"You're hideous..and SEXY!"

Hi guys!

So I decided to write a small journal to provide some insight into my life recently. Basically, I have not been anywhere near as active on Buzznet as I used to be. I still try to check it every day, and check out my friends' stuff, but I haven't been an avid contributer.

Lately, my life has just been filled with drama upon drama, and I'm just starting to get over it. So a break from the "real" world might be just what I need! Meaning, I'm thinking of picking up on writing once again. I don't know what it'll be about, but it'll be something to just distract me from everything else going on. With any luck, a new story will be started by me shortly, and that'll be up if you guys want to read it.

I'm taking a short vacay to South Carolina next week, but after that I might get started.

~Taylor

ps I really miss everyone on this site. :(

            “Nothing?!?” Joe Trohman screamed as he stood up from where he sat behind the big table that he and Andrew had currently been sharing a joint around.

            “Apparently not sir…” Brendon replied, as he shifted his hat in his hands uncomfortably. He always hated delivering news that he knew was not what his bosses were expecting.

            “How the FUCK did they find nothing?!?” Joe shouted at him, the rage obviously radiating through his eyes and into the young man standing in front of him.

            “I…I…I don’t…” Brendon stumbled over his words, always feeling inadequate when he was in front of these two men. He was glad Ryan was the only other person who ever saw him as weak as this.

            “Chill dude,” Andrew spoke calmly as he exhaled a big puff of smoke. Brendon couldn’t see Andrew’s eyes because they were well hidden behind his Ray-Ban sunglasses that he wore all the time. “Sit down, kick your feet back, and take a hit off this.” He instructed, his partner doing exactly what he was told. “There, that’s some good shit, right?”

            “Yea, it’s nice…” Joe agreed, instantly mellowing out.

            “Now,” Andrew spoke calmly, turning his attention back to Brendon and Ryan. “Since this one’s obviously a little rattled, mind telling us the details?” he asked, facing Ryan.

            “Oh!” Ryan shouted, purely out of the surprise of being addressed. Ryan winced a little as he received an evil glare shot back at him from Brendon. He ignored it as he took a couple steps forward to stand even with Brendon. “Peter said they went through the entire apartment with a fine tooth comb, and didn’t find a single thing.”

            “We got that part.” Andrew snapped quickly, showing a little anger. He mellowed down before he opened his mouth again. “Elaborate on what you mean by ‘nothing’ please.”

            “Uhm…” Ryan’s voice waivered as he strained to think of how to answer this seemingly simple question. He really wished Brendon had been allowed to continue to speak; Ryan really wasn’t cut out for this type of pressure. “Peter said that if we hadn’t told him what kind of guy this Saporta fellow was, he never would have deduced it from going through his apartment.”

            “So by ‘nothing’, you mean there was nothing to tie him to being a drug lord?” Andrew questioned.

            “That, and…” Ryan continued. “There wasn’t anything to tie him to having a…life really. I guess they found absolutely no pictures, no old identifications. Apparently they didn’t find anything to say that he had a pervious life. It’s as if he just appeared here, but as if he hadn’t spent time anywhere else.”

            “Well he’s obviously more intelligent than even we expected,” Andrew stated, more to himself than to anyone else.

            “What do you mean?” Ryan asked, not quite comprehending that what Andrew had said wasn’t targeted to him.

            “I mean that Mr. Saporta here knew we would use any and all personal things of his to get him to fuck off.” Andrew decided to respond. “If we can’t find any traces of his old, or current life, then we have no leverage. All he has is himself, and that’s one thing he can always be sure of protecting. No strings attached anywhere else…”

The three young men cast sideways glances to one another. Each of them was seated in a red velvet chair, all three facing Gabe’s rather large mahogany desk. No one knew why they had been called here, and no one knew why their boss wasn’t even here. Whether they had been there five minutes, 30 minutes, or maybe a couple hours – no one was sure. A few more silent minutes passed before William decided to speak up.

            “Okay,” he stated as he shifted in his seat to look at the younger boy seated in the middle. “What the fuck did you do this time?”

David’s eyes suddenly grew large as the possibility that this confrontation was caused by him once again. He had tried to do better – to be better, but had he made another huge mistake without knowing. “I…I…” he stuttered, trying to think of how to respond to the slightly menacing man next to him.

            “Beckett,” Travis sighed, turning to face his partner from the other side of David. “We both know that there is no way in hell that angel face over here has gotten into anymore trouble. He hasn’t left this place without one of us, and no way in hell would he have been able to slip up with one of us by his side.”

            “True,” William replied quickly, but ready to argue anyway. “But we both know that we didn’t do anything wrong, so that only leaves…” his voice trailed off as they heard footsteps outside of the office. All three boys fell silent, and faced the desk again as the door opened.

As Gabe entered the room, both William and Travis stood up to welcome their boss. David remained seated until he received a hard nudge from William, with a hissed command to stand the fuck up. Gabe rolled his eyes slightly as he watched the sad display in front of him.

            “Sorry sir,” William spoke up. “We’re doing our best to teach him, but I’m being to think it might be a lost cause…”

Gabe spun around quickly at that statement; fire burning in his eyes. “This young man has the capability to be as good as you, or even as good as myself.” He stated, knowing that his team had to stay united through everything. “You can’t question his abilities, or he’ll begin to question them himself. I put you two in charge of bringing him up right, so don’t fuck it up or it’s on your shoulders.”

            “I apologize sir,” William stated as he bowed his head to Gabe.

            “Very well,” Gabe responded, sounded bored with the subject. “Now sit down.”

All three of the men took their seats in front of Gabe’s desk again, and watched their boss walk behind his desk and sit down in the chair behind it. He got himself situated comfortably, and took a few moments to organize his thoughts before addressing the men in front of him.

            “No one did anything wrong.” Gabe stated, sensing the fear radiating from David. “But the police did break into my apartment the other day, and obviously we can’t have my security breached like that. Do any of you three know anything about police working with TJAM?”

            “No sir,” Travis responded. “But it is to be expected. All the cops in this town are as crooked as the criminals, and in some cases even more crooked.”

Gabe took in this statement and nodded his head in response. “That seems to be the way it is in most cities nowadays,” Gabe replied matter-of-factly. “Which is why my apartment would give them absolutely no clues to anything in my life whatsoever. This little meeting is only happening to let you guys know that you need to be more careful with everything you do now. I can’t have any of my men get arrested.”

            “Yes sir.” All three responded at the same time.

            “Good, now you can leave.” He stated as he turned his eyes to some paperwork on his desk. “Close the door behind you.” He added as an afterthought.

**Thanks for everyone who reads and comments on this story. I lurve you guys. PS, I get to go see Jack's Mannequin on Tuesday! Whoop whoop!**

It had been over a week and Gabe had gotten no further contact from TJAM. Gabe wasn’t stupid enough to believe that this sudden decrease of threats had come strictly from his increased security. He knew that the infamous drug lords that comprised TJAM were probably just planning something larger. It’s not like they were in a huge rush to destroy Gabe and his budding empire. They had the force and knowledge of the territory to be able to take their time without worry.

Gabe remained calm though. Maybe he didn’t have the experience in this city, but back at his home – he had been king. No one was as cunning as he was, not even by a long shot. In fact, he moved out here solely to receive a bit more of a challenge. Life wasn’t as pleasurable for him if he wasn’t constantly competing to be the best.

He was actually slightly displeased by how long it had taken Trohman and McMahon to contact him. He had expected a warning on his first or second day in town, but yet he had waited months – months – to receive any word from them. Even though he deduced their low-level intelligence from the time they allowed him to grow stronger and familiarize himself with the area, he had to give them props for the flair they exhibited upon delivering their initial warning.

It would have been much more impressive if the message had appeared on the face of either Beckett or McCoy, but Gabe wasn’t dumb enough to hire more than one naïve employee, and David was that one – the obvious weak link. He wasn’t even sure why he had allowed him to join the… “family”. For some reason when he saw that kid on the streets, digging out of dumpsters for food, he felt the need to extend his arms to him. It was a momentary lack of judgment on his part, but he wasn’t about to go back on that now. He could train this kid. Bring him up as his protégée.

Gabe was mulling over this idea of bringing David up as his special project, with the intentions of handing him the business when he had had enough, as he walked down the street to his apartment complex.

            “Ah, and here’s where things begin to get interesting…” he mused to himself as he took in the sight of a police car parked on the curb in front of his home.

He felt his mouth contort into a simple smile as he began to walk towards the front door. As he approached the door though, it opened and the girl that he had met a week before was rushing toward him. She placed one of her frail hands on his forearm, and pulled him away from the door.

            “We’re going for a walk.” She informed him as she pulled him back down the steps.

Gabe slid his key back into his deep pant pocket, and began to walk after this mystery woman, whom he hadn’t seen since that night he saw her with a dog. “So mind telling me what your name is?” he asked her after a few minutes of silent walking had passed.

            “Mind telling me why two cops just broke into your apartment?” she retorted.

Gabe’s eyebrows rose as he tried to piece together this girl’s intentions. “I’m not sure,” Gabe replied. “I was just about to go up to my apartment, and I’m sure they would have told me when I asked them what was going on. Why’d you prevent me from doing that?”

            “Let’s just say I know that quite a few cops in these parts are crooked,” she responded, her eyes narrowing, but staying straight ahead. “And when I say ‘quite a few’ I really mean ‘every cop that I’ve met’. And you seem like a pretty good guy, so I didn’t want you to get dragged through whatever filth they’re trying to rummage up.”

Gabe smiled at this girl, knowing that she probably couldn’t see him since he was trailing a stride or two behind her. “Well I think I must return this favor with an expression of my utmost gratitude.” Gabe told her, in the most gentlemanly voice that he could procure.

The girl stopped walking, and turned to face him. “My name’s Michelle. Michelle Nolan.” She informed him as she extended a hand to him.

            “Gabriel Saporta.” He responded, as he briefly took her hand in his and shook it gently. “But you can call me Gabe…”

            “Pete, this is taking it too far.” Patrick stated, feeling sick to his stomach as he felt the cruiser slow down and eventually stop in front of a rather quaint apartment building in one of the better parts of town.

Pete sighed as he put the car into park. He knew that Patrick was absolutely correct, but he still had no intention of not following through with his orders. He told Patrick that he would get them out whenever he felt they were in the remotest danger, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to. He was too scared of what his current side-employers would do to him and his best friend if they every told them no.

            “We’re fine.” Pete stated as he exited the cruiser, and placed the keys in his pocket. “The guy’s place that we’re checking out is apparently a drug dealer as well, so he’s one of the bad guys. We’re still doing our job; this is just making it easier.”

            “Bull shit Pete!” Patrick shouted, as he got out of the car as well; slamming his door closed once he was out. “So now as long as any criminal tells us that someone is up to no good, we’re going to believe them? No questions asked?”

Pete lowered his gaze, not wanted to see the disappointed look on his best friend’s face. “No,” he answered truthfully. “But why else would… they be concerned with this guy if he wasn’t providing them with competition?”

            “I don’t know.” Patrick responded, seemingly calm now. “I guess that’s the only logical explanation for them to give a shit, but I still feel like we shouldn’t be doing this without having some reason to.”

