Teenage Nightmare (Jalex)

I Fucked This Up Again

(Song- It's Complicated - A Day To Remember)

The next morning was not a good one. It was meant to be a good one. Alex was going to see Jack again, and for once, he wasn't going to see him as the annoying, douchey flirt who wouldn't leave him alone. He was going to see him as the boy he wanted to hopefully go on more dates with and soon. Alex took his pill before leaving, then headed for the school.
He managed to park and get to the front gate, meeting Rian and Jack, when Rian pointed.
"Uh...Alex." He mumbled, looking scared.
Alex turned around to look a little ways down the sidewalk. He felt his heart sink. His stomach churned and he was about to throw up. His heart started racing.
Rian grabbed him, "Alex. Not now. Pull it together. Deep breath." He instructed. Alex followed.
"What's..." Jack got cut off by Rian shushing him.
It was Linda with Elise.
She walked up to Alex and held out Elise's bag, her baby carrier and her carseat, "Ellie didn't want to tell you, but she can't do it anymore Alex. So. She's giving you what you want. She thought about it all night after your fight. You can keep Elise full time and let us visit her. Ellie, myself and Greg think it's better that way. You've always been more interested in raising her than anyone else has. Hope to see Elise soon. Sorry to do things this way. We'll figure something out later." Linda walked off, leaving Alex just staring with a bag, a baby carrier and a carseat with his daughter in it.
Rian took the carseat in case Alex dropped it in panic.
"Alex...Come on. Get it together. You can freak out later. Let's at least get inside where not everyone is watching..." There was a bit of a crowd. People definitely saw and heard. 
"Alex has a kid?" People were asking.
"How? He's fucking gay as hell."
"Obviously he slept with a girl."
Jack just stared, "Uhm..." 
Rian looked at him, "Not important, will fill you in, for now help him walk. He's about to pass out." 
Rian was right. Jack held onto Alex and walked him in through the front gate and to the benches.
Jack sat Alex down and kept an arm around him just in case.
"I'm gonna be sick." Alex muttered, staring at Elise who was sleeping soundly, all bundled up since it's still freezing in good ol' Baltimore. 
Rian rubbed Alex's shoulder, "Take a breath. You cannot do this in front of her Alex."
Alex closed his eyes and nodded, "Okay...Right." He sucked in a deep breath and looked at Elise.
Jack just sort of stared.
Alex looked at Jack and felt his heart shatter.
"Jack..." He said quietly.
Jack looked at him, "You have a kid? And no one knew?" He questioned, looking a little angry.
"It's no one's business...Yeah. I do. Her mom and I hooked up last year...We were really drunk, and things happened...Elise is the result of that." Alex explained quietly, feeling really, really timid now.
Jack closed his eyes and nodded, "Okay...Well. You're okay to handle this? I gotta breathe for a minute. I mean...You couldn't have told me earlier?" 
Alex bit his lip, "Why? So you'd turn me down and say nevermind?  Sorry I didn't disclose such personal information to you..." He stared at Elise.
"I'm just...I know why you didn't tell me okay? I just need to go breathe." Jack got up and walked away.
Alex looked at Rian, "I told you I shouldn't date. Apparently fucking and ghosting is my thing these days." He took his coat off, strapped the baby carrier to his chest and moved Elise carefully into it, wrapping her blanket and zipping his coat up around the carrier a little to keep her warm, her head against his chest. "Take the carseat to my car please...I don't know what to do." 
Rian nodded, "Call your mom. See if there's anything to do." He got up, took Alex's keys and took the carseat to Alex's car.

Alex called his mom, but she was working the day shift today, since Alex wasn't supposed to even have Elise today. She couldn't leave when she's an essential nurse on duty today. She suggested that Alex take her to class and see what happens. She said she'd call the school.
Alex was fucking mortified. Take his baby to class? His tiny three month old baby?
What choice did he have, though? He couldn't leave until he was cleared to, and on top of that today was a big exam.
So he bit the bullet, carried his own bag and Elise's to his english class.

