Vic returned with a bunch of poppies that he found at the park. He’s really hanging to his words that he’s bringing me flowers every day.

He acts like everything’s fine but I know there’s something buried beneath the surface. He just feels so…different. He avoids making eye contacts and when I kissed him when he gave me the flowers, he pulled away quickly.

I guess deep down, I know what he’s upset about. The whole point of this vacation is for us to just have a good time and disappear and spend quality time with our family. Plus, the stress of deciding whether to retire or not is just hanging around the corner. I try not to think about it. I don’t wanna get upset and ruin this for us. But I guess it has its own way of twisting and turning the tables. This trip is becoming more and more interesting and we’ve only been here a few hours.

We found ourselves a few hours later at my Mom’s house. Everyone is eating at the table and commenting on how good my mom’s cooking is. Even Quinn is enjoying her salad. I’m sitting beside Vic, whose food is still untouched.

“I’m telling you, turtle. The steak is good!” Whak said.

“Dude, I’m sure it is. But I’m sticking to the vegetarian side of the menu.” Tony replied and I high-fived him from across the table.

“Did you know—“ Cam started.

“Shove it, Adler. Can we not talk about veganism or vegetarianism right now, and just be thankful for whatever food we have on the table?” Jaime interrupted.

And Cam shrugged, “Fine, I guess. But you guys just have to know cows are treated like shi—“
“I told you! Not a word!” Jaime teased.

I watched everyone in the table laugh except my husband who looks so checked out and bothered as he played with his food.

“What’s the matter, Vic? You didn’t like the salad?” My mom asked Vic. He seemed so checked out, he’s still playing with his food as if he didn’t hear my mom.

“Yo! Earth to my brother!” Mike said tilting his head. And then Vic jumped out of surprise.

“Umm…what?” He said shaking his head.

“You didn’t like the salad?” My mom repeated.

“Uhh…no it’s delicious. I’m just stuffed.” Vic replied. My mom nodded and went back to talking to Matt.

I put a hand on his lap. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.”

I didn’t wanna force him into tell me, but I know something is wrong. This is still about Tim. I really wanna be honest with him already. I just don’t know how. I feel like no matter what I do, it still won’t be okay.

The lunch ended with Jaime and Tony eating half of the carrot cake my mom had prepared. My dad insisted on taking care of Caleb and he even said that we could leave him here with them while we go to SoundWave. I didn’t argue anymore since he looked so happy and thrilled to be taking care of his first grandson.

I was in the kitchen helping my mom with the dishes and watching Quinn play with my five-year-old retriever Maggie when she asked me, “Is everything okay with you and your husband?”

I was surprised with the question. “Yeah, why?” I furrowed my eyebrows.

“Oh nothing. So the fact that Victor didn’t touch his food today and you bumping into Timothy at the store have nothing to do with each other?” She raised her eyebrow on me.

“You know what, Mom, I think Teresa has the biggest mouth—“I said.

“Oh no, your sister didn’t tell me.” She said, putting another plate into the dispenser.
“What?”

“Look, it doesn’t matter who. Jenna, I know you had a great history with Tim,” She started. “You guys used to break up all the time. And then you cry, and then he calls you again and the next thing I know, you were marrying him. But it’s different now.”

“Mom, I know! Okay? I know. It’s behind me now. I swear. Bumping into him was an accident. “ I said. I know she’s gonna lecture me about marriage and I know all that stuff already. I’m not gonna go waltzing back into Timothy’s arms and leave my family behind. Why does everyone think that I will?

“I’m just saying, that boy can be very charming. He’s got his hooks on you so deep. I wasn’t saying anything when you two were together, but you always get careless and stupid when he’s concerned.” She said.

“Wow, thanks mom.” I continued drying up the plates. I was impulsive then. But I was still young and I guess that’s what you do when you’re young. I’ve grown since I’ve been married to Vic. It has been five years since I last had a conversation with Tim. And it wasn’t a good one either.

