George's POV.

"Dad?" Ava called softly from the doorway. I let out a soft groan as I rolled over in the bed and flipped on the bedside lamp. The sudden light burned my eyes for a moment while they adjusted. Her small frame moved slowly to my side of the bed. My alarm clock glowed dimly letting me know that it was only a quarter after five in the morning.

I smiled over at her, "What's up sweetie?"

She ran across the room on her tip toes and jumped on the bed beside me. Her blonde curls bounced on her shoulders as she wiggled around trying to get comfortable. Even though she was now 12 years old she still liked to sleep next to me when she has nightmares at night. I smiled and tucked the blanket under her as she snuggled in closer to my side. "What's wrong?" I asked her, she shook her head and pulled the blanket up to her chin.

"I just wanted to spend the night with you before you leave for the weekend."

A smile tugged on my lips as I laid back down and wrapped my arms around her. It was moments like this that made me hate how fast she was growing up. But what could I do? Put a brick on head and hope that she stops growing? I sighed deeply then kissed her head before resting back against the pillows. Soon my eyes grew heavy with sleep and I found myself falling back into a peaceful slumber.

When I woke up in the morning Ava was already up and getting herself ready for school along with Scarlet. Lately Danny and Katrina have been coming over in the mornings to make sure that I was getting Ava up for school, and just in general making sure that I was doing okay. Things haven't been the greatest since the anniversary of Brooklyn's disappearance was coming up soon.

"Hey man, time to get up." Danny called to me from the doorway. "Ava is ready and waiting downstairs."

I rolled my eyes and flipped him off which earned me a shirt to the face followed by a pair of jeans. Now don't get me wrong I like that they care this much about me, but sometimes it's hard to be around them this time of year. Most times I just want to be alone with my daughter and try to have a normal morning as possible.

"Good morning George." Katrina greeted me happily and handed me a cup of coffee. I smiled softly and hugged her before going to join Danny and our daughters at the breakfast table.

"Hey." Danny said not looking away from Scarlet. His full attention was always either directed at Scarlet or Katrina, it annoyed the guys sometimes but I understood. Once you become a father, especially to a little girl, they become your universe. Being as me and him are the only ones with kids of our own I understood the responsibility of caring for a child and what it feels like to have your world flipped upside down... In a good way of course.

"Dad! I made pancakes for you!" Ava cried, I smiled and took the plate from her before a whole bunch of syrup spilled over the side.

"Thank you, Angel." She rolled her eyes dramatically and sighed.

"Dad I'm twelve now. That nickname is so two years ago!" She flipped her hair over her shoulder and went to sit on one of the barstools. Behind me Katrina snickered and tried to busy herself with cleaning up the leftover pancake mix. I shot her a quick glare before asking Ava what she preferred to be called now. "Just call me by my name, dad." She said and dragged Scarlet out of the kitchen.

"I have no idea what just happened." I said shaking my head, Danny laughed.

"I don't know either man, Scarlet won't let me call her peanut anymore."

Katrina smiled sweetly at him and kissed his cheek, "She'll grow out of that and realize that's just what you call her."

"Yeah, I guess so." Danny sighed and gave Katrina a quick kiss then he told me that we had to get down to the studio. I ran back upstairs to my room and grabbed my jacket and phone, then went outside to meet Danny at his car. Neither of us really talked to each other while he drove. It wasn't really awkward between us, it was just a lot of tension because of how distant I've been with him and the guys. I sighed and plugged in my headphones, the first song that came on was Nelly's song Just A Dream. Usually I don't listen to that kind of music, but it makes me feel something. I know that sounds weird but some songs that are like this actually put me in touch with some emotions that I've been so numb to over the past few years.

The line where he says 'Since you left baby I can't think' really seemed to summarize every damn day of my life. There wasn't a second that didn't pass by where I wasn't thinking about why she left, where she was, if she had the baby, if the baby was okay... My mind never seemed to stop thinking about what my life could've been like if she had just stayed. Sometimes I even wondered if she had ever moved on from me and had gotten a new boyfriend or had even got married. Yes it's been six years but I can't help but think about what could have been. I mean she said that she was pregnant before she left...

"Hey, you okay George?" Danny asked, I shrugged and got out of the car and headed up to the studio. The guys were already inside when me and Danny walked in. Jordon was working on one of the new songs that he had pitched last week, Jay was texting Vanessa, Dylan was passed out on the couch and Matt was on his phone. They all greeted me with small waves and smiles then went back to what they were doing. Danny sighed and called everyone to attention.

"Okay I don't know how it is that you're feeling George, but I can imagine that it hurts like a bitch," he paused to look back at the guys. "But..." He paused for a moment then looked back at me. "You've gotta move on. She isn't coming back. Hell even Jorel came to terms with her being gone, and she's his sister!"

I knew that Danny was right, I did have to get over this and there was a part of me that really wanted to... But there was also a part of me that held onto the memory of her like as if it was my lifeline. I didn't want to let go because if I did then I'd lose her for good.

"Look," he took a breath before continuing. "I get it okay? Six years and she hasn't said a word to any of you guys. I mean I wasn't there to get to know her growing up, but you gotta mo-"

"What Danny?" I asked sharply. "Move on? I gotta move on?! I don't know if you know this or not but she was fucking pregnant with my child! I can't just move on!!"

Danny was about to say something but Jorel cut him off.

"Believe me I understand that, she wasn't just pregnant with your child but that baby is my niece as well." He turned to glare at Danny for a second. Danny held his hands up in a 'I surrender' motion.

"Danny's partially right when he says that I've moved on. I've stopped calling her so that she knows that I'm giving her the space she wants, and when she's ready she'll call me back. And for right now I have my own life to focus on for the time being. You know I've got Vanessa and the band. I can't keep putting my life on hold to wait for her to come around, I have to focus on what's in front of me right now."

I nodded my head and sat down in one of the chairs. "But how did you just let go so easily?"

He scoffed and sat down next to me, "That's the thing it wasn't easy, but like I said I've got V to take care of and my music to direct all my emotions towards. Dude write a song that expresses how you feel. It'll help." A small smile pulled at the corner of my mouth.

"Focus on Ava, okay?" He added. "Now let's get to work on the new album."

•Le time skip•

Jorel was right. Usually I don't admit that but for once he's right. Writing down how I feel in a song helped. By the end of our session I had at least three full songs ready to pick from for the album. Of course one of them was a little bit more personal so I wasn't too sure if I wanted to put it on the album just yet.

"Dad?" Ava asked from the backseat.

"What's up sweetie? Something happen at school?"

"No."

I waited quietly for her to continue but she just sat there in her seat staring out of the back window. Her face was blank of any kind of emotion so it was hard to tell what it was that she wanted to tell me. I sighed and drove the rest of the way home. When I pulled up in the drive Ava bolted for the door and went inside before I could even shut off the car. What is going on with her? I shook my head and made my way to the house.

"Dad there's a message!" Ava yelled from upstairs. Please be her, I thought and pressed the play button on the answering machine. My heart pounded rapidly against my chest as I waited for the caller's voice to play.

"Mr. Ragan my name is Joseph Ashford I work alongside Derek Mathews for Octone Records. We would like to schedule a meeting for you and your band to come in and discuss a possible new record deal. Please get back to me as soon as you get this message."

Okay so that wasn't who I was hoping to hear from, but still good news. A light hand pressed into my arm, I leaned down and picked Ava up. She smiled and kissed my cheek.

"I love you dad!"

My heart practically melted, "I love you too Ava."