Goodbye Blue Monday, Thank You For Your Time

[blatentlyobvious]

Hey Everyone, so, If you haven't read Head Over Jonas and Terry's POV - Head Over Jonas, you're going to want to do that FIRST. THIS IS THE SEQUEL!!!!!!!!! =D Which I am extremely excited about. So, read the first one if you haven't and watch for daily updates on this one. =)

Chapter One:

July –

He’s gone, and he took my heart with him. Kevin Jonas is off somewhere living
life, and I sit at home feeling sorry for myself. I haven’t stopped thinking about
him. The day he left, I told him I loved him, and I gave him the song, and I ran
home. I started to put some music to the words I wrote for him, and now I have
something. I don’t sing for anyone, and am in fact, pretty withdrawn. Thinking of
the song now, I pull out my Dove, and start strumming.

So you're miles away
You're passing by
We don't try
to be pushed apart
There is so much
flooding between these two hearts

I try to find the way
But it’s so hard to do
When there’s no you
Here and now is what life is
And without you its far from Bliss
So I'm Banking back on the good times
Wishing you were here with me

So you're not here.
Not right now.
Things happen
It's not your fault or mine
Things have built up for you
All this time
And I've only just arrived
I only wish
Your hand could stay in mine

I try to find the way
But it’s so hard to do
When there’s no you
Here and now is what life is
And without you its far from Bliss
So I'm Banking back on the good times
Wishing you were here with me

So you have to leave
I already miss you
I pray you don't forget this
Come see me some day,
When you're not in over your head.
When you miss me too

It’s going take
All my strength
Not to let my soul fade
Because you’re gone
And something disappeared.

So, I'm saying goodbye.
I won't see you for a while
Not your eyes,
Your laugh,
Or that perfect smile.
I can't say the tears will stop,
Or the hurt will go
But you should be happy
It's what you deserve,
Its what you need
Think of me on the hard days
You'll have my heart
You'll have it forever

So Love Me

It sounds fine to me. When I turn to put my guitar on the stand, I see my mom standing in the doorway. My face flushes.

“Mom, how long have you been there?” I ask putting the song away. She comes
over and sits beside me on my bed.

“Long enough to know that my daughter is an amazing singer,” She strokes my
hair and smiles at me warmly. “Also long enough to know that you’re still
hurting.” She hugs me and I start to cry.

“Mom, I told him I didn’t want to hold him back, but I shouldn’t have ended it. I
made a huge mistake. He didn’t want to break up, but I was being selfish because
I couldn’t stand to be away from him. I don’t know what I was thinking.” I am
surprised at how much I am sharing with my mom, after weeks without talking about it to anyone, not even my best friend Alicia, or my sister Terry.

“Sweetheart, we all make mistakes, but we pull through and learn from them.

You love Kevin don’t you?” She coos.

“Of course, and I want to be with him, but that’s gone to hell now.” I mumble into
her shoulder.

“Darling, nothings ‘gone to hell.’” She says quoting me. “You can fix this if you try
hard enough. It can work.” I hug her tight, and she gets up.

“Meghan, do you think that you would ever show that to the people at the label?”
My mom says referring to the song. I'm surprised. For years my mom was a
talent scout, so does this means she sees talent in me?

“Thanks Mom, but this is all I have. I don’t think they would take me with that.”
I look out my window. I can see the hills and many amazing houses.

“If you change your mind, let me know.” She says and walks out the door.

I reach over to my desk and grab my laptop. I lean against the head of my bed. I
think twice about opening my email, and finally do. I have a few new emails.

I see one from Kevin.

I open it and see that it’s not that long but it means something that he even
wants to speak to me.

‘You told me you loved me and left. I hate that I'm saying this in an email, but I
love you too. I love you. I love you. I love you. I could say it again and again, and
I replay that day again and again, but I still can’t figure you out why you left. If I
had of told you I loved you, would you have stayed with me? Because I love you
Meghan. I LOVE YOU. Please.’

I cry as I read his words. He loves me. The email is from two days ago.

“Hey.” Terry says peeking her head around the corner. “Oh, are you okay?” She
asks when she sees my tears. I look up and smile.

“He loves me Ter.” I say stunned.



August –

Terry and Alicia and I are all hanging out at the park by the little elementary. After
those weeks of ignoring my best friend and my sister, it’s nice to have them back.

I just got off work from Starbucks. I quit my job at the mall the week that I got
back from the beach house. I figured I should work where the benefits are better.
It’s the same Starbucks where I met Kevin, which probably wasn’t a good choice at
the time, but something drew me there.

Alicia has her phone out and is texting Joe. She is freaking out about what to get
him for his birthday.

“It’s in next week.” She says looking between Terry and I. Joe’s nineteenth
birthday is on the 15th, and she is scared she won’t have anything for him. We
are on the swings, but none of us are actually swinging. I push my feet back and
grab on to the metal chains. I sway my feet to get some motion. “What am I
supposed to get him?” She asks.

“You should buy him a hat and a really awesome tie.” Terry says. I watch as she
starts to swing as well, her blue shell against her neck. She wears the familiar
shell all the time and it really is amazing. I’ve been thinking for the past few
weeks where it could have come from.

“Terry, where did you get that?” I ask as we swing. I realize she probably doesn’t
have a clue of what I'm talking about. “Your necklace.” I specify.

“Oh, I made it at the beach house. Alicia found it after the guys left. Someone else
has the missing piece.” She smiles, and something clicks in my mind. The day I
broke up with Kevin, I saw Nick by the stairs. The leather bracelet with the tiny
shell was on his wrist. He was wearing the other piece.

“You changed your mind about everything.” I say as I stop moving my legs.

“I want to wait, and then start over. I think I need him in my life.” She says
beaming. I know she loves Nick, just as strongly as I love Kevin, and Alicia loves
Joe. We are three girls whose hearts belong to three amazing boys, who are
across the country on tour.

“Oh! I know what I can get Joe!” Alicia yells. Terry and I snap to attention. “You
guys have to come with me when I pay for it though. You will love the place.”

“What did you have in mind?” I ask, genuinely curious.

“Dad knows this amazing jeweler. She can make anything, and engrave anything.
I want to get him a pendent.” Terry and I exchange glances and shrug.

“Sure.” Terry says.

“Good, then lets go, it has to be ordered today.” Alicia jumps up from the swing
and Terry and I follow. We go to our house to tell our parents and grab a few
things and then Alicia’s house so she can grab her money and the picture she
wants and head downtown to Crescent Rain Jewelers.

Alicia walks in and walks over to the woman beside the counter. They hug and
Alicia introduces us. The woman’s name is Audrina, and she is the main jeweler
and a friend of her Dad’s.

As Audrina and Alicia talk about the special order that Alicia wants to make, Terry
and I look around the store. The variety of jewelry is incredible. There is
everything from very tribal looking things with turquoise or wood, all engraved
with intricate patterns, to the most beautiful, flawless diamonds with silver and
gold that I have ever seen. An idea comes to me as I look at some beautiful silver
bands.

“Okay, guys, ready to go?” Alicia says grabbing our attention. I think I surprise
them both when I tell them I want to place an order as well. “Sure. Audrina, do
you mind?”

Audrina grins at Alicia. “Of course I don’t mind.” She says and walks to me. “What can I do?”

“Well,” I pause and walk Audrina over to the counter where Alicia and Terry can’t
hear. I think they get the message as they walk to the unit by the door. “I need
something made for someone I love. I need it to be perfect.” She nods and smiles. When I tell her what I want, she grabs a note pad and writes my requests
down.

“I can definitely do that. It’s going to take about a month, and it’s going to be
pretty expensive. So as long as you can pay this,” She shows me the amount. $643.00 “Then I can do it.” I smile at her and shake her hand.

“Thank you.” I hand her my bankcard, and the order is placed.

“I guess I’ll have to mail this to Joe. Can we stop by the post office on the way
home?” Alicia asks.

“Yeah, do you think we should pitch in for a card or something?” Terry nudges me.

“What?” I am distracted, thinking again about Kevin’s email last month. “Yeah,
sure.”



September –

I'm sitting in the living room

They are going to be home in two weeks. I am freaking out. It’s amazing that
three months have already sped by, and now, here we are. I will see Kevin in
fourteen days. I will make sure that I do. When Alicia goes to their house, I’ll
come with her. Terry won’t be there because school has started again. She’s
sixteen now and she’s a junior, and I know that she is pretty excited.

The day that I got the email from Kevin, I sent him one back. I didn’t know what
exactly I was going to write. It came out short, but the things I wrote to him
meant as much as those he wrote to me.

‘Kevin, I love you so much. Every single day I sit and regret telling you that I
couldn’t be with you. I need you in my life, I don’t want to forget about you, and I
really don’t want to hold you back. I figured it out Kevin. I want to be there for
you when you move forward. We love each other, and I want to fix what I’ve
undone. That song meant a lot when I wrote it, but now, I want to forget about
it. I want you back because I love you, so when you come home, I'm going to be
here for you. Love ALWAYS, Meghan.’

I have a new email from Kevin. I wish I checked it more often. It’s dated a week
ago. I open it and smile when I read the two sentences he’s written.

‘Good, because I want you there, and I can’t wait to see you. Still loving you.’

I close my laptop and look outside. It’s amazing outside, and the pool looks
extremely inviting.

As I change into my bathing suit, I feel that the pressure has been lifted from me,
and my heart is light again. I smile at the little wrapped gift for Kevin that is
sitting on my desk. I picked up my order last week, and was amazed at how
incredible it turned out. I can’t wait to see him again, and feel his arms around
me. I notice the rays of light streaming through my window. They land on three
things, and I feel like someone is sending me a message. A beam of light is hitting
my guitar, another streams to the song that I have starting writing, beside my
stand, on the floor, and one more on the gift. I smile up at the blue sky. Things
are looking up.

[blatentlyobvious]

So, here is Chapter two. Hope you like it, there should be more up tomorrow, or for me..today. =))

Chapter Two::

This is supposed to be a good day. Exactly two weeks before the Jonas Boys come
home, and I am stuck at work with my least favorite associate, and some pretty
annoying customers.

The couple is standing in front of the till, bantering back and forth about what kind
of latte they want. Finally they decide, and I roll my eyes when I turn to call the
order.

When I turn back around, I nearly faint. Kevin is right in front of me!

“Meghan.” He says softly. I melt at the sound of his voice, and the smile that I
have missed so much has spread across his face.

“KEVIN!” I choke out. He is back sooner than I expected. Had I calculated wrong?
Was today the actual day he was scheduled to arrive back in Los Angeles? I lean
over the counter and he hugs me tight. I remind myself that I'm at work, and I
pull back.

“I missed you.” He says smiling. I hear someone behind him cough impatiently
and hardly subtle. Kevin turns around and apologizes to the man before turning
back to me. “I really want to talk to you. What time are you off?” I let him know
I'm done at 2:00 and he says he will pick me up. He says goodbye and starts out
the Starbucks.

Is it possible that he has forgiven me so quickly? I don’t have time to answer my
own question as the impatient customer behind Kevin steps forward and brings me
to attention.

“Hello?” He snaps his fingers rudely in front of my face.

“Sorry, sir, what can I get for you?” I ask.

“A better barista!” He shouts. I glare at the man.

“Sir, you don’t need to yell. I am the only one available at the moment, so what
can I get for you.” I say calmly.

“I am going to report this to your manager! I'm leaving.” He growls at me. I nod
my head, trying to hold my laughter back.

“Well then sir, could you please remove yourself from the line because I have
other customers who I am able to serve.” I say, my unclenching my fists behind
the counter.

“Bitch.” He says as he walks out of the Starbucks. I smile again, and continue
with the next customer in line. Not even an asshole like him could ruin my day
now.

Kevin surprises me at two with a beautiful limo. I blush as he holds the door open
and I slid in. I have never actually been in a limousine before. I feel very
pampered right now, as well as a little out of place with my simple clothes and ugly
sneakers.

Kevin slides in and sits across from me. He smiles and laughs when I try and hide
my shoes.

“Stop.” I say smiling. It is a relief to see that smile again and hear that laugh.

“I'm sorry. You still look incredible though.” I blush and look away. I know he is
trying to make me feel better, but it doesn’t work because it makes me realize how
low leaving him was, when he is such an amazing guy. He sees the hurt register
on my face and moves over beside me. His arms close around me and I sigh. I
return his embrace and let my head rest on his shoulder.

“Kevin, I'm so sorry. I should have never broke things off and what I did was so
low and selfish and I wish that I could go back and change things. If I could do
that, then I wouldn’t be begging for your forgiveness right now. I love you so, so
much.” I say looking up at him. There are tears in his eyes. Before I can think
about it, I reach up and kiss him. His familiar lips are there moving against mine.
The passion in our kiss explodes and soon his body is pressed into mine and I am
against the seat. When we pull apart to breath, I shake my head.

“Sorry.” I say weakly. His hand brushes my cheek and I look at him. He’s eyes
are baring down on mine.

“Please, don’t be. I don’t want you to regret anything between us.” He says as he
places his hand around my waist. My stomach flips but I smile. I put my hand
behind his neck and pull him down to me again, kissing him passionately. We kiss
for a long time before the car stops.

