Baby Steps

Six years later...

“Happy birthday, babe!” Alex Gaskarth cheered wrapping his arms around his slim blond ‘girlfriend’ of five months from behind. Amelia smiled brightly and turned around in his arms to kiss his chest sloppily leaving a reddish-orange glimmer from the lipstick she had put on five minutes before her boyfriend had stumbled out of bed and walked to the kitchen in the house they had bought together a month ago.

Alex shivered in pleasure as her lips dropped onto his neck. He grinned widely as he pushed the shirt she was wearing up over her waist and massaged her stomach kissing in between the valley of her breasts. Amelia’s breath caught in her throat as she clung to him but she snapped out of her trance when the door bell rang. Alex seemed to be unfazed by their interruption and continued on with his antics. Amelia giggled and slapped Alex on his arm to get him to stop.

“Alex” She whined childishly giggling, “The boys are here. Go answer the door. You can’t have sex all the time.”Alex made a whimper of protest into her skin. His soft feathering kisses never ceasing.

“We both know that’s what our relationship resolves around.” Alex muttered.

Amelia smiled and rolled her eyes, “Go” She ushered him towards the door in the front room that was connected to the kitchen by a narrow open door. She gripped the hair-tie on her wrist and used it to put her blond hair into a high pony tail loosely.

Alex pouted, “You’re no fun.” But they both knew his statement wasn’t true.

“Yeah, yeah.” She muttered dismissing him with a wave of her hand as she fixed her shirt to fit properly where Alex had greedily wrinkled it with his foreplay. All of a sudden they heard a loud scream.

“ALEX I SWEAR TO GOD IF YOU DON’T OPEN THIS DOOR I WILL ... USE RIAN’S BODY TO BREAK IT DOWN!” Jack’s voice was slightly muffled because he was behind the front door but there was no disguising the laughter of the boys with Jack and the shout of ‘Hey!’ Rian made in outrage.

Alex snorted, “I better go before Jack does something stupid.”

Amelia chuckled with kissing Alex sloppily on the cheek, “I think that’s a good idea. I rather not have something in our house wrecked... again” She muttered darkly. It was no secret that Jack and Amelia didn’t get along which was odd considering Jack got along great with everyone. Alex had questioned Jack as to why he didn’t like her but Jack always dismissed the topic or change the conversation entirely.

“Hey!” Jack hollered angrily, “That was one time and the vase was asking for it.” Somehow Jack, Rian, Zack, Vinny And Matt had found their way into the house without Alex opening the door and now were standing in the threshold of the kitchen.

Jack made a face. “Plus it was ugly.”

Aurelia’s sparkling blue eyes narrowed into thin slits while she pursed her lips “Sure, Jack. Sure.” Amelia said sarcastically.

“I’m going to go get changed. I’ll be done in fifteen.” She waved hello to the rest of the boys, glared at Jack which he turned gratefully and disappeared upstairs.

“Hey guys.” Alex greeted sitting at the island in the middle reaching for a muffin that lay on a plate in the middle. Each one of the boys had some kind of present wrapped in their hands in various colors and shapes.

“Hey” They chorused.

“We got Amelia birthday presents.” Matt piped up shaking his box for emphasis impatiently.

“Not like we had much of a choice.” Jack muttered in distaste.

Alex’s head snapped up, “Dude I know you guys don’t like my girlfriend but today is her birthday can you just be nice for one day?” Alex mentally grimaced when he stated the word ‘girlfriend’ .

“Why are you even still with her?” Rian asked.

“I thought you were going to dump her last week.”

“I was going to last Wednesday but then she seduced me! It was like she knew I was going to do it.” Alex mumbled chewing a piece of banana muffin.

The guys laughed at this, “You’re such a dude.” Vinny replied shaking his head back and forth smiling. The All Time Low boys, their tour manager and their merch guy all knew that Alex didn’t harbor any genuine feelings for Amelia. It was purely lust. Alex had met her at a bar a few months back and they got drunk and had sex. It was strictly only supposed to be a one night stand before she called him the next morning asking why he left. He was so trashed he didn’t even recall handing her his number. But he let it off the hook and took her on a few dates not expecting to get serious but one thing led to another and the next thing he knew they bought a house together.

