When It All Changes

Chapter 8

2009-08-04T19:10:00.001-07:00

Alright, changing things up and adding another POV. Enter Marc.... Short one, but I needed kind of a prompt to the next chapter.

Andie's POV

I see her roll her eyes at me, and I take that as signal enough to stay away from her. Instead, I walk over to where Marc is sitting and plop down next to him. Emily gets a phone call, so she steps in the other room to take it. With her gone, and the other two Staals so engaged in their video game, and another Staal still outside, I know that I finally have some time to myself. Well, besides the company of Marc that is. I sigh deeply, needing to release some tension.

"I don't think they are that close," he says nonchalantly while flipping another page of the magazine in his lap. I look over at him, and he doesn't even have to look up at me to know the expression my face is sporting. "You can't hide from me Andie, so don't try to talk your way out of this one," he continues while a smirk crosses his face as he still looks down at his magazine. "I'd prefer he was with you if that counts for anything."

"Damn it, can I not keep anything from you Staal boys?" I sigh in frustration, throwing my hands in the air.

"No," all three of them reply. Eric looks over at me temporarily, and the sympathy in his eyes makes me close my eyes tightly and rub at my forehead.

"Great," I sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose. "Well, at least from three of you," I mumble under my breath before shaking my head. When I finally open my eyes, I see Jordan standing in front of me, a confused look on his face, obviously having heard what I said. He's about to speak up when Emily enters the room again, distracting him from continuing. This is probably the first time I've ever been happy to see her face. She tugs at his arm, and they disappear down toward the den.

"Maybe you should make him jealous," Eric offers while looking my way briefly, and then quickly turning his attention back to his game with Jarred.

"Yeah," Jarred turns in, not even bothering to glance my way.

"How am I ever going to do that?!" I almost scream. "I mean look at me," I continue while gesturing to my appearance.

Marc's POV

I finally look up at her as she gestures to the way she looks. I look at the jeans that are tight enough to hug her curves, but not so tight they look glued on. I look at the white tank top she has on that is semi-low cut, but not overly revealing. I look at the plaid button up shirt she has on that she lets hang open, trying to cover up her thin body, just like she always does. She's never tried to appear sexy, even though she couldn't avoid it anyways. I look at her ice blue eyes that aren't lined with harsh black make up, but instead a creamy brown color, making her eyes look electric and not overly-done. I look at her long, flowing blond hair that falls into beachy waves around her mid-back, literally looking like she didn't even attempt to run a brush through it this morning, but still falling just right across her face that it still looks amazing and fits her perfectly. I look at her lips that are now pursed in frustration, none of that chunky lip stick to be found, but rather a thin coat of chapstick. Truth be told, I don't know how Jordan doesn't notice her... only a monk wouldn't.

"Oh stop it," I finally speak up. "You're damn sexy, and only an idiot wouldn't think so." Jarred and Eric nod their head in agreement, and I know that she won't take anything from my statement.. she never does.

Finally, Eric stands up, putting the game on pause, causing Jarred to stare at him angrily.

"Come on Andi," he says while making his way to where we are sitting and making her stand up before tugging her by her arm behind her. Jarred and I follow suit, going where ever they are headed.

"Where are we going?" she asks, trying her hardest to pull against him, but failing miserably.

"We are going out," Eric replies simply. He yells down to Jordan and Emily, telling them to get ready before tugging her down the steps and into her room. Jordan and Emily watch as all of us trail past them, but don't say anything. Jarred closes the door behind him since he is the last one to file in, putting up a barrier between us and them. "And you are going to look damn sexy when we do," Eric adds before heading to her closet and rifling through her clothing.

Chapter 7

2009-07-24T16:02:00.001-07:00

Andie's POV

I could only slightly shake my head on my way back toward the house at how out of sink Jordan and I had become. I knew that the distance between Pittsburgh and Thunder Bay would maybe throw us a little off, but never did I anticipate this.

