Glad to Meet You Again

Lena didn’t often go to concerts, let alone did she ever take her five-year-old, Nick, along with her. There was a time she used to go to concerts on a daily basis, especially when she was on tour with her ex-boyfriend, Alex Gaskarth, lead singer and guitarist of All Time Low. It was a hectic life, but in her early twenties, she only enjoyed the traveling around and the unexpectedness. Going to one concert, however, was already way different than being on the road. This was just one evening of chaos and excitement, something she hadn’t experienced in years. The ironic thing, though, was that this happened to be an All Time Low concert again.

But that doesn’t explain why Lena was going in the first place. Well, it certainly wasn’t because it was an All Time Low concert. That just happened to be a coincidence. Luckily she knew, or it would have been a very unexpected and quite unpleasant surprise. But All Time Low was the headlining act, so there was no way she could have missed it. She wasn’t coming for them, though. She was coming for one of the supporting acts, whose lead singer happened to be one of her boyfriend’s very close friends, who over time had grown to be a great friend to her as well. So, she was there to support him, not to rekindle anything with Alex or the rest of the band.

Now, why was Nick coming along and where was Anthony, her boyfriend? Well, they were all going to go, but then something came up, leaving Lena to go alone with her son. Nick still wanted to see his ‘uncle’, and she wouldn’t take away that from him. He was like a role model to the boy and he always seemed to be the one that got along best with him. Even guys covered in tattoos and called Scott Schaffer knew how to deal with kids, something most people didn’t believe was possible. But he was living proof.

Despite the fact that her ex-boyfriend was definitely going to be there, Lena didn’t really mind. Their breakup might have been absolutely horrible, ending in a shouting match and a lot of tears, but that had been six years ago. She had long moved on since then, quickly having found somebody else, having had a son, and having a life she always wanted. Maybe seeing him wouldn’t do any bad. Maybe it was for the better, to show each other that they had moved on from what happened. It could possibly end up with them being friends again.

So, she confidently got out of the car with Nick and walked up to the back entrance. She acted like she knew exactly where she was going, ignoring the few stares she got from the young fans waiting out in the line to get inside the venue. There was a small fear that some of them would recognize her, but she also knew that it would be very unlikely since it had been so long ago. Many of the fans probably didn’t even know about All Time Low’s existence back when they were still dating. She just didn’t want rumors starting, turning it into an unnecessary messy situation.

Once at the door, she was greeted by a security guard. She knew exactly how the process went, having used to do this quite often, and already had her ID ready in her purse. As expected, all she had to do was give her name and show her ID. Nick got to pass through without any problem since it didn’t seem like a five-year-old would try to sneak in, especially with his mother on the guest list.

When they were let inside, Lena could feel Nick shaking with excitement. He got to see his uncle frequently, but he rarely got to see him in action live. This was something so special, and he couldn’t wait to see it. He wanted to be just like Scott when he was older. At five years old, Nick had already decided that he wanted to be in a band.

“Are you excited, buddy?” Lena smiled brightly, feeding off her son’s energy, her voice just as bubbly as it always had been.

“We get to see uncle Scott play!” Nick chirped back, doing a couple of jumps to show just how delighted he was.

She ruffled his floppy blondish-brown hair that was getting darker and darker as he got older, and pulled out her phone to text her boyfriend. He might have been busy with work, but of course he still wanted to know if Lena and Nick got to the venue safely and were let in. Lena kept hold of Nick’s hand while texting Anthony, simultaneously walking down the hallway that led to all the dressing rooms.

If only she hadn’t tried to multitask.

Just after hitting send, she slammed into another body, startling both her and the other person. She let go of Nick and looked up to the stranger to apologize profusely. As she held up her hands in protection and saw who is was, she felt even worse. This was not how she had wanted it to go at all. Right there, the man she walked into: Alex. He looked right back at her with widened eyes, questioning his sanity. He never expected to see his ex-girlfriend again, this couldn’t be real. Maybe the person who walked into him made him fall over and gave him a concussion.

But, no. She really was there.

“Lena?” Another voice from behind Alex said, Jack appearing from the door to the right. “What are you doing here?”

Nick carefully shuffled closer to his mother’s leg, not sure what to make of the two tall men in front of him. Lena put a reassuring hand on his head and gave the guys a smile. “What most people are here for: to watch the show.”

“How did you even get backstage?” Jack questioned next while Alex was speechless; he didn’t know what to do.

