Damned If I Do Ya [An All Time Low Fanfic]

Chapter Fourteen

Winter quickly turned into spring, flowers started to grow and it started to get warmer. Claire’s bump had begun to show. She had told her parents about her pregnancy, they told her to stay in L.A. They would send over money to their grandchild but they weren’t entirely happy about the situation. I had gone with Claire, to a doctor’s appointment. The baby was healthy, but Claire would need to start taking medication. She didn’t want to know the gender of the baby. She wanted it to be a surprise. Outside of Kim, Claire’s family and I, Jack was the only one to know. He wanted to know why I had dropped the jar. He promised he wouldn’t tell Alex yet. In February, Claire had to tell Alex. She came over to the house and I sat with her. Zack, Jack and Rian were recording in the studio.

“What’s up? Oh, hi Claire.” Alex said as we sat down on the sofa opposite him. He was playing his acoustic guitar.

“Nothin-” Claire started to say. I cut over her, wanting to get this conversation over with, “Claire has news.”

“Okay?” Alex said. His smile vanished.

“Claire’s pregnant.” I said as Claire looked down at her feet.

Alex put his guitar alongside him on the sofa and asked, “Is it? Is it mine?”

We both nodded and he started to count on his fingers, “So he would be born in-”

“July.”

“Shit, we’re playing Warped this summer.”

“You want to be at the birth?”

“Of course. Well, if you will let me.”

“Yeah, it’s your baby too.”

“So, is it a girl or a boy?”

“I don’t know, we’ll find out next July I guess.” She sounded worried. She was probably scared. This was all new to her.

“I have to go.” She whispered and hugged us both before getting in the car with Kim.

Alex sank down again on the couch with his head in his hands. I moved to his sofa and sat cross legged beside him. What did you say to someone who had fathered a child after a one-night stand? Congrats? You’ll be a great dad?

“So, ready for fatherhood Gaskarth?” I asked. He didn’t sit up, just shook his head.

“Trust me it’s going to be okay. Claire is staying here in L.A, so you can always see him or her.”

He finally sat up and stared at the ceiling

“That’s all good but the media. Our fans. They’re going to think I’m a dick.”

“So you’re going to disown your kid?”

“No. Of course not! It’s just going to be hard to understand for a while.” He picked up his guitar again and started playing again. I started to watch TV waiting for everyone else to return with food. Alex’s eyes were glassy and he wasn’t paying attention to anything I said to him. He suddenly got up and walked upstairs with his guitar. He probably needed to be alone.

10 minutes later the doorbell rang. I had oddly never heard it before. Everyone was used to banging on the door.

“You get it Walker! You’re closer!” Alex yelled from upstairs.

“Asshole!” I shouted back at him.

I walked to the window and peered out. A woman in a suit jacket and skirt stood outside holding a briefcase. She had her dark long hair tied back off her face and her dark- rimmed glasses rested low on her nose. Her lined face made me think she was in her forties. She rang the doorbell again and I ran to open it.

“Hello. Holly Annabel Walker?” she asked and held out her hand for me to shake. I shook it.

“Uh, yes. And you are?” I asked trying to be polite.

“Do you not remember me? You haven’t seen me since you were a child. My name is Teresa Philips. I am the supervisor of the Foster Carers in this area. May I come in?” she asked, holding a file close to her chest. I bit my lip and held onto the side of the door. This wasn’t my house; I couldn’t just invite strangers in. I would apologize later when I heard what she had to say.

“Okay, come in but this isn’t my house, I’m ju-”

“I am well aware of your predicament Ms Walker. Patrick and Juliet have explained it to me. Why I am here today has nothing to do with this situation.” She said stepping into the large house.

So it wasn’t about how I ran away? What could it be then? I decided to lead her to the dining room as we still hadn’t cleaned up the living room.

A long wooden table with eight chairs took up the majority of the dining room. Old and broken instruments lay abandoned in the corner of the room. Teresa sat at the top of the table and I sat beside her. She laid the file on the table and dug in her briefcase and found a pen and sat it on top of the file. She intertwined her fingers together on the table and looked at me.

“You’ve grown so much Holly. The first time I saw you, you were 11. Do you remember?” I shook my head but truthfully I did. It was the first night I ran away from home. Mum and Dad had had another fight, like every night. I sat by the stairs landing holding my small hands over my ears. I was still in my pyjamas as I climbed out my window onto the tree branch. I wandered the streets and fell asleep in a car park. My parents hadn’t noticed I was gone. I was brought to the Foster Care unit and asked a few questions. I didn’t answer any until Teresa came. She was nicer to me than the others. Teresa decided my parents weren’t fit to be my guardians. I was put in Care and often ran away from their houses too. I stayed in the Foster building while getting Therapy. My parents, they moved away and haven’t been heard of it. Frankly, I didn’t want to hear from them anyway.

“Oh well deary. I hate to be the messenger of bad news but unfortunately, today it is my duty.” She said opening her file and clicking her pen. She faced the file toward me and spoke,

“We found your mum. She moved to London in the UK. We tried to contact you over Christmas but you must have been busy. We called her house phone but she was- . She died on Christmas Day. She left a will before she died.”