Echoes of Our Rebellious Youth (All Time Low fanfiction | Alex Gaskarth)

Chapter 13: Sudden Step-Sister

Mickey's POV:

My stomach flips with nerves when Alex drives us into the parking lot of the café I am to meet Noah. Meeting up with him is nerve wracking enough, let alone meeting his girlfriend too. I never met anybody important to him before and I'm afraid of what would happen when I do. I don't want to mess up the relationship we barely have.

When I see my old red truck already in the parking lot, the nerves amplify tenfold. It means he's actually there, already waiting for me. I don't know what's worse, waiting for somebody to show up or looking around to find somebody waiting for you. Right now, it definitely feels like the latter.

"Okay, call me if you need me to pick you up," Alex tells me as he stops the car in front of the entrance.

I nod and take off my seatbelt, looking through the window. I can barely see the people inside, but they all seem extremely intimidating – like all eyes will be on me as soon as I step inside. There's nothing I want more than for Alex to suddenly speed off and take me somewhere else.

But he doesn't and I'm left to open the door to exit the car. My heart is racing by the time I go to step out. Alex, however, takes hold of my hand, making me turn back to him.

"Hey," he softly says and gives me a short yet tender kiss, "you can do this."

I give him a small smile and force myself to get out. Alex waves at me one last time as I shut the door behind myself and start what feels like the long trek to the entrance. He stays parked and watches me until I find myself inside. The hecticness of the coffee shop on a Saturday morning immediately hits me.

There are people chatting loudly, coffee machines buzzing constantly, and milk frothers hissing. My eyes flicker around the environment, trying to take it all in in an instant. Eventually, I spot Noah's familiar face and he waves to get my attention. I smile despite feeling like my heart is pounding so hard that it might actually stop.

Then starts the awkward walk towards the table he's sitting at. Although nobody seems to notice my presence, I still feel watched. Once I finally approach the table, my eyes land on the person I can only assume is Noah's girlfriend. She seems to be shorter than me and her hair a few shades lighter. Her glasses somehow make her blue eyes stand out more.

"You made it!" Noah grins, standing up to pull me into a hug.

"Of course I did," I mumble into him before we both let go and he gestures for me to sit across from him.

"This is Lara," he introduces, pointing at his girlfriend in the chair next to him. "Lara, Mickey."

She holds out her hand, which I shake before I shuffle my chair closer to the table.

"It's nice to meet you," she tells me, still looking at me with a friendly face. "Noah's told me a lot about you."

Dread immediately washes over me. The stories can't have painted me in a good light. I interrupted his life at 14 by moving in with Mom, suddenly gave him a step-sister, made him leave behind his friends because we had to constantly move for me, and eventually pushed him out to live with his mom and step-dad instead. There's no way to make me look like a nice person.

"Only good stories," Lara adds with a chuckle, probably taking my wide-eyed stare as a joke.

I glance at Noah and immediately start panicking about what to say. Laughing would only make it seem like I agreed that I could only be a good person in Noah's book, which was highly incorrect. But disagreeing would only be attention seeking. Neither option was one I could go through with.

Instead, I make an excuse for my weird behaviour. "Sorry, the noises are a little overwhelming." I gesture towards the air and give a polite smile back. "It's nice to meet you too."

"No worries, it can get pretty hectic in here," Lara replies sympathetically.

Noah leans in, sensing the chaos that's going on inside of me. "How've you been?"

I take a moment to try and gather my thoughts. A lot has happened since he randomly showed up at Alex and Rian's place. It's only been a week. But I suppress the urge to blurt it all out. This coffee date is not about me.

"I've been okay," I say, the words feeling so foreign on my tongue, but sounding so natural out in the open. "Just figuring things out as I go along."

"That's fair," Noah nods understandingly. "It's a process for everyone, right?" His tone is gentle, as if he's trying not to trigger something inside me.

I nod and become very aware of how this conversation is starting to focus on me. "So, how long have you two been together?" I blurt out, trying to shift the focus away from myself.

Noah smiles proudly, glancing at Lara before answering. "Just over two years now."

"Wow, that's amazing," I give them a twitch of my lips, genuinely happy that Noah managed to find something good. "It must be something special then."

Lara laughs softly, and gives Noah a loving look as she takes hold of his hand. "It's definitely nice having someone by your side through everything."

"I can imagine." A weird feeling tugs at my heart as a nod and my mind drifts to the years I wasted on Jake.

Noah shifts in his seat, a hint of concern flickering across his face and he changes the subject as he pulls out a menu. "We were thinking of getting some treats. Would you also like something?"

"Oh, no," I shake my head. "Alex made an elaborate breakfast with eggs and the whole shebang, I don't think I could eat any more if I tried."

"Alex is..." Lara sounds like she's trying to recall information Noah caught her up on before meeting me.

"The ex," he answers quickly as if they always refer to him as such, before turning to me for approval. "Right?"

I stare at him for a second too long, wondering if I can still refer to Alex as my ex now that we were back together in some kind of way. "Right."

Noah squints his eyes and gives me a suspicious look, putting my behaviour underneath a microscope. "What happened?"

"What happened when?" I ask back, suddenly wishing I'd accepted the menu so I can distract myself with it.

He shakes his head as if unsure whether to speak his thoughts. But then a small smirk starts toying at his lips. "You said 'right' weird."

"Did I?" I already feel the heat rising to my cheeks, and I curse that blushing is a thing.

His smirk starts to widen into a playful grin. "What. Happened." he urges like we're gossiping at a sleepover.

The heat on my cheeks only gets worse and I hide my face in my hands. It's just so new. And I'm happy, but it feels wrong to be happy. Carefree happiness isn't something I had the privilege of feeling in a while.

"Did you guys hook up?" Noah gasps and knocks his foot against my shin.

I'm absolutely mortified. We used to talk about everything quite a lot, even when we lived in different states. But it had been three years since we last did so. And to resume it in front of his girlfriend I only met a few minutes ago? Mortified.

I peek through the gaps between my fingers, feeling so embarrassed at Noah's interrogation yet also so elated for this dynamic to be returning. Lara's expression remains neutral, but there's a flicker of curiosity in her eyes.

"No, we didn't," I finally manage to blurt out, my voice coming out more forcefully than I intended.

Noah raises an eyebrow, clearly not buying my response. "Really? Because the way you're blushing tells a different story," he teases, nudging me playfully again.

I bite my lower lip and stare right back into his eyes before I give a little shrug.

Noah chuckles, clearly enjoying the exchange. "See, Lara? I told you those two can't keep their hands off of each other."

"Be nice," she tells him, gently putting a hand on his forearm.

"Alright, alright, I'll behave," Noah relents, but not before shooting me a mischievous grin. "For now. But I'll get more out of you."