I lean into Kevin hugging him. He holds me close and I don’t want to move.

“Meghan,” Kevin laughs. “We have to get out.”

“Nope. I'm not moving. You will have to carry me.” I mutter into his chest. I don’t
expect him to actually lift me up. But he does, and in doing so, nearly drops me.
He jumps up from the seat and smacks his head, losing his grip on me.

“Damn!” He yells and I break out laughing. The look on Kevin’s face was priceless.

“I was trying to be cute.” He says rubbing his head.

“Sweetie, you don’t have to try.” I say through the giggles.

“C’mon, lets go inside.” He says chuckling. We step out of the car and we’re in
front of his house. I'm still laughing, it’s just silent. I reach up to Kevin’s collar and kiss him lightly.

“Thank you, you brought something back to me.” I smile and he slips his hand
around the small of my back. He walks me to the front door of the house and
opens it for me. Inside I see lots of bags, scattered all over the front hall.

“Come on, they’re waiting for you.” I assume he means Nick and Joe but as we
walk to the back, I see Alicia at the pool in her bathing suit. She is smothering Joe
with kisses as he sits on a deck chair. Nick is tossing a football to Frankie, who
hasn’t quite been able to master a spin.

“Guys!” I yell letting go of Kevin’s hand and running out to hug Nick first,
considering Joe seems to be a little busy. Nick embraces me; reminding me of the
last time I hugged him and how distant he was. He looks happier now, but
something is still void in his eyes.

“Holy! Did you get taller?” I ask looking at him; I think he is my height now. I
remember something then. “Let me see your wrist.” I whisper and grab it. He is
still wearing the bracelet. I think back to all the drama between him and my
sister. I shake my head. He looks down, as if he knows what I'm thinking. “Nick-“

I start, but Joe running to jump me with a hug cuts me off. I grunt as he latches
on to me.

“Hey Joe, woah!” I say turning around. It seems he’s gained height too. “Look at
you! Stop growing guys, I feel tiny.” I pout and Joe laughs. I feel a tug on the
side of my pants and look to see Frankie staring up at me. I kneel down and give
him a squeeze.

“Next time hug me first.” He whispers into my hair. I laugh and promise him I
will.

Alicia comes over and hangs her arm across my shoulder.

“The guys are finished the tour. They’re here for two whole months!” She
exclaims. I grab her hands and jump.

I drop her hands and running, jump on Kevin. He catches me and I wrap my legs
around his waist. He is laughing hard, and I can hear everyone else laughing
behind us. When I let go of him I kiss him quickly.

“I guess I’ll just have to spend all of my days with you now.” I say sweetly.

“Good. Now come with me, I have something for you.” He takes my hand and
leads me inside. We walk up the stairs and to his bedroom.

“Are you going to show me a sunset and then make out with me?” I ask giggling.

“Something better.” He jokes. He walks inside and I take a look at his room for
the first time. It’s extremely clean; the bed is made, and I don’t see even a sock
on the floor. It could just be because he only got back this morning, but still, I
have to admit I'm impressed. He is rummaging through one of the bags on his
bed. He pulls out an envelope; the envelope, and the feelings of remorse I had
just days ago, have returned full force.

“Here, open it.” He hands me the envelope. I cross my arms and look down at my
polka dot painted nails.

“Kevin I can’t. I can’t look at what I did.” I can feel my throat tightening. He
frowns and drops his hand. I sit down on his bed and sigh.

“But you can, because it, and you, is what brought us back here.” He says sitting
beside me with the paper still in his hands.

I look at him baffled. “You mean that’s why you’re here? Not because the tour is
over?”

“The tour is over. We cut it two weeks short. We added shows to certain days off
so that we could come home, and I could see you.” He says smiling.

“Kevin Jonas, if your fans knew you cut the tour short to see a girl, they would
hunt me down and kill me.” I say and smirk.

“Please. This is beautiful, you know that, and I know that you have a voice to
boot.” He places the envelope in my hands as he says this. He looks at me, and I
can’t refuse. With those eyes, I'm not sure anyone could.

“I couldn’t, I need my guitar.” I say as a last means of an out. For a moment,
Kevin leaves the bed, and returns with a beautiful black and yellow custom finished
Gibson. He hands me a pick from his pocket smiling deviously.

“I didn’t know you had music for it too.” He says excitedly, letting me slowly strum
a few chords on his guitar. I nod.

I sigh and take out the paper from its encasement. I unfold it and set it beside
me. I look at the words written and think of my own copy at home, with all the
notes and the vocal fluctuations written down. I strum the first chord and start
the song.

I play it through, not looking at Kevin, or anything else, and closing my eyes.
When I started writing the music for the song, it was impossible to find the right
chords, but after playing around with a bunch, I finally found the perfect ones. My
voice shook a bit when I started singing, but now they are smooth, and I can hear
the right tones ringing.

When I finish I set the guitar down, and hand an awed Kevin the pick. When he
won’t stop staring at me, I redirect my eyes to his roof and lay back on the bed.

“You are incredible, and that song was amazing Meghan.” He says taking my
hand. He bed is actually incredibly comfortable, so I don’t move. Instead of
waiting for me to sit up, he lays down beside me, propping his head up with his
arm. He leans over and kisses me gently. “You need to talk to your mom about
it.” I consider telling him that she asked this morning, but I would much rather
kiss him again.

I lean into him, kissing him passionately.

“Woah, sorry!” I hear a familiar voice from the hall, and another familiar laugh.
Joe and Nick are standing leaning opposite one another in Kevin’s doorway. Kevin
and I sit up right away, and my face flushes bright red.

“Yeah, we just wanted to know if you wanted ice cream, but we see you’re
preoccupied…we can come back later.” Nick says laughing at Kevin’s red face, and
my own. He and Joe high five and close the door. When I hear them walk away
from the door, I look back at Kevin and he chuckles.

“Psh…ice cream, it would just melt when it saw me.” He says pretending to be
arrogant. I punch him playfully in the arm and start laughing. “I love you.” He
says when I look to him again. I kiss him again.

“I love you too.” I say and hug him around his waist.

“I think we should go beat up those two.” He says lightheartedly. I stand up and
walk to open the door.

“Ladies first.” I yell as I race down the stairs.

[blatentlyobvious]

Alright, Chapter three, here it is.
Had some major writers block for a couple days so...enjoy!
AND REVIEW!


Chapter Three:::

“I'm gonna KICKEM!” I say loudly as I walk through to the kitchen. Joe and Nick are sitting at the counter, both with a big bowl of ice cream grinning devilishly. Frankie is on top of the counter with his own, Alicia is standing beside him with a
napkin.

Kevin beats me to it, walking around and smacking them both upside the head at
the same time. Frankie finds this hilarious and laughs hysterically, nearly spilling
his ice cream, before Alicia catches it.

“Hey, we just went upstairs because we heard some animals dying.” Joe teases,
but I feel terribly embarrassed.

“Joe! Don’t be an ass.” Alicia says nudging him hard. Joe whines and looks at me
noticing how sad I am.

“Oh, no, no, Meg I was just kidding.” He says jumping up and pulling me into a
hug. Nick joins in as well.

“We loved it. It was beautiful.” Nick adds draping his arm around me. Everyone is
surrounding me know, and I start giggling.

“Thanks guys.” I say and slip out from all of them, and to the freezer. I grab some
Rocky Road and a bowl. “Never mention it again.” I say scooping the ice cream
into the bowl. They all smile at me and I grab a seat at the island.

“Meg, you know you’re an amazing singer, right?” Alicia asks me, wiping Frankie’s
mouth. Joe watches her and smiles warmly. I look at Kevin who is sending me an
I-told-you-so look.

“It’s one song, and I already said I don’t want to talk about it.” Everyone looks
away frowning; well, everyone but Frankie, who is smiling up at me with ice cream
on the corner of his face.

“I finished.” He says to me. I smile and take his bowl and spoon. I rinse them out
in the sink and notice that there is an uncomfortable silence building in the
kitchen.

“Alicia, are you coming over tonight?” I ask trying to start some kind of
conversation.

“Yeah, I need to run home and grab my stuff first. Do you want to go now?” She
asks as she picks up everyone’s dishes, including mine.

The boys all simultaneously groan. Alicia and I laugh. “Yeah, Terry is probably
wondering where I am, although, she hasn’t called so…” I say trailing off. Nick is
staring at me, sending me a look. He wants something but I don’t know what it is.
I shake my head curiously.

I lean over to Kevin, leaving him with a hug and a kiss. He hugs me back and I
whisper I love you.

“I love you too.” He says into my ear and kisses my cheek. “I will see you
tomorrow.”

“Bye guys.” I say to Nick, Joe and Frankie. Frankie actually leaps from the counter
and I catch him in a hug.

“Bye Meghan.” He says. He has got to be the cutest little boy.

I laugh and walk out to the front with Alicia, who is just close enough for her hair
to whip in my face when we open the door to the wind. I feel something catch my
arm just as I step out the front. I turn and see Nick.

“How’s Terry.” He asks shyly toying with his shirt. Alicia and I step inside again
and close the door most of the way.

“Nick, you could ask her yourself.” I say putting my hand on his shoulder.

“I think Meghan’s right.” Alicia says. “I know that girl is ready for anything, but
make sure that you are too, before you try anything.”

“Maybe I could see her this weekend.” He says thoughtfully. He and Alicia
exchange glances, and I feel left out, not understanding if there is a deeper
meaning to what he has said.

“I'm sure that would be good.” I say nodding. “We gotta go. But, I'm glad we could
see you guys again.” I smile and lean over to hug him. Alicia does the same and as I wait, I see Kevin peeking his head around the corner of the kitchen. He mouths I love you and I smile back at him. I love you too I say back.

----

“Where the hell were you?” She smacks Alicia on the arm. “Do you remember
what today is?” Terry asks as Alicia and I barrel through the door from sidesplitting
laughter. Alicia drops her bag and we fall to the floor, ignoring my sister. “HEY!”
She yells, with her hands on her hips.

“No, no just wait!” Alicia says gasping. “Okay, so we are walking down my street
and I'm telling her about the pendant that I got Joe for his birthday, and then, out
of no where this car full of guys drives by and whistles at us!” We burst out in
laughter again and when we calm down we look to Terry.

“Oh my gosh! AH-HA! HA-HA! NO.” She fakes and we laugh again.

“Why was it funny?” I ask Alicia.

“It wasn’t really…” She says smiling. Terry pulls her away briskly and I'm left
wondering and confused. I see them whisper something, and I wonder if Alicia is
telling Terry that they boys are back. Oh no, I feel words are going to burst out
and I can’t stop them.

“THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN, THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TO-OWWN!” I start
singing wildly running to Terry and Alicia and grabbing their hands. Terry rolls her
eyes and pulls her hand away and trudges upstairs, leaving Alicia and I to sing the
’76 Thin Lizzy song.

“I should talk to her.” I say when we finally forget the rest of the lyrics and give
up.

“Uh, she’s just pre-occupied. You should let her focus.” Alicia stutters.

“So you told her the guys were back?” I ask ignoring her sudden speech
impediment.

“Um, no.” She says look away.

“Oh, okay. Are you going to tell me what she meant by ‘Do you remember what
today is?’” I ask Alicia, grabbing my bag and hers too.

“No.” She walks away and up the stairs. She doesn’t smile or laugh; she is
completely serious. I'm baffled. Things are good with Kevin and I, so does this
mean that things are about to fall apart with my best friend and my sister? I pray
it doesn’t. When I drop the bags in my room, I turn to see Alicia and Terry staring
at me.

“What?” I say self-consciously checking my mouth for anything, possibly left over
ice cream. They continue to stare at me while I do so. There is nothing there.

“WHAT?” I repeat louder.

“Mom and Dad are taking you out to dinner, and have you forgotten that you are
still in your work clothes and smell like coffee?” Terry says all at once.

“What do you mean? Why?” I ask. Where did the weirdness come from? Why am going to dinner with my parents without Alicia and Terry?

“You have one hour to get ready. You better look amazing and drop dead gorgeous
when we get back.” Alicia says smiling and closes the door. Are they joking? What is so important about this that it’s only me who is going? I shrug it off and decide
that I should change, just in case. I throw down my work clothes, and jump in
the shower.

When I finish I walk to my room naked not having bothered to grab a housecoat
on the way in, and freak when I see Alicia and Terry sitting on my bed.

“GET OUT!” I scream grabbing to cover myself. Alicia and Terry stand up and run
out of the room laughing hysterically. I get my breathing under control and try to
stop blushing. I will kill them, I promise myself.

I throw on my robe, taking proper precautions and peek my head out the door.

“TERRY.” I scream. She runs out of her room with Alicia to door.

“What?” She asks still laughing.

“Where am I going for dinner?” I ask so I can dress appropriately.

“El Punto.” My jaw drops. El Punto is one of the most renowned restaurants in LA.

“So, wear something really nice.” She can see the surprise on my face and so can
Alicia. They are keeping something from me and I want to know.

“What’s going on?” I ask eyeing them. They simultaneously mutter “nothing.” I
glare at them. “Fine, you both suck. Now get in here and help me find something.” I say pulling them both into my room.

