the story of your life;

Rian looked back and forth at his sister and his daughter, who seemed to recognize the former. Whitney's explanation didn't make any sense, as they hadn't spoken her name but once... and Charley had been sleeping during that time. Confusion was etched onto his face but he had to push past that for now, Jack was here and it was going exactly how he expected it to.

"Jack, come on man... watch the language." Rian stated, as calmly as he could. Jack had been the one to pick up most of the pieces- Jack was the one who called the others. "I understand there is a lot to explain but... watch it." He stepped the side, revealing his one year old daughter to Jack.

---

Kassie whipped her head around to face Jack. She wasn't surprised he had reacted the way he had, but she help herself when it came to defending her best friend, and her boyfriend.

"Hey watch it. It's Alex's house and what he says goes." She snapped at one of her best friends. "You have no right."

Whitney gently scooped up the baby, who was now staring wide eyed at all the people staring at her. "Her name is Charlotte, but we call her Charley. She's one." She watched as Jack started to put the pieces together, and his glare dulled only slightly. "The only reason I'm not screaming at you like the piece of trash terrible person you are is because you're holding my niece. She didn't do anything wrong. It's not her fault that her mother is garbage." Jack went to the kitchen to put the food away.

Whitney sat down on Alex's couch and pulled Charley into her lap, doing her best not to cry.

--

Alex was torn for a minute. He was debating on whether to go talk to Jack about how disrespectful he was being, or comforting Whitney. He went with the latter. He sat down next to her on the couch, slinging an arm around her and pulling her in for a hug. "Hey, don't pay attention to Jack. He's just being an as-- butthole." Alex chose his words carefully, seeing as Charley was in Whitney's lap. "He did the same thing when Lisa and I got back together the last time remember? And after a few days, he was fine." Alex mentioned his ex girlfriend, who he had cheated on with Kassie.

Kassie, noticing that Alex chose to comfort Whitney, decided to go after Jack to calm him down. Unfortunately for her, her brother decided to intercept. Kassie chewed on her lip nervously, hoping he hadn't put two and two together.

--

Rian followed Kassie down the hall, stopping her from going into the kitchen and pulling her into the dining room instead. "Kassie, you need to tell me this honestly. How did Charley recognize you. Don't feed me any bullshit right now. You weren't shocked when you came in and saw the baby. You weren't surprised when Whitney introduced her. She knew you by name."

--

Kassie looked around, her eyes going everywhere but Rian's face. He knew, she knew he knew, and the was no getting around it. "Ri... I, I don't know what you're talking about." She stuttered out "We can... we'll talk later okay... don't do this now."

--

The anger from earlier started to grow in addition to the anger he was feeling from this new reveal. "Kassie you have got to be fucking kidding me. We're not going to talk fucking later, were going to talk now. What the fuck were you thinking." Rian yelled, not caring that his sister was backing away from him. He hit the table as the anger overcame him. "Answer me!" He screamed, no longer trying to keep things quiet.

Alex and Whitney pulled apart from their hug, listening as Rian screamed at Kassie. "What should we do?" Alex asked, biting his bottom lip. Whitney sprang into action. She quickly put a blanket down for Charley to lay on before handing her back her teething toy. "Stay there, princess. Play with Bazzy." Whitney kissed her daughter's head before beckoning Alex. "Come on. Let's fix this.... and don't fucking say anything until Rian does. For fuck's sake." She jogged with Alex to the dining room, skidding to a stop when she saw Rian slam his fist on the table.

"Everyone just calm the fuck down!" Whitney yelled. She went to stand by Kassie, and Alex by Rian. She put a protective arm in front of her best friend before looking her ex(were they even back together? who knew?). "Rian, calm down. Seriously. You're scaring the hell out of Kassie and our daughter is in the next room. Can you tell us, calmly why you're acting like such an ass to Kassie?" Whitney had a feeling that she knew why Rian was so upset, but she didn't want to jump to conclusions.

"Just... no more screaming. Can we do that?"

"She knew! She fucking knew!" Rian exclaimed, glaring at his sister. He didn't even care that Whitney told Kassie and not him. Kassie SHOULD have told him - and to make matters worse she had met Charley. "How many times. How many times did you go see her, hmm Kass? I'm your BROTHER. I'm FAMILY." He took another step towards Kassie.

