Dare's Pov-

"Smile," says my little brother, Brazen.

Yup. I just graduated from college. Two minutes ago, I was the badass accepting her fake ass diploma and shaking Dean Stone's hand. "Ok, ok. Help me get out of this hot cap and gown." I say already starting on the zipper.

"No you don't. Not until we go out to eat. I want everyone to see that my babygirl graduated." My only surviving parent says slapping my hand away from the gown.

My lip automatically started to poke out as my face saddened in aggravation. "But Daddy, It's hot as shit out here. Can't I just put it back on when we get to the restaurant?" I whine taking off my cap, which no doubt messed up my hair.

"Dare, your mother would be so proud of you right now. I'm sure she'd insist that you keep your CAP," he pauses to snatch back my hat and place it back on my head. "AND GOWN." He adds zipping my robe-like gown all the way up to my collar bone.

Why the fuck to they call it a gown anyway? I mean I get the cap part. But, the gown? I'm not dressed up like fucking Cinderella! It's a robe, with a zipper. Not classy enough to be a gown but-

"I'll turn on the A.C. ok? Or we can roll the windows all the way down. 'Kay pumpkin?" He says pulling me into his side and kissing my temple.

Really dad? This is embarrassing on so many levels. "Fine. Just let me gooooo." I whine.

"Stop whining and smile. You're a college graduate now, for Christ's sake." I hear from behind me. That's funny that sounded a lot like my best friend- "I mean it's not as cool as being a famous musician, but it's something."

….It is.

"JOE!" I scream turning around and jumping into his open arms. "You saw me? I was badass wasn't I?" I squeal as he spins me around in the hug.

He stops and sets me on my feet, "Hells yeah, I made it. Not even tour was going to stop me from seeing this." He says stepping back to take a gander at my horrible appearance. "Seriously, your gown looks like it's going to swallow you. Why is it so big?" he asks.

Just as I was about to answer, he answered for me. "My guess is they were trying to hide as much ugly as possible."

Well there goes my good mood…

"You brought him? What the hell Joe? Were you intentionally trying to fuck up my day with his assholery?"

"Sorry. He said he would be on his best behavior. You know Nick actually likes you. He just like to pick on you more." He obviously saw how not happy I was so he changed the subject. "So how about I take you out tonight? Huh? Just you and me doing whatever you want. Money is, obviously, no issue."

If he thinks he can just wave 'fun' in front of my face and make everything ok then he's got another thing coming.

"Pick me up at 6." Ok…. Maybe not. What can I say? He's my bestie.

"Ok. Dare, we have to go now. Tell Joe you'll see him after I spend some quality time with my onlyest daughter." Dad says ushering me to the car.

"Six!" Joe shouts in confirmation.

I give a wave to him and climb into the back seat. "So, when are you and Joe going to get serious?" Brazen asks out of nowhere.

The fuck? Can someone get me a glass of water? This is definitely a spit-take moment. "Uh. Never! Me and Joe aren't like that. You know that. Plus, he has a girlfriend. And he's too old for me." Brazen punches me in the shoulder. Hard. I guess his abuse was his way of saying You're such a fucking liar. "Ok so he's not too old for me but, shit Brazen! That hurt like a bitch."

"Brazen, you know Dare has a hell of an arm, so don't come running to me if she fucks you up when we get out of the car." My dad interjects.

I smile at my very odd family. "So Dad, what restaurant this time?" I joke. Every time we go out for a special occasion, dad picks the same restaurant.

In A Nutshell it's where he and Mom met.

"Haha, smart ass. No, we're going to Nordstroms. I have someone I want you to meet there." He corrects.

Hm… Me, Brazen, Dad, and….. Someone? This should be interesting.

About 10 hot, sweaty, minutes later, we arrive at a little, quaint café. Dad gets out and helps me out of the truck like a pregnant person. Seriously, this robe is ridiculous to move around in.

We're ushered inside to a table where a woman is sitting. As we approach her, she stands and plasters a huge smile on her face…..Creepy. "Dare, Brazen, this is Shannan, my fiancée.

Um… whoever has the vacuum cleaner sucking all of the air out of here, TURN IT THE FUCK OFF!

Random Question: Have you ever taken a vacation off from school, and when you got back, everything seems different? You feel left out. Yeah, don't it feel wonderful? Back to reality...

"Excuse me?" I say trying to wrap my head around this. "When the fuck did this happen?" I whisper-yell.

Shannan doesn't look fazed. Almost like she expected this reaction. Smart woman.

"Dare! I know it's not easy to let go of your mother, but I love Shannan. And She's not trying to replace your mother. No one can." He says in a calm tone.

I wanted to be happy for him. I mean, I 'm glad he's happy, but- "What makes you think that you can just spring this on us and…. Ugh! I…. Brazen, what do you think?" I desperately trying to gather my wits.

Brazen sauntered forward with a guilty look on his face. "Sorry, I already knew."

What. The. Fuck.