“By being on the guest list,” Lena joked back, running her fingers through her son’s hair. When she imagined introducing her son to her ex-boyfriend and his best friends, she had imagined it to go very differently. They would have already seen her with the support act, and then they could be reintroduced or something.

Before Jack could try to dig any further, Scott Schaffer came out of one of the other dressing rooms and saw the people he had invited to come see the show from side-stage. He looked at his favorite nephew and jogged up to them. “There’s my favorite Brooks!” He picked up the boy and raised him to put him on his shoulders.

It was only then that Jack and Alex noticed that there was a five-year-old around. They were too focused on Lena to see that there was another person. It didn’t help that Nick was hiding a little behind his mother. But now he was easily seen, raised up above everybody else.

“Oh, I’m not your favorite?” Lena challenged, giving her friend a side hug and a kiss on the cheek.

“You see, you’re technically not a Brooks,” Scott returned with a mock serious face. “you’d have to get married for that.”

“I keep forgetting that.” She had been together with Anthony for so long that his family already felt like family to her. She was just as much a Brooks as he was. It just wasn’t registered legally.

“You are going to have to do something about it.” Scott continued to play along before looking up at the young boy on his shoulders. “How’s your screaming going?”

Nick shook his head and shrugged. “Not so good. I think I’m going to stay with singing.”

“You know, your father was always better at singing as well. Leave all the screaming to me.”

Nick nodded this time, a grin spread across his face. “He tired, but he said it ruined his voice, so he stopped. I don’t want to break mine either! It sounds like it would hurt.”

“Sounds like a good plan,” Scott agreed. While his music didn’t contain any screaming now, he could do it and had once made the mistake of telling Nick. Nick wanting to be just like his uncle, tried to copy it. But let’s just say it wasn’t the best thing to do.

“How about I show you around?” He suggested towards Nick next, who nodded furiously, and then turned back to Lena. “Too bad Anthony couldn’t be here, or I would have totally shown off what he’s missing now that he isn’t in a band with me anymore.”

When the two of them sprinted off, Jack and Alex were still staring at Lena with bewilderment. They still couldn’t process what was going on. Here was a girl they both knew, with a son and she had some relation to the guy they were touring with.

“Who’s Anthony?” Jack asked the question Alex was thinking as well. The latter just wouldn’t dare ask it out of fear that he would be accused of still having feelings.

“My boyfriend,” Lena clarified, actually happy that that was going to be brought out of the way early on, “he used to play in a band with Scott years ago. They’re still best friends now.”

“A band?” Alex blurted out, his filter not being able to stop him in time. He wanted to hit his head against the wall to tell his brain to not be so stupid and betray him like that.

Why was it such a big deal that he said that? Well, it was what broke up Lena and Alex. The band was unsigned after having released an album on Interscope, and it put a strain on their relationship. Alex was stressing out a lot about what to do next, and Lena accused him of only caring about the band and ignoring her. Of course, this didn’t sit right with Alex, and the fight started. Lena made him chose between the band and her, and it’s obvious how that ended. Ever since it happened, Lena had beaten herself up about it. She never wanted it to come out that way, but it’s how it went down. There was no way to change it. She had never wanted to force Alex to make a decision like that.

“Yeah,” Lena nodded, trying to keep up her smile to make it less awkward, “but he’s a producer now. He quit just after we met. It was his decision, I had nothing to do with it, in case you were wondering…”

Alex nodded, not really sure what to do with the information. For some reason, it surprised him that she went to a band guy right after having broken up with him for the sole reason of him being in a band. And it totally wasn’t fishy that said guy quit being in a band after meeting Lena. Maybe getting away hadn’t been such a bad idea that long ago.

“By the way, I want to apologize for that.” Lena decided to tell him, not knowing if the subject would ever arise again. “I shouldn’t have made you choose. I never meant for that to happen and I’m so glad you made the right decision. I’m not trying to make it all better now, but I just thought it would be a good idea to apologize now that we both moved on from it, you know?”

“Yeah, of course.” Alex gave her an awkward reassuring pat on the arm. He wasn’t sure if he had completely moved on from it. Yes, he had gotten over Lena, but how was he expected to move on from something that had affected him so much? The breakup had ruined him, and he was always so afraid that something was going to force him to make a decision like that again.

“Is that little dude your son?” Jack tried to change the subject a little, knowing that Alex always had some leftover feelings about how they had broken up.

Lena nodded, her mood elating almost immediately. “Yeah, his name’s Nick. He’s five years old,”

“Five years old?” Jack tried to seem neutral, but he couldn’t help but squint his eyes a little as he did the math.

