My Complicated Love

Chapter Twenty-Two: The shows

*Chapter Twenty-Two: The shows*

A few days later, they were having Friday night dinner at Caleb and Jace's house. It was a tradition that Alex had been a part of since eighth grade. Jace and her made eye contact, deciding this was a better time than ever. "Mom, dad," Jace said. They both looked up from their food, smiles on their faces. "Um... Alex and I are dating," he burst out. Way to rip the Band-Aid off, Jace, Alex thought, blowing a piece of hair out of her face.

"Wait, really?" Kelli asked, shocked. They nodded, looking at each other and grabbing hands. She started squealing, standing up and running over to them. She wrapped Alex in a bone crushing hug before planting kisses on Jace's face. "Oh, mom! Ow, stop!" he whined. Alex giggled as he tried to wipe the lipstick from his face.

"I knew this was going to happen eventually," Kelli said, sitting back down. Roger put a hand on her shoulder, always being the voice of reason. "I think that there needs to be a few ground rules now..." Kelli broke out of her excited trance and nodded in agreement. "Alex, when you sleep over it cannot be in Jace's room. You'll only be allowed in there when the door is open and there's a parent home." She blushed, remembering what had already gone on in that bedroom. "Kelli, Roger," she said, laughing slightly, "You've known me since I was a kid. Do you really think I'd do that to you?"

"She does have a point, Roger," Kelli said, giving him that look that always somehow made his tough exterior soften. It was the look that could make her win every fight and remind him why he fell in love with her again somehow. Alex had seen her give it to him a million times. "Yeah, you're right honey," he said, kissing her forehead. Kelli grinned, before looking at Alex and winking. Alex laughed in response, looking back down at her food.

Later that night, when everyone was sleeping, Alex got a text from Jace. It just said, Living room. She grinned to herself, quietly slipping out of Caleb's room and down the stairs. When she got down, Jace was standing there in just pajama pants. She sighed. "You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?" she said, biting her lip. He smirked, looking her up and down in her shorts and tank top. "I could say the same to you..." She grinned, wrapping her arms around his neck as he rested his on her waist. "You know, I really hate having you just across the hallway and not being able to see you..."

She nodded, standing on here tiptoes and pressing her lips to his. He immediately responded, pulling her against him and deepening the kiss, before his hands slowly traveled down to her ass. She laughed and he pulled back slightly to breathe, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "You're so beautiful," he whispered. She smiled, biting her lip. "You're not so bad yourself," she said, giggling. He smirked. "Do you want to take this up to my room?" She gasped, putting a hand over her heart. "Jace! I cannot believe you want me to betray your parents as you take advantage of me... Shame on you!" He looked slightly worried, until her mouth stretched into a smile. "Dammit, Alex, you scared me," he said, letting out a breath of relief. She burst into laughter, pulling him in for a kiss.

...

"Oh my god," Alex breathed. It was the opening night of Les Miserables. "It's a full house?" The boy that she was talking to, a Senior named Sam, nodded excitedly. "It's going to be great!" She forced a weak smile, before walking over to the mirror. As she was making sure her dress looked okay and her mic was situated, she saw Jace coming up behind her. He wrapped his arms around her waist. "Nervous?" he asked. She knew she couldn't lie to him, so she nodded. "It's a full house," she whispered. He smiled, placing a light kiss on her collarbone and she sighed. "It is going to be amazing. Do you want to know how I know?" She nodded. "It's because you're in it. You're an amazing singer and actress, and plus, you have me as your leading man." She laughed, turning around to kiss him.

"Hey, no PDA!" a Junior boy called teasingly. Alex responded by giving him the finger.

The show went perfectly, just like Jace told her it would. They even got a standing ovation. Once it was done, they walked out, none of the cast cheering or whooping as they did so. Some schools did but they never did, it was a tradition to not cheer after the musicals. Everyone was grinning ear to ear and a few came up to Alex and Jace, hugging them. He led her to where his family was standing, a hand on the small of her waist. "You did so well!" Caleb exclaimed, hugging her around the waist, almost lifting her up. She grinned, ruffling his hair. "Thank you! You did okay too..." He gasped, putting a hand over his heart and she giggled. "Just kidding! You were great." Alex's parents weren't there, they were only going to the Sunday show, not that she minded. Roger and Kelli were going to every show, and Angie was coming to the Saturday one.

Jace nudged her and pointed somewhere across the room. Alex looked and saw Conner standing awkwardly in the corner. She, Jace, Caleb, and Lucas all walked over to him and a smile spread across his face. "Hey guys," he said, hugging Alex. "That was amazing! I'm proud of you."

"You helped it be amazing," she stated obviously. He scoffed. "Nah..."

That Sunday, the cast had a surprise for all of the directors and everyone. They gave flowers and little speeches about them right after the musical was finished. Alex, after a lot of begging, got to make a speech about Conner. "Oh, I'm next?" she asked when Drew shoved the flowers in her hand. "Well okay then! Conner?" He wasn't on the stage, he was still backstage. "Get out here! I know you're back there!" she called. He suddenly appeared, looking slightly confused. He walked over to her and she stood on her tip toes to wrap an arm around him. "Some of you might know Conner, he graduated last year. He's been doing plays and musicals forever, I think, and even when he graduated he came back. He claims that it isn't a big deal, but our director, Mrs. Ferris, told me that he spent almost as much time working on this musical as she did. Think about that! This guy was in college, with the mountains of homework you have to do there, and then he was working on his old high school's musical that he wasn't in and doesn't expect any credit for it! So, thank you Conner, for your dedication to this program and everyone in it!" Everyone cheered and laughed as he planted an over dramatic kiss on her cheek.

When they were finally done with all the speeches, everyone left and Alex went to find her parents. They were standing next to each other stiffly, not talking to each other. Alex walked over to them, forcing a smile on her face. She loved both of her parents separately, but when they were together they changed completely. "Hey!" she said, hugging her dad and then her mom. "Hi sweetie. You did great!" her mom said. She grinned up at them, and they started talking. Jace came up to them a few minutes later. He didn't touch her though, because her dad could be scary when he wanted to be.

"Oh, I forgot, Jace is taking me out for ice cream for a while. I'll be back by dinner though, okay?" Their Sunday show was always at one so it was only three at that point. Alex's dad looked like he was going to protest, when her mom interrupted him. "Sounds good, sweetie. As long as you're home for dinner."

After saying goodbye to her parents, Alex went backstage to change. When she got out, she saw almost everyone was standing in a huge group hug, crying. "What did I miss?" she questioned. Drew and Caleb, who were on the outside, gestured for her to join them and she noticed tears in their eyes too, so she had to walk over to them. They all sat for a good ten minutes, just hugging and crying. When they finally separated, Alex found Jace, who was trying to quickly wipe away the tears. "Aw, babe, are you okay?" she asked him. He forced out a laugh and nodded. "My last high school musical is over though... I'm never going to share the stage with most of these people again," he admitted. She bit her lip, staring at her boyfriend as he tried avoiding eye contact with her. That was when she realized, she was completely, one-hundred percent, irreversibly in love with that boy.

He finally met her eyes and noticed her staring. "What?" he asked, a cute half smile appearing on his face. "Nothing," she giggled, standing on her toes to kiss him. "Come on, let's go see how Ben and Lucy react to us dating..."

The ice cream shop owners were ecstatic that Jace was dating the girl they instantly loved. As they watched the two eat their ice cream in the same booth as before, Ben wrapped an arm around Lucy. "I think Jace has found his girl..." he said to her and she nodded in agreement.