**Not a new chapter just a slight change, apologies**

I spent the entire day home sick with a cold hence the quick chapter. I apologise for the length, I promise the next one will be much longer

"This place freaks me out..."

"Don't divorce Aunty Tina and you'll never have to come back here" Alex giggled and jabbed Mike in the ribs gently. Accompanying his goddaughter and favourite teenager (other than his own son) to her solo therapy session, he prayed that this would be the only time in the waiting room of a marriage counsellor.

"Smart ass" Mike quipped with a laugh before turning serious "Are you sure you're ok with this divorce Al? I hate this place and we've only been here five minutes. You've had to come here for 5 weeks"

"I've come to the conclusion that my parents are never going to get back together. It sucks, whatever" the teenager sighed as she stood up. Doris the receptionist had called her name ready for her appointment with Dr Walker.

"Alex..."

"I'll be finished in half an hour" she smiled weakly and disappeared into Dr Walker's office. Taking a seat in her usual spot, the teenager crossed her legs as the psychologist opened her notebook.

"Good afternoon, Alex. How are you today?"

Alex simply shrugged

"Did your Dad bring you today?"

Alex shook her head "Uncle Mike"

"Your Dad's brother?" Dr Walker continued to question. This was only the second solo session she'd had with the teenager and she wanted Alex to open up.

"No, my Dad's best friend. All our proper family live in Arizona" she shrugged "I've known him and Aunty Tina my whole life, they're as close as family. They're my god-parents"

"Do they have kids around your age?"

"Yeah, Aaron's 13 like me and Aria's 10. Aaron's my best friend"

"Have you talked to him about all this? About your parents?" Dr Walker questioned as she made a few notes in her book. Much like her parents, the doctor hoped the thirteen year old had someone her own age she could talk to. Children rationalised situations like this differently to adults.

"Why? His parents are happy" Alex shrugged as she rolled the hem of her sleeve between her fingers. She told Aaron everything that was going on but he didn't want to hear about her sob story. "The divorce papers arrived today. My Dad was meant to bring me here but he's still in bed. I've never seen my father cry before but today I heard him sobbing..."

"And how do you feel about that Alex?"

She shrugged "Like this whole thing isn't the dream I wish it was. My family is falling apart, how do you think I'm feeling about that?" the teenager snapped as hot, anger fuelled tears threatened to fall "Once this divorce is final it'll be like my family never existed. Like my parents marriage didn't happen, like I don't matter anymore"

"You know that's not true" Dr Walker sighed softly as she abandoned her notebook and took a seat beside the teenager "I know that both your parents love you more than anything in this world. I have seen a lot of families go through messy divorces where the children almost get forgotten. You are the sole focus of both your mother and father throughout this entire ordeal"

"I know they love me, I just wished they loved each other"

"I think that's why they've kept up these sessions" Dr Walker told her honestly "The State requires couples to attend at least 6 sessions with me. Including this one, your family will have been to 11 appointments. People who continue after the required amount usually want to work toward reconciliation"

"That still doesn't mean they love each other..."

"No but it means they're working towards loving each other again. It may not be exactly how it used to be but it might be close"

"I guess" Alex shrugged still not quite convinced. The thirteen year old was still set on the fact that this was the end of her family for good. Reconciliation was just a fantasy.

"How's school been going, Alex?" Dr Walker asked hoping the change of subject would brighten the young girl's mood "What's your favourite class?"

"Uhm music. I'm learning to play the piano" she chuckled "I started learning 'A Whole New World' from Aladdin while the rest of my class got stuck on chopsticks"

"That was as far as I ever got on the piano" the doctor laughed "Seems like you've found your talent"

"It helps that both my parents have musical talent but I really like it. It's like I'm disappearing into my own little world when I play"

"And you've been doing a lot lately haven't you?"

"More than usual" Alex nodded with a sad shrug of her shoulders.

Alex's coping mechanism through this divorce had been isolating herself from everyone. More often than not it was sitting on the roof of their apartment building letting the sounds of the city drown out her crying. When her thoughts and fears screamed louder than New York traffic, she turned to music. Alex let herself disappear into the soothing world of Beethoven and Mozart with a few Disney classic thrown in. It seemed to be working.

XXXXX

"How'd it go?" Mike asked as he stood up when Alex emerged from Dr Walker's office. With red and puffy eyes, the teenager stuffed her tissues into her pocket. She looked up at him with a weak smile as Dr Walker squeezed her shoulder gently. As happy as she was to get the teenager to open up about her feelings, it still broke her heart to see the child in tears.

"Can we stop by that Cupcake place on Lexington before you take me home? Dad likes the Red Velvet ones. It might cheer him up a little" Alex asked softly.

"Of course we can"

"You look after yourself Alex, I'll be seeing you" Dr Walker smiled earning herself a smile from the teenager.

Mike wrapped his arm around Alex's shoulders as they headed for the elevator and down to the parking garage. Sparking up a conversation about music, Mike knew it was the best way to distract his god-daughter.

Working with Sam in the music industry, Mike choreographed and danced in a lot of the music videos his best friend directed and produced. They had stayed good friends long after high school and Sam in particular couldn't have gotten through this divorce without Mike. Both he and Tina had been a godsend especially with Alex over the past few weeks. She got to spend a lot of time with her best friend Aaron when Sam got so frustrated with Quinn and poured his time into his work to distract himself.

"Y'know cupcakes were a stroke of genius Al, Tina's cooking a roast for dinner and I know a good chocolate cupcake would be the best dessert" Mike chuckled as he pulled out of the parking garage and turned into the traffic.

"Any kind of junk food paired with a good Buckeyes game is always the best way to cheer up my Dad but cupcakes seem to work magic" she smiled and pulled her knees to her chest. Alex and her father had been visiting their favourite little cupcake bakery quite often over the past few weeks and that shot of sugar always helped.

"That's always been a good way to lift his spirits, even in high school... As long as our football coach didn't find out"

"I still can't believe you and Dad played foot..."

Alex's world went black

Please don't hate me!
Your thoughts so far?