I stared at the shiny metal on my finger then glanced at Q, who is still playing with Maggie. My marriage with Vic and our kids are two of the best things that ever happened to me. Even though I nearly died two times, I wouldn’t trade this for anything in the world.

“Q!”

“Yes, mom?”

“You wanna come with us or you stay here?” I asked my three-year-old daughter.

“Well, it depends, momma.” She replied. I furrowed my eyebrows as I sat down on the floor with her in front of me. She sat on my lap as she continued petting Maggie.

“It depends on what, sweetie?” I kissed the top of her head.

“Well, can we take Maggie with us?” She asked looking back at me.

“Mmmmmm… I’m afraid we can’t, angel. I think the security will not allow us. And there’s gonna be lots of people there. Maggie will freakout.” I said playing with her hair.
“In that case, are you going to be mad at me when I say that I wanna stay?” She asked batting her eyelashes.

“Why would I be mad? Of course you can stay. Give me a kiss.” I pouted my lips and she put her hands on my cheek before pecking me.

“You’re the best momma in the world.” She whispered touching my lip.

I nearly cried. I love my daughter so much. “Well, you’re the best baby girl in the world.” I said whispering back and touching the tip of her nose. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too, momma. I don’t want you to be sad anymore.” She said.

“I’m not sad. Do I look sad?” I asked doing a funny face.

She threw her head back as she burst from laughter. “No!” I tickled her causing her to laugh some more. Looking back, I didn’t know that I could fall in love with being a mother to this loveable baby, I didn’t even know if I wanted children! She’s so smart and understanding and so filled with love. She’s just a bundle of joy, my bundle of joy. I was so scared when I found out I was pregnant. I literally panicked and cried myself to sleep for two weeks. But all that went away. All the stress of telling people about her, all the changes that had to happen, when I first held her in my arms, they were all just…gone. I held her close to heart.

“Mom!” She said giggling. “Stop, please.”

“Sing Jenna had a little lamb and I’ll stop.” I said.

“I—I’ll sing! I’ll sing!”

“Okay.”

“Jenna had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb. Jenna had a little lamb…” She sang. “And I’m the little lamb!”

“Yay!” I said hugging her. “That was so good! But what makes you think I’m sad?”

“I don’t know. I just feel it. Your eyes, it’s sad.”

I was shocked, I hugged her again and kissed the top of his head.

I took a picture of the three of us and posted it on my Instagram. I captioned it “Cuddle buddies”. I made sure we have everything the kids will need before we leave them here. I know my mom had done this a million times before but I still wanna make sure.

I went to where the guys are, which is by the fire pit on our backyard drinking beer. They were talking about, well surprise surprise, guitars. I didn’t wanna interrupt their animated discussion. I saw Vic finally talking and smiling, so I just sat next to the girls.

“That food was insane.” I sat next to Jess.

“I know.” Alysha said.

“So are we enjoying so far?” I asked extending my arm behind them.

“Yeah, I can’t wait to explore the rest of Sydney. Here’s to Jenna for bringing us here.” Erin poured the champagne that they’re drinking into an empty glass and they all cheered as she handed me the glass.

“Dude, I’m breastfeeding.” I said. I don’t wanna get any alcohol into my system. The last time that happened, Quinn suffered for less than a week. It’s easier to get them in than out of the system.

“Right. Oh my god, I’m sorry.” Erin said before going for the glass herself. “That’s to you sister. Without whom, we won’t be here enjoying a stress free vacation.”

Stress-free. I just hope that this vacation is really stress free. I sat and chatted with the girls. I glance at Vic occasionally and he seems like he’s enjoying talking to the guys.

When it was finally time for us to go, Vic took me by the elbow and apologized.
“I’m sorry about lunch. I didn’t mean to ruin it.”

“What are you talking about?” I put my hands on his face. “You didn’t ruin anything.”

He took my wrists and removed my hand from his face. “I’m just sorry,” He said and then went inside the car.

I took a deep breath. Oh boy here we go.

---

We arrived at the location an hour early so we could hang out with our friends. The moment I got out of the car, I was tackled by a bear hug from Lyndsey.

