Gaskarth

~3 Weeks Later~

"Oh, Alex, stop it. You look handsome." I smiled as he smirked and looked down into my eyes with his mesmerized, glossy, brown ones.

I put his silky black tie around his neck and started to adjust it for him as he gulped and I continued to smile. After I was done he put his black vest on over his white long-sleeve button up shirt that was rolled up to his elbows.

"I'm really not looking forward to this." He chuckled and turned around, looking himself up and down in the full length mirror he had in his bedroom as I stood beside him, laying my hands on his right arm.

"They're going to love you...I hope." I whispered and smiled at his face in the mirror as he looked over at me and half smiled.

I had my white maternity dress on that went a little bit up above my knees and my purple cardigan that went up to my thighs as well. It was about the same length of my dress. And I had my white flats on along with the silver locket he bought me last week. It was one of those "Just because I wanted to" gifts.

My make-up and hair was already done and it seemed as if Alex couldn't take his beautiful eyes off of me. One thing was for sure...I couldn't take my eyes off of him.

I smiled at him as he turned around from the mirror and faced me again.

"I can't do this." He laughed slightly as I laughed and locked hands with him. His hand was sweaty, but I didn't mind holding it.

"If they don't like you...I'm still going to." I grinned as he chuckled and loosened his tie a little bit.

"Don't be nervous. They're not that bad..." I told him as he shrugged and continued to stare into my eyes with a crooked smile on his precious face that I adored.

"Did you tell your parents yet?" I spoke softly, my eyes roaming his face.
"Yeah." He laughed as I arched my eyebrow up at him.
"And? What did they say?" I asked, starting to panic.

"Well, I told them that I knocked this hot chick up...And they're pissed off. My mom hung up on me." He shrugged as I rolled my eyes and forced a smile.

"Great. You were suppose to tell them the truth." I said in an irritated voice.
"Now why would I do that?" He smirked.
"Because..." I paused when he continued to arch his thick eyebrow down at me.

I sighed and shook my head.

"Ugh. Come on. We're going to be late." I said and tugged on his hand as he took one last glance at himself and winked as I sighed and folded my arms across my chest.

He laughed and grabbed his wallet and then took my hand, leading me out of his room and to the living room. He picked up his car keys before we left out the kitchen door and into the garage to where his car was.

~

We pulled up at The Four Seasons. It was a fancy place that my mom and dad eat at. They made reservations for us all. Becca was coming along also. It was eight o'clock in the evening and a little bit humid out.

Alex and I walked inside hand in hand. I looked around for my parents in the little waiting area, but I didn't see them. I looked at Alex who squeezed my hand and gave me a reassuring smile.

Now I was the one that was nervous and Alex seemed pretty calm about this whole thing. This was the first time my family would be meeting him. My small little...broken family.

I let out a shaky sigh as I told the lady at the podium my last name and that my parents were already here saving a table for us both.

She led us back more into the high priced, calm, fancy restaurant. I saw my mom, dad, and Becca sitting in a table in the corner. They all looked like something was wrong. When my mom saw Alex her jaw literally dropped and my dad looked like something crawled up his ass and died.

As for Becca...she always looked the same. Miserable as ever. She was wearing her fake little golden blonde wig in pigtails and she had a nice little violet dress on.

My mom and dad stood up from our table as I looked at Alex with a nervous expression on my face.

"Mom...Dad...This is my Alex. I mean...A-Alex. Gaskarth." I managed to spit out as my mom forced a smile and shook Alex's hand as Alex smiled back.

My dad stared straight into Alex's eyes as I looked up at Alex with a worried look on my face. My dad then smiled big and held out his rather large hand.

"Pleasure to meet you, son." My dad said, taking Alex's hand and shaking it fast as Alex laughed slightly, taken by surprise.

My mom and dad sat back down in their chairs as Alex took my chair out for me and I smiled at him and sat down as he helped me move my chair up closer to the table. Alex sat down next to me and cleared his throat as I held back a giggle and looked over at Becca who rolled her glossy eyes.

The waiter came by and offered us some red wine as my mom accepted and my dad did too. I couldn't have wine. I mean I probably could've had one glass, but I didn't want to risk anything. Alex also had some red wine as everything grew silent at our table. The only thing around us was the sound of soft instrumental music playing over the speakers.

"So, Alex, we heard you were in a band." My mom spoke up as my heart started to race. Alex exchanged a glance with me and smirked as he raised up in his chair a little bit.

