Michael's weekend was pretty boring, like all weekends without Parker are. He hung out with Melissa a lot, because Katie was also spending some time with her parents and she didn't need to watch her all weekend. It was just awkward for Michael when he was alone, he liked constantly being with Parker.

But now Michael was pretty worried, because it was Sunday afternoon, around the time that Beth usually dropped Parker off, and she hadn't called or texted Michael yet to tell him that she was on her way. Beth had work the next day, didn't she? Michael assumed that she'd want to drop Parker off as soon as possible so she could get home early enough.

"Are you alright?" Melissa asked, rolling over next to Michael. They'd been at Michael's apartment all day (and all last night) and hadn't gotten out of bed for at least a few hours.

"Oh, yeah." Michael nodded. He must have spaced out or something, he'd been doing that a lot lately. "I was just wondering when Parker was going to get back.

"I'm sure they'll be here soon." Melissa shrugged, sitting up and shaking out her tangled hair. "Maybe there's traffic or something."

"Maybe." Michael shrugged as well. "I know Beth, though. She always calls."

Melissa shrugged again and turned away from Michael, quickly hopping out of bed and walking out of the room, which honestly distracted Michael because she was wearing nothing but her underwear and one of Michael's old t-shirts.

"Oh, come on! What did I say?" Michael finally snapped out of his little daze and realized why Melissa had left. She was still so moody.

"Nothing!" Melissa yelled back, the bathroom door slamming shut behind her.

Michael sighed and got out of bed as well, searching around on the ground for some clothes to wear. He found the sweatpants and sweatshirt that he had been wearing last night and quickly put them on, grabbing his phone off the bedside table before walking out of his room and into the kitchen.

Michael had just started to make some coffee when Melissa entered the kitchen again, her hair now up in a bun and her face looking as if she'd just washed it. She walked straight over to the fridge, opening it up and grabbing a piece of leftover pizza.

"Are you okay?" Michael asked, barely glancing over his shoulder. Melissa leaned up against the counter next to Michael, watching as he fumbled around with the dirty dishes and tried to quickly wash some coffee mugs.

"I'm fine." Melissa shrugged, her mouth half full. "I just wanted pizza."

"For breakfast?" Michael questioned, raising an eyebrow at her.

"It's, like, noon." Melissa scoffed.

Michael let out a little whimper at the mention of it being noon already and he pulled his phone out of his pocket, checking once again for any calls or texts from Beth.

"He'll be back soon." Melissa said softly, already seeming to know what Michael was so upset about.

"I know, I know." Michael sighed. "I'm worrying for no reason."

"You could always call Beth and see what's going on." Melissa stifled a laugh, reaching over and grabbing the sleeve of Michael's sweatshirt, pulling him towards her.

"It doesn't work that way." Michael mumbled, once again distracted by just Melissa in general. He brought his hands back to her waist and closed the gap between them, leaning in and leaving a few short kisses on Melissa's lips.

"Last night was fun." Melissa whispered, sending a shiver down Michael's spine.

"Yeah, it was." Michael agreed, biting down on his bottom lip and remembering the events of the night before.

"I feel like it won't get to happen again for a while." Melissa pouted. "Like, I hardly ever get the whole weekend off like this and Parker's only gone every other weekend..."

"I keep telling you, the kids can - "

"They can't watch!" Melissa laughed, playfully slapping Michael on the chest. Michael shrugged and leaning in once more, bringing his lips back to Melissa's.

"We definitely need to do something like this again, though." Michael hummed against Melissa's lips, his hands running up and down her sides.

"I know." Melissa giggled. She stood up on her toes and wrapped her arms around Michael's neck, pulling herself closer to him.

They were interrupted (like they always were) by Michael's phone ringing, and he practically jumped away from Melissa so he could answer it. He reached for his phone and accepted the call, trying to keep his arms around Melissa's waist so she didn't walk away from him like she always tried to.

"Hello!" Michael said loudly, trying not to laugh as Melissa squirmed around in his arms.

