Brook-

"So, do you want the good stuff or the bad stuff first?" my cousin Sami asked me.

She had been texting me during the day and told me that she had some things she needed to show me so we had made a plan to web-cam when I was home from work.

"I've had a stressful few days," I sighed. "You might as well give me the good stuff first."

I could make out Sami rolling her eyes.
"Would that stress have anything to do with your boyfriend being back in LA for a few days?"

I hoped the screen could blur the new tint of pink that flushed my cheeks.

"You were sending me something?"

"Right,” she laughed. “In coming," she said and a few seconds later my e-mail box signaled a new message.

"What am I looking at?" I asked as I quickly scrolled through the e-mail.

"You said if Alex was taking his time to write messages about you on the Internet, you wanted to know. So, I took a few screen shots of things he's put up that I'm pretty sure are about you."

I nodded slowly as I scrolled back to the top of the e-mail. The first screen shot was from around the time Alex was home for a few days in between the UK tour and the Canadian tour. More specifically, the day of the Superbowl.

AlexAllTimeLow:I never thought I'd be so happy to see the Giants win. Sometimes it's better to see someone else smile.

The next one came a few weeks later when Alex was back home from tour and we had officially became a couple.

AlexAllTimeLow: Life is so great right now, you guys. I’ve been walking around singing happy boy band songs!

A little further down there was a picture of the beach in California at sunset with the caption Someone is missing. The smile on my face only continued to grow when I saw a screen shot from the day I surprised him in LA that said Best. Surprise. Ever. After that one there was a screen shot of a picture of Alex showing off the black eye he had got in the fight with the jerk at the bar in LA that came with the caption Never fuck with someone I care about. I have zero tolerance for disrespect.

There were a handful of screen shots where he had posted with lyrics of many of the songs that had made their way onto our Our Song playlist.

The last one I saw was a screen shot from just a few nights ago when we had gone to prom. He posted a picture of himself all dressed up in his suite with the caption Back to high school for prom tonight. What? #wordscantsaywhatlovecando. I really enjoyed that he quoted the Bon Jovi song.

"You look like you’re off on another planet right now," Sami finally said.

I almost forgot that she could see me.

I laughed a little, minimizing a few screens before I got to the web-cam screen.

"Shut up."

"Did you guys bang yet?" she asked.

"Samantha!" I gasped. "I'm pretty sure that's none of your business."

"So you have!" she beamed, her eyes going wide.

"What makes you think that?" I asked.

"The last time I asked you, you quickly denied it because there was nothing to tell but now that it seems like there is plenty to tell, it's none of my business."

"What good is it to you to know if we did or didn't?"

"Alex is hot."

“Yeah,” I laughed. "And?"

"And I would like to know if he's good or not."

I couldn't believe I was actually entertaining this question with my sixteen year old cousin. To be honest, I didn’t really have a chance to talk to anyone about it. Jenn has basically locked herself away from all human interaction to finish her paper and studying for finals since it was the end of the school term. I know she's going to kill me when she finds out I didn't talk to her right away but I would feel too guilty knowing I distracted her from her studies to discuss my lame sex life. I have other people that I could have talked to about this but I’m not exactly too comfortable kissing and telling so I never know how to bring it up.

I sighed and glanced back up at the computer screen. Sami's eyes were practically boarding into my head and I finally cracked.

"Okay, fine. We did."

"I knew it!" she squealed. "Tell me everything!"

"I will not tell you everything. I will tell you that it happened the other night after he came with me to my school’s prom and yes, he was just fine."

"Just fine?" Sami asked, her head cocked to the side.

I felt my cheeks flush a little bit again.

"He definitely knew what he was doing."

“Good for you, Brook,” Sami laughed. "Just answer me one more question. "

"That depends what that question is." I replied, bracing myself for anything.

"Is he better than that douche-bag Josh you almost married?"

Ordinarily, I would have scolded Sami for using bad language but when it came to Josh, I had a tendency to let it slide. Mostly because it was incredibly true.

“Yes,” I nodded slowly, biting my lip. “Definitely better than him. Definitely."

"Is he big?"

"Okay! We are so totally done talking about this!"

"What? It's a serious question. I mean, you've seen how tight his jeans are sometimes. It doesn't look like there's a lot ther-"

"Samantha!" I gasped again. "What else did you have to show me? Nothing could be worse than this conversation at this point."

"Oh right. Well, it looks like you guys have been outted as a couple to the All Time Low fan base."

"We have?"

"He hasn't said anything particularly to confirm it, but as you just saw, he's not exactly denying it either."

"So how have we been outted?"

I could tell Sami was typing away on her computer which let me know should have expected another e-mail soon.

"First it looks like one of his friends took a bunch of pictures at some party and put them up on Facebook and then someone somehow found them and posted them all on All Time Low fan pages."

