Status: Complete!

We'll Tell The Saddest Story Of How We Made It Through This Past Year.

Eighteen: Can't we talk about this?

I got out of the hospital early the next morning. Alex and Matt had been acting weird around me and I didn't like it one bit. They'd cancelled the rest of the tour without even consulting me, and even though I knew that it was logical, I still wished that they would have mentioned something before doing it.

We were back at the tour bus, discussing plans for going back home and stuff. I was still quite tired and weak, and while everyone else was outside, I was laying on the couch with a bottle of water. I wanted Alex, but I didn't want to bug him.

I had almost slipped into sleep when Alex's phone scared me awake. I reached for it sleepily.

"'Lo?"

"Yes, is this Mr.Gaskarth?"

"No, it's Mr.Barakat," I responded. "May I help you?"

"I'd like you to have the girls ready by four o'clock," the voice responded. I finally recognized it as the voice of the social worker who was dealing with the girls' cases.

"W-what do you mean, have the girls' ready for four? Where are they going?"

The voice on the other end took a few minutes to answer. "They're coming with us, Mr.Barakat. In correspondance with the events of the other night, we have decided that it is best to remove the girls from your care and place them with families who aer better suited to your needs."

My blood ran cold and my ears started ringing. I dropped the phone. I still heard her voice far away and tinny. I looked at my watch. It was three o'clock.

I ran outside, my head spinning and my heart racing. "Alex! I want to talk to you. NOW!"

Alex looked up at me in concern. "Jack, you look horrible. What's wrong?"

"I'll tell you what's wrong," I said, stomping down the bus steps. "You keeping secrets from me, that's what's wrong. Secrets that concern our girls! I don't know what's wrong with you? You fucking bastard!"

Alex looked at me with huge eyes. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Tears were forming in my eyes. "The girls. They're leaving in an hour and you never even told me."

Alex looked like I'd slapped him. "What?!"

"She just called and she said in an hour they're going to be gone because of what happened with Kyle and you never even told me that she must have came to the hospital and it's all my fault and -"

I was cut off by Alex's arms around me. "Jack, stop."

I took a few deep breaths, with tears raining down my cheeks, and then managed to talk calmly.

"S-sorry," I stuttered. "I'm c-calm. Now, what happened?"

I sat down on the ground and Alex, Matt, Evan, and Vinny sat beside me, lending me their strength as Alex explained what had happened last night at the hospital. Tears formed in Alex's eyes but he managed to keep his composure.

"We didn't want to tell you, Jack, because you were still weak and tired and we knew you'd blame yourself but it's NOT your fault. Never your fault."

I sighed and leaned into Alex. "I'm so sorry that you had to deal with it alone," I said softly. "What's going to happen now?"

Alex sighed, and the others just looked at us with sad expressions.

"I don't know, Jack, I just don't know."

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Four o'clock came and went and it was five, and then it was almost six o'clock and there was still nothing.

We'd fed the girls, trying to keep a happy, upbeat attitude despite the inner turmoil that we were feeling. They'd had chicken and french fries and seemed relatively happy enough. Gabby didn't seem to pick up on anything, and while Sammie seemed a little worried, we figured she was just feeling a little down from everything that'd gone on over the last few days.

They'd gone inside to watch a movie and the rest of us were outside, sipping at soft drinks and waiting for a car to pull in beside us. But so far, there was nothing.

I sighed and stretched out on the ground, laying my head on Alex's lap. I was still feeling pretty vulnerable, and even more so not knowing what was going on with everything.

Alex ran his fingers through my hair and I closed my eyes, trying to relax.

"Even if they take them, we're going to take them to court, right?" I asked Alex softly.

"Of course," he said fiercly. "We're not going to lose them."

"But what if we do?" I asked. "W-will we be okay?"

He leaned over me and looked into my eyes. "Of course we'll be okay, Jack. We've gone throught too much to let ANYTHING tear us apart."

Finally, almost two and a half hours after they were supposed to be there, we heard a car's engine, faint, a few minutes away from us. We all held our breath, and within a few minutes, a red car pulled into the driveway. Alex and I got to our feet and waited as the car parked and the people got out. Two people. Mrs. Brown and a hard-eyed older gentleman.

"Mr.Gaskarth. Mr.Barakat. You look no worse for wear, despite your unfortuante ... accident."

I couldn't find my voice, and Alex squeezed my hand as I started to shake.

"Are the girls ready?"

Alex shook his head slowly. "Can't we talk about this?" he asked softly. "Please? This is all a misunderstanding, I swear."

But she shook her head. "No, we can't talk about this. You can fight it in court, of course, but that's about all you can do right now. I'm sorry, but it's the law."

Alex nodded. "I understand."

Flyzik looked just as upset as the two of us. "I'll go get the girls."

But a few minutes later, he came flying out of the bus, without the girls, looking panicked. He ran towards us, waving a piece of paper at us. He looked like he'd seen a ghost, and he was out of breath by the time he reached us.

"The girls are gone! They're gone!"
♠ ♠ ♠
Sorry this has taken so long. I'm barely feeling any of my stories anymore because I don't really connect to the same music anymore. But yeah. I WILLLLL finish this story. Two chapters left! Next one is very dramatic ;) I hope you enjoy this still. It took a long time but I didn't want to write anything without feeling it. SO here you go.
Love you all <3