"Um, yes, Mrs. Miller, I am in a band." Alex smiled his crooked smile as my mom grinned and picked up her glass of red wine.

"Please, call me Rose." She said, taking a sip of her wine as my dad looked at her with an irritated expression.

I looked at my sister who stared down at her menu. This was some what awkward.

"Okay." Alex chuckled and looked over at me as I half smiled. I let my leg bounce up and down from how nervous I was. And then I jumped when I felt Alex's warm, strong, delicate hand lay down on my knee, making my leg stop moving.

He smirked as we both relaxed back in our chairs and I took his hand and held it in mine.

"Becca has to go in for more treatment next week in the hospital. Are you going to stay overnight with her while I work? She won't have anybody there, Maria. Or are you going to stay with Alex again?" She asked me in an annoyed tone as I looked at Alex and bit my lip.

I then looked back over at Becca who gave me a dirty look.

"I'll stay with her, yeah. I would love to." I replied as my mom took another big sip of her wine and my dad stared down at his menu with that same irritated look on his middle aged face.

"Then it's settled." My mom sighed and stared at my dad with hatred.

Okay, so...I finally realized that something was up and this dinner wasn't going to go the way I planned it would...Great.

"Um, mom, Alex was really excited to come and meet you guys." I spoke up after a while of not talking.

"Oh, really? Well, I don't see why he would be so thrilled to meet your dad." My mom said in a hoarse voice as she sniffed.

I looked over at Becca who shook her head.

"Uh, alright?" I whispered as Becca looked at Alex with dagger eyes as I squeezed Alex's hand tighter in my lap under the table.

"So, Becca, how is school?" Alex asked, trying to make conversation.

"I barely even go." She mumbled as I looked at Alex and I felt that lump start to come up in my throat, but I forced it down.

"You uh...Like music?" He asked her as my mom and dad stared at him like he was a total dumbass. This was awful. Alex was just trying to make conversation and my parents and Becca was being a total douche bag to him.

"Who doesn't?" Becca said in a stupid voice.

Alex cleared his throat and looked over at me with a half smile. I sighed and shook my head. There is no way in hell we would all last through this dinner...

My mom chugged her glass of red wine down as my mouth parted slightly.

I leaned over to Becca as she sort of backed up away from me.

"What do you want?" She asked in an annoyed voice.
"What is up with mom and dad?" I whispered as she laughed bitterly and shrugged.
I rolled my eyes and sat up straight in my chair again.

The waiter came after a while and took our orders. Alex and I got this pasta dish and my parents ordered some kind of complicated meal and Becca got a salad.

The waiter then left, leaving us with the big bottle of red wine. My mom grabbed the bottle and chugged it down as my jaw dropped to the floor.

I looked at Alex who swallowed hard and itched the back of his neck nervously. My dad stared at my mom and continued to give her that damn look.

"Maybe if my husband wasn't cheating on me there would be enough wine for everybody." My mom laughed loudly as she slammed the big green bottle of wine down on the table.

I looked at my dad in shock as he cleared his throat and turned red faced.

"Oh, damn." Alex whispered as I rolled my eyes and leaned on the table a little bit.
"What are you talking about, mom?" I asked, still in complete shock.

"I guess I am just so fucking worthless now days! My daughter has cancer and I can't do a damn thing about it! And my other daughter is nothing but a little slut who whores around with guys all the time!" She yelled at the top of her lungs as I blushed a bright red and Becca slouched down in her chair and shook her head.

"Rose, calm your ass down." My dad said through clenched teeth.

"Calm down? Calm down? You're cheating on me, Chris!" My mom exclaimed and took another swig of the red wine.

Alex reached out for his wine glass filled with red wine, but the glass accidentally slipped from his fingers, making the wine go all over the white table cloth and his black skinny jeans...and the glass broke into little tiny pieces.

My mom laughed and pointed at Alex. His face turned a bright red as he reached out for his dark green napkin that was by the silverware.

"The boy is so nervous around us! I don't think he wants to be with you after this, Maria." My mom laughed long and hard again as I blushed like crazy and swallowed that dry lump that was in my throat.

"Hey, I'm gonna be with Maria no matter what. I think you need to worry about your own relationship right now and not me and Maria's." Alex spoke up as everything turned silent and tears filled my eyes.