“Yep. Anyway, I should probably go find him before Scott gets him into playing the drums or something.” Lena chuckled and rushed into the direction she had seen the two run off into before. It wasn’t that she was against Nick wanting to expand his creativity, but she wasn’t sure if she could stand the noise.

When Lena had turned around the corner, Jack looked right at Alex with worried eyes. No, not because he was afraid Alex would be upset about seeing his ex-girlfriend again, but for a whole other reason that was way more worrisome. Although his forte had never been math, he could figure this one out.

“Is it just me, or does that boy look like a miniature version of you?” Jack muttered so that only Alex would be able to hear.

Alex looked back at his best friend, his heart dropping. “I thought I was imagining it.”

“Umm, okay… but we can’t be sure, can we? I mean, sure he’s five and you guys broke up almost exactly six years ago. But anything could have happened right?” Jack tried to reassure his friend that it wasn’t what they were thinking. There was no way that their shared idea was right.

But then Rian came stumbling up, laughing about something he came from. “Dude, Alex, I swore I just saw a child that looked exactly like you!”

That was the last thing needed for Alex’s smile to drop completely. As much as he wanted to deny it, it was impossible. Nick looked just like he did as a kid. He gulped as he tried to steady his heart rate. “Lena’s here with her five-year-old son.”

Rian dropped the drumsticks he was holding and glanced between his two bandmates, hoping to see that either of them was joking. But Alex’s greenish-pale complexion and Jack’s static facial features said otherwise. They weren’t fucking around with him, this was actually happening. This wasn’t something they would joke about. Why would they even include Lena in it if they were lying?

A little later, when Scott’s band was playing, Lena and Nick were watching side-stage. Jack decided to watch along with them, Alex feeling too light headed to go as well, but they needed some answers. If Lena actually was there with Alex’s son, they needed to know. She couldn’t just hide it from him. The only problem was that Jack had no idea how to introduce to topic without weirding her out.

But then he heard Nick singing along loudly with his uncle’s music. He wasn’t half that bad, especially for a five-year-old. If he continued to work on it, he’d be able to sing like it was nobody’s business when he was older.

Jack, shuffled a bit closer to Lena and leaned in so they could talk over the loud music. He pointed at Nick. “He can sing pretty well. I’m impressed.”

“All the talent comes from his father’s side. There’s a reason he was a lead singer, not me.” Lena replied, knowing just as well that her son was unrealistically good, and not just because every mom wanted their child to be special and do really well at something. Nick really did have a talent.

“Oh, yeah, right. You said your boyfriend used to play in a band,” Jack nodded, waiting for Lena to tell him that her boyfriend wasn’t the father of the child.

“Exactly.” Lena nodded, not giving Jack the answer he wanted. “He would have been so good at it if he continued, but he always dreamed of producing music, so he took his chance. He’s pretty good at it, if I say so myself. Of course, he doesn’t produce music for pop acts, but he’s worked with many up-and-coming rock bands.”

“Maybe we should work with him sometime?” He wanted so bad for Lena to get uncomfortable and say no, just to give him a signal that something was off.

But, no. She was cool with it. “Oh, that would be so awesome. I’m pretty sure he would love to, and I could probably get you a cheaper rate. He’s open to so many things. If you want to make a record with some weird influences or if you want to do something you often do, he’ll be all up for it.”

“Really? I’ll talk to the others about it.” Jack gave her a thumbs up, still expecting her to suddenly change her mind now that he was actually considering it.

“Awesome, and no hard feelings if you decide not to.” She said as she swayed along with the music.

Jack took this as a sign and pushed a little. “You don’t want us to?”

“No, of course I want you to! I just don’t want you to feel bad or obliged to do something just because you don’t want to hurt me or something.”

“Oh, okay…” He tried a different approach by mentioning another feature about her son. “He’s got an interesting hair color.”

Although it was a weird thing to say, Lena shrugged it off as it just being Jack. He might have looked way more grown up, but maybe he was still as obscure as the Jack she used to know. “It used to be way more blonde. I feel like he’ll have brown hair before he’s a teenager. It only makes sense; I have brown hair, his dad has brown hair.”

“You know, I’d love to meet his dad or your boyfriend some day.” Jack tried to emphasize a little that he thought that they were too separate people, but Lena didn’t seem to notice. He even had some suspicions that Lena was lying about either the dad or the boyfriend. She was too off with everything going on.

“You totally should come over next time you’re in town. I’ll give you my address.”

“We actually have a day off tomorrow, so we could probably come by then.”

