The Next Level *SEQUEL TO LPAG*

| Chapter Twenty-One : THE REAL DOUBLE WEDDING GUIES!! |

(THIS WILL BE A SWITCH OFF OF JOCE'S POV THEN GO TO TRIN'S! (two in one ppl) SO YEAH, HALF AND HALF. I hope this doesn't get confusing, though...if it does, I'll edit it to Joce's POV all the way) (and just skip to Trin's pov XD)

*JOCE'S POV GUIES*

I swallowed hard. Alex and I were driving to his parents house - Trinity personally paid for our plane tickets so we could talk to them. She understood how it was; but she only understood to an extent. I had heard slurring and crashing when Alex still lived at that house. I was scared, but that was putting it lightly. After a bit longer of driving, we arrived at the town I was so familiar with. The house with the pathway of flowers was now gloomy and dying.

Alex looked worried. The look on his face said it all.

I smiled reassuringly as we slowly walked to the door. I grabbed his hand and squeezed it lightly, entangling our fingers together. I could feel his tension as he held my hand. We got to the door and knocked.

We waited. Finally footsteps were heard. Alex swallowed, tightening his grip on my hand and I leaned into him. His mother opened the door; his mother whom I had met twice. She wasn't the same at all. There were large bags under her eyes, she was as thin as a twig, and she wasn't as bouncy and happy. Alex's grip loosened as I looked up at his face, a pang of pain washed over him to see his mother this way.

"M-mom!" He cried, letting go of my hand completely and throwing his arms around the fragile figure, hugging her softly.

"Hello, Alex." She said quietly, hugging back. She hugged him as if, if she let go, she might lose all stability and float away.

"Why do you look so bad?! What's going on?" Alex practically spat out in a millisecond. I frowned worriedly.

"I uh..." She started, then pulled away. "How about you just come i--wait, who's that?"

"It's Jocelynn, mom. My...fiance." Alex stated. He was worried, but a small pang of joy echoed through his voice when the word fiance escaped his lips.

"Oh, oh that's right! Jocelynn. Hello, dear." His mother spoke up softly with a slight smile. I returned the smile as I spoke up.

"Hello, Mrs. Todd."

"Oh, please, just call me Sara."

"Okay, Sara." I replied, smiling warmly.

"Please, come in." She spoke swiftly as Alex stepped inside, I followed and closed the door behind us. The house was a mess. I never remembered it this bad - there was glass shattered on the floor, the living room was dusty and the couch looked way too warn out. I pursed my lips, trying not to comment on anything, but Alex didn't do the same.

"What the heck happened?!" He exclaimed quickly, staring at Sara with wide eyes.

"I'll...tell you after I get you something to drink." She stated quickly before she walked to the kitchen to grab something.

I sat down on the couch, it softly creaked under me. I was afraid it'd collapse as I sat, but I sat anyways. Alex was pacing back and forth, rubbing his hands and staring all around. I frowned and stood up again, walking over to him. "Alex?"

He whipped around, looking at me. "Yes?"

"It'll be okay." I whispered, trying to convince myself more than him as I wrapped my arms around his torso and hugged him tightly. I honestly didn't know it was this bad. Why didn't he tell me?!

He hugged back, but it wasn't like usual. He was slightly trembling. I didn't like seeing, or feeling, him like this. His mom walked out, setting our drinks on the cracked coffee table before she walked back into the kitchen for a bit longer. When she came back out, she sat down on the couch and I followed her.