“Hey!”

“Hey! Where’s the monster child who nearly killed you?”

“Fuck you.” I said.

She laughed, throwing her head back. “I’m just kidding. I’m still gonna be the god parent, right? But seriously though, I wanna see my first god child,”

“It sounds weird when you put it like that.”

“Hey!” She said, extending her arm to everybody.

“Hey, Lynn.” Jaime greeted. “What time is your set?”

“We just finished, actually. All time low’s up next.”

We made our way to the backstage to greet Alex and the rest of the guys. I looked at Vic while we walked. I reached for his hand but I think he pretended like he has something on his eye to avoid contact. I feel like I’m constantly chasing him around but he just ignores me. I feel stupid to be honest. I’d rather have him mad at me, than this, him pretending everything’s okay when it’s not.

We came across Brian and Alex B. while on the way.

“Hey guys. When did you arrive?” Brian asked.

“This morning. How bout you guys?” Tony was the one who answered.

“Yesterday.” Alex replied.

I’m telling Vic tonight. I don’t like the feeling of lying to him. I didn’t really lie I just didn’t tell. Which has kind of the same impact but I don’t know. It’s better if he heard it from me.
There must’ve been some strong force around because Vic ran to my side and put an arm around me. I looked at him.

“Hey.”

I turned to my side. There is the strong force, hugging Tez and waving at me. He’s wearing a red plaid shirt, ripped jeans, and classic vans. He ran a hand through his hair and walked towards us.

“Jenna.” He said but before I could say hi, Mike spoke.

“Hey, dude.” Mike said extending a hand to Tim. I looked at Vic, whose eyes look like their filled with pride as his taller brother acted like a barrier so Tim wouldn’t touch me.

“Hey.” Tim greeted back.

“Mike. Drummer. Vic’s little brother.”

“Hi! Timothy Murdock.” Tim said politely. “Hey I noticed the Deathly Hallows tattoo. You’re a potterhead?”

“You know the Deathly Hallows?” Mike asked.

“Yeah dude. I love Harry Potter. I have seen all the movies, read all the books. What’s your favorite installment?”

“Half-blood prince, bro.” Mike said smiling like a little kid. Vic’s expression dropped.

“Yeah? Me too!”

“Really?!” Mike stomped. I actually want to butt in and say that Tim is super crazy about Harry Potter, and how we used to argue because he is on Team Draco Malfoy and I am on Team Ron Weasley, but I didn’t want to worsen the situation between me and my husband.

“Yeah, man. You, me and Matt actually have to talk because my boy Matt—Matty!“

“Wait, you’re into harry potter?” Vic interrupted, you can hear the sarcasm in his tone. “It’s just that you don’t look like someone who’d be into Harry Potter.”

“Yeah, but look at Mike.” Alysha said, chuckling. “He’s covered with tattoos and in a post-hardcore band and he’s into Harry Potter.”

“Makes sense.” Jess commented

I wanted to say something that’ll make Vic win the conversation, but before I could speak, Jack walked in between the two of us and wrapped an arm around our shoulders.

“Hey, guys! I heard that you have a beautiful cabin around. I’m surprised you haven’t invited us to—“ He caught sight of Tim. “Woah, who’s the peacock?”

“Jack, this is Timothy. Timothy—“

“Jack Barakat.” Tim said finishing the statement. “I know him, alright.” He shook Jack’s hands and asked for a photo. Teresa took their photo.

“Hey.” Jack said looking at my sister from head to toe. “Aren’t you the girl from…what’s that--? Right! The Sorcerer’s Apprentice! That was one of my favorite movies! You’re hotter in person, god. Jack Barakat. I’m single and very pleased to meet you.” Jack said reaching for Tez’s hand.

“Hi, I’m Jenna’s sister, Teresa. And I’m very married.” She said raising an eyebrow to him.

“Jenbug! You didn’t tell me you’re sisters with The Sorcerer’s Apprentice’s Girlfriend! We’ve been friends for how many years!” Jack exclaimed.

