Always

It was nearly eleven pm before Alex came back.

Maeve was wrapped in a blanket watching TV in the living room by herself. Everyone else was asleep. Dead asleep. Maeve had a lot of insomnia problems in the past, so falling asleep wasn't simple and she didn't have her medicine. She couldn't have her medicine since she was pregnant, so it just mad the situation worse.

The door gently creaked open but Maeve kept her eyes focused on the TV. She knew it was Alex. Maybe if she didn't look at him she could avoid confrontation or just awkwardness.

She heard every footstep he took over her Harry Potter movie. She sighed as he stopped dead next to the couch that she was residing at.

"Maeve.."

No such luck of being annoyed.

"Yes." She grumbled.

"I'm.. er.. sorry. I wasn't angry with you.. I was just upset with Jack for the choice he made. This effects all of us. The band. Our whole lives. It just scared me. I don't want things to be ruined."

It was dark in the living room, but that didn't stop Maeve from rolling her eyes at Alex. "Okay." She wasn't going to prolong talking to him.

"It's nothing personal. Just a baby isn't the best idea for Jack... or the band."

"You want me to leave?" She asked with venom. If it wasn't for him, there would be no fucking baby. She was getting more and more upset. If only he knew, if only she could tell him. What did he expect her to do?

His eyes shifted back and forth. "Well, noo, you're cool and all... but I just don't think that this house is fit for a child."

Maeve was now pissed. She didn't sign up to come here.

"Jack brought me here. It's his child."

"And it's not for you to dictate." A voice said from the kitchen. It was Rian. He walked out and had a mug in his hands. A scowl on his face.

"I know." Alex started. "I'm just saying how I feel."

Rian stared him down. "Don't worry, you will play no part with baby Barakat. You don't have to see it, look at it, anything. You can pretend it isn't here."

Alex scoffed. "I'll try to pretend that thing isn't here."

He stomped off towards his bedroom like a ten year old and Maeve stretched out on the couch, sighing. It was going to be a ride.

"If it makes you feel better," Rian sat next to her. "I'm excited to be an uncle. Jack is like my brother so I'm pumped to have a little one of him around. It will be fun. Plus it adds a new dynamic to the house."

That made Maeve smile. "Thanks, Rian. I appreciate that. Why is Alex such a whinny bitch about this? I don't get it."

Rian shrugged a bit. "I think he is just scared of what will happen to the band. It's all he has."

"Oh."

"I know something's up, Maeve, you and Jack are being so weird about all of this. I see through the facade. You guys are hiding something."

She shushed him. "It's for the best if we are." She said in a way so she wouldn't completely give them away.

"You can always tell me. It may make you feel better."

It would make her feel better. Just to have someone see it from her eyes. Just to have somebody know. But could she tell him? Could she trust him?

She thought back to the Rian she hanged out with several months ago. He was so sweet and took the time to get to know her. Not her body like Alex did.

With closed eyes she tried to make a decision. How would Jack feel? But then again, does it matter? It really doesn't have to deal with him as much as it deals with her.

"Let's step outside." Maeve suggested.

They both walked out towards the door and stepped outside, gently shutting the door behind them.

The porch was bright and Maeve could see every detail of Rian now. His eyes were so warm and welcoming. They made her calm down and feel at home. His smile was inviting, it made her want to tell him all of her secrets. He was taller than her by quite a bit and this made her feel safe.

Maeve wondered what she looked like to him. Wild brown hair that never ceased to stop curling, big doe brown eyes that looked sad most of the time, an awkward uneven smile with dimples that weren't symmetrical, and her short body that had a pregnant belly attached. She thought she must look so un-proportionate next to this God like person.

She squinted her eyes at him in the bright light. "This isn't the easiest of things to talk about."

"Nothing in life is easy to talk about." He replied.

But she just spit it out. "The baby isn't Jack's," She whispered. "it's Alex's."

"Oh god."

She nodded with pain in her.

"Does Jack know?"

"Yeah, Jack came up with the idea. I didn't want Alex to know and Jack didn't want me to be alone."

Rian shook his head angrily. But Maeve knew the anger wasn't directed at her. "But I'm glad I didn't tell him," She confessed. "you see how he acts when the child isn't even his. If he knew it was his... I can't imagine what he would do, how he would react, what he would do to me. I don't want to have to worry about those things. And I didn't want to put it on Jack or on anyone."

"Jack just wanted to help you. He didn't want you to do this alone. Because he loved you. You're important, Maeve. Don't feel like a burden. Jack is doing this because he wants to."

"Because he loves me. I know."

Why couldn't Maeve just have things the way she wanted them. To be with Jack, for this to be really his child, for Alex to be out of the picture.

It wasn't that simple.