Mitchie pulled up into my driveway and gave me a look that read, 'are you sure?' I leaned over, kissed her nose, and got out. I started to walk to the front door, and Mitchie was quick to join me. We laced our fingers together and continued walking. You could hear the yelling from out here. My mom, dad, and older brother. I wonder where Max is... Wherever he is, I'm sure he's fine. Mitchie and I slipped inside. Justin and my dad were spitting insults back and forth, while my mom just screamed how they were being stupid. I closed the door behind us, which seemed to draw some attention. All eyes shot over to us. Justin gave me a weak smile, my dad glared, and my mom only sighed.

My dad clenched his teeth, "Nice of you to join us."

I smiled innocently, "Why, thank you, father."

Justin sighed and looked at me, "Alex, not the time to be sarcastic."

I shrugged and pulled my hand from Mitchie's, crossing my arms over my chest, "Dad's over-reacting. I'm still me. Nothing's changed. So...get. over. it."

My dad walked up to me, "Everything's changed, young lady. Not only has your mind changed...but the way I view you has changed," he spat, "You are not my daughter. I don't even know who you are."

My mom yelled, "Jerry, how dare you!"

He spun around, facing my mom, "Tell me you weren't thinking it! Go on, tell me!"

She glared, "I wasn't! She's still our daughter, the girl we raised and love!"

My dad shook his head, "No, no...she's not. She's screwed up now."

Justin walked over to my dad and got in his face, "Insult her one more time and you are dead."

My dad pushed Justin away, "Don't stick of for that monstrosity!"

For the first time since this argument began, Mitchie spoke, "That's e-fucking-nough. Who the hell do you think you are?! So the fuck what, she fell in love with a girl! What's the big deal? That's it's not right? Oh, please, Sir, tell me how it's not right to love someone unconditionally! I'm all ears, Sir!"

My dad got in her face, "You are a guest in my house, you will not speak to me that way. I can have you thrown in prison faster than you can say 'freak of nature.'"

Mitchie smirked, "Freak of nature."

My dad put his hand's on Mitchie's shoulders and shoved her against the wall, slamming her into one of our family portraits...shattering the frame. I grabbed my dad by the back of the shirt, and yanked him down to the ground.

I knelled down and looked directly into his eyes, "Insult me all you want, but touch her...and I will call the police. That is not a threat. I will do it."

He sat up and glared at me, "Get out of my house," he looked to Mitchie, "Both of you."

I stood and walked over to Mitchie. She was staring daggers into my father. I cupped her face into my hands and lightly kissed her.

I whispered, "You okay, baby?"

She nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine...are you okay?"

I smiled a little and nodded, "I'm okay."

My dad jumped up, grabbed me by my arm, and yanked me away from Mitchie, "Not in my house! You will not do that in my house!"

I tried to pull my arm away, "Let go! You're hurting me!"

The second I said that, it set something off in both Mitchie and Justin. They both grabbed one of my father's arms, tugged him off of me, and threw him onto the ground. Justin held him down while Mitchie called the police. I took a deep breath and looked to my mom. She walked over and hugged me tightly.

She mumbled, "I'm so sorry, sweetheart, are you okay?"

I buried my head into her shoulder, "I'm okay. I love you, mommy."

"I love you, too, baby."

I pulled away, "Speaking of mommy...where's Max?"

My mom's face dropped, "I thought you had him?"

I shook my head, "I had Harper bring him over last night..."

"Harper never came here last night..."

I grabbed my cell out of my pocket and quickly dialed Harper.

She answered, "Heyo!"

"Do you have Max?"

She paused, "No? I dropped him off in front of the house last night...wait...do you mean he's gone?"

"...no one's seen him since yesterday..."

After searching around frantically for an hour, Mitchie and I ended up exhausted at the park. We couldn't find him anywhere and we were terrified. Mitchie slowly got desperate and started calling her friends, asking if they'd seem a little boy. She eventually got to that one girl's number, so she flashed me a look, and put it on speaker.

She answered, "Hey, Mitch."

"Hey, Ashley, have you seen a little boy who kind of looks like my girlfriend?"

"Oh, yeah, he's here. Madison wanted another friend here, and we saw him wondering around, so I picked him up."

Of course he'd be there. With...her. Of freaking course. Now we have to go there, and just, seriously?! Why, universe, why? Mitchie wrapped up her phone call and we went to her car. The ride was silent. I was pissed, and it was completely obvious. Mitchie knew why, so she wasn't going to ask.

Everything in me began to boil as we pulled up into her driveway. I did not want to be here, or have Mitchie be here.

Mitchie sighed, "Look, Alex, you need to just deal with this. It'll be literally two minutes, then we'll have Max and we'll be gone. Just...please...get over it for now?"

I glared at her, "Get over it? Whatever. Just go get Max, so we can leave."

"Lexi...don't be mad..."

I whipped my head back to the window, "Just go get Max."

