~Valentina~

I sit up and shake the barely awake man next to me. He groans and opens one eye.

"What if Michael finds me in here?"

"Relax Val. You'll just tell him the truth. You had a bad dream and he wasn't home so you came to me."

"He'll be suspicious because we went out last night."

Ronnie turns onto his stomach and smothers himself in the pillow, muffling his words.

"Val... We had a date. One date. Besides that, I promised you nothing else. No kissing, no sex, and no sleeping in here with me."

I pout and lay back on the other pillow.

"But it's better to have someone.."

"If you sleep in this bed, things are going to happen. Things that obviously complicate us."

I turn on my side to face him, ignoring the pain in my stomach.

"I'll call Craig then!"

"You do th... What? Cruel, that's cruel. I thought you were gonna say Zakk. Anyway, get up."

Ronnie sits up and looks at the clock. Date number 2 is lunch. He wants to take it slow but I mean, come on. As he gets up, I watch him from the bed. How in the fuck did I get so lucky? He stretches, flexing his muscles. I want to slowly trace my fingers over each and every tattoo. We're not ready for that kind of intimacy though.

"Don't dress too fancy, I barely have clothes here."

Ronnie nods as he puts on a shirt. He's going to kick me out soon so he can change pants.

"Right. We'll go over tomorrow to grab some things. Your phone has been quiet."

"Yeah. It's mostly Zakk. Max and Alva haven't been answering me lately."

Ronnie smiles and motions towards the door as I stand.

"Must be busy."

After Ronnie finishes changing, he takes me to a cute little restaurant. He pulls out the chair for me and everything. He even turned down the flirty waitress.

~Michael~

"Everything is set. Yes, I'm sure."

"This really doesn't feel right M. This is a girls apartment."

"Relax dude. It's my baby sister. I already explained the circumstances. She needs to be safe and protected. It's for her own good."

"Oh damn. Is this her? She's fucking hot."

I groan at my phone.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"Do anything besides what I'm paying you for and I will cut off your balls and mail them to your mother."

"Geez. I got it bro. I was just appreciating the scenery."

Ronnie and Valentina come through the door. Val sprints to me.

"Brother!"

"I gotta go. Don't disappoint me."

"Is that her? Tell her I said 'Wassup'."

I hang up and pull Val into a hug. Ronnie looks at me and I nod. He didn't want to agree to it but after arguing my case, he regretfully said yes. She's in for two surprises this week. One great, one bad. Val and Chrissy have been getting along pretty great. They've even been texting, much to Ronnie's dismay. I don't quite understand. Potential girlfriend should definitely get along with baby mom. Ronnie just has his insecurities. He's already fucked up twice.

"What are we doing today guys?"

Well, Ronnie and I will be clearing upstairs. Since she can walk up the stairs now and for her surprises. I don't want to just leave her down here alone though.

"We have some stuff to do. You can call over a friend though. One friend Val."

She sighs and Ronnie lifts her up bridal style. They laugh and plop on the couch.

"One friend. I got it dad."

Ronnie smirks and Val just rolls her eyes at me like some bratty teenager.

"Any more texts?"

"Nope. The real question is who am I gonna have come over. How dare you limit me to only one best friend."

I shake my head as Ronnie hugs Val.

"Rob, his girl, and the kids went to the amusement park."

"And Zakk is with his babe. Well, that narrowed it down fast. Still, I miss Max."

Ronnie and I just smile. Only a couple more days. She needs this. We all need this.

"I still don't understand how you two can be such good friends. You two fight all the time."

Val shrugs.

"And then we hug and play video games. Ronnie and Alva fight like that too."

Ronnie grabs water out of the fridge. Val frowns. We had to lock up the liquor and get rid of the beer that was cold. We're trying to get a handle on her dependency.

"Alvin loves me."

I snort and Val chokes back a laugh.

"Only on the days, she doesn't want to kill you. So like 1 or 2 days a week."

"Rude."

Cleaning goes by pretty smoothly. Jacky brought Val a bunch of snacks. As if she needed them considering the guest room dresser stash has overflown all over the room. I don't know how she's gonna eat all these snacks. But if Ronnie or I even touch it, she somehow knows. As soon as we're finished, Val goes up with her new snacks and goes to bed.

~Ronnie~

When I get up to take Val to her apartment, she's not in her room. I check every room upstairs before I go down to the main floor. I go out into the kitchen and there she is. I gently shake her shoulder.

"Babe? Why are you asleep under the table?"

She yawns and opens her eyes, smiling.

"I was cuddling with Charlie. It was great."

I smile and help her from under the table.

"Well, that's good that you were able to sleep. How are the nightmares?"

She kisses my cheek and grabs orange juice from the fridge.

"They're honestly not too bad."

After Valentina drinks her orange juice, she grabs a small apple and we head out. This is going to be so fucking hard. I didn't want to agree to Michael's plan but what choice did I have? She's not going to come back anytime soon. She just needs a little push to finally move back in with us. My stomach drops as I pull up to her apartment and turn off the car.

"Wait, Val!"

"Yeah Ronnie?"

She pauses with the door open. I panic.

"Well um. I know it's super early and shit but... Will you be my girlfriend?!"

"I'm pretty sure I was since our first date."

I sigh and we get out of the car. Here goes nothing. We get up to the door and my heart is pounding. I thought he was supposed to keep it open a little bit. Val opens the door and we step inside. She immediately gasps. The whole fucking place is trashed.

"Ronnie? Oh my god."

"Get behind me, sweetheart."

We check every room in her apartment. By the time we're back in the living room, she's shaking and crying.

"This was JJ."

"You don't know for sure."

"I can feel it, Ronnie. He broke into my apartment."

I hug her into me. The guilt slowly eating me alive. Even so, I have to go along with the rest of the plan. I kiss the top of her head.

"That's it, Valentina. You're moving back in with me and Michael. No protest. I need to be sure you'll be safe. That can only happen if you move in. Grab your toothbrush and a few changes of clothes. Rob and Jacky will come back for everything else. I don't want you here anymore."

Val just nods. The first thing she grabs is her parents wedding picture.