𝐁𝐑𝐎𝐊𝐄𝐍 𝐇𝐎𝐌𝐄 － 5 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑢𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑟

꧁ 𝙵𝚒𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚗 ꧂

𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝙳𝚒𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝙺𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝙱𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎

꧁ 𝟹𝚛𝚍 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝙿𝙾𝚅 ꧂

Alyssa laughed with Michael as they sat in the living room, the television playing a video game that Michael had Alyssa choose despite knowing she didn't know anything about video games because 'I trust you.'

Michael had made no complaints when Alyssa picked at random an adventure-type game that admittedly was more her style than his as it focused around magic.

Even as he struggled to get going in the game, he made no complaints and simply smiled with her.

Alyssa was nervous at first, being clumsy in the game and real life. She dropped her controller more than once and was eternally grateful when Michael didn't say a word about it.

Eventually, her walls came down as she got into the game and began to truly enjoy it and allow herself to get lost in the game.

She found herself smiling and laughing more than she thought she ever would after everything that had happened and her mouth was starting to hurt because of how much she smiled and that was something she was not used to.

"You're doing great, munchkin!" Michael cheered her on despite knowing just as much as she did about the game.

Alyssa smiled, picking up a map in the game. "Thanks, Mikey." She mumbled absentmindedly as she played.

Michael glanced at her and chuckled, a bright smile on his face that matched the happy gleam in his eyes that seemed to be mixed with pride.

He was proud of her. Alyssa realized when she glanced at him when he was too focused on the game to notice.

Why? She couldn't help but wonder, chewing on her lip in an attempt to focus on the game. Why was he so proud of her? Because she was playing a video game?

No, there's more to it... there's got to be. Alyssa sighed, not understanding.

As if reading her mind, Michael spoke. "You know me and the boys, we're really proud of you."

Alyssa shot him a confused look as she practiced shooting a fire spell.

Michael picked up on her confusion as he dodged her fire spell which she hadn't noticed was a little too close to him and continued, "You've been so strong with everything and you're doing amazing, we haven't seen you this happy in a long time, too long." He sighed, shaking his head, "Point is, we're proud of you."

Alyssa smiled and moved closer to Michael, snuggling into his side. "Thanks, Mikey." She mumbled again but this time, she understood.

꧁꧂

Ashton stood in the kitchen waiting for Alyssa on her third day of school and grinned at her when she entered.

"Hey, squirt." He greeted before he took notice of her slight panic and frowned, "What's wrong?"

Alyssa sighed, brushing a strand of hair back. "I forgot to pack my lunch yesterday." She admitted.

Ashton nodded. "I know." He told her. "That's why I made you this..." he brought his hands out from where they were hidden by his back (how had she not noticed?) and showed her a brown bag filled with her lunch.