            “He’d provide us with a reason later,” Pete assured him, even though he really wasn’t sure himself. “We’re just jumping the gun here. It’s what all cops do when they get inside information.”

            “Yea, but they turn their uncovered information in to the police chiefs,” Patrick replied. “Not to some other high class criminals.”

            “We might as well let the scum clear each other off the streets for us,” Pete told his partner. “This way we don’t have to get our hands dirty, and we only have to worry about…them, and not a million other groups.”

Patrick sighed and turned his head towards the apartment building in front of them, knowing he would never win this argument. “Let’s just get this done as quickly as possible.” He said simply.

            “Alright.” Pete agreed as he patted his friend on the upper arm comfortingly before they both began to walk up to the front door.

**So, hope ya liked it. Comments are mucho appreciated.**

            “Pete, this is taking it too far.” Patrick stated as he hopped down off of his bar stool and went to stand by his fellow cop as he closed one eye and cocked his arm back to release a dart towards the board on the bar’s wall.

Pete’s tongue snuck out of his mouth slightly and ran itself against his upper lip as he released the dart and watched it soar directly into the bull’s-eye of the dartboard. “Patrick, Patrick, Patrick,” Pete replied with a smile as he turned to his companion and patted his upper arm reassuringly.  “We aren’t doing anything wrong.”

            “Bullshit we aren’t!” Patrick shouted in a hushed voice as he realized that the bartender was most likely listening to the pair. “You know just as well as I that what we are doing goes against everything we were taught in the academy.”

            “And you know as well as I that…” Pete began before Patrick jumped back in.

            “Yes, I do know that the majority of cops are crooked in at least one aspect of the word,” Patrick finished for him with a quick roll of his eyes, receiving this same exact speech countless times before. “Even so, that doesn’t mean that we should be. We certainly don’t have to be.”

Pete cast a glance at the bartender who was obviously straining to hear their conversation while pretending to clean out one of the glass mugs. “Come on.” He commanded as he walked past Patrick, grabbing his coat as he pushed past so that he could lead him out of the bar and onto the dark streets where they could talk more privately.

            “You know something is fucked up when we can’t even discuss what’s going on in a dingy, old bar.” Patrick exclaimed as they stood out in the slightly chilly Chicago air. “I mean, come on Pete. Get a clue. You’re fucking up your future, and you’re kind of taking me with you. I thought we were supposed to be friends?” Patrick glanced down at the sidewalk at his last statement, not wanting to look Pete in the face at this exact moment.

            “We are.” Pete replied, sounding slightly hurt at the notion of him being anything less than a great friend. “Best friends. You know that. If I thought any harm was going to come from this, I wouldn’t be involved with it. If I ever get the feeling that something bad is going to happen, we will cease what we’re doing. You know that. You are my best friend, and I’m just trying to help you as much as I can. You would have trouble paying your rent if we didn’t get this extra money every week, and you know it.”

            “I guess…” Patrick agreed reluctantly, as he kicked a pebble from the surface of the sidewalk.

            “No, you know.” Pete replied. “You have to know. You also know that if we don’t do what we do right now, then another pair of cops would. Then we wouldn’t have the money, nor would the situation change at all. No one will be able to stop these guys. Not even the cleanest cops. I promise you that, and I know that you know that somewhere inside of you.”

            “Okay.” Patrick finally agreed as he looked up from the previously scintillating ground that had captured his attention for the duration of Peter’s reassuring speech.

            “You trust me don’t you?” Pete asked as he made eye contact with his best friend.

Patrick nodded his head in response, not sure if he could say the words with enough conviction to please Pete.

            “Say it.” Pete commanded, firmly yet gently at the same time.

            “I trust you,” Patrick stated meekly.

            “That’s all I’m asking for.” Pete replied as he flashed his prize winning smile at Patrick, knowing that was all he needed to do to make Patrick return the smile. “You and I will do great things kid.” Pete stated in response to Patrick’s smile. Then he engulfed the man in a hug. “Great things. I promise.” He added as the slightly worried look danced in his eyes, hoping his partner wouldn’t be able to sense the fear within him.

            “You should really be nicer to Lacey,” Ryan stated after he and Brendon had been walking in silence for the last ten minutes or so.

            “I don’t have the slightest clue as to what you’re speaking about…” Brendon responded as a mischievous smile danced onto his face, curling his lips up into a twisted half smile; matching the twinkle in his eyes marvelously.  

            “She’s a great girl Brendon,” Ryan replied, choosing to ignore Brendon’s blatant attempt to play innocent.

            “And I’ve always thought very highly of her.” Brendon responded matter-of-factly.

            “All I’m saying is, don’t fuck with her head.” Ryan stated. “I mean, I understand that it must be flattering to have someone be completely obsessed with you in every way, but you really shouldn’t lead her on as some type of sport.”

            “I really haven’t a clue as to what you’re alluding to right now Ross.” Brendon responded with a hint of amusement mingled with false confusion added to his tone.

            “Whatever.” Ryan replied. “Just don’t hurt her, cause she’s fragile.”

            “I think someone’s in love…” Brendon stated coyly.

            “No,” Ryan replied honestly, but not stressing it to get his point across. He really didn’t care what Brendon thought. “I just think we hurt enough people as our job that we shouldn’t hurt people when we’re off duty. That’s just cruel.”

The amusement immediately seeped out of every pore of Brendon’s. Ryan always had a way of ruining everything. “We have a job to do.” Brendon snapped instantly, changing the subject. “Let’s leave this frivolous drama out of it.”

            “Fine.” Ryan agreed as he and Brendon continued their walk in silence until they came upon the two people that they were looking for.

            “Aw how touching.” Brendon stated as his eyes danced with delight. “Hollywood couldn’t make a more touching image than this one right here. How beautiful. Isn’t this just precious Ryan? Why don’t we embrace more?”

            “Probably because we aren’t queer.” Ryan replied blandly, never ceasing to be surprised by how quickly Brendon can go into character. If he ever decided to leave this life of crime, he could definitely make it as an actor. No doubt about it.

The two men that Brendon and Ryan were addressing immediately broke from their prior embrace, and turned to face the thugs.

            “Nice to see you Peter,” Brendon stated as he bowed his head in his direction slightly. Deciding to ignore the sneer of disgust that was plastered on the short man’s face. “We have a special request for you tonight, and an added bonus to go along with it if you get the job done.”

**I only have one more part written after this, so updates might not come as often as they have been right now. I'll try to write as much as possible though. Hopefully you like this part! I believe all important characters have now been introduced. :) **

            “And there is the lovely Miss Williams.” Brendon spoke coyly as he and Ryan sauntered out of their bosses’ office and into the heart of their corporation.

The brilliantly red-headed girl swung around as she heard the ever familiar voice say her name; causing her to abruptly end her conversation with a brown headed girl. Her face had already turned into a look of disgust as she faced the boy walking towards her. “Well look what the cat dragged in.” she responded.

            “Now, now,” Brendon responded playfully, as he wagged his index finger back and forth. “That’s no way to speak to the father of your future children.”

Hayley snorted as she turned her attention to Ryan, who was (like always) standing a step behind Brendon, being completely silent. “At least Andrew and Joe had the sensibility to employ one civilized man.” She stated as her eyes twinkled in the direction of Ryan.

Ryan raised his head slightly as she made mention of him. He made eye contact with her briefly, before quickly glancing back down at his feet once he felt the crimson flood his entire boyish face.

            “No need to toy with his heart to make me jealous,” Brendon responded coolly. “We do have other business to attend to though, so I’ll just give you more time to think about what you want to make of you and me.” He informed her. “Until then…” he added as he brought one of his gloved hands down to swoop up one of her tiny hands. He then quickly brought it up to his plush lips, and had time to place a tender kiss on the back of her hand before she pulled it away.

            “Repulsive.” Hayley responded as her lip curled up in disgust once again, and she frantically wiped the back of her hand on her shirt.

A small cough was heard from behind Hayley. All three turned around to look at the brown-haired girl that Hayley had been talking to.

            “Ah sorry Lace,” Ryan spoke up as he noticed she was there; glad to have a distraction from Hayley. He stepped forward and robotically placed his hands on her sides, as she placed her hands on his upper arms, as they both planted light kisses on each other’s cheeks.

            “Nice to see you Ryan.” Lacey responded nonchalantly as she backed out of his embrace, and stepped into the circle of people. She tried her best to play cool in front of Brendon, acting like she didn’t notice he was there.

            “Hello Lacey,” Brendon spoke up as he bowed his head slightly in her direction. He knew the game she was playing, but he was just not a willing participant. She had to grow out of this phase sooner or later.

            “Oh Brendon!” Lacey faked shock as she turned to face him. “I feel like we never get to talk anymore.” She pouted as she stuck out her bottom lip.

            “This job only has so many perks,” Brendon replied casually. “But like I said, Ryan and I have business to attend to. So we’ll just have to see you two beautiful ladies later.”

Lacey giggled. “Be safe.” She offered as a farewell.

The two boys nodded their heads gratefully at her before they turned to exit the headquarters, and step out into the streets shrouded by night. In their line of business, they did the majority of their work at night. Hidden from things that they didn’t want to find them.

Gabe sighed as he gently jammed his index finger and thumb into the corners of his eyes, as he tried to wipe away the sleep that was continually trying to make his heavy eyelids come drooping closed. “Okay, fuck this.” He finally admitted defeat as he pulled his folder closed, and dropped his pen on top of it.

He pushed his large chair back from his desk, and got up; stretching his long legs. He paced over to the corner of the room, and grabbed his knee length pea coat off of the coat hanger and quickly pulled it on, draping a black scarf around his neck; to keep him warm in the reasonably chilly Chicago air. He strolled over to the fireplace, that still contained a few glowing embers. He grabbed a handful of sand that was situated in a bucket to the left of the fireplace, and tossed it on the warm sparks.

Once the flame was entirely extinguished, Gabe made his way towards the heavy office doors. He grabbed the handle, and pulled it open, stepping out of the room and allowing the door to swing closed behind him. He slid his skeleton key into the lock, and made sure the door was locked. Then he continued to walk down the mostly empty corridor, toward the front door of the building.

            “Stay sharp.” He commanded the guy standing watch at the front door.

            “Of course Mr. Saporta.” The young man replied as he stepped forward to pull the door open for his boss. “See you tomorrow.”

Gabe nodded carelessly, and stepped out into the cold Chicago air. His breath instantly created a puff of smoke in front of his mouth, as he walked down to the street. His driver, who had been previously reading a magazine in the front seat of the car, instantly jumped out of the car and made his way to the passenger side at the sight of his boss. He opened the door, and held it open for Gabe.

            “I’m walking tonight.” Gabe informed him as he raised his hand in response to his driver’s automatic gesture. “I need the fresh air.”

            “As you wish sir,” the driver responded as he slowly closed the door once again. “I’ll be at your home, ready to go bright and early tomorrow.”

            “Don’t bother showing up until noon.” Gabe replied.

            “Alright Sir.” The driver responded before returning to his seat in the warm car.

