The music played as I stood beside my father at the end of the aisle. My hands were shaking as I held a miniature bouquet of flowers in my hands, and my knees were beginning to buckle. The doors were shut before us, so I couldn’t see my awaiting fiancee at the peak of the alter. All I could do was smile at the thought of my beautiful fiancee, Jack, just standing there in the most beautiful tux the world has ever seen along with the biggest and goofiest smile. Me, I probably looked like a hot mess considering I got barely any sleep the night before, and I didn’t really do much with my face for the ceremony besides shaving and combing my hair back.

Soon, my cue was played in the sound of music, and the doors flew open to reveal everyone standing up in their chairs. Jack stood up at the altar with his back turned to me, and I wondered why he hadn’t turned back to look at me yet. I figured he just wanted to see how I looked when I got up there. Dad walked me down the aisle one step at a time, each step corresponding with the tempo of Organ that my Auntie was playing.

Halfway down the aisle, dad stopped to have me finish the way up to the altar solo. I walked up there with a quicker beat to my steps due to my pure excitement. When I arrived to Jack, he still hadn’t turn to face me. In fact, he was the only one up there; there was no pastor, best man, or anyone. Why hasn't anyone said anything about the missing people? These people were key to the ceremony! “Jack,” I spoke up softly, “where’s the pastor? Where’s Austin and Alan?” Jack let out a sigh and turned around to reveal himself. When he was all the way around, my eyes bugged from my head. That wasn’t Jack -- it was Oliver! Oliver gave me a smug smirk, and his face was covered in … blood?

“Jack? Honey, honey… you know you were marrying me, not Jack. Jack is over there watching you marry me because he knows how happy you make me.” I looked over at the seats to find that everyone in the room was gone now except for Jack. He sat in the back of the room with his eyes wide upon the two of us. I dropped my bouquet and ran to him, kneeling down.

“Jack, speak! Come on, Jack!” I begged as I shook him. My shakes caused his body to tip forward, and his head collided with the seats in front of him. What made me gasp in horror was the big steak knife that was lodged into his back. I tried to reach out to it to attempt to pull it out, but I was suddenly yanked back by the neck. Something was wrapped around my neck now -- it felt like a dog collar that was connected to a leash.

That was exactly what it was, and on the other end of the leash was Oliver, yanking me back to him. I tugged on the collar along with kicking my legs all over the place while Oliver pulled me over to the altar once more. Once I got to his reach, Oliver pulled me up by my hair and made me look into his vicious eyes. “Sweetie, sweetie, sweetie. Don’t cry over people that don’t matter; you’re happy with us now.”

“Us?” I asked. Who the hell was there? Oliver pointed to the doors that I had originally entered from, and standing there with the knife that was in Jack’s back was a little boy. He had Oliver’s hair but my chocolate eyes, and around his neck was a similar collar and leash. Oh my God, it was Phoenix. “P-Phoenix…” I stammered in disbelief. Oliver pet my hair as if I did a good deed.

“Yes, that’s our son. He likes to help daddy with his dirty work. Right, Phoenix?” Phoenix nodded at Oliver’s words liked a trained robot. “Now, come to daddy and do daddy the favor I asked you to do.” Phoenix obeyed Oliver and began to walk towards me with eyes that read nothing but emptiness. Phoenix clutched the knife in his hand as if he was pro, and the pointed end was directed right towards my neck.

“O-Oliver, what’s he doing?” I stuttered as my own son inched closer to me with the weapon, “Oliver, make him stop! Make him stop, Oli!” My begs only made Oliver laugh like a demonic spirit.

“You want to be with your man so bad, Lexxy, then be with him in hell.” When the final words left Oliver’s mouth, Phoenix was before me with the knife positioned like a batter ready to bat a home run. I screamed at the top of my lungs as the knife slashed against my throat.

That’s when I shot up and let the scream from my dream slip into my reality. I cut the scream short when I realized I was out of the dream. I was drenched in sweat and tears, and my body was shaking like a leaf. I reached out for my neck to see if there was any slashes -- nothing. I looked down at my stomach to find my son was still inside of me and not trying to kill me with any knives. I looked around the room, and to my dismay, Jack wasn’t there. He was home with Taylor, probably sleeping, while I was here all by myself. That’s what made me begin to cry harder. I backed up to the corner of my bed, hugged my knees to my chest to the best of my ability, and just cried deep into my knee caps.