We rummage through my closet, Alicia and Terry selecting different outfits for me, before we finally find a (in their own words) “suitable one.” They’ve put me in a satin top and low-rise skinnies with my favorite blue heels to bring out the blue
that is hiding in the threads of the blouse.

“Oh, your parents are here.” Alicia says as we all stop to listen to the footsteps
downstairs. “C’mon. You cannot be late.” She says grabbing my hand and pulling
me down stairs. My parents are waiting patiently and are looking just as slick.

“Hi Sweetie.” My mom says kissing my cheek. “Ready to go?” She asks.

“I would be if someone would explain what’s going on.” I say mutter. She sends
me a questioning look and I pretend to smile. I turn and glare at Alicia and Terry
who are overwhelmed with excitement and giggling uncontrollably. I mouth I’ll
get you and Dad opens the front door and to Mom and I to the car. I slide in the
back and sigh loudly.

“Well, anyone care to let me in on this whole ordeal?” I ask leaning forward to
rest my arms on my parent’s seats. My Dad turns around and smiles at me.

“Tonight, you’re going to meet with John Fields. He’s a producer-“ My dad starts
but I cut him off in a sharp tone.

“I know who he is.” I say fuming. I don’t believe they did this. “Why am I meeting
with him?” I say leaning back in the middle seat.

“Meghan, don’t talk to us like that.” My mom scolds. I have every right to. “You’re
meeting with him to talk about your music. He is one of the producers that the
label turns to when they discover new talent. Do you remember this summer
when I mentioned the new prospect? He helped her get things started, and now
she is producing music, and getting ready to set up some tour dates. You have a
talent, and you should really let the world know that.” She looks at me
encouragingly, but I still feel betrayed.

“You all went behind me to do this.” I mumble turning my head to look outside.

“We aren’t forcing anything on you Meghan.” Dad says looking at me through the
rear view mirror. “We just want you to talk to John, and realize all the things that
could happen for you.”

I don’t say anything, and after a few minutes, we pull away from the house. It
takes a good 25 minutes to get to El Punto, and when we arrive, I fix my hair, step
out of the car and notice a swarm of paparazzi hanging around outside. Celebrities
don’t go anywhere without them, I think to myself. Why would I want that?

We are shown to our booth and sitting in front of me is one of the most well
known producers, John Fields.

“So, this is Meghan.” He smiles and holds out his hand. Do I really want to do this?

[blatentlyobvious]

For all those who write when they are hyper, I commend you. Due to extensive loss of blood, but apparently, increased amount of sugar and .... whatever else makes you hyper... this is me. and im hyper and I wrote the last couple of bits of this chapter when I was... sooooo I hope im not just thinking this is good and not a big disaster when really it is a big disaster.. soo anywaysss CHAPTER FOURR!!

Chapter Four::::

John Fields is sitting at the table, talking animatedly about everything a music career could bring for me. I listen as he mentions, fame, fortune, and satisfaction
of every kind. I keep in mind that my parents have brought me here for my own
benefit, but I can’t get over the fact that this is happening. I can’t even bring
myself to pretend that everything he is talking about is so extraordinary. At
eighteen years old, it all seems too crazy.

“So, what do you think?” He says finishing. For a moment I think.

“Mr. Fields, anyone would be lucky to be handed an opportunity like the one that
you and my parents are presenting me with, but everyone in LA wants to be a
star. I don’t want to become just another teen pop sensation.” I pause looking to
my parents as well. They seem a little disappointed, but are still listening intently.

“I could only do something like this so that others could understand, so that people
could find release. I don’t want to be a Miley Cyrus, as much as I respect her for
the franchise she has created and how well she has done for herself. I want to be
Meghan Parker, someone who can understand other people, and help them
through things through music. I don’t want my music to be seen as some little
teeny-bop hit, and never have it mean something.” I say looking down at my
hands.

“I know how you feel, and that’s why I'm here. It’s why your parents have sent
me a demo, and why I think that you could change the way people think about

teen music.” He says. I am completely shocked at the fact that he has a demo.

“A demo? I’m sorry sir, but I haven’t recorded any demos.” I say dumbfounded. It
takes me a minute to realize that I may have not recorded any, but it’s likely
someone else had.

“No, of course not, your mom did, and she sent me a copy, and it’s beautiful. If
you decide that this is something you want to do, you know how to get a hold of
me. Donna has my number,” He says and I look at my mom, she nods smiling.
“and you can call me anytime to let me know. It was really great to meet you, and
I would be honored to work with someone such as yourself.” He says again,
holding his hand out. I take it and blush. It’s hard to process everything that I
have been through. John counts out a sum of cash, and leaves it with the bill. He
shakes hands with my parents and says goodbye. I turn to my mom and dad.

“You sent him a demo?” I squeal. They exchange glances.

“Meghan, we thought you would be happier about this.” Dad says confused.

“I am, I mean, I would be ecstatic if you had of asked me about it, instead of
setting things up behind my back.” I look down, my head still spinning.

“We can talk about it more when we get home.” My mom says stroking my hand.

“I’d rather not.” I say pulling away. I feel betrayed. Maybe, if my mom had of
asked me if she could make a demo, I wouldn’t be so upset, but knowing that they
snuck around, makes me feel hurt.

I grab my jacket and sigh, telling my parents I will be out at the car. I walk out
and wait, leaning against the side of the car. When they arrive, we all get in and sit
through an uncomfortably quiet ride home. It gives me time to think.

I try to see my future. I try to see myself singing in front of thousands, recording
an album, and signing autographs. I shudder at the thought of being famous. I’ve
been fortunate enough to be wealthy, but fame was something that everyone
living in LA wanted. It was the driving force for many, and a drug for others. And
now, I was being given the opportunity to have it all, but I wasn’t sure if I really
wanted any.

I look at the time when we get into the house and see that it’s only seven. My
parents head into the living room and snuggle on the couch. I can see they are
disappointed at the result of the evening, but I can’t help how I feel. I walk to my
room and pick up the phone. I dial in the number for the Jonas house and wait.

“Hello?” I hear Nick’s voice when the phone picks up.

“Hey Nick, it’s Meghan.” I say.

“Hey, how’s it going?” He asks I hear something move in my room and I swing
around startled. Terry is standing at the door. She mouths ‘is it Nick?’ and I nod.

“Pretty good, do you think I could talk to Kevin?” I ask.

“Yeah, let me go grab him. Hang on.” I hear the phone click and I wait. Terry
comes in and sits right beside me.

“If you want to talk to Nick, you should call him.” I say still listening to the phone.

She looks at me just how Nick did before Alicia and I left their house this
afternoon.

“I would I just don’t think he wants to talk to me.” She says looking down. I hug
her with one arm.

“Terry, you have no idea.” I say smiling. Just as she is about to say something, I
hear Kevin come on the phone.

“Hey Babe. What’s up.” He asks. I originally wanted to talk to him about the
meeting with John Fields, but with Terry in the room, I would rather not. I lay back
on my bed, propping my head up with my pillow.

“Not too much.” I eye Terry, and she gets the message to leave.

I glance over to the little box on my dresser as Terry leaves. I smile when I think
of the reaction Kevin will have when he opens it on his birthday.

“Alright.” He says. I wait until the door closes before I snap back to the
conversation.

“Kevin, why do you perform?” I ask staring at the ceiling.

“I guess because I can entertain people and the feeling I get when I step out on
that stage with Nick and Joe is just so…unbelievable. Seeing the faces of all our
faces is incredible. It’s dumbfounding to know that so many people know who you
are, and look to you and listen to your music and love you.” He says. I smile,
picturing his face and everything he is describing. “But, why are you asking?” He
says and laughs.

I sigh. “My parents set up a meeting with John Fields tonight, to discuss my future
in the music business.”

“Meghan that’s amazing. John is a great guy. He worked with us on our record.”
He says excitedly.

“Yeah, I know.” I say, smiling weakly. “I'm just not sure if I want to do it. I mean,
I think I could, but I don’t know if that is what I want.”

“Meg, I know it would be an amazing thing for you. I also know that no matter
what you decide, I'm going to be there to support you.” He says. He’s perfect.

“I’m always going to be there for you too. Promise.” I say quietly.

“So, when did you decide to meet with him? I mean you seemed reluctant to sing
to me today.” He asks.

“Well, I didn’t decide. My parents did. My mom sent in a demo, which she
recorded secretly. I'm really sort of upset about everything.” I say, feeling myself
become flustered. I take a few deep breaths to calm myself down.

“Well, if your parents did ask you for a demo, and ask you about setting up that
meeting, do you think you would have said yes?” He asks.

I sit up against my bed rest, flattening the pillow out behind me.

“Well, maybe I don’t know. I don’t know if it would have influenced me in any
way.” I say thinking back to tonight’s conversation.

“Maybe take everything into consideration and mull it over in your head a bit.” He
says and I can hear his smile through the phone.

“I love you.” I say softly

“I love you too.” He returns.

“I'm going to go, but you should come over tomorrow. You haven’t actually hung
out here yet.” I say.

“Yeah, that’s a good idea. I think that Nick should come too.” He says thoughtfully.
“They need to talk things over, it’s so stressful.”

“I know what you mean. They always ask about each other, but they never do
anything about it. Maybe it’s time we did.” I say as an idea pops into my head.

“Well, I want to hear what you have in mind” He says understanding me. “But I
have to go for dinner. I love you.”

“Still loving you.” I say quoting his last email.

He laughs and we say goodbye, hanging up our phones. I am so happy to be with
him again, just to have him here with me. I think about what Kevin asked me.
Would you have said yes? Maybe this is what I need. I sit and think. My mind
starts humming and I know what that means. I grab my notebook and start to jot
down words.

Its coming fast,
Gonna hit me harder
Too stubborn to see
What I could be a part of
How many days
Could measure up
To let me show them
Why I love


Bring it back so I can change my mind again
Maybe just one more time
Let me see all the bonuses and perks again
Maybe just one more time
I feel like something’s pulling at my mind
Telling me
Just to understand
Its what’s been planned

I stop there, because Alicia and Terry run into my room screaming like madmen. Terry jumps knocking me over. Woah. So her mood is changing like a menopausal woman. They sit down and stare at me intensely.

“What’s up?” I say trying to be cheerful.

“WELL.” Alicia says expectantly.

“Well, what?” I say waiting.

“Are you going to tell us about the meeting with Mr. John Fields Himself” Terry
blurts out, falling backwards and landing her head in my lap. I look to Alicia for an
explanation of her sudden jolt of happiness, but find no answers.

“Well, I guess it went okay. I don’t know if I want to do that though.” I say. I
think to the song I was just writing and can’t believe how much I am confusing
myself.

“Do you know how many awesome things you could do? You would be famous!”
Alicia shouts.

“I guess, but I don’t know. Can we not talk about it right now? I just want to have
an awesome sleepover with my best girls!” I say and pull Terry and Alicia into a
loving hug.

“Okay, okay. I will go grab the nail polish. Alicia you grab a movie. Meghan, you
make your bed so we can all sit and then go grab some bridge mixture. IT’S GIRLS
NIGHT!” Terry commands.

We all do our jobs and meet back in my room to have our sleepover. Alicia pops in
the original Pink Panther and we all laugh at the movie. Terry has my feet propped
up on her leg and is painting them a really pretty electric blue. Alicia picked spring
green for hers, and Terry wanted a plan old peach. All night long I have been
thinking about what Mr. Fields said to me at dinner. ‘I think that you could change
the way people think about teen music.’ Could I really do that? If I tried hard
enough, could I make people see that just because teenagers sing, it doesn’t mean
that their messages aren’t important?

Thinking of the first concert I ever went to, I realize something. It was an Oasis
concert and I was younger than Terry. I was 14. I remember that when Oasis
came on stage and started singing She’s Electric I felt the energy from everyone in
the crowd surge through me. Something goes off in my mind.

That’s what I want everyone to feel when I sing, and when I perform. I look at
Alicia and Terry, beside me on my bed. I know now that if I chose the path of
music for myself, I would have the most amazing people with me.

At that moment, I make up my mind, and finally, I for once, I feel like I know
where I'm going.

[blatentlyobvious]

So tired, going to bed.. read. =)

Chapter Five:::::

“It took you long enough!” I say jumping into Kevin for a hug. Nick is standing
behind him looking one hundred percent miserable. I frown at him when I pull away from Kevin. I walk to Nick and Kevin looks sad. He throws me a what-no-kiss? look, and I smile mysteriously. I reach out and hug Nick. He slumps
his arms around me.

“Hey, I'm glad you came.” I say trying to cheer him up.

“He made me. He has my phone.” Nick grunts, glaring at Kevin. I look at Kevin
and he smiles deviously at me. Nice move, I think.

“Oh,” I say putting on a disappointed face for Nick. “Well, now that you’re here, we
can all hang out right?” I say and swing my arm around him dragging him into the
living room.

He mumbles something and Kevin smacks him on the arm. I laugh. We sit down
on the couch and turn on the TV. Kevin and I are snuggled up together while Nick
is pouting in the big chair. I whisper in Kevin’s ear.

“We should find him something to keep him busy.” I say.

