Unexpected

"Theo shut-" I smack his shoulder as I listen to the phone ring. Theo was trying to 'serenade' me with Fleetwood Mac. Key word- trying.

"'Now here I go again, I see the crystal visions!

I keep my visions to myself-'" he turns the music down on the radio but refuses to stop singing. His excuse is that he can't help but 'express his undying love' for Stevie Nicks'.

I whisper a faint thank you before going silent. Only after the second ring it stops, and it says the call has started. The first few seconds I heard mumbling in the background and a few noises, but I didn't think too much of it. "Dad?" The line goes quiet for a half a second before I hear a response.

"Hey, sorry I was just talking to Jim. It's been a busy day." My dad sighs into the phone, and I feel kinda bad for calling him. "So what is it honey?"

"I-I just wanted to ask," I look over at Theo with a slight nervous expression. "Can I go over to Theo's house tonight? For dinner- not to stay over for the night."

Wow..nice safe genius. Even Theo managed to laugh at me, and he's preoccupied singing his heart out.

I hear him rustling in the background, which means he's probably adjusting in his chair. Bad sign. ABORT MISSION- I repeat! Abort-

"Sure-" his voice muffles.

I furrow my eyebrows out of confusion. "What?"

"Yes you can go," my dad says more clearly and with more force in his tone. It sounded like he was annoyed. I took that as my hint to hurry up and finish up.

"Okay thank you dad. I hope you have a nicer day!" I replied back as quickly as possible before hanging up. When I look over at Theo I'm met with him already staring at me expectingly. "He said yes."

Both of us sighed with relief and Theo sways his head back and forth in victory. "Thank god!" He says in a singing manner. "I thought I would have to kidnap you."

Scoffing, I roll my eyes. "Yeah, and that's exactly why I called my dad." We both know if I called my mom that would have been shut down really quickly. "You're lucky I love you." I mutter under my breath still not believing I gave into him again.

"I know!" He announced with a huge grin plastered on his face. Giddy like a child Theo taps on the steering wheel as he drives. "I've got the best of best friends that has ever existed."

Scoffing I wave my hand up and down. "Okay turn it down Princess," I retort with a small grin, unzipping my backpack to retrieve my black notebook. "Why do you need me to come again?" I ask as I take out a pencil and jot down ideas for my first writing assignment.

"Because Joey! I need emotional, mental, and physical support to get through the night." Theo whines at the end of his tiny tantrum. "My dad comes home out of nowhere to tell me that a family friend has come into town. Has he ever mentioned such friend? No!"

I almost jump at the outburst, glancing at Theo I can see that he's genuinely upset. "I'm sorry Theo," I whisper under my breath as I carefully keep watching him.

Shaking his head Theo sighs deeply. "It's not your fault Joey. I'm sorry for yelling but-" Theo stops midway. Most likely from being too overwhelmed to speak any further. Placing my hand on his, that rest on the armrest, I squeeze it to comfort him. He glances at me with a small smile of thanks.

"I get it Theo. He hasn't been back in a while, and the first thing he does when he gets back is throw this onto you." I smooth my thumb over his hand gently. "I get it." Theo squeezes my hand back before thanking me in a quieter tone then before. When I pull my hand away from his I shake my head, in no need of thanks.

Theo's dad comes and goes a lot. Not like in a super bad way, he travels a lot for work. Sometimes he even works on his off days. I think it's because he'll get bored otherwise if he's anyway like his son, or maybe the other way around.

Anytime his dad used to come back after a long period of time Theo would get so excited. Now his reaction in dull and anything less. It makes me sad seeing him like this. He had a genuinely good relationship with his dad when he was younger. Now it's just a mess. Just like everything else.

I can tell when we're close to Theo's house, not just because I'm almost always there, but because a woman that lives three houses before his house has cat figurines all along her yard. I remember when we were younger Theo and I were terrified to go anywhere near the yard. We couldn't understand why she would have cat figurines in her yard and so many. We still don't understand.

Most of Theo's neighbors had regular houses though. A lot of them were pretty and greeting, and some of them were kinda dull. Though the version of dull here is not having a fence or any flowers, so I guess they're not necessarily dull, in the meaning of the word anyway. Theo's house stuck out like a sore thumb, just like he did. It fit his persona very well.