Growing up, Jordan was always the Staal I was the closest with, simply because we were closest in age. Throw on top of that the fact that we have very similar personalities, and we were inseparable. Not that I didn't have a close bond with any of the other Staal boys, I adored them all the same. But it's just that I never connected with any of them the way that Jordan and I had.

Between all of the boys, my relationship with Eric had always been the most strained. He looked out for me all the same and although I never had a doubt that he always cared for me, I would always be the nagging, younger, tag along sister to him, figuratively speaking of course. Out of all of them, he definitely payed the least attention to me, which was fine because I wasn't craving attention anyways. No, what I needed was someone watching my back, and Eric never let me down in that department. He was always the first one defending my case when we were growing up, even if it was in the sympathetic 'She's just a girl..' type of way. Being the oldest, anytime we would be picking teams for hockey games, dodge ball, or even paint ball he always chose me first, even though I was by far the smallest and weakest of any of his brothers or the friends that would play with us as well. Everybody would give him hell as I strutted up to stand next to him as he would drape his arm around my shoulder in a protective sort of way before he muttered something along the lines of 'She's small, but she's still going to kick your ass' before we pounded fists, all while I beamed arrogantly at the fact that I was always being chosen first. I knew Eric was always just looking out for me when he did such things as this, because that's what he did. Eric, in a sense, was my protector.

Marc and I's relationship was also far different from any of the others as well. Out of the group of them, Marc was by far the most reserved, laid back, and dare I say it, intellectual. He would tackle me and throw me in a head-lock for describing him as that no doubt, but he would also not be able to keep a smirk from appearing on his face, knowing full well that it's true. If I ever had something serious to discuss, or any type of life altering problem to solve, I went to Marc. He always had had a good head on his shoulders, and could almost always help me find a sensible solution to whatever was plaguing my mind. Marc also had the biggest conscience out of them all. And although brotherly pranks were never exactly above him, he would always take into consideration how it was going to affect people before he went through with it. As much as he hated to say it, he was the least devious of us all, and each and every one of us would tell you that. Although we were closer in age than Eric and I, once again I was another younger "sibling" for him to watch out for, and even though he would roll his eyes when keeping me out of trouble, I always knew he secretly liked it. Marc was the most caring and polite of them all, and he often talked me out of doing the stupid stuff his brothers and bribed me to; Marc, now he was my counselor.

Obviously, Jordan and I got along great. We terrorized the school and gave all of our teachers hell on the way. He had a unique way of bringing out the wild side in me, which could be taken as a good or bad thing, depending on how you look at it. We blazed through high school together, always side by side, and I have no doubt that each member of the faculty was glad to see the day we graduated. One of Jordan's personal best qualities was the fact that he was a smooth talker, a feat I definitely picked up on and mastered myself due to many years of watching the pro at work. He had this uncanny ability to make anything he said believable, even so much that not just my fellow high school girls adored him, but the teachers too, male or female. That's another part of his charm; it didn't just work on women, it no doubt made men look at him with a sense of pride as well. Normally, I could only sit back and roll my eyes as girls swooned over him. Another skill we both mastered was the ability to pick up respectively any girl or guy we set our targets on. Now I was no whore and I didn't use this on just any guy the way Jordan did with most girls, but I knew how to get exactly what I wanted from just about any guy I chose. Both of us 'tested the playing field' all through high school, or at least the amount of school Jordan was around for. In fact, we often played the role of being each others wing man so to say when picking up a potential date, just because with my natural blond hair and blue eyes, we were often mistaken for brother and sister. And truth be told, apart from the fact that his chin was far more prominent than mine, even we both agreed with looked scary alike. This helpful fact helped him more than me, because most girls can't help but smile when a guy is nice to his sister or family, so I was often dragged along so we could work our magic together all in an attempt to get him a girl. All this considered, and I mean this in the most loving way possible.. Jordan, well he was my dumbass.