This was the tenth dream I had this week about Oliver that involved either me dying or him manipulating our baby, and it was tearing me apart. I didn’t know what to do or how to handle these dreams, and it was making me feel a hell of a lot worse. I never told Jack about them because I didn’t need him worrying about me anymore than he already does.

As I sobbed, I heard my door open. I didn’t pick my head up to see who it was, but when they spoke up, it gave away who it was. “Alex?” spoke my mum as she inched closer to my bed. I continued stop my crying to give her a reply, and that broke my heart. I didn’t want her to hear me cry; mothers hate hearing their kids cry. Mum sat beside me and pulled me into her arms. She rested my head on her chest and began to pet my hair. “Speak to me, Alex. What’s got you all worked up?” she whispered.

“Oliver. He’s… he’s messing with my head. I can’t sleep at night without seeing him, mum. I’m so scared; he’s going to make me lose Phoenix.” I hiccuped. Mum pulled the covers over my body so I was warm while in her arms.

“Try to think of happy thoughts, Alex. Try to go back to sleep while thinking of happy thoughts. Think of Jack, think of Tom, think of Phoenix. Think of when Phoenix is born and what he’ll look like. Think about bringing him home for the first time and what a blessing it’ll be to have him here with you.” Mum went on and on on what I should think about to try and sleep peacefully. I followed her advice by thinking of Jack with Phoenix. I thought of Jack being there in the hospital after I deliver Phoenix and how happy he’ll be. I thought about holding Phoenix in my arms for the first time, with Jack by my side, and feeling that first feeling of fatherhood.

The more I thought, the more my eyes grew heavier. By the time I slipped into slumber, mum was on her millionth idea as to what I should think about to fall asleep.

---

*one week later*

My bed rest week was finally over. I awoke early in the morning to make some breakfast and get my clothes ready. When I got downstairs, my dad was already in his lounge chair with his newspaper and coffee. He heard me enter the room, and he greeted me with a, “Good morning, champ! How’re you feeling this morning?”

“I’m okay, dad. Thanks for asking.” I replied while I put two toaster waffles in the toaster. I went into the fridge and poured me some orange juice. I would have had coffee, but my doctor was against it since the incident where Phoenix made me bleed all over the music room. Dad came into the kitchen and sat down in a chair in front of the dining room table.

“Have you had any more rough nights sleeping, kiddo?” he asked. I shrugged, looking down at my Batman mug of orange juice.

“A few more. It got a little better since the night mum slept with me through the night.”

“Son, you really need to do something Oliver. Maybe Jack could --”

“No, dad.” I stopped him immediately. “I want to handle this all on my own. Oliver is my problem, not Jack’s. I have made it very clear to Jack to stay out of the Oliver situation. I will probably talk to Oliver sometime soon.” On time, my toaster waffles popped from the toaster. As I retrieved them, dad replied with,

“Talking to him will not do anything, Alexander. You need to talk to your principal or the authorities.” I turned to him with widened eyes.

“What? No! I’m not bringing them into this! They do not belong in this; I am talking to him, and that’s it.” Dad sighed, looking into his cup of coffee.

“I suppose, but if you ever need help --”

“If I need help, dad, I’ll ask for it.”

---

I walked into school with everyone staring at me. I guess my bleeding-out-incident made me a celebrity around here for a little while. I was going to head to my locker when a security guard came up to me. “Sir, we need you to come down to the office. The principal wants to see you right away.” What did the principal want with me this early in the day? I just nodded and allowed the security guard to take me to the office. We entered the office, and he allowed me to enter the principal’s, Mr. Even’s, office. Mr. Even stood up as I entered, and what I entered into made my jaw drop.

Jack, Taylor, Alan, and Austin stood on the side of the room along with two police officers who had Oliver’s wrists in each of their hands. “Mr. Gaskarth,” Mr. Even spoke up, “if you could have a seat, I can explain all of this to you.”

“I want to stand.” I spat. I was now glaring at Jack. I told him to stay out of the situation with Oliver, and of course, he got in-fucking-volved. Mr. Even worked with me wanting to stand, for he just continued to talk.

“Jack and your friends have explained to me that Oliver has been very abusive to you -- domestic violence, in specifics. I have brought these officers here to take Oliver down to the police station if you, well, wish to press charges on him for domestic violence.” I now scanned the looks of all my friends, and they all looked hopeful that I would press charges on Oliver. Oliver, on the other hand, was pleading with his puppy dog eyes for me to let him go. I just let my gaze fall into Oliver’s, frowning. I had to do the right thing for my baby and I.