Lena quickly grabbed a pen and a small piece of paper out of the shoulder bag she was wearing and quickly wrote down the address, not really thinking about the fact that Jack could easily lose it with how unorganized he was. "You should."

“That actually doesn’t sound too bad.” Jack smiled with a nod, thinking it would be the perfect plan to get it out of her if she wasn’t going to tell them before she left. “Now, I’m going to get a beer, would you like one too?”

“Oh, no, I don’t drink.” Lena scrunched up her nose, a beer sounding like the worst possible thing that Jack could have suggested to her.

“No way, I don’t believe you!” He gasped loudly and let out a high-pitched noise when Lena shrugged to show she was being serious. “You used to be the queen of flip-cup! You could take on an entire time all by yourself.”

“I haven’t had a drop ever since I found out I was pregnant with Nick.”

Jack shrugged and decided to get a water bottle for his reacquainted friend. He didn’t just want to ask her if she wanted beer just to not give her anything else when she said she didn’t drink. So, he went back to his dressing room to get both the beverages. On the couch, Alex was sat twirling his hair around his finger and bouncing his leg up and down.

“You okay, dude?” Jack asked as he got the bottles out of the fridge provided by the venue.

Alex snapped his head towards the sound, not having noticed somebody walking in. He immediately stopped the movements he was making and acted like everything was fine. “Yeah, it’s just weird to see her again, ya know?”

“Yeah.” Jack nodded, feeling bad that Alex was so anxious. “By the way, I’m trying to get Lena to spill if he’s your son. So far, it’s not really working, but we might be able to do so tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?”

----

The next day, Jack decided to take up on the thing Lena had offered. Everybody in All Time Low piled into a van and drove to the address scribbled on a note that Jack had received. When they had typed it into the map on their phones, they found out that it was only forty-five minutes away, which wasn’t such a long way for what they were used to. It was unusual to spend a day off like this. Normally, they’d explore the town they were in and go their separate ways, but as far as they knew, this time they were going to spend the entire day at the house of one of their ex-best friends.

“So…” Zack decided to break the uncomfortable silence that was hanging around for the first ten minutes. “What are you going to do if you find out the kid’s yours?”

Alex massaged his temples and took his eye off the window to look at his friend instead. “I don’t know, Zack. That’s what I’m trying to figure out now. For all we know, he isn’t even mine.”

“But he looks so much like you!” Rian intervened, knowing his words were probably not helping, but also not wanting Alex to build up… false hope? No, that wasn’t the right word. He just didn’t want Alex to deny that it could be a possibility only to be hit with it later.

“Everybody has look-a-likes. He might not look anything like me anymore in a few years! Maybe it’s just all a coincidence.” Alex raised an eyebrow as if he had just scientifically proven that it wasn’t possible.

“Oh my god, Alex,” Zack groaned, running a hand through his hair, “stop trying to deny it. There is quite a high chance he’s yours. Brace yourself for it.”

“Okay, alright.” Alex held up his hands in defense and rolled his eyes a little to show he was fed up with his bandmates constantly bugging him about it. “If I am, I don’t know what I’ll do. I mean, I don’t want to be that other guy who happens to be his biological father. Right now, it seems like that child really does believe Lena’s boyfriend is his father.”

“So, you’d try to get said boyfriend out of the picture?” Jack wondered out loud, bringing his hand to his chin to put on a thinking face.

“No,” Alex scoffed, almost appalled that somebody would even suggest something like that, “I mean, I don’t know, maybe.”

“You’d actually get back with your ex because she had your son?”

“Well, what the hell would you do?!”

“I’m just asking if you’d be happy with her. You guys did break up for a reason. She did make you choose between us and her,” Jack muttered, feeling personally attacked by Alex.

“And she apologized last night, saying she never meant to say anything like that. There’s no reason for me to resent her anymore.” Alex pointed out, trying to picture his life if he was with Lena again. He didn’t even care about how he was planning on getting there, but it didn’t seem all too bad. They had loved each other so much before, they could definitely get there again.

Rian sighed, feeling bad for his best friend. “Please don’t tell me you’re actually considering it.”

“I wouldn’t want it if it turns out he isn’t my son, but I could deal with it if he is.”

“Let’s just find out what is actually going on before we make dramatic decisions like that, ok?”

