Leo's POV:

As I saw AJ come down the stairs, she literally took my breath away. She looked stunning in her angel costume that matched perfectly with my devil costume. Her white dress fit her perfectly and made her look even more innocent than she already is.

I also noticed that she wasn't wearing her glasses, so I'm assuming she's wearing contacts right now. Without her glasses, her eyes looked even greener than before. The makeup was also partly responsible for that.

When she was towards the bottom of the steps I noticed her foot trip over the other. Almost on instinct I stretched my arms forward and caught her, holding her close to my chest. As I caught her, AJ's lips landed on mine and I could see her eyes go wide.

We just stared at each other for a couple seconds before AJ came to her sense and pushed me away. Using the back of her hand, she wiped her lips, smearing the light pink lipstick in the process. "Uh AJ? You just smeared your lipstick," I pointed out.

Her heels slapped against the hardwood floor as she ran to the bathroom near the kitchen. I saw that Via, Miles, and both out parents were standing off to the side with stupid grins on their face. "What are you smiling for?" I asked. Via's smile was the creepiest.

My sister looked like a clown from somebody's nightmare.

"Oh nothing. It's just that your little accident was caught on camera," Via replied. My eye went wide. I was a little upset that they had all seen it, but now they had photo evidence. Great, I'm never going to hear the end of this. Everyone in this house except for AJ knows that I like her.

I haven't exactly told Via, but it's not that hard to figure out. Slowly, a smirk spread onto my face. "Hey, send me that pic will you?"

"For what?" Via asked.

"Oh nothing." Via rolled her eyes at me but a couple seconds later I felt my phone buzz in my pocket. I took it out and saw that Via actually sent me the picture. Now I just have to figure out what I want to do with it.

AJ came back out and after 15 minutes of pictures being taken of all 4 of us, we finally headed to the restaurant. Our group wanted to go out to eat first and then go to Homecoming.

"Why can't we just go straight to Homecoming? They have food there. It'll be fine," AJ complained. She's always complaining about the smallest things. One time when we were little she complained about having to get up and grab something from the coffee table sitting literally a foot away from her. She's that lazy.

"The food at the party will suck. It's just supposed to be the basic chips with dip, some cookies, and punch. That's what they do every year. They are to lazy to get actual food," I replied. She grumbled and crossed her arms on her chest just as we arrived at the place. "Really, Freddie's?" AJ complained. "Don't get me wrong I love their food but shouldn't we go somewhere a little fancier? I mean it is Homecoming."

"We always come here. Plus, this is the only place I know that everybody for sure likes," I said. As we walked in, I noticed a bunch of other groups from our school all decked out in their costumes laughing and having fun.

We sat down at a booth and a lady came over to take our order.

"What can I get for you today?" she asked politely. I'm glad she isn't one of those waitresses that pulls down the front of their button up uniform and hike up their skirt. That would be really awkward.

"I would like 2 burgers with fries, one with onions and one without and 2 shakes, a chocolate and strawberry," I ordered for AJ and I.

Via and Miles ordered their food then we all talked about random things until the food came out. AJ being typical AJ scarfed down her burger in a matter of minutes and was now proceeding to dip her fries in her chocolate shake. I watched her as she did this and a small smile started to form on my face.

She was to engrossed in her food to notice that I was staring at her. Just then, she caught me staring and looked up at me with the biggest and most innocent eyes ever and said "What?" with a mouthful of shake and fries. "Nothing," I said as I laughed a little and shook my head.

She shrugged her shoulders and went back to eating.

---

After we finished eating, we all piled back in the car and drove to the school. The dance was in the gym so we had to walk through the entire school to get to it since our gym is in the back of the school. In all the hallways along the way, I noticed that everything was decorated in some sort of Halloween themed item. There was blood dripping from the top of the lockers, face webs covering part of the bottom of the lockers, orange and black streamers hanging from the ceiling, etc.

The gym was already mostly filled by the time we got there.

Via and Miles went off and did their own thing while I pulled AJ aside and sat her down at one of the tables. "So about what happened earlier" I started but she interrupted me. "It's fine just forget about it. It was an accident and will never happen again." I could tell she didn't want to talk about it anymore so I dropped the subject. Although what she said did hurt me a little.

Why doesn't she like me? It can't be because she thinks I'm a player. Ever since coming back to the US I haven't even thought about another girl in that way. I mean sure I had a handful of one night stands back in France, but that doesn't make me a player. Maybe she doesn't like me because I'm her best friend's brother.

Maybe she thinks it would be wrong if we dated. Or maybe she just doesn't like me in general. I had to have hope though. If I let in even a little seed of doubt then nothing will happen for sure. I just need to stay hopeful.

"Hey AJ lets go dance." I grabbed her hand and pulled her onto the dance floor. There was some typical radio song playing right now that everybody was dancing to. "Sorry if I step on your feet. I'm not the best at dancing," she said sheepishly. "It's okay. I can handle you stomping on my feet in your heels."

After a couple songs the DJ played a slow song. I noticed AJ trying to pull away, but I grabbed her by the waist and pulled her back to me. I took her hands and placed them around my neck and then placed my arms back on her waist. After awhile, AJ leaned her head on my chest and we stayed like that until the song was over.

---

Once the dance was over, I drove everybody back home. AJ had fallen asleep on the way back and my sister disappeared inside the house as soon as we got back home.

I walked around to the passenger side of the car and unbuckled AJ. Since she was still completely passed out I was forced to carry her bridal style inside her house. As soon as we walked in, her dad stood up from where he was sitting in the couch and walked over to us. I nodded my head towards AJ to make sure he knew she was sleeping.

