I haven't been in my writing element for a while, so I apologize! There will be one last chapter after this one. I hope you enjoy!

Julia's POV

I stared at my reflection in the mirror for what felt like hours. I thought about how my life turned out to be and where I am right now.

I couldn't imagine my life the way it is now. Not even years ago.

I thought I would have a great family, and a great wife. I thought my life was going to be full of happiness and joy, like I've always dreamt it would be in those stories my mom would read to me when I was younger.

But nothing is what it seems to be when you're younger. Sometimes you don't get a happily ever after like in fairy tales, but sometimes you don't need that to be happy at all.

I didn't get what I wished for when I was thirteen years old. I wished to be surrounded by my family, and have a family of my own with a beautiful wife and a great job that I loved so much with everything that I could ever dream of having.

I ended up losing my mom, filing for divorce for a woman who abused me and wasn't there for me. I love my job, but it's not my dream job.

I'd admit that my life isn't what I wanted it to be, but there's no way in hell that I regret where I ended up.

I have Dana and I have my brother, plus a few good friends that I can always count on. I didn't think it would end up the way it was now, but I'm always grateful for what I have even if I didn't expect it.

There's a scar on my shoulder now, and it's ugly to even look at. Every time I bring it up, Dana says it looks beautiful just like every other flaw that I have.

I never knew I needed someone so much in my life until I found Dana.

The way we found each other was unexpectant, but in every way, it was fate bringing us together.

We've been together for a month. It feels unreal, but at the same time, it feels like home. Everything about her feels like home, and I've never felt this way before.

Age doesn't matter in the concept of love. Not one bit does age ever affect the love two people has together.

Dana and I belong together.

After I got dressed, I walked downstairs to find Dana in the kitchen. I stood in the doorway to watch her for a minute as her back was towards me and she was over the stove, cooking something.

I couldn't help but smile as I made my way further in the kitchen and walked up behind her to wrap my arms around her stomach.

"Goodmorning." She said. I could hear the smile in her voice.

I smiled back as I laid my head on her back. "Goodmorning."

"I'm making you breakfast."

I stepped back to look at the pan infront of her that was on the stove. I smiled at her. "Why?" I questioned. I unwrap my arms from around her and stood next to her to look at her face. "Dana, I should be doing this for you."

"Why?" She asks as she looks at me.

I smile. "It's your birthday. I should be making you breakfast in bed."

"You actually like that shit?" She chuckle. I stared at her for a moment until she smiled. "You don't need to do anything for my birthday."

I stared at her. "Why not?"

"It's just my birthday." She shrugs. "I've had plenty, and they were just regular days. I'm use to not having anything done for me."

I watched as she continued to cook and I couldn't help but feel bad. I smiled at her before leaning over and kissing her cheek. "Happy Birthday, Dana." She smiled at me as she continued to cook.

I walked over towards the table and sat down to watch her.

As I was lost in thought, I heard the front door shut followed by footsteps towards the kitchen. I watch as Sam walks in and looks around until she sees me. "Hey, Julia." She smiles as she walks towards me.

I smile back but heard Dana's voice. "Who gave you permission to just walk into someone else's house without knocking?"

"I've known Julia longer than you have, kiddo."

I watch as Dana stared at her, and I stopped them before anything happened. "Dana, be quiet." I look over at Sam. "Hey, Sam. Where's Olivia?"

"She's coming over here. Oliver is with Jessica, and that gave us some alone time." I heard Dana say something under her breath over at the stove. I watch as Sam rolls her eyes.

I smiled. "Well, that's good."

"Yeah, Oliver can be a handful." Sam took a seat across from me.

I nod as I sat there thinking about what it would be like to have a child of my own. I shook my thoughts away as I heard the door shut. I watch as Olivia walked in and she smiled at everyone until her eyes landed on Dana. "Happy Birthday, Dana."

Dana smiled at her and I watched her for a moment until I heard Olivia tell Sam to say Happy Birthday. "Happy Birthday, loser."