Alex nodded in agreement and went back to staring out of the window. Although he didn’t want to seem like he was in deep thought, he couldn’t help but think about what his life would have been like if he and Lena hadn’t broken up all those years ago. Considering that he believed that they wouldn’t have ever broken up otherwise, the only pictures Alex could imagine were happy things. They would have been a happy family. Nick would have idolized him, always asking him for singing and guitar lessons. Lena would watch them with a loving smile gracing her lips, feeding their baby girl. It was perfect, something any guy dreamed of having. Alex had to keep reminding himself that breaking up was the right thing to do, or he wouldn’t have been giving his son music lessons and there would have been no way that he was actually as happy as in his daydream. But then again, maybe they would have worked it out if they had pushed through. Lena did say she never meant for it to come out that way, so he could have found another solution.

“Bro, we’re here.” Jack hit his shoulder, making him snap out of the imagination. Everybody had already gotten out of the van and was standing in the sunny warm outside weather.

“Oh, sorry.” Alex rubbed his eyes and climbed over the seats to get to go out as well. When his eyes adjusted to the light, he had no idea what he was looking at. Well, he knew it was a house, but he had no idea Lena would ever live in a place like that.

The property was fenced, the gate open for anybody to go on the driveway. But that wasn’t what shook him. The house had a nice suburban feel to it, but it was twice as big as your usual house, and the white contrasting to the red bricks somehow made it fall into the modern category. Alex had expected to find Lena living in just a common house that looked identical to the ones around it. But she seemed to be doing really well for herself. Living in a house like this did not mean the income was coming from a usual job.

The boys entered the property and walked up to the front door. One of them rang the doorbell, and shortly after, the dark wooden door opened and the same girl from the night before was stood behind it. Her face lit up as she saw her old friends, ushering them all inside before they would get a sunburn or anything of the like.

“Sorry for the mess,” she chuckled, believing that the slightly shifted carpet already made the house look unordered, “Nick has a friend over and they’re running all over the place.”

“This is not a mess at all. I wish my house would occasionally look like this!” Jack looked around at the modern and simplistic interior.

“I’d probably have a panic attack if my house was ever as messy as yours, Jack,” Lena joked, but everybody knew it was probably also to truth, especially Alex. When they lived together, she’d also freak out over every little thing he left lying around. He used to think it was so annoying, but when she moved out, he was pretty glad he had been drilled. The first couple of days, or even weeks, hadn’t gone so well.

Lena made them follow her into the living room. Once again, the entire open space was as clean as could be. There were French doors with large matching windows facing the garden, the clear clue pool right in the middle. This place was a dream house for anybody, and here Lena was living in it. The guys were so amazed by it all, but she didn’t even make it seem like anything special.

The laughter of Nick and his friend could be heard while Lena asked the All Time Low guys if they wanted to have something to drink. She got herself some tea while returning with three beers and one water for the guys. While Lena herself didn’t drink any alcohol, and Anthony didn't drink much either, they always had some laying around for guests. No, they didn’t have frequent guests, but they always stocked up for family events and were left with some at the end.

The five of them were catching up when Lena’s boyfriend appeared. He was entering through the French doors, coming from outside, or more likely the studio in the pool house, wearing a white tank-top and black basketball shorts, his hair a complete mess. While eating a bowl of cereal, he saw the strangers in his living room and froze up. It looked like he had just woken up despite it already being the afternoon.

He looked down at his appearance and grimaced. “If I knew we had people over, I would have made myself look a little better.”

“And how would you have done that?” Lena laughed, her smile causing the skin around her eyes to wrinkle.

“Sneak in through the front door, obviously.” Anthony took another bite of his cereal and acted like his answer was the most logical solution.

Jack wasn’t sure what to think or how to feel. He was more busy with taking in the guy’s appearance and trying to remember what Nick looked like. Anthony had a slightly shorter haircut and a bit lighter hair than Alex, they both had bushy eyebrows and brown eyes, but their smiles were very different, and Anthony’s ears were more pointed. If Alex had been out of the picture, Jack would have totally believed that Lena’s boyfriend was Nick’s father, but it wasn’t that way. To him, Nick looked just a little more like Alex.

With the French doors still open, a dog that the All Time Low members hadn’t seen before suddenly came running in, knocking hard against Anthony’s legs. He managed to regain his balance quickly without trouble, barely moving an inch, but it meant the bowl of cereal had to be sacrificed and all the milk poured onto his shirt.

“Are you kidding me?” Anthony groaned, ignoring the dog that was now further into the living room.

Lena giggled, only showing how much she was in love with the man. “You should know by now that you shouldn’t stand at an open door like that.”

