How To Tame The Beasts -- Alex Gaskarth Fan Fic

Chapter Eight

"You sure you'll be all right by yourself?" my dad asked as he put his coat on. When I first got home we were both shocked to see each other. He, for one, was usually never home while I was supposed to be at school. After I explained to him how I wasn't feeling good he understood.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," I told him as I opened the pantry to look for food.

"All right, I'll see you later, baby girl," he said as he walked out of the house to go to his job. I'm not sure if he really believed I was sick, but he did know something was up so he just left it as it was.

Jay, on the other hand, was loving that I was home to give him attention. He spent most of the day up in my room with me while purring on my lap.

A few hours later my doorbell rang and I jumped. It was nearly five and I wasn't expecting anyone, unless it was the Trouble-Makers. Jay shifted on my belly at my sudden jolt and I pet my cat apologetically.

Again, the doorbell rang but this time it rang about five times quickly. Yup, this was definitely the Trouble-Makers. I knew if I didn't get the door now they would just walk in, so I decided to get up. Jay meowed in protest as I set him on the ground and ran down from the attic and towards the door. The ringing only continued until I got to the door and opened it.

I was greeted by Alex leaning against the doorframe with Jack to his side with his finger still on the bell. "Geez, stop that," I said, swatting Jack's hand off the button.

"You were taking forever," he said in his own defense.

"Stella, what the hell," Alex growled now, standing up straight.

I blinked. "Excuse me?"

"You know damn well what I'm talking about."

I went to close the door but his hand caught it, him being much stronger than I am. "What did he tell you?"

"He told me enough," I said, pushing the door more.

"Jesus," Jack said, turning away from us. "Let's go, Alex, there's no point in talking to her if she's acting like this."

"I'm acting like this? What about how you guys are! Demanding all the time," I shot back and Jack narrowed his eyes.

"No one forced you to join this club," he growled. "If you want to leave, then go ahead."

"Jack," Alex said, his voice showing a finality. "I'll deal with this."

Jack's eyes met with Alex's for a moment before he turned away once again and walked off the porch.

"Alex, I don't feel like talking right now," I told him, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Look, right now I'm going to talk to you about the crew first. Then I'm going to talk to you as a boyfriend, because right now they're all pretty pissed off," he said, taking a step towards me and I moved out of the way so he could come inside. "Especially Jaime. He's saying that we should just kick you out of the Trouble-Makers altogether."

"What did he expect to happen?" I demanded. "You guys weren't telling me what went down, so what was I supposed to do?"

"You should have waited, like I asked you. But you couldn't respect that," Alex said, his voice becoming more aggressive the more we talked about this. He ran his hands through his hair before he took in a deep breath. "I was waiting for the right time, but you had to do this and...go with Tony. In front of the whole group."

I stayed quiet, letting the silence loom out in front of us.

"Stella, they're going to get over this. They always do. But, depending on what Tony told you, the question is are you going to get over this," he said, turning towards me now. "Because, honestly, I could give a damn if they didn't accept you into the group right away. I would make them accept you, because I will always accept you. No matter how much you piss me off sometimes." He took a step towards me, gently rubbing his hand down my arm. "Just, please, don't leave."

I stood my ground, refusing to fall into his arms like I always did. What he did; I needed to know all of it. Tony told me a lot of it, but I needed to know his side of the story now. "Alex," I breathed as he came closer to me. "I need to know."

He gave me a questioning glance.

"I need to know what you did to that guy," I said, my voice beginning to shake.

He withdrew his hand and he stepped away, a curse falling from his lips. "He really did tell you," he said, more to himself than to me. He balled up his fists and turned away from me, but it was already too late; I could see the motive in his eyes. He began marching towards the door and it was like nothing else mattered to him right now, all he wanted to do was 'teach Tony a lesson.'

"Alex..." I said, trailing after him. "Stop this." I reached my hand out to him but he pulled his arm away from me.

"How much did he tell you?" he asked, suddenly whirling around to face me.

"He said he left out a lot, but he did say he went to the police because you and Jack did something to a guy..." I said trailing off. "And that Jaime saved you guys and that's how he became a Trouble-Maker."

He chuckled darkly. "Yeah, right after Tony sent him to the hospital."

I blinked. "W-What?"

"When Jaime saved us, Tony got so pissed off that he beat Jaime to a pulp. You could hardly even recognize him, that's how bruised up he was," Alex spoke. "But before we could all think of pay back to Tony, he left. And now that he's back it still stands that he'll never be a Trouble-Maker ever again."

I reached my hand out once more, taking Alex's hand and leading him towards the livingroom couch. I sat down and, reluctantly, he did the same.

"The, uh, guy me and Jack got was my step dad," he said quietly, leaning closer to me. "I don't know why my mom even married him...probably because she thought she could change him, or some crap like that." I felt a shiver run down my spine at that. "But he...he didn't want to change. There was no changing him. He was a drunk and when he drank he became violent and would hit my mom. I couldn't stand for that, I just...I couldn't. And when Jack found out he was just as pissed as I was. So we beat the crap out of him," Alex spat the last part. "He deserved it. Piece of crap deserved all of it. But I guess Tony didn't see it our way. He should've stayed out of it, he didn't even know the whole story. But he had to get involved and that's why Jaime jumped to our defense. Looking back at it, I know I messed up...but it was the only thing I could think of that would save my mom, okay? I was still just a kid and I had no idea what to do...so, we fought fire with fire." His eyes let a few stray tears fall out of them and I was feeling a bit shaken up towards the end as well. I guess Tony was right, that they had a good motive in the end. But it still didn't excuse him for what he did.

"Alex-"

"I know I messed up, Stella. I know I did. But what else was I supposed to do?" He stood up quickly at that, wiping at his eyes. "And after that he left, but my mom didn't get any better. Not for a while," he spoke with his back towards me.

I stood up slowly, wrapping my arms around Alex from behind. I rested my cheek on his back and now I could understand why he didn't tell me for so long; it was a touchy subject. It still scared me at how much destruction him and the boys could cause, but - unlike Alex's dad - they were willing to change. So, maybe I could help them to do so.

"It's okay, Alex," I whispered. "We all make mistakes."

Alex sniffed. "Yeah, but some people have made too many mistakes to forgive."

"Anyone can make up for the mistakes they've made." I sighed. "What's done is done and there's no changing that, but we can always change the future."

Alex stayed quiet. "I'm not sure about that. I'm just like him, really."

"You're willing to change, though." He set one of his hands on my arms. "I have faith in you."