Categories > Original > Romance > You and I Both
“Hello and welcome to blog spots on Youtube.com, your one click stop for the latest celebrity gossip. Now the big story on preteen girls’ minds everywhere is the recent Jonas wedding. Pictures sufficed almost immediately after the actual ceremony, and the word on the street is that this might be the real deal. But, heartbroken girls are clinging to the idea that this is somehow all just a trick, and that one of their dream guy’s heart isn’t seriously taken. Listen for yourself.”
“It’s absolutely awful” a girl about the age of sixteen said furiously. A small group of girls stood around her nodding their head vigorously and looking like lost sheep. “She probably tricked him into sleeping with her or something. Then she got pregnant and they got married because of obligation or guilt or something like that. She’s not even pretty. Kevin would never go for her otherwise.”
“No, absolutely not!” It had been a week since I had arrived in the states, and I was currently standing in the most beautiful house I had ever seen. It had been Kevin’s idea to buy a house. I was fine in the apartment. It had plenty of room, and a great view of downtown L.A. But he did make some valid points.
“Do you really want to live with my family?” he asked over breakfast one morning. Nick and Joe were both still holding onto their last hour of sleep while Kevin and I ate breakfast a little earlier than either of us wanted.
We were still adjusting to the whole sleeping in the same bed thing. I have never really been one to share my bed, and I guess that Kevin hadn’t really either, because every night was a battle for something. One night it was the covers, the next it was for the most room, and the most peculiar night was when we fought for the middle pillow. Granted neither of us needed the middle pillow, but we were just night fighters I guess.
“I like your brothers.” I said quietly savoring my coffee. That was another thing I liked about the apartment, it was always fully stocked with the best kinds of coffee.
“Seriously?”
I guess it was true that I liked his brothers. They were nice. Nick was the best listener, and his music collection was divine. We could debate for hours about which Elvis Costello song was better. And for all of Joe’s… somewhat annoying habits I found that he really was genuinely funny and good natured. There wasn’t much of a real reason to DISLIKE his brothers, but I knew that wasn’t the real reason I didn’t want to leave.
Having his brothers here was kind of like a security blanket. Sure Kevin and I tried to talk to each other and be together as much as possible, but whenever one of us got bored with the other we would always have a brother to entertain us. If we moved that option would be completely out the window. It would just be the two of us, in a big old house by ourselves. It may seem crazy, but if it’s one thing that I was it is neurotic.
“Yeah, they’re… sweet.”Kevin rolled his eyes as if the thought of his brothers being sweet never crossed his mind.
“But in a few weeks it won’t just be the four of us staying here. Mom, dad, and Frankie are coming. Do you really want to live with my parents?”
I had yet to meet the elusive Jonas’, but from what I heard they seem pleasant enough. Apparently, during the boy’s European tour Kevin’s uncle had gotten really sick, and his mom, dad, and littlest brother Frankie had gone to take care of him. I silently wondered if my fate would have been the same if they had stayed on tour.
“It wouldn’t be THAT bad…” I tried to say trailing off slightly. His raised eyebrows indicated that he didn’t believe me.
“No, it wouldn’t be THAT bad, but it wouldn’t be good either. We would get no privacy. My mother would question our every move. And have you ever been around a seven year old?”
“Yes, Sophia is seven and I love her.” I piped up suddenly. That was true. You almost couldn’t ask for a sweeter girl.
I had known Sophia her whole life, her mother had been friends with our family for years, and Sophia’s older sister, Loraine, was my best friend. Loraine and I met when were with about nine and became sort of pen pals. Then when I was fourteen, my parents sent me to Ireland and we became inseparable. If I wasn’t at school or my own home, I was at Loraine’s doing homework or gossiping about what the popular girls were doing. When we were sixteen Loraine got in a terrible car accident and was killed on impact. Her family’s world was torn to pieces, and the only solace they felt was through religion, which they hadn’t been big on before. When it was time for Sophia to get baptized, I got the honor of being her godmother.
“Yes, but you’ve never lived with her.” He said matter-of-factly. I hated that tone, even though he was right. “Plus, when all your stuff gets here we won’t have enough room anyways. It just doesn’t seem logical for us to continue living here.” He said the last part a little softer, as to sound more genuine.
“The economy is just so bad right now!” I whined, dropping my head to the table as a sign of giving in. I could imagine his small grin, but I refused to put my focus on anything except the countertop.