"Bad pictures?" I asked nervously.

"Not really. There are a few where you look wasted but I have to figure judging by some of the other pictures that you are. It's mostly the comments people have left that I don't like."

I took a deep breath. Alex had briefly warned me of this and I guess I should have better prepared myself.

"Am I the most hated person among the teenage female population?" I asked.

"Not quite. It’s not like you're dating Justin Bieber. "

"Alright, just send away," I sighed, preparing myself for the worst.

A few seconds later my computer signaled a new e-mail had been received and I quickly opened it.

So, rumor has it Alex has a new girlfriend. See below for some pictures I came across. She seems cute. -- Anybody know anything about her?

Underneath there was a bunch of pictures posted from the party at Alex's when I had met all his friends. Most of the pictures were innocent candid pictures. The worst ones were where I was sitting on Alex's lap. In one, we were posing nicely for the camera. In another I was pressing a kiss to his cheek and in the last he was grasping my face and kissing my lips. The post ended with a few more candid shots of me goofing off with Cassadee and a few of me doing shots with Jack.

I slowly scrolled to the comments.

I hear she's another LA wannabe model trying to use whatever fame he has to get jobs

I don't think she's from LA. My older sister works at a movie theater in Baltimore and she saw them there. Apparently they were arguing about him buying her ticket. She sounds spoiled.

here's more pictures of them together in a bar in LA. This was the night Alex posted the picture of himself with the black eye. I think something happened with her and Jack. They seemed cozy.

Attached to the comment were pictures of me and Jack doing shots again and kind of hanging all over each other, just laughing. There were some from me and Cass's Britney karaoke performance. There were a lot more pictures of me and Alex kissing in this set than before, probably because I was much more drunk.

I wonder if she lets Jack and Alex do her at the same time.

She's not that pretty.

Definitely Team Lina on this one. This girl seems like she came out of nowhere.

She's small. I could take her out.

I read a few more comments where the main topic of conversation regarded who I was and how Alex met me. It was almost unbelievable that they couldn't find me on any social media pages. I was happy. The less personal information they knew, the less threatening this all felt. That was until I kept scrolling.

Her name is Brook Monteverdi. She's a guidance counselor at Pikesville High School in Maryland. My cousin goes there. Alex went with her to their prom. She sent me some pictures.

Attached were pictures from of Alex and me and Alex posing with some of the students. There were also so candid shots of Alex and me taking to the other teachers. I noticed he was always trying to touch me in some way. It was cute.

She must be a real freak in the sheets if she got him to do this.

You guys, she seems really nice. I mean, a guidance counselor? We should give her a chance.

I hate to admit it but he seems really happy.

Now that we know her name and what school she works at, we should all call up pretending to be students and make complaints about her.

Genius idea of calling up the school... Googling the contact information now...

We should give her a chance. I think he really likes her.

THEY ARE SO CUTE!

I agree.... He hasn't looked this happy in a really long time.

"I think I’ve read enough," I said a little while later, minimizing all the screens again until I saw Sam.

She had a sad smile on her face.

"I did the right thing by telling you, right?"

"I think so.” I nodded slowly. “Will they really call the school?"

Sam didn't answer right away which made me even more nervous.

"I wouldn't worry just yet," she said softly.

"Thank you for telling me," I said trying to put on a reassuring smile.

“You're welcome."

"Just to put it out there... Jack and I..."

“Oh, don’t worry,” Sami laughed a little. "I didn't for a second think you had it in you to bang them both."

"Wow," I rolled my eyes. "Um. Is it true when they said he hasn't looked this happy in a while?"

"I would say so. Others have too. I tried to send you a variety of messages so you didn't think everyone hated you."

"It's good to know some people like me."

"I've made a few fake accounts to post nice things about you in hopes of positively changes some people's minds about you."

She raised my eyebrow.

"None of which are the ones I just sent you. Promise," she said quickly causing me to laugh.

"Does he know you showed me this?" I asked.

"Nope," Sam shrugged and a second later I heard my aunt call her down for dinner. "I gotta go, Brooky. I'll text you later."

"See ya, Sam," I smiled, waving at the screen before she disconnected the web-cam.

By the time I closed the web-cam program, logged out of my e-mail and shut down my laptop, What Makes You Beautiful sang from somewhere in the kitchen, signaling my phone was ringing and more specifically Alex was calling. It was his idea to make that my ringtone specifically for when he called.

"Hey you," I smiled as I answered the phone, leaning against the kitchen counter.

"Hey babe. How's it going?"

The tone in his voice was a little different than normal and I immediately realized Sam had in fact told Alex she was showing me the messages.

"You've been in touch with Sam, I see."

"Brook, I am so sorry. I didn't think she should tell you but she wouldn't take no for an answer."

