“Hey Polly, I’ve not seen you in forever.” The lead singer awkwardly holds his hand out to her with a small smile on his lips, “And you,” he crouches down after shaking her hand real quickly, “Must be little Joey.” The little brunette with the brightest brown eyes boy waves at the singer with his eyes wide open and mouth in a grin. “I have a little something for you actually, here.”

The little boy accepts the small package before tearing away the wrapping paper and laughing with joy, “Pokémon cards! Thank you Mr. Alex!” The little boy kisses his cheek in a way to say thank you before he runs off to go join his friends at the jungle gym.

Alex takes a seat on the bench beside the woman, his eyes look her over; he’s pretty sure back when he knew her, she was a blonde and not a brunette. But that was years and years ago now and even he’s changed his hair color since then.

She nods slightly, uncomfortable with the silence that hangs between them, “He seems like a good kid.” Alex mumbles seeing how fidgety she’s been getting. “How old is he?”

“He’s four in a week.” She looks kind of nervous sharing this with him, really nervous. “Alex, do you have any idea why I’d invite you here today to meet up with me and him?” She looks at him, the bright green eyes that hypnotized him back in the days they spent together, “Alex, think about it!”

He looks back over at the boy before his mouth falls open; the little boy has Alex’s walk, his eyes and his hair color. Holy shit! Four in a week... They fucked around with each other nearly five years ago too... “Did we really end on that much of a bad note?” She bursts into tears which makes her little Joey rush back over, his arms going around her after he jumps up onto the bench having budged Alex out of the way. “Joey, she’s okay, just a bit emotional over mommy things.”

Kissing his mom, Joey ignores what Alex says and turns his back to him, “Mommy, can we go home now?” She shakes her head, sniffing loudly as she looks up wiping her eyes, “Mommy?”

“Say goodbye to Mr. Alex now Joey,” Joey gets up off the bench and gives Alex a small wave which breaks his heart – now he knows it he can’t help but keep seeing features on Joey that are inherited right from him. “I’m sorry Alex, bringing you here was a mistake. Try getting in contact with us in six or seven years time, I think we’ll all be ready then.”

“What am I meant to tell my girlfriend in the mean time Polly?” He hisses as they both get up, Polly picking up Joey and balancing him on her hip. “I can’t carry the weight of you and Joey on my shoulders without any contact! You can’t just tell me about him and then not even let me in on his life Polly! I have rights!”

She shakes her head, “Just hide us away Alex just like you hid away the fact you cheated on your girlfriend with me all those years ago. Goodbye Alex,” She leans forward and kisses his lips softly, “And unless you get a court order, you have no parental rights.”

And that’s it, as soon as they’ve entered his life they walk right back out without a care in the world. How is Alex meant to pretend that he hasn’t just met his son that seems to think that he’s just an innocent friend of his mom’s?

Alex kicks at the bench with frustration – nothing is going to fucking be the same now thanks to Polly dropping this bombshell on him. What the fuck is he going to tell his girlfriend? And then there’s his band mates and parents – Alex Gaskarth just had his life turned upside by a woman he assumed had wanted to meet up for a quickie....