“Yeah, that’s the worst part, this isn’t the first time it’s happened. I’ve had that dog for seven years and I never learn.” He ran a hand through his knotted and borderline greasy hair and went to bring his now empty bowl to the kitchen. “Sofa, you’re supposed to be old and tired by now, not trying to make me fall over!”

“Sofa?” Rian inquired, believing he hadn’t heard the name right. There was no way they had a dog called Sofa, that was just strange.

“Yeah, well, she used to be called Sophia,” Lena explained during the few seconds that Anthony wasn’t around anymore, “but then Nick started to learn how to talk. He couldn’t pronounce it and kept calling her ‘Sofa’, so it kinda stuck.”

“Ah.” He nodded, now no longer thinking it was as weird. At least they had a good explanation behind it.

Anthony came back, his shirt now taken off, showing the tanned abs and chest with a few tattoos he had. If any girl had to choose between having a one-night-stand with Alex or Anthony based solely on their bodies and not any feelings, many would probably have chosen Lena’s boyfriend. He had claimed multiple times that he was going to work on his dad-bod, only to go back to the gym soon after. It was just a norm for him.

“At least it’s forcing me to take a shower, so it’s all good.” Anthony put on the grin that made Lena’s heart flutter when they had just started dating, and started making his way toward the stairs.

“You better before you start smelling like sour milk!” Lena shouted after him before turning back to the people she believed were her friends again. Little did she know they also had an alternate motive.

“So that’s the boyfriend that somehow led you back to us.” Zack whistled and nodded his head as if to show that he was impressed with what Lena was able to catch.

“Yep, six years strong.” Lena nodded, feeling some tension building in the room. She wanted them to meet her boyfriend, but them questioning her about him felt a little off. “He’s been working day and night to finish mixing an album, hence why he looked so homeless.”

“Six years?” Jack gaped. He couldn’t believe it. It hadn’t even been six years since she had broken up with Alex. Had she been cheating as well?”

Lena rolled her eyes, knowing what Jack was getting at. “Almost six years. I met him like a month or so after Alex and I ended things. It wasn’t supposed to be anything serious, but look where we are now.”

“Wow… Alex was probably at his worst after one month, I’m surprised to hear you were already dating other guys by then.” Rian added, trying to force the conversation in the direction they needed it to go.

Alex sighed and rubbed his eyes. “Thanks for embarrassing me guys, you’re doing great.”

“If it makes you feel any better, I was only looking for a rebound. Anthony knew and we had a no-strings-attached kind of deal, but it sort of turned into something more. I never intended to jump over to the next guy so quickly.” Lena told them the honest truth, hoping it would stop them from wanting to dig even deeper into the beginning of her relationship. But it only did the opposite.

Jack had to cut straight to the chase. “Because you found out you were pregnant with Nick.”

“Um, no.” Lena shook her head, taking offense from Jack’s comment. This was going too far. “I found out after we started seriously dating. I mean, I probably got pregnant early on in the whole relationship, but it’s not the reason why we decided to take a further step.”

“How early on in the relationship?” Jack pushed next.

“Jack,” Alex groaned to stop the other. He could sense that it was making Lena uncomfortable, but not because she was trying to hide something. To her, this was just him trying to find out every little detail about her relationship. This was not ok.

“What do you want me to tell you?” Lena glared at Jack, not understanding how her hyper friend from years ago had changed so much. “That Alex and I broke up, that I went out to find somebody as a rebound, that I met Anthony, that three weeks in we decided to start dating, that eventually I took a pregnancy test at the doctors and that they said one to two months pregnant? Do you also want to know all the details about the sex? Do you want me to tell you what it was like meeting each other’s parents for the first time? I can go on and tell you all the details, but I don’t think that all really matters.”

“One to two months?” Alex repeated in a hushed voice, needing to know when she had taken the test.

However, Alex wasn’t intending on asking any further questions, not wanting to make Lena get furious. But she heard his thought quite clearly. All she wanted was to rekindle her friendship with the All Time Low guys now that she had the opportunity, but all she was getting was how rude they were being. If she knew that this would have happened when she invited them over, she would have never done it.

“Yes, one to two months.” Lena nodded in an over exaggerated way, her voice showcasing her frustration. “Does it really matter? I don’t get why you’re so interested in how my relationship started and when Nick was-- oh my god…” Her eyes doubled in size when it hit her. She stood up from the couch and looked at the four boys in front of her before her gaze rested on Alex. Her head shook in disbelief. “No…”

“Wait, you didn’t know that this was a possibility?” Jack stiffened up, starting to feel guilty for interrogating her. He really thought that she was trying to keep it a secret even though they were right in front of her.