“I do not wish to press charges on Oli.” I declared. Jack and the gang’s eyes widened with jaws to the floor. Oliver looked at me with an expression of joy and relief.

“What!?” Alan gasped in utter disbelief. I ignored him.

“Oliver didn’t do anything wrong in my eyes. He was just angry, and I know he won’t do it again.”

“But, Alex, you do realize what he did was very serious.” Mr. Even tried to explain. I shook my head.

“I know that very well, but I also know he has a tendency to get angry and do things he knows he shouldn’t. I want to give him a chance to redeem himself, sir.” Everyone in the room looked at me like I had dozens of heads, but Mr. Even didn’t argue.

“Let him go, please.” Mr. Even instructed the officers. Oliver, when freed, walked over to me and hugged me tightly.

“Thank you.” he whispered softly in my ear. I just patted his back and stated,

“Don’t mention it.” After our embrace, Oliver and the cops exited the room. Mr. Even looked at me and my group of friends with a sigh.

“You’re free to go, you guys.” I nodded and turned to leave. When I exited the office and made my way down the hall to get to my locker for the second time, I was pulled back yet again. This time, it was Jack. Taylor, Austin, and Alan stood behind him at a distance.

“What the fuck was that, Alex? That was your chance to put that motherfucker away for a long time!”

“That isn’t what I wanted! I wanted to handle this whole situation the right way that wouldn’t involve him being taken away from me! He’s still the father of Phoenix, and he doesn’t need to be in prison!” I defended. Jack scoffed and laughed at my reply. I squinted my eyes. “What the hell is so funny?”

“You know, I have never seen a kid have his prenatal vitamins go to his head more times than I have seen you have. You’re making the stupidest fucking decisions!”

“Jack, I-I think you should stop.” Taylor warned from behind him, but Jack continued to fire the harshest of verbal bullets at me.


“I’m sick of trying to help with you Oliver. If you want to get your fucking ass beat up and be his bitch, so be it! Maybe now I know why he beat your ass because you never fucking listen; you’re too fucking stubborn!” That was the last blow before my heart shattered. Taylor, Austin, and Alan gasped behind him, and in unison, they shouted,

“Jack, what the fuck!?” Their shout made Jack come to his senses, and he began to sputter out apologies.

“Lex… I’m so sorry. That came out totally wrong; it slipped!” I shakily picked up my bag, threw it over my shoulder, and gave them all a weak smile, including Jack.

“I’ll see you around.” I whispered as I began to leave. I heard Taylor call out for me to stop, but I kept going. Once I rounded the corner of the hall, all the tears poured down my cheeks. Pain overtook my entire body as the hysterical wave crashed against me. I pushed myself into the boy’s bathroom where I hid in a stall. I picked up my phone and dialed Tom. Tom instantly picked up.

“Lex, is everything okay?”

“Pick me up from school, please. I… I don’t want to be here right now. I feel sick, and -- and,” My crying became too hard to hold back, and I let out a strangled sob through the other end of the phone. Tom immediately knew what was wrong and what I needed, so he said,

“I’ll be right over, bro.” I hung up, but what made me perk up and shut my sobs up was yelling that entered the bathroom stall. It was Austin to Jack. I scurried to sit up on top of the toilet so they wouldn’t know I was in there.

“What you fucking said was heartless, Jack! Taylor, Alan, and I couldn’t believe what you said, and I suggest you fucking find where he went and apologize. He was just in the hospital for being over-stressed; you want to add massive depression to his fucking list?” Austin proceeded to wash his hands in the sink and grab a few napkins. “His decision may have been crazy, but he was thinking in the right direction. Go find him and fix it. Until then, I know Taylor isn’t talking to your ass because she is crying just as hard as Alex probably is.” I heard Austin leave, and I saw Jack standing in the middle of the bathroom speechless. I waited for a few moments, wondering what he was doing. He soon slammed his fist into the first stall door and stormed out of the bathroom.

Notes

hey love bugs! i finally finished this for you guys. six pages worth of reply since i left you all hanging for almost two weeks.

you can thank me being sick with a massive cold for me not getting this out sooner, and now, i have pink eye in both my eyes, so that should tell you why this took me until midnight to complete.

however, hope everyone enjoys this chapter! who's kinda pissed at jacky at the moment?

xoxo krys