Since his dad was never here Theo painted the house completely black. Whether it be out of retaliation, or sheer want, I have no clue. His dad didn't seem to mind though. Apparently he even told Theo it looked nice. I told Theo if he wanted a reaction he should have painted it pink.

I've only met Theo's dad a few times, but even from those few times I know for a fact he likes the color black. That's probably where Theo gets it. Actually they had a lot in common. Theo doesn't like to admit it, but they are. Their style, music, aura, and interest are almost exactly the same. Well..maybe the clothes and music are exactly the same. The aura is different- now. When I first met Theo's dad it was like looking at twins. Now his dad just seems, I don't know, ...sad. It's like he's been grieving. Theo doesn't know what happened, so I don't.

I think that's part of the reason Theo gets so upset with his dad. Anytime he comes back home he's not the same. I think Theo just misses his dad, and is angry that he won't talk to him about whatever is bothering him.

I hear Theo exhale deeply as we draw closer to his house. When we do I notice that there's two cars in driveway, rather than one, or none. One I know is his dads car because he's had it for as long as I can remember. Even Theo can't remember if he had a different car before at some point.

I knew that whoever we were having dinner with had to be here already because one, I've never seen that car before. Two, I doubt it could be anyone else. Theo's dad doesn't socialize with the neighborhood. In his defense he's always away anyway so there's no point. Honestly he's probably better off anyway.

Pulling into whatever's left of the driveway I look at Theo as he parks the car. When he does and the car is shut off I see that his hands are shaking now, due to not being able to hold onto anything. To try and concentrate his nerves he starts fiddling with the big rings on his fingers. He always gets like this when his dads comes home, but never this bad.

"Hey," I coo at him softly, hovering my hand over his. When I see him stop playing with his rings I rest my hand on his. Theo's shoulders slump at the gesture and he leans his body back into the car seat. "What's got you so worked up Theo?" I stare at him with worry. I expected this, but I didn't think it would be this bad. What happened?

A small whimper comes from him, and I'm scared for a second he might cry. I don't have anything wrong with that. I would gladly hug him and let him cry it out, but I think this could be the worse possible place to do it though. His dad and guests are literally inside the house not even five feet away from us. That would be fucking terrible trying to explain what was happening.

I mean what would I even say if his dad walked out? 'Umm yeah sorry, sir, but I need you to back away from the car cause you'll only make this worse. Y'know cause you're kinda already the reason your son is crying so if you could just- leave.'. I would die.

With a frustrated huff, Theo runs his hand over his face. Shaking his head he says, "When he came back this time he looked even worse, but this morning when he told me about his friend he actually looked..happy." He scoffs at his own words, looking annoyed at himself.

I tilt my head at him and keep a soft tone, giving him my undivided attention. "Theo-"

"I feel dumb for being like this- I'm sorry Joey." Theo looks at me, and I see his blue eyes glossed over. They looked like glass.

I shake my head and grip his hand tighter in mine. "Don't apologize Theo, just tell me what's on your mind." I search for his gaze whenever it darts in all different directions.

"I just-," he runs his other hand through his messy hair. "Why isn't he ever that happy when he sees me?"

My. FUCKING. Heart. Why?!

I literally could have cried right then and there. Why does this have to happen to him? He's so freaking kind, and even though he can be a little bit of a bitch sometimes I know it's only teasing when it comes to his friends. He's my best friend, and he's always there for me. So why the hell does he have to go through this shit.

I swear I might break his dads knee caps when I see him. Not literally cause..I'm not that strong. But I'll be doing it in my mind though.

"I don't know Theo." I said, not being one percent helpful, but that's all I can say. "Maybe he might be grieving about something about his past, and maybe this brings him the happy memories from it." I say, questioning even myself, before I speak again. "But that doesn't mean he shouldn't be happy to see you."

Theo looks down at our hands and plays with my bare fingers. When I finish speaking I place my finger under his chin to get him to look at me. Even when his face is level with mine he continues to look down at our intertwined hands. Knowing how stubborn he can be I don't even try to get his eyes attention. I know I have his ears, and that was enough for me at the moment.

