Fracture

*****See Author's note at the bottom of this chapter, please.*****

"I think it's time we started heading home, Jules." I glanced out the window at the setting sun.

She looked at John hesitantly, "Can I take a couple of these pictures? I'll make copies and bring them back."

"They're all yours, kid." He told her with a smile.

She grinned and began placing a few in a stack. I stood up and hugged Natalie, then John. I walked into the play room and said goodbye to Little John, who was reluctant to let me go. A few minutes later we were buckling the seat belts in the Range Rover and I was turning the ignition. Juliet silently flipped through the photos.

I looked quickly at her from the corner of my eye, "Which ones did you keep?"

"Mostly the ones of you and Dad." She shrugged and looked at me, "Do you think I could meet him?"

I took a deep breath, "Of course, baby."

"Do you think he would want to meet me?"

"He'd be crazy if he didn't want to meet his beautiful daughter." I tried to smile.

"But he never knew about me..." She bit her lip.

I reached out and took hold of her hand, "I'll make it happen, sweetie."

"Thanks, Mom." She told me with a small smile.

***

So I made a few calls, and eventually I secured Alex Gaskarth's personal cell phone number. It wasn't Jack's, but I figured talking to Alex first might be a little bit easier. Juliet went to school that morning completely exhausted: she'd stayed up late watching concert footage and interviews of Jack and his band. I hoped she was finding comfort in what she watched.

She'd kissed me on the top of my head before she'd left, softly saying, "Love you."

I'd called in sick that day to work, but I knew there wouldn't be a problem with the slow day that was scheduled. I had other obligations I needed to tend to, and there were plenty of people who were eager to fill my spot for even a day.

I sat on the couch, still in my pajamas, and dialed Alex's number. My heartbeat increased with every ring.

Finally, he picked up, "This is Alex."

He sounded so mature and business-like, it threw me off for a minute, but I pulled myself together enough to answer him, "Hi, this is Emily Reed."

"What can I do for you, Emily?" He asked after a pause.

"I was wondering if you had any free time to meet with me today?"

"I'm actually pretty booked today, but I have about an hour for a lunch break at noon if you wanted to meet me somewhere." He offered.

"That would be great. Where are you working out of?"

"Downtown Baltimore."

"Good. It'll only take me about half an hour to get over there."

"How about we meet at Pete's Diner. It's pretty good food and a chill atmosphere." He told me.

"That's great." I nodded, even though he couldn't see me, "I'll see you at noon."

"Alright. I'll see you then."

"And Alex?" I asked.

"Yeah?"

"Make sure it's only you..." I bit my lip.

He paused, "Of course."

***

I slipped the gear shift into park and turned the engine off. Checking my reflection in the rear view mirror and sighing, I finally opened the car door. The parking lot was moderately full, and the diner was a throwback sort of place. A man and his wife were exiting the restaurant and they held the door open for me. I smiled and thanked them, stepping inside.

"Emily?" A familiar face asked and stood up from a booth.

His hair was cut shorter than I'd ever seen it, but he still looked good. His smile was exactly the same, and he calmly strode toward me, enveloping me in a hug.

"You haven't changed a bit, Alex." I smiled and hugged him back.

"I appreciate the compliment, but I think you'll find it to be untrue." He grinned and pulled away, and I followed him back to the booth.

"You still look as beautiful as you did all those years ago." He told me once we'd sat down.

"You're still a charmer, too." I smiled and looked down at the menu.

"I only speak the truth!" He laughed and pushed the menu aside, sipping a glass of water.

"Are you a regular here?" I asked.

"I come here a good amount." He smiled and sat his glass down.

I laughed, "Tell me what's new in your life."

"There's a lot to catch up on, Emily."

"I know. Give me a condensed version." I shrugged.

"Hm, alright." He smiled, "Toured with All Time Low for a few more years, then decided I was ready to move on with other things. So we went forward with our clothing line and it's been pretty successful so far."

"Sounds like a good life." I smiled.

"Life has been good to me." He nodded.

"Are you still with Lisa?"

"We got married a couple years ago." He lifted his hand and showed me his wedding band, a big smile on his face.

"Congratulations." I told him sincerely.

"Thanks. She's actually pregnant right now."

I raised my eyebrows, "You're going to be Daddy Gaskarth?"

"Indeed I am. We found out a couple days ago that we'll be having a little boy." He couldn't stop smiling.

"That's so awesome, Alex."

"I'm really, really excited. I'm actually working on getting us a second home over in London so that we'll be able to spend more time over there."

"You're going to have a cultured son."

"I can only hope." He shrugged, "What's new with you?"

I took a deep breath, "Well, I'm a marketing executive for the East Coast branch of Sony Music. I went to school after Warped Tour and worked my way up."

"Wow, that's pretty damn impressive. I thought I heard your name mentioned a few times, but I wasn't positive."

"Now ya know." I smiled.

I was nervous, because there wasn't a possibility of avoiding the real reason I'd called him. As the waitress took our orders, my palms began sweating.

Alex turned to me once she'd walked away, "So what's the deal with this little meeting?"

I sighed, "I knew you'd ask."

"Couldn't get away from it." He shrugged with a smile.

I bit my lip and took a deep breath, "There's a big reason Jack and I broke up at the end of Warped Tour. Something that I should have told him a long time ago, but I never had the courage to do it."

"You're kind of freaking me out, Emily." He raised an eyebrow.

"I know. I'm sorry." I looked at my hands, "I'm just trying to make everything right, even if it's a little bit late."

"No more suspense." Alex told me.

"I have a daughter." I blurted out.

His eyes went wide and he was silent for a moment, rubbing his temples and obviously searching for words, "Is... She's... Who's the father?"

I nodded, "Jack."

"Holy shit."

"I know." I sighed.

"How old is she now?" He asked quietly.

"Almost 16." I smiled.

"Wow." He brushed his hand over his hair, "And you're sure she's Jack's?"

"As positive as I can be." I shrugged, "She looks so much like him, Alex. She's so beautiful."

"He's gonna flip shit when he hears about this." Alex muttered.

"You can't tell him." I shook my head, "I want to be the one to do that."

"I'll only keep it quiet for a little while, Emily." He looked me in the eyes, "He needs to know soon, though."

I nodded and looked away, "That's why I wanted to meet up with you. I thought maybe your reaction would give me a warm-up for his."

"Mine isn't half of what his is going to be." He laughed slightly.

"I know, I know."

"What's her name?"

I smiled, "Juliet Ameera Reed."

"Not Barakat?" He asked.

I shook my head and paused as our food was set in front of us. The waitress had no idea how grateful I was for her interference.

"How is he lately?" I asked after a minute.

"Jack?" He asked, looking up from his food.

"Yeah. I don't really know much about what his life's been like." I shrugged and picked at my salad.

"He was married for a little bit." Alex told me quickly, "But he didn't have any kids and they got divorced pretty quickly."

I bit my lip, "Who was she?"

"You know who Holly Madison is?" He asked, putting his fork down.

"You've got to be kidding me!" I exclaimed, my mouth open.

"Yeah, they were together for a lot longer than any of us expected. But the marriage was only about 2 years. He loved her, but she never measured up." He looked at me.

I faltered, "Measured up to what?"

"The only person he ever loved more than anything in the world."

"And who is that?" I stared at my plate.

Alex sighed and laced his fingers together, his elbows rested on the table, "Do you even have to ask, Emily?"

I sighed and looked up at him, finally meeting his gaze, "No, I guess not."