She was good at what she did and she played the trophy wife well enough. In the end he was a guy and guy’s had their needs. It wasn’t as if he had been in a relationship for a long time anyway. Alex figured why not. It was time for a little change but he didn’t know that change required such a commitment.

Everyone knew that Alex and Amelia cheated on each other all the time. It was a well known fact. But at the end of the day they were together and they slept in the same bed. They were basically friends with benefits with a little relationship tied into it. To the world they looked like a normal couple but they really weren’t. What normal boyfriend let their girlfriend cheat on them? What girlfriend would let her boyfriend go anywhere near another attractive female willingly?

They were together for the media. Apparently Hollywood loved Amelia and thought Alex and her were the cutest couple. If they broke up All Time Low’s ratings would decrease rapidly. So he was basically stuck. He kept promising the boys that he would dump her but he was trapped.

It wasn’t hard pretending to be the perfect boyfriend in the house or outside of the house. They both cared for each other but they didn’t love one another. It was just convenience. Amelia got a free house and all the shopping sprees her little heart desired and Alex’s band was moving up the charts and on the side he was getting some action. It was a love-hate relationship. Some days he wished that he could be single others he needed Amelia as a release. The thing Alex liked about Amelia was she understood. She understood that there was absolutely no way there were going to have kids together or they were going to get married. It was strictly business.

“You felt the coldness in my eyes,
It's something I'm not revealing.
Though you got used to my disguise,
You can't shake this awful feeling.”

Jack’s phone began to go off playing the song ‘Blood on my Hands’ by The Used. The boys watched as he placed the gift he got for Amelia on the counter and dug through his pocket whipping out his phone. His eyes widened when he saw the caller I.D.

“Um, I’ve got to take this.” Rian and Zack shared knowing glances while Alex stared perplexed at Jack’s retreating figure. Alex could hear Jack mumbling but he couldn’t make out any coherent words.

“What was that all about? Even that was out of character for Jack.”All four boys stayed silent pretending to ignore Alex’s question. He realized with sudden interest that they were keeping a secret from him. And by the looks of it a very big one. Without seeming too suspicious Alex stood up. The tension in the room began to grow very strong.

“I’m going to go check on Amelia. I’ll be right back.” Alex was a very good liar it seemed when all the boys breathed a sigh of relief and nodded their heads. So Alex was right, they were hiding something. He wasn’t really going to see Amelia but it just so happened that the staircase was exactly where Jack was on the phone.

Alex exited the kitchen and ignored the whispers that began as he left the kitchen. He was more concerned about why Jack had reacted to the phone call he received like he did. Alex vaguely heard Jack’s whispers and needed to get closer in order to hear what he was saying. He hid in the hallway and put his ear against the wall to get a better reception.

“I’m so sorry. It totally slipped my mind that I was supposed to call you today I kind of got caught up in something–“ Jack paused clearly listening to the other person on the phone speak before continuing. Jack laughed then full-heartedly.

“You know you love me.” He teased and Alex raised an eyebrow. Was Jack hiding a secret girlfriend? The voice sounded feminine enough but Jack flirted with anything that had two boobs and a nice set of stems.

“Yeah of course. I’m going to visit you next week. Is Noah looking forward to see his Uncle?” Alex’s eyebrows furrowed together in confusion Alex was sure that neither Jack or May, Jack’s siblings had children. Alex didn’t even know Jack was an uncle; to whose child was the question bouncing in his mind. The only thing he did know was that Jack claimed he was taking a vacation to visit his parents next week but apparently he wasn’t doing that either. He was visiting this Noah character. Alex leaned forward to peer at Jack through the corner of his eye while Jack sat on the stairs holding the phone up to his ear with a shit-eating grin on his face. It was clear that Jack loved both the woman talking on the phone and the child Noah.

Jack laughed again, “Well I’m going to let you go. Bye.” He paused “Love you too, Alaska.”

And just like that Alex’s entire world froze.