Had Me From Hello

Alex was sitting behind the wheel of the vehicle he had rented for the day, cursing the lunch time traffic that had him bumper to bumper in Indianapolis.

"Fuck," the singer muttered under his breath, slamming the buttons on the radio dial, hoping to find something to make this time seem a little less excruciating.

After hearing the same Bruno Mars song on at least ten different radio stations, Alex shut the radio off for good.

The traffic picked up ever so slightly, only to have Alex be cut off by a man in a beat up, old pick up truck. "Are you fucking kidding me?!" he shouted, sticking his arm out the window and flipping off the driver, feeling as if this traffic and this road were endless.

The day had started off fairly well; he had woke up around 8am and went out for a short walk around the venue the bus was parked outside of, he then proceeded to walk to the nearest Enterprise and rented the brightest shade of blue he could find in a Prius. After all of that business was done, he recieved a call from Rian, asking him to tag along to a early morning Taco Bell run, which he graciously accepted. So, he went to Taco Bell, with everyone except Jack and Annie.

The time at Taco Bell was spent small talking, teasing others, and of course, teasing Alex about Annie.

Now, though? Now Alex wanted to murder almost every single person on the highway. All he wanted to do was to get back to the venue and see his friends, who were, more than likely, already back now, or at least closer than he was.

Feeling his phone buzz in the cup holder beside him, Alex waited patiently to see who was texting him, because he was almost certain he would catch another red light soon.

And soon enough, he caught the nine millionth and first red light for the day. Picking up his iPhone from the large cup holder, he felt his heart pound heavily in his chest at the number that lit across his screen.

Before he could have a chance to even read the message, the person began calling him, sending his phone in to sporatic vibrations.

Hesistantly, Alex clicked the green "answer" portion of his screen. "H-hello?"

"Hey, Alex," a voice that the twenty-four year old singer hadn't heard in quite some time filled the speakers of the phone. "It's me; it's Emily."

Alex felt his throat dry and his heartbeat intensify. This wasn't happening. Emily wouldn't want to talk to him, right? She was the one who ended things with him.

She had made certain that he knew exactly why she ended things, as well. She completely broke him and she knew that for a fact.

"Alex?" the girl's voice sounded again, startling the older man. "You there?"

"I, uh... yeah... Sorry, I'm caught in traffic right now," Alex partially lied. He was caught in traffic; that just wasn't the reason he was being so strange.

"I heard your band was playing in Indiana tonight and I thought I'd check you guys out! We need to catch up!" her voice sounded so... fake. It almost made Alex physically sick.

Alex had a past of dark relationships, as well as relationships he wasn't exactly proud of, but the relationship he had with Emily was by far the absolute worst.

Before Lisa had come along during senior year of high school and put all the pieces that were left of Alex back together, Alex had been with Emily Shay. Emily had started off as what had appeared to be the perfect girl for Alex. She had the same sense of humor, same interests, and she seemed to want the same things out of life as the older boy did - start a career, get married, have kids. It was a picture perfect story right out of the movies.

Until one day, something in Emily had just, sort of, snapped. She became a completely different person. Emily no longer laughed at the same things Alex did. She didn't really like the same things anymore. And no one knew what the hell she even wanted at all anymore.

When Alex would try to crack a joke or two, she had practically made it her duty to make him feel about two feet tall and as if he were the stupidest person she had ever met - "Do you really think anyone's gonna want to marry you when you say dumb shit like that?" When Alex wanted to go to a New Found Glory concert with a few friends, she tormented him about it - "You're never going to get anywhere in life if you keep going to those dumb fucking concerts, Alexander." When Alex wanted to hang out with just the guys, she would accuse of doing things that Alex would never even think about himself - "They have girls over there, don't they? You're cheating on me, you sick fuck."

Eventually, something also snapped inside of Alex. Something had finally told him that Emily was toxic. Sure, her words seemed so harmless. She was just a bitch who felt the need to be rude, but it seemed to be so much more than that.

