Alex's POV

What's up with Jay?  I thought to myself as I saw her run up the stairs.   Did I do something wrong?  I put my arm around her, that must be it.  She thinks I'm getting too close to her.  Jay is a great kid, she really is.  She just needs to trust people more.  I'll cancel practice tomorrow and take her somewhere special. 

I sighed, I guess I'm finishing this movie alone.

Juliet's POV

"Where are we going?" I asked Alex.  He had blindfolded me, put me in the car, and said we were going 'somewhere special'.

"It's a surprise," Alex said, "You'll like it, trust me."

"And what if I don't?" I challenged him.

"Well then you have my permission to suck my- Hey!  We're here!"

Alex took off my blindfold.  We were in front of a little cafe.

"This one of my favorite places in the whole world," He explained, "They have really good muffins."

"Hey Alex!" A dude about Alex's age waved to us from behind the counter, "Who's the little lady you have with you?"

"Hi Justin!" He waved back, "This is Jay.  My daughter."

Justin came out from behind the counter, "Jay, that's a cool name," Justin shook my hand, "Alex and I go way back.  He was the first regular I ever had at this little coffee shop of mine."  He turned to Alex, "So it'll be the usual for you?  Toasted muffin and cinnamon mocha coffee?"

Alex nodded, "Yeah, that'll be great.  Jay, what do you want?"

I shrugged, "I'll have the same as Alex.  But what is a toasted muffin?"

"So you take the muffin and then Justin puts it on the grill so it's all warm and amazing, then he tops it with hot fudge and whipped cream, " Alex explained, "It's the best thing ever.  You gotta try it."

(A/N So there's this shop where I live that actually makes toasted muffins like the ones described here AND OH MY GOD THEY ARE SO GOOD YOU HAVEN'T LIVED UNTIL YOU'VE HAD A TOASTED MUFFIN)

We sat down at a booth in the back.  "So I wanted to show you California today, but from a different perspective.  You don't have to run anymore, Jay.  You're part of a family now and we love you, whether you like it or not.."  Alex said to me.  I looked down at the table.  Don't bond Jay, I told myself, Don't do it.  He doesn't mean what he's saying.  There's no such thing as love...

"So, is All Time Low going on tour anytime soon?" I asked him, changing the subject.

"Sort of," Alex said, "There's Warped, which is in the summer, but we've got a while before that so we were thinking about doing a short tour after Christmas or something."

"What's tour like?  Do you like it?"

"I love tour, but it has it's advantages and disadvantages.  I love seeing all of the fans, obviously, and we go to some really cool places, but it's really hectic," Alex explained, "You're lucky if you get five hours of sleep each night and sharing a tour bus with like six other guys is an absolute nightmare.  But I think it's all worth it in the end.  Are you excited for tour?"

"Maybe a little," I admitted.

"Why?"

"Traveling around the world sounds really cool.  There's so much out there and I want to experience all of it."  I told him and then instantly regretted it.  I'm not supposed to be bonding.  Telling him this is only going to have him be closer to me, and that's the last thing I want.

"Order up!" Justin cheerfully said and put two plates and coffee mugs down on the table.  I took a sip of the coffee, which was a lot better than the stuff we have at the house.

"Is this what heaven is like?" I asked Alex once I finished the muffin.

He nodded, "Yes.  This is exactly what heaven is like."

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"Dude, don't chase the ducks."

"But I wanna chase them!"

"Have you ever thought about the duck's feelings?  Maybe they don't want to be chased."

"BUT I WANNA!"

I sighed, he's acting like a spoiled brat.  Isn't he supposed to the adult?

"Fine," I said to Alex, "Go chase the ducks.  But if they start acting like assholes don't you dare come running back to me."

Alex ginned and took a few steps towards the 20 or so ducks that were sitting near the water.  Instinctively, they moved away from him.

"Don't be scared, little friends," I heard him say, "I'm not going to hurt you."  I couldn't help but smile.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of duck food that he had bought from one of those machine thingys.  One of the ducks stepped forward and nibbled it out of his hand.

"Jay, this one likes me," He said, "I'm naming him Steve.  Hi Steve."

Steve finished the food from Alex's hand.  He then proceeded to bite him.

"Ow!  The little fucker bit me!  Bad Steve!"  Alex stepped away from the duck.  But Steve followed him.... and so did the rest of the ducks.

"Get away!  Get away!  I don't have any more food!" Alex jogged around, hoping that they would they would give up.  They didn't.  So he climbed a few branches up the nearest tree he could find.  I took out the phone I had gotten a few days ago and pointed the camera at the tree and the small army of ducks beneath it.

"Once I get down from this I'm going to beat your ass," Alex threatened, "Do not record this."

"Say hi to the camera!" I said cheerfully.

He flipped me off, "Fuck you."

"Alex!" I pretended to be horrified, "I'm 14!  That's gross."

"You little shit.  Just get the ducks away from the tree."

"Hmm," I pretended to think about it, "What will you give me?"

"Unconditional love and a Hershey bar.  Now get me down!"  I could tell he was losing his grip.

"Make it two Hershey bars."

"Fine, two Hershey bars.  Just hurry, okay?"

"Actually, I don't really feel like chocolate.  Can I have money?"

"JUST GET ME DOWN FROM THE FREAKING TREE JAY."

"Okay, okay," I said and picked up a walnut that fell from the tree and threw it in the opposite direction.  Steve and his posse scurried away to check it out.  Alex jumped down and quickly gave me a hug, which I allowed.

"Thank you, Jay.  You saved my life."

"Um, no problem." 

Alex's POV

I opened the door to the music store and took a deep breath in.  I love this place.  I hope Jay will too.

She picked up a Blink-182 CD, "Can I have this?  I like this band."

"Sure," I said, "Blink is great.  But I came in here for something different."

I went over to the area where they sold the drums.  I handed Jay a few pairs of drumsticks, "Take these.  What color do you want your drumset?"

"Blue," She said, "I really like that color.  Wait, I'm getting a drumset?"

"Yeah.  If you're gonna learn drums you're going to need your own drums."

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Hello precious flowers!  Sorry that's it's been so long since I updated.  So yeah, I hope you enjoy this part.  Comment, vote, follow, do whatever you guys do!  Ily.