Dean grabbed AJ's hand, leading her to sit on his bed. He ran his fingers through his golden hair and sighed. "My parents are getting a divorce."

AJ covered her agape mouth with her hand, "I'm so sorry Dean."

"They're going to court in 3 days to see who gets custody of me. Right now I can't stand the sight of either of their faces."

"Why are they getting a divorce? Every time I see them they always look so happy with each other."

"Recently, they've been acting extra happy when you're here. But once you leave all they do is argue. Sometimes they have good days but recently it's been worse."

"How so?" AJ asked, holding Dean's hand on her lap as comfort.

"It's my fault." he looked away, trying not to cry. "My mom hasn't gotten over me murdering 2 people and my dad giving me the gun to do it. Since she found out, all she's done is ignore us. Especially me. The only time she speaks a word to us is just when she bitches about whatever."

AJ couldn't help but to feel some what responsible for what was going on in Dean's life right now.
"Then maybe it would be best if you end up staying with your dad then, if your moms going to keep acting like that."

Dean shook his head, "I thought the same at first. Yesterday my parents went to talk to their lawyers to split up the money and all that stuff and my dad gave my mom the house." he paused. "So if I do end up going with my dad, I won't live here anymore. I'd be living in his new house. That he bought in..." Dean mumbled the last part.

AJ got close to hear better. "Bought where?"

"California." he said quietly.

AJ was shocked. Dean couldn't be moving away. He just couldn't be. "Are you serious?!" she almost yelled. "You're actually moving all the way to California?"

"Only if my dad wins custody."

"Who do you want to win custody?"

"I don't know." he shrugged, "My dad's been treating me better but I don't want to move. I can't stand the fact that my mom doesn't care about me anymore but I want to stay here so I can be with you. The decisions in 3 days and no matter what, I'll be miserable either way."

AJ hoped that his mom would win custody so they could be together, but if she was basically going to disown him then she didn't want Dean to feel that pain. "How come your mom wants to keep you if all she does is either ignore or bitch at you?"

Dean scoffed, "Cuz she knows that my dad wants to take care of me, but she just wants to keep me to piss him off. It sucks though cuz my dads a recovering addict and if he gets depressed I'm scared that he'll bounce back to his old ways. I can't have that happen. He still loves my mom and this whole thing is destroying him. And I know he's been drinking again. When I went to see him at the apartment he's staying in, I saw 3 empty bottles of Jack on the counter."

AJ kissed his scruffy cheek, "I'm so sorry."

He kissed her cherry flavored lips, "It's okay. You wanna come with us? I'm not going to be allowed in the court room when the judge makes the decision so I want some company."

AJ nodded her head, "Sure, whatever you need."
___________________
-Boy's and AJ's house-

Matt came through the front door looking more pissed off than usual. He slammed the door shut, gaining the attention of everybody in the house.

"Somebody's got their panties in a bunch." Zacky joked.

"Not in the fucking mood." he growled.

"What's your problem?" Bayley asked, snuggling closer to Jimmy.

"It's nothing."

"It's obviously something." Jimmy said, "People just don't slam doors and have an angry face for no reason. Oh wait, you always do that."

"C'mon." Syn jumped up from the couch, "We're going on tour in 3 fucking days! I thought you'd be excited about this."

"That's the problem!" Matt exclaimed, throwing himself onto another one of the couches. "Becky doesn't want me to go. She thinks that this whole thing is a worthless fantasy that I'm living in. That I should find, and I quote, 'a real job.'" he mocked her, using an Irish accent.

"That's kinda harsh." Bayley commented, "You want me to talk to her?"

"No it's okay."

Zacky sat up, leaning forward. "So what's it going to be? We all really want to go. Scratch that, we need to go to make our careers happen. If you don't go then we can't go. All of this hard work will be for nothing." he explained to the group. You could tell he had a bit of anger in his voice.

"Zacky's right." Jimmy took his side, "I get that Becky wants you to help with Jade but, doesn't she understand that this is how you're going to make your money? That this isn't some dream anymore. That it actually is becoming a reality."

"I don't know what to do. If I go then I'm going to look like a selfish prick and she'll believe even more that I would walk out on her. And yeah, she actually said that to my face." he emphasized. "But if I stay then... there's no point in this band even continuing with me in it."

All the brothers looked at each other. They'd rather end A7X than finding somebody else to replace Matt. Synyster ran a hand through his jet black hair, "Look, if you want to go on tour then thats awesome. Maybe you'll be able to make it up to Becky when you get back. If that's too much of a risk that she won't forgive you, then you should stay." Jimmy and Zacky agreed.

Matt looked up at his brothers in shock, "Guys, don't do that. I know you'd all hate me if I decided to stay."

They didn't say anything until Zacky spoke up, "Maybe you choosing not to go is a sign that this was a waste of time. Maybe this band isn't what we thought it would be."

Matt sighed, "Thanks guys."
____________________
-3 days later; Court House-

Matt dropped AJ off at the court house because he was on his way to Becky's place to reveal his decision. AJ hopped up the many concrete stairs. When she walked inside she saw Jacoby standing by the door and Maria on the opposite side of the hall. Then she noticed Dean sitting on the bench that was in the middle of the hall. His head was buried in his hands and he looked absolutely miserable.