"You need to talk to him about it." Well apparently that's all I ever need to say. My god I've never seen his look at me that fast. It looks like he's about to say no, but I quickly stop him. "You need to, and you know it. It doesn't have to be too soon, but you need to. And...," I give him a small reassuring smile. "If you need an audience, or emotional, mental, and physical support-" I furrow my brows as I count the different types of support he always says he needs. This makes both of us laugh, and I was absolutely elated when I heard him laugh. When we stop we both smile widely at each other.

"I'll be there. If you want me there."

Theo sighs again but with more relief than insecurity. Nodding he laughs, "That would be fantastic. Thank you Joey." He quickly pulls me into a tight embrace.

It wasn't the most comfortable position, but I knew that he needed it so I bared with it. I hugged him back tightly just as he did me, arm's wrapped around his neck and shoulders. When a few seconds passed I laughed as I glanced toward the door. Patting his back I say, "Okay come on. We have to go before they come out here!" I yell slightly as Theo seems to hug me even closer to him.

With a small groan he begrudgingly let's go and says, "That's better than actually going in." I shake my head as I reach for my door handle.

"Yeah I know, but we have to. No playing hooky today," I remarked jokingly, opening the car door I get out. When I close it behind me I hear Theo's open, along with him muttering under his breath. "Come on," I coo at him in a more teasing manner this time.

Begrudgingly slow Theo exits the car. A toddler, just like a freaking toddler. I exhale forcefully and walk forward to grab Theo's arm, shutting the door behind him. He whines as I drag him to the door. I have no sympathy for this behavior though, so I continue on. I swear if anyone saw us I would probably look like a very young mother disciplining her child.

When we get to the door I go to ring the doorbell, but Theo actually decides to walk on his own for once, and he opens the door himself. He looks at me with furrowed brows, "It's my house Joey." He says that as if I'm stupid for trying to be polite.

Well damn I'm sorry for trying to have common decency, since your dad is now home. Y'know the one that pays the bills? Jeez.

I roll my eyes as I walk past him into the house. When I hear the door shut Theo yells out, "Dad! Joey and I are here!"

That's when it hit me. My eyes widen, and I turn to him. "Does he even know I was supposed to be coming?!" I yell in a whisper, genuinely concerned that his dad might not of known. Theo would do something like that.

Theo looks at me with a 'come on now' expression. "We've been joint at the hip since seventh grade. He should know what to expect." Im taking that as a no, but I see his point. "He has to try really hard not to pay attention to not of seen that." Theo mutters quietly, so I know for a fact that I was the only one that was supposed to hear him.

Well that's if anyone else was here to hear.

Raising an eyebrow Theo yelled for his dad again but heard no response. We walked more into the house, making sure to check the kitchen as we made our way to the living room. No one was in either places.

"Well shit." Theo says with no remorse, and I almost want to smack him.

I know that his dad doesn't care much about his cussing but still. It's instinct. My parents would literally murder me, and then make it look like they never had a daughter in the first place.

"Where the hell is he? I left him right here." Theo states as if his dad was some sort of dog.

I shrug as I wander towards the clear sliding doors, leading to the backyard. When I take a glimpse outside I manage to see a black piece of clothing. Not gonna lie it scared the shit out of me at first, but then I remember it was probably his dad. "Theo-" I open the door and stick my head out.

When I do I see something totally unexpected. Yes, Theo's dad was indeed out there, sitting in a cushioned chair with a cigarette in hand. But what shocked me was what sat across from him.

"I found them!" I shouted back to Theo as I stood in place in the doorway. I just stood there uncomfortably as I stared at the tree of them, and they stared back at me.

"Hey Joeanna," Theo's dad says with a kind smile. He looks back at the guests and back at me. "This is Harry," he points to the man across from him with soft, brown curly hair and green forest eyes. "And this," he points to the girl next to him, "is his daughter Syreana."

The girl with dark, curly hair with strands of white behind her ears sits there. Her green eyes, most likely from her father, pierce my own. They're the new people in the neighborhood, my neighborhood.

"Hey everyone!" Theo comes to the rescue at the very worst possible moment. Wrapping his arm around my shoulders, looking back and forth from everyone. "Oh yeah..." he laughs nervously, "I forgot to tell you about that."

Suddenly this feels even more awkward.