"I'm fine," I said quickly. "I was fourteen once too. I know what it's like."

"Brook, they threatened your job."

"It's all empty threats, Alex. I'm not too worried."

I wasn't completely lying to him. It was a little unnerving to read such bogus things about me but I didn't really think any of them would mess with my job.

I didn't want it to cause a problem between Alex and me. I knew how important his fans were and I didn't want to come off like I was bothered by them because I wasn't.

"Just save those emails with the comments in writing just in case."

"Okay." I said. "So, what time does your flight get in tonight?" I asked changing the subject.

"Not until pretty late. We land after midnight."

"That stinks," I sighed, opening the fridge trying to decide what to make for dinner.

"Yeah. Jack's sister is in town and she insists on picking us up. The dogs are with Lina until the end of the week so I kind of figured I'd have her drop me off by you."

"Duh," I laughed pulling out a package of chicken from the freezer.

"Awesome," he said, trying to sound excited but I knew he was still worried about the things written about me on the Internet.

"Alex, stop worrying about what those girls were saying about me. I've forgotten about it already. Plus, not everything I read was negative."

"I know but I still feel really bad. No one should have said things like that about you."

"What about the ones who said to give me a chance because you seem happier than ever?" I tried.

"Well those would be right but the ones who suggested you were using me for fame or sleeping with me and Jack at the same time need to be put in their place."

"Alex, it's not necessary. Please. Don't tick off your fans for my benefit."

"I won't but I will take care of it," he assured me, which on some level, I had to appreciate.

I sighed, racking my brain for something else to change the subject with when my eyes landed on the calendar on my fridge and I remember something I had to ask Alex.

"Hey, you're going to be home Memorial Day weekend, right?" I asked.

"Yeah. Why do you ask?"

"You remember my friend from work, Liz, right?"

"The inappropriate one?"

"That's the one,” I laughed. “She has this big barbecue in her yard the Saturday before Memorial Day each year and she has requested that I bring you with me this year."

"Oh."

"Oh?" I repeated, confused.

"I wish I could. It's just that's my mom's birthday and a bunch of my family from the UK will be in town and I kind of promised I would be home."

"Oh, of course," I nodded to myself. "I totally get family commitment. We can do your parents' house during the day and head to Liz later on. Those parties go on way into the night," I said with a slight laugh.

"No, that's okay," he said quickly, sounding nervous. "You can go to the party and I can just meet you later."

"Alex, I don't mind..." I trailed off. "That is unless I wasn't invited...”

"Brook, you weren't not invited-"

"No. Because you would have to meet someone first to invite them to something."

"Brook, stop."

"How come I haven't met your parents yet? I mean, really?"

This had been something that was sort of bothering me for a little while but I tried not to let it show and maybe that's why it exploded out of nowhere.

"I don't know," he seemed to be scrambling to find the right words. "There hasn't been a good time."

"What a cop out response, Alex," I sighed, frustrated.

"Brook, I'm not doing this with you right now. So you haven't met my parents yet. Big deal."

"It is a big deal, Alex! Do you know what kind of a jerk it makes me look like? They probably think so little of me at this point."

"You're being a little dramatic, Brook,” he sighed. “My parents don't think less of you."

"Right. How could they think anything of me when they haven't met me?"

"Are we really doing this right now?"

"When else are we supposed to do it, Alex? Why haven't I met them?"

"Brook, the first time I offered for you to come with me to see them you freaked out and almost peed your pants."

"That doesn't even count!" I almost yelled. "That happened about thirty seconds after you had officially made me your girlfriend."

"Brook, don't go ahead now and do that Brook thing that you do where you over think everything. It is nothing personal, I promise. There just hasn't been a good time to do it, with me going back and forth to LA in between these mini tours."

"Your mom's birthday seems like a good time. You'll be home and I will be sure to clear my schedule."

"Brook," he said, slowly dragging out my name.

I realized he wasn't backing down but neither was I.

"You know what, Alex? Just forget it. Clearly we are not going to see eye to eye on this right now."

Admittedly, I was being a tad dramatic but at the same time it really bothered me that Alex hadn't brought me to meet his patents yet and didn't seem to have a plan to do it anytime soon. It was definitely doing a number on my confidence.

"Brook, don't be like that, babe. Come on."

"It's fine," I sighed, not even trying to hide the frustration in my voice.

"Brook," he tried again.

I was so incredibly annoyed with him right now; it was the first time in the history of our relationship that I was happy he was out of town.

"You should probably just get dropped off at your place later. By the time you get here, it will be really late. I have to get up early in the morning, so I'll be asleep anyway," I said annoyed before I disconnected the call.
***

Notes

Story Title: Taylor Swift - Sparks Fly
Chapter Title: Gym Class Heroes - Ass Back Home


Aww, they're fighting again. :(