A Lot of Potential

It was the guys' last night on tour. They played a amazing show in LA to wrap up the whole Warped Tour. It was ridiculously hot for the end of August. Usually it would've been cooled down back to spring weather, but maybe only in Baltimore.

We were set to go back to Baltimore right after the guys had played their final set. Cramming into a cab with six people wasn't easy, even when there wasn't any extra space. I was uncomfortably set in between Alex and Jack, with Jack literally setting on me. It wouldn't of been like that if our cab driver hadn't threw a total bitch fit over Kay and I setting on our significant other's lap.

When we arrived back in Baltimore, it was early morning. I had gotten some sleep on the flight but I was still tired. I was ready to go home with Alex, sleep in our bed, and finally be alone and away from some of the drama.

For the past few weeks now, Rian and Kara were at it. Then things would get terrible when someone else got into it with them, just to get them to shut up for at least ten minutes. Usually it was Alex, which made him angry and resulted in tiny fights with us. It was nothing honestly, we apologized to each other the moment after it had happened. I just kept quiet and stayed out, knowing it wasn't any of my business why they were fighting uncontrollably for.

Rian insisted we go get coffee as soon as we got home. I personally, wanted to kill him. Secondly, I wanted to kill everyone else for agreeing with him. I sat at a table in Starbucks away from the rest of our little group. I sat with my legs crossed, snuggling into the hoodie I stole from Alex, while I waited for him to return from the bathroom.

I took sips from his coffee he had left on the table, staring at the artwork at the wall. He came back and sat down next to me, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm so ready to go home."

"I am too." I whispered, leaning into him. "I just wanna go to sleep. Don't we have that stupid school thing to do later?" I asked, remembering that he had told me about the letter Ella gave his mom that was from the school.

"Fucking fuck fuck. I forgot about that!"

"Ugh, I don't wanna go."

"I know, baby." he pursed his lips and began playing with his hair. He always did that when he was tired. Everyone found it annoying, but I found it extremely cute.

"Who's idea was it to come here?" I sighed, covering my face up with my hands.

"Rian's." he shook his head. "You kill him, i'll dig the hole." he joked, curling his arm around me.

"Might be an idea."

"A good one too."

"How far are we from home, anyway?" I sighed, moving closer to him to get warm. It was pretty chilly now and I wasn't adapting well.

"Just a few blocks." he shrugged. "We can walk home if you want and tell the others to fuck off." he smiled.

"Works for me." I giggled, standing up with him.

"We're bailing guys." he informed the others, walking and hit Jack in the back of the head.

"Ow you dick! Why?" he asked, rubbing the back of his head.

"Haley and I have a lot of shit to do later this morning." he replied, squeezing my hand.

"Oh yeah! Haley has to go back to school! Ha ha!"

"Go to hell, fuckball." I took a deep breath, listening to Alex's cute laugh.

"Fuckball, really babe?" he smiled, putting his arm around my waist.

"Oh, I could go on for days!"

"I like how it shut Jack up." he laughed. "See, this is why she's my wife."

"Fuck you Alex, you dickless wonder!" Jack retorted, leaving Alex in a confused state. I laughed, giving Jack a high five.

"Good one." I giggled, receiving a slight push from him.

"Man, fuck you guys!"

"Whoa, settle down there buddy. Not in Starbucks." I winked. "And I thought you said you weren't gay? Quit threatening sex on Jack."

"Oh my God, I'm gonna fuckin' tape your mouth shut." he laughed, shaking his head. "You're so sassy."

"Me? No!" I sarcastically said.

"No, Haley you are a sarcastic little bitch." Jack shook his head.

I narrowed my eyes at him. I didn't take it well when he called me a bitch. "Seriously? Of all at least a hundred thousand sperms, you had to be the fastest?" I bit my lip, controlling my anger that was boling though my veins.

"Bro, that wasn't cool." Alex said, putting his arm around my waist.

"I would ask you how old you are Haley, but I know you can't count that high." Jack countered, smirking devilishly at me.

I couldn't take it anymore. He pushed me a little too far. "If you wanna learn more about mistakes, ask your parents." I bitterly said, receiving 'oohs' from the others witnessing the fight.

"You're the modern day light bulb. Cheap, dim, and full of hot air."

"You're pathetic." I shook my head, biting the insides of my cheeks. "Quite the common scholar."

"Okay, cut it out you two." Alex reffed, stepping in front of me.

"Was she born on a highway since that's where most accidents happen?" Jack jokingly laughed.

"Okay Jack, your jokes aren't funny."

"Don't dish it if you can't take it." he snorted. I took a deep breath and walked to the door, shoving the glass door open for my exit. I began to walk down the sidewalk, shoving my hands in the pockets of Alex's hoodie. I heard his feet thudding against the sidewalk as he tried to catch up to me.

