They walked up the steps and entered the house. The first thing Alex saw when they entered the living room was Gwen sitting on the couch hugging her knees to her chest.

He walked over to her and knelt in front of her. “Hey Gwennie”, he said.

Tears filled her eyes and she hid her face in her arms.

“Hey, hey”, he cooed rubbing her arms. It killed Alex to see Gwen like this.

“Alex, Gwen, it’s time to head to the funeral home”, Isobel told them.

Those words made Gwen break down into sobs.

Alex got up and sat next to her.

She turned and clutched onto the lapels of his jacket.

He stroked her hair as he softly started to sing. “Make it a sweet, sweet goodbye…” This whole thing was bringing up feelings that Alex had spent years trying to overcome and forget. He knew how she felt in a way. He’d lost his brother, but he couldn’t imagine losing both his parents on top of his brother.

This teenage girl had no one. She’d come a long way from the toddler who used to follow him around like a baby duckling. But she was now alone in the world at 13.

It broke his heart.

“We’re going to be late”, Peter said.

Alex tried to pull away from Gwen, but she had a vice grip on him. “Gwen, c’mon”, Alex said.

Gwen stayed attached to Alex.

Alex sighed and stood up, his arms wrapping around Gwen to support her weight as he carried her to the car. He placed her in the back of his parent’s car. When he tried to pry her hands off his jacket, she became hysterical, crying and screaming and reaching for him. He turned to Lisa.

“I’ll drive the car over. She needs you Alex”, she told him, “I’ll meet you there”.

Alex nodded and climbed in the back. As soon as Alex sat down, Gwen was in his lap again, curled up into his chest. He rubbed her back as she slowly calmed down. He saw so much of himself in her.

They arrived at the funeral home and got out.

Gwen stared up at the foreboding building.

“I’ll be right by your side the whole time”, Alex told her, lacing his fingers with hers.

Lisa came to stand on the other side of Gwen and stroked her hair. “It’ll all be okay in the end, sweetie”, she told her.

They entered the building and took a seat.

Gwen couldn’t bring herself to speak to anyone, not that she was paying attention during the service anyway. She traced the rose on the back of Alex’s hand as she thought about how her life would be without her family.

After the funeral, the Gaskarth’s thought it was best to take Gwen home to rest.

It had taken some coaxing to get her to fall asleep, but Alex had sang to her until her breathing leveled out. He quietly left the room and went back downstairs. His parents and Lisa were in the kitchen drinking tea. “She’s finally asleep”, Alex told them.

“What’s going to happen to her, if you don’t mind me asking?” Lisa asked.

“Well…we were hoping…maybe you’d take her”, Isobel said.

“Us?” Lisa asked, “Alex?”

Alex was frozen. He never imagined that at 29 he would be a father, even an adoptive one.

“She has nowhere to go”, Peter said, “If you guys don’t take her, she’ll be thrown into the system”.

“No!” Alex said, finally snapping out of his trance, “She’s not going into the system. Get me the paperwork and I’ll sign it”.

Peter and Isobel smiled.

They knew Gwen would be in good hands with Alex and Lisa and that she’d be protected by the All Time Low boys.

Suddenly, a scream pierced the air.

Alex bolted up the stairs.

Gwen was lying on her side screaming.

“Gwyneth! C’mon Gwennie, wake up”, Alex said, lightly shaking her.

She jerked awake and looked at Alex.

“It’s okay. It was just a dream”, he told her.

She shook her head and sat up. “It was a nightmare. I dreamt that I died with them. I couldn’t get out”.

Alex sat in front of her and took her hands in his. “I still have nightmares”, Alex said, “About my brother’s death”.

Gwen looked at him confused.

Alex took a deep breath. “Before you were born, I had a brother named Tom. He was only my half-brother, but we were best friends. No one knew he was depressed until he killed himself. I told myself that maybe if I had just noticed, I could have stopped him. I had nightmares almost every night, which lead to me losing sleep, which lead to me developing anxiety. I’m not going to sugarcoat this and say it’s not going to fuck you up, because it will. But I will be right by your side through it all”.

“You’re not going to leave me?”

“I will NEVER leave you Gwen. I promise. If it’s the last thing I do”.

“I love you Alex”.