--

"Rian I'm sorry! It wasn't my place to tell you... it wasn't my secret to reveal." Kassie weeped, trting to get her brother see reason. She had never seen him this angry, he had never raised his voice to her like that and it scared her. Alex stood next to him, and fear flashed in her eyes. She hadnt just lied to Rian... she lied to Alex too, and it was all being revealed to him now.

"Rian! Leave her the fuck alone!" Whitney pulled Kassie in for a hug, wiping her tears. She looked across the room at Rian and Alex, running her fingers through her best friend's hair in a soothing motion. "I told her not to say anything. I made her swear to secrecy. Stop yelling at her. If you wanna yell at anyone, yell at me." Whitney pleaded. All of this was her fault. She hated that Kass was having to pay for her sins. Whitney pulled away from the hug with Kassie, taking a deep breath. "Calm down."

--

Alex bit his bottom lip, swallowing hard. Why did Kassie not tell him that she knew about Charley? He would have been able to keep the secret-- Kassie was the love of his life, and Whitney was like a sister to him. "Alright, everybody just take deep breaths and be rational about this. This is bigger than you three. This is about that baby in the living room. You guys need to swallow whatever anger or bullshit you're on and act like adults for her. You're the three most important people in the world to her."

pretty sure I pressed it but insurance

Rian took a deep breath, still angry but trying to calm down. One thing he knew for sure is that he didn't want to be anywhere near his sister right now, and he couldn't leave because they had band stuff they had to work out - whenever Zack and Flyzik decides to show up. "Kassandra... I think it'd be wise if you left." He stated, his voice low but filled with venom. He took another breathe as he looked at Whitney "You and I need to have another talk... come on." He stated, turning on his heel to walk back to the living room, he needed to see his daughter in order to stay calm.

---

Kassie wiped at her eyes as she listened to Alex and nodded. She could see that she had hurt him by keeping the secret, and she didn't want to face the falling out of that. Tears began to well in her eyes again when her brother spoke to her and she turned on her heel, quickly walking out the backdoor. She figured she could go out back, and when she calmed down enough to drive she could go visit her parents.

"Hey, it's okay. I'm not mad. It's okay." Whitney whispered. She pressed a kiss to Kassie's forehead before following Rian into the living room. She wiped her eyes and took a deep breath before gently picking up Charley from where she was sitting. The little girl made grabby hands toward Rian, and Whitney handed her over. She took a deep breath and put her head in her hands, trying not to freak out crying. This entire day was a shitshow. Whitney loved Charley and Rian with all of her heart, and all she wanted was for them to be a family again-- but now, that dream seemed further and further away. "Go ahead. Tell me how fucking terrible of a human being I am. Jack's right." She sniffed.

--

Alex watched as Kassie headed out the door. He honestly didn't feel like talking to her right then, so he headed into the kitchen with Jack. The two silently ate their takeout, something that Alex was grateful for. He would text Kass in a few moments once he had cooled off. He wasn't really mad, per se, but he was definitely disappointed that she'd lied to him.

"Kass SHOULD have told me.You may have asked her Not To but I'm her brother... She should've done it anyhow. " Rian spoke calmly, trying to show that he wasn't upset with her... at least not completely. He sat in silence for a moment, thinking about the entire situation. If he was being honest with himself... He probably would've dome the same thing if the roles were reversed. And if anyone but him could be there for his child... He was glad Kassie had helped Whitney, for both Whitney's and Charley's sake. "I'm not mad at you Whit... I'm not mad at Kassie either. I'm more hurt that you kept it from me. You've gotta remember... I missed out on the first YEAR of my daughter's life... that's a long time and a lot of firsts I'll never get back."

---

"Why are you in here with me and not going after Kass. She's gonna leave Alex, and you can't be sure she'll come back..." Jack stated, looking up from his food. "She might take a page straight from her best friends book." He muttered, glaring out the kitchen door. He wasn't ready to forgive Witchney for what she had done to Rian, but she wasn't his concern... Alex and his happiness was. "By the way... next time you try to hide someone, you might wanna make sure her car isn't in the driveway."

---

After calming down, and figuring out that Alex wasn't coming out to talk, Kassie decided that he didn't want her there either and walked around the side of the house. She got in her car and pulled out of the driveway, passing Zack and Flyzik on the way out of the neighborhood. If Alex didn't want her there, and Rian didn't want here there... then she wouldn't be there. She'd stay with her parents for a bit, while she figured out what to do next... and waited out the anger.