She tapped his shoulder, "Hey, Dean."

He gazed up at her. AJ could tell by his pale face that he was nervous. "Hi." he said under his breath. "They're about to meet with the judge in about-"

"Jacoby Shaddix and Maria Brink. Judge Laurinitus will be seeing you." one of the officers in the court informed, using Maria's maiden name. They both walked into the room without making eye contact.

"Shaddix and Brink?" AJ questioned, "Where the hell did Ambrose come from?"

"My dads middle name's Shaddix. He dropped Ambrose just in case I didn't go with him. He didn't want to be reminded of me if I ended up staying with my mom."

"He's just going to try and forget you?" AJ started getting angry for Dean, "That's ridiculous. Hell, I thought my mom was bad, but she at least made an effort to come see us again."

"AJ, either way I'm fucked."

A light bulb popped into AJ's head after she brought up her mother. "I have an idea."

Two hours passed until Dean was called into the room. He wanted AJ to stay outside while he did this.

Judge Laurinitus signaled for Dean to come closer to the stand. He stood in the middle of his parents, with their lawyers on the sides of them. "Dean Ambrose, after 2 hours I have came to a decision." he said with a raspy voice. "The parent that will have custody of you is..." he paused for a dramatic affect.

"Can you hurry up?!" Dean rushed, being anxious to hear what the answer was.

"You will be living with your father." the judge revealed.

Maria slumped her shoulders and held in her tears. Jacoby high 5d his lawyer and put his arm around Dean. He looked at his fathers tattooed arms and saw that he was wearing a few band aids. Dean looked down, realizing that Jacoby was shooting up again, like he used to when Dean was a baby.

Before the judge slammed the mallet down, Dean spoke up. "I have something to say before we make this official." They gave him a concerned look. "Judge Laurinitus, I would like to emancipate my parents."

"What?!" Jacoby and Maria yelled in unison.

"I need a reason why, young man."

"My mom seems to not care about me anymore and doesn't show me any type of acknowledgment. My father, I'm concerned about him because he hasn't acted like himself since he and my mother wanted a divorce. He's been drinking a lot and I feel like he would be a bad influence on me if I stayed with him." Dean explained to the judge, trying to sound professional to make the impression that he'd be able to live on his own.

After another 30minutes of discussing it, the judge agreed to the emancipation. He had the officers bring out the forms for Jacoby and Maria to sign. "Please write your signatures on the dotted line." he instructed.

Maria and Jacoby hands shook as they signed their names. "There." they both said, before walking out of the court room, still without sharing a glance at each other or saying a goodbye to their one and only son.

"I hope you know what you just did, Mr.Ambrose." Judge Laurinitus told him.

"I do. My uncle owns a few pent houses in New York and he said I can live there." Dean explained to the judge the conversation he had with his uncle before he was called into the room. "Everything's settled." Dean walked out and saw AJ waiting on the benches.

She jumped off of the bench and ran to Dean, "How did it go?"

"Perfectly." he answered.

"That's great!" AJ hugged him tightly. "Even though you'll be living in New York, I'll still be able to go and visit you on a regular basis."

"About that." Dean said. "I was wondering if you'd want to move in with me."

AJ nearly fainted, "Are you serious?!" she jumped up and down, "I would love to!" she cheered.

"Great, I'm going to move there in 3 months. Because my uncles on a business trip in Italy."

"Where are you going to stay in the mean time?" she asked.

"Well... I was hoping that..."

AJ cut Dean off by kissing him, "Of course you'll be able to stay with us until then." she smiled.
__________________
-Meanwhile at Becky's House-

Becky was rocking Jade in her arms and refused to look at Matt. And when she did glance at him, all he received was a scowl. He sighed, "I'm sorry." he told her.

She shook her head, "No you're not. I should have known you'd do whatever you wanted either way." Becky put Jade against her shoulder to burp her.

"You're really good with her." he said.

"Because I spend time with her." Becky threw shade at him.

"Bex, one day you'll understand that I made the right decision."

Becky took her engagement ring off, placing it in Matt's hand. He looked down at the diamond, closing his eyes, he placed his closed fists against his mouth attempting to keep himself together. Matt got up to leave, knowing that he wasn't wanted there.

When he reached the front door Jade started crying. This time Becky couldn't get her to be quiet. She exclaimed. Matt turned around, offering to help. Becky hesitated to hand Jade over to him. She changed her mind when Jade started crying even harder.

Once Becky placed her in Matt's arms, she started calming down. He smiled at his adorable daughter. "She really does look like you." Matt said.

"Looks like she wants you to stay too." Becky pouted, resting her head on his shoulder. "I don't want you to leave."

"I'll be back before you know it. And when I do, I promise to help you no matter what."

Becky held up her pinky and put it to her forehead, "Unicorn swear?"

He chuckled, doing the same. "Unicorn swear." Matt kissed her then realized Jade had fallen asleep. He gently placed his daughter in the crib, then turned to face Becky. "I'll see you in 3 months."

Becky pulled him down into a passionate kiss, "I'll be waiting."

He put the engagement ring back onto her finger, "I know." he kissed her hand before leaving to pursue his dream.