Tucked Away Underneath Your Bed

"So, you've got two teenaged kids, and you never even bothered to tell anyone about it?!"

Oh, shit. Rian was beyond pissed. That wasn't good.

"Look, Ri-"

"Alex! Do you not see what's going on here? You've completely neglected your family, especially-"

"It's not like we were ever married!"

Rian just stared at me, frowning. "Are you serious? Is that what makes you think it's okay to just forget about them, hide them from the world, pretend they don't even exist?"

I didn't say anything, and just looked away.

"Why'd you do it in the first place?"

"I don't know. I couldn't handle being a father... And I knew it, but I didn't want to... Let her down. So I-"

"So you kept them hidden from us and left them when they weren't even two years old. Yeah, you definitely didn't let her down."

"Rian, shut up. Please. I already feel like crap."

"Good! You should! What the- I give up. Alex, I'm gonna talk to Flyzik. We're dropping out of Warped until you make this right."

"What?! What do you mean, 'Make this right'?"

"You know bloody well what I mean, man! Fix your stupidity, your cowardice! Do something! Your own kids probably hate your guts, you know? And does that not even bother you? You talk big, you have these huge inspirational speeches, but you can't man up and help your family out?"

"Man up? Man up?!"

"Yes! Imagine what your kids feel! Their mother is probably working two jobs because already, for a single parent, it's hard to take care of one child, but imagine two! And I'll bet anything they all hate you. If they didn't before, they probably do now, after what you told me."

"I don't know what you want me to do, Rian! Go propose to her? Take them out to the freaking park, push them on the swings? Look, I don't know how to be a dad! It isn't for me!"

"Well, you should've thought of that, 14 years ago."

And with that, he walked off, surely to find Flyzik.



I had just explained the whole Alex situation to Flyzik, but he seemed confused.

"I don't get it. How is that even possible?" he asked me.

"I didn't really ask for the small details. All I know is that he did it, and now I'm asking you to pull us out of Warped, either temporarily or till the end, however long it'll take him to fix this."

He sighed. "I don't know if that's the best of ideas."

"Come on, man. He's kept this huge secret hidden from us for the past 14 years. Four-fucking-teen. That's not something to be taken lightly."

"No, I understand that, but what if he just messes everything up even more? I don't know about you, but I don't think he can just waltz in their house and say 'Sorry for neglecting y'all'..."

I thought for a minute. "I suppose you're right. But he needs to fix things, one way or another!"

"How, though? That's what I'm trying to understand."

"Wait. He told me his daughter was named Cassadee... Probably after Cass. She must know."

"Alright, but..."

I didn't let him finish his sentence. I was already running down the bus to find her.

"Cass!" I said. "Can I talk to you?"

"Of course, what's up?"

"What do you know about Cassadee, Alex's daughter?"

Her eyes widened. "How do you know about her?"

"Them, actually. I know a bit of the story... They were at the show today. She came to find Alex, talked to him, wrote him a letter. He completely crushed her heart. And I happened to be passing by just after it happened, I guess when he was still in the aftershock."

"Rian," she sighed. "Sit down."

"Okay... But you know about her?"

"I know the whole story. It's complicated, but yeah. Here goes."