“No, no, it’s not possible,” Lena said, but it was more to reassure herself. “They said one to two months, not two to three.”

Rian decided to be the responsible one and try to guide her through the thoughts she was having. “Okay, well, how far into your relationship did you find out?”

“I’m not sure anymore… I’m guessing just over a month?” She ran her hands over her face, glad that she never wore too much makeup. “Which leaves enough time for it to possibly be… oh my god…”

Throughout it all, Alex had been staring out in front of him, only half hearing the conversation going on around him. He couldn’t comprehend what was going on anymore. Sure, he came here to find out whether or not he had a son, but now that it actually came to it, he didn’t know what to do. There was no certainty that Nick was his, but it made it all so real. Alex was a little mad that he maybe hadn’t had a chance to be there the first five years, confused because he never even thought it could have happened, happy because it would mean he had a child, sad because he wasn’t prepared. There were too many emotions to deal with for him to be able to act ok.

It was exactly the moment that Anthony decided to walk back in. He had Nick hanging off his neck and Nick’s friend hanging off his leg, carrying them forward with him. The two young boys were giggling, having too much fun for words, causing Anthony to have a great big grin on his face as well. His son’s happiness meant his happiness.

“I’m a human jungle gym!” Anthony exclaimed, not sensing the nature of the scene in front of him yet. But as soon as he saw his girlfriend bent over, her hands covering her mouth, her elbows resting on her legs, her eyes showing signs that she was about to cry, he knew something was up. He shook the boys off and told them to go play outside for the time being.

Before he could ask what was going on, he saw Alex’s gaze follow Nick as he ran outside, and Jack and Zack looking at Alex, Rian having a hand on Lena’s back to comfort her. It was like he didn’t even need to hear it. He could feel exactly what was going on and it made him sick to his stomach. As much as he wanted to deny it, he couldn’t walk away from the scene. If he walked away, everything was only going to get worse. He had to be the bigger man here and suck it up for everybody involved.

But still, he couldn’t help but let his first reaction get to him. Shaking his head, he took his time to individually look at the people in front of him. “No.”

Lena turned her head to finally look back at her boyfriend and tears started prickling her eyes. All this time, she hadn’t even thought of the possibility that Alex was the father of her child. Now she couldn’t help but feel guilty and as if she had betrayed Anthony. Ever since they found out she was pregnant, she made him believe that he definitely was the father. She didn’t know any better, but she couldn’t help but feel like a disappointment.

“Nobody’s going to tell me that it’s not what I’m thinking?” Anthony asked out in hidden desperation, sighing when nobody answered him. He never thought he would be in the situation of not being sure whether he was the father of a child or not.

It was obvious that nobody was going to fix what was going on or come up with any solution whatsoever, so Anthony decided to take it upon himself to come up with rational decisions and try to compensate what everybody wanted and needed. He joined the others, only sitting on the coffee table instead of the couch so he could look at everybody.

“I’m so sorry,” Lena whimpered, trying her best to make sure she didn’t break out in tears. She felt like she was hurting both Alex and Anthony with her actions. This wasn’t how she expected the day to go at all.

Anthony decided to ask one question before going any further and starting his reasoning. “Are you sure he’s the father?”

Alex snapped his head to look up at him, finally coming out of his trance. He expected Lena’s boyfriend to get furious and lash out somehow, but he looked like the only person that was in some sort of way composed. For some reason, Alex wanted both Nick to be his son and not. On one hand, he wasn’t sure if he could deal with it, but on the other, he couldn’t help but feel a little happy. He could only imagine what Anthony was going through.

Lena shook her head, telling him that she didn’t know anymore. Anthony held out his hand to hold hers and ran his thumb over her knuckles once their hands were interlocked. He pulled her a little bit and motioned for her to come sit in his lap, which she did. As soon as she was sat down and wrapped in his arms, one single tear ran down her cheek. She was so afraid of what was going to happen. It could lead to her losing both potential fathers. But all Anthony did was hold her and kissed the top of her head.

Alex felt like he needed to do something as well, maybe hold her hand as well and say some comforting words, but he couldn’t. Not because he didn’t want to, but because it was obvious that he wasn’t the one to do that anymore. She had Anthony to do all of the comforting, he had no part in that. He wasn’t as important. If it ever came between the two of them, he knew that Lena would always choose her boyfriend.

Anthony looked at Alex, mainly directing his words to him. “If you want to, we can get a paternity test done to see who’s the father.”

