The messages from Angela are in Bold.

The messages in Italics are from Alice.

The normal messages are Bella's reply's.

X

"Do you have a constant supply of these?"

Alice laughed, as she handed me a blueberry muffin. It was about 12:45, and I was sitting on the stool by the counter.

"I like them. Hey do you mind if I put on some music? It helps me relax?"

I nodded, I really didn't mine.

"Sure, I don't mind. I usually listen to paramore when I'm upset. Of course, I couldn't do that last time, with a constant headache after hitting my head. What do you want to listen to?"

She walked around me, and I turned. I was always careful not to turn my back on her. She had a thing about people doing that. Especially with what had happened. She grabbed some stuff and picked up a paramore CD. She held up the new one and looked at me.

"This OK?"

I nodded, smiling. I didn't care what it was. If it made her feel better, that was all that mattered.

"Whatever you want, pixie. I don't mind. You feeling OK?"

She nodded, walking over to me. She put the CD on the counter, and looked at me.

"I'm OK, baby. What about-"

"Don't worry about me, pixie. I love you and once you're OK, that's all that matters."

She kissed me, leaning in to me. I took her hand, squeezing it. She didn't pull away, or flinch, so I assumed it was OK.

"Is this OK?" She leaned her head against my shoulder, and I felt her nod..

"I'll take that as a yes, then."

She kissed my shoulder, lifting her head. She put on the CD, and turned it down.

"You don't have to do that, I-"

"If we want to be able to hear each other, I do."

I listened as 'proof' started. She sat on the couch, and I walked over to her. I sat next to her, and looked at her. I looked down at my ring, smiling. I could tell she was watching me, and looked up at her.

"What?"

She shook her head.

"I was just watching you, and thinking about what I said yesterday about you not having to-"

"Alice, we've talked about this. I'm glad that I can be here for you, that you trust me enough to be close to me. Especially last night. I know I was nervous, I didn't want to upset you. Waking up with you was-"

"I know."

I sighed, shaking my head. 'Still in you,' started and made me smile.

"I'm sorry, I'm just worried about you."

She shrugged, and took my hand. I looked at the ring, that I'd given her.

"I'm glad you were here yesterday, you staying really helped."

I left at around 5:30.

I kissed her, pulling on my hoodie. I grabbed my stuff, turning to her.

"I'll talk to you later, OK?"

She nodded.

"OK. I love you, baby."

I kissed her again.

"I love you to, pixie. See you tomorrow."

I got home about 20 minutes before my dad and got changed. He walked in as I was making something to eat. He sat at the table and I handed him something. I sat down across from him, looking at him.

"How's Billy?"

"He's fine. I got a call from Uncle Rick. He's having some problems with Lucy and she's going to be staying here for a while. So, she's going to be in school with you. Doesn't seem like a reasonable thing to me."

Rick was my dad's brother. He overacted at the smallest thing, so it didn't have to be a big thing for this to happen.

"What happened, dad?"

"She told him she was gay and he doesn't want her in the house. He asked me if she could stay here for a while, to 'straighten out,' or in other words to change her mind. I said it was no problem. I have no problem with that, so she's welcome here. So, can you clean up the spare room? It's not dirty, just tidy it up. She gets here at around 4 tomorrow."

This didn't surprise me, he didn't like anything that wasn't considered, 'normal.'

"Yeah, I will. Is she ... Well, she's not OK. But, how's she doing?"

"She's upset, but she's doing as well as can be expected. I don't see what the big deal is, she's still Lucy."

I finished my dinner, after telling him that I just spent time with Angela. He went into the living room to watch TV, and I went upstairs, grabbed my iPod and went into the spare room. I cleaned it out, while listening to paramore. I thought about Lucy. She was still the same person, it shouldn't matter. I knew she'd be in her senior year now. So, I'd have to help her catch up. I didn't mind, I'd just have to work out how I'd keep my relationship with Alice from her.

I finished in the room and went into mine. I picked up my phone and noticed a message from Angela.

'You still alive?'

I shook my head.

"Yeah, I'm OK. I stayed at Alice's last night. We fell asleep on the couch and my dad was going to be gone until today, so I stayed. And, no nothing happened. My dad said, that my cousin Lucy, is coming to stay. My Uncle Rick, he doesn't want her in the house because she's gay. He asked my dad if she could stay here, to 'straighten out.' So, she's going to be in school with us. I need to figure out how to keep this thing with Alice from her. She gets her tomorrow after school"

I asked Alice how she was, and got an answer straight away.

'I'm fine, baby. Did you get home before your dad?'

"Yeah, I did. My cousin, Lucy, is coming to stay with us. Her dad, my Uncle Rick, threw her out because she's gay. So, she's going to be in school with us. She gets here tomorrow after school."

Angela answered me, not very happy about how Lucy was being treated.

'But, she's still Lucy. You'll just need to be careful when it comes to this whole thing with Alice.'

She was right. Alice answered me, surprised.

'That's terrible, baby. I'm glad you're dad took her in though. We'll have to be more careful though. But, we'll be OK.'

Lucy arrived at around 4:15 the following day. I had just finished cleaning up the kitchen, when there was a knock on the door. School had been OK. Alice kept glancing at me in class when people were busy. I walked to the door and opened it. Lucy stood there. Her red hair tied up in a pony tail. She was a little shorter than me. I let her in, and she dropped her bag. My dad walked into the hall, looking at Lucy.

"Thanks for this, Uncle Charlie."

"Don't worry about it, Lucy. And call me Charlie. Bella sorted out your room for you."

He looked at me, and I led Lucy up to her room. She put her stuff on the bed, and sat down.

"I heard about what happened. Don't worry about my dads reaction. I'm gay and he's fine with it."

She looked at me, surprised. I was just trying to make her feel a little better and get her to realise that my dad really was OK with it.

"You're-"

"Yeah, I came out a few months ago. He's fine with it, don't worry. Just make sure he doesn't catch you, on the couch, OK? That may freak him out a bit? When I told him, he said something about not going easy on any of my dates. And I made a joke about hiding his gun. But, seriously, don't let him catch you."

She smiled, and relaxed a little. She stood up and opened her bag.

"Pass me some of that, I'll help you unpack."

She passed me some clothes, and I put them away.

"So, do you have a girlfriend?"

"No, I don't. I spend most of my time, with my best friend Angela. She just found out her boyfriend was cheating on her."

She nodded, hanging up a few jackets.

"What's she like?"

"She's great, you'll get to see her soon enough. I was telling her about you yesterday. She wants to meet you. She said so after complaining about your dad."

We finished putting her stuff away, and sat on the bed.

"I told him, and he freaked out. He wanted me out, and I convinced him to ask your dad. I had nowhere else to go. My mom agreed with him."

She took of the grey hoodie she was wearing, throwing it behind her.

"Well, don't worry about my dad saying anything. Just hide his gun, if you go out on a date."

We sat, talking for a while and I went to bed, thinking about I was going to keep my relationship with Alice from her.

Lucy came with me to school the next day, I introduced her to Angela and we went to the office to get her timetable. She was going to be taking the same subjects that she had been taking at her other school.

I had a look, when we walked out of the office. She had chemistry with me. I looked at Angela, and handed it to her.

How am I going to get around this?