"Hi!" Beth mocked Michael, speaking just as loudly as he had.

"Where are you?" Michael asked, tightening his grip around Melissa's waist so she still couldn't get away from him.

"That's actually what I'm calling to talk to you about." Beth said a little less unenthusiastically, creating a big knot in Michael's stomach. Melissa must have noticed, because she stopped laughing and was now staring at Michael while he spoke to Beth.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"I think Parker's going to stay here for another night." Beth said slowly, almost as if she was afraid to speak.

"What? No, he can't." Michael snapped. "He has school tomorrow!"

"I can call him in sick!" Beth argued back. "I want him to stay here."

"Why?" Michael asked, unable to keep calm about this. This whole thing with Beth and Michael basically sharing Parker had been going on for a little over a year now and this had never happened, Beth had never tried to take Parker away from Michael for longer than they'd agreed on in the first place.

"Michael, I'm actually really worried about him - "

"What's wrong with him?" Michael almost yelled. He pulled himself away from Melissa and walked away from her completely, despite how she was trying to keep Michael near her. He left the kitchen and went into the living room, just wanting to be alone. "Bring him home, Beth, I want him to be here."

"I don't think that's a good idea - "

"You can't do this." Michael whined, sitting down on the couch. He let his head fall to his hands, a small groan escaping his lips.

"He's been acting really weird all weekend, I think it would be best for everyone if he just stayed here for another night." Beth tried to explain.

"How is he acting weird, what's wrong?" Michael questioned, still not understanding why this was a big deal. He felt as if he was going to cry now, he didn't like this at all.

It was like this was the first step. First Beth asks if Parker can stay just one extra night with her, and pretty soon she'll be telling Michael that it would be best for everyone if Parker just lived with her permanently. Beth was going to take Parker away from Michael. He was going to be the uncool parent, the one that was never around.

"Can I talk to him?" Michael asked, suddenly wanting nothing more than to hear Parker's voice.

"Fine." Beth sighed and Michael heard some movement on the other side of the phone. "Park, Daddy wants to talk to you."

"Hi Daddy!" Parker said happily, most likely not knowing what was really wrong.

"Hey, Pac-Man! How are you?" Michael asked.

"I'm good!" Parker giggled. He sounded happy, at least, so Michael knew that Beth wasn't keeping Parker there against his will. "This weekend was so fun!"

"Oh, really?" Michael questioned, raising his eyebrows. "What did you do?"

"We went to the movies and we went to the park and we went shopping and I got new toys and clothes and we went out and got food!" Parker rambled on for what seemed like forever until Michael finally cut him off, having heard enough about Parker's amazing weekend.

"That's cool! Are you ready to come home now?" Michael asked.

"No, not really." Parker said quietly. "Mommy said that we could go out for breakfast tomorrow morning, I don't want to go home yet..."

"But, Park." Michael whined a little. "You have school tomorrow. And what about Katie, don't you want to see her?"

"I do..." Parker trailed off. "But I want to stay here, with Mommy."

"But - but you - " Michael stammered, not even knowing what to say anymore. "Don't you want to come home?"

"Well... Well Mommy says - " Parker was cut off by Beth saying something to him that Michael really couldn't understand. "I have to go now, Daddy."

"What?"

"Bye bye - " Parker laughed, pausing again to listen to whatever Beth was saying. "I'll see you tomorrow!"

"Park, wait - "

"Hi." Beth's voice came through the other end of the phone again, and Michael let out a big groan.

"Just bring him home." Michael said, whining a little.

"I'll bring him home tomorrow, Michael, just stop arguing with me about this." Beth sighed.

"I don't understand why you feel the need to keep him for an extra day." Michael said, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand.

"I'm worried about him!" Beth groaned. Michael could hear Parker talking and laughing in the background, which just made him feel worse.

"So bring him home!" Michael groaned back.

"He won't leave my side, Michael, I've had to stay next to him practically all weekend. I'd try to set up a movie for him to watch on his own or put him to bed and he'd cry and beg for me to stay. He's not normally like that." Beth explained quickly, even though Michael was barely listening now. He was just mad at Beth now, he didn't want to listen to anything she had to say.

