Chasing Cars

"Daddy!" Ben ran into my room happily one early Friday morning, waking me up from my slumber.

"What." I mumbled angrily, burying my face into my pillow, feeling Ben climb onto my back and tug at my hair roughly.

"Up. Time for school! Uncle Vic told me to get you because it's late." Ben said and I picked up my phone from the nightstand only to find that indeed it was late and Ben's class started in about twenty minutes.

"Crap. Ben, go tell Vic to give you breakfast while I take a shower. Hurry kid." I ushered him out of my room and stumbled towards my closet, grabbing the first pair skinny jeans I saw and throwing them on my bed while I searched for a shirt.

After taking a very quick shower and changing quickly as well, I walked out into the kitchen to see Ben still eating his cereal while I just grabbed an apple.

"Ben, ready to go bud?" I asked him.

"Yes." Ben smiled at me and stood up, grabbing his backpack and saying bye to Vic before walking over to me.

"I'll see you at school, bro." I told Vic and quickly ran out.

We reached Ben's school a minute before the bell rang and Jack laughed at us as we ran up to him, well Ben did, I walked. Didn't want to look stupid.

"Hi Mr.Barakat!" Ben yelled happily, getting a high five from his teacher.

"Hey kiddo, your daddy wake up late today?" Jack teased me and I rolled my eyes.

"Oh Alex, good thing I caught you here still." Came Dylan's mom, Mrs.Peterson.

"Oh hi, Meg, what's up? Hi Dylan." I waved at the little boy standing next to her who smiled up at me and then walked over to Ben.

"Are you sure it's no trouble if you take them trick-or-treating? I mean, I wouldn't mind doing it myself." Meg told me.

"Don't worry, besides, the boys are excited about it and after I'm planning on taking them out to eat or something. And Dylan can spend the night, right?" I asked her.

"Yeah, here. I packed his clothes in this bag along with toothbrush and other things he might need and his costume is in there too." Meg told me, handing me a blue backpack.

"Alright. Kids, I'll come pick you up later. Be good." I told them and leaned down so Ben could give me a kiss. I ruffled Dylan's hair and walked away with Meg, stopping in my tracks and running back to give Jack a kiss. "Sorry." I apologized.

"No worries, now shoo." Jack told me as he chuckled.

I ran back out and caught up with Meg who smiled at me.

"You guys make a nice couple."

"Thanks Meg."

Driving to school, I grabbed my things and walked inside, immediately being greeted by Vic and Kellin who were hanging by the front door.

"Hey." I greeted them. "Have you been waiting long?"

"Only about two years." Vic answered sarcastically.

"Damn, tough crowd." I mumbled under my breath, earning a smack to my arm from Kellin. "Ow!"

"You big baby. Hey Jenna called." Kellin told me.

"What she want?" I asked as we started walking towards our first class.

"She's coming over for thanksgiving and staying until after New Years. Said her band are taking a break from recording their demo for this record company and so she wants to comer over and see how we're doing." Vic spoke up, swinging his and Kellin's hands as we walked.

"That's great." I told them, though I was kind of hurt that Jenna has never once called me yet she calls Vic and Kellin all the time. You know, it's not like we haven't been friends since we were in fucking diapers.

"Hey, Jack and I are taking the kids out trick-or-treating this afternoon and then we'll go out for dinner, so don't make anything for us." I told Vic before we stopped in front of his class.

"Alright. Thanks for telling me, Lex." Vic smiled before kissing Kellin and walking into his class.

"Well, I'll see you later." Kellin told me and we parted ways.

That afternoon, I drove to Ben's school and found the kids and Jack alone in the classroom drawing some pictures. I knocked on the door to catch their attention.

"Daddy!" Ben yelled happily and ran over to me with his arms up.

"Hey baby." I smiled and picked him up, walking further into the room where Jack walked over to me. "Sorry I'm late, but the traffics terrible right now."

"It's fine baby. Kids, grab your things so we can go." Jack told them and I set Ben down, watching him and Dylan run off to get their jackets and backpacks. "Can't wait to spend the whole day with you."

"Me either." I smiled and leaned up to peck his lips.

The kids came back giggling like crazy and I shook my head with a smile. Ben and Dylan held my hands as we walked out while Jack followed behind after locking the classroom door. As we walked through the almost empty halls, we bumped into one of Jack's coworkers, Mr.Stump. He's such a nice person and very adorable, in a very non-romantic way. I've never met him personally, but Jack's told me great things about this short guy.

"Hey guys! Hi kiddies!" Mr.Stump greeted with a smile on his pale face.

