Contagious Chemistry

Stephen tapped the red ‘end’ button on the screen of his iPhone with a smile spreading on his lips. He shoved down the phone into his pocket before making his way to the mirror and checked his appearance. He actually already dressed for the day, because he already planed to take Ally and Casey to DisneyLand since last night. Stephen couldn’t believe that he has a daughter and now, he was going to try to be a good dad for her.

John, who was still sleeping at the other single bed in the room, had his head up and blinked twice before realizing that his brother already up and dressed. “Where the hell are you going?”, he croaked.

“Out. Probably for the whole day.”, Stephen waved off his brother simply before putting his wallet into his back pocket and walked out from the room. The apartment where the band stayed for the recording process felt silent since no one was up yet. They were out last night and knocked out pretty good, even Jess, who was still sleeping on the couch.

He stepped out from the front door quietly and quickly got into an empty elevator. As the elevator glided down, he put on his Ray-Ban to anticipate the scorching summer Californian sun. When the elevator’s door opened, showing him the shiny outside world from the glass wall of the lobby. The doorman opened the clean, clear glass door for him and Stephen flashed him a thank smile before rushing to his car that was parked besides the building.

After he drove out from the parking lot, it was that rare day where there were no traffic everywhere. The drive to Ally’s house only took half an hour since her house was up on the hills. When he pulled up on her driveway, suddenly, the front door slammed open and revealing the already dressed toddler. “Uncle Stephen’s here, mommy!”, she squealed. Stephen smiled and unbuckled his seatbelt before getting out, not bothering to cut off the engine of his car first.

“Hey, Casey-cake!”, Stephen crouched and opened his arms as Casey ran into them and wrapped her tiny arms around his neck. “Where’s your mommy?”

“She’s inside!”, Casey pulled away and her face was beaming. When you looked at Casey carefully, she is the spitting image of Stephen. Her brown eyes were the same warm chocolate liquids just like her father’s, her skin was the same shade of his, and her lips were the same pout. The only difference was her auburn hair, where she obviously got it from her mother.

“Casey, you haven’t put on your sun screen!”, a voice called from the house and then, Ally stepped out with a bottle of kids’ sun screen lotion in her hand. Stephen’s eyes widened on her appearance. Her hair was shinier than last night and she was only wearing a tank top and shorts. His mind was wondering, how in the world he could function right without this girl? “Oh, hey Stephen.”, she smiled and walked towards him and Casey.

“You ready?”, Stephen stood up with Casey in his arms.

Ally pursed her lips and put the sunscreen bottle in her bag. “You have to put it on before we step out from the car.”, Ally pointed to Casey, who was giggling and burying her face on Stephen’s shoulder.

Stephen carried the little girl and sat her on the booster seat on the backseat. “Wow, how did it get there?”, Ally asked with a wide smile.

His cheeks flushed and after he buckled Casey’s seatbelt, he got out from the backseat and scratched the back of his neck. “Well, I actually bought it last night after we went out to dinner, because I know she couldn’t sit down on the seat and—“, he was cut off by Ally’s adorable laughing.

“Stephen, you’ll be a great dad for her.”, she whispered so Casey won’t hear them. Stephen smiled and opened the passenger seat for her before he rushed and got into the driver seat. After they were situated on their own seats, they buckled their seatbelts and Casey clapped her hands from the backseat.

“Let’s go, uncle Stephen! Let’s go!”, she squealed.

Stephen peeked from the rear view mirror to his daughter, who was bouncing up and down on her seat. “Okay, princess.”
********
“Come on, uncle Stephen! I want to meet Mickey!”, Casey jumped up and down before tugging Stephen’s jeans. Stephen laughed and scooped her up from her feet and carried her through the not so crowded sidewalks of Main Street section.

“The parade is almost starting, Casey. Do you wanna see it instead? There’ll be Mickey.”

The toddler smiled widely, showing her bright pearls. Stephen had her in her arms while Ally was away to the bathroom. When the parade was going through their spot, Casey struggled herself and Stephen set her down next to him. Stephen had her hand in his as Casey jumped a bit on her spot.

Suddenly, a buzz came from his pocket and he had to released Casey’s hand to get the phone. He pulled it out and tapped the green button before pressing it onto his ear.

“Hello?”, he answered.

“Stephen, where are you!? We were trying to reach you all morning!”, Jess frantically exclaimed from the other line.

Stephen sighed, knowing that his band didn’t know where he went except for John. “Out, I met a friend last night and now I’m out with her.”

“Her? Her who?”, she asked, suspiciously. He should’ve known that Jess, as his girlfriend, would be suspicious if she knew that he was out with another girl, and she would be fumed if she knew that he was out with Ally. It was no secret that Jess and Stephen dated right after Warped 3 years ago. Stephen was heart broken from Ally and he needed someone, and then Jess came along, telling her feelings for him, and bam, they were a couple.

“My friend, I met her in high school. Jess, I’m not cheating on you, chill.”

“How can I chill when you’re out there with another girl, Stephen!? And why is it so rowdy there!? Where the fuck are you?”

“I’m at DisneyLand. I have to go.”

“Stephen—“, before Jess could finish her words, Stephen ended the phone call and shoved the phone back into his pocket. He sighed, knowing that Jess would exploded of anger when he’s back, and so does Brian, Josh and John, because Jess was like a sister to them.

“Hey, Casey—“, Stephen looked down to his side but suddenly, Casey was nowhere to be found. His eyes widened as he looked around in panic, looking for his daughter. He looked at the parade too, but she was nowhere to be found. “Shit!”

“Hey, Stephen.”, Ally’s voice came from behind him. he turned around and saw her face, beaming with a smile. “Where’s Casey? I got her a balloon.”, she giggled as she motioned the Mickey Mouse balloon that was tied by the string on her wrist. Her smile fell when she noticed Stephen’s expression. “What happened? Where’s Casey!?”, she demanded.

Stephen swallowed the lump in his throat and sighed desperately. “I think I lost her.”