the song in chapter 19 was Miracle by Paramore. (= i love that song. anyways, i hope you enjoy chapter 20. it's a lot like the previous story's version of this chapter, but i changed it up a little. her and Iggy's closer relationship is a little more obvious in this one. anyways, read, review, and please enjoy. (= oh, and please review. lol. if you didn't wanna read, you wouldn't be right now.

I hoped for change
And it gets better every day

I took yet another deep breath as we approached the door. Alex was, of course, laughing before we even landed and got here. Seth didn't understand it, but I did.

Every car that was usually here when everyone was here was here.

Alex patted his shoulder with a grin. "You know, I may approve of you now, but...well...it was nice knowing you."

I glared darkly at him, and he just laughed at me before walking inside, even though I knew he was waiting for us to come in.

Seth's eyebrows furrowed. "Um...you too? I don't get it. What's going on, Ari?"

I bit my lip. "My family is here."

"Your dad was yesterday," he pointed out, smiling encouragingly at me. "Aw. I already get to meet your family. How sweet."

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. "No. You don't realize how serious this is. Yes, you met my dad, but that was just the beginning."

"Meaning?"

I sighed and shook my head before walking in, still holding his hand as I pulled him along behind me. "You'll see."

Alex just continued to grin at me, even as we all walked up the stairs. "Hey, everyone! Guess who's here!"

"You and Ari?" I heard Iggy guess from the top of the stairs before laughing. "That's not hard, Alex. Make it a little tougher next time you ask a question."

He just grinned at Iggy. "Yes, and also Ari's boyfriend."

I winced as something in the kitchen crashed. My guess was it was Daddy, because even he didn't know that part.

With an innocent look, I pulled Seth up the stairs and made sure he was positioned behind me. "Um...hi?"

"Boyfriend?" Daddy gasped from the kitchen, confirming my theory. "Since when?"

"Yesterday after school," I said slowly, rocking back and forth on my heels a little.

"Aw!" Nudge squealed before running over here and tightly hugging him, pushing me out of the way. "Yay! I love you, by the way! You're keeping her here with us, and just...aw! Ooh. You're really cute. I like you." She smiled at him. "You are so Nudge approved!"

I warily looked at Seth for a minute, only to see he didn't mind. So, after that, I looked over at my uncles, the ones I was most worried about now...

They were furious. Not only were their fists clenched tightly, but their jaws were locked, and their teeth were snapped together. And, to top it all off, they seemed to be shaking.

"Now, just hang on a second!" I insisted quickly, pushing Seth back a little. "You can't hurt him!"

"No one said anything about hurting him," Iggy ground out through his teeth. "Maybe he won't feel a thing."

"Ugh!" I groaned. "Come on, guys, seriously! You can't hurt him, or kill him either! If you do, I'm dying, because I refuse to be with anyone else. Period. The end. So, fine. You want me to die? Kill him."

Iggy's shoulders sank, instantly, as all the rage in him disappeared, along with everyone else. His, though, was much faster, because he was my favorite, as I was his. "Come on, Ari. That's not fair. You know it's a rule. We have to kill the first boyfriend."

"Yeah," Gazzy defended, scowling now. "We even have the grave dug out already!"

Sean scowled at me and crossed his arms. "How do we know he's not just after your body and immortality?"

My eyes shot wide open. "Oh God. I'm leaving. There. You saw him, now we're leaving." Then, I grit my teeth. "Damn it, no I'm not!" Then, my eyes shot wide open. "I mean, dang it; I mean...oh man!"

Momma sighed. "I don't care." Then, she slapped Daddy on the back of the head. "You're the one that wanted her to live forever, and you're the one who told me we were gonna have to just get used to our kids having mates. Well, now she does, so you need to just get over it."

I smirked at Alex. "Don't worry, Momma. You've already met Alex's."

Alex's eyes shot wide open. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! No! Elli does not like me."

Seth snorted. "Dude, Elli is in love with you, plain and simple."

Iggy frowned. "Wait a second. Alex? Do you actually approve?"

Alex nodded. "Completely. Up until today at the pep rally, I sorta did, but now, I do, one hundred percent."

I smiled brightly. "So, see? There's nothing to worry about. He's Alex approved, which is something you guys never thought woulda happened." Then, I smirked at him again. "And Elli is so Ari approved."

