Thanks for the reviews on the last chapter. That was not one of my best pieces of work by any stretch of the imagination.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything!

Family Portrait - Pink

November 2002
Alex: 14
Jay: 15

9.30 am.

Despite the small hour, Jay'd been up for two hours. He was so pumped to get round to Alex's and 'cleanse his soul' and confess. Maybe that was something to do with the five cups of coffee had drank since he got up. He was literally buzzing off the walls and out of the door before he'd even set the mug down on the counter. It wasn't an unusual feeling, knowing he'd cheated on Alex. But it was unusual to feel this... normal about it. That thought made him kinda sad. But it was true, no matter how bad it sounded. But he didn't remember being this not-nervous about telling her. Perhaps it was the caffeine overkill, it most likely was. The walk from his current home to his old home had never felt so short, and he'd never completed it so jubilantly before. This was odd. He considered things on the way to his girlfriends house. One of the few good side effects of Alex's horrible home life was that Jay never needed to worry about a protective father or older brother kicking his ass for treating her bad. Cuz lets face it, Chad would probably applaud Jay for his adulterous affairs. He didn't give a shit about Alex. Never had, never would. Probably didn't care that much about Emily either. But that was a different matter.

Alex was still flat out refusing to speak. The silence engulfed the rooms like killer flames licking the walls ferociously. Christopher looked like the patch of couch he was sat on had hot coals and iron spikes in the cushions. Emily was staring daggers at her daughter. In her head, there was nothing out of the ordinary about this situation, and Alex was being a mite unreasonable. There was no way she was going to let this clown walk so freely into her life without so much as an explanation. How was she to know that her mom was telling the truth. If she was honest, this man looked a bit shifty, too smart and squeaky-clean to ever have been involved with her trashcan of a mother...

Never in a million years did Jay expect to see Chris back at Cedar Grove Trailer Home Park. He let himself into the trailer he considered a second home and stopped dead in his tracks as he saw the three of them sat around the coffee table. Alex with a face like thunder, Emily looking awkward and Chris looking like he was wishing the ground to open up and swallow him. As soon as Alex spotted Jay she leaped up and went to him like the drop of a hat. She placed a lingering kiss on his lips, fully aware that her mom and 'dad' were watching her like a hawk.

"Come on, lets get outta here." She whispered almost illegibly. She grabbed her Adidas jacket off the side with one hand and took his hand in her own with the other and yanked him out of the room.

Three miles across town, a mystery blond rolled off the top of Chad, breathless and satisfied. The residue of her heavy make up mixed with a thin covering of sweat on her chiseled face. Chad admired the exposed contours of her womanly body. He didn't know her name, nor did he care to learn it. He checked the time on the alarm clock to his left. The luminescent red letters glowed 09:32. He hadn't been up this early in years. And he'd certainly not been having sex this early ever. Not once did his mind flicker to Emily during sex. No guilt, no shame, no remorse. The only thing that entered his mind was his desire for Emily to perform more to his slutty standards in the bedroom. Not that he had to worry about missing out. By some sheer act of God, when he was at the bar he almost had his own choice of girls who'd jump into bed with him. Unprotected too. It couldn't have been easier for him. He had no qualms about what he did. It was what he'd always done, and he'd never done anything different. He was also in no hurry to rush home to Emily. As far as he was concerned, at this current moment in time, she didn't exist and never had.

Jay was still in shock. All hopes of confessing to Alex were out the window now. He'd been in her house for mere seconds, but it was just like walking back into his old life, and that bothered him more than he liked to admit. For a few moments he was back to being JJ Hogart, son of a drunk, six years old and already having seen enough that your average adult would have. His train of thought was broken by the soft lips of his girlfriend. Once they drew apart, she whispered something hushed in his ear and they were gone.

"Lexi, do you know who that man was?" He asked in disbelief as he studied her stony but calm expression.

