Cinderblock Garden (Adopted by All Time Low)

Old Scars / Future Hearts

Juliet's POV

"I missed this table," I said and hugged the coffee table in the living room.  We're home.  We're finally home.

"You have a nice house," Dani said and inspected the kitchen.

"I know," Alex kissed her cheek, "I'm just happy I get to share it with you."

Dani rolled her eyes and teasingly pushed him off her, "I'm only staying for two weeks.  No more."

"Sure.  Only two weeks."

Jesse appeared in the doorway heavily weighed down by various suitcases, "Thanks for helping me with the bags," He said sarcastically and dropped them on the floor.

"Sorry buddy," Alex apologized, "We got distracted.  I'll take these up.  Jay, can you go show them the house?  Oh, and the basement.  I asked Gerard to stop by and fix it up a bit so Jesse would have someone to sleep.  Dani is gonna crash on the couch, or in your room.  Whichever she wants."

The last time I saw the basement was when we took down the Christmas tree and shoved all the boxes of decorations and ornaments in a dusty corner.  Now the room was clean looking and the majority of the boxes weren't there.  There was even a bed.

"Is this mine?" Jesse asked me.

I nodded, "Yup.  All yours."

"What can I put in it?"

"Anything you want."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was almost one in the morning and I was still wide awake.  You'd think that after spending the past few months sleeping on a couch sleep would come easy now that I'm in an actual bed.  Unfortunately, that was not the case.  It was one in the morning.  I am wide awake.

So I went downstairs.  Maybe if I get a drink of water and move around for a little bit I'll calm down.

"Why are you awake?"

Alex was sitting at the kitchen table on his laptop.  His eyes looked a little bloodshot in the light of the screen.

"You need sleep," I told him, "Your face looks tired."

"Shh," Alex held his finger to his lips, "Dani is sleeping and so should you.  Go back upstairs."

"I can't," I whispered and slid into the chair next to him, "I feel happy."

"As important as your happiness is, your number one priority right now is sleep.  Go to bed."

"But I want stay downstairs with you."

Alex sighed, "Fine.  Well, I was going to save this for the morning, but now's a good of a time as ever.  I have something I think you'd like to see."  He pushed the laptop over to me.

Dear Mr. Gaskarth,

We have searched through the state archives and found information on Juliet and Jesse's parents, as you requested.  Unfortunately, they are deceased.

"What does deceased mean?" I asked Alex.

He uncomfortably cleared his throat, "Dead."

"Oh."

My good mood came crashing down.  Dead?  They couldn't be dead.  I had played the scene over and  over in my head.  When I met them they would hug me and apologize for leaving and tell me how much I'd grown up.  Then they'd tell me stories of when I was a little kid and the missing pieces of my past would finally come together.