"You'll just make it worse if you let him stay longer." Michael said bitterly.

"And I think he's sick. Has he complained about his chest or his throat lately? Have you taken him to a doctor at all?" Beth questioned, changing the subject.

"I've been trying to get around to doing that..." Michael trailed off. Parker's complaining had "slipped his mind" when Beth came over on Friday to pick Parker up, and Michael hadn't spoken to her at all like he'd said that he would.

"I'm worried." Beth said again.

"I'm worried too." Michael sighed. "Bring him back home, I want to be with him."

"I don't understand why I can't just - "

"When we broke up we agreed that you'd get Park every other weekend and certain holidays. Friday to Sunday, Beth, no more." Michael said sternly, not even feeling bad about how much of a dick he was being.

"Can you stop being so selfish?" Beth snapped. "I get to see Parker for about five days total every month and you have him every other day!"

"I'm not being selfish! He's my son and I want him home, just please bring him home!" Michael yelled, his voice cracking a little at the end. He hoped that no one heard him.

"It's not fair, I never get to see him!" Beth yelled back at him.

"That's your fault!" Michael screamed, "I didn't ask for you to move three hours away from us! I didn't ask for any of this shit!"

"Calm down." Beth said, sounding bored and unamused with Michael.

"I am calm." Michael tried to quiet himself down, but it didn't really work. He was too mad to be quiet.

"I'm not taking Parker away from you forever, it's just one more night." Beth said quietly.

"Beth." Michael snapped. "I will drive out there myself and get him if you don't bring Parker home today."

"You're acting insane." Beth scoffed.

"So are you!" Michael argued. "You have no right to keep him away from me like this."

"I'm his mother!"

"I'm his father!"

"I'll see you tomorrow." Beth said quickly after a moment of silence, her voice oddly calm.

"No." Michael said harshly, wanting to get his point across even though by now he knew that he wasn't going to win this.

"I'll see you tomorrow." Beth repeated, her voice already sounding very far away.

"Beth, no!" Michael yelled, attempting one last time to try and get Beth's attention.

Beth didn't listen to Michael, she just hung up, and Michael was so frustrated that he threw his own phone across the room. He grabbed a pillow from the couch and covered his face with it, wanting to scream. He didn't, though, because he remembered that Melissa was still in the apartment somewhere.

Michael slowly took the pillow away from his face and sat up from his place on the couch, still feeling like shit about all of this. He stood up and walked back into the kitchen, searching for Melissa. She wasn't in there anymore, so Michael walked down the hallway and headed towards his bedroom.

"Hi." Melissa said when Michael walked in. She had put her jeans from the night before back on but was still wearing Michael's shirt (he really liked how his clothes looked on her), and if Michael hadn't known any better he'd think that she was trying to leave.

She probably was, it'd make sense for her to want to leave now. Michael's day was already bad, of course Melissa would find a way to make it worse.

"Hi." Michael pouted, taking a seat at the edge of his bed.

"What's wrong?" Melissa asked. She walked around the side of the bed so she was standing in front of Michael, looking down at him.

"Beth isn't bringing Parker back until tomorrow." Michael said quietly, barely looking up at Melissa.

He felt pathetic when things like this happened, he thought that it was so stupid of him to literally rely on Parker to stay happy. Michael was always in such a bad mood when Parker was with Beth, all he wanted was to be with his son, all the time. Michael and Parker were a team, a package deal, and when they weren't together Michael felt... weird.

"Why?" Melissa asked. She sat down next to Michael (not on top of him, like she normally did), and grabbed his hand, lacing their fingers together.

"She's worried about him, I guess. I think he's sick." Michael grumbled, not wanting to talk about this anymore. "She just wants him to stay with her for one more day."

"And you're upset?" Melissa questioned.

"Obviously." Michael said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "He's supposed to be home already."