"Are you okay?" he asked, reaching for my hand.

"Fine." I shrugged, maintaining a calm posture.

"I'm going to beat his fucking ass." he sighed.

I ignored him, thinking about the insult that hurt the most. Cheap, dim, and full of hot air. "Alex, I'm not cheap am I?" I asked, my voice breaking.

"No! No, not at all!" he stopped us, turning to me. "Baby, not one bit."

I sighed, running my forehead into his chest. "Am I stupid?"

"No, you're the smartest person I know."

"I need to sleep. Can we go home now?" I looked up at him, locking my arms around him.

"Yeah," he nodded and took my hand. "lets go."

We walked in silence down the block, turning back east towards where we lived. The sun was slowly starting to pop over the horizon, lighting up the streets with bright rays of light. I squinted, spotting the place where Alex and I called home. "Look, it's home." he laughed, squeezing my hand.

By then, I had time to cool off so I wasn't so angry. "Finally. It's good to be back."

"Now that is if I remembered to get my keys." he shook his head with a smile on his face. We walked onto the smooth pavement of our driveway, picking up our pace as we raced to the front door. He checked his pockets for his keys, finding them, and unlocked the door. He tossed the keys on the side table, locking the door back up and turned to me, sweeping me off of my feet.

He carried me upstairs and sat me on the bed, placing a soft kiss on my lips. He pulled off his hoodie and shirt, handing me the black t-shirt he had on. "I wanna cuddle." I informed him, pulling off my jeans. I skipped around him, making my way to the closet to get some pajama pants. I pulled them on my legs and nearly jumped into the bed.

"Alright, hold on." he laughed at me, walking into the bathroom.

I rolled over on my right side, snuggling into the warm blanket. I felt him take his place on his side of the bed, then seconds later, his warm chest touching my back. He curled his arm around me protectively and nuzzled his face into my hair. "Goodnight, baby. I love you."

"I love you too, Alex. Goodnight." I took a deep breath, shutting my eyes to fall asleep.

I wasn't asleep very long. I was woken up by dryness in my mouth. I also had a unwanted pressure in my throat, tempting me to throw up. I was sweating uncontrollably and I couldn't dig myself out from underneath the covers. Alex still had his arm tightly wrapped around me, making it difficult to move.

I lightly shook him, only receiving groans back and him tightening his arm around me. I shook him again, touching his face with my hand. "Baby, what's wrong?" he stirred, setting up to face me. I couldn't respond. The pressure in my throat broke, sending warm liquids from my stomach to my mouth. I hurried to the bathroom to puke my guts up. I sat in the dark for a moment, puking for what seemed to be a eternity. Alex flipped the light on and scurried to my aid, holding my hair out of my face. "Are you alright?" he asked as soon as I quit the unpleasant vomiting.

I wiped the sweat off my forehead, closing my eyes to escape the dizzy feeling. "I think."

"Did you feel sick when we got home?"

"No." I answered, reaching up for him.

"You should get a drink and brush your teeth, love." he said, delicately picking me up from the floor. I tiredly blinked and nodded, doing what I was told. I slowly brushed my teeth with the minty fresh tooth paste, getting the sick aftertaste of puke out of my mouth. I got a drink of cold water using my hands, and also splashed water on my face. "Are you feeling alright now?"

"A little better." I shrugged, clinging onto him so I wouldn't fall. "Take me back to bed."

"Okay." he nodded, taking slow steps with me along the floor. He helped me into bed and elevated my pillows for me, in case I got sick again. "You should probably eat something small."

"Eh." I sighed, pulling my pajama pants off of my body. "It's hot."

I saw him smirk under the light of the moon that shined through the window. "I can fix that." he calmly said, walking over to the thermostat. He turned it down, reaching up to the vent on the ceiling to see if it was taking effect. He then disappeared through the door, returning minutes later with a bag of Cherios. He handed me the small baggy and sat on the edge of my side of the bed. "Eat some of them, please."

"No." I shook my head, throwing the bag on the nightstand. "I wanna go to sleep so I can get up and do the stupid school senior enrollment thing in the morning."

"You're not going anywhere if you're still sick."

"I feel fine now, despite the fact I'm burning up." I sighed, reaching my hand into the Cherio bag. I pulled some out and dropped them in my mouth, slowly chewing so I wouldn't choke.

He went silent for a moment. "Haley, are you- pregnant?" he slurred the last word, turning his head to face me.

"No."

"Are you sure? You just randomly got sick." he bit his lip, standing up and returned to his side of the bed. He moved close, lying on his side with elbow propping his head up.

"At least I don't think I am." I quietly said. I could hear the uncertainty in his voice about the subject. If I was, I didn't plan to start this early.

"We'll figure it out tomorrow, okay?" he sighed, scratching his head.