"Hi Mr.Stump!" The kids greeted happily.

"Hello Patrick." Jack greeted with a smile. "Trick, this is my boyfriend Alex and obviously you know Ben. His kid."

"Ben's your kid? He's such a cutie! Anyways, nice to meet you Alex, I'm Patrick." Patrick smiled and stuck his hand in front of me.

"Nice to meet you, Patrick." I smiled and let go of Ben's hand to shake his.

"Anyways, I'm off, but it was great meeting you. Bye everyone!"

"He's weird." I told Jack who laughed.

"He is, but you get used to it though." Jack laughed and we walked out of the school. "Oh yeah, I hitched a ride with Rian this morning cause my car wasn't working."

"Alright love. Wanna drive?" I asked him while pulling out my car keys.

"Sure." Jack smiled and took the keys from me.

We got the kids into the car and drove to the apartment where Vic and Kellin were looking through baby books. I chuckled and the boys ran towards Ben's room as Jack and I sat next to the soon to be parents.

"So what are you doing exactly?" I asked them, letting Jack pull me into his side.

"Reading about this whole pregnancy thing. It's too much." Vic whined as he closed a book and sighed tiredly.

"Look, don't stress yourselves out. You're not that far along Vic, only a few weeks." I told him.

"I know."

The boys walked out in their costumes and we awwed. We all took our phones out and snapped pictures of the two boys who only giggled.

"I love Halloween." Kellin sighed with a smile on his face.

"Why? Because you take Ben's candy each year?" Vic teased him and we laughed.

"Daddy, can we go now?" Ben whined as him and Dylan walked up to Jack and I.

"It's not time yet honey. Why don't you boys go watch cartoons or something?" I told them and they ran off into the living room.

Jack, Vic, Kellin and I just talked for a few more minutes before it was time to go. The kids ran over to us and started jumping up and down while clapping.

"Alright kiddies, let's go get candy." Jack told them and ushered them out the door.

"Bring back good candy!" Kellin yelled after us.

I rolled my eyes and chuckled before handing the kids their baskets and getting in the car. We'd be trick-or-treating in the neighborhood where Jack's mom lives in.

We walked around almost every house before Dylan and Ben told us their baskets were heavy and full. Jack chuckled and pulled his phone out checking the time.

"We should get going anyway. It's getting late and I'm starving." Jack commented, making the kids laugh.

"Alright. Kids, in the car we go." I told them and they climbed inside while Jack and I took the front.

The drive to the fast food place was short and we quickly walked inside. The workers smiled at the kids as we ordered our food. Suddenly I felt Ben tug at my jeans and I looked down only to see him staring at where a group of guys walked in and he pressed himself closer to me, pulling Dylan along. I frowned in worry.

"Baby, what's wrong?" I asked Ben.

"Daddy, it's him. The guy from the picture." Ben whispered up at me, eyes widen in surprise and Jack turned to look at us worriedly as we stepped out of the line to wait for our food.

I looked back at the group of guys and gasped when I saw Trent among them. Trent turned around and his gaze locked with mine. Trent smirked and I shook my head while moving closer to Jack with the kids holding onto me.

"Daddy!" Ben cried as Trent walked over to us.

"I see you've told our kid about me, Lex. It's good that he knows who his other daddy is." Trent spoke up and I glared at him.

"Daddy?" Ben questioned, looking up at me with scared little eyes.

"Get away from us, Trent. Haven't you had enough with ruining my life all these years?"

"You know what I told you and guess what? Your days with my son are limited, Alexander." Trent spat out and walked over to his group of friends who were staring at me.

"I'll be back." I whispered and walked off towards the bathroom quickly, leaning against the counter. "Stupid Trent and his stupid fucking self."

The bathroom door opened and Dylan walked in timidly and I smiled slightly at him.

"Um, Jack wanted to know if you were okay." Dylan spoke quietly, his eyes looking up at me innocently.

"I'm fine kiddo, now let's go eat before Ben and Jack eat it all." I joked while grabbing Dylan's hand.

Dylan laughed as we walked out of the bathroom and over to the booth where Jack and Ben were talking quietly. They turned over to look at us when we stepped into their line of vision and Ben ran over to me, throwing his arms up and I picked him up while holding him close to me and kissing his head.

"I don't like him daddy." Ben whispered, hiding his face into my neck.

"I don't either sweetie. Now let's forget it ever happened." I told Ben and sat down next to Jack, letting Ben go sit with Dylan.

"We're talking later about this." Jack whispered in my ear and kissed my temple.

I just nodded and sighed.