chapter 45

                                    

                                          
Chapter 45:
                          
----Zack's point of view----
                          
We'd been waiting around for about ten minutes, waiting for Hanley to show up. She said she'd be here, but clearly, that wasn’t going to be the case any time soon.
                          
As it was cold, Rian had sat in the car with Max, who was constantly asking for 'Uncle Jack'. Rian seemed totally lost about what to do, so obviously, he wasn't experienced with 5 year old children.
                          
He slowly opened the door of the car, being as quiet as he could. "Zack, he's falling asleep. We'd better just take him to Jack's" Rian sighed, realising that Hanley wasn't here yet. "Yeah, I suppose that would be better than him falling asleep in my car." we both turned to look at him; he was slouched by the window in the back seat, his eyes barely open. 
                          
I didn't hate Max, but looking at him, he was just a permanent scar of Alex and Hanley's secret relationship they'd had when I was with her. And not only that, but he looked a lot like Alex. We got in the car, and started driving to Jack's. 
                          
After four minutes of knocking, Rian sat on the doorstep. "We're doomed to keep him!" he laughed, looking pretty tired. "I'll ring him now, in case he's out." I pulled out my phone and dialled the number. 
                          
"Hello?!" He was panicking about something.
                          
"Jack, where are you man?" 
                          
"I'm looking for Max, he's missing!" he cried, and I heard a lot of noise in the background. "You haven't seen him have you, Zack?!"
                          
"Actually, he's in my car"
                          
"You kidnapped him!? I thought you were Alex's frien-"
                          
"No, we found him wandering around." I sighed, interrupting him. 
                          
"Really? Thank fuck." he sighed, sounding relieved.
                          
"Yeah, well, are you near your house? We're stood outside with him. He wants you." 
                          
(10 minutes later)
                          
Jack's car finally turned up in the driveway, and he ran over to the car. "Where is he?" Jack said, glancing over at the car. "In there, but you might have to wake him" Jack ran right past me and pulled the door open, picking Max up and hugging him. "Uncle Jack?" Max groaned, half asleep. "Maxie, never do that again! Don't run away from mummy and daddy, ever!" he sighed, looking at him in the eyes. 
                          
"But mummy and daddy were fighting!" he cried, clinging onto Jack. "I don't like it when they fight, it scares me!" he sniffed, a few tears rolling down his cheeks. We went into Jack's house, and Jack put Max on one of the sofas. We all sat opposite him, staring in confusion. Why had he managed to escape in the first place? Were Alex and Hanley not watching him?
                          
Eventually, Jack stood up, grabbing the house phone from the stand. "I'd better phone Hanley." he sighed, looking at Max again. Max had lay down, and he'd fallen asleep on the couch. Jack pulled a black jacket off the banister, and put it over Max like a duvet. I was starting to think Jack was a better father to Max than Alex.
                          
----Hanley's point of view----
                          
I'd been sat on the sofa for awhile now, waiting for Alex to get back. I'd tried to ring him several times, but he didn't pick up, and I had neither a car nor a license to get to Zack myself. Suddenly, the phone began to ring. I jumped off the seat and grabbed the phone, almost tripping on Max's toys. "Hello?!" I breathed, catching myself on the TV stand before I fell. "Hanley, Zack and Rian brought Max here. He's fallen asleep." Jack sighed, and I heard muffled voices in the background. 
                          
"Oh thank god. I'm waiting for Alex to get back and we'll pick him up." I heard the door unlock at that moment, and ran towards it. "Alex is here now, on the way!" I smiled and threw the phone onto the couch. I looked up at Alex; he looked awful. He had red eyes and his fringe had been swept back, probably because he was stressed. I threw myself into his arms, and he seemed utterly confused. "Hanley, what's going on?" he said, wrapping his arms around my waist.
                          
"Zack and Rian found Max! They took him too Jack's, because they thought we were still fighting, I think." I grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the flat, eager to get there soon. Alex closed the door behind us and ran to the car, realising that Max was safe. It was a few minutes before we finally got to Jack's house, and Alex ran to the door.
                          