Gabe began to walk the few blocks toward his new home. The one good thing about being one of the most feared drug bosses was that he no longer feared walking alone at night. If anyone even considered threatening his life in anyway, a snap of his fingers would instantly remove that danger from his habitat. The walks home had always been something that Gabe had needed to remain sane in this line of business though; even before he relocated to Chicago.

A half hour later and he had finally reached his apartment complex. He placed his key in the front door, and pulled it open. He didn’t like living in a place that had doormen, and all the other unnecessary, fancy luxuries. He’d rather keep to himself than have people keeping tabs on him constantly. He stepped into the apartment complex and was about to take the first step up the staircase, when something came bounding down the stairs and ended by his feet. He glanced down to see a dog panting at his side. A peculiar sight seeing as no pets were allowed in this particular apartment complex.

At the sound of human footsteps coming down the stairs, he lifted his head with his eyebrows raised quizzically. “You know that no…” he began to speak up as the dog’s owner came into view.

            “I know that no…what?” a woman asked, currently wearing pajama pants and a slightly baggy sweatshirt.

Gabe shook his head side to side, to try to free himself from the temporary hold her beauty had held over him. “Oh nothing.” He replied, not wanting to trouble this woman.

The girl smiled at him. “I’m only taking care of him for a week.” She informed him, seeming to know exactly what he was going to say originally. “So let’s keep this a little secret between you and I.”

            “What dog?” was the response that issued from Gabe’s mouth as a half smile came into play.

            “Thanks,” the girl responded as she bent down to pick up the dog’s leash that was currently trailing behind the dog. “See you around.” She added as she exited the apartment complex to take the dog out for its nightly bathroom excursion.

            “Yea…” Gabe replied softly as he tore his head away from where she had been standing moments prior, and back onto the staircase ahead of him. He was going to sleep well tonight.

**A few more characters introduced....and it's still not done. haha, Basically Chelsea and I had the intentions of just packing this story with as many people as we possibly could. I think I did pretty well with that...I have it all straight in my head, but some of you might be a little confused. If so, just let me know and I'll try to make a detailed character list for you. Hopefully you liked this part, I have the next two parts written, but after that I need to start writing some more. Comments are awesome.**

David jumped the couple feet to the pavement from where he stood on the bottommost rung on the fire escape ladder. After the resonating pain had subsided enough for him to stand in an almost upright position, he had climbed down from the roof – making a mental note never to go up on one ever again. His right hand was draped across his right side, clutching onto what he assumed would be a few broken ribs. His other hand occasionally came up to lightly touch his bruised and engraved face as he stumbled down the sidewalk in the direction of his current headquarters and home.

As he trudged down the sidewalk, he began to wonder whether there was going to be a price for him to pay because he didn’t keep his mouth shut. In the back of his mind, he knew that it would have only been a matter of time before something like this occurred, so why did it matter if he was the one who fueled the fire. Even with that thought, he briefly considered the opportunity to just leave town when he placed his hand upon the door handle to Saporta’s place of business.

He had only stumbled a few feet into the main walkway, when two people came bounding out of one of the conjoining rooms and immediately came up to him. One of them, an incredibly skinny and tall man with brown hair to his shoulders, slung a long arm across David’s shoulders.

            “We’ve been waiting for you,” he alerted the younger boy as the three of them continued to walk in the direction of Gabe’s office.

            “Mr. S figures that you got sucked into a trap,” the other man, another tall guy with dark skin and a hat covering his cornrows, said. “And by the looks of your angel face, I’m guessing he was right.” He added as he stuck his hand under David’s chin and moved his head to the side so he could get a better look at the imprints on his face.

            “Fuck.” William, the guy with his arm around David, stated as he too took in the image on the boy’s face. “I knew TJAM would be the ones with the biggest opposition.”

            “I don’t even know who the fuck TJAM is.” David responded instantly, pissed that he was the one who had gotten beat up and he wasn’t even sure by whom.

            “Well you do now little man.” Travis, the guy with cornrows, said with a laugh. “And I’m sure those marks on your face will make sure that you don’t forget either.”

The three of them stopped in front of a closed door, made of heavy wood. William raised his hand to deliver the secret knock, but before his hand could make contact with the dark wood, a voice called out to them from inside of the room.

            “Come in you three.” Gabe called from where he sat behind his desk.

David let out a nervous sigh as he watched William push open the door. Gabe was situated behind his big mahogany desk, as the fire raged majestically in the fireplace beside him. They stood in the doorway watching Gabe mess with some paperwork of some sort.

            “I believe I said come in.” Gabe snapped, while keeping his voice down, all the while keeping his attention on the papers strewn all over his desk in front of him.

William placed his hand on David’s upper back, and gave him a quick shove to thrust him into the toasty office. After David had stumbled a few feet in, he turned around to shoot a glare at William, who just smiled in return, and then David walked over to Gabe’s desk. Stopping directly in front of it. He heard the door close behind him, and he knew that William and Travis were now in the room as well; most likely standing on either side of the door.

            “Sit.” Gabe commanded, with enough firmness attached to his voice that David didn’t even process the order before sitting in one of the velvet lined armchairs in front of Gabe’s desk. “Now…explain that please.” He ordered as he looked up from his papers and motioned towards David’s face with slight disgust, as his top lip curled up slightly.

David took in a deep breath as he prepared to speak, but then instantly curled up in pain as the sharp intake of breath caused his ribs discomfort. “Well I got a call that someone wanted some goods,” David began after his eyes opened from the pain. “So naturally I went to meet them. On a roof this time, because I was assured that this would be safe from cops and other civilians…”

            “I’m going to stop you there,” Gabe interrupted as he heard Travis and William instantly begin whispering back and forth with each other. As soon as they heard their boss speak up they closed their mouths.

            “Our apologies.” William stated sincerely as he nodded his head in Gabe’s direction.

Gabe rolled his eyes out of annoyance before turning to look back at the frightened young man in front of him. “I understand you’re young,” Gabe stated calmly. “I knew that when I saw you on the street in need of a place to stay, but that didn’t deter me from allowing you to join my team. I knew this was a gamble; seeing as you had never done anything in this line of business before, but I had hoped that some of our veterans would give you some pointers along the way.” He added as he shot another icy glare at William and Travis who both hung their heads in shame. “Like any job you need proper training, and I haven’t provided adequate possibilities for you to get trained. From now on you will not do any assignments by yourself until I give you the okay. Always go with either Beckett or McCoy over here.” He added as he jerked his head in their direction.

            “Yes sir.” David agreed quickly as he felt a sigh of relief escape quietly from his lips.

            “But I will tell you right now,” Gabe continued as he smiled at David, with his eyes – not his lips. “If the person you are providing for suggests that you meet him on a fucking roof, you tell him to suck your balls and then provide a safe place that you know of.”

            “I’m…I’m sorry…” David stuttered as he glanced down at his shoes.

            “You need to be the one in charge.” Gabe continued as he placed his hands on top of his desk. “You have the goods; you’re the fucking boss. If the person doesn’t like that, then he doesn’t get our business. Simple as that. Got it?”

            “Yes.” David replied firmly as he glanced up at Gabe’s face again.

            “Good.” Gabe stated as he leaned back into his chair, now that he had calmed down slightly. He let out a slow breath, as the other three men just remained in a nervous silence. “Now…what’s this TJAM business?” he finally asked as he looked at David’s face again.

David turned in his seat to look at William for some help in providing an answer to this question. William sighed and took a few steps forward.

            “It’s a drug corporation headed up by McMahon and Trohman.” William stated, as Gabe turned to look at William. “They’re pretty well known around these parts. I’m actually surprised they hadn’t tried to contact us sooner…”

            “Ah yes…” Gabe mused as he brought his hands together, with his elbows rested on the arms of his chair. “I was warned about these guys back home. Not the best business men though, but I presume they’ve got nice brute force to back them up. Did they give me a message?” he asked as he turned his attention back onto David.

            “They told me to tell you that you’d better stop dealing on their turf, or something terrible might happen.” David answered meekly.

            “Very well.” Gabe responded as he went back to his paperwork, a cue for the three boys to leave his office immediately.

            “He got the message.” Brendon reported firmly as he held his bowler hat with both of his hands. He and Ryan were standing in front of the round table that both Andrew McMahon and Joseph Trohman were seated around, passing a joint between the two.

            “Good.” Andrew stated with a sickly smile dancing on his lips; his eyes remaining a mystery behind the Ray-Ban sunglasses that were seated on the bridge of his nose.

            “What does this mean?” Ryan spoke up, something he did only on a rare occasion.

            “I believe this means war.” Andrew replied. “Right Joe?”

            “Totally.” He replied as he took another drag from the joint he held in between his thumb and index finger.

            “You’re dismissed.” Andrew told their two right hand men as he flicked his wrist towards the door.

Brendon and Ryan both bowed their heads slightly before turning to head towards the door. Throwing their bowler hats on as they opened the door and exited the main office of the TJAM headquarters.

**Here's the second part... I hope this story captures your guys' interests. I really enjoy writing this story actually...probably because it's closer to an "original" story then what I usually write. Comments are love.**

The cars whizzed past, about 100 feet below him. The constant flow of traffic across the six-lane road was so small and blurred by his tear-rimmed eyes that it just looked like a huge stream of lights. The man, who was dangling brutally from above, snapped his eyes shut to protect them from the harsh wind that was ripping at his clothing.

The insides of his eyelids served a dual purpose though. Apart from protecting his eyes from the brutal wind, his eyelids served as a make-shift movie screen; his life’s most memorable moments serving as the feature presentation. The day he got the training wheels removed from his bike. When he got his driver’s license. His first kiss. His parents’ messy divorce. It was moments like these that defined his existence in this world; the good and the bad memories.

It was within these moments of reliving the past that he realized he had only made a minor blip on the radar of the larger scheme of things. And it was with this epiphany that he decided that he was going to make his life mean something. He was not about to die before he had ensured that people would know his name long after he left the mortal plane. It was with this newfound aspiration that he was revived of his senses. Snapping his eyes back open, he looked up at the two sets of arms that were holding onto his legs.

            “Okay! Okay!” he shouted up to the owners of the arms. “I’ll tell you who I’ve been working for. Jut pull me back up!” he shouted over the howling wind.

A deep sigh issued from his lips, accompanied by a brief ‘thank you’ prayer, as he felt his body being pulled back up the side of the building and over the ledge. Once on his own two feet again, he took a few quick steps away from the ledge, as he felt the blood rush back out of his current home in his head.

            “Start talking.” One of the captors growled, barely giving the man standing before him any recuperation time.

            “Wanna gimme a second?” the man snapped back, without thinking, as he cradled his airy head within his hands.

The man who had spoken before nodded at his light-haired accomplice, with a sinister smile dancing on his face. The light-haired man immediately sprang into action, and had the victim’s arms pinned behind his back before he even had time to react.

            “Now, Ryan and I feel that we have been more than generous to you.” The dark-haired man stated, in a sickly calm voice, as he strode up to the restrained man. He began pulling his leather glove off his hand; finger by finger, as he stopped a foot away from the detainee. “We’ve given you plenty of opportunities to speak, but I do believe that this will be your last one.” He explained, as he tucked the glove safely away in his pocket.