“How do you know? You’ve only been in the country for seven days.” He laughed, as if it were the most absurd notion in the world. This made me snap my head back up angrily.
“We do have news in Ireland, you know. Some parts of the world actually care about what is happening in other countries.” I snapped angrily. He stopped laughing. I had obviously taken him by surprise.
“Ok, Ok.” He said softly. I looked at him sadly, because I knew he was right. We would have to buy a house. Even if it wasn’t today or tomorrow, it would be someday.
“We can go look at houses.” I said flatly. “I mean, you’re right. We will need our space. Can you call a real estate agent and see when they’re available?”
“Oh…” He trailed off guiltily and refused to look towards my face. “Yeah, I think they are available today.”
“How, you usually have to set up an appointment, and…” and then it hit me. I glared at him again. “You didn’t, did you?” He looked at me guiltily, but had a small smirk on his face.
“I might have called and set one up yesterday…”
“Before you knew I would even agree to this?”
“Well, I thought it wouldn’t be a problem, and…”
“Jerk!”
After about an hour of the silent treatment (not to mention being locked out of our room treatment) Kevin apologized and I agreed to go to look at houses with him. Our real estate agent’s name was Noel (with a silent ‘L’). She was a tall well dressed woman who had an air of Hollywood in her. I didn’t care much for her, but Kevin said she was the best in the business.
Every house we looked at was nice, but something seemed wrong about each of them. This house was too small. That house was too large. In one house there were too many windows. In another house there weren’t enough windows. I felt like goldilocks trying to pick out which house fit best. After our fifth house I was ready to throttle Kevin for making me do this. Then we saw it.
The moment I set eyes on the sixth house I knew that I loved it. It looked large but slightly plain from the outside. When you first see it the real attention is drawn to the garden. Different kinds of multicolored flowers and plants bloomed proudly around the house, giving a cheerful appearance. Vines were beginning to snake their way up the walls of the home, only adding to its charm.
If the exterior caught my eyes, the interior won my heart. The rooms were large with tall ceilings. Bay windows let light pour into the rooms uninterrupted. There were four bedrooms, an office, kitchen, living area, 3 ½ bathrooms, and a basement that could be converted into anything of our liking. The backyard held a spectacular patio, with my favorite flower lilies growing around it, and a nice size pool. It was not overly grand, but that was one of the reasons I liked it. Grand could be nice, but this house could be a home, my home.
“That is ridiculous!” I exclaimed again, looking from the house to Kevin. With all of the other homes, Kevin refused to let me know the price because he said he wanted to get my unbiased opinion. Sadly the real estate agent wasn’t as good as keeping it quite as Kevin. Only ten minutes ago she said happily.
“I’m so glad you like it. It’s such a deal. With this size house and its location, two million is a deal!” She said it with a smile on her face, but from the look on mine she obviously saw that she had said something wrong.
“Come on Al.” Kevin begged. I had a sneaking suspicion that he loved the house just as much as I did, even if he hadn’t said so yet. “You love this house right? Kimberly is right, it really is a good deal.”
“Two million dollars for a house is not a good deal. I could get at least ten nice houses for that price back home! I could get at least fifty thousand pairs of shoes for that price!” A small smile covered his face, and I just wanted to throttle some sense into him.
“Do you really want fifty thousand pairs of shoes, because that might prove to be a problem after we buy this house…”
“We are not buying this house!” I screeched. Kimberly shot me an odd look, before smiling at Kevin. I really found myself hating the bubbly blonde. Kevin obviously saw where I was looking, because he took my hand softly and led me to the side.
“Look, I know that two million dollars is a lot of money, but… and I’m saying this in the humblest of ways… the Jonas Brothers are kind of a big deal.” I wanted to raise an eyebrow at him, but the seriousness in his voice was kind of unnerving. “Between our contracts with Disney, our tour, and the new show coming up, we have plenty of money. So instead of blowing the money I’m making, I would rather spend it on something that would make us both really happy. So…” he paused again, looking me straight in the eyes “what do you think?”
I looked between him and the house, for a moment wondering what to do. I was usually prepared. I always had a plan. But for the last week my life had been turned upside down, and as much as I hate to admit it not having a plan has left me vulnerable. Could I let Kevin make such a big sacrifice for me? Could I let this get any more serious? An apartment was one thing, but a house? I sighed, looking up into Kevin’s face again.