“Yeah but what? I mean, he’s not five.” Kevin whisper’s back.

An idea comes to mind and I spring up from my seat. I plug in Mario Kart on the
Wii and toss Nick and Kevin a controller.

“Game on.” I say looking confidently at Nick. He sits up, giving me the reaction I
was hoping for.

“Alright.” He says grabbing the controller.

Kevin grabs me around my waist and pulls me to him.

“No distractions.” I say strictly. “You, sit on that end, I will sit here, and Nick can
stay there. I mean business Mr.” I say. Kevin pouts, I glare and he finally laughs
and moves over, but not before kissing me softly.

I start up the game, and as first player grab Mario. Kevin picks Bowzer and Nick
chooses Toad.

“Oh, you two are so going down.” I say as the little start light changes and we take
off, our little cartoon karts swerving across the tracks.

After a few races and a couple goes on Guitar Hero as well as a nice break outside,
we have Nick laughing and he seems to be out of his glum mood. I smile at Kevin
who is beside me again on the couch and he nods. I’m sure things will change
when Terry gets home from school though.

And speak of the runt, she is home and unlocks the front door. Nick looks at the
front hall immediately. I see him swallow hard.

“Hey, Meghan I'm home. You want to go to a mov-“ Terry says walking into the
living room. She stops when she sees Nick sitting on the couch. Her face pulls into
a frown and she stands awkwardly, moving a strand of hair behind her ear. She
tugs at the over-sized sweater she is wearing. It looks familiar.

“Hi.” She says looking at Nick. Kevin and I both watch Nick for his reaction. He is
just as surprised.

“Hey Terry.” He says quietly, frowning. Terry nods to Kevin and I and walks to her
room looking staggered.

“You didn’t tell me she was going to be here.” Nick says shooting daggers at Kevin.

“What’s the problem Nick? You two have things you need to work out.” I say
calmly.

“I can’t do it. You saw her. She just walked away. She doesn’t want to talk to me.”
He says as his face flushes. He slumps back down on the couch and puts his head
in his hands. I turn to Kevin and whisper in his ear.

“Now. The storage room is the third door on the left. Go!” I command into his ear.
He smiles and kisses me lightly on the check before walking over to a startled Nick.

“What?” Nick says looking up at his big brother. Kevin smiles and leans down,
slinging Nick over his back. Nick starts to smack Kevin and tells him to put him
down. Kevin walks up the stairs with a struggling Nick on hand and that’s my cue.
I get up and run to Terry’s room.

“Hey Terry, can you help me find something in the storage room? We want to play
a board game.” I say quickly as I burst into her room. I don’t take the time to see
that her eyes are red and she is sniffling.

“What? What’s all the commotion?” She says standing abruptly as we hear a door slam.

“Nothing. Come on.” I say wide-eyed but smiling and grab her hand. I pull her
down the hall and Kevin opens the door, letting me throw Terry in with Nick. He
shuts it again with a bang and I jump.

“Sorry!” Kevin says smirking as he leans his weight against the door, holding our
siblings in. I reach into my bra (yes, my bra) and sneakily pull out the key that I
have been hiding in there since lunch. Kevin is staring at me. I throw him a look
and lock the door.

“MEGHAN YOU BITCH LET ME OUT!” Terry screams. I fake gasp.

“No need for such language, especially around my virgin ears!” I say holding back a
laugh.

“Kevin I'm gonna kill you!” Nick yells.

“Well, you can do that later. You two have issues that you need to work out.” He
says putting his arm around my waist and talking to the door.

“He’s right. Mom and Dad are gone for the next-“ I check my watch. “Wow, six
hours. You can indulge in the food in the fridge and cupboard until then.” I yell into
the big white piece of wood.

“Wait, we’re giving them rations?” Kevin asks. I nod, smiling. “Awe MAN! Way to
ruin my harsh tactics.” He whines. I punch him in the arm and walk down the
stairs into the kitchen. Kevin follows.

“You want a smoothie Boyfriend?” I ask walking into the kitchen.

“Mmm. That sounds perfect!” He says leaning down and planting his lips on mine.
It seems mean to be making out while Terry and Nick sit locked in the little room.
The feeling of guilt quickly passes as Kevin deepens the kiss. After a few moments,
I pull back smiling.

“I can’t make smoothies if you’re attached to my lips!” I scold. Kevin laughs and
throws up his arms.

“With a girlfriend as incredible as you, its hard to resist.” He says propping his chin
up on his elbows and leaning on the island counter. I bat my eyelashes and smile
shyly. He laughs and I turn away to grab the blender.

“What kind?” I ask him scooping the vanilla ice cream into the blender.

“Chocolate. Well, no maybe Strawberry. Wait! Do you have blueberries? No, maybe
just a good old chocolate.” He says unable to pick.

“My, my, Kevin Jonas are you ever indecisive. Chocolate it is.” I say and lean up to
grab the chocolate syrup from the pantry. It’s pretty high up but I stand on my
toes to get it. I can only poke at the bottom of it and make it move forward a little.

“Meghan, let me-“ Kevin says stepping to the cupboard. He is too late though. I
watch as the bottle of syrup comes tumbling down from the shelf. I get ready to
catch it, but due to my inability to co-ordinate, fail to do so. The bottle cap hits the
top of my head and the syrup spills all over me. I scream as the gooey mess drips
down my hair and into my face. Kevin is laughing hysterically when I look up at
him. I can’t help but grin.

“Shut UP!” I shout laughing now too. I reach down to grab the bottle and put the
messy lid back on. I drop it into the sink.

“You know, I think I like you better as a blonde.” He says through his laughter. I
simply glare at him through my dripping bangs. He leans forward and looks at me
closer.

“You have some thing right there.” He says as his hand brushes my cheek. Shivers
run down my spine. I smile.

“I don’t have any napkins on hand.” I say softly leaning closer to him.

“I guess I could help.” He leans forward and kisses the syrup off my cheek and
then moves his mouth to mine. My tongue eagerly pushes his lips apart. He pulls
back too soon.

“Yum.” He says grinning like a madman.

“I should go get this out. I’ll be back for more.” I say as I trot up the stairs to my
room. I hear Nick yell “hey!” as I run by, but ignore him. I close my door tight and
run to the washroom with my robe. When I finally get the mess out of my hair
and off my skin, I run the water so that the tub fills up a bit. I get out and dump
my clothes into the warm water, letting them soak. I change into a t-shirt and
loose jeans and run back down to the kitchen.

“I cleaned up a bit.” Kevin says smiling at me. The mess on the floor is gone and
there are two delicious looking chocolate smoothies sitting on the counter.

“Same here! Oh, thank you!” I smile and hug him tight, and leave him with a fiery
kiss before grabbing my drink and heading to the living room. He follows behind
me, seeming to be a little flushed from the kiss.

“I want to watch a movie. How about you?” I say as Kevin sits down at the end of
the couch right beside me.

“I'm really in the mood for Jurassic Park right now. I don’t suppose you have that
do you?” He says excited. I frown. I know we don’t have it.

“No, sorry. But, I do have…TRANSFORMERS!” I yell, jumping up to do a superhero
pose. I will never get tired of that movie, or Shia LaBeuf. YUM-MAY.

“Ha, ha, ha. Well, with a pose like that, I think it’s a yes!” He says laughing.

I run over and pop open the DVD case, realizing that first off, the disk is already in
the machine and secondly, my butt is sticking straight out. I stand up straight and
walk back to the couch blushing.

“What?” Kevin says smirking. I giggle and shake my head. Kevin reaches for the
DVD remote surprising me.

“How did you know it was that one?” I ask curiously.

“We have the same DVD player.” He says. He wraps his arm around me and I
snuggle up to him, laying my head against his chest. We start watching the movie,
and before I know it, I'm in a deep sleep.

Nick and Terry are fighting so I run to stop them. Terry lashes out against me, and
tears a searing pain in the side of my leg. Someone else is coming into the picture,
and slowly pulls Terry out of my view. Nick hugs her and Joe pushes him away.
Frankie is standing in the darkness looking terrified. I call to him to come to me
and when he does, I hug him tight. Kevin comes behind me and pulls me up at the
waist while Frankie is still on my hip and suddenly, millions of people are standing
in front of me, waiting for something. I look to my left and see Nick and Joe
rocking out and to my right is Kevin, still holding on to me. Frankie grabs a
microphone and into it begins to chant my name. Meghan, Meghan, Meghan! The
crowd yells back in unison. These people are cheering for me. I smile, and as I
begin to cautiously sing the words to an unfamiliar song, the searing pain on my
thigh is back. It hurts only for a moment, until it subsides to a light vibration.

“Meghan, we’re buzzing.” Kevin says groggily, waking me up from my dream.

“Oh, phone.” I say as I move to pull it out. Kevin rests his head on his hand and
closes his eyes again. “Hello?” I say picking up.

“Oh, my God, I am going to KILL you. You fell asleep?!” Terry yells through the
phone. I bolt up, accidently giving Kevin a kick on the way. He jumps up as well
looking completely flabbergasted. I mutter sorry to him and return to the phone.

“Woah! SORRY!” I say. I hang up the phone, look at the time and, realizing that
we actually left them in there for four sprint up the stairs, pulling out the key for
storage room. Kevin is here now too and I swing the door open when it is
unlocked and Nick and Terry look up. Nick is way at the back and Terry is right by
the door. Not the result I was looking for and considering Terry’s eyes are
bloodshot, I don’t think it’s the outcome that anyone would have wanted.

“Terry, sorry I-“ I start.

“Save it.” She says shaking her head and slipping past me. I look at Kevin and
shrug.

Nick walks out and looks at Kevin. “Could we go home?” He asks him quietly. He
seems worse than Terry.

“Sorry man. It was only meant to help.” Kevin says.

“It’s fine, let’s just go. Bye Meg.” Nick says waving to me as he walked to the
front.

“Sorry Babe. I will call you later. I love you.” Kevin says quickly kissing me before
running to catch up with Nick.

I feel a sickness in my stomach. I guess my plan only hurt them more. I walk to
Terry’s room and knock on the door.

“Ter. Can I talk to you?” I say leaning my head against the door. I don’t get an
answer. But I hear footsteps approach the door. I expect that she will open it, but
instead I hear a sigh and watch as the light at the bottom of the door goes black. I
walk away and go to my own room, pulling the key out and tossing it into the
drawer of my desk. I sigh and lay on my bed. It’s just eight in the evening, but I
feel horrible and tired and crawl into my bed miserably. I lay there, letting my
thoughts wander. I think back to the dream I have just had.

Someone like me doesn’t deserve that, not now.

[blatentlyobvious]

Gahh... I hope everyone likes it.. For me some of it was sort of...Blah.
BUT ANYWAYS.
GARBORATOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! = LOVE

Chapter Six::::::

I jump when I hear a massive rumble and clogging sound come out of the kitchen.
I'm sitting on the couch watching the morning news with my parents. Well, I'm
trying, but that noise is getting louder and it’s impossible to hear. Mom and Dad
look at me. I shrug.

“Do you mind?” My Dad says. I sigh and go to the kitchen.

“Terry! What the hell?” I say as I watch her shove some sort of shirt down the
garbage disposal. She turns around. Her face is red and she looks sweaty.

“Get the hell away from me.” She says glaring at me.

“Look, I said I was sorry.” I say. I have been apologizing for the Nick thing since
they left, but she doesn’t seem to be over it.

“You know what? Just forget about that. I have.” Alright, so I was wrong. She
turns back to the sink and flips the switch, reminding me why I came in here in
the first place.

I rush to the sink and flip the switch off. Terry tries to shove me away as I pull at
the stuck cloth. I shove her out of the way and rip the shirt out of the garbage
disposal.

“What the HELL?” I shout holding the sweater. It’s the same one she wore during
the first month of separation. I finally realize that this is Nick’s sweater. I narrow
my eyes and she backs up a little looking uneasy. “Why would you put THIS down
the garbage disposal? You probably BROKE IT!” I shout. I throw the ripped up
sweater at her.

“I just wanted to get rid of it.” She says throwing it on the island counter. I look at
her confused.

“There are way better ways than breaking that.” I say pointing to the sink. “And if
you really wanted to get rid of it, the scissors are in the drawer.” She sits down on
the stool at the counter and places her head in her hands. She isn’t crying, just
thinking I suppose.

“What’s the problem?” Mom says poking her head into the kitchen. Terry and I
both smile at her.

“Nothing mom, I just had some trouble getting something down the Garborater.
Meghan fixed it.” Terry says pulling the sweater into her lap. My mom nods and
walks away. I look curiously at Terry.

“Why do you just shut me out now? Tell me what’s going on Terry.” I say grabbing
the seat beside her.

“I'm seeing someone.” She says. Well that certainly was open. I look at her in
disbelief.

“Who?” Is all I can think to say.

“This guy from school. Trey. I was really happy and okay with everything. And
now that Nick is back, it just ruins everything. I hate him.” She says looking at
me with sadness.

“Well, thanks for telling me sooner. And you don’t hate him Terry.” I say
knowingly. She toys with the cloth in her lap.