"He'll be home tomorrow." Melissa shrugged. Michael didn't get why she was acting like she didn't even care at all, she'd literally told him a few days before that she really cared about Parker. If she cared so much then she would take Michael's side.

"He's going to miss a day of school. I don't like that." Michael said stubbornly. He stood up from the bed, ready to go call Beth back and yell at her some more, but Melissa pulled him down again. "He's missing a day of school for literally no reason!"

"He's sick, it's a good reason!" Melissa said, trying to reason with Michael.

"Does Beth think that I can't take care of Parker when he's sick? Is that it? Is it because of that time that he got the flu and I had to call her every hour..." Michael trailed off, losing himself in his own thoughts.

"Michael, you're going to hyperventilate." Melissa chuckled, rubbing Michael's back to try once again to calm him down.

"Beth needs to bring him home." Michael huffed. "I'm so mad at her. So mad."

"It's just one day." Melissa said, almost sounding afraid to say it. Like she knew that Michael would get upset.

"But that's not what Beth and I agreed on. He's supposed to be there on weekends, she can't have him stay home from school just because she feels like it!" Michael argued, wiggling his hand away from Melissa's.

"Don't you think you're being a little selfish?" Melissa asked.

"I am not!" Michael gasped. He whined again, "It's not my fault that I just want my son with me!"

"I know, but I think that Beth just - "

"Are you seriously taking her side?" Michael accused her, standing up from the bed. This time Melissa let him go.

"I'm not taking anyone's side!" Melissa stood up as well, folding her arms across her chest as she glared back a Michael.

"You're totally taking Beth's side!" Michael groaned.

"No I'm not!" Melissa said harshly. "I just think that it's a little selfish of you to be acting this way when Beth is only keeping Parker for one extra day!"

"So you are taking her side!" Michael shouted.

"Michael, babe," Melissa said, taking a step forward. She put her hands on Michael's shoulders, trying to calm him down. "Just calm down, please."

"I am calm." Michael said quietly, although he knew that he wasn't. "It's just - He's my son, Mel..."

"He's Beth's son too."

"You're taking her - "

"I am not taking her side." Melissa scoffed, shaking her head. She took a few steps away from Michael and crossed her arms over her chest again.

"It really seems like you are..." Michael trailed off, looking down at the floor.

"Okay, fine. I'm taking her side because you're being absolutely ridiculous right now." Melissa said, already walking out of Michael's room (she was probably going to leave the apartment, too, but Michael didn't care). "I'll call you later!"

"Fine!" Michael yelled after her.

"Fine!" She yelled back, the front door of the apartment slamming as she walked out.

*•*•*

" - And then she left." Michael said, finishing up his story. He'd gone over to Ashton's apartment a little while after Melissa left, after realizing that he had no reason to be home since Parker wouldn't be back until tomorrow.

"She left?" Ashton asked, like he was trying to clarify everything for himself. Michael didn't know what Ashton didn't understand, it was all pretty self explanatory.

"Yeah, she left." Michael nodded.

Ashton shifted awkwardly in his seat and looked around the room, like he was trying to search for what he was supposed to say.

"Did you go after her?" Ashton asked.

"Well... No." Michael said blankly. "I was being 'absolutely ridiculous', I didn't want to make it worse."

"You were being kind of selfish..." Ashton said slowly.

"He's my son!" Michael stressed, getting upset again. He came to Ashton for help, not to be told that what he'd done was wrong.

"He's Beth's son too!" Ashton countered back. "I actually agree with her, Michael, I think that Beth has a right to want to see Parker more often than she does. You live with him, she barely gets to spend time with him."

"She suggested that, though." Michael said, continuing to defend himself. "When we broke up she decided that it would work out better for Parker to stay here, with me."

Ashton didn't respond to Michael, it was like he was waiting for him to say more.

"She's taking him away from me." Michael pouted.

"She is not taking him away from you!" Ashton said, letting out a small chuckle because he probably thought that Michael was just being stupid now. He knew he was being stupid, he just didn't want to admit to it.

"But this is just the start, Ash!" Michael said, waving his hands around in the air. "First she wants to keep him for an extra night, then she decides that she wants to keep him forever!"