The restrained man didn’t say anything; he just stared at the sandy rooftop in front of him. He was trying to weigh the different outcomes in his head. Either way he would be fucked, but who would fuck him up the least?

            “Alright David, but only because you insist.” Brendon replied; false obedience clinging to his every word. He cocked his right arm back and delivered a sharp blow to the man’s stomach.

David coughed, and his knees collapsed. If it had not been for Ryan holding him up, he would have fallen to the ground as the wind was knocked out of him, seconds after impact.

            “Nice one Brendon,” Ryan exclaimed with a sadistic laugh.

            “Thank you,” Brendon replied politely, with a slight nod of his head. “Seriously, David, this is your last chance to tell us who has you running. If you don’t, we will put you back over that edge; except this time, we will drop you. 100 feet is quite a lofty fall…”

            “Fine,” David replied as he regained stability. “He’s new to this part of town. I’m not sure where he’s from originally, but apparently he’s got a huge reputation wherever that is.”

            “I didn’t hear a name,” Brendon snarled, as he clenched both of his hands into perfect fists that hung delicately at his sides.

            “Saporta,” David stuttered, as if just by uttering this name, lightning would come down from the heavens and strike him dead. “Gabe Saporta.” He finished.

            “Thank you Mr. Blaise.” Brendon replied with a gracious smile, knowing that this little tidbit of information would get him and Ryan huge praise from their bosses. “Well we have a message for this Gabe Saporta,” Brendon added, as he pulled a handful of gold rings out of his pocket. He slid a ring onto each finger on his right hand, excluding his thumb. He examined the identical seal that was engraved backwards upon each of the rings’ faces, as they slid past his knuckles. The infamous TJAM emblem that was known by all of the people of the night, and most of the people who thrived in the day.

Once the rings were situated perfectly upon each of his slender fingers, Brendon delivered several blows directly to David’s horror-struck face. This caused his knees to weaken in pain, and this time Ryan let go of his arms; allowing him to crumple to the ground like a bag full of bricks.

            “Let him know that he’d better stop dealing in our turf or something terrible just might happen.” Brendon told the fallen man, as he replaced his rings with his glove once again.

            “And make sure he gets a good look at your face too,” Ryan added. “There’s going to be a nice souvenir from us in just a couple minutes.” He stated with a laugh as he looked at the symbols that were already imprinting themselves on his face.

Brendon joined in with the laughter as he began walking towards the roof’s exit; kicking David in the stomach as he strode past him, causing him to sputter in more pain as the convulsions coursed through his entire body. The pair disappeared through the door, leaving David alone, sputtering up mouthfuls of his own blood.

**So this is the story that I started with Chelsea on our joint account, chopstixfans, so some of you may have read this part already. I think I posted like 4 parts...maybe 3? on that account, so I obviously didn't finish the story and neither Chelsea nor I had time to write. So I've decided that I will repost the beginning of this story on my account, and then finish it to the end. I have a basic outline for where I want this story to head, so as long as I get writing time, we should be golden. The story line is really...weird, and it's not really centered around music at all. I just used a bunch of band members, but gave them different personas in this story. Hopefully you'll still read it, cause I rather enjoy writing it. :) All banners were made by Sandee, cause she's wonderful! Comments are always amazing.**

Ryan silently fumed as he paced back and forth within his current confines; occasionally throwing his arms up in an act of pure frustration at the current situation. Had the day not been one he had been looking forward to for years, he would be in a completely horrid mood. The fact that he was moments away from getting married to the girl of his dreams was keeping him slightly cheery, although he was finding it hard to keep that uplifting spirit from being buried deep beneath his grudge.

After he quickly discovered that he was not getting out of this room (unless he devised a way to break down an old wooden door that had to weigh at least twice as much as himself), he began to think that Allison was lucky that she held his entire heart in the palm of her hands, or else no one would be getting married today.

In actuality, he was upset with himself that he hadn’t anticipated a stunt like this. He should have seen it coming a long ways away. Allison alluded to some sort of forced reunion time and time again, but he never expected her to be the one to instigate it; especially not on a day that was supposed to be the most special day in her life. Her big heart was always a slight downfall for her; she was definitely the most selfless person that Ryan had ever met. That being one of the many, many reasons that he loved her.

He stopped in his tracks, when he heard the heavy door open – shortly followed by the sound of light footsteps. He took a deep breath, composed himself, and then turned around so that he was facing his new guest.

            “Brendon.” He spoke without emotion, letting the new person in the room know that he was acknowledging him.

As stern as Ryan looked, Brendon equaled it out with a look of sheer terror plastering his face. The difference in their emotions being the fact that Brendon actually wanted to partake in this confrontation. He just hadn’t wanted to do it in a very secluded wing of the church; Allison had assured him she’d be outside the door the entire time though. That’s the only reason he agreed to meet there.

            “Ryan.” Brendon responded, with a hint of question in his wavering tone; his way of letting Ryan know that he wasn’t sure if he should be speaking or not.

            “Okay, I’m going to cut to the chase.” Ryan stated, releasing an exasperated sigh from between his lips. “Allison tricked me, for lack of a better term…, to come to this room and meet with you. She said that if we didn’t work through our issues, and you didn’t come out of here as my best man, then she wouldn’t be marrying me. At least not today.”

Brendon stared at Ryan, not sure what to say or if he should even try to beg for forgiveness. Ryan must have noticed the pleading look in his old friend’s eyes, as he rolled his and opened his mouth to speak again.

            “This is probably the time for you to start begging and groveling for me to forgive you,” Ryan informed him. “This may be the only chance you get to make me understand why you did what you did, or why Allison was able to forgive you so easily.”

Brendon just continued to stare at Ryan, trying to find any sign of his old friend within the aged face.

            “Or we can both agree to walk out of here, you as my best man for the day, and let me get married.” Ryan replied. “That is, if you’d rather not speak…”

            “I’m sorry Ry,” Brendon blurted out instantly, now aware that his window of opportunity was slowly closing in on him.

            “That’s all you have to say?” Ryan basically snorted at him in disgust. “If so, we should both stop wasting our time, and get Allison to let us out right now. My time’s too valuable for this…”

            “Shut up!” Brendon shouted over Ryan’s snide ranting. “Please, just be quiet. I need you to listen to me without being biased. You have to give me a fair chance to talk, because I miss you Ryan. I miss having you in my life, and I need you. You’re my best friend. I can’t do anything without you there.”

Ryan allowed silence to overtake him, but he couldn’t go down without a fight so he made a bored hand gesture to Brendon in an effort to tell him to continue.

            “I was a dumb boy.” Brendon said simply. “I made bad mistake after bad mistake constantly. Allison was my crutch, and I hate that I dragged her into the mess that I allowed to become my life. I hate that so much, and I can’t believe that she found it in her heart to forgive me.”

            “She has a big heart.” Ryan stated factually, not trying to interrupt Brendon’s train of thought.

            “I broke up with Jessica, I had to choose between my family and this lifestyle, and everything around me seemed to be falling apart.” He continued, allowing his eyes to traipse over Ryan’s slowly understanding face. “So I turned to drinking because I didn’t think it was possible for anything worse to happen.”

            “So you’re going to blame what happened on alcohol and expect me to forgive you?” Ryan asked incredulously. “I mean, if that’s the case, why don’t we call Brent and I can apologize to him as well…”

            “I am not trying to blame it on the alcohol.” Brendon spoke under his breath darkly. “And don’t ever fucking associate me with that bastard ever again.” He added as the tones of threat lined his voice.

            “Continue.” Ryan commanded after a seething second passed between the pair.

            “I’m not blaming shit on alcohol,” Brendon repeated before continuing. “I was just saying my stupid mistakes, as a stupid boy, made me turn to alcohol. The drink itself didn’t cause any of this shit; I did. I know it was my fault. I was just so used to having Allison around, and I felt comfortable with her. I mean, let’s cut the bullshit right now; I loved her. I still love her. Just not in the way that you love her.”

            “Damn straight, cause I never would have done that to her.” Ryan agreed, with the added insult to further his distaste for Brendon.

Brendon rolled his eyes slightly at his friend’s insolence before he continued his well thought-out speech. “My point being,” he continued. “You two were obviously meant to be together. I can tell by the way you look at her, and the way that she looks at you. She and I would never have worked out even if I did reciprocate the feelings that she used to have for me. You two were made for each other. That’s all I can say. I don’t want you to forgive me for the stupid shit I did; I just want you to be able to see me as the friend you used to love, and try to have me in your life again.”

Ryan stared at Brendon for what felt like eternity to the latter of the two. Then he took a few steps forward, Brendon nervous about whether or not he was going to get punched. Then he opened his mouth to speak. “It’s not my place to forgive you,” Ryan stated gently. “If Allison was able to find it in her heart to forgive you and be your friend, I certainly should be able to. I do feel the need to offer an apology to you though, and I’m hoping that you will accept it. I apologize for being a terrible friend, and letting my petty views on things get in the way of us. Would you please forgive me, and be my best man…right now?” Ryan asked as he checked the dress watch that was situated on his slender wrist.

            “Of course!” Brendon shouted gleefully as he pulled his friend into a tight embrace. “I missed this.”

            “Me too.” Ryan replied.

Allison burst into the room, throwing the huge wooden door open, with tears streaming down her face. She ran over to the two embracing men, and wrapped her arms around them both; joining in on the hug. “That was wonderful!” she exclaimed in a maternal tone.

            “Alli!” Ryan shrieked as he realized his soon-to-be-wife was now in the room. He brought one of his arms up to cover his eyes. “I’m not supposed to see you in your dress before the wedding!”

            “Yea!” Brendon agreed, happy to be involved with these two again. “And as the best man, I’m going to have to escort you out of the room.”

Allison giggled. “No escort needed.” She stated with a huge grin, “I’ll just make my way out of the room by myself. I’m sure you two have a ton of catching up to do, but it can wait until after our wedding.”

            “Honeymoon!” Ryan corrected, before his face flushed crimson. Allison laughed as she walked out of the room.

            “You two are going to be one of the happiest couples ever.” Brendon stated with a grin as the wooden door shut behind Allison.

And he was correct.

**Wow. I apologize for this taking so long, but my senior year of high school is about twenty times more hectic than I assumed it would be. So hopefully a few people enjoy this ending at least, and thank you for taking the time to read my story of the course of many, many months. I don't think you realize how much it means to me. I'm planning on posting Chelsea's and my old fanfic that we started together, on this account - and then finishing it. That might take a while for me to do though, cause I want to make sure I'll have the time to update it regularly. Keep an eye out for it though!**

Wow, it's been a crazy long time since I've posted a journal. I apologize for not posting an epilogue a LONG time ago, but I've been crazy busy. Too busy to write. I've decided to make it a priority to find the time to do so though, so I'm writing it as we speak. With any luck, it should be up by tomorrow night. Hopefully you guys will still want to read it. Sorry about the wait!

Love ya guys,

Taylor

Ryan paced back and forth outside of the double door that separated the library into two separate parts. He could hear her voice as it read an original piece aloud to a small cluster of people who Ryan assumed were sitting in chairs around her. He had arrived at 4:15 to ensure that she would already be preoccupied when he arrived, so that she couldn’t just leave upon sight of him.