Emily had accused Alex of cheating on her millions of times, when, in reality, she was the culprit of the crime. She had gone to so many parties and gotten so shit faced that she couldn't tell left from right. And she was notorious for fucking just about anything that walked around at a party. The worst part, to Alex, though, was that half the time, she wasn't even drunk.

When Alex finally called her out on the partying, the drinking, the cheating, she had gone absolutely mental.

She told Alex every little dirty secret that she had hid so well during their year and a half long relationship.

After Alex finally got the courage to end things with Emily for good, he tried to begin dating again roughly a month later.

Only for Emily to snap again and ruin his relationship - with nothing but crude lies she had told to Alex's then girlfriend.

The girl had tormented him, belittled him, used him and completely, without a doubt, broke him and smashed him into smithereens. And she knew that.

So, what the fuck was she doing calling him now?

"We haven't talked in almost 4 years, Emily," Alex's voice became stern, as he felt just the slightest bit of confidence. "And what the hell are you doing in Indiana?"

"I know that, Alexander," Emily's voice practically dripped with venom; Alex always gave her what she wanted and she was going to be sure that this time was no different than how things had been 4 years ago. "I'm in Indiana because I heard my favorite band, All Time Low, were touring and I wanted to make sure to catch them! I also heard you had a little girl touring with you, too."

Chills shot down Alex's spine at the way she had said his name. Four years ago, he would have shot anyone who called him Alexander a dirty look and shunned them for quite some time - he hated the name. Emily, though, loved it. She insisted on calling him that, and who was he to disagree?

"Annie is not a little girl; she's twenty-one, Emily," Alex's hand gripped the steering wheel tightly, his knuckles turning white. Breathing out slowly, the light turned green and the man began to drive along with the steady traffic.

"And you're going to be twenty-five this year!" Emily exclaimed, twirling her blonde curls around her finger, standing in her hotel room, patiently waiting for Alex to break. "Are you throwing a party?" she asked, trying to shift the attention to something - anything - that would make Alex talk to her like an old friend. Something to make him let her in again.

"Emily-"

"Alexander, I'm so happy to hear your voice again," Emily's voice dripped with bitterness, and maybe even just a little bit of regret. "I missed you a lot, you know?"

Alex stayed silent, driving through the now easy going traffic. Don't let her get to you, he thought to himself, over and over. This wasn't happening again. This couldn't happen again.

Accepting that Alex wasn't going to respond, Emily continued. "When you got with Lisa the year after we broke up... I was so hurt, Alexander."

"Stop calling me that,"Alex's voice had scared even himself. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt this angry. It couldn't be healthy.

"Why? You used to love it when I called you Alexander," Emily smirked to herself; she was winning. Just like always.

"I hated it and you know that."

"Do you remember that night we drove up to the lake in your truck that night you told me you loved me?" Emily queried, laying across the small hotel bed, feeling victorious.

"Stop it."

"And I told you I loved you too," the girl continued, despite Alex's protest. "And we made love that night for the first time. Don't you remember, Alexander?"

"Emily, stop."

"And then a day long after that when we decided we were going to get married; you just knew it, didn't you, Alexander?" Emily drew out the syllables of the man's name.

"Fucking stop it," Alex felt his voice raising; he did not like where the conversation was headed and she knew exactly what she was doing.

Ignoring the man's several protests, Emily carried on with her flashback of memories. "And then that night we both went to your cousin's wedding... we talked about what we wanted to name our kids and-"

Alex couldn't take anymore. He felt as if he was going to combust at any second. "Fuck you, Emily." And with that, he ended the call, tossing his phone to the passenger seat.

Not even a minute later, he heard his phone begin buzzing. Ignoring it, he slammed on the radio, turning the volume up all the way.

He knew it shouldn't have been bothering him, but he was almost terrified that Emily was going to show up to the show that night. And a part of him even thought that she was going to say something to Annie.

Thanking God for clearing up the heavy highway traffic just in time, Alex sped for the venue, hoping he could get to Annie before Emily did.