"I'll meet you guys down there in a minute," I told my dad when we finally walked through the door.

I hadn't seen Mitchie all day, other than for a few minutes that morning. I'd come downstairs and saw my mom and Jill talking at the kitchen table, but they stopped as soon as they saw me come in. I asked what they were talking about, and they said nothing, but they looked like they were up to something. God knows what.

"I hope you don't mind but we're stealing Mitchie for the day," my mom had said.

"Why?"

"Oh, you know, just some girl time. Lunch, pedicures, shopping…"

Shit. Shopping. It was December 24, which in guy time means time to get your ass to the mall and buy Christmas presents. My dad and Steve had walked in, already dressed.

"Well, ladies, I hope you don't mind, but we've decided we need to do some male bonding," my dad had told them, waving me over. When I was close enough that they couldn't hear, he whispered, "Go get ready…we're going to be in big trouble tomorrow if we don't get to the mall soon."

"You read my mind," I laughed. "Give me ten minutes."

Now my dad, Steve, and Brandon were going to the basement to wrap the presents, but I wanted to say 'hi' to Mitchie first. I bought her this really cool necklace for Christmas – a silver chain with a diamond guitar pendent.

"Hey, Mitch…what's wrong?"

She wiped a few tears away quickly when I opened the door and threw on a fake smile. "What? Nothing! I missed you!"

"I missed you, too…Mitchie, why are you crying?" I asked. I sat down on the bed next to her and put my arm around her.

"I'm not, Nate, everything's fine," she insisted. "Did you have fun today?"

Jill. I don't know what the fuck that dumb bitch did, but whatever Mitchie was upset about, Jill had to be behind it. That's the only reason Mitchie wouldn't want to tell me what's wrong – she wouldn't want to cause a problem between me and my family. I wish Jill wasn't a part of my family, and she sure wasn't going to be after I killed her for whatever she did to make my girlfriend cry.

"What did Jill say to you?" I replied, ignoring her question.

She looked a little startled. "What? Jill's cool."

"Jill's not cool. Mitch, I know she's a bitch, you don't have to act like you like her."

"I do like her, Nate…" Mitchie said slowly.

"Then why are you upset?" I asked again.

"I'm not, Nate, I'm fine."

"Obviously you're not fine, Mitchie. I'm not an idiot, I can see you've been crying. Tell me what's wrong," I told her.

"Nothing," she repeated.

I sighed and kissed her softly. "I'm going to find out, whether you tell me or not. I have an insider."

"What?"

"Nothing," I shrugged. "I have to go…help my dad with something. I'll see you in a few minutes."

"Okay," she smiled.

I walked out of the room and straight for Taylor's. Bless her heart, my little sister could not keep a secret to save her life, and that's exactly what I needed right now.

"Tay?"

She looked up from the magazine she was reading and smiled at me. "Hi!"

"Hey, can I talk to you for a sec?" I asked.

"Yes…" she said slowly. She could tell something was wrong. She always could. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No, not at all," I replied. I sat down at the end of her bed. "Did you hear Jill say anything to Mitchie today that might have upset her?"

"Like what?"

"I don't know…like, maybe she told her something about me that wasn't true? Or…said something mean to Mitchie? Anything like that?" I suggested.

Taylor shook her head. "No, they were getting along and laughing all day."

I sighed. What else could it be? And Jill and Mitchie…getting along? That's something I never expected.

"Okay. Thanks, Tay," I said as I stood up and started to leave.

"But mom…"

I stopped dead in my tracks. My mind flashed back to that morning, when my mom and Jill had stopped talking as soon as I walked in the room. I closed the door and sat back down.

"What about mom?"

"Well, we went to the grocery store to get some stuff to make pie for tomorrow, and when we were waiting in line, mom was looking at the tabloids and said to Mitchie that they wrote a lot of bad stuff about her. And Mitchie said that they were all lies, but mom was like, every lie is based on a kernel of truth, and then Mitchie said well they write bad stuff about everyone, but mom was all like well they never wrote anything bad about Nate until he started being seen with you," Taylor explained, in that freakishly fast way that 12-year old girls talk. When did she find time to breathe?

"Mom said that?" I asked, a little shocked.

My mom had always been a little overprotective, but I never thought she would ever involve herself in my business like that…unless she had a little encouragement from a certain bitchy cousin of mine. That's probably what was going on at breakfast this morning – Jill was telling my mom that Mitchie was a slut or something and she was "worried" about me. She should be worrying about herself right about now, I swear to God…

"Yeah and then she was all like Mitchie hanging around you hasn't been doing much good for Nate's reputation and everyone used to think he was such a nice guy and now they probably think different and then she told her that if she really cared about you maybe she should think about what's best for you."

"Thanks, Tay," I said quietly. I got up and walked out of the room, towards the kitchen where I knew my mom was before I even had time to think. I glared at her as soon as I entered the kitchen – she was cutting potatoes for dinner. "How could you, mom?"

"How could I what, sweetie?" she asked innocently.

"You know what," I replied bitterly. "You practically told Mitchie that she wasn't good enough for me. You didn't think I would find out?"

My mom pursed her lips like she always did when she was trying to stay calm. "I think she must have exaggerated because…"

"Mitchie didn't tell me, mom. She didn't tell me anything," I raised my voice. "You basically said that she wasn't welcome in your house and she protected you! Maybe that should tell you a little something about the kind of person Mitchie is."

"Nate, don't raise your voice to me…" she started.

"I love her, mom," I shouted, ignoring her. "I love her. You don't know her. Maybe if you'd taken the time to even talk to her you'd realize what an amazing girl she is, no matter what Jill says. I can't believe you would let her convince you that all that shit in the tabloids is true. It's not, mom, none of it. And even if it was, it's not up to you to decide who I'm going to date and who I'm not!"

I stormed out of the kitchen and back upstairs before she could say anything else. I didn't want to hear it.

"Mitchie, I'm so sorry," I said as soon as I walked into the room. "My mom had no right to…"

"No," she interrupted me. "Maybe she's right. People have started writing a lot of shit about you since we started dating, and…you're such a good guy, Nate. I'm not good enough for you."

I wrapped my arms around her. She pretended to be tough, but sometimes she let what people say really get to her. I just wish it hadn't been this. "Stop, babe. I don't deserve you. You're the best thing that ever happened to me. I don't care what my mom said. I know she only said it because of Jill anyways. Jill tries to ruin my life any chance she gets. I'm sorry she dragged you into it."

Mitchie buried her head in my chest. "I love you, Nate."

"I love you too, baby."

"Mitchie?"

We both looked up – my mom was standing at the door. She took a few steps into the room uncomfortably.

"Mitchie, I want to apologize for what I said. I was wrong. I just want what's best for my son…and, he say that you're what's best for him. So…I believe him. I'm sorry. I hope you'll give me another chance. I'd really like to get to know the girl my son fell so in love with," she explained.

Mitchie smiled weakly and nodded. "I'd like that."