His plan was to sneak into the back of the library, and wait to catch her eye. This plan would work much better if he could actually work up the courage to enter the other room though. As he continued to try to psych himself up, he was moved from his concentration by the mass of people exiting the room.

Ryan sucked in a deep breath as he waited for the people to clear, realizing that his time for a reunion was either now or never. As soon as he saw the chance, he slipped into the room where Allison had previously been reading her short story. She had her back turned to him as she was placing her bound papers into a bag.

Ryan took a few more steps forward as he began to close the distance between himself and his best friend. He stood there awkwardly, just watching her organize things within her bag, until he cleared his throat to grasp her attention.

            “I know you’re there Ry,” Allison stated, not turning to face him right away.

            “How…?” Ryan asked after a few more moments spent staring at Allison’s back as she continued to shuffle papers.

            “I saw you pacing outside the doors for the past thirty minutes,” Allison replied as she turned around to face him; showing a smile that was beginning to spread on her face. “I’ve missed you so much.” She added.

            “So you’re not mad that I’m here then?” he asked skeptically, testing the waters before he said anything else.

            “Of course not,” Allison responded. “You lasted the longest out of anyone.”

            “What do you mean?” he questioned as he raised his eyebrows.

Allison laughed as she watched Ryan’s face twist into a confused shape. “You were the only one who never tried to contact me.” Allison answered. “Jon came to leave with me; he was the first one to actually come visit. Spencer called me like a week after I left; he just never came to visit. We talk all the time though. And Brendon…”

            “You’ve spoken to Brendon?” Ryan questioned instantly.

            “Yes,” Allison replied. “I realized how naïve I had been the entire time, thinking that he actually had feelings like that for me. You told me the entire time, but I was just too blind to see.”

            “That doesn’t excuse what he did though.” Ryan stated firmly, slightly angry that she had forgiven him so easily, when he wasn’t able to do the same.

            “I know it doesn’t.” Allison agreed. “And he knows that it doesn’t. He didn’t try to force me to accept his apology, but I was able to. I understand that that was a phase of my life, and Brendon means too much to me to just stop talking to him. In fact, he’s helping me out greatly in the financial department of things.”

            “That’s nice of him.” Ryan snapped.

            “You should really try to put this behind you Ry,” Allison suggested loosely, knowing that it was probably a lost cause. “He’s not asking for your forgiveness, but he misses you so much. He hates the way things ended.”

            “You’ve talked about all of this with him?” Ryan asked. “You’ve discussed me?”

            “Well yes,” Allison answered quickly. “I was concerned about you, and I figured you two had made up. So when I asked about you, he told me that he hadn’t talked to you either. I was worried about you.”

            “Why the fuck did you worry about me?” Ryan asked, feeling his eyes squint with anger. “You didn’t seem to care too greatly when you left me that letter. I didn’t even get a personal goodbye Alli. Do you know how much that hurt?”

            “I know Ry…” Allison said as she cast her eyes downward, off of his obviously hurt face. “I just needed my space, and I felt like I had done enough damage to you. I figured you hadn’t tried to contact me because you realized how poisonous I was to you.”

Ryan scoffed at this idea. “I haven’t spent anytime thinking about anything else but you.” He told her, not sure why he felt so at ease with revealing his truest feelings now. “You meant the world to me Al, and you still do. I love you enough to know when I need to let you go.”

            “Thanks,” Allison responded sadly, as she looked up at his face once again to see that he actually meant the words that he had just spoken.

            “So have you found anyone else?” Ryan asked her suddenly; surprising himself with his strange curiosity. “Sorry to pry…Jon just didn’t mention any guys, and I wasn’t sure…Actually, don’t even answer that. It’s none of my business…”

Allison allowed her lips to turn into a half smile as she watched him blush and stumble his way through this question, and its recall. “No.” she answered simply.

            “…Why not?” Ryan asked after a few seconds, realizing that she wasn’t going to elaborate unless prodded.

            “Well I’ve tried dating other guys…” she began to reply. “They just never worked out.”

            “Was it because of Benjamin?” Ryan asked her quickly; assuming that must be it.

She shook her head no slightly. “It was because none of their kisses felt like this.” She explained fully as she took a step forward to close the small space that was between them. She pressed her lips against his, taking him by surprise, and the pair engulfed into the most magical kiss as they reconnected. The chemistry between the two finally being completed.

**So here's the last part. Sorry if it's too cliche for you guys, but I always feel like the world could use as many happy endings as it can get; even if they're just fictional ones. I'll probably write an epilogue for this story, just cause that's what I do. Then Sarah and I will probably finish our fanfic together that was on hiatus for a while, and then I'll begin posting the one Chelsea and I started together, and finishing that one. Hopefully you'll continue to read as long as I continue to write.**

Lets Play This Game
Part 7
The World Has Its Shine

There was a dark cloud over Chicago; a grey mass that echoed the sentiments of the bands that slowly rolled home. Tears from the skies poured with misery and lashed down its sadness upon the city; there was no warmth anymore. The buildings harbored memories of bittersweet remorse; cold concrete that had no life stood breathless with no feeling. The tall skyscrapers reached into the heavens as though clasping at the soul that flitted into the after life. The little rays of sunlight that whitened the clouds had only reminded of the brightness that Patrick captivated and how the town mourned for its lost one.

Joe could barely drive; he could barely think. He simply rolled gently down the roads swerving in and out of the traffic as his mind swept delicately over the images that he had seen. The lifeless expression of his life filled friend and the array of blood splattered around the tour bus. And then Vicky, like an angel, beside him; both intertwined by death. The whole tour had known about their affair, who couldn’t? They were never apart, around everyone and on their own. It was not hard to figure out that there was much more to them than simple friendship. A terrifying thought pounded the pit of Joe’s stomach; how was Patrick’s girlfriend going to cope? Not only had she lost a loved one; but to find out that he was a liar? A cheat? The truth would rip her apart. Feeling nauseous, Joe decided that when he eventually arrived home he would find his girlfriend and make sure she knows to him; she is the most admired in the world.

The familiar sights of his street came around the corners and a swift sigh tumbled from his lips; he was home and he felt the hands of safety grip around him. He would sleep tonight. As the car came into the driveway, he wasted no time in grabbing his bags and hurrying through the door where he instantly called out the name of his loved one. Throwing the bag onto the door, he was greeted with silence. Stuttering her name again, Joe frowned out of confusion; there was nothing. No body rushing to embrace him and no sweet scent of her fragile flesh. Another short breath frustrated came from his mouth, all he needed was her body heat against his but there was only cold. He tottered around into the kitchen and found a note with lopsided hand writing sprawled over the snow white paper;

Joe

I had a phone call and there is an emergency at my parents. I really want to be there with you because I know you are going through a really hard time but I think something has happened with my father. The minute you get home can you let me know and I’ll try and get there as soon as possible.

I love you baby.

Joe felt guilty for getting angry; he understood that she had to go home and he would in the same situation, he just wanted her here and to ask her to give up her family for some comfort that he was going to get anyway was simply selfish. Besides, he was feeling tired anyway and perhaps if he slept then he would wake up feeling better, if that was possible.

His thoughts were a blurring; a wild activity of sorrow that sped violently around his mind. There was no doubt about it; there was a serial killer on the loose. Some twisted murderer was targeting them. Would Joe have to watch painfully as each of his friends were picked off one by one? It was a tragedy. Was he next? Placing a hand to his mind, he could not stop the internal TV that flickered sick images. One by one he could imagine his friends dead; ones that he had seen and ones that he could conjure up from the potions of his imagination. Fuck this, Joe thought to himself, I need a break.

He turned his head around check that no one could see him; after all he had said numerous amount of times that he was quitting, he had to be sure that his girlfriend hadn’t snuck in and caught him out. Then, despite all events, an argument would ensue. After checking that he was completely alone, he found his stash of narcotics. Dragging a box from underneath the bed, he felt his heart leap. He knew it was wrong that he relied so heavily upon the drugs to ease the pain but he couldn’t help knowing that for now, this was the only way that could truly relax him. Picking up the mahogany box, he bounded back down the stairs and grabbing a pack of munchies he sat in the crick of a chair. Turning on the TV, he rolled up the roach inside his hand and went to light it up.

But there was no lighter, not in the box anyway. With the smoke still hanging out of his mouth, he clawed his way through each inch and found nothing but the rest of the drugs now eschew within the box. Throwing the rest onto the coach, he began up turning cushions and ripping open drawers in order to find this sweet flame. He ran into the kitchen and rummaged around the drawers and finally found one in the bottom drawers. The yellow plastic box sitting gently in the midst of kitchen utensils. A calm began washing over him as he stood up and flicking the sparks of the lighter and a high flame shot centimeters up into the air; sending the tobacco into a small forest of flame. Shooting the smoke from his mouth into the air, he leaned against the kitchen side and moaned out of pleasure. His hand grabbed the note that was there before and lifted it to read it again;

Joe, don’t you know that drugs can kill you?

“Wha-“ but that was all he could say before a shocking explosion rumbled through out the house and fire engulfed him. The fearsome pressure quickly blew him away.

Certainly, there was a dark cloud over Chicago.

****
Ciao Bella

So it has been a year almost since we last wrote this but I kinda hoped that you were still interested. I hope you  Love Sarah xxxx I hope you guys enjoyed this one 

Ryan couldn’t believe that he had not only agreed to uproot himself and move to Chicago with Pete, but that he had also agreed to help Peter out with label stuff. The last thing that Ryan had wanted to do was get back into the industry, especially this soon. He couldn’t deny that he had missed it though. Being around music was actually one of the few things that still made Ryan smile.

Chicago life was also a lot different than Las Vegas life. He felt more secure in this city, like things were more stable. He could now see why Pete had remained at home for so long before moving to California. Pete still spent quite a good share of his time here though, after all at the root of it all, this was still his home.

Ryan sat in a coffee shop, as he stared out the window just watching people walk past. Every time a slight shiver went through his body, he tried to pull his huge winter coat around him even tighter. The one thing about Chicago that he didn’t think he could ever get used to was the cold. It never snowed in Las Vegas, and here there was already a foot on the ground. There was some majestic beauty to seeing the ground covered in pure white snow though. With that thought, he smiled to himself and quickly took a sip of his coffee before quickly scribbling a few ideas down on the notebook he had in front of him.

He was no longer writing in an attempt to sell millions of records or gain people’s acceptance and approval; he was now just writing for himself. It was something he had always loved to do, and just the mere fact that no one would ever read these made it so much easier for him to write.

His attention was taken from his writing as he heard someone begin to order coffee from behind him. Ryan continued to write, but was trying to listen to the man’s voice at the same time. When he realized why it sounded so familiar, he dropped the pen and quickly turned in his seat to see if his thought had been accurate. It was.

He had spent six months in Chicago already, and time seemed to be flying. Everything was going exceptionally well, and things were actually starting to look better. He was happy again at least, and it seemed like she was as well. He made his way into the family room that was already all decorated for the coming holiday, Christmas tree and all. Jon smiled as he watched Allison play cars with Benjamin, who was growing up to be quite the strapping young lad.