He just narrowed his eyes at me. "I'm gonna get you, you little—"

I snorted, which cut him off. "Please. I'm not scared of you. And, besides. Has there not been enough action already?"

He burst out laughing, along with Seth. "That was so funny! I mean, you were like, "Bam!" and she was like, "Oh! I'm scared, but I'm gonna pretend not to be to look all tough and macho like the stuck up little bit…brat I am!" It was priceless!"

I gaped at him and then Seth, because he was laughing still too. "Funny? You two find that funny?"

"Well," Seth said slowly, biting his lip a little. "Other than the fact that she told everyone what you are, yeah. You were down there scaring the heck out of her."

"Wait," Daddy said quickly, eyes widened a little. "That girl who's done all this crap to you did what?"

I took a deep breath. "Well, she saw me flying yesterday, so she started looking up things about people with wings. Well, she found out about you guys' past, so she realized that Alex looks just like Momma, and I look just like Daddy. So, she put two and two together and told the entire student body at the pep rally.

"So, I went off on a speech to try and ask them to shut their mouths," I went on, now smiling brightly again. "My speech wasn't good enough. Seth then begged them to keep quiet, and for now, everyone has agreed."

Ella gasped. "He did what?"

I smiled up at him. "He used his magical powers and convinced them not to say anything."

He rolled his eyes but couldn't help but smile back at me. "Well, I wouldn't call them magical powers. It's more like I'm the football captain willing to get down on my knees and beg them to keep quiet."

Momma smacked Daddy on the back of the head, but she didn't even have to say anything.

"Yes, dear," he said instantly. "I like him."

Nudge punched Sean's arm quite hard, or so it looked like. "You better love him right now!"

"I love him," Sean said quickly, eyes widening in surprise and slight fear, something I couldn't help but laugh at.

Ella smacked Iggy on the back of the head. "He's a sweet boy. You like him, right?"

"Yes, ma'am," Iggy said instantly as he looked over at her, smiling sweetly to butter her up.

Angel just glared up at Jesse, teeth ground together a little and eyes tightened. "Do you like him?"

"Yes," he said quickly, nodding eagerly and very swiftly. "I like this boy. Perfect for her."

Alli pinched Gazzy's ear tightly, eyes narrowed almost to slits. "How about you, Gaz?"

"He's a great guy," Gazzy said rapidly with a wince and eyes closed. "There's no one else more perfect."

"They're extremely whipped," I explained, before Seth could ask, like I could see he was about to. "Beyond the normal amount."

Alex smirked at me. "You will be too, Seth. Don't worry. It's just a matter of time. You really will be after you two—"

"You can fill in the blank there," I interrupted as I shoved Alex off the couch and into the floor, something he just laughed about. "Stop hanging out with Iggy."

"Why?" Iggy asked teasingly. "You do all the time, and you're still an innocent little angel." He slowly shook his head before looking at Seth, eyes sincerely approving now as he realized something. "So, you said you're the football captain."

Seth nodded. "Yes, sir."

I snorted. "He is no sir. Just say Iggy. They don't bite."

"No," Iggy disagreed, smiling brightly now. "I like this. Sir." He grinned now.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, well, as much as I would love to just stay here and embarrass myself further,"—sarcasm—"we actually have somewhere to go, so we'll see you guys later."

"Wait!" Momma exclaimed, after Alex whispered something in her ear.

My fists clenched tightly as I glared him down. "You better take off running right now!"

"Baby pictures!" Momma insisted, smiling now. "Aw, come on, Ari. You were such a cute baby!"

But, before she could even get to the back to get them, I was running with Seth right back down the stairs. He seemed more than willing to follow, although he was laughing.

"You were probably a cute baby," he teased as I shut the basement door. "So adorable..."

I turned around sharply to face him, surprising him completely. My eyes were narrowed too. "You don't ever want to see those, alright? There are some really embarrassing pictures, beyond the normal embarrassing."

"Look, Ari," he said softly, intertwining both of our hands and fingers as he pulled me closer to him. "I don't care, okay? I'm not going anywhere. You should know that by now."

I gave him my flirty smile again. "Well...yeah. I guess I do."

And then, without warning, he leaned down and pressed his lips softly against mine.