And then finally, we get to Jared. Jared was the one Staal man I was older than, so I happily played the role of getting to take care and watch out for somebody, even though in all actuality, he looked out for me just like all of his older brothers more than I did for them. He would always let me think I was watching out for him, just because he has always been a little sweetie. Jared, out of all of them, is the most sweet natured. I have no doubt he would do anything for me, even sometimes at his own expense. I would say I'm almost as close to Jared as I am to Jordan, just for the fact that whenever the older three were away with hockey stuff, it was just the two of us. Granted, Jared had hockey stuff as well, he wasn't as old so he didn't have near as much. For the simple fact that he was around the most, Jared was my stability.

With how much all four of them have done for me, it's no surprise that I am so fond of each of the Staal boys. That's why when I walk into the house and find Eric and Jared sitting in the living room playing video games with Marc sitting on the couch across from them flipping through a magazine, it can only make a smile tug at the corners of my mouth when I see Eric slap Jared upside the head, for some smartass comment I'm sure. I don't think these boys are ever going to grow up.. but then again, I'm not so sure I mind if they don't. I'm all smiles when I enter the room, except until I turn the corner, and find her standing back and watching them all.

Chapter 6

2009-06-30T21:01:00.000-07:00

Short update, I know. But I finally had an idea and this is all I've got time for today. Oh, and the writers block is slowly fading, yay! :-)

Jordan's POV

We ride to town together in what is almost complete silence, but it isn't that that is killing me. Silence is something we're use to, it's something we use to fall into all the time when we were growing up, so this isn't uncommon. But what is uncommon is the amount of tension ruminating in this small car. I have so much to say to her, but every time I think I am about to speak up, I suddenly lose my nerve and can't find the right words to say. After a few minutes of silence, she turns the radio up and I just keep my thoughts to myself, knowing now that I've lost my chance.

The other part that is uncommon is the fact that she's only looked me in the eyes once since the big blow up at the house, and that was when I announced I was coming with her, and I think it only happened then because she was so caught off guard. She gave me a weak smile when we got in the car, but other than that it's as if I'm not present at all. And her smile didn't light up her hazel eyes like it normally would, making me know that it was clearly just for my benefit. That's so like Andie.. she's the one that got attacked, and she's looking out for me, taking care of me.

From her reaction, I can't gauge if she's mad at Emily, mad at me, or mad at the world right now, which is strange. I use to be able to read her like an open book.. but now I can't even tell what type of mood she's in.

I guess I'm just a little disappointed in general. This was definitely not the homecoming I had been expecting or wishing for. I guess I figured I would come back, and things between us would be just like they had been. I never would have guessed what a couple of years, and a couple thousand of miles could have put between us. I also assumed that her and Emily would get along great. That was mistake number one. I guess after being around a locker room of guys, you start to assume that everyone gets alone and all the time. This fact I was starting to find out was not true for girls. No, anything goes in girl world. Name calling, back stabbing, lying, deceiving, blackmail.. it was all an option and most of them are used regularly.

Finally getting in to town, I hop out of the car to go get the pizza's, surprised when she gets out as well. We go inside, pay, and come back out and get in the car in the same silence. Not being able to take it anymore, I finally speak up.

Andie's POV

"Are we going to talk about this?" he asks, speaking for the first time since we've left the house.

"I'm not really sure I have anything to say to you," I reply calmly while shrugging my shoulders, almost immediately wishing I hadn't said it after it's left my mouth, and especially after I see the look of rejection crossing his face. "I mean come on Jordy," I say with a small smile, trying to lighten the mood a little. "Did you honestly think that you would bring her back here and we would be bffs... 'like oh.my.god...'" I add in a fake girly voice and flicking my hair in my best attempt at being Paris Hilton, and finally getting a laugh out of him in return.

"I guess I did," he says while shrugging his shoulders.

"Seriously?" I ask while cocking my head to the side. "We were bound to have a run in, I mean come on, we are like polar opposites."

"I know," he says while looking over at me. "But I just figured I got along with both of you, so maybe it could happen.

"I don't know how," I mumble under my breath as I pull the car back into the drive way, rolling my eyes as I think about Emily. I could never picture myself getting along with that..

"What?" he asks, clearly not hearing me, which is good. I didn't intend for him to, but at this point I don't know how much longer I can continue to be nice.