"I finally found the right guy to be with and you guys have to fucking ruin it! The only good thing that has ever happened in my life is him! And you guys just can never be happy for me can you?" I shouted as tears streamed down my cheeks as Alex gave me a look of sympathy and gave up on cleaning up the wine.

He put his arm around me as I looked up into his deep, understanding, chocolate brown eyes.

"You have no idea how happy you make me." I sniffed as he half smiled and dried my tears away with his rough thumb as he put some of my black hair behind my ear.

"Oh, how sweet! I guess now is the time you both go home and fuck each other at his place. Right, Maria?" My mom said, obviously a little tipsy.

My mouth dropped as my dad tried to make her shut the fuck up.

"Fuck you, mom!" I sobbed on Alex's shoulder.

"Go ahead and cry. You're being a little slut. No one feels sorry for you at this table, Maria." My mom said sternly.

"Would you just take a god damn chill pill? Damn. Here Maria is trying to save her little sister and all you can do is sit there, taking your anger out on Maria all because of your damn husband." Alex said as I looked at him in shock.

"And I have to admit I do feel a little bad for your wife because she had to put up with your ass coming home late at night when you were actually cheating on her." Alex laughed slightly as my dad got red in the face.

I swallowed hard as Becca rolled her eyes and folded her thin arms across her chest.

"But Maria is probably the best fucking girl I have ever met in my life. And she is sacrificing her whole life just trying to save her sister. Maria is selfless. And all you're fucking doing right now is making her feel like total shit. She doesn't deserve this. Come on, babe." Alex said and helped me up from my chair.

I still couldn't believe my dad would actually cheat on my mom. I mean I guess it was kind of obvious...I didn't know that he continued to come home late at night. I haven't been home at night that much so I wouldn't know.

Alex locked hands with me as I continued to sob and I stared at the three people that always make me feel like shit.

"How could you?" I sobbed as they stared at me with dirty looks on their faces.

My dad got up from the table to try and comfort me as Alex pulled me closer to him and I sobbed into his chest as he rubbed my back softly.

"Shh. We're gonna go home." He whispered in my ear as I nodded and continued to sob into his chest.

And then I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned around fast and saw that it was my mom...her fist was in a ball and she punched me straight in the fucking face.

I moaned out in pain as I stumbled back into Alex and he caught me.

"Calm your fucking wife down! Seriously, man. She just hit her own fucking daughter!" Alex yelled as everyone stared at us.

Alex looked down at me with sympathy as my mom stumbled back into the waiter who was bringing the food to our table. He fell backwards and dropped the big tray of dishes and food all over the floor.

Now all eyes were on us...

"Come on, babe. You don't need this shit." I heard Alex say as he helped me stand up straight and he walked me in between all the tables as people continued to stare at us.

"Maria!" My mom screamed bloody murder as I felt my hair being yanked back and she pulled me away from Alex as Alex looked at me in panic.

"You little slut! Do you really think you're going to be going home with him tonight?! Huh?" She screamed bloody murder as I screamed out in pain and Alex pushed my mom away from me as she let go of my hair.

"Get the fuck away from her! Damn it. Talk to Maria when you have actually calmed down!" Alex exclaimed as he walked me in between the tables some more.

"Come back here, little slut!" I heard my mom scream as I cried into Alex's chest as we made our way out of The Four Seasons and to his car. He helped me in and got in on the drivers side and started the car up.

He sped out of the parking lot and down the street. He pulled into Baskin Robin 31 Flavors and turned his car off. He stared over at me with sympathy.

"You alright, babe?" He spoke softly as I stared straight ahead at the parking lot and shook my head slowly.

"Your cheek doesn't look too good." He whispered as I looked over at him and half smiled and then I broke down again...

"Aw, come here, babe." He whispered and lifted up the glove compartment box that was in the middle of the two seats. He made me move over so I was close to him. I cried into his chest again as he rubbed my back softly.

"They just don't get it." I sobbed as he kissed my forehead.

"Shh. You don't need them. You have me..." Alex whispered in my ear as I nodded and held on tighter to him.

"You want some ice cream or something?" He continued to whisper as I looked up into his brown eyes.

"Sure." I sniffed as he kissed me softly on the lips.
"And then we'll go home and tell Jack to come over." He laughed slightly as I forced a smile.

We sat there in the car for another minute in silence. Alex was about to get out of the car to go get us some ice cream before I stopped him...

"Hey, Alex?"
"Yeah?" He smiled at me before shutting the car door.
"Count me in." I smiled and got out of the car and intertwined my fingers with his...