"Beth wouldn't do that to you, you know that." Ashton said, rolling his eyes. He stood up from his place on the couch, picking up their dirty dishes from the coffee table and quickly carrying them into the kitchen, returning again in a few seconds.

"Do you think I did something wrong?" Michael wondered out loud, trying to figure out just why Beth wanted Parker to stay with her for another night.

"No." Ashton shrugged. "I think that Beth is just worried about Parker and wants to stay with him for one more day."

"But I can take care of him if something's wrong! There's no reason for her to need to be with him." Michael whined.

"She's his mom."

"I'm his dad."

"That argument doesn't work for everything." Ashton laughed.

"It should." Michael shrugged. He took a minute and thought about all of this, and then he finally let out a big sigh. "I'm such an asshole."

"I know." Ashton agreed. He took a seat next to Michael and pat him on the back a few times, trying to comfort him.

"I was such an asshole to Beth." Michael sighed, suddenly feeling awful about this.

Ashton was right, Melissa was even right too, Michael was selfish. Beth hardly ever got to see Parker, her own son, and Michael was being a real dick about this whole thing. Beth just wanted to keep Parker for one more night to make sure that he was okay, she wasn't going to take him away from Michael forever. She wouldn't do that. Right?

"Yeah, you were." Ashton said, continuing to agree with Michael. He was kind of glad that Ashton wasn't sugar coating this at all, he was getting straight to the point. That's why Michael liked to go to Ashton for advice, he always helped and didn't care about sparing Michael's feelings.

"I was being selfish." Michael sighed. "Parker's my son but he's Beth's son too."

"Yeah." Ashton nodded. "I know that you and Parker have a really close bond but you have to remember that Beth is his mother, you can't just take him for yourself."

"I know." Michael looked down at his lap, completely regretting the way he had acted. He was so immature, he practically threw a tantrum just because he didn't get his way. He was more of a four year old than Parker was.

"Parker's happy, isn't that all that should matter?" Ashton asked.

"Yeah." Michael repeated, not knowing what else to say. He felt like crying just because he was so frustrated and angry at himself and then he got even more upset for being such a baby in general. He cried over every little thing, it was pathetic.

"You were also an asshole to Melissa." Ashton added.

"Oh, right, her." Michael grumbled, still a little upset with Melissa even though he knew that he shouldn't have been. She was just so stubborn, it was beginning to annoy Michael.

"You've only been dating her for a couple weeks, it's too early to fuck things up." Ashton chuckled.

"Things aren't fucked up." Michael shook his head. "They're just... complicated."

"Why is that?" Ashton asked. He acted like Michael's therapist sometimes, it's was kind of funny.

"We're both too stubborn, we always fight, and sometimes Melissa just completely shuts me out." Michael explained. "Like, she'll be upset and I'll want to help her, you know? But she won't let me."

"Don't push her to tell you things she doesn't want to tell you." Ashton warned. "You don't want to upset her."

"I just want to help." Michael mumbled.

"You don't know what's going on with her, she may have a good reason for keeping quiet sometimes." Ashton explained to Michael, which made him understand this whole situation a little more. It still annoyed him that Melissa wasn't always completely open with him, but he knew now that she might have a lot going on that she didn't want to share with anyone, even Michael. He should just give her time.

"I guess you're right." Michael finally spoke, after having thought about this for a while.

"You also need to take Park to the doctor, by the way." Ashton said softly after another few minutes of silence, bumping Michael's shoulder with his.

Michael's eyes got wide and he looked up at Ashton, surprised that his friend knew about that. Ashton knew everything, so Michael really shouldn't have been surprised, yet he still was. "How do you know about that?"

"Luke told me." Ashton shrugged. "A couple weeks ago, when Luke was watching Parker I guess he was coughing really had or something? Parker said that it's happened before."

"What? Why didn't Luke tell me anything?" Michael asked, having no idea about this.