Lena cringed at the words, never having wanted to have it come down to this. She always thought she’d know who the father of her baby was. She wasn’t stupid enough to sleep around with multiple guys at once. The only mistake she made was trying to move on too quickly. She didn’t think she’d get pregnant so early on in her relationship with Anthony… or so late with Alex...

Alex nodded, but only to make Anthony continue with his plan. Only getting the test was going to leave even more questions unanswered. “And then?”

Anthony shrugged, not having thought that far ahead yet, but willing to come up with something on the spot. “If you turn out to be the father, you can be in his life. Nick will get to know as soon as possible, that’s just the right thing to do. But I will always also be a father figure to him, we can’t change that anymore. I’m always going to be around.”

“And if I’m not?” Alex asked next, a little of disappointment shown through his eyes, but not through his voice. Only Anthony could see it, making him feel for the guy he never met before but knew from many pictures.

“Then I’m going to be the only father in Nick’s life. I do, however, want to give you the possibility of being like an uncle to him. All of you guys, really. But if you want that, you’re going to have to be around. If you’re not friends with us or do anything to try and be really good friends and role models to Nick, you can forget about it. I understand that you’re on tour the entire time, but all it takes are simple things. Scott’s been able to do it, you guys can probably fit your way in as well.”

Lena stayed quiet the entire time, listening to the words of the guy she loved with all her heart. He was being so compassionate and he didn’t even have to be. Most guys would have gotten so mad, not only at the other guy but also at her. Although she couldn’t have done anything about it, she would have lost everything that meant so much to her. But here Anthony was, being way too good for her. She didn’t deserve him being so understanding, but it’s how he had always been. It’s what had caught her eye before they decided to start dating.

Alex also didn’t understand. He thought he would have come out of it all with a busted lip and a black eye, especially with how ripped the guy was. Maybe he did have Zack who would have protected him, but if a guy really was mad, he was going to do more damage than he seemed capable of. Not even Jack was attacked despite being such a douchebag.

“Okay,” Alex agreed.

The remainder of the time, they discussed a little while longer how everything was going to happen. They all exchanged phone numbers to be able to contact each other for when the test was actually going to take place. All Time Low first had to finish their tour, and they somehow had to get Nick to give a sample as well without giving him any false information. But after all that was done, they tried to fall back into a normal conversation. It started off difficult, but eventually it became more natural. With both the solutions Anthony had given, they were going to have to get along anyway. It was only a good idea to get a head start. Lena was the only one that was still quite distant, completely shaken up about what had just happened.

When it was time for the All Time Low guys to go back again, Lena and Anthony led them back to the front door and waved until they were out of sight. They couldn’t say that the meeting had been a good one, but it also hadn’t necessarily been a bad one. All they could do was move forward with what they had found out and hope that everything was going to be OK in the future. Hopefully, Alex would step up if he was the father, and Anthony promised to always be there, calming Lena’s heart for there was one more thing.

“I promise that our next baby is certainly yours,” she told Anthony as they stood in the hallway, her arms wrapped around his neck and his hands on her waist.

“Of course, and I know that.” Anthony nodded, giving her a smile to show that he wasn’t mad about anything that happened.

“No, really, I promise. I know for sure.”

“Yeah. I don’t expect anything else.”

Lena had to resist the urge to roll her eyes and bit back her grin. “You’re just going to have to wait six more months.”

Anthony frowned, his eyebrows furrowing as the grip on his girlfriend loosened. “Six more months?”

“Until we have another baby in this house.”

“No way! You’re lying!” He gasped, his eyes lighting up with excitement. He knew he always wanted more kids with Lena, he just didn’t know when. But now was the perfect timing.

She let her grin spread across her face and nodded to show him that she was being truthful. “I found out a week ago.”

Anthony firmly planted his lips on hers, not being able to wait for the next chapter to come. Whatever happened, he was still going to have his perfect family, whether Alex was included or not. Nick was always going to be his son, and now he had another child on the way.

The mood in the van, however, wasn’t as joyful. It was quite somber actually, even though the day hadn’t ended on a bad note. They all got along with each other, there was nothing to be upset about. But it didn’t feel that way.

“What wrong?” Jack asked Alex, noticing that they were all feeding off of his negative energy.

“I don’t know if I want to take that test…” Alex breathed out, not taking his eyes off what he could see flashing by the window. “He’s a good guy, nothing like I would ever be. I can’t just take this happiness away from them. They were doing just fine without us, why change that now?”