“No. I don’t hate him. I hate the way I feel because of him. I hate what he did to
me. So no, I don’t hate him, but I hate what he has caused. Trey seems to fix all
of that. But yesterday, being there with him, everything went a-wire.” She says,
never taking her eyes off Nick’s sweater.

“And you thought shredding this would help?” I say gently pulling the sweater
from her arms. She smiles weakly.

“I guess.” She answers.

“Well, I just wish you would have told me about this Trey guy sooner. You never
tell me anything anymore.” I say frowning.

“I know, it’s just hard to when you’re so caught up in Kevin.” She sighs and placed
the sweater on the counter. I stare at the chewed up edges of Nick’s sweater. I
think back to the reactions of both of them, and begin to understand what exactly
I’ve caused.

“Sweetie I’m so sorry, I didn’t know what would happen. We just thought…“ I trail
off, feeling guilt swelling inside me.

“No, I would have had to see him eventually. He would have found out about Trey;
everyone would have. Besides, he mentioned Kim again, and how she might be
coming back into the picture. He just doesn’t want me.” She frowns and gets up.

“I want you to meet Trey, I want everyone to like him, and I want whatever is
going on between Nick and I to end for good.” She explains.

I stand up as well and take both her hands. “For it to go away, you need to talk
things over. If you don’t want a relationship with him then you better make it
clear soon, because no matter what you think, that boy does want you, and more
than you know.” I tell her. She rolls her eyes half way and I tug her hands,
drawing her attention back. “Terry, I'm glad that this guy makes you happy, but I
want you to know that if you let go of Nick, you are making a big mistake.” I drop
her hands and without another word, I leave her with my true feelings.

--------

I'm talking to Kevin on the phone. He and his family are on their way to see some
old friends, and he won’t be home until later this evening. He told me that he
would rather not go and just spend the day at home, but I would give anything to
be in Kevin’s place today. Today I was going to meet the guy that “fixed” things
with my sister, Trey Hunter. Already I held a grudge against him, for the sole
reason that he was holding my sister back from someone way better for her.

For the past half an hour all Kevin and I have talked about was weather. I have
no idea how we managed it. It moved from the spring weather of LA to the
autumn chill in Hamilton, Ontario. He was waiting for Nick to fall asleep.

“He’s out.” Kevin said in a hushed tone.

I sighed. “Lets never spend that much time talking about weather ever again,
please.” I begged.

He let out a quiet laugh and spoke up. “Did you talk to Terry about it?”

I leaned back in the couch, propping my feet up on my Dad who looked at them
puzzled and returned to his papers. He was working on some details for the
revealing of the new wing of the hospital.

“Yeah, two days ago. I finally told her she was making a big mistake, and she
hasn’t really spoken to me since then.” I say thinking of yesterday’s silence. It
was Friday and I wanted to hang out with her, but she sort of shrugged off all my
attempts, excusing herself due to “a shit load of homework.” I knew she was lying
because she currently had a long weekend.

“So she was giving you the cold shoulder?” He asks.

“I don’t think I would call it that. It was more of avoidance. She just didn’t want to
be around me.” I explained. “And you talked to Nick?” I asked.

“Yeah, but he talked his heart out. I feel terrible for him, this whole thing. I just
wanted to help them fix things. He loves her.” Kevin replied.

“Shit.” I mutter. Love complicates everything, I should know. “And now he has to
deal with this Trey guy?” I sulk.

“Well, maybe they will never meet.” He says hopefully.

“Kevin, are we fighting their battle for them?” I ask dreading the answer. I twirl
the cord around my finger while I wait for Kevin to answer.

“Yeah, I think we are.” I hear him answer and sigh. There is a silence for a
moment before Kevin changes the subject. “Are you looking forward to the studio
time with John?” He asks me. I can hear the excitement in his voice. My head
swirls.

Another thing that happened yesterday while Terry was off avoiding me; I called
John Fields and told him that I would love to take up his offer, and would be more
than happy to sing for him. We set up a studio appointment for Monday. I made
sure that Kevin was the first to know, and called him right before telling my
parents. I hadn’t told Terry yet, but she would know soon enough.

“Are you kidding? I'm so excited.” I say smiling. My Dad looks to me and he grins.
He knows what I'm talking about. “I'm glad you’re coming too.” I say blushing. My
dad is listening so I throw him a look. My Dad chuckles and looks away.

“I wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to hear you sing again. I'm sure the world
won’t have to wait much longer to experience it either!” He says.

“Charmer.” I joke.

He laughs lightly. I hear a voice in the background. “Joe wants to know if Alicia is
there.” Kevin states.

“You can tell him that she will be back from her vacation late tonight.” I say. I
hear Kevin relay the message to Joe. I haven’t seen Alicia for around five days
because her folks wanted to take her on a road trip. I was really anticipating her
return. She would be with me tomorrow when I went to meet with Mr. Fields.

“He said thanks. I think I should go. We’re almost at the house. I love you so
much.” Kevin said before hanging up.

“I love you too.” I say and see my dad turn his head to raise his eyebrow. I giggle
and sit up. “What?”

“My little girl is in love?” He questions, holding his eyebrow up. I’ve always wanted
to be able to do that. That particular gene was left out when my DNA was formed.
Nonetheless, I tried, raising my eye brows, twisting my face, sticking out my
tongue.

I look at my dad who is laughing loudly. “What are you doing?” He asks me.

“I was trying to do that thing with my eyebrow.” I say frowning. I give up.

“Oh. What? This?” He says doing it again. I glare.

“Yeah, yeah, don’t rub it in hotshot.” I laugh. My dad wraps his arm around me
and shows me the plans for the opening ceremony.

“How does it look?” He asks hugging me. I survey his plans and nod satisfied.

“Its going to be amazing Daddy.” I squeeze him and get up when I hear the
doorbell. “You ready to meet Trey?” I ask my Dad. He sighs and tidies his papers,
placing them on the table.

“No. I would much rather prefer she wasn’t dating anyone.” I roll my eyes and
walk to the door. I lean against the wall and watch as it opens. Inside steps my
sister and a very tall guy with ripped, stone wash jeans and a Hollister Tee.

“Hey Meghan.” Terry says actually acknowledging me. I nod and cross my arms.
My Dad walks up to the door looking stern. Terry looks awkwardly from Dad to
Trey. “Uh, Trey this is my sister Meghan and my Dad.” Trey says hi to me, and
steps forward to shake hands with my dad. Good start kid, I think to myself.

“Sir.” He says. His voice is deep and he looks way too old to be with my sister. My
Dad looks assured, and walks back to the living room to start up with his papers
again.
I can already predict the proceedings of this evening. Boyfriend meets Mom, Dad,
and sister, joins them for a friendly “get-to-know-you” dinner, charms them all,
and goes home, leaving everyone to forget about Nick, the one who should really
be here right now.

“I'm just going to start dinner. You want to help?” Terry asks Trey. Trey looks
disinterested.

“I think I will just stay and get to know your sister better, if that’s okay with you.”
He says to Terry. She smiles and he leans over to kiss her on the lips. I roll my
eyes and look away. Who said I wanted to stay with the kid, and who asked me if I
minded the PDA?

“Do you remember me?” Trey asks in a husky voice when Terry leaves the front
hall. I look at him confused.

“What?” I ask. He smiles at me and moves a little closer. I am almost against the
wall. I realize that Trey is tall, but only when beside my little sister. Near me he is
only an inch or so taller.

“I was a sophomore when you graduated. I was in your communications class. We
talked for the whole semester.” He smiles. I DO remember...

“No way. You’re THAT Trey?” He nods. He has changed so much. He’s obviously
grown into his lanky arms and legs, and his braces are gone. It’s then that I realize
that he is eighteen now, dating my sixteen year old sister.

“I missed you.” He says and suddenly leans into my neck. I push him off.

“Woah, buddy. What the hell do you think you’re doing? I have a boyfriend!” I say
disgusted.

“And I have a girl friend, but who’s going to say anything?” He says devilishly. I
shiver and start to walk away. His arm catches mine and my mind flashes back to
the summer, at the club. I try to control myself, not wanting to start anything. He
turns me and leans in to me, trying to kiss me. He lips brush mine before I slap
him hard across his cheek.

“Stay the fuck away from me.” I walk away as he rubs his cheek. I run to my
room and try to cool off. He was never that much of a creep when I went to school
with him. We only ever took one class together, but thinking back, he had been a
little too open.

“Nice pick Terry.” I say as I close my door and lean against it. I wouldn’t say
anything, I knew I wouldn’t, but I knew that kid had to go. I slumped down into
my disk chair with the intention of concocting a plan. Instead, I found that the
words to a song came flowing out of my pen. I picked up my Dove and played until
I was relaxed.

I tensed up when my Dad called me down for dinner. I walked into the dining room
and saw Terry and Trey flirting and cuddling until my dad walked in. Trey looked up
as I pulled out the chair and sat down. We joined hands to say grace and bowed
our heads. I looked up before everyone else to see Trey licking his lips at me. I just
glared at him. He didn’t understand what he was doing, but I could see that Terry
was happy.

I would hate to ruin that, but I knew that it was my job to protect her, and that
meant removing sick, creepy, lying Trey from the equation.

[blatentlyobvious]

This is short, because I needed it to be a bit of a filler chapter. You might see a few more of them.
I hope you all like it.
=)

Chapter Seven:::::::

“Kevin, I'm glad you’re here.” I say as I wrap my arms tight around his neck.
We’re in the studio hall and I'm waiting to meet with John Fields. Kevin’s here,
along with Alicia, Mom and Terry. The three girls have gone off to look around the
office, and Kevin is alone with me.

“I wouldn’t miss it.” He says kissing my neck. I smile and pull away.

“I don’t want to get caught.” I say. Kevin smiles mischievously.

“That makes it so much more fun though!” He says pulling me back. I giggle and
squirm away, right in time to catch Mr. Fields opening the studio door.

“Miss Parker,” He says addressing me first and then turning to Kevin. “Kev, how
you been?” He says giving Kevin a guy hug.



We step into the studio and I look around. The studio is beautiful, complete with
fully automated controls and panels. I look at Mr. Fields as he closes the door
behind us.

“So, Meghan, I'm really glad you decided that this was what you wanted.” He says
grinning and plopping down in the lounge chair. He gestures for Kevin and I to sit
down as well. “Did you bring your material with you?” He asks.

I pull out the papers and wave them. “Right here sir.” I say and hear Kevin stifle a
laugh. I throw him a look. Mr. Fields laughs as well.

“You don’t have to call me Sir, or even Mr. Fields. Just call me John. Now, if you
don’t mind, just step into that room and give me your best.” He says all at once.

I look at Kevin who smiles at me reassuringly and open the door to the room with
the mike. I hand Kevin the papers with my songs.

“I won’t need those. You can take a look if you like.” I say with confidence. The
door into the whole office opens and my mom, Alicia and Terry join Kevin and John
as I continue to the room. Perfect, I think.

I step up to the microphone and look to John. He gives the green light and I begin
singing. I pour my heart into the song. It’s the same one I sang for Kevin. I finish
and look up to see five smiling faces looking back at me. I grin. Well I guess that
went well then, I think to myself. I see John press a button on the console and his
voice comes into the room.

“This will be easy, now all you need is a tour spot.” He says leaning back in the
chair.

I beam and look at my mom, best friend and sister. For so long, I’ve wanted to
make so many people proud, and today, seeing the tears brimming in my mom’s
eyes, I’ve done just that.

---------

“He did what?” Kevin says raising his voice. I sigh.

“Kevin, I didn’t let him do anything. He tried to kiss me but I got him away from
me. You know I can handle myself.” I say trying to calm him down. I don’t think
I’ve ever seen him mad about anything.

“You really don’t have any difficulty attracting problems, do you?” I stop. I stand
up from his bed.

“What did you just say?” I growl. He sees the anger in my eyes and catches
himself, a sentence to late.

“It wasn’t anything against you.” He says apologetically.

“How the hell is this MY fault.” I say blowing up at him. He sits on his bed looking
taken aback. “Terry was the one who decided that he was the solution to her
problems. Not me. I don’t make these things happen Kevin.” I say turning away
from him briskly.

He stands up and walks to me, wrapping his safe warm arms around my middle
and resting his head on my shoulder.

“I'm sorry. I know that it’s not your fault you’re so irresistible. But I think he
needs to go.” He says into my neck, kissing me gently underneath my jaw.

I sigh. He knows how to calm me down. He knows all to well. I turn in his arms
and kiss him slowly before pulling back.

“I love you.” I say.

“I love you too.” He says holding me. “So what’s your plan?”

“I don’t have one this time.” I say quietly.

--------

Turns out I have a little help from some unknown force. Walking home from work
with Kevin we pass Trey, with a blonde girl around the same height as Terry. I look
closer I see that it is not my sister, but some other girl. Kevin and I exchange
glances and he pulls out his phone. He snaps a few close ups on Trey and the girl.

“You would make a brilliant paparazzi.” I say to him as we continue on our way. He
smiles quickly before the line of his mouth falls into a frown.

“How are you going to tell Terry?” He asks.

I look at Kevin. “With you right beside me.” I say. He groans and I smack him on
the arm.

“Suck it up Macho. Things are going to be fine.” I say, not all too sure that I'm
telling the truth.

