Dedicated to SummerBreath for the cover at the side!

Chapter forty-eight.

I burst out laughing as I watched Tony and James play fight with breadsticks, they were using them as light sabers. I wiped a tear away and almost toppled off the chair. "Oh my god!" I choked out; I was going to start hyperventilating.

Sean slapped me on the back as I started coughing, "calm down, Mitchie." Everyone was laughing hard. This was what I wanted everything to be like; all of us getting along without the worry of stupid love and crushes.

I excused myself to go to the toilets and fix my running makeup. I smiled at my reflection, I liked how our friendship was at the moment and I didn't want to ruin it. After I splashed my face with water I walked towards our table.

"I'm looking for-" I looked towards the front door to see Andy and Trent holding hands.

"Dude, you broke my light saber!" I saw Andy shake her head and look at the waiter. "Never mind, we found them." She looked my way and started waving like a lunatic. "Mitchie!"

I hopped over to them with a smile on my face. "Hey, guys, what you doing here?" I could hear Tony and James arguing behind me, causing me to chuckle.

"Have they been like this all of dinner?" I nodded. "Trust my brothers. How you doing, Mitchie?" Trent asked, nodding towards my leg.

"It’s okay. Doesn't hurt as much since the doctors gave me pain killers." I looked over my shoulder at my group of friends. "Are you joining us?"

"Nah, we just dropped in to tell you all that you need to get there on time. No late nights," Andy winked and pulled me into a hug. "Let's get you back to your friends, yeah?" I nodded and they both helped me back towards the table of laughing teenagers.

Something caught my attention as we were walking over, a little radio was playing in the background and I could hear them announcing news headlines. "Another main story this week is a managed forty five has been sent to jail after kidnapping a teenage girl. Steve-"

"Excuse me!" I called over to the waiter. He looked up at me puzzled. "Can you turn the radio up please?" Now everyone at our table had fallen silent, wondering what I was doing. The man nodded and turned the radio up enough for us to hear.

"-will be serving time in prison after he kidnapped young teenage girl, Mitchie Blacklov. He kept Miss Blacklov in a house twenty minutes from the station and intended on keeping her there for revenge on her father." I sank into my chair; I could feel eyes on me. Nearly everyone in town knew I was the only Mitchie. They would instantly know it's me. I was kidnapped for revenge. I felt a single tear trail down my face. I can't be happy for too long without it disappearing, can I?

"Mitchie," Sean placed a hand on my shoulder, obviously trying to comfort me. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," I breathed out. "I suppose I am. I mean, he's going to jail... that's good, right?" I looked up at my best friend. He smiled and nodded. "Good. Let's just... forget about it. Enjoy tonight. We all deserve it." I smiled and raised my glass of fizzy drink. "Toast?"

"To Mitchie surviving and Trent and Andy's wedding," Tony said, raising his glass as well. Everyone mimicked that movement and soon we were all smiling again.

By the time everyone made their way home, I felt exhausted. No one had to hop around like I had to all day. I waved goodbye to all the brothers as I made my way into the house. My dad appeared at the bottom of the stairs, looking surprised to see me.

"Oh, you're back early..."

"Yeah?" I looked at him, confusion clouding my features. I scratched the back of my head. "Erm..."

"Sorry. I wasn't expecting you to be home so soon..." I blinked. Does that mean he wanted me to go back out? "No, no, I mean-"

"Honeeeey," I looked over my dad's shoulder to see Daisy swaying her hips towards him.

"I'm going to barf," I said, spinning around as quickly as I could and exiting the house. "I'll spend the night at the Johnsons, bye!"

"Mitchie-" Daisy cut my dad off by kissing him full on. I muttered 'ew, ew, ew' under my breath all the way over to the Johnsons household.

"Couldn't stand being away from us that long, could you?" Robbie joked as he opened the front door. He looked at me a minute before opening the door wider. "What's up?"

"Daisy's back," I muttered as he helped me inside. He sighed and called out to his brothers. They all appeared with scowls on their faces. "Why did you call them? They were obviously busy."

"Shush," Robbie nudged me over and sat down. He clapped his hands together as the boys looked at me curiously. "Guys, we have to cheer sweet little Mitchie up, her step mother is back."

Tony stepped towards me and put a comforting arm around my shoulder. "How do you know?"

"She was sucking face with my dad."

"Oh. Sorry." Tony grimaced and gave my shoulder a squeeze. "Well," he mimicked his brother's actions by clapping his hands, "we can cheer you up. Right, guys?"

"Of course," James smiled and walked over to the DVD collection.

Up until Tony gave me a t-shirt to wear to bed, we watched my favourite movies. I was glad they were here for me; they made me feel like one of the family. Phoebe appeared at the living room door, scolding the boys for still being awake and not up in their rooms.