"Nothing. It's just that.." I start, looking over at him as he continues to look at me. "I know I'm not your first choice anymore, I get that, I do. It's just going to take my some time to get use to the idea of coming in second all the time now," I finish while giving him a weak smile, turning the car off and heading back toward the house.

Chapter 5

2009-06-23T09:37:00.000-07:00

Sorry it's been so long since an update, massive writers block. In fact I'm still kinda suffering from it, so this is just a short one. I'm definitely loving the comments though, you all rock. :-)

Andie's POV

I wait until I hear the slam of a door and then the faint sound of angry voices before I look up from the spot on the wall I had been keeping my eyes fixed on.

"Don't worry about her," Jarred says while shaking his head, turning his attention back to the game. "Come on, let's play," he continues when I don't move any.

"Are you sure my fat ass isn't going to break it?" I joke sticking my butt out a little toward the side and giving it a small wiggle just for good measure.

"Hey, I like your butt, very nice and round," Jarred jokes before reaching out and actually grabbing it, catching me completely off guard. "Yes, very nice," he laughs as I slap his hand away.

I laugh, loving the way he can always make me smile, but even that is short lived as I think about another blond haired boy that use to be able to always do that.

I would have expected something like that from her, but never in my life did I expect that from Jordan. He always use to stand up for me, but I don't know if I'll ever be able to get this out of my mind. Not only did he not jump to my defense, he didn't try to contain her either. It's as if he thought trying to remain invisible was the best idea.

The whole situation was just a complete fail. I'm actually praying that Jordan doesn't come and talk to me about it, I don't know if I could handle that. I've already been dejected once, I don't know if I could handle it again, especially in the same night.

"Drea," Jarred says, trying to pull me out of my thoughts, but I barely even hear him with all of the commotion bouncing around in my head, so I continue to stare at the floor. "Andrea," he chimes again, but I'm still not completely focused. "Andie!" he finally yells, louder than needed, making me jump and fall off the side of the couch, where I had been sitting before.

"Don't do that!" I yell, but I can't stop a smile from crossing my face as he bends over, resting his hands on his knees he's laughing so hard. I throw a pillow off the couch at him before starting to laugh myself.

Jordan's POV

After talking to Emily for a little over two hours, our conversation ending with her going into town to stay at a hotel, I realize that it's about time for dinner so I head upstairs.

As I walk up the stairs, I can see my dad, Jarred, and Eric sitting in the living room watching TV and Andie and Marc sitting in the kitchen on bar stools, watching my mom put the finishes on one of her famous pies. Andie and Marc are obviously giving each other hell about something, because they don't realize when I've entered the room, but everyone else has their eyes on me. Probably because they heard Emily leave and they are all wondering what news I have to give them, but I just remain quiet, not giving them any kind of information.

Andie must have noticed how quiet it's gotten, because she turns around and looks in my direction, panic written all over her face as she looks at me. She turns back around quickly, slapping Marc on the arm for whatever comment he had just made before getting down off the bar stool she had been sitting on.

"What time did you say the pizzas were going to be done?" Andie asks my mom, obviously trying to break the silence. Ahh.. Friday Pizza Night.. One of the many traditions I've missed since moving to Pittsburgh. I look at Andie, thinking maybe it's the people I shared them with that I missed more..

"In about 10 minutes," my mom calls over her should after checking her watch for the time.

"I'll go get them," Andie offers while slipping on her shoes and grabbing for her car keys.

"Yeah, I'll help," I add, only to once again see panic cross her face, but she covers it up by giving me a weak smile before glancing over to Jarred, who is now watching me with condescending eyes before we head out to the car without a word.

Chapter 4

2009-06-15T20:19:00.000-07:00

Andie's POV

I can't help but think this is just like old times, just me and Jordan, messing around, not having a care in the world. But then, as if on cue, the ice queen appears. After seeing her, he sets me back down on my feet, but neither of us make anymore motions as we continue to sit there, watching her watch us. Jordan clears his throat, making her sigh dramatically in what I can only think is disgust before tossing her hair over her shoulder, turning around on her heels, and marching back toward the door. Who wears heels in this type of environment anyways? I lean in closer to Jordan, not wanting her to hear me before she makes it to the house.