---------

When we get inside the front door, I see Terry sitting on the couch. She isn’t
alone. A pretty girl, seemingly around the same age as Terry is on the other end of
the couch. She has long brown hair tied back into fishtail braids and a serious face
with sharp lines. She wears them well however, and is actually very pretty.

“Who’s that?” Kevin whispers in my ear. I look at him without an answer.

“No idea. Come on.” I say grabbing his hand and walking into the living room.

“Hi Terry. Who’s this?” I ask directly.

“Oh, hi guys. Uh, Meg this is Kim. Kim Fischer.” She gives me a look and it sinks
in. Holy. This is that Kim, THE Kim that screwed things up for Terry and Nick. I feel
emotion burning in the pit of my stomach.

Kevin reaches his hand out as Terry introduces us both. I shake her hand, biting
back the bitterness swelling in me.

“Kim, it was good to meet you. If you don’t mind, we are having company tonight
and have to get things ready.” I lie.

“Oh, well, enjoy yourselves.” She says politely and Terry takes her to the front
door.

When Terry comes back into the living room she looks confused. I hate to bring
this on her now, but she needs to know about Trey as soon as possible. I ask Kevin
for his phone. I know that he doesn’t want to be a part of this, but I will need the
backup from him. My sister has always been stubborn.

“Sit.” I instruct. Terry doesn’t say anything and simply returns to her spot from
before.

“Kevin, can you get to the pictures for me?” I ask quietly. He does and I hand the
phone to Terry.

“You need to know who Trey really is. He’s made a move on me, and he is
obviously leading you on.” I explain as the shock registers on my sister’s face. I
hate to hurt her like this, but some things need to be done in one swift motion,
like a band-aid. I grab Kevin’s hand beside me as Terry starts to cry.

“Why does this happen? I find something that makes me happy and something
always has to get in the way of it. Kim, this girl…” She says through her tears.

I turn and look at Kevin. “Thank you. I need to talk to her though.” I say quietly.
He nods.

“Yeah, I should get back home. I love you.” He says kissing me on the forehead.

“You too.” I say as he walks to the front.

“Terry.” I say sitting down beside my sister and cradling her. Without hesitation
Terry falls into me and cries on me. I stroke her hair. “Sweetie, I'm sorry, but he’s
not a good person.”

“I'm such a dip shit.” She says, causing me to chuckle.

“You’re not a Dip Shit. He’s a man whore.” She cries harder into me and I let her.
She rambles on about how she should have seen it, and how stupid it was until
finally, she drifts into sleep. I sit on the couch, not feeling sad, but instead enjoying
each minute that her eyes are closed, because finally, I have her back.

After an hour of sitting with an unconscious Terry, my mom and dad walk through
the front door.

“Hello? Girls, we’re home.” My mom says.

“In here.” I state simply. My Dad walks in first and smiles when he sees Terry
asleep in my arms. He doesn’t catch on as fast as my mom.

“God, what happened?” She says quietly. When I think of how to explain, I notice
Kevin’s phone on the coffee table. I point to it and my Dad picks it up.

“Can you see the pictures?” I ask quietly. Terry moves a bit, snuggling closer.

“Unfortunately.” My mom says looking disapprovingly at Kevin’s phone.

“You understand?” I ask, directing the question to my dad.

“Yeah. I get it.” He says. They sit down in the living room beside us, turning on our
fireplace. For whatever reason, the house came with one. But it fits tonight.

“You know, you’re not going to have many more times like this after what I’ve
heard.” Dad remarks. I look at him questioningly and then realize he is talking
about my music.

“I don’t know that yet Daddy. It’s only the beginning.” I say as my sister groans. I
smile at her and think of when she was younger; she used to fall asleep on me all
the time when I baby-sat her. I look at my parents who are looking back at my
sister and I. My mom has the camera out and I smile to myself.

“No Sweetie,” My mom says looking at me proudly. “You’re future is written.”

[blatentlyobvious]

Well, I realize that this has taken FOREVER to post, but now that it's up, I really hope you all enjoy the insanely uninteresting dialogue for the last bit of the chapter. =) I thought it was very uninteresting to write, but everyone needs to know whats going on, so what the heck!

rEad rEview rEduce rEuse rEcycle.
rEprEsEnt

Chapter Eight::::::::

I feel like I was run over by a truck when I wake up. My back is aching. I look around and don’t see Terry. I'm still on the couch. I must have fallen asleep. I force myself up and walk to the kitchen. Dad is making eggs and bacon and mom and Terry are sitting at the island.

“Good morning.” I say groggily as I pull up a chair. Everyone returns my greeting
and I see the time. It’s eleven. I feel like I'm forgetting about something, but
when Dad puts a plate in front of me, I don’t care.

While my mom talks about the record label and gives me a bit of an inside look at the business, everyone finishes their breakfasts.

“So, anyway, I think it would be a good idea for you to bring your guitar next time, and just practice a bit here at home.” She finishes. I nod and she and my dad say goodbye to us, both off to work on a slow Thursday. Leaving this late means they will both be working late tonight.

“You going to tell him today?” I ask quietly.

“Yeah, today’s the day.” She says pushing a piece of bacon around on her plate. I reach forward and grab it, making her laugh. “I’ll see you later.” She says getting
up from her chair. She pulls out her phone to check the time, and I'm reminded of what I need to do today.

“Kevin’s phone!” I say hopping up. I race to the living room and swipe it off the table. I run to my room and pull on some nice clothes before checking my calendar. I don’t work until October 4th, two days before my birthday, and three days from now. My nineteenth birthday. No one has said anything to me about it. Not like the usual “what do you want?” routine that I go through year after year. I
only hope that my family won’t forget about me.

Now part of my morning, I look at the box with the little bow. The one intended for Kevin’s birthday. In about a month, he’ll be celebrating his, but he won’t be home. I'm planning on giving him the gift on the day before they leave. The 30th.
I slip on some vans and head to the Jonas house. When I get to the front, I see my parents car parked in their driveway. I shake my head, confused.
I ring the doorbell, still looking at the car. Joe opens the door, grinning. Alicia is beside him, and I'm surprised to see Terry as well. Kevin is by his parents and Frankie, who are with mine. I look around. The only person not present is Nick.

“Hi…everyone.” I say slowly. The group looks at me, eyes wide. Frankie starts to run to me, but Kevin catches him and claps his hand over his little mouth.

“Meghan.” Alicia says, guiding me out the front door and closing it behind her. She smiles, looking surprised. “What are you doing here?” She asks seeming to be a little flustered. I look at her.

“Should I have called?” I ask, suspicious. “I have Kevin’s phone.” I say waving it in front of her. She snatches it away and walks to the front door again.

“Thanks. He will appreciate it. Okay, bye Meghan!” She says quickly and slips inside the front door of the Jonas house.

“Wait-“ I say too late. “What the hell.” I mumble, glaring at the house. I think of sneaking around to the back to see what’s going on, but I decide against it and instead return home.

I'm upset, to say the least, but I just want to know what everyone is doing without me.

I get through the door and the phone starts ringing.

“Hello?” I say happily. I hope its Kevin, calling to explain.

False Hopes.

“Is this Meghan?” Says a small voice.

“Yes, who’s this?” I ask curiously.

“It’s Margret. I work at the same Starbucks as you and we need you to come in. We had to let a girl go yesterday and now we’re supremely – Grande strawberries and cream frappe is ready – short staffed.” She says, her voice louder now.

“Yeah, but I'm not supposed to work for another three days.” I say stubbornly.

“We’ll pay you overtime and you can have an extra break, we just really need the extra help.” She offers. Doesn’t sound too bad…

“Alright. Should I come by now?” I ask a little frustrated.

“Yes. Thank you Mary.”

“Meghan.”

“Right.” She said and hung up the phone.

I sigh and jog upstairs to change into my uniform. I was going to spend these days with Kevin. We had plans. I shake my head. This was ridiculous. I made plans and now because management fired me it was my responsibility to fill in.

This is why I quit working at the mall…

I sigh and grab my keys, phone and purse and head back down stairs. I write a note, even though I know it’s likely I’ll be home before everyone else. I’ll have to phone Kevin to apologize when I get my first break.

----

I work for three hours before I get my first break. It’s eleven and really want to
talk to Kevin.

“Kevin?” I say when his phone picks up.

“Hi. Where are you?” He says unevenly. It sounds like he is walking.

“Kevin, I’m so sorry. Work called and told me that I had to come in.” I say quietly.
Margret, the one who told me to come in is watching my conversation intently. I feel sort of uncomfortable with her listening in. I get up and walk into the
washroom.

“Oh. Yeah, alright. We can do something tomorrow.” He says cheerfully.

“I can’t. Margret asked me to be here tomorrow.” I say sadly. I know he’s going to
be upset now, and tell me that it really sucks. Maybe he will tell me he’ll visit me
on my breaks.

“Well, I guess that’s better. Yeah, I'm pretty busy this week anyways.” He says, surprising me.

“Huh. With what?” I ask suspiciously.

“I have to go Meghan.” He says ignoring the question. “Bye.” And the phone clicks.

“Love you.” I say too late.

I don’t understand what happened. Was he mad? He’s obviously making up the
part about being busy, but he didn’t sound like he cared at all. He
sounded…distracted.

-----

Yesterday, after work, I didn’t want to talk to anyone and I was still upset about
what happened with Kevin. It was so ridiculous. I didn’t call him when I got home, and I didn’t hear back from him, so I moped around until nine and then popped in
Dirty Dancing. With all the emotions from the day, I actually cried when Baby
found Penny on the floor of the kitchen. I’d never done that before.

Once again, I was by myself at the house. I called Alicia and when she picked up
she told me she couldn’t hang out because she was with Joe, and that tonight or tomorrow wouldn’t work either. I started to feel forgotten and especially with my birthday four days away. So I called work and asked to come in.

I walk into work at 11:00 and see Gloria, the manager out front serving the customers during the morning rush. I throw down my bag in the staff lounge and
tie on my apron.

“Hey, Gloria, thanks again for letting me work the rest of the week.” I say as I take over till.

“Sure. Just not sure why you’re crazy enough to want to.” She says and smiles. I returned her kindness and told her I would handle cash so she could break.

“What can I get for you?” I ask turning to the next customer in line. A cute boy with dark brown wavy locks is smiling at me. He peeks over his sunglasses.

“Joe, what are you doing here?” I ask quietly. “Aren’t you supposed to be with
Alicia?”

Panic flashes over his eyes for a minute, but then he smiles again.

“Yeah. She’s out in the car.” I look past him and see no car.

“What car?” I ask eying him suspiciously.

“Oh-my phone is ringing!” He says exasperated and runs off. What the hell is with people?

“Can I get a Carmel macchiato?” The woman who was behind Joe says snapping my attention back to work.

“Carmel Macchiato!” I call to Drew, the guy doing orders today. “Is there anything else?” I ask sweetly. The woman points to the display case and I grab her a piece
of pumpkin loaf.

“I think it’s pretty neat you know Joe Jonas.” She says quietly as she waits for the debit machine to go.

“Um, I guess, yeah.” I say looking away.

“You know the others too?” She asks. This is becoming rather annoying but I nod.

“Well, that’s pretty fantastic. Have a nice day dear.” She says before dropping a five-dollar bill into the tip jar.

With everything that’s going on, that tip is way more fantastic than those secretive boys.

----

I'm waiting on my break.

I tried calling Kevin last night, but it went to voicemail. I got Alicia’s voice mail too.
I even tried Joe and Nick. I wanted to talk to someone about the weirdness. When Nick picked up I told him it was me and he got flustered and said he had some
chores to do.

I cried myself to sleep because no one was around to hear.

I see Mom come through the front doors and look around. I wave at her when her eye catches mine. She walks over and joins me at the table.

“Hi Mom. What are you doing here?” I ask as she pulls her purse onto her lap.

“I just wanted to talk to you. It’s important, but since our schedules are sort of clashing this was the only time I could take to tell you.” She says quickly. When people say things like this to me, my stomach can’t help but start to flip a little.

“What’s up?” I ask leaning forward a little. Mom sighs and then leans in as well.

“I'm pregnant.” She tells me.

My eyes are wide and my heart is pounding. I grin ear to ear.

“You’re pregnant?” I exclaim. A few people look in our direction and my mom laughs and nods her head. We stand and I give her a huge hug. She takes my hand and puts it against her belly.

“Three months!” She says proudly. “It’s a boy.”
I smiled

“Well, good job keeping it from Terry and I for that long. Does she know?” I ask and we both sit back down.

“No, but we aren’t telling her for a little while. She’s been through a lot lately. You can’t tell anyone else though, alright?” She tells me. I nod, assuring her that I
won’t.

“Mom, I can talk to John and cancel the tour.” I say now realizing that the baby is
going to need a lot of attention.

“Well, I want to talk to you about that too.” She says and pauses. “John thinks that you could open for the Boys, because with the crowds they draw, you would get a lot of attention.” She smiles.

“Are you kidding?” I say brightly. “Mom that would be fantastic!” I exclaim.

“Yeah. I think you should do it. The only condition would be that your sister and I would come with you. Dad has to stay behind because of all the work to do with the hospital. We would be away for three months.” She explains.

