Bones Exposed [Sequel to: Those In Glass Houses]

Jack smiled as he ran his hand through Annemarie’s hair while she slept. He couldn’t remember the last time he was this happy. Anne stirred a bit and clung closer to him, her hand and cheek resting on his chest while she slept. Jack stared at the ceiling and began feeling a bit sick.

Would he want her back? He wouldn’t steal her from me, we’re best friends. Plus, Anne loves me and I know for a fact she wouldn’t hurt me. Jack thought. He smiled, thinking of a great idea and he carefully shook Annemarie awake, having her stir and groan.

“Stop it Jack.” She complained, swatting his hand away.

“No, come on and get up! I have a surprise!” Jack eagerly spoke and Annemarie groaned, sitting up. Jack chuckled, kissing her bare shoulder as he got off their bunk and put on his boxers. They both got changed and walked outside, Annemarie fixing her hair and brushing it with her fingers. Jack looked around, spotting the group of men sitting by a bus and Blessing was throwing the ball to them. Annemarie turned to them and spotted Austin lightly tossing the ball to Blessing before she fell into a fit of giggles and threw the ball to Jaime.

Jack lightly pulled Annemarie over and before anyone of the three bands noticed them, Blessing turned and squealed. “Mommy! Daddy! Play!” She squealed, running to Jack. Austin watched as he crouched down and caught her, twirling her in the air and grinning. Annemarie was smiling at her laughing daughter and Austin stood up. Annemarie looked over at him and he walked over.

“Thanks for playing with her. It’s going to take time but she’ll eventually know you’re her real father.” Anne whispered. Austin nodded and looked over as Jack was crouched by Alex and Jaime, laughing at a joke Jaime told.

“As long as Blessing is happy, I don’t care about anything else.” He smiled. Anne nodded and was about to speak when she shuddered at another voice.

“Babe, why are you talking to her?” Gielle walked over and Austin groaned, yanking his arm away when she tried to hold it.

“She’s the mother of my child.” Austin snapped at her. Gielle narrowed her eyes at Anne and she rolled them, walking back to Jack.

“Well, we’re getting dinner, see you guys at the bus.” Jack smiled, standing back up and walking to Anne. “Come on, I think munchkin here wants some hot dogs and fries.” He grinned.

“We can’t feed her that again! It’s unhealthy.” Anne complained.

“Alright, Mexican it is!” Jack laughed. “You want rice baby?” He looked at Blessing who was squirming in his arms a trying to reach Jaime. She immediately stopped at the sound of the word rice and laughed.

“Rice! Rice!” Blessing cheered and Jack laughed. He put Blessing on the ground and held her hand, grabbing Anne’s in his other and leading them to the Mexican restaurant down a few streets. Austin looked away, feeling pain from his heart but he knew it wasn’t his disease.

…

The next day, Annemarie was sitting on the Mice bus with Aaron, Alan and Sarah; feeling bad that she hadn’t talked to them in so long. “So, now that we finally have you, how have you been these past two years? Texting isn’t really great because you don’t get the whole details.” Sarah smiled at Anne, sitting next to her. Alan was on the floor, holding his small, stuffed kitten. Blessing was giggling and petting it, giving it kisses and hugs.

“Well, during the six months with the guys, Jack had asked me out on small dates and after that, we dated.” Anne said, leaning back into the couch, watching Blessing pet the stuffed cat.

“Are you both still going strong?” Aaron asked. Anne nodded and Sarah watched her friend closely.

“But you still have feelings for Austin.” She whispered. All three of them watched Anne as she sighed and rubbed her temples.

“How can I not? He was and still is my first love, and my daughter’s dad.” Anne whispered.

“But he used me, I was just a toy. He lied to me, to all of us, about still being married. I’m not mad about that, it’s the whole using me is what got to me.” Anne said.

“But he wasn’t.” Alan spoke.

“But you need to see it from her point of view.” Aaron spoke. “Don’t lie; we all thought at that point that he was using her.” Alan nodded and turned to look at Anne.

“He was horrible. He went into a drinking stage and with his heart, he landed in the hospital three times. We’re lucky he didn’t die on us. On the third time, he got a horrible scolding from his father.” Anne’s eyes widened and Alan nodded. “Mr. Carlile told him that he need to realize what he’s doing is wrong and he needs to right all this. That’s when Austin realized everything he was doing was hurting the people around and especially the fans.”

“We lost a lot of fans, but Austin,” Sarah began. “I was surprised at the amount of respect people lost for him. They heard that he was back with Gielle and he had lied to you. A lot of fans began sending hate on his Twitter, and Instagram, telling him that what he did was wrong and they supported you through all this.” Anne stared at her daughter and Blessing looked up at Anne, running to her and hugging her legs. Anne smiled, picking her up and hugging her tightly.

“Watch, smile for me ladies.” Sarah aimed her phone at Anne and she smiled, Blessing waving at it. Sarah snapped the photo and uploaded it quickly to Instagram. “You might see one or two people send hate, but majority will be support.” Sarah gave Anne the phone and she began seeing all the comments that popped up by the second.

Every single one of them brought a smile on her face and she gave the phone back to Sarah. “It’s really amazing.” She spoke. Sarah smiled and looked at the time.

“My shift starts for the merch tent. Why don’t you take a field trip with me?” Sarah took Blessing and said her goodbyes. Anne waved at them, saying her goodbyes as well and walking to the All Time Low bus.

“Babe, we have to go, where’s the baby?” Jack asked, running up to Anne.

“Sarah took her to the merch table. Do you guys have a meet and greet?” She asked.

“Yeah, right before our set. I love you, take care.” Jack quickly kissed Anne before she headed off the bus.

Notes

I'm so sorry for not updating! I'm such a terrible person! Please forgive me! I had major writers block but I think I got everything under control. Now... Guys... Jack or Austin? Just wondering. I want all of you to comment on this. :)