"That's not good," I whisper, trying my hardest to keep my voice quiet.

"Nope," he adds simply, not making an attempt to go after her.

"She looked pissed."

"Yep."

"You should probably go after her."

"Yeah, I suppose," he says while sighing deeply, but still not going after her.

"Probably like now," I add with a laugh while leaning away from him, giving him space. I hate her, with a passion. But he obviously likes something about her, so I'm trying so hard to be the bigger person right now, to just trust that he knows what he's doing and trust that he loves her. I hate the fact that I can't tell him how I feel, but I know that it's best to just keep that behind me now. There is also the lingering idea that if he likes that, I haven't got a shot in hell.

"Yeah," he says while walking away. He gets halfway to the door before he stops. "I so totally won," he says over his shoulder. I chunk the ball at him with all the power I have, just missing him as he jogs up to the house.

Jordan's POV

I walk into my bed room, finding Emily sitting there, arms crossed, a look on her face that intimidates me a little bit.

"Done playing with your whore?" she asks, not looking away from the TV for a second.

"Em, it's not like that. We were playing basketball," I shrug while taking her hands in mine. "It was a game," I add just for good measure.

"It sure as hell didn't seem like a game," she retorts. "Who knows what would have happened if I hadn't have walked out when I did, she might have been banging you in the drive way.

"Emily, calm down. She's one of my friends, my best friend. I've grown up around her, I can promise you, nothing is going on between us," I finish but she just continues to stare at me until we can hear Andie and one of my brothers in the family room.

Emily gets up and goes flying into the next room, only to find Andie and Jarred playing Wii Fit, not noticing our entrance at all.

"Honey, you can play that game all you want and your ass will still be that huge," Emily laughs while walking toward her. Andie turns around, completely caught off guard. I can see that she doesn't know what to do, she doesn't know how to reply right when Jarred steps in.

"Better that then looking like an anorexic bitch," he says while nodding in her direction. Emily gasps, looking from me to Jarred and then back to me. I shrug my shoulders, not really knowing what else to do before looking over at Andie who is still in a daze. I know she hates confrontations and I can also see how she wants to cry but isn't going to let the tears fall.

"Listen here," Emily says while walking toward Andie, "you all might have been real close when you were little, but you aren't 7 anymore. He's with me now, so you need to end whatever little fantasy world you live in, because it's not gonna happen," she finishes while poking Andie. "Are you already moving on?" she continues while pointing to Jarred. "Or are you really just that desperate to get into the Staal family?"

"I.. I'm really not.." Andie stutters, looking at Jarred and then finally me for help.

"Save it, I don't need to hear your excuses, just keep your hands off Jordan until the wedding in three months," Emily concludes before turning around and heading back toward my room, slamming the door behind her. I think about going after her, but then I hear a quiet sob come from Andie who is now shaking a little. I want to reach out and grab her, but Jarred beats me to it. I had wanted to tell them about the wedding myself, especially Andie. I wanted her to stand up for me, be my best man so to speak, and I definitely didn't want it thrown in her face like this.

"You need to get a hold on your ice queen before one of us does it for you," he says while holding Andie is his arms, saying soothing things I'm sure as I head off to find Emily.

Chapter 3

2009-06-14T21:07:00.001-07:00

Sorry, I didn't see your comment or I would have gotten around to this sooner. I didn't think that many people were reading it so I slacked off a little.. :-S My apologies.. lol

Jordan's POV

I sigh in frustration as I see her walk away from me. Something is definitely different, I just can't seem to place what. She's distant, unusually quiet..

Shaking it off, I head into the house and into my room to unpack my things, not surprised at all to find Emily sitting in there by herself. I was kind of skeptical of how she would fit in with my family. I know she isn't the type of girl that they imagined me with, but they are going to have to get use to it. Real quick. Hopefully they don't freak out too much when I tell them we are getting married before pre-season starts.