Mitchie sighed and did as I said. I watched her go up to the front door and walked in without even knocking. She just looked so comfortable. She's only suppose to be comfortable with me...what's up with me? I've never been one to be the jealous type. I guess I just worry about losing Mitchie...she's a lot to lose, you know? I love her more than anything in this world. I know for a fact that I'm not the only one who sees how wonderful she is. I mean, if you can't see it, then you're either blind or just plain stupid. Mitchie returned to the front door, a huge smile on her face, and Max by her side. Mitchie sent Max off to the car while she stayed and laughed at something Ashley had said. Max climbed into the backseat, not saying a word to me. Not that it mattered, I probably wouldn't have listened, anyway. Ashley reached over and held Mitchie's wrist. Mitchie didn't do anything to stop it, either. She just continued to laugh and smile with her. The jealousy and anger just kept building up. I leaned over and punched the horn. They both kind of jumped and looked at me. Mitchie saw the look on my face and her smile instantly shrank. She quickly said goodbye to Ashley and ran back to the car. She ducked inside and drove off. I didn't blow up at her, yet. Max is in the car and the last thing he needs is more yelling.

Mitchie parked in our driveway and Max jumped out, going back inside. The police had already taken my dad away, so I knew he'd be safe. I unbuckled and turned in my seat so I was facing Mitchie.

She forced a smile, "Want to go-"

"No. I don't want to do anything, but talk. You said that you were over her. Sure didn't look like it. You said I didn't have anything to worry about. Definitely looked like I do."

Mitchie sighed, "We were just talking, Lex."

"No, that wasn't 'just talking.' That was flirting. You can't deny it, either, because you know it was, too."

She looked at me, "Okay, maybe she was flirting, but I wasn't!"

"Don't lie to me, Torres. You were smiling and laughing just as much as she was. The only thing you didn't do, that she did, was try to hold your hand...which you didn't stop, by the way."

"Are you just gonna yell at me? 'Cause if you are, you can get out."

I stared at her for a moment, then turned, opened my door, and got out. I started walking up to my front door when I heard Mitchie fumbling with her car door and jumping out.

She called out, "Alex, I'm sorry! I didn't mean it! Please, come back!"

I ignored her, went inside, and slammed the door shut. I calmly walked up to my bedroom and softly shut the door behind me...then I broke down. I started bawling my eyes out and throwing pillows. I dropped down onto the floor and hugged my knees to my chest, crying uncontrollably hard. How could she?! I hate Ashley, I hate her! She's stealing away my Mitchie...and Mitchie's not even putting up a fight! How could she! I'm losing her...by this time next week...I bet she'll be gone. She'll be all lovey with Ashley and have forgotten about me...like the little nothing that I am. I grabbed my phone and called Harper. She answered, asking if I had found Max, and after I said yes, I sobbed. I didn't say anything, just sobbed and sobbed. Harper didn't know what was wrong or what to do, but she tried her best to console me. None of her attempts work, I just cried into the phone for hours.

Once I had cried out all my tears and told Harper everything, I was calmed down a bit. Well, calm enough to stop crying and be able to function...but my heart was still aching. I may have been overreacting, but Mitchie and I had had one of our first real fights...and it was killing me. Sure, we kind of argued when she cheated, but we didn't fight. We just broke up, and that was that...but now...we're fighting...and I hated it.

I took a deep breath and left my room. It was late and my family had gone to bed. Well, Justin and Max were in bed. My mom was still at the police station, filling out paperwork and such. I peeked out the front window, to see if maybe my mom was actually home, but was greeted with a different car. Mitchie's car. Did she ever leave? She was laying out on the hood of her car, staring up at the stars, with tears streaming done her cheeks. I couldn't see her clearly, because she was a little far away and it was dark, but it looked like she had puffy red cheeks. Has she been crying for as long as I have? Probably... I sighed, slipped on my flip-flops, and went outside. I walked up to her car and climbed up on the hood next to her. She jumped a little and looked at me.

"Babe...I'm so sorry..."

I didn't respond, I just stared up at the stars. I knew she was sorry, but that didn't change what had happened. My heart was still aching and the memory was forever burned into my mind.

She sat up, "...you must really hate me now..."

I looked at her and sighed, "I could never hate you."

"I didn't mean to snap at you like that...you have every right to be upset...I should have stopped what was going on. I don't know why I didn't, but I really am sorry."

I sat up, "I know why you didn't stop it...Ashley is gorgeous and your ex. I'm sure she still has a place in your heart, even if you say she doesn't."

"I love you, Alex, only you."

I nodded, "I know that...but you can want to be with someone...without actually loving them."

"...what do you mean?"

"I mean...you can want to be with Ashley, even if you don't love her, even if you love me."

She shook her head, "But I don't want to be with Ashley! I just want to be with you...forever and ever."

I looked up at the stars, "Maybe...maybe we should take a...break..."

My heart snapped at the word.

Mitchie kind of jumped at the word, "No! Never! We don't need a break!"