"What have I told you about- Mitchie?" I smiled and waved. "What are you doing here?" I blinked. Should I leave here as well? "Ooh, no. Not like that, darling. I'm surprised to see you here, that is all. You and your dad fixed your relationship so I thought you would be at home..."

Robbie whispered something in her ear and her gaze softened. "You could have at least given her something of mine to wear. Look at her; she's being swallowed by that t-shirt." I blushed furiously as all the boys turned to me.

"I'm fine," I said quietly. "I just feel tired, I don't mind the top."

Phoebe nodded and walked away. I let out a deep breath I hadn't realized I had been holding before resting back against the sofa. "I'm going to sleep, night guys."

I felt someone nudge me, I thought they done it by mistake so I ignored it until they did another two times. I turned to look at Tony. "You can sleep in my room if you want. I'll just take James bed." At the mention of his name, James looked over at us and frowned.

"Why can't you sleep on the floor?"

"Why don't you two share a bed?" I commented, a small smile on my lips. "After all, you've shared a bed, food and possible other things before." The others chuckled while the boys rolled their eyes. I smiled and stood up. "Come on then, I'll steal your bed."

~

I rubbed my eyes and tried to get the spoon to make its way into my mouth. I was so tired.

"Boo," James whispered into my ear as he walked pass. I grumbled and shoved the bowl away from me. "Nu-uh, no wasting food!" I watched him as he took my spoon and began to eat my cereal. "What?" He muttered around a mouthful of Cheerio's.

"Pig." I snorted and tried to stand up. "I'm so tired. I'm glad the wedding is tomorrow and not today," I commented as I hopped into the garden.

"True. You did take ages to get to sleep since nearly every Johnson brother sat on Tony's bed..." James sat down next to me on the sun lounger. "What are you doing today?"

"Nothing," I replied scratching the back of my head. "I guess I should go home..."

"You don't have to, you know. You can spend the day with us lot. We still have to phone up all the companies to make sure they are ready for tomorrow," he groaned and covered his eyes. "Take my place, I won't make it through!"

"Stop being so dramatic," I hit his chest and laughed. "You should go into the acting career."

"I know. I'm just that amazing," he winked and closed his eyes. We sat in silence for a minute before Andy's loud voice rang through the house, demanding all the boys’ attention.

"She's gotten over her shyness of demanding the family's attention," I stated, looking towards the house. All the boys were slowly making their way outside to sit at the big table. James nodded and watched everyone sit down in the chairs around us.

"Right," Andy clapped her hands together. "Trent is off doing whatever, so I am here to make sure you are all prepared for tonight and tomorrow." There was a chorus of yes's and soon everyone was engaged in a task.

"You still up for tonight?" Andy asked as she slid into the seat James had just left. I nodded. "Are you sure? We can all stay-"

"Andy." I looked at her. "I am not going to be the reason you don't have your Hen Night. It's going to be good! I just want to have fun and celebrate the happiness going on around me," I smiled and looked over at the boys. One boy in particular looked up and caught my eye; he winked before going back to helping his brothers.

"If you're sure..." She sighed. "Make sure your friends get here on time!" She called over her shoulder as she walked away. I grinned; I couldn't wait for me, Nora and Tess to go out. Just us three, like it was before.

"Someone looks happy," Lance said as he sat down next to me. "The Stag Do is tonight, want to exchange places with me?" I chuckled and shook my head. "Aw, why not?"

"Go have fun with your brothers and stop complaining, you know you're going to have fun."

"Suppose..." he sighed and leant against me. "Mitchie?"

"Yeah, sweetie?"

"What are you going to do about my brothers?"

I blinked and began to stutter. "What do you mean?" I managed to choke out after a few minutes.

"They obviously like you..." He moved forward a bit to look at my face. "And Zac."

"I know," I sighed. "What's with the question? Got your eye on a girl?" I chuckled at his blushing face. "Who is the lucky lady?"

"Just a girl in my class." He grinned and stood up. "Maybe if I pluck up the courage to go talk to her, I'll come and ask you for some advice."

"Sure, I'd love to help." I smiled as he walked away but the same question ran through my head, again and again.

Which boy was I going to choose?

~

Sooo... what did you think? :)

Two things:

1) Would you guys possibly do a one-shot contest?

You can do any chapter or how you want the story to end... who she ends up with etc. If enough people tell me they want a one-shot contest then I'll post up the details tomorrow under a new chapter of this story. :)

2) Check out the new story 'Will You Love Me Once I'm Gone', please? I would love if that got some more reads and votes, :]

vote-comment-fan? :3