"Where were you?" she asks, even though she knew exactly where I was because she watched me walk away. I look up at her, and the jealousy is clear on her face.

"Taking to Andie," I say with a shrug, not thinking anything of it. That's one thing Emily will have to get use to. Andie. She's my best friend and she always will be, and that's nonnegotiable.

"I don't want you talking to her," she says bluntly, catching me off guard.

"Em, don't," I state while shaking my head and stopping what I'm doing completely to just look at her, but I can see how serious she's being.

"I'm serious Jordan," she says while standing up and walking toward me. "You don't see the way she looks at you, like you're a piece of meat or something, like she's undressing you with her eyes. It's disgusting," she continues while shaking her head, as if trying to shake the images out of her mind. "She's disgusting," she finishes, and I can just see the way she's thinking about Andie in her mind, her hair spray free hair, her unpainted fingernails, her edgy style.. complete opposites to say the least.

"Don't talk about her that way," I snap, not regretting it all after it rolls of my tongue, which I find rather weird. "She's really great," I add in a softer tone while tipping her lips up to mine and kissing her softly. "You'll see."

Andie's POV

"It was horrible," Jarred shrieks while taking the basketball I had been holding from my hands with ease as I lounge on his bed, flipping through TV channels.

"It couldn't have been that bad," I laugh, loving how animated he is, but also loving his hatred for Emily as well. It makes me feel better to think that someone hates her more than me. Oh, how I love the youngest Staal brother..

"It was! It was awkward too. All of us were speechless, just kind of starring at her. You should know better than anybody else that it is never quiet around here when all of us manage to make it back at the same time, but I swear, you could hear a penny drop and could slice the tension with a knife!"

I sit there, taking my eyes off the TV for the first time in a while and looking at him. I know exactly what he's talking about. She's been here for a day and a half now, and it just seems as if everybody is on guard.

"Well, we have to get use to it," I say with a shrug of my shoulders. "I don't think she's going anywhere," I add while grabbing the basketball and making my way out of the room and outside. I walk over to the basketball goal, so many memories coming flooding back. Jordan and I would stay out here all summer long, trying to prove our greatness to the other, at least until his growth spurt. That really did make things unfair, especially since I barely reach 5'7 and he's well over 6 foot.

"Think we should rematch?" he says from behind me, catching me off guard. I turn around to see him standing there, his hands in his pockets with his hat on backwards, the same shit eating grin on his face that tells me he's up to no good.

"Jordan," I start with a smirk. "You don't want any of this," I retort, turning and shooting from long range, hoping it goes in, but much to my dismay it doesn't which makes him laugh.

"I think I'll take my chances."

We play long and hard enough that we are finally working up a sweat, but I can't give in now. What he has in height, he lacks in speed and that's what I've used against him all game, after all, it was the only advantage I had. We sit there, both of us with our hands on our knees just starring at each other, huge grins on our faces. The game is tied up at 9, so the next goal would win, and he has the ball. He stands there, catching his breath before checking me the ball. I toss it back to him just as a brilliant idea comes to my mind.

"Where's your cheerleader?" I taunt, hoping I'll get the reaction I figured I would.

"Andie, be nice," he says while picking up his dribble and resting the ball on his hip, which I take as my cue because I know he isn't paying attention. I dart toward him and grab the ball from him, loving the look of shock on his face as I turn and run for the goal.

It was a great plan, except I didn't think it through enough to realize that two of his steps equal five of mine, so he's caught up to me in no time. He grabs me by my stomach, picking me up off the ground while shaking the ball away from me.

"That wasn't very nice," he laughs as I dangle from his arm, frustrated that I can't touch the ground or get out of his grasp.

"Hey, it was completely legal, you checked the ball," I argue, but I can't stop the smile from crossing my face as another idea comes to mind. I'm at the perfect height, so I take my foot and kick him in the back of the knee, giving him a dead leg as he drops the ball once again and I reach out of it again in an attempt to make a mad dash toward the goal. He winces a little before chasing after me, grabbing me in his arms again while we both laugh hysterically as he picks me up and spins me around. When we've gone 180 degrees, our laughter stops at the sight of her.