“Ew, don’t call me that ever again. “ I turned to Tez and mouthed, “Sorry.”

“It’s fine, honestly. Or I could also be the Zombie’s Girl. Or wife.”

“You married the zombie?!”Jack widened her eyes.

“Uh yeah.”

“Okay, I’m just gonna stay quiet here because I cannot fucking compete with Nicholas Hoult.” Everyone laughed. I missed Jack. “Actually, for a moment there I thought this guy was your husband.” He said referring to Tim.

“Oh no.” Tim said shaking his head.

“So, who are you in the picture?” Jack said extending his neck.

“I’m…”

All eyes were on him, waiting for him to respond. But his eyes were glued to me.
“I’m Jenna’s friend.” He finally said.

“Oooh.” Jack said, chuckling. “I smell something different. I smell the stink of a failed relationship and an over-protected present boytoy.” Jack can sometimes have a big mouth. “Oooh shit. Am I right?”

Everyone stayed silent. Lynn and his boys were just staring at us, confused as fuck.

“Wait wait wait! So, you two used to bang.” He said pointing to me and then Tim. “And you two are banging…” He then pointed to me and then Vic. “Heh, this must be awkward for all of you.”

“Yeah, it is now!” I said patting Jack’s back, almost as if hitting him.

“Okay, now that this is awkward. I gotta bail. We’re going on stage in about…now! So bye!” Jack said running and disappearing.

There was a long, unnecessary pause. Finally, Vic spoke.
“You know what, he’s right.”

“I’m sorry?” I interrupted.

“We should invite our friends tonight.” He said wrapping an arm around me. “What did I tell you? Stop frowning! Do you wanna get wrinkles into that cute little forehead of yours?”

“Uh yeah.” I said smiling. “We could totally have a barbecue tonight.”

“Yeah. Just us and our closest friends.” He said glancing at Tim and then kissing me. I was actually surprised. I can feel something “What do you say guys?”

“Yeah!” Tony cheered.

“How about you? You wanna come?” Vic said turning to Tim.

“Oh I’d love to. But I have somewhere I have to be tonight.” Tim replied.

“Oh come on. You can’t cancel? Come on, dude. Didn’t you miss Jenna?” The hint of sarcasm in his voice is annoying. It’s as if he’s putting on a show. It’s as if he’s inviting him to show who’s won, to rub it into his face that he has me.

“Vic, let’s not force him.” I said.

“No. It’s fine. I can cancel.” He said with a determined look in his face. If I were to interpret the moment, I’d say Tim received Vic’s invitation for a battle and he’s said game on.

“Alright!” Whak interrupted. Holy shit thank you Whakaio. “Let’s proceed, if we please.”

“Good idea.” Jake said.

We were all walking when Vic stopped.

“Wait, babe. We’re gonna go hang backstage with Sleeping with Sirens and uh help the crew. We’re going after All Tim Low anyways. You’re gonna be up front?” Vic said.

“Yeah.”

“Alright, see you.” He said kissing me once again. “I love you.”

I laughed lightly. “Okay, I…uh…love you too.”

“Alright, come on guys.” They each hugged their girlfriends and they all disappeared. I walked with Tez and Tim.

---

*Vic’s POV*

“Are we having fun so far SoundWave!!!!!” I shouted, spreading both my arms in the air as the crowd cheered. “’Cause we are. We came all the way from fucking America to play to you guys. And I think that’s amazing. Are we still up for one more?! One more song. Hold on,”