He opened the door to see everyone staring at him.
Alex kept his eyes on the ground as he took off his coat and put it on the back of his chair, standing against the wall to sort of sway and bounce Elise a little.
"Al---" Mr. Green turned around to look at him, "Oh." He said quietly, eyes a little wide.
Alex nodded, "Oh." He responded.
Rian walked in and stood next to Alex, ready to catch him if god forbid he panics.
"Uh...Is there...What..." Mr. Green struggled for words.
"My mom can't take her. I can't leave until I'm cleared to by my mom. I don't know what to do." Alex's voice sounded flat out dead. He was perfectly happy to have Elise full time, but not this way. Not the way it just happened. 
"I....Just...Sit down then, see if we can get some work done." Mr. Green turned back to the whiteboard.
"Wow, how does a fag have a kid?" Some asshole asked.
Rian glared, "Shut the hell up. Be a dick on your own time, not in front of a freaking baby." Rian sat down next to Alex, taking over whoever's chair this was. They aren't in class yet anyway, so it doesn't matter.
"Knock it off, Tyler." Mr. Green snapped at the asshole.
Alex sat down and adjusted the carrier on his lap, bending down a little to get his book, his notepad and his pencil.
Elise fussed a little, letting out little whimpers.
"Shhh...shhhh." Alex cooed quietly, patting her back and bouncing in his seat a little, while literally the entire class stared at him. 
He looked around, feeling like he was about to die again.
"I...I'm so-sorry everyone...I j-just..." He stuttered out, looking at Rian.
"He doesn't have to tell you guys anything, stop staring. It's just a baby. Who cares that he's 17. Who cares that he's gay and has a child. Leave him alone. Stop staring. Stop expecting an explanation. You're not going to get one. Back off." Rian looked pissed. Rarely did Rian get pissed.
Alex just got up and grabbed Elise's bag. He looked at his teacher then walked out of the classroom. He didn't go far. He just sat down next to the door and looked through the baby bag for a pacifier. "It's okay baby girl. I know you don't wanna sit in this boring carrier all day. I'm sorry. I can maybe take you out..." So he did. He unclipped the carrier and cradled her instead, folding the carrier up and putting it in the bag. He pulled the pacifier out and put it in her mouth, making sure her blanket covered all of her little self. She was dressed very warmly, but still. He didn't want to sit out in the cold with her. What the hell else could he do though? He'd get in trouble if he left unless it got cleared. He was certain that it would, considering the circumstance but still. He had to wait for his mom to make the call and lord knows if she has yet or not.

Mr. Green came outside, "Alex?" 
Alex looked up at him, "Yes sir?" He responded, looking back down at Elise.
"I can help you with her, so you can do your exam if you need. If you're comfortable coming back inside. I don't mind holding her...I've already gotten everything on the whiteboard written out, and I have a granddaughter. She's three now, but I remember when she was this little. How old is your daughter? I'm sure your mom has called or something to get you excused, but until then I would like to help." He kneeled down to look at Elise.
"She's three months old. She'll be four months on the 27th. Thank you, my mom is calling right now to get it sorted out..." Alex smiled a tiny bit, "Her name is Elise." He moved the blanket out of her face just a tiny bit to show her off a little more.
"Wow, she looks just like you." Mr. Green said with a smile, "Come on, it's too cold to be out here with her. Let me help you so you can do your exam, I'll just sit at my desk with her or walk around the classroom with her. Is that okay?" He asked, standing back up.
Alex nodded, "Yeah...That would be okay." He stood up and went to grab the bag, but Mr. Green picked it up.
"Thanks sir." Alex smiled a tiny bit, then walked back into the classroom. He followed his teacher to his desk, kissed Elise's forehead and passed her off to his teacher. "I'll be right here, okay baby? Anything you need, I'm right here." He whispered and returned to his desk. 
Still, people stared. "Can you stop staring at me and my kid? For gods sakes, just take your damn exams." Alex glared. Now he was getting mad. His anxiety was centered on him, not Elise. 
"Get to your work, guys. I want to see the exam questions answered. They're all on the board. If they're not done in the 40 minutes you have, you'll drop a letter grade on the exam." Mr. Green said, smiling at Elise and bouncing her a little.
Alex glanced over at them, then at Rian with a tiny smile, then he got to work on his exam. 
This day couldn't get any worse. Somehow, he managed to answer all the prompts though. He turned in his exam and took Elise back, "Thank you for helping me...Can I go into the office and call my mom again please?" He asked, then took the office slip gratefully. He took Elise's bag and got out of that room as fast as he could.