"Maybe he didn't want you to worry." Ashton said, and shrugged again. "But I think you should, because it seems like a big deal. I don't know, Michael, maybe I'm just paranoid. I've been reading all those baby books..."

"But Parker isn't a baby." Michael cut Ashton off. He corrected himself, "He's my baby, but not an actual baby."

"He's four." Ashton laughed.

"He's my baby!" Michael argued, unable to help a laugh from slipping out of his mouth as well.

"Em doesn't want to find out if our baby is a boy or girl." Ashton sighed, leaning back into the couch again. Michael finally relaxed a little, because Ashton was done reprimanding him.

"Beth didn't want to either." Michael shrugged. Maybe it was just a girl thing, they never wanted to know.

"I want a little girl." Ashton sighed again and closed his eyes, like he was imagining it. "Wouldn't that just be perfect? I bet Em would love having a little girl. She could dress her up and take her shopping with her and then I could take her to dance class and try to put her hair in a little ballet bun. So cute."

"I think you're getting a little ahead of yourself." Michael chuckled, even though he used to do the same thing when Beth was pregnant.

He'd always wanted a little boy that he could play video games with and dress up all cool and have cute inside jokes with. Of course he hadn't imagined Parker to be so stubborn (you know he probably got his stubbornness from Michael) and moody, but it was fine for Michael. He'd also imagined Beth to always be there with him, but obviously things hadn't worked out like Michael had planned.

"I'm so excited." Ashton said, opening his eyes again. He wore a big smile on his face, and Michael could tell that Ashton was really telling the truth. "I was scared at first, but now I'm so excited."

"It is exciting, isn't it?" Michael laughed, reminiscing for a second on how things were when he was in Ashton's position.

"We've already started to make the extra room into a little nursery." Ashton said, smiling wide again. "I painted it yellow and Em got these little ducky stuffed animals and oh, Michael, it's just so cute!"

Michael laughed again at the way that Ashton was talking, just finding in amusing how everything Ashton was describing was just so cute. "I think you're more excited than Emily is."

Ashton opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by the sound of the front door opening, and he sat up straight away, probably thinking that it was Emily at the door. She'd gone out a few minutes after Michael first showed up, sensing that Michael and Ashton needed to be alone for a while.

But instead of Emily walking through the door it was Calum, looking even worse than he had when he came to Michael's apartment a few days before.

"I'm drunk, I'm so drunk!" Calum yelled, walking into the living room.

Ashton stood up from the couch, immediately walking over to where Calum was standing. Michael just stayed sitting where he was, because even though he'd dealt with drunk Calum many times before he didn't really know how to handle it this time. He was kind of scared, Calum had been acting so weird lately and he didn't really know what to do about it.

"Calum, are you okay?" Ashton asked carefully, putting a hand on Calum's shoulder to try and steady him.

"No, not I'm not." Calum said, shaking his head.

"How much have you had to drink? How did you get here?" Ashton questioned, "Are you crying?"

"I drank a lot, Ash, a lot." Calum said, letting out a nervous laugh. "I really fucked up this time, boys."

Michael slowly stood up from the couch and walked over to where Calum and Ashton were standing. He had a feeling that in the end Calum would admit that he was just too drunk and crying about striking out with a girl again, but Michael wasn't totally sure. He thought that maybe this time something else had happened.

"Calum, what happened?" Michael asked hesitantly, not sure if he wanted to hear the answer.

Calum wiped under his eyes with the backs of his hands, sniffling once before turning back to Ashton and Michael. "I. Fucked. Up."

"But how?" Ashton asked, probably annoyed with how vague Calum was being as well.

"Oh, God." Calum groaned before stumbling over and falling onto the floor, curling up in a ball with his knees hugged close to his chest. Michael and Ashton quickly got down on the floor and sat down next to Calum.

"Cal, you have to tell - "

"I fucked up!" Calum yelled, crying again. "I fucked up, I have a kid, I really fucked up..."

-

so much happened in this chapter and it was meant to only be a filler oh my god

btw if anyone has any ideas for what should happen after this let me know cuz I'm honestly really stuck omg