            “Well I hate to interrupt the races,” Jon stated with a slight laugh as he watch Allison turn her attention to him quickly, startled by the sound of his voice. “But I’m going to go get some…coffee. Do you want me to grab you anything?”

Allison raised her eyebrows at him, not quite buying his story. She then carefully placed both of her hands over Benjamin’s ears and spoke to Jon. “Don’t you dare come back with another present for him,” she commanded firmly.

            “Why not?” Jon pouted, as if he didn’t find this fair at all.

            “I think he has more than enough gifts under that tree,” Allison responded as she jerked her head in the general direction. The tree was in fact overflowing with presents; ranging from big ones to small ones. The majority of which were from Jon to Benjamin.

            “Fine,” Jon sighed as he reluctantly agreed, not wanting to get into an argument about it. “I’m still going to get coffee though.”

            “Good.” Allison replied. “Get me my usual then.” She added, knowing that this way he would actually have to go get the coffee or else she would know he was up to something.

            “Sure thing,” Jon confirmed before grabbing his car keys off of the counter, and making his way towards the door; he could hear Allison and Benjamin begin playing again as he exited the house to the sound of their combined laughter.

Ryan saw Jon at the counter, joking with the worker as he ordered two different kinds of drinks. Watching him order two different drinks had already gotten his brain jumping to all kinds of conclusions, and then when he scanned his eyes downward to see what he was holding in his hand. He knew his assumption had been correct. The red toy fire engine had confirmed it all. Jon knew where Allison was.

That was the extent of him trying to piece things together. He didn’t want to make a similar mistake as last time, and assume the worst. He just knew that he had to go up and talk to Jon. As soon as he made this decision, he noticed that Jon was already on his way out the door. Ryan quickly scrambled to gather up his things that were strewn across the small circular table, and quickly bolted after Jon.

            “Jon!” he shouted as he jogged after him, following the footsteps that he was leaving in the snow. “Wait up!”

Jon immediately stopped in his steps, his shoulders tensing up as his brain instantly identified the owner of the voice who was shouting his name. He slowly turned around so that his eyes could confirm what his brain already knew. “Ryan?” he questioned as he watched his slim friend bound over towards him, wrapped up in the largest coat that he had ever seen; some may even call it a parka.

            “Hey,” Ryan replied, slightly breathless after the slight jog he had to catch up with Jon. His lungs felt like they were now covered in ice because of all the cold air he was inhaling heavily.

            “Long time no see buddy!” Jon stated happily, trying to cover up the shock that he was in Chicago. “What are you doing here? I mean, in Chicago?”

            “Pete kidnapped me,” Ryan replied as if it was no big deal. “I’m working for his label quite a bit now, and just getting a new atmosphere. What about you?”

            “Well Chicago is my native land…” Jon replied skeptically, thinking he had another motive for asking. “And I was just sick of traveling around with The Academy, so I decided to just stay rooted for a while at least.”

            “Well it’s great to see you man,” Ryan replied, flashing him a genuinely happy smile. “I didn’t know you had a little brother though….” He stated curiously, to see what Jon’s reaction would be.

            “What?” Jon replied. “I don’t. Why’d you think I…” he began to ask, but his question drifted off when he realized that he was holding onto the Toys R Us bag that contained a toy for a young boy. “Okay Ry, I know what this looks like, but I swear nothing’s going on between me and Allison. She’s just one of my best friends, and I needed a place to stay. We’re just friends though. Boy Scout’s honor!” he finished strongly.

Ryan couldn’t help but let out a light chuckle, that caused a swirl of smoke to appear in front of his mouth as his warm breath turned into condensation in the cold air. “I didn’t think that,” Ryan replied. “But I was hoping that you were with Alli.”

            “You were?” Jon asked instantly, shocked that Ryan wasn’t mad at him for not telling him where she was sooner.

            “Yes.” Ryan replied truthfully. “I hated thinking that she was on her own with a kid, without anyone being there for her. I’m really glad that you were able to be with her so that she wasn’t alone.”

            “Yea…” Jon replied, waiting to see if there was a catch.

            “How’s she doing, man?” Ryan asked after a few moments of silence passed between the pair.

Jon smiled widely, as he was glad that he obviously still cared greatly. “She’s doing really well.” Jon replied. “Benjamin, that’s her son, is almost three years old, and he is genuinely one of the happiest babies I have ever seen.”

Ryan smiled, relieved that she was doing well. He felt the anxiety that he had held for the past three years, suddenly release from the pits of his stomach; and he felt free. “I like that name.” Ryan stated simply, more to himself than to Jon. “How is she financially? I mean, how is she making money?”

            “That’s what I was always wondering,” Jon replied. “She already had a house when I found her. Not a huge one, but one that definitely fits the three of us very comfortably. She’s been doing some freelance writing and other work from home so that she can stay with Benjamin as much as possible. I have some theories on where her steady flow of money’s coming from, but I’m not positive.”

            “Brendon?” Ryan questioned as he looked at Jon’s face to see if he had guessed the same thing that he did. Brendon was the only one that had continued to be successful, and remain in the public eye. He had released a solo album of his own, just him with some nobodies playing in a backing band. The CD was actually quite good, Brendon had sent Ryan a free copy; not thinking he’d even listen to it.

Jon nodded his head, not wanting to upset Ryan in anyway when he seemed to be doing so well. “I’ve never brought this up with Allison,” Jon replied. “But legally he sort of has to pay child support, but I think he just adds quite a bit more to when he’s obligated to pay.”

            “That’s good of him.” Ryan stated finally, glad to see that Brendon actually made a good choice for once when dealing with Allison. “Well I’m glad that she’s doing well. Can you please just tell her that I miss her, and I wish her a merry Christmas?” he added, deciding he’d better let Jon go back to them before she started to worry.

Jon winced as he tried to decide whether he was making a good decision or not. “I really think she would rather hear it from you actually.” Jon replied. “I’m not really supposed to tell anyone where she is, but if you happened to stumble across her, then I don’t see how either of us can be at fault…”

            “Where?” Ryan questioned, instantly catching on to where Jon was going with this one.

            “She reads short stories that she’s written every Thursday at the library at 4 o’clock in the afternoon.” Jon stated. “I always keep Benjamin at this time, so it will just be her.”

            “Thanks,” Ryan replied graciously, before saying his goodbye to Jon and walking back to his small apartment that Pete had helped him get.

**Probably one more part left after this one, but maybe two. I'm not positive. Then there will be an epilogue, because we all know that I'm a sucker for epilogues. This story has been so much fun to write, and I truly want to thank you all for reading it, and sticking with it even though sometimes it takes me quite a while to update. I hope you liked this part!!**

So today marks the end of my second complete year on Buzznet. I was going to try to figure out something cool to do, or at least something insightful to day, but I came up with absolutely nothing. :/ Obviously nothing's changed. :P

Basically, I just want to thank all of the amazing friends I've made over the past two years. This of course makes me thank Buzznet in return for introducing me to all of these amazing people. Not only have I gotten to meet amazing people, but I've gotten to meet amazing people with a wide array of great talents. From photographers, to story writers, to poets, and even to band interviewers. No where else could I find a place that would bring all of these talented people together, and that's what I'm truly thankful for.

As much grief as everyone gives Buzznet for changing or for doing other things that they don't agree with, I know I've done a fair share of at least subtle or private complaining..., I can't imagine being a member on a better website. Sure there are flaws, but what website doesn't have flaws? Buzznet has not changed enough to be unrecognizable to me as the Buzznet that I started on, and I really don't expect that it ever will.

So with that said, yay two whole years!!

haha, ~Taylor

            “How’d I know you’d be the first to come find me?” Allison asked, as she stood in the crack between her door and its frame; staring at a man that she hadn’t seen in at least two years.

            “You’re not upset?” the guy asked in response to the warm welcome he had just received.

            “Of course not!” Allison replied as she stepped out of the doorway to wrap her arms around this man’s neck, and pulled him into a tight embrace. “Ever since I heard the band broke up, I was hoping you’d come to see me Jon.”

            “Well in that case…” Jon replied with a huge smile on his face, knowing for certain he was welcome. “I needed to get away from Las Vegas, and why pay my own rent when I knew you’d be living in Chicago already anyway?”

Allison laughed as she shook her head at Jon. “Well you can stay here of course.” She informed him. “As long as you don’t mind having a little kid around. He may put a damper on the amount of lady action you’ll get whilst here.”

            “So it was a boy then?” Jon asked as he peered around Allison and into her small house. “Can I meet him? What’s his name?”

            “His name is Benjamin.” Allison answered, “And I’m sure he’d love to meet you. He just turned two about a month ago.”

            “I like that name.” Jon offered as he smiled at how happy Allison sounded when talking about her child.

Allison smiled at Jon for another minute. “Here, I’ll help you bring your stuff in.” she told him as she stepped out and grabbed two of the duffel bags that he had strewn out over her front porch.

Ryan sat in his very empty apartment as he brooded. Not only had he lost the girl of his dreams, but he had also lost his best friend, and his passion; music. After Allison left, Brendon had come to Ryan in hopes of getting his help to fix the mess that he had created. Ryan delivered a swift punch to his right eye before the yelling match ensued. Needless to say, after that the band was fucked.

No way could Panic have survived with two of the members not speaking to one another. Ryan couldn’t even look at Brendon without getting furious, and Brendon knew he was in the wrong, but his pride didn’t allow him to offer an apology. The band had held out for a couple more months, but then half way through their current US headliner, they announced and indefinite hiatus and parted ways.

Spencer removed himself as far from the poisonous environment as he could. He was angry at what Brendon had done, but he would have stuck by Ryan. In fact, he tried to get Ryan to start another band with him. Ryan was just too depressed and mopey to write anything except for sappy love songs, and none of them were even that good. Finally Spencer decided to relocate to California with his girlfriend, and try to find some guys to start a new band with.

Jon stuck around. He felt like he had to. These guys had offered him a once in a lifetime opportunity, and even though they had caused his best friend to leave mysteriously, he couldn’t abandon them. He lived with Ryan for about a year, but could hardly deal with seeing him so sad. Then when he heard the announcement that Brendon was getting married to Jessica, he got so angry that he had to leave. He traveled around for a few months with The Academy Is…, but couldn’t find the joy in being behind the scenes once again. Ryan hadn’t heard from him since.

As Ryan sat in thought at what had occurred over the past two years, he couldn’t believe how badly his life had turned out. It seemed like things had been going perfect, he was living every musician’s dream, but it wasn’t enough for him. He needed to have Allison. Without her, all was lost. He wasn’t sure why he had always loved her so much. She had always loved Brendon, and he knew that. It’s just the first time he met her, he knew. He knew that she was the only person he would ever be able to spend the rest of his life with.

The way her light brown, chunky hair had been pulled back into a messy ponytail. The way her emerald green eyes stared at him from beneath her long side swept bangs. The way she scrunched up her lightly freckled face when she realized that her dog had just escaped her grasp. All of it. Every bit of it told Ryan that he loved this girl. That he was always going to love this girl. The too few minutes they spent together the first time they met had been some of the most amazing minutes of his life.

