The song is Happily Ever After by He Is We =) Banner by Sponge2254.

Thank you so much for reading my story <3

*****                                                     

"Why are you still standing there?"

Here I am, hesitating, contemplating if I'll go inside their house or not. Why am I nervous? I'm just going to meet his mom. And Alex's. Am I afraid of finding out that he's not Alex—my best friend? Why am I even hoping—

"Annalise."

"Wait, I'm coming," I say, dragging my feet to their front door.

Caleb smiles, looking pleased at my actions. "Welcome to our home," he says, opening the door widely.

Taking a deep breath, I enter their house with the loud beating of my heart. The first thing I notice is that their house is bright. The walls are painted with cool colors that are good to the eyes. Their furniture's are somewhat European style.

"Come on," Caleb says, grabbing my hand and stopping me from staring at their impressive and expensive home.

Caleb's holding my hand! It feels weird and not at the same time. He's the first guy to do that. Well, except for when I was a child, which doesn't count.

"Mom?" he calls, dragging me with him. "Mom? I'm here!"

When we round the corner into the living room, we see Alex, standing on the couch while singing and dancing to the sound only he hears. I stop on my track, clearly surprised at what I'm seeing.

Meanwhile, Caleb is laughing his head off. Unfortunately for Alex, Caleb gets his phone and starts to take a video of him.

Alex can't see us because his eyes are closed, and he really feels the song he's singing. It's familiar but I can't put my finger on the title of the song. Alex looks like a rock star. He's even imagining he's playing a guitar. He bangs his head in tune with the music.

"Throw it away; forget yesterday we'll make the great escape. We won't hear a word they say, they don't know us anyway. Watch it burn, let it die. 'Cause we are finally free tonight."

At that word, he opens his eyes and plops down on the couch. That's when he sees us. His eyes widen slowly, glancing at Caleb who's laughing his head off while taking the video, and me, standing beside him.

Alex's face starts to redden as he realizes that we saw his mini concert. "Annalise," he says, standing up from the couch. He starts to walk but he accidentally trips to the ground because of Caleb's feet that's on of the way.

Caleb laughs more loudly than before, if it's even possible. They both stumble and fall to the ground with a thud.

Alex sees Caleb's phone in that instant. And that's when the tug of cell phone begins.

They're wrestling on the ground. Caleb's still laughing while pushing Alex away from him. Alex elbows him on the stomach and reaches for the phone in Caleb's hand.

I'm staring at them with wide eyes and mouth hanging open. I don't know if I should stop them but it doesn't look like they're hurting each other. Besides, they're amusing to watch. They're like two—

"Annalise," Caleb calls, "catch this!"

Startled, I turn around just in time to see that he throws his phone at me. My hand impulsively catches it on time, before it crashes to the ground.

Alex quickly rises to his feet but Caleb grabs his jeans, making him fall to the ground again, hips first.

That's when the round two begins.

Not knowing what to do, I decide to take video of them. I bite my lip to stop myself from laughing.

There are grunts and grumbles coming from the two of them. They're fighting playfully and it's kind of funny because it's my first time to witness something like this-- the argument of two brothers because of an unimportant thing.

Believe it or not, I think it's an amusing fight.

A couple of minutes later, they stop. Perhaps they get tired. They both stand, shoving each other and laughing at the same time.

I don't feel left alone for the first time. Even if they're just the two interacting, it's like I'm part of this. And I'm glad for that.

"Sorry about that," Alex says sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.

"It's okay," I say, shrugging.

They don't know I have a video of them. I feel guilty about it but it makes me excited for no apparent reason. Weird.

Caleb puts his hand on Alex's shoulder and says, "I'm still going to upload it on youtube."

Alex rolls his eyes and says, "You won't."

"How do you know?"

"I just know," Alex says smugly, sitting on the couch. He pats the space next to him and nods at me.

I sit beside him and make myself comfortable.

Caleb grabs a chair and sits across from us. "Is it a dare?" he asks Alex, raising his eyebrow.

"If you want it to be, then it is," Alex says dryly. His mouth forms into a thin hard line.

Caleb smirks. "Tonight then."

Alex grabs a pillow and throws it at Caleb. Caleb ducks out of the way real fast.

"He's childish," Alex mutters beside me.

I just stare at the two f them because I don't know what else to do.

"Where's mom?" Caleb asks, changing the topic.

"She went to the grocery store," Alex answers, "she said that we shouldn't wait for her because she'll be coming home late."

"Why?" Caleb asks, glancing uneasily at me.

"She'll visit a friend."

Caleb sighs and slumps on the chair.

"How's detention?" Alex asks, turning towards me. "By the way, do you want to drink, or maybe eat something?"

"Not as bad as I thought," I reply, "and no, thanks." I'm not yet thirsty and hungry.

"That's because I was there," Caleb says smugly.

Alex ignores his brother. "What did you do?"

"Just talk with Caleb," I say, remembering the conversation we had a while ago.

"And ate ice cream afterwards," Caleb adds.

Alex glances between Caleb and me.

"Sorry Annalise," Caleb says suddenly, "mom's not home."

"That's okay," I say, trying to cheer him up, "tomorrow's another day. Besides, we're neighbors."

Alex's mouth pulls upward. "Since when Annalise became optimist?"

"Since now," Caleb chimes in.

I can feel the blood rising to my cheeks. These brothers are so assuming, thinking that we're long life friends even though we just met a couple of days ago.

"She's blushing," Caleb says, grinning from ear to ear.

"I am not," I say indignantly.

"Yes you are," Alex interjects, smirking.

I want to cover my face so they won't see it anymore.

"You're so cute!"

I open my mouth, but no sound comes out of it so I just snap it shut.

"I think we should stop making Annalise uncomfortable," Alex suggests.

"Sorry," Caleb says sheepishly. "You look cute when you're blushing though."

"Caleb!"

"Shutting up now," he says amusedly.

Heaving a sigh, I say, "I need to go home."

"Already?" Caleb asks incredulously.

"You just got here," Alex says.

"It's six already," I point out, glancing at their wall clock.

"Why don't you join us for dinner?" Caleb asks.

"Next time," I say quickly.

"Why not now?"

"Because. . ." I trail off, not knowing what explanation to say.

"Because?" Alex prompts.

"Margarett is expecting me to eat dinner with her."

Caleb snickers. "Reason, reason, reason."

A smile escapes from my mouth without my permission. "There's still tomorrow," I repeat.

 "Okay, tomorrow you'll eat dinner with us."

"Yes sir," I say warily. I don't know what I'm getting myself into.

Caleb and Alex walk me home. It's as if my house is far away from theirs.

"Do you want to come in?" I ask them, opening the front door of the house.

They look at each other and shake their head. "We still need to cook for dinner."

Impressive, guys that can cook. "See you tomorrow then," I say.

"See you," they say simultaneously.

When I'm about to close the door, Caleb says, "Goodnight!"

"Goodnight, too!" I say, smiling.

"Sweet dreams Annalise," Alex says before I can fully close the door.

I lean on the door and laugh to myself. Those two are just new here but they can already put a smile on my face.