I chuckled as I watched Olivia for a moment. She laid her purse on the counter and started looking through it. "Sam, I need for you to go to the store for me." She smiled at me and I knew exactly what she was hinting at. She grabbed a piece of paper from her purse.

"Why?"

Olivia looked over at Sam. "Don't question why, just do it."

"Damn." I heard Dana say.

I smiled over at her. "Dana, why don't you go with her?"

"What?" She asked. "Why?" I raised my eyebrow at her until she sighed. "Whatever."

Olivia looked over at Sam. "Don't kill each other."

I watched as Sam and Dana walked out of the kitchen, and as soon as the door shut, Olivia looked over at me. "We have a lot to do."

-

I shut the passenger door and waited for Sam to get in. She pulled the seat belt over her and started the engine.

"Where's the list?" I asked.

Sam pulled the list from her pocket and handed it to me. "How much shit do we have to get?"

"Um," I said as I looked over at the list and saw that it was a lot of things. "like a lot of things."

Sam looked over at me. "Are you serious?"

"Here." I handed her the list and she stopped at the end of the driveway as she looked over it.

She shook her head. "This is bullshit." She pulled out of the driveway and onto the main road.

It was silent most of the way, but it got the best of me, so I decided to start a conversation. "So, how long have you and Olivia been married?"

"Fourteen years." She said as her eyes were on the road.

I stared at her. "Damn."

"Yep." She said. "It's been one hell of a ride, but I wouldn't have it any other way."

I nod as we sat there for a moment. "So, she was your teacher?" I watch as she nods. "How did that work out for you?"

"I mean, it worked out pretty damn good, considering that we're married now." She smiled. "It took about four years, but it was worth it."

I watch her for a moment. "It took four years for you and her to date?"

"Well, not exactly." She glanced over at me. "I had a crush on her throughout high school, and she just found out about it my senior year." She shrugs.

"So, what? You told her?"

She chuckled. "Not exactly."

"What happened?" I asked.

She glanced over at me. "You ask a lot of questions."

"Fine," I huffed. "like I even wanted to know." I look out the window.

I heard her chuckle as I was watching the trees go by.

After a few boring moments, we finally made it to the store, and I didn't want to be here. Especially with Sam. She's not threatening, but she just gets on my nerves real easily that I could strangle her.

I'm pretty sure one of us won't come back alive.

Sam grabbed one of the carts as we walked inside, then handed me the list. "Ok, you read it off, grab the stuff and I'll drive."

I stared at her for a moment until I rolled my eyes. I started with the first item on the list, and I was already hating it so much.

As we started going down the list, we started checking a lot of shit off and I knew that we were pretty close to being done with this shit.

As we were down an aisle, Sam was looking for something as I heard a few voices coming down the aisle. I looked towards them and noticed those two women that I had seen that one day when I got my bike back.

As I was watching them, one of them noticed me and smiled towards me. I smiled back and that caught Sam's attention.

"What are you smiling at?" She asked as she placed something in the cart.

I shrug. "I just know them." I nod towards the two women as they were talking to each other.

"Oh cool, more losers like you." I looked over at Sam as she was smiling at me. "Are those your friends?"

I shook my head. "No, I just met them one day.

I watched them for a moment until one of them, I'm guessing Isabelle, noticed me and smiled. As we were staring at each other, that caught her wife's attention and she looked my way also.

They started walking towards me until they both stopped. "Hey, it's you again." Marie said.

"Yeah, it's been a while." I said.

Marie nodded. "Funny running into you again." She smiled. Sam stood next to me and Marie stared at her. "I'm sorry if we're interrupting your shopping."

I shook my head. "No, you're not." I smiled.

"Actually," Sam started. "Dana, could you go get some chips?"

I looked at her. "Why can't you?"

"Just go." She said.

I rolled my eyes then left the aisle. I couldn't believe Sam would ask me to go get shit when she could go get it herself.

I went to the aisle with the chips then grabbed some that I liked since Sam didn't say which ones to get then started walking back. As I got back to the aisle, I saw Sam talking to them as I walked up close to them.

As soon as I stopped, they stopped talking and I stood there watching them for a moment. I stood next to Sam. "I got the chips." I threw them in the cart. "So, what were you talking about?" I asked.