He couldn’t believe that he had the girl of his dreams so close to him that entire time, and even then she still didn’t see him as more than a friend. He didn’t understand it. What did Brendon have that he didn’t? Sure there personalities were entirely different, but he had always assumed that her crush for Brendon was just a childhood thing, and she would soon grow out of it. Which is why he was so shocked when she never let it go.

Even after getting word of Brendon’s marriage to Jessica, he didn’t feel like he had won anything special. Allison was done with Brendon already, so his marriage wouldn’t change a thing. Even with him off the market, Allison still wouldn’t default back to Ryan, no matter what he tried.

Ryan was stirred from his intense thoughts by about five swift knocks on his apartment door. He didn’t know who it was, nor did he truly care. Jon was gone. Spencer was in California. And Brendon was smart enough not to come try to talk to him ever again. Ryan decided that he was just going to remain where he was seated in the middle of his hardwood floor in the dining room. The knocks continued to sound until someone shouted to him from the other side of the door.

            “Ry!” the voice shouted. “Open the fucking door before I kick the shit out of this fucker! Then not only will you have to talk to me, but you’ll have to buy a brand new fucking door!”

            “Pete?!?” Ryan shouted back, his voice quizzical. He hadn’t seen or heard from Pete since Panic broke up. He assumed it was because in the essence of it all, Panic worked for Pete. While they were making him money, they were friends, but after that they weren’t connected anymore. Which was why he was so surprised that he was at his house right now.

            “Yes.” Pete replied from the hallway. “Now open this door! Please…?”

Ryan slowly picked himself off of the floor, and made his way carefully towards the door; curious as to why Pete Wentz was here. He slid the deadbolt out of the lock, and unlocked the doorknob before slowly pulling it open to let Pete into his humble abode.

Pete’s hopeful eyes sank instantly when he took in the image of the once great Ryan Ross, that had since gone downhill. “It’s good to see you man.” He stated sincerely, as he wrapped his arm around Ryan; pulling him into a one-sided embrace.

Ryan pulled out of the awkward attempt at affection, and walked back into his apartment; taking a seat on the couch. “What the fuck do you want Pete?” he snapped, not quite sure where his anger was coming from exactly. Possibly from two years of no contact between the pair.

Pete followed him into the apartment, closing the door behind him. He sat down in the chair across from Ryan, and began to speak. “I know you’re pissed at me, and you certainly have every right to be.” Pete stated quickly, knowing that he had to make up for what he had done. “Just Ashlee and I had the baby on the way, and then all my businesses were taking up so much of my time. I know it’s not a good reason to stop talking to one of my best friends, but I just bit off way more than I could chew and I cracked under pressure. Everyone wanted something different from me, and I just tried to not disappoint anyone.”

            “You don’t need to apologize.” Ryan informed him, as he moved his gaze from Pete to the wall behind his head. “It made sense for us to talk when we were on your label, but now that we’re not; you don’t have to feel obligated to make time for me in your busy schedule.”

            “Fuck yes I do!” Pete shouted, getting slightly angry at the attitude that Ryan was adopting. “Other than Patrick, you and I relate the most out of anyone I know. You’ve been there with me through some of my happiest and some of my saddest times, and I wasn’t there to return the favor to you.”

            “You had bigger priorities,” Ryan responded. “It’s no big deal.”

            “Yes it is!” Pete shouted, his anger building. “There will never be a suitable excuse for not talking to one of my best friends for two years. I just didn’t know that the situation was this bad. I knew you guys split off because of tension between you and Brendon, but I never took the time to gather all the details.”

            “Well…” Ryan began as he turned to look back at Pete. “I love Allison, but she loved Brendon. Then Brendon fucked her and impregnated her in one of his drunken hazes, so doing the religious thing, Brendon proposed to her. Then he lied to her and told her that he loved her, and she ate it all up, because she still loved him. Then I proclaimed my love for her, and shortly after, Brendon fucked her over and slept with Jessica while they were still engaged, and then Allison promptly left without telling anyone where she was going.”

            “I had gathered a few of the general details from Brendon before his wedding…” Pete replied, stunned at what he had just been told. “He left out quite a few of the specific parts though.”

Ryan snorted. “I wonder why.” He stated sarcastically.

            “He did however tell me that you weren’t doing too well,” Pete interrupted, allowing his voice to overpower Ryan’s, hoping he would see that Brendon wasn’t actually the devil incarnate. “He was devastated that you didn’t come to his wedding, but he understood. He feels awful for what happened, and he didn’t know that you were in love with Allison.”

            “How convenient.” Ryan responded, trying to sound like he didn’t care.

            “He loves you Ry.” Pete stated. “After all the shit you’ve both been through together, he still loves you more than anything. I know it’s cliché, but ‘bros before hoes’ was what I always stood by.”

            “How can I forgive someone for this though?” Ryan asked skeptically, ignoring Pete’s attempt at lightening the mood.

            “He’s not asking for forgiveness Ry,” Pete stated slowly. “He knows what he did was fucked up, and he doesn’t want to be forgiven for it. Especially not by you. He was just a stupid kid trying to make the right decisions based off of the morals he was raised with. We both know he has a good heart at the center of it all, and he just wants to make sure you’re doing okay.”

Ryan nodded his head. Knowing that he did miss Brendon. After all of this, he was still his best friend, and he hated not being able to talk to him, but he didn’t see that changing for a little while. “Thanks for coming here Pete.” Ryan stated sincerely.

            “Well I can’t leave you by yourself forever,” Pete replied with a smile as he slung an arm around his friend. “Which is why I want you to come back to Chicago with me…”

**Hmmmm my font seems to have gotten messed up at the end...ah well. Okay, this part is a bit longer than they previous ones, but the story is nearing its end. I'm thinking probably one or two more parts and then an epilogue. Not positive though, but that;s what I see happening as of now. Then after this story's over, I'll start posting the story that Chelsea and I started together on our joint account, and then finish that story before possibly writing another one. Hopefully you'll guys will continue to read what I write. Because I love writing so much.**

Allison quickly made her way down the vast number of stairs, and arrived back into the lobby with the full intention of just walking around the city with no motive on where to go at all. Her plan came to a screeching halt, when she heard someone call her name as she quickly brushed past on her way to the door. She spun around instantly, knowing who it was, but not knowing what to do.

            “Ry, I am not in the mood to talk about this,” Allison stated calmly as she took a deep breath and allowed her body to slow down momentarily.

            “Okay.” Ryan replied, just happy that she no longer sounded upset with him. “Are you okay?” he asked as soon as he noticed the tears that were still running rampant down her defined cheekbones.

            “Not particularly,” she responded. “But I don’t want to talk about that either. Can you just take me back to your place for the night?”

            “Of course.” Ryan agreed, knowing that even though he wanted to know what had happened more than anything, he couldn’t push it. “Let’s go.” He stated as he walked forward to join her, before the pair exited the building together.

            “Engaged, huh?” Jessica questioned as she walked over towards where Brendon was still slumped against the wall. She was now fully dressed. “I’m not going to say that wasn’t a shock…”

            “Just shut the fuck up for one second please!” Brendon shouted as he turned to look at her, tears begging to come from his eyes.

            “Alright, calm down.” Jessica replied, feeling quite a bit of sympathy for him. “I’ll leave, but can I just say one thing first?”

            “Why not?” Brendon responded, not seeing how that could do any more harm in his given predicament.

            “You and her can never have what you and I shared.” Jessica stated, and as Brendon shot her a confused look, she continued to explain. “Don’t get me wrong, you two love each other more than I can even fathom. It’s just a different kind of love…one where you two will never be emotionally separated. You just don’t have the passionate love for her, and that was made apparent by the way you kissed me. I know you’re trying to do the right thing by marrying the mother of your future child, but that child will be better off with having two parents who are best friends rather than parents that are only together for that child.”

            “I think you should go…”Brendon suggested after taking in everything she had just said.

            “Alright,” Jessica replied. “You have my number though when you figure out that I’m right.” She added as she walked away from him.

            “Just ask me what happened,” Allison commanded after almost an hour of silence had passed between her and Ryan since they arrived at his apartment. “I know you’re dying to know, and I need someone to talk about it with. Just promise to keep back any “I told you so’s please.”

            “Okay…” Ryan agreed reluctantly, not sure if this would backfire on him or not. “What happened?”

            “Well since you asked…” Allison began, as if she was surprised that he had asked her. “I walked in on Brendon fucking Jessica. In our apartment. On the couch that I picked out. Just right there, for me to see.”

Ryan felt his jaw drop as he listened to what Allison was telling him. He had always thought Brendon’s heart wasn’t in the right place, but he had never expected him to do something like this. “I’m going to fucking kill him!” Ryan decided as he began to get up from the couch.

            “Please don’t.” Allison pleaded as she reached a hand out and placed it on Ryan, causing him to sit back down. “I just want you to be here with me right now. Let’s just not talk about Brendon for a while.”

            “Okay.” Ryan agreed, not sure where she was going with this…

Ryan woke up the next morning, still seated on the couch with a blanket draped loosely over him. Allison must’ve covered him up when he had dozed off. At the thought of Allison, Ryan sat up straighter and looked for her. He didn’t see her anywhere in the apartment, and as his eyes passed over his kitchen table, he saw a piece of paper propped up against the vase in the center.

He slowly stood up from the couch, letting the blanket slide down his body and onto the floor. He began to make his way toward the table, dreading what he might read in the letter that Allison had left him. He reached a shaking hand out and grasped a hold to the paper that was folded in half. His name was draped in cursive on the outside. Ryan smiled as he imagined Allison sitting at the table writing this as she tried not to wake him.

He slid his thumb inside of the crease, and flipped the leaf of paper open; revealing quite a bit of writing. He quickly began to read…

Ryan ~

        First off; thank you for being the best friend a girl could ever ask for. You’re always there for me when I need you, and I cannot thank you enough. Which is why it’s going to be so hard for me to leave you once again. Please read the rest of this letter before you get mad at me, and please don’t try to find me.

        I love you more than you’ll ever know. It’s just not the same kind of love that you have for me. It wouldn’t be fair for me to lie to you as I try to develop seemingly impossible feelings for you, just to try and reciprocate the ones that you expressed toward me. That’s what Brendon tried to do with me, and I would never want to do the same to someone else. Especially not someone as amazing as you.

        I’m leaving to have this child. I’m leaving for this child. I don’t expect you to understand, but I need to do something for myself this time. I will always love you though.

Allison

Ryan reread the letter a handful of times before he realized that he couldn’t change what it said. He folded it back up and placed it on the table. Then he walked back over to the couch and sat down. Not sure what to do. All he knew was that Allison had taken a part of him with her when she left, and he didn’t know if he could go on without his heart.

**So my guess is probably two or three more parts left. Not sure though...Then after this story is finished, I'm going to continue writing the story that Chelsea and I started together on our joint account. Don't worry if you didn't read any of it, we only had like four parts and I'll repost them on this account before adding new ones. Hope you liked this part!**

Two months later, tour was over and they were back in Las Vegas. Luckily writing for the new album coincided nicely with the timeline that was set for Brendon to become a father. It’s not that Brendon was upset that he was being rushed into growing up all at once, and so quickly, but he was just feeling overwhelmed lately as the reality of it all began sinking in as more and more preparations were being made on a daily basis.