After being let in, I saw that Zack and Rian were sat on the couch, and Max was nowhere in the room. "Where is he?" Alex said, nearly shouting. "Chill, dude! I put him in my bed while we waited for you, he's asleep." Jack whispered, checking that Max wasn't on the stairs again. "He wouldn't even be here if you didn't come to the flat!" Alex was clearly still hurt by what Max had said, and was now taking it out on Jack.
                          
"Alex, I invited him! It's not his fault!" I shouted back. "Exactly! Hanley, Max prefers Jack to his dad. Because you brought him in for 3 weeks! This is your fault for bringing him!" Alex glared at me, and it scared me. He seemed angry enough to hit me, but that wouldn't happen. And even if he did, I'd forgive him. It might be foolish, but I do love him. 
                          
"Maybe if you didn't disappear for 3 weeks, I wouldn't have needed to!" I think this was getting to Jack now. Alex was lashing out at the both of us, being totally ignorant about the fact he'd disappeared in the first place. "I was trying to fix things for everybody!" Alex yelled, and Rian looked at me, a slight dirty look in his eye. I couldn't blame him to be fair, I sounded like a whore to anyone. Especially now he probably thinks I cheated on Alex too.
                          
"Alex, you wouldn't have to fix anything if you didn't sleep with my girlfriend in the first place!" Zack stood in-between Alex and Jack, stopping the tension. I didn't know what to do at this point, and neither did Rian. "Guys, Max said it scared him when people fight, especially his parents.." Rian was trying to stop this before it got worse, but they didn't seem interested in stopping any time soon. "I thought you put that behind you?" Alex hissed, really pissed off at this point. 
                          
I saw Jack stood behind Zack, trying to sneak away. "Where are you going?!" Alex shouted, and he stopped in his tracks. "I'm going to check on Max." Jack replied, continuing to walk forward. "You're not taking a step further towards my kid." Alex yelled, walking hastily towards him. "This is like the hospital all over again! The doctors said I was the father, not you! Max is my son." Alex shouted, and a sudden shock went through me; Zack didn't know about Jack. In fact, I don't think Rian knew about this. "What are you on about, Alex?" Zack looked at him, seeming lost. "Oh, Hanley had to take a paternity test because Jack could have been Max's dad." Alex turned to him, looking at me. 
                          
Zack turned to look at me, confusion in his eyes. "Why would Jack be the father, Hanley?" He murmured, and I felt my heart literally stop. Guilt and panic rushing through my system, I tried to run past him. I ran upstairs into Jack's room, and slammed the door shut behind me. I turned around to see Max, sitting up, with a confused face on him. 
                          
"Mummy? What's going on?" He crawled into my lap as I collapsed on the bed, tears of guilt falling. I heard muffled voices downstairs, loud but not threatening. "Nothing Maxie. Mummy and Daddy are having a bit of an argument, that's all." I tried to smile at him, wiping my tears away. "Is Daddy going to move away?" he cried, panic in his voice. "No! No, where did you hear that from?" I laughed, brushing his fringe to one side with my fingers. "Kyle from my class said his daddy moved away, and he doesn't see him anymore. I don't want that to happen with my daddy!" He whimpered, tears rolling down his cheeks. I pulled him in for a hug, stroking his hair. "Oh Maxie, that won't happen with your daddy, I promise." I kissed his head, and he looked up at me.
                          
"Did I upset daddy when I said that I wanted Jack?" he whispered, scared of the voices downstairs. "Yes, very much Max." I sighed, thinking of Alex's reaction. "I didn't mean too. It was an accident." He was almost falling asleep in my arms, as I nearly fell asleep on Jack's bed myself. Maybe I should just go downstairs and tell them to go home, and Alex, Max and I would go home to the flat. It was 2am after all. But then, I really didn't fancy facing the heat down there.
                          
Max fell asleep shortly after I talked about why Alex was gone. I didn't explain greatly, but it was good enough to satisfy him. I yawned, but was interrupted by loud shouting downstairs, and a crash of furniture. The loudest voice down there was Zack, who shouted; "You went to my girlfriends house and slept with her?! You were supposed to be my best mate, and no matter how many fucking cans you drank, you shouldn't sleep with her!" Fuck. Drama was happening again.