There stands Emily, high heel tapping on the cement sidewalk, arms crossed, completely pissed. Oh snap..

Chapter 2

2009-06-06T16:07:00.000-07:00

Andie's POV

All day long, I played the nice girl next door act, smiling occasionally and even laughing when necessary. I should have known I was being foolish. Jordan and I would never make it together. He couldn't love me, not really anyways.

After about two hours of sitting back and watching them together, I couldn't take it anymore. I had to get out of there, so I snuck out of the room and outside. Fresh air, that's what I needed to clear the bizarre thoughts going through my mind.

I made my way out to the big tree out in the backyard and climbed onto the tire swing attached to it, swinging slowly while looking out at the setting sun. I sat there for probably 15 minutes before I heard the back door swing open before closing, followed by the sound of tennis shoes on the grass toward where I was.

He stands beside me, hands in his pockets without saying a word. I can feel him starring at me,so I look over at him and he smiles before turning his head away, looking at the empty field in front of us once again. He sits down on the ground as we sit in silence for a couple of minutes.

"Where's your head at Drea?" he asks, his head still pointing forward.

"A million places at once, Jared," I sigh, which causes him to look up at me for the second time since he's been out here.

"I don't think he really cares for her," he says with a shrug of his shoulders. I give him a 'I don't know what you're referring to..' look and I'm about to open my mouth to object to the patronizing gaze he is giving me, but he beats me to it. "I know all about it, so don't even try to deny it. Did you honestly think you would be able to hide this from me?"I smile, hating that I've spent so much time with him over the past couple of months that he can read me so easily.

"No, you're right. I should have known better," I reply, which has him smiling broadly. "You're far to damn nosy for me to get anything by you," I add, which this time has his head whipping around and scowling at me. I laugh in reply before shifting my gaze back out in front of me, starring at nothing in particular, but taking comfort in it anyways.

"I know he can't care for her," he reassures me once again.

"He cared enough to bring her here," I say while raising my arms to the open space around me.

"He can't," he reiterates again. "He better not at least, I don't know how much I can take. 'Oh Jordan, stop it,' he says in a girly voice before fake laughing and slapping at an imaginary shoulder in front of him. I can only laugh, because of what I've seen so far, his impression of he is exactly right.

"Get out of here," I laugh while shoving at him as he starts to get up. He turns to walk away, but once again turns back toward me.

"You gonna be alright?" he asks, an earnestness in is gaze that just depresses me even more.

"If only you were older," I laugh while shaking my head, trying to get the idea of dating my younger friend out of my mind. "Yes, I'll be fine," I add. He nods his head before disappearing toward the house again.

Jordan's POV

I glance around the house, noticing that Andie is missing, which kind of concerns me. She's been acting strange ever since I got home. I figured it would be like old times, us being practically inseparable, with the addition of Emily of course, but she's barely said two words to me, which is weird. She's never been distant like this before.

I excuse myself, telling Emily that I'll only be second before getting up and walking away, leaving her to fend for herself with my family. I go downstairs to the den, knowing it's her favorite hang out spot in my house, also knowing that she's probably been spending a lot of time there since her parents and all, especially since her room is down there too. I glance around the room, but find it empty.

As I'm walking back upstairs, I see Jared walking down the hallway.

"Hey, have you seen Andie recently?" I ask as he passes by me. He doesn't say anything but points to the door as he walks by. I look out the door, and a smile crosses my face as I finally see her outside swinging slightly on the tire swing.

I walk outside and behind her, pushing the swing slightly. She doesn't look back to see who it is, and she isn't startled. It's like she knew that I would be out here shortly.

"What's with you?" I ask in between swings.

"Hmm?" she asks while turning her head around a little and looking at me for the first time.

"You've been pretty distant," I say while shrugging my shoulders, which after I think about it is ridiculous because she can't even see me.

"You Staal brothers, always trying to play detective," she says while a laugh while jumping off the tire and landing on her feet gracefully. I'd hate to see Emily attempt to do something like that...

