me.
We spend the rest of the night getting lost in each other. Reminding each other how much we love each other through every kiss, thrust, scratch, bite, and moan.
_______________________________________
The requested update is here people. Not much to say except that I got a job so hats off to me lol. Anyways, I hope you all like the chapter. Vote and comment all you want because I love to read the comments you guys comment. Some of you should be comedians. And shout out to that one person who defended AJANAB when someone called it stupid in the comments. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but you didn't have to write your opinion on every chapter. I think I got that you hated the book the first few chapters 😂
Anyways, stay cool people. Listen to The 1975. They're a really great band and now I'm just rambling. Okay, I'm gone for good now. ✌