Whitney swallowed the lump in her throat, wiping her eyes with her shirt sleeve. "I know, Rian. I know no matter how many times I apologize nothing will give us that time back." She hiccuped slightly, running a hand through her hair. The twentysomething took a deep breath, doing her best to calm down. The last thing that Whitney needed was Charley getting upset because she was upset. "I wish I had a rewind button, or something along those lines, so that I could fix all of this. All I want is for us to be happy."

--

"First of all, dude, I have no problem kicking you out if you keep disrespecting Whitney. She is the mother to our niece, and you know that Rian still loves her. Be polite. Fake it if you have to." Alex spoke, taking another bite of his dinner. "Second of all, she lied right to my face. For two years. I have no idea why she didn't tell me the damn truth. Whitney's my sister, practically, and Kass is the love of my life. I could have kept that secret for her." He sighed, running a hand over his face. He bit his bottom lip, debating on what to say next. "Also, Jack, please-- you know nothing. As far as me and Kass. We don't need to dump that on Rian today, too."

"She may have lied to you Lex but think of it from her point of view. Rian is one of your best friends. It's bad enough you're keeping this from him... think of how bad she'd feel if you had to lie to him about having a kid too. Actually... think of how much it killed HER not to tell Rian. They're blood." Jack stated. He knew most people thought he couldn't keep things quiet but the amount of things he had picked up on was immeasurable. "I can fake it. But only for Rian and that sweet angel in there." Jack stood, throwing his container in the trash and walking out. He paused in the door frame, looking back at Alex. "You may be upset now because she kept this from you .. but you'll be a lot more upset if you lose her because you were too stubborn to go outside and talk to her."

---

"I know." Rian pressed his lips to Whitney's forehead, a sigh escaping. "Believe me I know. We'll get through this." He sighed, wiping the tears from her eyes. "I've gotta go apologize to Kassie for blowing up on her... She's probably still in the backyard waiting for this to blow over. She knows I could never stay mad at her... then we've got some band stuff to figure out... After that we'll go over to my parents place and introduce them to their grand daughter." Rian smiled,

---

Kassie glanced down at her phone, debating on if she should turn it off. Right now she needed distance... so she held down the power button until the screen went black and tossed the phone into her glove box. It didnt take her long to get to her parents home and she pulled into the driveway, parking in the garage. Walking into the living room she called out. "Mom? Dad? I gotta talk to you guys, are you home?"

Alex knew that Jack was right. He may have always acted like he was this fun loving party boy, but Jack was one of the smartest people that Alex knew. "Jack, you stubborn fucker... go in there and hold that kid. I swear, if you're rude, I will beat your ass. We both know I can." He joked, standing up and dusting his hands off on his jeans before heading outside. The vocalist frowned when he saw that Kassie's car wasn't in the driveway. "Shit..." he whispered, grabbing his phone out of his pocket. He dialed Kassie's number and frowned when it went right to voicemail. He'd really fucked up but not following her outside in the first place.

--

"Okay," Whitney smiled gently, taking the baby from Rian. She stood on her tip toes to give him an actual kiss, her cheeks blushing as she watched him walk outside to find Kass. Just as soon as Rian left, she saw Jack, Zack, and Flyzik all walk in at the same time. Zack was the first person to find her, picking both her and the baby up and swirling them around. "Be careful, Superman! I'm holding a baby here! Charley, say hi to your Uncle Zack." Whitney handed the baby off to her Uncle, smiling still.

Rian walked outside, surprised to find that she wasnt outside waiting. He was shocked, that wasn't like her at all to leave. The two fought several times in the past and she always waited for him to calm down so they could talk. She had always been the rational one. He pulled out his cell, attempting to call her, but soon frowned as it went straight to voicemail. Sighing he walked back inside, greeting Flyzik and Zack. She probably went home, he would worry about it later they had things to discuss.

---

Kassie bit the inside of her lip as she finished explaining everything to her mother, who simply sighed. "Sugar, give Rian some time. You know your brother, he'll forgive you." Kassie shook her head "No momma, it's different this time... I don't think either of them will forgive me."

"Sweetie, you know you're welcome to stay with us, you always are, but I really think you should work this out with your brother. And if Alexander is half the man I know him to be... he'll forgive you too" Kassie watched as her mom stood, going back to the stove to continue making dinner as she had been when Kassie arrived.