"Oh. So that's how things are done in this family. We just keep Dare out of the fucking loop. Dad, I expected you to keep some things from me, but a fiancée? And Brazen, We're practically joined by the fucking hip. We talk all of the time, and you couldn't have mentioned, 'Oh hey. Btw. Dad's dating this chick and I think it's getting serious. Maybe you should meet her.'" I shouted fuming with anger.

They just stood there looking at me with regretful faces. Well, that's what you get. Stupid, selfish, bastards. "I'm out of here." I say throwing my hat to the ground, stepping out of the giant robe, and running off.

Just running until I got to the Jonases. Their house is kind of hard to miss. I stood at the main gate, chest heaving, hands on my knees, trying to catch my breath. A voice came through the tiny intercom, "Who is it?" Nick's voice rang in.

"Dare! Open up." I shout back, still straining to even my breathing. I hear the click of the gate as it unlatches and slowly open. As soon as a big enough space was created, I squeezed through, unfortunately scraping my ass on one of the rails.

I ignored the pain until I was at the front door where Dick, uh I mean Nick was there to greet me. Great. Just the person I came to see. "Joe's not here. He left to go pick up your gift." He says stepping aside to let me in.

"Are you sure you're supposed to tell me? I mean, I think he wants me to be surprised." I said not even knowing that he was getting me a present.

The corner of his mouth tipped up in a smirk. "Sorry." Part of me wanted to lick that sexy smirk off- The fuck? Stop it, Dare!

"No biggie." I said walking further into the house and plopping on the couch, Nick on my heels. I looked around the TV room, and there was loads of baby shit everywhere. "Are you pregnant, Nicholas?" I tease.

Joe told me that he got some chick knocked up, but that was months ago, and I never even heard about it in the tabloids. I'd almost forgot about it. "Haha," he laughed emotionlessly. "I'm surprised Joe didn't tell you already. I was supposed to be a father."

Was supposed to be?

Nick's pained face worried me a bit. I mean, we don't get along but…. "Well, what happened?" I asked.

Pained turned into shock no sooner than the words left my mouth. "You care? Wow! Wasn't expecting that." He half smiled.

Sighing, I patted the spot next to me so he could join me on the couch. "There was a point in time when I actually liked you, you know."

He sat next to me, clasping his hands together, "Selena got pregnant 4 months ago." He looked down and smiled like he was reminiscing, "She was so scared, but I was more excited than anything. I wanted to be a dad, you know? I mean, I'm 25. At some point in the near future I was going to have to start breeding." I laughed. Like, who says that?

"Well?" I asked poking at his arm.

"It wasn't mine. It was her co-star's." Nick looked up at me, again like he was hurt. "I didn't even know there was such a thing as prenatal paternity tests."

Are those real human tears I see gathering in his eyes? …Oh shit! Nick's actually about to cry. What do I do? Do I pat his back or hug him? Do I just get up and leave? Hmm…. Option number three... No!

"I'd already started loving that baby." Now, I'm going to cry. "I'm keeping the stuff though. I plan on having this child with or without Selena's stupid egg." He says crossing his arms like a little kid, making me chuckle a bit.

"Good luck with that. I almost wish I could do it for you." I say getting up from the couch. "Well, I'm going to head ou-"

"Could you?"

…What did this kid just say?

I turned on my heels so fast, I almost lost balance. "Be my surrogate, I mean." I laughed. The kid's got a great sense of humor.

"Uh, yeah I'm not going to lie to you so I'll try my best in making this crystal clear. Fuck no!" I yelled. Why in hell would I ruin my body for someone who's devoted the last three years of our 'friendship' to picking on me?

"Please? You're someone I can trust. You wouldn't go running your mouth to anyone, so we could keep this quiet. You like almost never get sick, so my kid's immune system would be great. You're not homely so my kid would be gorgeous. It works!"

I fucking hate people! "Nicholas-"

He interrupted me yet again, "Dare, you are the smartest, and most fun person to be around. You have so many good attributes you could pass on to my child. Please, do this one thing for me? I want a family."

Aw, that was kind of sweet. No! not sweet. Ugh! It'll be so much easier to say no, if I'm not in the same room as him. "Bye, Nick." I murmur before walking out of the room, into the main hallway, and out of the door.

When I got to the main gate, it wouldn't open. Nick's voice came through the receiver. "Just think about it, ok?" he says still not opening the gate.

Frustrated, I turn around to see him staring at me through the window. Why is he doing this? He knows I'm a sucker for children. Is that why he thinks the can just coax me into this? This isn't like loaning him a few hundred dollars- not that he'd need it. Or him asking for a kidney, cause even then, I'd help him out. But this is a fucking baby. My body. MY VAGINA!

"Think about it for what?" I hiss. "There is no way in hell, I would ever do that. I don't even like you," I yell into the receiver.

He doesn't even waver he just yells right back. "That's exactly why you should do it. I wouldn't have to worry about any emotional attachment because we can't stand each other. It's win-win"

I took in all of what he said. Wait- I'm not actually considering this, am I?

After letting out a long breath, "Fine." But before he can even get his wits together, "But I want a mill."

What can I say? I'm...Daring.

"Deal"

What the hell am I getting myself into?