Alex studied his stressed and amazed expression and considered her response for a moment. "Yeah, my dad. Supposedly."

Jay was astounded. "How can you be so calm? Do you remember him at all?"

"No. I don't." Alex answered shortly. "Do you?"

"Yeah, of course. I can't believe he's back. Whats it been, like ten years?"

"Can we change the subject, please?" Alex snapped.

"But, babe this is h-"

"Jay, drop it!" Alex raised her tone and shut him right up. "I want someone who can take my mind off things like this when they happen, not someone who keeps fucking yammering on and on about it! Can't you tell I don't wanna talk about him?!"

Jay held his hands up like he was surrendering and was shunned back into half-angry silence for some time while Alex calmed down. After discretely peeking at her out of the corner of his eye, he concluded that she'd had sufficient time to 'calm down'.

"I know what'll cheer you up. Hows about a drink or four at my place?" He saw her chocolate brown eyes light up immediately.

Alex knew there was a reason why she stayed with Jay. For his brilliant ideas. The promise of beer and someone to take her mind off her problems for the evening sounded too good to be true. The drive from her place to Jay's was blissfully short. She could practically taste the beer and nachos in her mouth as they got block by block closer. As soon as they rocked up at the kerb, she escaped the car like it was on fire and punched in the security code to Jay's building. She knew it off by heart. She stuck a loose brick in the door as a wedge to keep it open for Jay and began tackling the many flights of stairs. He followed behind her and grinned to himself at her eagerness.

Inside, they sat submerged in darkness with just the light from the street lamp outside and the flickering glow of the TV set to guide the way to and from the refrigerator. They were slumped together on the couch with their legs tangled around one another, Alex rested her head snugly on his chest and he wrapped his arms around her tightly, only breaking once in a while to grab a swig of beer, only for them to return to the clutch a few moments later, like nothing had changed.

They'd been sat together drinking since ten am. It was now almost seven, and they'd barely moved off the couch all day, except for to go to the fridge for more drink, or to the bathroom, to get rid of some before they added more. Alcohol was numbing their troubled minds and they were both pretty sure that the other one wasn't paying any attention to what was blaring from the TV. It was cozy and comfortable. Neither of them felt that the silence was awkward. Confessing now ran over in Jay's mind more than a few times, but he wasn't sure he wanted to sacrifice the golden moment quite so foolishly. Yeah, the silence was more awesome than awkward. But Alex didn't mind when Jay broke the silence.

"Want another drink, baby?" He spoke softly and calmly. She murmured a 'yes' in response and he gently got up off the sofa and padded spacily over to the refrigerator. Inside he grabbed two cans, and made a mental note that the 18 pack was almost out and he'd have to either restock it pretty damn soon, or move onto spirits.

He shuffled back over to the couch and sank back down into it again, handing the beer to Alex who accepted it gratefully. Their ring pulls hissed at the same time as they opened the drinks eagerly and took a long glug in unison. As they both placed their half empty cans on the coffee table where they joined the other sixteen cans, they sank back onto the sofa in sync and Alex couldn't help but smile to herself.

"What?" Jay asked, smiling too, but of uneasiness.

"Nothing, it just makes me laugh how we're so much like each other."

"Laugh in a good way or a bad way?"

"Oh, good way. Definitely." Alex smiled goofily and Jay actually found himself unable to resist her right then. He leaned forward and kissed her. She opened her mouth and accepted the French kiss almost immediately. There was something different in this kiss for both of them. It was electric, red hot and sexually fueled.

With his hands firmly on her waist, Jay slid up off the couch and pulled Alex up with him. Without breaking contact, they backed over to the wall and Alex jumped up and wrapped her legs around Jay's waist as he pushed her against the wall and kissed her harder.

Like it? Please review. Even if you didn't, review!

=D

If this seems a little jumbled and confusing, it will all hopefully become clear in the next chapter, or maybe I just put that thought in your head but you didn't think it was any of those things.