"Well, you've barely said two words since I've been back," I reply.

"That's another trait you all posses," she says with a smile, but it doesn't reach her eyes and it doesn't light up her face like it normally would or use to. "You all think the world should bow at your feet," she says with a small shake of her head and a weak laugh. She starts to walk past me, so I grab her arm.

"Are you sure you're okay?" I ask while she looks up at me, obviously startled. It's then that I see pain in her eyes for the first time.

"Yeah," she replies while pulling out of my grasp and walking back to the house, leaving me by myself.

Chapter 1

2009-06-04T21:39:00.000-07:00

Andie's POV

It had been five months since I had seen Jordan last, but that would change in a matter of minutes now when he came walking through the door to his home where the rest of his family members waited for him, just as excited to see him as I was. Hopefully, a lot of other things were going to change as well.

When my parents had passed away a couple of months ago, I learned some things. Sometimes, there is never the perfect time for things to be brought up or talked about, but no matter how awkward the situation could turn out, you had to go ahead and get your feelings out there because tomorrow isn't a promise, it's a hope, in the sense that you never know what is going to happen.

Jordan and I had been close, closer than close while growing up, and we still were. I considered him my best friend, and I knew that I was probably considered the same to him. We were practically inseparable back in the old days, before he got shipped off to Pittsburgh that is.

I remember both of us laughing when people made absurd comments about us dating. We would both shake it off by him shoving me or me rolling my eyes, trying to make it clear to people that we clearly were just friends. They would shake their heads at us, saying that men and women can't be just friends, so we demonstrated that friendship isn't gender biased, never once leading people to believe that we were in denial, even though there was a certain intensity about the room when it was just the two of us, and I know he had to have felt it too.

Over the past couple of months, I'd had plenty of time to think. I thought about why my parents got taken away from me, why guys can be such cowards at times, and I thought about Jordan.

What if, for example, we both pushed our feelings aside in an attempt to prove people wrong, or even because we both didn't want to ruin what we had, or there was the possibility that neither of us had the balls to make the first move.

The more I had time to think about it, the more I decided that I did in fact care for Jordan more than I had lead on. It made sense the more I continued to think. He was the only guy I trusted and he was always the first person I told all my random stories to or how my day had went.

I knew that everybody would be excited he finally won a cup and would want to talk to him about it as soon as he got home, but all this thinking brought me to one conclusion. When he walked through that door, I wasn't leaving until I told him how I felt. No matter how things could possibly turn out, either him running as fast away from me as he could or enveloping me in his arms, I was doing it.

By this time, I was pacing outside the house in front of my car. I looked down and laughed when I could see my track perfectly. My laughter was short-lived though as I saw his car coming down the road. Nerves finally set in, but I couldn't tell if it was because I was finally seeing him again or throwing my heart at him to do whatever he pleased.

He steps out of the car and I throw myself into his arms, which causes him to laugh.

"I've missed you way too much," I laugh while finally letting go of him and taking a step back.

"Andie," he says in all seriousness, his smile gone. "I have someone I want you to meet," he continues while turning around and extending his hand to someone, a girl to be exact that I had failed to see when they first showed up. "This is Emily," he says with a smile, a smile that is directed toward her and not me which has my heart splitting in two.

Wow.

2009-06-04T20:27:00.000-07:00

5 Stories.

Wow.
Oh, Goodness.
Mass Hysteria.
Complete Craziness.

I know. :-)

Okay, well, every ones comments on all of my other stories got my mind to thinking, and again it's driving me crazy and I have to get this idea out of my head. I know I said before that this story wouldn't happen until one of my other ones was finished... but knowing my luck if I don't get it out of my head now I'll forget it when I actually sit down to write it.. haha. It's happened before on some of my other stories, because sometimes I can get a bad case of CRS (can't remember shit). It's a very bad thing to suffer from, so irritating. Ha.

Oh, this story will feature Mr. Jordan Stall. Sound okay?

I thought so.. lol

I'm running out of people to write about, so hopefully I stop getting crazy ideas. :-S