I nodded and swallowed my fear. I don't know how I really would react if I was pregnant. I would be happy because I've always wanted to be a mother. Yet, I'd be scared of being a young mother. I sighed, starting to get cold chills. I pulled the blankets over me and cuddled into his chest. "I love you." I whispered, my lips trembling.

"I love you too, baby." I heard the smile in his voice. "Cold now?"

"Very." I shook, holding onto him. He responded by putting both of his arms around me and held me close.

"Go back to sleep, we've got a day tomorrow." he whispered, kissing my forehead.

I nodded and took a deep breath, closing my eyes and drifted off to sleep.

I woke up the next morning to him rocking me back and forth. "Haley, love, wake up."

"No! Go away." I pulled the covers over my head.

"Haley, wake the fuck up. I will not hesitate to tickle you." he laughed, touching my back

"Fuck off!"

"That's it." he said, grabbing my sides where I was ticklish. I flopped around, trying to get away from him.

"Okay, I'm up!" I sighed, setting up. "I still don't feel well."

"Well you've gotta come with me to do your classes so you'll be able to start school Monday." he ran his hand up and down my spine.

"I don't wanna go to school."

"I know, love." he sighed, standing up from the bed. "You need to get dressed though." he said, looking through the closet. He pulled out the dress I wore after we married and placed it on the bed and my toms. I crawled from where I was sitting to the edge of the bed, swinging my legs over the side. I quickly dressed into the dress and put on my shoes, taking slow strides to the bathroom. I fixed my hair into a messy bun and did my makeup and adjusted the key necklace Alex had given me for our one month anniversary last November. "Are you ready?" he asked, standing in the doorway.

"Yeah." I smiled, walking over to him. I wrapped my arms around his waist and buried my face into his chest.

He kissed my forehead and rocked me back and forth, humming a unfamiliar tune. "Lets go get this bullshit over with." he pulled away, grabbing my hand. We walked down the stairs and stopped at the front door, glaring at the two sets of car keys on the table. "Which one?"

"I don't care. Just pick one."

"Okay." he nodded, closing his eyes. He reached for the keys to the Cadillac and pulled open the door. "The fast car. Sweet."

"Oh God." I rolled my eyes, walking to the driveway. We got into the car and drove to the place I was dreading the most. Dulaney High School. How I hated this place so much, and all the people that came with it. Or almost to all. All Time Low didn't count.

We got out of the car and stood in the parking lot for a moment. There were tons of parents there. I felt awkward not having parents. Instead I had Alex, but that's better than nothing. I knew I could count on him as my lover and guardian.

We trailed to the large glass door entrance to Dulaney, Alex having to pull me in. He held my hand tightly as we pushed through crowds of parents in the lobby. He walked into the main office, checking us in. "Oh Alex Gaskarth! It's so good to see you!" the school's secretary, Mrs. Mackenzie, said from behind her desk. "How's freedom feel?"

"It's very nice." he smiled. "How has your summer been, Mrs. Mackenzie?"

"Lovely. I spent it with the grand kids while their mother went to London! How has yours been?"

"I miss London." he laughed, twisting his arm around my waist. "It's been probably the greatest summer I've had in all of my eighteen years."

"What'd you do?" she nosed, looking up at us from her computer.

"My band is taking off. We toured almost all summer. Then I married my little darling here."

"Oh! Congrats! I was wondering why you were here and not her parents!"

I bit the inside of my cheek, my emotions turning angered. Alex sensed it. He ran his down my back consolingly. "Thank you." he nodded. "When do you think we'll get this junk over with?"

"Actually, you guys are next." she laughed. "This years class is smaller, so there's less people. Haley, you're still listed under Maddox, so you'll have to fix that when you sit down to do your paper work."

"Okay." I nodded, grabbing Alex's hand and towed him out of the office.

"I'm sorry, love." he took a deep breath as we walked through more crowds of people.

"Haley!" I heard a preppy voice call out. I turned around to see Jenna and Catastrophe's mother running over to me. Fuck my life..

"Hey, Mrs. Landcaster." I gave her a pseudo smile.

"It's good to see you darling. How have you been doing after your father?" she asked, pulling me into a hug. One thing I liked about her was that she was like my mother. She was the one who had the sex talk with Bella and I. Guiding us through our first periods. All that motherly bullshit.

"I'm coping." I smiled lightly. "How are you?"

"About to die with excitement! They're inducing Jenna's labor today!"

"Oh, congrats!" I laughed. "Tell her I send my blessings."

"Oh, I will." she smiled. "But if there's one thing I hate about this, is that prick Lucas." she shook her head, her blonde locks bouncing around her shoulders. "He's cheated on her and has hurt her so much, but she still listens to him for the sake of the baby. I keep trying to tell her to get rid of him, but she won't listen!"

I heard Alex snicker. I scratched him with my finger to indirectly tell him to shut it. "Lucas isn't that great. But the baby will be gorgeous." I nodded.