"But we do...just so you can see if you want Ashley."

"I don't! Why do you keep fucking saying that?! I don't want Ashley! I never wanted Ashley! Even when we were together, I didn't want her! She never made me happy! She was just someone for fun, we never had a connection and we never will! She literally means nothing to me! The only person in this world that means anything to me is you, Alex...only you..."

"You don't need to yell..."

She let out a deep, aggravated breath, "You're missing the point, Lex."

"No, I got the point. Ashley was just your toy...but you're also missing my point."

"Which is?"

"You miss the fun she was. I'm not saying you miss her, so don't start yelling again, I'm just saying you miss the fun and no commitment she had."

She shook her head, "Not even close to true. I don't miss her or anything about her or anything about that relationship we had. You are all I want and all I need."

I slid off the car, "I want to say I believe you, because I really do want to believe you, but I just don't."

Mitchie jumped off her car and stood in front of me, "So...that's it? You're breaking up with me?"

I looked to the ground, then up at her, "Yeah...I guess I am..."

"Alex, this is ridiculous! You were just jealous and afraid of losing me...and now you're breaking up with me?!"

I sighed, "We're taking a break. Just so you can-"

"I don't want to be with Ashley! Get that through your beautiful little mind, please."

I laughed a little, "It has gone through my head. I get that you don't want to be with her...but I'm still setting you free."

"Lex-"

I brushed past her, "Once a cheater...always a cheater..."

I ducked inside before she could reply.

I was woken up at around eight in the morning by blaring music. I couldn't figure out where it was coming from, though. I checked outside my window, which is where I saw Mitchie. She was sitting on the ground, plucking the grass, with a radio playing slow songs.

I called down, "Turn that off before you wake the neighbors!"

She glanced up at me and slowly smiled, "Let them wake up!"

"What are you even doing here, Torres?"

She stood, "Trying to win you back."

"May I ask, how do you plan to do that?"

She smiled, "Well, get your lazy butt down here, and I'll show you."

"Just a sec!"

I dragged a brushed through my hair, slipped into my clothes, brushed my teeth, yanked on my shoes, and ran outside to meet Mitchie. She clicked off the radio and picked it up. She used her other hand to grabbed my arm and gently pull me to her car. She tossed the radio into the backseat, opened my door for me, then we both got in. She started driving and my curiosity sparked up.

She spoke before I could question her, "Don't ask, because I won't tell you. Honestly, I'm just kind of freaking out right now."

I laughed a little, "Why? It's just me."

"I know, but I was expecting you to put up more of a fight."

I shrugged, "I didn't see the point," I looked at her, "You wouldn't have given up, anyway."

"Well, no, but still. I'm just shocked. Plus...we just broke up last night...and you're acting as if it didn't happen..."

"Would you like me to?"

She shook her head, "No, no, of course not. I'm just trying to figure you out."

There was nothing to really figure out. My heart belongs to her, I don't have to power to tell her no. When I broke up with her last night, I was just going off the adrenaline that the fight had caused. It was like I was on autopilot...but now, it's all me, and I can't turn her away. I love her more than anything. Will I take her back? If I can find the power to say no, then I will. I still think that we need this break, so she can...experiment. I still mean what I said last night, too.

"Hey, Mitch?"

"Yeah, Lex?"

"What did you do last night? After I, ya know, dumped you."

She sighed, "I crumbled down in your driveway and cried for hours. I cried and cried until the sun came up, then I grabbed the radio out of my trunk, and played it outside your window."

"So...you haven't been to sleep?"

She shook her head, "I was just in so much pain...I'm still in a lot of pain...because I have the love of my life sitting right next to me, but she isn't mine."

"I was yours."

"Yeah...you were...but what I need you to say is that you are mine...not that you were..."

I sighed, "Mitch...I don't know when I'll be saying that again."

"...oh..."

Dagger to the heart. The way she said it...It sounded so defeated, so pain-filled, so hurt, so...not her. How did I become such a heart breaker? I never wanted to hurt anyone...but I ended up breaking three hearts. Mason's, Ariana's, and Mitchie's. I am a horrible person...

I looked to Mitchie, "Why do you love me?"

"...what?"

"You love me, tell me why."

"I could go on for days, Alex."

"Then do it, I need to hear it."

She pulled up in the park's parking lot, "Right now?"

"Yes, right now."

She unbuckled and faced me, looking right into my eyes, "I love the way you smile. I love the way your hair falls in front of your face. I love the way you look at me. I love the way you hold my hand. I love the way you know exactly how to make me smile or laugh. I love the way you talk to me. I love how I can be myself around you. I love the way you make me feel safe and free. I love the way you bend rules for me. I love the way you feel safe with me. I love how you have such a beautiful body and a beautiful mind. I love the way you kiss me. I love the way you hold me. I love how when you touch me, you send sparks all through me. I love how you are your own person. I love the way you do everything. I love the way you love me. I love how you are so caring. I love all your flaws, because they make you you. I just...love you."