The baby was eventually handed back to Whitney, and like she thought Charley was adored by all of her uncles. "Okay, Rian, we made an executive decision. You're out, the baby's in." Flyzik spoke, booping Charley on the nose. Whitney grinned and she sat back down on the couch, staying out of the way. She didn't want to piss Jack off any worse than he already was. He'd held the baby, but he'd taken her from Zack and handed her directly to Flyzik. No eye contact was made with Whitney at all.

--

Alex sighed. He knew that Kassie's phone was off, but he sent her a text anyway cause he wanted it to be the first thing he saw when her phone turned back on. I love you. I'm not mad at you. Please, please call me. Or text me. Just let me know that you're okay. And then call your brother. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. He made sure that the text went through before going back inside. "Okay, it's my turn to hold the baby. Everyone back off."

Rian looked around, enjoying the sight of all his friends cuddling and cooing with Charley. It was definitely something he would never get used to. "Actually - we have some stuff we have to work out tour wise so that Whit and I can introduce my parents to their granddaughter." He interrupted, taking Charley from Flyzik and handing her back to Whitney.

"Most everyone as usual was available. I talked to Vinny, his wife is expecting any day now so he can't do merch this time around. But I was hoping Kassie could join us since she has experience with helping him... why isn't she here?" Flyzik questioned, trying to get down to business

---

Kassie sighed, walking out to her car to grab her phone and turn it back on. The first thing that came through as she walked up to her old bedroom was a text from Alex. She typed out a reply 'I"m okay' before going into her contacts to call her primary care doctor. She might as well make that appointment. As it turned out there was an opening on Wednesday, tomorrow, at noon, so as promised she agreed to the time and set her phone down. Rian was more than likely coming here after Alex's so they could talk then.

"My mom called her and asked her to come over to help with something. She knew Rian and I were going to his parents' house, and Kass is like her second daughter." Whitney lied effortlessly, adjusting the baby so she was sitting comfortably in her lap and could still see all of her uncles. She knew that Kass would probably be down to do merch, though, and if not-- Whitney could always step in. She used to do merch back in the Dirty Work days, right alongside Vinny.

--

Alex breathed a sigh of relief when Kassie texted him back. Thank god.
You know you're coming back here tonight, right? Cause I can't sleep without you hogging my bed. <3333 also, we need to sit down and have a talk with Jack. That shit he said today is NOT okay. He made sure the text went through before turning his attention back to the conversation at hand. "Kass on merch would be a good idea," he mused.

Rian sent a smile towards Whitney, thankful she had covered for his error in judgement and lack of self control by telling his sister to leave. "I'm sure she'd be down for it though. She loves doing merch with Vin, so telling her she'd be in charge is the next best thing." Rian nodded

"Okay, so I'll put her down for it but if she says no you gotta tell me ASAP so I can hire someone. We're making special poster for each night of the tour with the specific city and date - there's only gonna be 50 at each show though." Flyzik explained. "Now, we had to add a second date in Philadelphia, so you've got less down time than originally planned."

---

Kassie bit her lip, debating on what to say to Alex. He was right, they did need to have a talk with Jack but it wasn't happening today. No.. I'm gonna stay at my parents tonight. I set up an appointment for tomorrow at noon... I might swing by after. She hesitated for a moment befire hitting send

Whitney listened as the guys planned various tour things. Charley was good for another twenty minutes or so, but then she started to get fussy because she was hungry. Whitney grabbed the diaper bag, balancing the baby on her hip. "I'm just gonna go feed her in the kitchen real quick, excuse me." The purple haired woman made sure she had a good grip on her daughter before heading into the kitchen to give her lunch.

--

Babe, are you sure? I just... I really hope you know I'm not mad at you. Do you want me to take you to the doctor tomorrow? Alex sighed softly, turning his attention back to the group. Flyzik was typing notes into his phone about the tour, and suddenly Alex got an idea. "Are we doing anything special for the hometown shows?" He asked. The hometown crowd always deserved a little extra love.

"Not that I know of, why you got something planned?" Rian spoke up, curiosity laced throughout his voice. He had considered the possibility of introducing Charley to the world at the hometown show, but before that he needed to work things out with Whitney.

---

Kassie rocked on her bed, her chin resting on her knee as she thought carefully. Finally she figured out the wording, not wanting him to think she was leaving him. I'm sure. And I know... I'll be fine taking myself, and I'll try to come back after. She sent the text, quickly followed by another - this time to Whitney. Hey -Are you & Ri going over to my parents after the band meeting?