“Ok, let’s do this.” I finally said. A large smile covered his face and I found myself in his arms, being flung around in a gleeful hug. I returned the hug half heartedly, trying to be excited about this. I seemed to be at a crossroads. One direction sent me back home to my comfortable life, and the other road kept me here, in a world I had almost no idea about. I had chosen my road, now I only hoped that I had chosen right.
“It’s absolutely awful” a girl about the age of sixteen said furiously. A small group of girls stood around her nodding their head vigorously and looking like lost sheep. “She probably tricked him into sleeping with her or something. Then she got pregnant and they got married because of obligation or guilt or something like that. She’s not even pretty. Kevin would never go for her otherwise.”
“No, absolutely not!” It had been a week since I had arrived in the states, and I was currently standing in the most beautiful house I had ever seen. It had been Kevin’s idea to buy a house. I was fine in the apartment. It had plenty of room, and a great view of downtown L.A. But he did make some valid points.
“Do you really want to live with my family?” he asked over breakfast one morning. Nick and Joe were both still holding onto their last hour of sleep while Kevin and I ate breakfast a little earlier than either of us wanted.
We were still adjusting to the whole sleeping in the same bed thing. I have never really been one to share my bed, and I guess that Kevin hadn’t really either, because every night was a battle for something. One night it was the covers, the next it was for the most room, and the most peculiar night was when we fought for the middle pillow. Granted neither of us needed the middle pillow, but we were just night fighters I guess.
“I like your brothers.” I said quietly savoring my coffee. That was another thing I liked about the apartment, it was always fully stocked with the best kinds of coffee.
“Seriously?”
I guess it was true that I liked his brothers. They were nice. Nick was the best listener, and his music collection was divine. We could debate for hours about which Elvis Costello song was better. And for all of Joe’s… somewhat annoying habits I found that he really was genuinely funny and good natured. There wasn’t much of a real reason to DISLIKE his brothers, but I knew that wasn’t the real reason I didn’t want to leave.
Having his brothers here was kind of like a security blanket. Sure Kevin and I tried to talk to each other and be together as much as possible, but whenever one of us got bored with the other we would always have a brother to entertain us. If we moved that option would be completely out the window. It would just be the two of us, in a big old house by ourselves. It may seem crazy, but if it’s one thing that I was it is neurotic.
“Yeah, they’re… sweet.”Kevin rolled his eyes as if the thought of his brothers being sweet never crossed his mind.
“But in a few weeks it won’t just be the four of us staying here. Mom, dad, and Frankie are coming. Do you really want to live with my parents?”
I had yet to meet the elusive Jonas’, but from what I heard they seem pleasant enough. Apparently, during the boy’s European tour Kevin’s uncle had gotten really sick, and his mom, dad, and littlest brother Frankie had gone to take care of him. I silently wondered if my fate would have been the same if they had stayed on tour.
“It wouldn’t be THAT bad…” I tried to say trailing off slightly. His raised eyebrows indicated that he didn’t believe me.
“No, it wouldn’t be THAT bad, but it wouldn’t be good either. We would get no privacy. My mother would question our every move. And have you ever been around a seven year old?”
“Yes, Sophia is seven and I love her.” I piped up suddenly. That was true. You almost couldn’t ask for a sweeter girl.
I had known Sophia her whole life, her mother had been friends with our family for years, and Sophia’s older sister, Loraine, was my best friend. Loraine and I met when were with about nine and became sort of pen pals. Then when I was fourteen, my parents sent me to Ireland and we became inseparable. If I wasn’t at school or my own home, I was at Loraine’s doing homework or gossiping about what the popular girls were doing. When we were sixteen Loraine got in a terrible car accident and was killed on impact. Her family’s world was torn to pieces, and the only solace they felt was through religion, which they hadn’t been big on before. When it was time for Sophia to get baptized, I got the honor of being her godmother.
“Yes, but you’ve never lived with her.” He said matter-of-factly. I hated that tone, even though he was right. “Plus, when all your stuff gets here we won’t have enough room anyways. It just doesn’t seem logical for us to continue living here.” He said the last part a little softer, as to sound more genuine.
“The economy is just so bad right now!” I whined, dropping my head to the table as a sign of giving in. I could imagine his small grin, but I refused to put my focus on anything except the countertop.
“How do you know? You’ve only been in the country for seven days.” He laughed, as if it were the most absurd notion in the world. This made me snap my head back up angrily.
“We do have news in Ireland, you know. Some parts of the world actually care about what is happening in other countries.” I snapped angrily. He stopped laughing. I had obviously taken him by surprise.
