The day after I had gotten to California, I woke up in my new bed to a lot of talking coming from downstairs. I got out of bed, got decent and headed to where I heard the voices coming from.
I stopped when I got into the living room and saw all five of the guys, Val, plus three girls I didn't recognize. One of the women looked an awful lot like Val only with dark brown hair and blonde streaks.
When Val saw me come into the room, she smiled and came over to me. The rest of them watched her get up and the girls I didn't know, stared at me. One in particular seemed like she was glaring at me.
Val put an arm over my shoulder. "Michelle, Leana, Gena. This is Eliza. She is the girl the guys picked up from Ireland."
The girl that looked like Val came over to me and smiled. "Hi Eliza. I'm Michelle." she said, shaking my hand. "I'm Val's sister."
I nodded finally understanding. This was Val's twin sister who was dating Brian. So that made the other two to be Gena, Zack's girl and Leana was with Jimmy.
The other blonde got up and introduced herself as Gena. That meant that the one who had been glaring at me was Leana and she didn't get up. She didn't even say a word to me.
Brian stood and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "Don't worry, Ly-ly. Nobody here is going to hurt you."
When Brian used my nickname, Jimmy shot up off the couch. "Hey! You can't call her that! She's my Ly-ly," he said pulling me into a hug.
I started to laugh but it was cut short when Leana spoke up. "She's not your anything, James. Eliza is just a girl you picked up out of another country. Which was dumb, if you ask me."
Everyone turned towards her and Jimmy let me go. I looked at her sitting on the couch and I smiled at her. "You must be Leana," I said. "It's nice to meet you. The guys have taken good care of me."
Leana rolled her eyes. "I'm sure they did," she said coldly.
Matt spoke up, "Leana, will you knock it off?"
"Yeah," Johnny added. "Eliza had nowhere else to go. Nobody else but us."
At that, Leana stood up. "So your solution to that is to bring her here?! You should have just signed whatever it was she wanted and sent her on her way. This...girl is not your responsibility!" She was yelling now and I was on the verge of tears.
I had thought I was lucky for them to take me in, but now I felt that Leana was right. I wasn't their responibility. I should never had let them take me in.
"Stop yelling, Leana. Jesus Christ. You're scaring her," Zack said. "And besides, we're not that heartless. Eliza is technically a U.S citizen and she was running away from a terrible family. The least we could do was take care of her."
Jimmy nodded then turned to his girlfriend. "And Eliza is my responibility now, Leana. I promised her I'd take care of her. She's my sister now."
Leana looked up at him in anger. "You have your own sisters. I say take her back."
I was standing in the corner now as far from them as I could get. Leana was right and they knew it. Soon they would agree and put me on the first flight to Ireland. I deserved it though. I never should have ran away. What kind of person was I that I couldn't deal with my own problems?
I stepped around them all and ran up the stairs to the room I had been staying in. I locked the door and started packing what little stuff I had brought with me.
Soon, I heard a knock on my door. "Eliza?" I heard Val say softly through the door. "Eliza please let me in."
I sighed but unlocked the door for her. I sat on the bed as Val walked in followed by Matt, Michelle, Gena, Brian, Zack and Johnny. Val sat next to me and rubbed my back in circles.
"Sweetie," she started, but I interrupted her.
"I know," I said. "You're sending me back. I've already packed." I was looking down at my feet trying to hold back the hot tears.
I heard somebody gasp and I looked up to see them all looking at me with sad faces. "What?" Val said. "We're not sending you anywhere. This is your home, Eliza. And we're your new family. Family takes care of each other."
I looked from face to face. "But...Leana? She wants me to go back. She was right. I'm not your responibility."
Matt shook his head and knelt down in front of me. "Leana is jealous of you."
"What?" I asked. Why would somebody like Leana be jealous of me?
"Yeah. She's jealous because Jimmy has adopted you," Michelle said. "Leana wants him all to herself and now that Jimmy has somebody else to give attention to, she got mad."
I shook my head. This didn't make any sense to me.
Johnny sat on the other side of me, wrapped an arm around me and pulled me to his side. "You are our responsibity, Eliza. We all decided together that we were going to take you in. And you don't want to hurt Jimbo by leaving do you?"
I shook my head again. "No," I said. "I wouldn't want to hurt any of you."
"Good," Zack said. "Because we wouldn't hurt you. You're our little sister, Eliza."
Gena smiled and came to hug me. "Don't worry. I've already accepted you. You're so cute and sweet."
I smiled up at her and then it was Brian who hugged me. "Like Val said, we take care of our own. Don't you worry about Leana. Jimmy is downstairs talking to her now. And you know he's not going to give you up."
I nodded and I could feel the tears running down my cheeks now. I really was very lucky. They hadn't even known me, but they had seen me in my time of need and taken me in when they didn't have to. I smiled at all of them.
"Thank you so much," I said and they smiled back. "Thank you for making me a part of a very special family."
Johnny hugged me and everyone laughed. The only one who was missing was Jimmy. I stood and made my way to the doorway.
"I'm going to go talk to them," I said as I went down the stairs.
When I got into the living room, I saw Leana and Jimmy facing each other and neither one of them was happy.
Leana saw me first and she crossed her arms over her chest. "This is all your fault!" she yelled at me.
Jimmy turned around and saw that I was standing there then he faced Leana again. "Don't yell at her. Eliza didn't do anything to deserve this hatred from you!"
Leana stared up at him. "She is just some stray you found! It's like she's a puppy to you! She doesn't belong here!"
Before Jimmy could yell anymore, I stood in between them. "Leana, I don't know why you hate me but I promise I would never hurt him. Jimmy has already become like a brother to me. They all have," I said calmly. I was hoping we could get passed this.
Apparently Leana didn't think so. She looked over my head at Jimmy. "You're going to let some strange girl you don't even know get in between what we have, James?"
When he didn't answer her, Leana grabbed her purse and went out the door slamming it behind her. Once she was gone, Jimmy pulled me into a hug. "I'm sorry, Ly-ly. I'll talk to her. I'll never let anyone hurt you."
I smiled sadly at him. "Go get her, Jimbo. I know you love her but I'm not worth you losing that. I'll still be here when you get back."
Jimmy kissed my forehead and ran out the door calling for Leana.
When I turned around, I saw everybody else smiling at me. "What?" I asked.
Johnny, Brian, Matt and Zacky all hugged me at the same time. "Welcome to the family," they said in unison.

Notes

Sorry it's short, guys. My boyfriend was making fun of me for writing this and wouldn't leave me alone so I had to finish it at McDonald's which is where I go for WiFi. I hate writing in public so that's why it's kinda short.
Comments and cookies, my loves <3