"Mom?" He said into his phone, pacing the office with his baby in his arm, earning strange looks from literally everyone.
"Alex, I called, you're excused and can go home. Just talk to the lady in front and she'll make sure the teachers get the memo. I'll come home early okay? We need to talk about what happened. Other people witnessed the event right?" Isobel asked with a worried tone.
"Yeah mom...Lots of people. Rian and Jack saw the whole thing though, and Rian knows the whole situation. I freaked Jack out though...I went on a date with him and never told him I had a baby..." He felt like an idiot now. That might be a good thing to start out with before going on a date, let alone having sex with someone you're actually interested in.
"Just get home, okay? I'll talk to you as soon as I get there. I love you." Isobel hung up. Alex tucked his phone back in his pocket and looked at the lady who'd been eyeing him.
"I got excused...So can I just leave now?" He hoped that yes was the answer.
The brown haired office lady with her red glasses and tacky red lipstick nodded, "You can go hun. I'll make sure your teachers know. Good luck sweetheart. She's precious." She smiled.
Alex offered her a half smile back before getting to his car and going home.

Once he got there, he felt better. Elise was napping in his arms, he was watching The Fifth Element. It's his favorite movie despite other people's judgement. It's a good one, damn it.
He got a text. It would be lunch time by now at the school, so he assumed it was Rian. He was right.

Rian: You okay?

Alex: I mean...Yeah I'm getting what I want, but the way it happened is just...Too much. Everyone was staring. What's happening there and don't dumb it down or say it's okay. Tell me.

Rian: The entire school is talking about you...But I have to tell you something that might shock you. Some guys from the football team were making fun of you outside the cafeteria just now, and Jack legit just screamed at them to shut the fuck up and that they know nothing about you, and that it's none of their business. Like he flipped out.

Alex swallowed hard.

Alex: Fuck...I fucked it up didn't I? Should I have told him?

Rian: Probably but you can't go back now. Just...Let him come to you. Either way, he stuck up for you. 

Alex: I'm gonna have to thank him when he's not avoiding me.

Rian: He probably won't for long. Be calm alright? Don't overthink it. Get things sorted out with Elise first.

Alex: That's the plan. My mom is coming home early.

Rian: Good, get something going. I'll come over after if you want.

Alex: Please do.

Rian: See you then.

Isobel walked in not much later and sat down next to Alex, turning the TV off.
"I called a couple attorneys, one is going to help us. We need to at least set up something where she can't just take Elise back. The attorney says that because of the exchange, which people witnessed and the fact that Ellie apparently said she wants you to have Elise full time, that this should be an easy process...Then you can talk about visitation or anything like that." She sighed, looking down at the sleeping baby in her son's arms. How had all of this happened. One minute, Alex is just a normal teenager, just partying with his friends, screwing around making some bad decisions, and next thing she knew, he got a girl pregnant. A girl of all people. He likes men. Yet somehow, he got a girl pregnant. The girl kept the baby, her son stepped up, but now look at the predicament he's in. She worried about his mental health honestly. It wasn't great to begin with. Her son's mental health hasn't been good since he was around ten years old, when he had his first panic attack and depressive episode. 
"Attorney?" Alex asked, "Isn't that too expensive?" He looked down at Elise.
"If it means my granddaughter isn't stuck bouncing around and being the center of a huge argument, it's worth the money sweetheart. Let your father and I decide that part. He's coming home soon, so he and I will discuss that. Until then, why don't you just go upstairs and rest with her?" She leaned over and kissed his cheek.
He nodded and grabbed Elise's stuff and headed upstairs. 
What the fuck was about to happen?