"Nothing." Sam said. "Just talking."

Marie smiled. "Yeah, so we have to get going, but it was nice seeing you again, Dana."

I nod as I watched as they left and I turned to Sam as she turned around. We continued shopping and I was more than ready to get out of there.

It seemed as though Sam was taking her time, and it was only driving me more insane. "What the hell? Why are you going so damn slow. I'm ready to leave."

"I'm just seeing if we have everything." She looked at me. "Chill out."

"I mean, I would if I wasn't stuck here with you." I said truthfully.

She rolled her eyes but continued to walk around. I sighed loudly to make sure she knew how irritated I was at this point. Although she didn't care because she didn't do anything as she ignored me.

After another long toturing minutes with her, we finally got everything on the list and we were starting to leave that damn place. I was more than ready to get out of that place.

As we both placed all the bags in the car, Sam looked over at me. "That was fun, right?"

I stared at her hoping that she was being sarcastic about that. When I saw no signs of sarcasm, I nodded. "Oh yeah, hell of a lot of fun." I roll my eyes then get into the passenger seat.

After Sam got in and started the engine, she looked over at me. "It wasn't that bad. Plus, it gave us some bonding time."

I stared at her for a moment. "You're joking, right?"

She chuckled. "No. I mean, I know we got off to a rough start, but this made up for it, right?"

"Sure." I sat there looking out the window, wondering why we weren't moving. "So, can we go or are we just going to sit here?" I look back over at her.

She shook her head. "Why don't we ride around for a moment?"

"We have groceries in the back." I stared at her. "Are you being serious, right now?"

She chuckled and I was about ready to strangle her. "I guess you have a point." She takes her phone and I watch as she texts someone until she puts her phone down then looks over at me. "Ready?"

I nod. "I've been ready."

I stared out the window as she started leaving the parking lot. I watched all the trees and houses go by, and I couldn't wait to get back to Julia.

I think I've had enough of Sam for one day.

I seriously don't know how Olivia stands her.

As we were driving home, Sam had called someone, probably Olivia, and I stared out the window as I was listening to her conversation.

After she had hung up, I kept staring out the window as I noticed that we were taking a different route back. I looked around for a moment until I looked over at Sam.

"Where are we going?"

She glanced over at me for a moment before looking back at the road. "We're riding around."

"I thought I told you that I didn't want to do that." I watched as she shrugged and I continued to stare at her.

Instead of getting more pissed then I already was, I decided to just lean back and ignore her. I didn't know why she wanted to waste time, especially when we have groceries in the back.

As I was sitting there staring out the window, I heard Sam try to talk to me but I ignored her. She started saying stupid shit and I wanted to jump out of this car.

The time just seemed to go so damn slow, and I was about to pull my hair out. I thought Sam would be cool and chill, but she's the most irritating person to ever live.

"Ok, we can go back." She said as I saw her put her phone away.

"Bout time." I said.

She chuckled. "Oh come on, I know you love hanging around me."

I roll my eyes as we were now on the road to Julia's.

I couldn't wait to see her.

But most importantly, I want to be away from Sam.

After we pulled up in the driveway, we both got out and I walked to the back to grab some bags. I watched as Sam grabbed some bags too then walked over to me.

"I got that." She grabbed the bags from my hands and started walking towards the house.

I followed her, clearly confused but was stopped when she stopped. I watched her for a moment. "What?" I asked as she was standing in front of the door.

She knocked on the door then yelled. "We're back!"

I stared at her. "What the hell?"

She smiled back towards me but didn't say anything. I watched her until I heard someone from inside, then she opened the door and I followed behind her.

When I walked in, all the lights were off and it was quiet. "Where is everyone?" I asked as I followed Sam through the hall and into the living room.

Once we stopped, I looked around until I nearly pissed myself when everyone jumped from their hiding place and scared the shit out of me.

"Surprise!"

I heard Sam laughing beside me as she was about to drop the bags she was holding. I was standing here about to piss myself as she was laughing her ass off.