“I think that I would be okay. Does Terry know about THIS?” I ask. I realize its sort of a stupid thing to ask, considering I'm the one who is performing.

“No, she doesn’t. But you have to tell her. John will be stopping by sometime
later today.

“Mom,” I say gesturing around me. “Have you noticed I’m working?

“I know sweetheart, and since you’re so busy, this is the only time that he could come to see you.” She explained. I nodded.

“Okay, that makes sense I suppose.” I say and wrinkle my nose.

“Don’t do that in front of him.” She says and laughs.

“What?”

“Wrinkle your nose like that.” She smiles and shakes her head like I'm a child.
I check the clock above the calendar against the dark auburn walls of the Starbucks.

“I gotta get back to work Mom. I love you so much! This is so exciting.” I say referring to everything happening.

“I know!” She says rather childishly. I laugh and say goodbye.

So, I’m going to have a baby brother, I'm touring with the Jonas Brothers, but I still have to come into work tomorrow.

-----

I feel my phone vibrate against my thigh.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Meg. Are you going to be home soon?” Alicia asks flustered.

“I’m on my way home now. I have some news for you! My mom stopped by yesterday and-“

“Tell me when you get here. Bye.” She says and hangs up abruptly.

“Gee that was nice.” I say out loud. A woman walking the opposite way gives me an odd look and I smile, big and fake. I see her quicken her pace and I laugh.

I get to the gate and see Dan chatting with another guard.

“Miss. Parker! How are you today?” He says cheerfully.

“I'm great Dan.” I say and pass through the community entrance.

“Have a good day Meghan!” He says and I turn to wave at him.

I get to the house and see Alicia sitting on the front steps.

Before I can say hi she starts talking.

“You’re neighbours are weird.” She states and we walk inside. She kicks off her shoes, and I mimic her and drop my purse on the chair at the front.

“Some man came out of the house two doors down and said that Madonna was
coming over later and we should be ready to leave at five.” She said clearly a little weirded out.

I laughed hard.

“Alicia that’s Mr. McRay. He’s old and cynical and obviously losing his mind.” I say still laughing. She chuckles. “What did you say to him?” I ask curious.

“Nothing, someone came out and lead him back inside.” She laughed.

“How was your day?” I ask as we head down the hall to the living room. I open the sliding door and we walk out to the patio.

“It was hectic.” She says and I remember that I wanted to ask her about Joe running out at Starbucks.

“Oh, Joe came by work a few days ago. How come you didn’t stop in and say hi?” I asked smiling inwardly.

“Uh, well, we had some stuff to do. This week has been hectic.” She lies. I nod anyways because I am not the type of person to prod unless necessary. “That’s not want I wanted to tell you though.”

“Oh?” I say and sit down at the pools edge. I let my legs linger in the water. It’s warm against my skin.

“Yeah.” She sits down beside me. “I wanted to tell you that I got into ASU.” She says somewhat flatly.

“That’s awesome! I'm so proud of you!” I exclaim and wrap my arms around her shoulders.

“It’s in Tempe.” She says and looks at me sadly.

“Alright, what’s wrong with Tempe?” I ask confused. It’s Arizona State. I expected her to be ecstatic about it, but she seemed depressed.

“Nothings wrong with it, it’s just that I will be away for four months starting in
January.” She explains.

“You’re sad because you’re going to be away?”

“Yeah, I won’t get to see You, Joe, Terry, Mom or Dad for four months.” She says
and I see her brow furrow.

“Alicia, look. We both know that you’ll be away, but it doesn’t mean that you’re losing any of us. We’re always going to be here for you, no matter where you live. We love you.” I say giving her another hug. She wraps her arms around me in
return.

“Alright. I'm just happy that you’re not sad.” This makes me chuckle.

“Any other way and there would be a problem.” I say and release her.

“So, what news do you have?” She asks me. For a minute I had forgotten all about what I wanted to tell her.

“I'm going to have a little brother in six months!” I say quickly. He eyes widen and she grins.

“Really?”

“Yeah, my mom came by at work to tell me. I can’t believe it.” I tell her. “That’s not all though. Mom told me that John got me a tour spot with the Jonas Brothers!” I say happily.

“You serious?” She asks. I nod enthusiastically.

“Oh my God. Meghan! That’s so cool. I wish I could come with you.” She says.

“I don’t see why you couldn’t. I mean, the tour goes until around the end of December, and you would be home before you have to go for orientation. It’s all a matter of whether or not you decide to come.” I explain.

“Maybe I could.” She says thoughtfully.

I run the vision of the three boys, and us three girls all together on tour and
having an amazing time.

I pray that it becomes reality. Then I realize that Kevin still hasn’t called me, and I begin to worry.

What exactly does that mean?

Maybe me working this whole week made him angry.

Maybe I should call him.

Maybe..

[blatentlyobvious]

Hey. Sorry for withholding this for so long. Here it is. When I finish the next chapter, there will be an update on Give Up the Grudge. Oh yeah, you're going to have to bare with the boring talking.
=)

Nine::::::::::

“Wake up.” Someone whisper’s in my ear. A voice that is all too familiar; a voice
that sends chills down my spine.

I open my eyes and see Kevin looking incredibly sexy in a lime green t-shirt with
lines in a shade of darker green. He has on blue jean skinnies and he sunglasses
pushed back against his perfectly curly hair.

“Kev?” I say slowly sitting up. I haven’t realized that I didn’t have a shirt on and the blanket slips below my breasts all the way down to my waist. I pull it up as
fast as I can, but it seems that Kevin caught a glance. “Sorry!” I mutter.

“No, I'm sorry. I shouldn’t have come in.” He says apologetically. We’re both blushing.

“What exactly are you doing in my room?” I ask looking around and tightly
clutching the blankets to my chest.

“I came by this morning to see you, and apologize for not talking to you the past couple of days. I’ve been really distracted lately.” He says looking down.

“Alright, could we maybe talk downstairs? I should shower and um, get dressed.” I say and laugh nervously.

“How about we talk about it on the way to breakfast?” He asks nearing my door.

“Um, sure.” I say.

When the door closes, I sigh and crawl out of my bed and race to the bathroom door. Well, that certainly wasn’t what I was expecting first thing in the morning, but I was glad that he apologized to me.

When I get downstairs Alicia and Joe are standing in the kitchen with Kevin.

“How did everyone get in my house?” I ask pulling my hair back into a ponytail.

They exchanged glances and then looked back at me. I looked down at my outfit:
a pair of denim shorts and a light yellow top.

“What?” I say wrinkling my nose at them.

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU…” The all start singing loudly. I blink and shake my
head a few times waking myself up. I forgot my own birthday. I'm officially
retarded. “HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR MEGHAN, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!”

I smiled shyly.

“Thanks guys. I figured everyone forgot.”

“Never.” Kevin says and comes over to me, lifting me off the ground in a warm hug. He puts me down and kisses me lightly on the lips before turning back to Alicia and Joe.

“Well, we’ll see you guys later.” He says and takes my hand leading me to the front hall.

“Sneakers.” He says pulling my sisters shoes over.

“Those are Terry’s and since when do you pick what I wear on my feet?” I say
watching him as I bend down to pick up my sneakers.

“Okay, PLEASE wear sneakers today?” He asks putting his hands around my waist and pulling my body against his. I drop my shoes at my feet and place my hand
on his chest as I step into them.

“Okay. By the way, what you saw this morning, please don’t say anything.” I say and look down shyly.

“Well, it is your birthday, so it makes sense that you would wake up in your birthday suit.” He smirks devilishly. I smack him on the arm.

“Kevin!”

He leans down and kisses me eagerly. His lips pressed against mine are soft and warm. I reach around his neck and pull him closer to me. I fall back into the wall but don’t miss a beat. I part his lips with my tongue. He tastes like coffee.

“You look really sexy when you sleep.” He says in a husky voice. I blushed.

“You watched me sleep?” I ask laughing.

“Only for a minute.” His lips brush mine ever so lightly and I shiver.

“FOOD. Before I jump you.” I say and slide away from him. I grab his hand and we walk to his car. I wasn’t kidding about the way I felt. Lately every time I saw him, it was all I could do not to rip off his shirt and…well you understand the rest.

I snuck a glance at him before sliding into the car.

“Where do you want to go for breakfast?” He asks as we buckle up.

“Um, I want to go to…Denny’s.” I say and smile at him. “Please.” I add.

“Denny’s it is.”

So we go to Denny’s and Kevin orders the biggest thing on the menu. It has three eggs, four links of sausage, with a side of hash browns and three huge pancakes.

I just have pancakes and laugh as Kevin gobbles up his meal.

“That didn’t take long.” I point out. Kevin smiles proudly.

“So, I got you some things.” He says and pulls a few things from his pockets.
One is a flat little package with lumps of extra wrapping all over.

“Frankie helped me wrap that one.” He explains pointing to the one lumpy one. He pushes a neater one to me and tells me to open it first.

I glance at him and he just raises his eyebrows.

“I love you.” I say and take the little box.

“I love you too.”

When I unwrap it, I realize that it’s a velvety box with a clasp at the front. I pop it
open and stare. Inside is a necklace with a gold heart pendant at the front.

“It’s engraved.” He says and takes it out to show me. He holds the jewelry up to me so I can see. On the front:

Even when we’re miles and miles apart, you’re still holding all of my heart.

His lyrics.

I look up at his soulful hazel eyes and he flips the pendant around.

Meghan, you’ll have my heart, you’ll have it forever.

My lyrics.

I get up and slid in beside him.

“Kevin Paul Jonas, I am going to love you forever. Thank you so much.” I say and kiss him fervently.

“Happy Birthday Meghan Parker.” He says quietly, smiling that smile. “But wait, there’s more.” He says in a mock infomercial announcer voice. He slides the little lumpy package to me.

“From everyone.” He says. I take the package and unwrap it. A little pamphlet with a globe on the front is in my hands. I open it and find a pass for Universal Studios inside.

“AH!” I squeal. I grab Kevin and hug him extra tight. He laughs.

“We’re going to Universal?” I ask stupidly. Obviously you’re going to Universal Meghan, I think, you Ditz.

“Today.” Kevin says smiling at me.

“Today?”

“Like right now.”

“Like right now?”

“Yes! Now, come on beautiful.” He says sweetly.

I get out of the booth and grab my bag from the other side of the table. I jump on him for another hug and he kisses me lightly before leaving the cash for the bill
plus tip.

-----

I'm going to Universal.

I'm going to Universal.

Since I was four years old, I have wanted to go to Universal Studios or Disney.

And now…

“I'm going to Universal!” I exclaim as Kevin makes another turn in the direction of the park. He is focused on the road but he laughs lightly.

“Yes, you’re going to Universal.” He says laughing. “Why is this so big?”

“Because, I have never ever been to Universal.” I say looking out the window at all
the signs.

“Really? What about Disney Land, or World?” He asks half-surprised.

“Nope.”

“Have you ever been to an amusement park?” He asks as he flips his signal and moves to the far right lane.

“I went to a Carnival once when I was really little.” I explained. “When I was seven and Terry was three, Mom and Dad drove us all the way to Wayne, New
Jersey. You know where that is?”

“Yeah, it’s pretty close to Wyckoff.” He says nodding.

“Yep. So, this one weekend, Dad decides that we were going to Wayne to go to a carnival. Terry ate too much cotton candy and I wasted all of my allowance on
those games. I won like three Teddy bears at the baseball one.” I revealed. Kevin
looks at my and smiles like he’s proud of me.

“What?” I say smiling.

“You’re going to be really surprised when you get on the rides.” He says smirking.

“You think I'll get scared.” I challenged.

“It’s very possible. Universal has some of the most insane rides. Really.” He nods
enthusiastically.

“I can handle anything…” I say confidently and smirk.

--------

The truth is, I never really knew what to expect, but Kevin was right. Some of the rides were completely insane…

When we got to the big gates, I was still in amazement that we were even here. Kevin held onto my hand as we walked through.

“Where to?” I asked him as my fingers gripped the edges of the map with
anticipation.

“Tell you what, we can start with something small.” He said and pointed to a spot on the map labeled Universal’s animal actors.

I squinted my eyes and looked at him. “Fine but you’re going to be the one screaming when we get to House of Horrors.”

He only laughed and took my hand again before leaning down to kiss me.

We sat through a show with a whole bunch of animals doing silly things to amuse the audience. The thing was packed with little kids and we both felt way out of place. I still laughed at the antics of the monkeys and got Kevin pretty excited
about it.

Next, Kevin decided that we would try out some amazing Studio Tour rides. They were decent, and I loved the Jaws ride.

“This might make you jump, are you sure you want to do this?” Kevin asked me as we stood at the entrance of the fast pass line. He was teasing me.

“I won’t get scared Kevin. But you know I'll be right beside you when Jaw’s jumps at you. You’ll be safe, I promise.” I teased back. He laughed and we went forth to experience ‘Jaws’. I have to admit I jumped. The shark model seriously looked
real.

“Okay, Jaw’s was jumpy, but nothing else there really got to me. What else you
got Cap’in?” I asked saluting Kevin as we walked further down the park. By then it was 1:00, but I wasn’t hungry.

