“Dad!” Collette shouted, slamming her hand on the banister of the stairs she was stood below as she received no response.

Upstairs, Jack rolled his eyes, pulling Alex closer into his chest as he tried to fall back asleep. His efforts went to waste, though, as their daughter’s calls continued.

“She’s just like you, pidge,” Jack murmured, placing a kiss on Alex’s forehead as he untangled their limbs and threw the sheets off of himself.

“How so?” Alex smiled, eyes still closed as he pulled the sheets closer to himself.

“Stubborn,” Jack laughed, slipping on a T-shirt and a pair of sweatpants.

Alex chuckled from where he lay on the bed, eyebrows raised as he said, “But you’re listening to her, aren't you?”

“I guess I can’t resist any of you, love,” Jack replied, moving forward as Alex reached his arms out for his husband with a grin. The younger man pulled his lover down by his neck to his own level, immediately pressing his own lips to Jack’s. One of Jack’s hands grasped Alex’s side, while his other hand threaded through the brunet’s hair. A cough from their doorway interrupted the two, and Jack stood upright once more, turning to face the source of the sound while Alex sat up in bed.

“Dad,” Danielle repeated, arms crossed, “You said you’d go find the photo albums in the morning, and it’s morning now.”

“I really can’t get one past you, can I?” Jack laughed, pulling his daughter into a hug.

“No, so come on! Annette and Danielle are waiting downstairs.” Collette whined, throwing her long hair over her shoulder as she grabbed Jack’s arm and tugged towards the door.

“Oh, and knock next time, yeah? What if your father wasn’t wearing boxers?” Jack laughed as his daughter crinkled her nose, while Alex flopped back down onto the bed, blushing.

Downstairs, Collette went to sit with her sisters, still shaking her head, while Jack headed downstairs to search for the family’s photo albums.

“I’m guessing you saw something you rather wouldn’t have?” Danielle asked, raising her eyebrows in a very similar fashion to Alex’s.

“Nah, not really. They were just kissing, but still.” Collette sighed, flopping down onto the couch between her two sisters.

Shrugging with a laugh, Danielle responded with, “At least that’s better than them, like, fighting all the time. I hope I find someone to be like that with when I’m almost forty.”

Collette nodded in agreement, while Annette decided, “I just want to be rich.” The other two girls laughed at her comment, looking up as Jack entered the room, a stack of books in one hand, and Alex’s hand in the other.

“Alright,” Alex hummed, as he and Jack sat on either side of their girls, “Should we start in chronological order?”

“Of course,” Danielle remarked, as Alex passed the first book to Collette, since she was in the middle. Opening it up, the girls immediately smiled at the pictures, pointing to various ones. The majority of the first ones were taken at parties, as Jack and Alex didn’t really photograph their own adventures. Alex could be seen sat on Jack’s lap in most of the photos, shy smile as Jack laughed along with his other friends.

“Wasn’t he cute?” Jack asked the girls, leaning forward to smile at Alex from down the row. Alex sghed fondly at his husband while a chorus of ‘aw’s’ left their daughter’s mouths.

“Hey, I was like, eighteen. It’s not my fault I looked young compared to him.” Alex smiled, looking over to Jack, “You were already in your twenties!”

“That’s adorable,” Collette gushed, flipping the pages of the book in her lap some more. The family came across many more old memories, including the couple’s proposal, their wedding, both times they had their children, and many, many more from the kid’s early years. After going through several books, Jack, Alex, and their girls decided that they were finished, finally returning to the not-so-perfect real world.

The night before, not a long ways away, Angel's argument with Buster and the rest of the clan continued.

"That's right, Buster," Angel spat, "I don't want to belong here. Not anymore." Turning away, the blonde girl jogged up stairs to where she kept her things, leaving the rest of the group to stare at each other quizzically. A couple moments later, Angel reappeared again, this time with a bag over her shoulder. On her way out, looking to Buster once more, Angel stated, "Oh, and, uh, I'm not your girl."

"Oh, there's going to be trouble." Ruby whispered, as Angel then made her way over to Luke.

Looking up at Angel from where he was sat in front of her, Luke opened his mouth to speak, closing it again when he realized he had nothing to say. Reaching his hand out to take hers, Luke tried to pull Angel down to sit with him, but was surprised when the girl pulled away.

"Fine, stay here." Angel muttered, "Maybe you do belong here." With that, Angel was out the door.

"Oh, come on. Where is your sense of humour?" Sparky called, as Scratchy followed with, "Come on. We were just, we were goofing!"

"Come on, Angel!" Luke stood up to follow the girl, surprised as Buster caught him by the arm and pulled him back.

"But aw, who needs her? Let her go find some snivelling, little family." Buster sneered, "That's where she belongs."

Though living freely was all he'd ever wanted, Luke realized in that moment that the ratty, washed up house was now nothing compared to when Angel was in it. Finally understanding where his father was coming from, Luke discovered that he'd go anywhere for Angel, whether it be to spooky dumps or rich neighbourhoods. Figuring out what that meant, Luke shook himself free of Buster's grasp and followed the girl regardless, calling her name as he ran.

"Angel. Angel? Angel! I didn't mean it, Angel. I don't know what I was thinking, really." Luke shouted into the darkness. "Angel, where are you?"

Notes

this is the first chapter that is actually ok so plz plz plz let me know what you think!!! thx