Destroy Rebuild
Sixteen
“Hey, Whit. It’s Eric again. Just thought I’d give you a call, see if you were free to hang out tonight. I’m sorry if I bug you too much. I just really miss you. Anyway, give me a call when you get this. Bye.”
I listened to the voicemail I’d just received twice before deleting it. With a sad shake of my head, I set my phone on the arm of the couch.
I felt horrible for constantly blowing Eric off or completely ignoring him all together. He always tried to play it off when I told him hanging out wasn’t an option when he asked with light laughter or a sarcastic comment, but the long pause in between my rejection and his response was always long enough that I could hear the disappointment.
He was always a good friend to me and he didn’t deserve my shitty friendship back. If only he weren’t so outspoken about his love for me – or if I would have never mentioned it to Alex like a dumbass – there wouldn’t be an issue. Eric was persistent, but he also respected boundaries.
However, after finding out just how much it bothered Alex during our phone call the day before, I couldn’t betray our relationship like that.
My phone buzzed beside me and I groaned, thinking it was Eric trying again. When I saw Alex’s name instead, I sighed with relief.
“Hey,” I smiled.
“Hey gorgeous,” he replied. “What’s up?”
“Nothing much. Watching some TV. Megan should be here soon with Will.”
“Ah, so the momcation is coming to an end.”
“Yeah,” I laughed. “Kinda bittersweet.”
“Yeah?” he asked.
“Yeah. I love having the house to myself and being free to do whatever I want, but most of the things I do now are ‘mom’ things anyway, and I just miss him too damn much,” I sighed.
“I feel you,” he sighed back. “I miss you guys all the time.”
“Aww, we miss you, too, daddy,” I giggled.
“Daddy,” he repeated in a whisper. “That’s hot. You gonna start calling me that in the bedroom?”
“No,” I scoffed. “Ew.”
He laughed heartily. “It was worth a try, I suppose.”
“Anyway,” I sighed with a roll of my eyes. “Did you guys have fun last night?”
“Yeah,” he said flatly after a short pause.
“Just ‘yeah’?”
“You know how it is. You drink. You don’t remember much. You assume you had a good time.”
“From what I’ve experienced with you guys, yes, that is usually how it goes.”
“Exactly,” he sighed.
“Well, what are you up to today?”
I heard the muffled voice of someone near him and he quietly agreed to whatever they said. “Jack and I are doing some radio show appearances. They’re going to let us talk about the album and do some advertising for the tour.”
“That sounds awesome,” I smiled.
“You should listen to Hits One on Sirius XM around four if you can. That’s when we’ll be going on.”
I glanced at the time on my phone, noting I had roughly around thirty minutes to tune in. “I can’t wait.”
More muffled voices were heard and Alex sighed heavily before saying, “Babe, I gotta go. We’re going to go over everything really quick to make sure we hit all the key points in the interview.”
“Ok,” I frowned. “Have fun, and don’t mess up. I will be listening and making note of any bloopers.”
“How sweet,” he mumbled sarcastically.
“I love you,” I giggled.
“I love you, too. Call me later when Will’s with you. Gotta go. Bye.”
As soon as I hung up, someone started banging on the front door, making me jump before I scurried to answer it. Megan looked entirely too unhappy and even a little suspicious as she helped herself in the corridor, leaning to her left to counter the weight of the car seat with my wide-eyed son swinging from her right hand.
“Where did you say Alex was again?” she asked as she hurried in to the living room.
I was quick to catch up with her, and when I did she’d already hoisted Will’s car seat on top of the island and was standing in front of the TV with the remote in her hand, flipping through channels viciously.
“Los Angeles. They’re planning and promoting the tour,” I said as I clumsily tried to unbuckle Will, finally pulling him into my arms. “Hey, baby boy.”
I glanced up at Megan, who’d decided on a channel and was standing patiently with her hands on her hips. With risen eyebrows, I turned to the diaper bag that was next to the car seat and began pulling out the bottles I’d sent with Will.
The E! News logo flashed across the screen and I rolled my eyes at Megan’s obsession with celebrity gossip until one of the segments started grasping my attention.
“Could it be some sparks are reigniting? Italian supermodel Sophia Valentino was seen heating things up with ex-boyfriend and lead singer of the pop punk band All Time Low, Alex Gaskarth, last night at a club in downtown LA. The pair split a little over a year ago, but were photographed,perhaps, making amends?”
My eyes slowly lifted to the screen and I felt them start to burn as I saw the picture of Alex and Sophia leaning against the railing of a rooftop, their lips pressed together and Alex’s hands perched on her hips.
“I’m going to fucking kill him,” Megan spat.
Notes
I'm sorry this is sooo short, and that its taken me so long to update. Real life has been super hectic lately and unfortunately it's going to continue to be that way for a while. Please stick with me, lovelies. I'm trying to update as much as I can <3
Remember the "heartbreak" part in the summery? Yeah...get ready. It's coming.
On a happy note, though,
Last Young Renegade? *insert heart eye emoji here*
I hope you come back to this and update again. I miss this story!
1/9/19