The Wish List

Halo

"I swore I'd never fall again. But this don't even feel like falling. Gravity can't forget to pull me back to the ground again."

~Beyonce Knowles

I sat in the seat beside Ty, making sure to keep a permanent smile on my face, so he'd feel reassured every time he'd glace my way.

He'd never been to one of these, an AA meeting, I'm guessing he probably hadn't ever been to a meeting in general.

The entire hour and a half he kept shifting in his seat, looking over at me as if the sight of me made him feel more comfortable.

When we finally left the building, after promising his Sponsor we'd be back, I could actually feel him relax beside me as we walked out to the car.

"Hey, you did great." I nudged him, sending him a quick smile.

"I didn't. I probably looked like a complete idiot in there." I stopped behind the car, grabbing his arm and shaking my head.

"Ty, you did great. I promise you were just as good at speaking as everyone else in there." He smiled, his blue eyes glistening in the bright sunlight.

"We better get back home, my parents are supposed to be back tonight." I mumbled bitterly, "They're throwing some sort of dinner party that I have to be at." I shook my head as I climbed into the SUV.

Ty didn't say much on the way home, not until we actually pulled up to the house to find a familiar black Porshe parked in our usual spot.

"I could take Tessie and leave for a few hours if you want. So you don't have to go through the hassle of explaining everything to your parents." I shook my head automatically, pulling my phone from my purse.

"I already told them I had you two here this morning. And I honestly don't know if I could deal with my parents or their friends alone right now, I'd probably snap." He laughed, nodding slowly as he shut the car off.

"Okay. I don't know if we bought a tux when we-"

"I had Sienna go buy you one." I smiled sheepishly, "I kind of already planned everything last night, I hope you don't mind."

He stared at me for a second, his lips curling up into a smile.

"As long as I don't have to wear a bow tie, I'm good." He replied.

"Well. . ."

*

"It hurts, Mommy. Why do you have to pull it so hard?" Tessie whimpered, squirming as I tried to finish her french braid. I sighed, dropping my hands on my lap.

"Because it'll come out if I don't. And my Mommy and Daddy won't let you come to dinner if you don't look pretty." I explained, bitterly.

My parents had done it my entire life, forced Jason, Steph, and me into wearing extravagant dresses and tuxes, even if it was just for a dinner at the kitchen table with a few of their friends. We had to be the model family, we had to be perfect.

"Are your Mommy and Daddy mean?" Tessie whispered, seeing the look on my face.

"They're just not as nice as your Daddy." I replied, taking her hand and squeezing it.

"Ally, can you help with this damn tie?" I looked up at Ty in the doorway, my eyes widening.

He looked like a completely different person. His usually shaggy, dark haired, was slicked back and out of his eyes so they were shining brightly in the dim light of my bedroom.