“Ok, Ok.” He said softly. I looked at him sadly, because I knew he was right. We would have to buy a house. Even if it wasn’t today or tomorrow, it would be someday.
“We can go look at houses.” I said flatly. “I mean, you’re right. We will need our space. Can you call a real estate agent and see when they’re available?”
“Oh…” He trailed off guiltily and refused to look towards my face. “Yeah, I think they are available today.”
“How, you usually have to set up an appointment, and…” and then it hit me. I glared at him again. “You didn’t, did you?” He looked at me guiltily, but had a small smirk on his face.
“I might have called and set one up yesterday…”
“Before you knew I would even agree to this?”
“Well, I thought it wouldn’t be a problem, and…”
“Jerk!”
After about an hour of the silent treatment (not to mention being locked out of our room treatment) Kevin apologized and I agreed to go to look at houses with him. Our real estate agent’s name was Noel (with a silent ‘L’). She was a tall well dressed woman who had an air of Hollywood in her. I didn’t care much for her, but Kevin said she was the best in the business.
Every house we looked at was nice, but something seemed wrong about each of them. This house was too small. That house was too large. In one house there were too many windows. In another house there weren’t enough windows. I felt like goldilocks trying to pick out which house fit best. After our fifth house I was ready to throttle Kevin for making me do this. Then we saw it.
The moment I set eyes on the sixth house I knew that I loved it. It looked large but slightly plain from the outside. When you first see it the real attention is drawn to the garden. Different kinds of multicolored flowers and plants bloomed proudly around the house, giving a cheerful appearance. Vines were beginning to snake their way up the walls of the home, only adding to its charm.
If the exterior caught my eyes, the interior won my heart. The rooms were large with tall ceilings. Bay windows let light pour into the rooms uninterrupted. There were four bedrooms, an office, kitchen, living area, 3 ½ bathrooms, and a basement that could be converted into anything of our liking. The backyard held a spectacular patio, with my favorite flower lilies growing around it, and a nice size pool. It was not overly grand, but that was one of the reasons I liked it. Grand could be nice, but this house could be a home, my home.
“That is ridiculous!” I exclaimed again, looking from the house to Kevin. With all of the other homes, Kevin refused to let me know the price because he said he wanted to get my unbiased opinion. Sadly the real estate agent wasn’t as good as keeping it quite as Kevin. Only ten minutes ago she said happily.
“I’m so glad you like it. It’s such a deal. With this size house and its location, two million is a deal!” She said it with a smile on her face, but from the look on mine she obviously saw that she had said something wrong.
“Come on Al.” Kevin begged. I had a sneaking suspicion that he loved the house just as much as I did, even if he hadn’t said so yet. “You love this house right? Kimberly is right, it really is a good deal.”
“Two million dollars for a house is not a good deal. I could get at least ten nice houses for that price back home! I could get at least fifty thousand pairs of shoes for that price!” A small smile covered his face, and I just wanted to throttle some sense into him.
“Do you really want fifty thousand pairs of shoes, because that might prove to be a problem after we buy this house…”
“We are not buying this house!” I screeched. Kimberly shot me an odd look, before smiling at Kevin. I really found myself hating the bubbly blonde. Kevin obviously saw where I was looking, because he took my hand softly and led me to the side.
“Look, I know that two million dollars is a lot of money, but… and I’m saying this in the humblest of ways… the Jonas Brothers are kind of a big deal.” I wanted to raise an eyebrow at him, but the seriousness in his voice was kind of unnerving. “Between our contracts with Disney, our tour, and the new show coming up, we have plenty of money. So instead of blowing the money I’m making, I would rather spend it on something that would make us both really happy. So…” he paused again, looking me straight in the eyes “what do you think?”
I looked between him and the house, for a moment wondering what to do. I was usually prepared. I always had a plan. But for the last week my life had been turned upside down, and as much as I hate to admit it not having a plan has left me vulnerable. Could I let Kevin make such a big sacrifice for me? Could I let this get any more serious? An apartment was one thing, but a house? I sighed, looking up into Kevin’s face again.
“Ok, let’s do this.” I finally said. A large smile covered his face and I found myself in his arms, being flung around in a gleeful hug. I returned the hug half heartedly, trying to be excited about this. I seemed to be at a crossroads. One direction sent me back home to my comfortable life, and the other road kept me here, in a world I had almost no idea about. I had chosen my road, now I only hoped that I had chosen right.
Sign up to rate and review this story