My Boys

Chapter 5

~*~Joey's POV~*~

"Joey! Garbage!" Aubrey called from downstairs. I groaned loudly as I rolled out of my warm bed, pulling on some sweatpants and a hoodie.

I shouldn't have stayed up that late. I was going to be tired all day now but I felt like it was worth it because I was up talking to Atticus and Acre.

I hadn't been over since that day, it's almost been 2 weeks. Steve was angry with them for letting me see what I did and didn't want me going over anymore. And because Steve was angry, so was Mik. Aubrey and Marilyn disagreed with them and said I should be allowed to go see my friends, but they were also upset that I saw that.

Even though I hadn't seen them in 2 weeks, we still texted and called. Atticus taught me what FaceTime was and we did that a lot too. Usually he was snuggled up to Acre who couldn't be bothered by my presence, just scrolling through his phone and occasionally nodding. I still thought he was a little scary but he was nice too, like when he dropped off a phone case for me. It was bright blue with dolphins on it and the bright blue matched his eyes. I loved it.

"Morning, Joey. How'd you sleep?" Aubrey asked while kissing my head.

"Good. My bed is so warm."

She laughed at my usual comment on my new bed, always hearing me talk about how warm it was.

"That's good. Do you want pancakes or waffles for breakfast?"

"Pancakes please, you make them the best."

She chuckled and started making them while I took the garbage from the back door to the end of the driveway to be picked up. I put the bag in the garbage bin and wheeled it onto the grass so Mik wouldn't hit it with his car again like last week.

While I was struggling to drag the recycling around, not being able to lift it because turns out, my ribs were broken but I didn't notice because they'd been broken multiple times before. Anyways, during my struggle a car pulled over at the side of the road, confusing me until a familiar ponytail stuck out the window.

"Hey, Joey." Atticus smiled, waiting until I waved to get out.

"Hi, Atticus. How are you?" I asked, giving up with pulling the bin and trying to push it.

"I'm good... what are you doing?" He laughed lightly, joining me half way up the driveway.

"I can't lift it." I frowned, pouting at the ground like I was some child. I should be able to lift the stupid recycling bin.

"Why didn't you say something? Does it hurt your ribs?" He held my arm as he spoke softly. It made butterflies fly around in my stomach and no longer was I able to contain the flush that seemed to take over my cheeks whenever around him or Acre.

"Mhm... but I'm not a baby, I can do it." I made sure to smile so maybe Atticus would believe my lie. He didn't.

"Nuh uh, let me do it." Although he spoke softly, his tone showed there was no room for argument. So I unwillingly let him bring the bin to the road, using one arm and making his pretty muscles stand out. He may or may not have caught me staring and cleared his throat to get my attention.

"Huh? I'm... hi." If it was at all possible for my face to turn anymore red, it did. And Atticus seemed to find it amusing.

"You're too cute." He chuckled, running his fingers through my hair and leaving me to lean into his hand. "Steve and Mik are going away for the weekend, Aubrey said I can steal you away so Amelia can take care of your leg."