"How was tonight?" He whispered.

"It was fun. We all had fun. I'm going to take Athena up and put her to bed. She fell asleep on the way home," I replied.

I took her upstairs and set her down on her bed. Then, I went into the bathroom and wet a washcloth and used it to carefully take of AJ's makeup.

I'd have to get Via to come in here and change her because it would be weird if I did it. Plus, if she was awake she would probably scream at me for changing her. Once her face was clean, I put the washcloth back where I got it.

I looked at her bare face and couldn't help but be amazed by her beauty. Her slightly tanned skin, her soft lips, her hair falling in strands across her face. Something inside me pushed me to brush the hair away and leave a soft kiss on her forehead.

After that, I walked over to Via's room and asked her if she could take arcade of Athena for me. She said sure and then I nodded and walked out of the house.

As I was leaving, Athena's dad called me over and patted the seat next to him on the couch. "Leo come sit down. I need to talk to you about something," he said. I cautiously walked over, suddenly nervous about what he had to say.

"Did Athena have fun tonight?" he asked me. "Yes, she had fun. She danced and talked with Via and ate a little food."

"That's good, I'm glad she had fun. I need to ask you a question. Why did she agree to go with you? Don't get me wrong I'm glad she went with you but I'm just wondering why. She never showed any interest in you before in that type of way."

I thought about what he said. There really was no reason that AJ had to go with me besides the fact that she wanted to make Teddy jealous. But the thing was, the whole night she never once glanced his way even when he was staring at her. Maybe she was having so much fun that she forgot about him.

"Well," I started," originally I asked Athena to go with me in order to make her crush jealous, but that was just a cover to go to the dance with her. She agreed after I promised to take her and Via to Freddie's whenever they wanted. Honestly, me asking her to the dance to make her crush jealous was just an excuse."

"I asked her because I like her," I finished.

"I figured you did. It wasn't that hard to figure out. I've seen the way you look at her ever since you guys were kids. There was always something different about how you looked at her. I'm glad you like her. She deserves someone who will like her for who she is," her dad said.

We talked for a couple minutes about everything that happened after I left, what I did in France, and what I was going to do about college.

This was the first time since I've been back that I've actually gotten to sit down and talk to AJ's dad. I've been either too busy or just forgot. Her father has always been really nice to Via and I. I mean he did take her in after our mother died. That's not something just anybody would do.

"How was Via all these years? This is the first chance I've had in awhile to sit down and talk with you," I asked.

"She was great. I love her like she is my own daughter. Over the years her and Athena have gotten closer, if that's even possible. Even before your mother died they were already like sisters to each other. Things were going great."

"But when Athena's brother died and her mother left a couple months later it shattered Athena. She wouldn't come out of her room for weeks. All she did was lay in her bed, only getting up to use the bathroom or get some food. Via was the only one that was able to get her out of her room. I still don't know how she did it but I'm eternally grateful for your sister."

"She helped my daughter during the darkest time in her life, when she was at her lowest. Once Via got her out of her room, the old Athena slowly started to return. It took a long time and some therapy but Athena finally got over her grief. I know she still misses him and would do anything to go back and change that night. She blamed herself for so long that I was worried."

"But she's doing a lot better now and it's all because of your sister. They've been there for each other through thick and thin and now I hope you can be there for Athena through thick and thin. Don't tell Athena I told you this but in the future when you are both old enough and ready I give you my permission to marry my daughter."

All of this came as a shock to me. I never knew her brother had died. How come she didn't tell me? I know I have been gone for awhile but Via still could have told me. I feel incredibly bad for AJ. I know what it's like to lose a family member and I never wanted that to happen to AJ. But she somehow lost 2 members within a couple months of each other. No wonder she refused to come out of her room.

If there is ever a day when she needs someone to comfort her because she was just thinking about her brother then I will be there for her. She will never be alone again.

All this information was new to me and I was struggling to wrap my mind around it. Not to mention the fact that AJ's dad just gave me permission to marry his daughter. I mean, I know I love her and want to be with her forever, but for some reason marriage never crossed my mind. But the more I think about it the more I realize that I would love to spend the rest of my life with AJ.

I just hope she likes me back. Not knowing is killing me. I need to think of some way to confess to her.

Suddenly an idea popped in my head. Basketball tryouts are this coming Wednesday-Friday. If i make the team then I can confess to her when we play our rivals. Maybe I could even get the cheerleaders to help me during their half time performance.

The plane was forming in my brain as I left AJ's house to go back to mine. This idea is by far the best idea I've had in awhile and I'm praying it works.

As I walked into my room I whispered, "Mom, I finally have the guts to confess. I hope you give me your blessing from wherever you are. Goodnight."

-----

So how did Athena's brother die? Will Leo's plan actually work? What will happen at basketball tryouts?

I'm so sorry for not updating sooner. The way my brain works is I'll write part of a chapter get stuck then 2 weeks later get a brilliant idea then finish writing the chapter plus another one if my idea's extra good. So sorry that I don't have a concrete updating schedule. Since it's summer I will try to update as often as possible.

Anyways, I finally hit a thousand reads!!! I'm so, so, so happy. Thank you guys for reading my story. I hit a thousand 2 days after school got out but it's okay I still hit a thousand. I'm so happy and thankful for all the attention my story is getting.

This might be a little ambitious but I want to try to get my story to 2,000 reads by the end of the summer or even 5,000 reads by the end of the summer. SO please if you have any friends who love to read I would love it if you recommended this story to them. Thank you!

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