I walked across the stage to drink water. “This last song, is a love song. Now the one who inspired this song is right there.” I said pointing to where Jenna is standing beside Teresa and Timothy. She smiled at me. I’m really showing this Tim who the real man is. Who does he think he is? Inviting Jenna to SoundWave when he knows she’s married, and have kids already. “It’s kind of amazing how fitting this is. Let me just share a bit of information to you guys. I wrote this song thinking about how my life would be if I’m not Vic Fuentes and she’s not Jenna Mcdougall. I mean, this life’s great but for one day, I wanna disappear with her. We’ve actually never went to a real vacation before. But Australia’s a fucking great place and this is where she’s from.” I said and the crowd cheered as Mike hit the drums. My eyes are glued to her. “Babe, I can’t wait to explore Australia with you and our kids. So yeah, this song goes out to her.” I looked at the crowd and pointing to Jenna.” But if you have someone who you’d want to spend the rest of your life with, and forget about other people and for once, just once let the world disappear as you get lost in her, this goes out to you too. So…yeah…uh…”

“Alright, cheeseball. Shut up and let’s do this.” Jaime spoke on the microphone.
Everyone laughed including me. “Alright, I’m gonna shut up now. This song is called Floral and Fading.”

Woah oh oh oh!
RAGE IN US
YOUR THIRST I'M TAKING
PULL THE PLUG I'LL KEEP ON SHAKING
AND THRUSTIN' ABOUT YOUR APARTMENT
DROWNED ON BLANKETS FLORAL & FADING

I glanced at Timothy, whose face looked as if he just lost ten million dollars on a poker match. Ha! This is just the beginning, you motherfucker.

PAINFUL LUST, TWO ACHING GUTS
THEY TEAR THROUGH EACH OTHER IN THE MIRROR
THIS HAPPY VACATION, THERE'S NO MOTIVATION
SO HOLD ME UP
YOU SAY YOU WANNA CHASE THE MOON LIKE FIRE
WELL, TOGETHER WE CAN FAKE OUR OWN DEATHS HERE
JUST WANNA BE ALONE AND WATCH AS YOU ALL JUST DISAPPEAR
D-D-DARKER NOW

I jumped down on the stage and walked to where Jenna is.

KICKED OUT AND SLEEPING IN YOUR CAR
YOU ROLL THE WINDOW DOWN ENOUGH TO DREAM AND MAKE BELIEVE

I reached for her and wrapped my free hand around her waist. I pulled her closer to my body as she covered her face from shame. I don’t care if what I’m doing is embarrassing, honestly. I wanna show the world that she’s mine.

OUR LIGHTS KNOCKED OU— why are you covering your face?
AND I'M JUST A STUPID MOTHERFUCKER
CAN'T FIGURE IT OUT
Honestly, I couldn’t sing because I’m having too much fun. This is the first time that I’ve done this. Jenna usually just watch me from the backstage. This is the first time that she’s actually in the crowd and I’m really having fun.

I WANT DEVIL HORNS, I sang laughing
I WANNA BREATHE IN YOUR RUSH
I WANNA LEAP WHEN YOU WANT ME TO FLY

I pulled away and started to walk back to the stage.

BUT DARLIN' I DON'T MEAN TO BEG
BUT THESE THORNS ON THE STEM ARE NEARLY TEARING UP MY SKIN
AND NOW YOU WANNA CHASE THE MOON LIKE FIRE
WELL, TOGETHER WE CAN FAKE OUR OWN DEATHS HERE
JUST WANNA BE ALONE AND WATCH AS YOU ALL JUST DISAPPEAR
CLOSE YOUR EYES
PICTURE YOU AND I
SELLING DAYLIGHT FOR GASOLINE
SO NOW WE'RE GONNA CHASE THE MOON LIKE FIRE
YEAH, TOGETHER WE CAN FAKE OUR OWN DEATHS HERE
JUST WANNA BE ALONE AND WATCH AS YOU ALL JUST DISAPPEAR
JUST WANNA BE ALONE AND WATCH
WHY CAN'T WE BE ALONE AND WATCH?

We finished the song and waved the crowd goodbye. “Thank you, Sydney! This has been amazing! I think my wife’s embarrassed of me.” I joked. “Are you?”
I looked at her and watched as she shook her head. Then I glanced at Tim, who looks so pissed. Mission accomplished.
“Good. Thank you everyone. Let’s all take a photo.”

Notes

Long chapter *~*

So I thought you guys deserve another poor manip so here ya'll go