-Heather's POV-
I was singing a random song I came up with in my head when I heard a familiar voice call my name. I turned around in the wicker chair I was sitting in and saw Anthony standing about ten feet away from me.
"Anthony?" I croaked.
I couldn't believe it. He was really here.
I stood up in astonishment. He rushed up to me and pulled me into a tight hug, enveloping me in his arms. I hugged him back and buried my head in his shoulder. "I thought I told you to leave me alone," I said, my voice muffled because my head was in the crook of his neck.
He chuckled and stepped back in the embrace, the two of us keeping our arms wrapped around each other, "Yeah and I thought I told you a long time ago that I'd never leave you alone." He moved his hand and tucked a piece of my blonde hair that had fallen out of my messy bun behind my ear. He smiled at me and I returned the smile.
Even with all of the things that happened and what we said to each other over the phone, and more specifically, the things I said to him, I couldn't be more elated to have him here. To see him again. To be in his arms again. To stare into his brown eyes again.
"I missed you," I murmured softly, playing with the ends of the drawstring on the hood of his hoodie.
"I missed you too," He replied, wrapping his hands around mine and squeezing them gently.
The two of us leaned in to kiss when the back door of the house opened and out came Joey. He dropped the tray he had in his hands with a pitcher of lemonade on it and glasses on it to the floor. The pitcher and glasses shattered, the yellow mix of lemonade and ice cubes spilling everywhere.
"Anthony," He muttered in shock and disbelief.
Anthony stepped away from me and crossed his arms over his chest, "Joey."
"I-I wasn't expecting to see you here." I could hear the agitation in Joey's voice. Unlike me, he was not happy to see Anthony again. "Speaking of you here, what are you doing here?"
"I'm here to take Heather back home," Anthony reached for my hand and interlocked his fingers with mine. I looked up at him apprehensively. He glanced down at me and smirked, adding, "Where she belongs."
"She belongs with me, you asshole," Joey snarled at him, approaching the two of us. "You had your chance, Anthony, and you blew it. She wants to stay here, with me." He grabbed for my hand closest to him and held it tightly.
"No, she belongs with me!" Anthony retorted, yanking on my arm and pulling me closer to him.
"No, she belongs with me!" Joey repeated, yanking me towards him.
"No, she-" Anthony began to say when I ripped my hands out theirs and tucked them under my arms. The two men looked at me as I began to back away from them.
"Heather..." Joey said sweetly, starting to approach me, "...baby...he's not the one you belong with. He cheated on you."
"Well he wasn't there for you when you needed him, Heather!" Anthony butted in, walking up beside Joey. Joey shot a glare in his direction.
"Well at least I didn't take her away from the ones who loved her, only to betray her in the end in the worst kind of way!"
"And you're one to talk, Mr. Graceffa. You took her away from me! I think that counts as taking her away from the one who loved her."
The two of them started screaming at each other at the top of their lungs. I stared at them in disbelief. They were acting like children, first using me as the rope in a game of tug-of-war and now trying to one-up the other person, as if they were fighting about who should get the last cookie in the jar.
"Guys," I tried to break them up, but they kept screaming.
"Come on, guys."
Anthony and Joey once again ignored me, so focused on yelling at the other person that they didn't even hear me.
"GUYS!" I finally snapped. Both of them went silent. My eyes shifted rapidly between the two of them, "There's no need to fight here," I continued in a much calmer tone. I looked over at Anthony, "I came back here because I wanted to, Anthony. Joey was just there to help me get back. And Joey," I glanced over at him, "I went with Anthony to California because I wanted to. Anthony didn't make me leave. I chose to. I made the decisions then and I make the decision now. Me. I've always made my own decisions and that's how it's always going to be. Understood?"
"But, Hea-" Joey began to say when I put my hand up and stopped him mid-sentence.
"No, Joey. I'm twenty-four years old. I think I'm more than capable to make my own decisions."
"Then who's it going to be, Heather?" Anthony inquired, crossing his arms over his chest. I glanced over at him. "Huh? You know, since you're more than capable to make your own decisions. Choose who you want to be with. The guy who didn't have the balls to tell you he loved you in college," He pointed over to Joey, "Or me," He poked his chest, "The guy who drove all the way across the country to win you back, to prove how much he loves you."
"Bullshit," Joey mumbled under his breath, averting his gaze away and beginning to whistle.
Anthony took a step towards me, taking my hands in his, and asked, "Well?"