Julia smiled as she walked towards me and I was trying to restart my heart. "Happy Birthday, Dana." She pulled me into a hug.

"I nearly pissed my pants. Thanks for that." I said as I wrapped my arms around her.

She laughed as she pulled back to look at me. "I'm sorry. I wanted to surprise you."

"Well, you did."

I looked around at everyone and noticed Marie and Isabelle with their daughter. They smiled at me and I smiled back then heard Olivia's voice.

"Happy Birthday, Dana!" She smiled as she walked towards me and pulled me into a hug. As she pulled back, she looked at me. "I hope Sam didn't bother you too much."

"I was on the edge of killing her. but we made it." I smiled as she started laughing.

After I greeted everyone, Julia came to me and pulled me into a hug. I wrapped my arms around her and we hugged for a moment until she pulled back and stared at me.

"I'm so proud of you." She said.

I stared at her for a moment as her hands were resting on my shoulders. "For what?"

"For everything you do." She smiled. "How far you've come." I smiled as I knew what she was talking about.

For the past month, I stopped everything. I tried not to get angry with anyone who pisses me off. I stopped going out to the bar, of course. I also stopped going to the Underground, which I had to explain to Tommy about everything.

He was proud that I found someone who steered me straight, and I couldn't agree more.

I finally told Julia about my parents and everything that followed. She couldn't believe it, and I, myself still couldn't believe it. She understood and I was glad she never asked anything that I wasn't willing to answer.

I've changed a lot since I met Julia, and I never thought I would change for someone. I always thought I would be the way I was, no matter who came along in my life because that was who I was and that's how I grew up.

My uncle never cared, so I did whatever the hell I wanted to do. I harldy had friends, besides Amber and Trey, but I was too scared to tell them about my life in fear that they would judge and leave me.

I have Tommy and Damion, but they're drop outs and they have some fucked up lives just like I do. It was as if I wasn't getting away from what I had to deal with, because they were living it as well.

"I invited your friends." Julia said as she pulled me further into the living room.

I had also mentioned to Julia that my friends knew about us. She wasn't really thrilled about the idea, but there wasn't much for her to say.

I saw Amber and Trey standing next to each other, talking. As I approached them, Amber smiled and ran towards me to pull me into a hug. "Happy Birthday!"

I smiled as I wrapped my arms around her. "Thanks, Amber."

Trey stepped up next to me as Amber pulled back. He pulled me into a hug. "Happy Birthday."

I smiled as I pulled back then punched his arm. "Thanks."

We talked for a while until I heard Olivia tell everyone that everyone that I was about to open gifts. I stood there for a moment as I didn't really want any gifts. I hated receiving gifts from people because I never know what to say, and if I don't like something, I don't want to hurt their feelings by telling them that I don't like it.

Olivia had me sit in a chair in front of everyone, and I wasn't too thrilled about this. I didn't want to tell her off, but I also didn't want to be the center of attention.

Olivia handed me the first gift and told me who it was from. I stared at her like she was insane, and as if I was a little kid at a birthday party.

I saw Julia in the corner of my eye trying not to laugh. I rolled my eyes as I was ready to get this torture over with.

As time passed, and I opened every gift, it felt like Olivia was doing this on purpose. She would look at the gift, hand it to me, then tell me who it was.

She also stood next to me and smiled at me the whole time. Plus, she made some oo's and ah's every time I opened a gift.

I could see Sam videoing the whole thing, and I knew she set me up.

The way she was laughing her ass off gave her away and I was going to kick her ass after this.

As soon as this shit was over with, I walked over towards Sam. "Why the hell did Olivia have to act like that?"

"Because I told her to." She laughed and I stood there staring at her. "Oh, come on. It was funny! I told Olivia that you wanted to be treated like a kid when you opened your gifts." She smiled.

"You're an ass." I said as I started to walk away.

I heard a knock at the front door then went to answer it. As I opened the door, I saw my mom standing there.

"Hi." She smiled.

I stared at her for a moment. "Hey, uh, come in." I opened the door further as she walked inside. "What are you doing here?" I asked.

I had told my