Last night was a close call. I honestly thought that mom was going to walk into my room and see Jack and I stood there rosy lipped and red faced. What I didn't expect, though, was for him to jump out of my bedroom window like he was Spider-Man. The first thing I did once mother dearest had stopped lurking around corners, I sent him a quick text asking if he was okay, and he replied saying he landed on his ankle funny, but was able to walk, which is a positive.

"Alexander, are you ready?" My mom called from somewhere downstairs.

I rolled my eyes, not really looking forward to today. "Gimme a sec, mom, I'm still getting dressed!"

This morning, at the crack of dawn, on a Saturday might I add, my mom came bounding into my room with envelopes galore, telling me to grab a shower because we were going out to get a coffee and 'chat'. Just the two of us. Alone. Together. 'Chatting'. This cannot in any way shape or form, go well.

I quickly made my way over to my wardrobe and pulled my Green Day tee over my head, I had decided to treat myself with some band merch after my birthday, and I was just dying to show Mr Armstrong. I darted out of my room and into the lounge where my mom was already stood waiting, wearing her oversized coat, scarf, bobble hat and mittens, which were all Christmas themed, of course, seeing as it was right around the corner.

"Mom, we're going to get coffee, not the south pole," I stated, hitching an eyebrow at her festive attire.

"Better to be safe than sorry, sweetheart," She smiled back at me, picking up the pile of paper and envelopes up from off of the coffee table, "Now go an put your jacket on, it's cold out."

"Yeah I will, it's hung up by the front door." I answered, making my way out of the room whilst taking out the beanie that was hung from my back pocket, and placing it carefully on my head, taking note to ask Jack to cut my hair again like he did last time.

"Ready to go?" My mom asked from behind me, passing me my jacket and opening the front door.

I didn't verbally reply, only nod my head with a cautious smile on my face. Mom and I hadn't done something with just the two of us in months, and now it felt strange. It's fair to say that before I got transferred, I used to be a 'Mommy's boy', but now I had Jack, and everything all changed, but for the better, of course, even if my parents didn't see it that way.

Following her out of the house, we both clambered into the small family car and put the heating on straight away, trying out best to avoid the icy December air. As the car slowly pulled out of the driveway and made the somewhat short journey to town, my mind travelled to the thought of it being Christmas in just a few days, and I still didn't know how I was going to get time away from my family to go and see Jack. I could pretend to be ill and jump out of the window, but I would probably land wrong and break my foot? As if a lightbulb flashed above my head, I was struck with a better plan; I pulled out my cell from my pocket and pulled up Rian's contact.

To; Rian Dawson
- hey man, do you think it would be cool if I came over to yours for a few hours on Christmas? my mom actually likes you, and doesn't know jack lives at your place

"H-hey mom?" I started, not yet pressing send on the message, "Can I go and see Rian for a while at Christmas?" I looked across at her, to see her biting her bottom lip in thought.

"I'm sure the Dawson's are going to be busy sweetie, why don't you go over another time, the day after, maybe?"

"Rian's mom said it was fine," I lied smoothly, "As long as you and dad were okay with it."

"Well," She paused, parking the car in the lot in town and unbuckling her seatbelt, "I'll talk to your father about it later. C'mon, I'm dying for a coffee!" She beamed, grabbing the envelopes and papers out of the glove compartment.

I quickly hit send and trailed after her to the small Costa Coffee and sighed in relief as a instant warmth washed over my body as we walked in; December might be good because of Christmas and my birthday, but the weather is a bitch. We both quickly ordered and took our drinks to a tiny booth in the far end of the room, wanting to get as far away from the drafty door as possible, and sat down opposite one another.

"So.." I sighed, wrapping my fingers around the warm mug and blowing on the foam that was settled on the top of my hot chocolate.

"How are you, Alexander?" My mom asked, smiling.

"Um, fine...I'm good?" I skeptically answered.

"Look," She sighed, avoiding my gaze awkwardly by looking down at her hands, "I wanted to apologise to you, I know I haven't been there for you lately, and we're not as close as we used to be, and I'm sorry-"

"Mom, it's oka-"

"No," She interjected, "It's not, because if things were how they used to be, the whole Jack fiasco wouldn't have happened, and you would still be normal. I understand that what happened wasn't your fault, and that he must have brainwashed you into thinking that any kind of homosexuality is alright..."

I dropped my gaze from her lips to the table in front of me as I felt my stomach churn at the mention of Jack's name; I hated going behind her back and still being with him, but it was Jack, and I would deceive my parents over and over again if I had to.

"...but it's okay," She continued, "Everything is okay now, I'm here, and he's gone," She sighed, grabbing my hand in hers, rubbing her thumb over the back of my hand and forcing me to look at her once more. "I know he was your first friend since you started this school, but you have to understand why I did what I did. I did it to protect you."

"Mom, stop, I get it." I muttered, pulling my hand back and sipping on my hot chocolate. "Is this why we came here, to talk about Jack?" I asked, nodding at the stack of paper beside her.

"Of course not, he's not worth our time," She smiled, glad to have that conversation over and done with. "These are all booklets and letters from Colleges, I thought we could look into courses for after you graduate!"

