STAY WOKE ✔︎ || A. Grande

ᴇɪɢʜᴛᴇᴇɴ

"W-W-Where were you? Y-You took a-a long t-time..." Alex exclaimed when Dalton got back into his room. "Yeah, I know. And I'm super sorry, bud. Dr. Benjamin wanted me in his office." Dalton exclaimed, handing Alex the gummy sharks. Alex eagerly took them and began eating them like it was his last meal. Dalton smiled at the sight.

Alex was like a son to Dalton, which fit perfectly because Dalton had always wanted to be a dad. Sometimes he would even call Alex his son, but it would be 100% on accident. But if Dalton wanted to, he could adopt Alex. Alex's parents 'disowned' him after they found out he had a mental illness, then went on to have another child. They were banned from coming to see Alex and banned from the hospital in general for bragging about how good their child was in front of Alex.

It always shocked Dalton with how cruel parents could be. His parents as well were very cruel. They always pushed him to be someone he didn't want to be.

——𝗳𝗹𝗮𝘀𝗵𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸——

"Oh, Max! Look how cute he is! He will definitely win bachelor of the year, don't you agree?" Max looked at his son and nodded with a smile. Dalton definitely looked very charming in the tux he was wearing, the only downside being that he wasn't very comfortable. "Smile, Dalton!" Christine said to her son, holding up a camera.

Dalton gave an awkward and uncomfortable smile. Christine instantly frowned at her son's awkwardness. "Smile properly, Dalton. No one will want a bachelor who looks as if he has a wedgy!" Dalton smiled 'properly' and Christine went back to her joyful self and took a picture. She looked at it before handing it to Max, Dalton's dad.

"Why can't Dakota do this?" Christine rolled her eyes at the name of her older son. "Because he went to college. But you son, you have potential! I can already see you in Hollywood with a bunch of girls by your side as you bathe in money! Completely living the dream!"

"Mom, I don't want to 'live the dream'. I want to become a doctor and help people. Do you know how bad they treat those kids at the mental hospital? They treat them like complete animals. I don't want to be-"

"Hunny, no one is going to want a bachelor who is interested in helping kids." Christine said then snapped another photo. She sighed when Dalton looked angry in this one then through it away. "They want a bachelor who is interested in money, and, well... money!" And plus, you don't want to be like Dakota and be away from your mommy and papi, do you?"

Dalton rolled his eyes.

"Dalton, we raised you to become a bachelor. We taught you manners, how to dress, how to act. We taught you everything and now you are going to take all of that and become a-a doctor?!" Max stepped in, waving his arms around like a crazy person. "How unbelievable."

"You're grounded." Christine and Max said together making Dalton confused. "All because I don't want to become a bachelor?! Wha-"

"Go to your room, Dalton. And don't come out until dinner time!" Max yelled. Dalton looked at his father then looked at his mother with a look of disbelief then went up to his room. He couldn't believe that his parents weren't on board with the whole doctor thing. Isn't that what most parents want their kid to be? A doctor or lawyer or real estate agent? He just found it fascinating but weird that his parents wanted him to be a... bachelor.

————

"H-Hey, D-Dalton? W-who is t-t-that by Briar?" Dalton looked out the window of Alex's door and saw Briar walking with a much taller guy. Dalton smirked to himself. He knew that Alex had a small crush on Briar, and he knew how jealous Alex got whenever he saw Briar with a new person.

"I think that's Briar's old friend, Zach. Don't worry about him, he's way older than Briar and I doubt that he wouldn't touch or do anything out of the ordinary." Dalton said, becoming a bit nervous himself. He turned back around and looked at Alex who's right hand was shaking vigorously. Dalton quickly moved to action and put his hand on top of Alex's. He sighed in relief when the shaking came to a minimum.

"There's no need to become so jealous. I'm pretty sure Ariana has everything under control if something does happen." Alex did his breathing tactics and gave Dalton a nod, telling him he was okay.

———

It was now late at night and Dalton was in Ariana's dorm. He knew that he shouldn't be in there, but he knew that this was the only way to help Ariana.

He knew from personal experiences that Briar's demons came out at around 2am. It was currently 1:30am. He had a jar in his hand and he was ready for the demon to appear. As soon as the demon was out of Ariana, Dalton would capture the demon in the jar. He should've asked Courtney for help since Courtney use to be Briar's doctor, but he wanted to be the one to save Ariana was the living nightmare.

Though, he wouldn't mind it staying. He liked dominant Ariana.

But that was beyond the point. Saving Ariana was all that was on his mind.