“I’m thinking that we should eat.” He said. So we grabbed hot dogs. I was actually pretty famished.

He took me to the Mummy roller coaster, and I screamed a lot. The thing was so damn scary. It jumped at you around every corner, and the drops were more insane then anything I had ever ridden.

“You were scared.” Kevin said triumphantly as we headed towards the Jurassic Park ride.

“Fine. I was scared alright?” I said giving in. My knees were wobbling.

“I'm always going to be here to protect you.” I knew that he said it in the spirit of jokes, but when I looked at those Hazel eyes and saw him smiling, I realized how
much he meant it.

“Kevin you have no idea how much I love you.” I said and reached up to kiss him.
I felt his lips pull into a smile and pulled back a little.

“I think I might.” He whispered.

What happened next had us both laughing through the Jurassic ride.

“O-M-J! KEVIN JONAS?!” Some middle-aged woman was screaming and running towards us. I looked at Kevin surprised. I grabbed his hand and ran through the fast pass line.

“Just run!” I laughed. We got into the ride before the woman, and we could hear her calling after him.

“Wait! I just want a hug!” Her voice was muffled through the closed doors.

“Oh geez. Do you think she’ll be gone when we get out?” He asked through his
laughter.

I shook my head smiling and we hopped into the cart for the ride.

I can’t actually remember when I’ve screamed more. I thought the Mummy was
bad…

“Kevin, are we actually going to do this one?” I asked a little skeptical as we stood
outside the building of House of Horrors.

“Of course, what would a theme park be without a Haunted House?” He said
smiling. I hugged him. I was starting to feel screamed out and exhausted, but
Kevin was still going.

His hand was around the small of my back and I remember him leaning in to
whisper ‘you’re safe. I love you.’

I relished in the feel of his protection. Even though I was only at an amusement
park, I felt that safety and I didn’t want to let it go.

The House of Horrors, was like no other Haunted House. It was filled with some of
the scariest characters from Hollywood’s horror movies. The worst part was that they had actors playing them and they would move and reach out and scare the
crap out of you. I think even Kevin got scared at some points. The weirdest part
was that we both came out laughing our heads off.

Kevin had asked me if I wanted to go to City Walk, but I was starting to feel a little
drained, and told him that we could come back. So we got in the car and I offered
to drive home. He told me that I should sleep because he had a surprise when we got home.

------

“Meg, we’re home.” Kevin says waking me up. I open my eyes and smile at him. I
feel a little more rested.

“Hi.”

Kevin chuckles and gets out of the car now. I know to wait. I always let him get
the door for me now.
“Thank you.” I smile.

“Anytime. Now come this way.” He says slipping my hand into his own. We aren’t
at my house; we’re at Kevin’s.

We walk inside and he takes me up to his room. The house is silent as night and I
turn to Kevin as he open’s his bedroom door.

“Is anyone home?” I ask.

“No. They went out for dinner.” He says. I shrug and jump onto his bed. He sits down beside me and I lean in to kiss him.

Before I know it Kevin’s body is hovering over me as I lay on the bed. His warm lips
are moving across my lips and my neck, and I can feel my whole body heating up.

“Kevin. I have to stop.” I say putting my hands against his chest and looking at
him unsure.

“What?” He whispers confused.

I sit up on the bed and pull my feet underneath me. I take a few deep breaths before I can talk again. “It’s just, lately, I have to really control myself so I don’t do
something I’ll regret.” I explain.

“Oh.” He says as if he understands.

“Not that I would regret it with you. I just mean…” I quickly add.

“Meghan I understand. I won’t ever pressure you. You know I won’t.” He assures
me. I know he wouldn’t. I know the vow he’s made; it’s the same one I did, a
promise to God and myself to abstain from sex until I’m married.

“It’s hard with you.” I admit. I snuggle into him and feel his arms around my body.

“I know what you mean.” He says into my hair.

We’re both silent for a moment, as I contemplate asking him something. It’s
important to me to know, but I don’t want to embarrass either of us, nor do I
want him to get freaked out. We are talking about it though, which is a first.

“Do you ever think about it? With me?” I asked quietly. I could feel my face flush.
It was somewhat embarrassing anyways.

“More than you know.” He says and chuckles. I laughed back. “Do you?”

“Kevin!” I say and shake my head.

“Hey, it’s legit. You asked me, so now I can ask you.” He says quietly. He’s right.

“Yeah, I think about it a lot too.” Suddenly, I feel so much closer to him. Knowing
that he thought about it too, gave me less to worry about. Before I thought that I
was crazy for thinking about him and I having sex, but now it didn’t seem so far
fetched. I think back to this morning and wonder if my next question would be
pushing it, but I really want to know.

“This morning, when you saw me…” I trail off. I realize I don’t have a way to ask
him what he thought.

“Sorry about that again.” He apologizes. I look and see his face is red.

“It’s not your fault really. But, um, what did you…” I stutter. I can sense that he knows what I'm trying to ask, and I really hope he doesn’t make me say it.

“I think you’re more beautiful than anything I have ever seen.” He answers.

“I love you.” I say and reach up to kiss his jaw.
It’s quiet again.

Kevin moves his arms again and I sit up. He lets me lean against the back of his
bed. He goes to his closet and pulls out a translucent garment bag. There is some sort of purple dress in it.

“I think it will look lovely on you.” I say jokingly as Kevin holds it out for me to see.
He laughs and spins it around. There is a bow and a card taped on the front.

“Happy Birthday.” He says. I get up and take it from him. I pull the card off and read it.

‘To the one girl who changed my life and let me see that everything I needed was her. I love you beyond what's imaginable, and you deserve the best of birthdays. Please wear this and accompany me to a quiet dinner this evening at the always prestigious River.’

I looked at Kevin and smiled.

“I changed your life?” I ask skeptical. He wraps his arms around my waist.

“Yep.” He says and smiles pleased.

“Well, you’ll be happy to know you’ve done the same to me.” I say.

He reaches around me and opens the bag. To my surprise a beautiful purple dress comes out. Kevin holds it out to me and I run my fingers across the silky material.
The straps fan at the top of the shoulder and thin out as they hit the neckline of the dress. The chest is the type that pulls together to create a beautiful supported
top. The empire is black and below it, the dress fans out to the knees.

“Kevin, this is amazing! Thank you.” I say and hug him tight.

“Well, you might want to put it on. We’ve got reservations.” He says and taps my
birthday card.

[blatentlyobvious]

This is chapter ten =D
I really hope you all liked it.
The prologue is next.

Ten::::::::::


“Do you want to just change in here?” Kevin asks me as I hold the beautiful dress.

“Yeah, alright. Thank you again boyfriend.” I say and reach on my tip-toes to kiss
him on the cheek.

He walks out carefully closing the door behind him.


I take off my shorts, my top and my bra, letting them all drop on the floor. I
gently take the dress off the hanger and slip it on. The fabric is almost cold against
my skin. I reach behind and grab at the zipper. I can’t reach it. Holding the
material together at the bottom of my back I walk to the door.

“Kevin.” I call. He comes down the hall and stares at me questioningly.

“Here.” He smiles.

“Funny. Can you please zip me up?” I ask.

“Love to.” He says happily.

He steps just inside his room and I turn around. The touch of his fingers against
my skin is delightful, and I have to think about the speed of my breathing to calm
myself down.

“Thank you.” I say and turn around to kiss him. I jaunt over to his bed and pick
up my clothes. “I don’t have shoes.” I also don’t have a lot of makeup on, but I
don’t mention it.

“That’s alright we can stop by your house first. We still have a good forty-five
minutes.” He says. He holds his arm out and I latch on with my free arm. He walks
me down the stairs and we head out to his car.

“Kevin, thank you so much. This has been the best birthday.” I say and sigh.

“I'm glad I could be here for it.” He says.

------

So this is River. Yes, it’s prestigious, as Kevin said in his note, and it makes sense
that I have never been here, but Mom talks about it quite a bit. She takes clients
here a lot.

I'm looking at the building from the outside. It looks old, and Italian. There are
masses of vines crawling up the burnt red bricks.

“Wow.” I say to Kevin as we walk to the doors.

“I know. That’s what I thought.” He says and holds the door. I don’t really
understand what he means, but the seating hostess perks right up and starts
talking before I can ask him anything.

“Right this way Miss.” She says to me and winks at Kevin. Okay, what was that? I
look back at Kevin and see him grinning. I narrow my eyes.

“Your table is right this way darling.” The hostess says. “Happy Birthday.” Oh, she
knew it was my birthday. Well it makes sense.

I feel my hands slide back and into Kevin’s hands. He stops me.

“Happy Birthday Meghan Parker.” He says for the second time today.

When we walk to the patio, I get the surprise of my life. There are at least fifty
people all standing around and each of them is calling out “Surprise!”

I turned into Kevin and laughed. It scared me more than the Mummy ride. I could
feel Kevin’s chest move as he laughed. I reached up and kissed him. People were
clapping.

Terry and Alicia ran up to me and each gave me a quick squeeze before I got to my
parents. I put my hand on my mom’s belly and felt the bulge. In there was my
little brother. My parents hugged me tightly, my Dad looking very proud.

“Thank you so much!” I said to Terry and Alicia. I could tell they had been the
ones planning, seeing as Alicia had a headpiece on and a clipboard with an array of
different papers. They gave me a huge hug and I kissed their cheeks.

I ran over to Nick and Joe and Frankie. Remembering what Frankie had said at the
beginning of September, I reached down and put my arms around him first.

“You first.” I said against his little head.

“Always!” He giggled back.

I stood up and jumped to Joe and laughed when he lifted me off the ground. Nick
gives me a warm hug and says Happy birthday into my ear. He’s definitely happier
today. I kiss each of their cheeks and turn to my stister and my best friend.

“I feel so spoiled!” I laugh.

They look at each other and then take me by the arms, leading me towards a
stage.

“What are you doing?” I ask looking at both of them flustered. My dress sways up
and I catch a breeze against my legs.

I see microphones.

I see everyone in the crowd watching.

I see three guitars.

I see my Dove.

I see John Fields, and I know exactly what they’re doing.

Nick and Joe sit down at two stools and Joe motions for me to sit.

I turn around.

“Kevin I can’t do this. I cannot perform in front of all these people.” I explained.

“Meg, do you remember what you asked me the night you met with John?” He
asked me holding my hands.

“Um…” I don’t remember right now, all I can think of is how crazy this is.

“You asked me why I performed. I told you why, and that’s just my view. Today,
and right now, you have the opportunity to experience it. You can feel so many
different things, and if this is something you really see yourself doing, you’re going to want to experience those things. I'm going to be right here, because I love you. Just trust yourself that you can do it.” He tells me.

“I’d be lost without you.” I say and take a seat between Joe and Kevin.

So you're miles away
You're passing by
We don't try
to be pushed apart
There is so much
flooding between these two hearts

I try to find the way
But it’s so hard to do
When there’s no you
Here and now is what life is
And without you its far from Bliss
So I'm Banking back on the good times
Wishing you were here with me

So you're not here.
Not right now.
Things happen
It's not your fault or mine
Things have built up for you
All this time
And I've only just arrived
I only wish
Your hand could stay in mine

I try to find the way
But it’s so hard to do
When there’s no you
Here and now is what life is
And without you its far from Bliss
So I'm Banking back on the good times
Wishing you were here with me

So you have to leave
I already miss you
I pray you don't forget this
Come see me some day,
When you're not in over your head.
When you miss me too

It’s going take
All my strength
Not to let my soul fade
Because you’re gone
And something disappeared.

So, I'm saying goodbye.
I won't see you for a while
Not your eyes,
Your laugh,
Or that perfect smile.
I can't say the tears will stop,
Or the hurt will go
But you should be happy
It's what you deserve,
Its what you need
Think of me on the hard days
You'll have my heart
You'll have it forever

So Love Me

When I finish, I understand what Kevin was telling me. All of it. The love, the applause, the rush of performing. It was all there.
Mom and Dad walk to the center of the stage with Terry. Alicia and the boys all leave and I know what its time for.

“Thanks so much you guys, it means every thing that you would all come. Now, I
want to shift the focus for a moment, because my parents, the people who
brought me here and made this life for me, are celebrating as well.” I say. Terry
looks shocked. I hand Mom the mike.

“We want to tell you all, that in six months, we will be welcoming a little boy to the
Parker family!” She said. While the round of applause grew, we shared a Parker
family hug; a nice big mushy moment.

Terry pulled back and pumped her fist.

After a scream she added, “I'm going to have a baby brother!”

I laughed.

This was my birthday and I was here, surrounded by my friends, and my family,
because they all cared enough to do this for me.

This day I realized that we were doing more than celebrating my birthday. We
were celebrating having each other and soon, having one more Parker.

Over the past six months, I learned so much about so many things. I had a future
now. It included my sister, and my parents, and my best friend, though she
wouldn’t be there to share it with me. Kevin would be there too; the first boy I
have ever loved. My future was written.

I learned more about myself than my future though. After six months of ups and
downs, I found myself. I knew I had a place somewhere in the world, but for the
longest time, I didn’t know where it was.

I had found it.

It was right here, with all of the people I loved.