"A-all of theses are from colleges?" I choked out, taking a few envelopes and ripping them open in disbelief.

"Mmhmm," She hummed in response, pulling out a few brochures from her purse and placing them in front of me. "Are you still set on Psychology being your major?"

I bit my lip and looked up at her grinning face, "I think so.Either that or music-"

"Music?" She quizzed, raising an eyebrow at me, "Just because you can play guitar doesn't mean you are suited to a music course, Alexander-"

"I write music, too!" I blurted.

"Since when?" She asked in disbelief.

"Since, I don't know, since I was 13," I defended, but she still didn't look convinced, so I carried on speaking, "Here, I actually recorded one on my phone the other day, I'll show you."

She didn't say anything, she just continued to look at me as I took my cell out and started scrolling until I got to the 'P' section, and without saying another word, I pressed play, turned the volume down and slid it across the table to the middle.

'Show my cards
Give you my heart
Wish we could start all over
Nothing's making sense at all
Try to open my eyes
I'm hoping for a chance
To make it alright

When I wake up
The dream isn't dead
I wanna see your face
And know I made it home
If nothing is true
What more can I do?
I am still painting flowers for you'

Not wanting her to hear too much of something quite personal, I stopped the song and took my phone back, keeping my bangs over my eyes so I didn't have to see her reaction.

"I-it's not finished yet, but you get the idea..." I mumbled.

"I like it," She replied bluntly, "Even if it's not finished, but I have to ask, is it about Jac-"

"Hello Alex!" A bubbly chirp sounded from somewhere behind me.

I slowly swivelled around in my seat to come face to face with a blonde girl around my age, who looked vaguely familiar. "Erm, hi?" I asked confusedly, although I was jubilant now that the previous conversation had ended.

"Hello dear," My mom greeted her, extending a friendly hand, which the blonde immediately shook, "Are you a friend of Alexander's?"

"Something like that," She smiled down at me wickedly, "Friend of a friend really, my name's Holly."

Holly? My eyes suddenly widened as I recognised the name. She's the 'female Brendon', as Jack told me a while ago, and apparently kept trying to become serious with Jack.

"Would you like to join us?" My mom offered, gesturing to the seat next to me.

"Mom, I'm sure Holly has better things to do," I whined, glaring out of the window next to me at the bustling street outside, the late Christmas shoppers frantically rushing to buy gifts.

"Actually, I'd love to!" Holly giggled before perching on the padded seat next to me, her shoulder pressed against mine. "Is this- are these all the colleges you're applying to?" She questioned, her bright blue eyes dancing over the papers in front of her.

"No, we're just browsing, Alex likes to keep his options open," My mom stated, taking a sip of her coffee and handing me another brochure. "Although he needs to make up his mind about what he's going to major in," She sighed, looking sympathetically at me and then back to Holly, "It was always going to my Psychology, but now Music seems to be a viable choice and-"

"Music?" Holly chimed in, now turning to face me, a mischievous grin etched onto her face, "that wouldn't be because of a certain skunk haired-"

"What are you going to study?" I counter argued, trying to steer the conversation once again away from Jack; how he keeps on managing to be brought up in conversation, I'll never know.

"I'm actually not going to college next year, I'll be travelling the world-"

"Oh? And how will you manage that with no grades?" I hissed.

"I'm meeting someone here who wants to offer me a modelling contract, so it will be 'Bye Bye Baltimore, Hey LA!" Holly sang.

"How lovely," My mother responded, before striking up a conversation with her about her 'modelling career'.

I pretended that I was listening for a few minutes, before getting so bored that I debated with myself on just leaving to go and see Jack, but I knew I couldn't get away from my mom that easily. Suddenly, a buzzing in my pocket pulled me away from my thoughts, so I took out my cell and opened up the new message.

From; Jack Barakat
- what are u up to? x

To; Jack Barakat
- out with mom, what's up? xx

I felt a little guilty not mentioning Holly, but if I did he would probably freak out, so not telling him would just save everyone's energy. It's not like there was anything going on anyway, she just sat down and spoke to my mom.

From; Jack Barakat
- nothing

I winced a little at his bluntness, and couldn't help but get the feeling I had done something wrong.

Notes

Prepare yourself for a long-ass chapter note!
1. Last time I updated this was in April, before my operation, and I wanted to thank all of you who messaged me, and left comments wishing me well! I actually read them all when I was led in my hospital bed, and it was just so lovely! I would have replied to them all, but the internet connection was ridiculously bad, but seriously, I really appreciate it, thank you!
2. I want to thank you again for chosing this fic as your favourite 'Teen Jalex' story, I'm so so glad you like it as much as I love writing it! Also, you all picked me as 'Best Author', like, holy crap, you guys are AMAZING, and I love you all so much, thank you! <3
3. I want to take this time to apologise for the spaced out updates on my end; I've been super busy this last month, I've been on tour, doing exams and I moved out so there was no internet for a while :(
4. You should check out my second solo Jalex fic, Be Here, it has a pretty cool twist and it has danisnotonfire and amazingphil in it :D

But I'm back, and I can't wait to get back to writing! :D