"Maddox?" I heard Mr. Scott, our principle, call out.

"Oh, well it was good to see you. Have fun with being a grandparent and I'll see Jenna when she comes back." I smiled, giving her another hug. I grabbed Alex's hand and pulled him back to the office. We walked in and sat down in the principle's office.

Mr. Scott and Alex started it off with a friendly conversation. Then I was handed loads of paperwork. I went through it all, making sure all personal information was correct. I had to erase Maddox and replace Gaskarth with my last name. Then it was time to pick my classes.

Alex put me into all of the main classes he took last year. He insisted I learned French. I would have rather took Spanish III. But I said whatever to it. Being multicultural would be a little fun. I took a AP English class, and Bio II, then not to mention my worst subject, Trig.

Finally we were done. The only thing left to be done was my guardian's signature. Alex was about to sign it, but Mr. Scott stopped him. "Haley's parent needs to do that."

"Alex is technically my parent." I sighed, rubbing my temple. "Mr. Scott, my father passed away last June. I don't have anyone else, but Alex."

"Did Alex's family legally adopt you since your last name is Gaskarth now?" he asked, furrowing his brow. "And I'm sorry to here about Rob. He was a good guy."

"No." I quietly answered.

"Mr. Scott, also before her father's death, Haley and I got married." Alex tossed in. Luckily I had him here to help. I sighed, nodding in agreement.

"Oh! Okay then." he said. "Sign away."

Alex lifted his pen and signed his name in his lovely cursive, the one he used when a fan asked him to sign something. I began laughing to myself, thinking my paper was signed by a rockstar.

We were finally done. Alex and I hurried to the parking lot and got in the car, setting there for a moment. "You're finally a senior!"

"Fuck this bullshit." I rolled my eyes. "I can't wait until I graduate."

"It'll go by fast. I promise." he laughed, grabbing my hand.

"Will you be able to be there when I graduate?"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world." he flashed me a breathtaking smile. He leaned in and kissed me softly. He pulled away and turned forward, looking out the front glass and sighed.

"Is something bothering you?" I looked at him curiously, squeezing his hand.

"I'm just nervous." he bit his lip.

"Oh yeah!" I shrieked, forgetting about the fact I may or may not be pregnant. "I'm gonna need to get this figured out."

"Yeah, it might be for the best." he smiled faintly at me. "Lets go get one and find out now." he said, turning the car on. He put it in reverse and left the parking lot, driving us to the nearest store.

We got out and awkwardly walked into the store, looking for the medical department of the small shop. We found them setting on a shelf. I stared at them blankly, not knowing which to get. "I don't know, Alex."

"Just get one." he mumbled, scratching the back of his head. I grabbed a random box off the shelf and quickly walked away from the isle. "Should we buy something else to make it less noticeable?" he lightly laughed, weaving his fingers through mine.

"Um, like what?"

"Gummy bears!" he excitedly said like a small child. He grabbed a large back of gummy bears and walked to the counter with me. I pulled money out of the pocket of my dress while the cashier rung up our purchase.

"I.D. please?" she bitchily said, glaring at me.

"For?"

"You have to be eighteen or older to buy medical products. Store policy." she replied, looking flirtatiously at Alex.

I bit the inside of my cheek, looking up at him, begging for him to be my savior. "I'll get it then." he shook his head, pulling out his wallet from his back pocket and showed her his I.D.

"Thank you." she smiled, taking the money from my hand. I waited for the change and took it from her quickly. Alex grabbed the sack and followed me from the store.

"God dammit, I hate people so much." he rolled his eyes as we got back into the car.

"Lets just get home so we can take care of this thing." I sighed.

"Okay." he nodded.

We drove home and ended up in the bathroom. He sat on the counter, absentmindedly eating the gummy beats we bought along with the test while I read the directions. I pulled the long white stick from the little bag it was contained in and walked to the toilet.

I took the test, doing what the directions told me to. When I was finished, I set the timer on my phone for five minutes and walked back over to Alex, who was still sitting there completely dazed, eating his gummy bears. I stuck a red one from the package without him noticing. I slapped his knee, getting his attention on me. "How long does it take?"

"It says five minutes on the box." I chewed the gummy bear, looking into his brown eyes.

"Which is positive and which is negative?"

"If it's positive, it'll be a blue plus sign. If it's negative, it'll be a red minus sign. Just simple." I shrugged, leaning against him. "I do think you were right. We should wait until this spring."

"The timing now is fine with me." he kissed my forehead. "How long is left?"

I pulled my phone out of my pocket, glaring down at the screen. "A minute."

"It all leads up to this, love." he grabbed my hand. "No matter what, I'll still love you forever-" he started, but was cut off by the sound of my phone alarm. I took a deep breath and picked up the white stick, looking down at it.