This feeling of intense maturing wasn’t necessarily what caused Brendon to begin drinking ago. One could very easily argue that just being back in the city of sin had caused that, and that’s what Allison just told herself.

The truth of the matter was that Brendon was scared. Scared of being a bad father. Scared of marrying for some reason other than pure love. Just scared of life in general. He wasn’t sure that he had made the right decision, but he really didn’t see a way out.

As he thought about what a mess his life had become lately, he stumbled out of the nightclub that he had taken up residence at for the past five hours. His hand reached out to grasp the handrail, but instead he was surprised to find he had grabbed a human arm instead.

            “Sorry ‘bout that,” he mumbled as he regained his balance and unleashed the person he had just clasped onto. “Everybody in the club getting’ tipsy.” He added with a childish giggle accompanied by his boyish grin.

            “You’re looking good…” the person stated.

Brendon’s eyes shot up as he realized who he was standing next to. “Jess?” he questioned as he squinted his eyes, to try to make sure that was in fact who was standing next to him right now.

            “Aw I know you didn’t forget me that easily.” She replied as she stared back at him. “Aren’t you going to tell me that I look good too?” she pouted playfully.

            “You look…”Brendon began. “You look…stunning.”

            “Thank you!” she exclaimed with a huge grin spread on her face. “Now I know that you’re not going to be rude, and not ask me to come back to your house with you to get a drink, are you?”

Brendon shook his head ‘no’ in a confused daze, and raised his arm to flag down a taxi. “You’ll like my new place.” He told her as he placed his hand on her lower back to help her get into the taxi that stopped for them. “I’ve missed you so much…” he added as he climbed in after her.

            “Don’t fucking touch me!” Allison screamed at the top of her lungs as she jerked her arm out of Ryan’s grasp.

            “Alli please calm down.” Ryan pleaded as he tried to get her to stop walking, even though he had already followed her all the way from his apartment to hers and Brendon’s. “I just wanted to talk. I haven’t gotten to talk to you since we got home.”

            “Well maybe that’s because I knew this was all you were going to have to say!” Allison suggested as she spun around to talk to him.

            “Well I’m sorry, but I can’t sit around and watch you make the biggest mistake of your life!” Ryan shouted back at her, knowing that this would be the only way that he was going to be able to carry on a conversation with her.

            “How is marrying the father of my child possibly a mistake?!?” she responded heatedly.

            “Because he doesn’t love you like I do!” Ryan shouted back, instantly surprised that he had actually just said that. He definitely hadn’t meant to…

            “What?” Allison asked in a confused and hushed tone of voice, instantly diminishing her anger.

Not able to find any words, Ryan reached out and placed a hand on each of Allison’s arms before leaning forward and planting a heavy kiss on her lips. The most amazing feeling he had ever had the opportunity to experience was quickly replaced with the stinging sensation of being slapped across the face. This is when he realized how stupid he had been.

Allison spun around and stormed up the stairs to her apartment, leaving Ryan behind to think about what a fool he had just made of himself.

Brendon grabbed Jessica’s hand and led her up the stairs to his apartment. He knew that Allison had made plans with Ryan today, so she shouldn’t be back until super late. Even though he knew this, he chose not to even think about it. He pulled his key out and tried to place it into the lock, which was seemingly much harder to do when completely plastered. Jessica giggled at his trouble before taking the key from him and unlocking the door herself.

            “Thanks,” Brendon stated with a smile. “I needed help.”

            “That’s why I’m here.” She replied as she pushed the door open and let herself into the dark apartment. She looked for a light switch, and instantly turned the lights on once she found it.

The pair walked over to the couch and sat down. After about five minutes of complete silence, Brendon decided to speak up.

            “So what have you been up to?” he asked, trying to sound casual.

            “Not much actually.” She replied. “I got a job at a bookstore that I absolutely love.”

            “No boyfriend?” Brendon questioned, as he shot a glance up at her before quickly moving his attention back to the coffee table in front of him.

            “Not since you…” she replied, her voice trailing off. “What about you Mr. Famous Musician Man. How have you been? Any girls?”

            “Nope.” Brendon replied, alcohol consumption taking over his better judgment.

            “So no one will mind if I do this?” she asked as she leaned in and kissed the plush lips that she had missed so much.

After they broke their kiss, Brendon shook his head no to answer her previous question.

            “Good,” she replied. “Cause that means no one will mind when I do this.” She stated as she slowly pulled her shirt over her head, revealing her black bra. “Or this.” She added as she grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled that off his head.

That was when Brendon leaned forward and kissed her, allowing his tongue to find hers. Jessica laid down on the couch, and Brendon slowly leaned on top of her, continuing to kiss her as she began to undo his belt, shortly followed by the removal of his pants.

Allison made it up to her apartment, and decided it would be best to take a moment to compose herself before entering to face her fiancé, the man of her dreams. She leaned her back against the wall next to the door, and raised a hand to her lips, gingerly touching them as they still burned.

She knew that there had to be a reason that Ryan was so against this relationship, but she definitely had not expected for that to be the reason. She just couldn’t wrap her mind around that. How could she never have had any idea that he felt that way? It seemed impossible to her. She made the decision to just ignore it, and not tell Brendon. It didn’t seem necessary, things were going so well.

Allison reached forward to unlock the door, but was surprised to see that it had not been locked. She slowly placed her hand on the knob, and pushed the door open. As soon as her eyes took in the sight before her, her hand quickly came up to her mouth again; this time to cover the shock. Then she turned, and allowed the door to slam shut behind her, but not before Brendon turned around to see her.

            “Was that Allison?” Jessica asked confused as Brendon quickly got off her and pulled on some pants.

Brendon ignored her question, and ran out of the apartment to follow Allison; instantly sobered up. “Alli wait a minute!” he shouted at her, where she was at the end of the hall. “Let me explain!”

            “I don’t know what there is to explain Brendon!” Allison shouted back, tears running uncontrollably down her face.

            “Please, let’s talk about this.” Brendon replied. “Don’t make any drastic decisions before you have the time to hear my side of the story.”

            “I don’t want to hear any part of the story about you fucking your ex-girlfriend while your current fiancé is carrying your child.” She snapped back. “Thanks for the offer though.” She added as she continued to go down to the stairs to get out of the apartment complex instantly.

            “Fuck!” Brendon shouted as he ran his hands through his dark hair and slammed his bare back against the wall.

**So I'm thinking that this fanfic might be nearing its end...I can't really tell though, so we'll just have to see what happens. I feel like I've put Allison through more than enough shit for one story though. :P Uhm...I hope you guys liked this part! Comments are amazing!**

So...I'm just writing another useless blog because they really do just make me feel better. Just letting everything that's on my mind out. It just helps me out for some reason. Don't ask me why...

So I went to Warped on Friday with my sister. It was fun...but we had a lot of bad luck all day. For starters...the directions mapquest gave us were batshit crazy. We literally almost died like two or three times, and I almost hit one of those HUGE construction cones with the reflectors on the top. Those things can do some serious damage...Okay, then we got crazy lost in downtown Detroit. Like we ended up at the Red Wings arena and we were supposed to be at the Tigers baseball field. It was insane. Then we finally got there, like 45 minutes after it started. We accidentally parked like 10 minutes away from the venue, cause my sister thought we were by the venue when we really weren't...and then it was ridiculously hot out, all the bands we wanted to see weren't playing until like 6, and ten minutes into the day we found out that my camera was broken. So that sucked...

Good things that happened were... we saw this cute little asian ska band. They were awesome! Oreskaband I think... And then when I went to go look at Jack's Mannequin merch, Andrew McMahon was doing his signing, so I was literally a couple feet away from him. He's amazing! I was flippin' out! We actually didn't end up seeing too many bands...We saw Say Anything though, cause Max is amazing. Their set was superb. Then we decided that we couldn't take the heat anymore, and decided to leave after Forever The Sickest Kids set that was at like 4:40. Now here's where this story takes a turn for the worst...

We get back to my car, getting lost on the way back to where we parked cause we weren't positive where that was exactly...then I open my trunk so we could get our purses out. I noticed that somehow I must have accidentally opened the change part of my wallet, cause change was spilled in the bottom of my purse, and then I see that the zipper somehow got broken off my purse and it was brand new. So I was pissed! I start putting the crap that was in my pockets back in my purse, and my sister alerts me that she can't find her cellphone. So we both spent like five minutes looking for it, and then just decided to start driving home and look for it later. Then we drove for a while, trying to figure out how to get back home cause the construction was crazy on the roads around there. So finally we got to a point where I figured I could take the time to put the change that somehow fell out of my wallet back into my wallet.

Then jokingly I say "I swear I didn't even have my wallet open! Someone must have broken into it!" and then I realize that the $50 that had been in my wallet was gone. So I go "Holy shit! Someone totally broke into my car and stole our shit!!!!" So long story short, here's what all got stolen: my sister's phone, her camera, her credit cards, her debit card, her i.d., my $50, and my ipod which is my most prized possession. If anyone's seen "Little Miss Sunshine" then imagine the scene where the boy realizes he can't be a pilot b/c he's color blind...that's how it was when I found out those bastards stole my ipod. So basically...it wasn't a good day. Last time my sister and I were together, our grandmother died. This time, our shit got stolen. I wonder what'll happen when I go to visit her in Chicago in like a week...

On a lighter note... my friend Curtis and I spent basically the entire day together yesterday. Like he came to my house at like 11 in the morning...and then we got back to my house at like 10:45 at night. It was craziness, but insanely fun and definitely something I needed. But he also let me know that one of my other friends had called him a few days ago, solely to talk about me. Cause she's not even friends with him... She works with me, and she must have taken my phone from my purse to get his number, and then called him from work. Her intentions behind it were good, but still? Who does that?

Other than that... I'm going to a 1997 and The Morning Of concert on Tuesday. I still need to figure out who's going to go with me... Then I'm going to get ice cream with a friend I haven't seen in like two months...and then Saturday I'm going to the zoo for a friend's birthday party. So it should be fun. I wouldn't expect anything less. :)

How have you guys been?

Allison stood at the side of the stage as she nervously nibbled on her fingernails. Brendon had gotten back to the venue just in time for their set to start, so they hadn’t had time to talk. Brendon hadn’t even glanced her way once since he returned, and she was guessing that wasn’t a good thing. She had expected this though. How could she think things would be normal between them after something like this had been dropped on them?

She was brought out of her anxiety-ridden daze, and she looked up to see Brendon exchanging a few words with Jon and Ryan; leaving both of them to look at each other, slightly confused. Ryan glanced over towards her, for what felt like the millionth time tonight, to make sure that she was okay. She flashed him a meek smile, before having her attention taken away from him to Brendon, who was speaking into the microphone, sounding extremely nervous.

            “So…uhm…” Brendon began timidly. “First off, sorry to take you away from the music, but I have something very important to do…”

Allison glanced over to where Jon, Spencer, and Ryan were all exchanging bewildered glances; probably looking the same as Allison assumed her face looked right now. This little speech of Brendon’s was obviously a spontaneous decision on his part, seeing as even the rest of the band looked perplexed as to what was happening.

            “Alli, can you please come out here?” Brendon’s voice asked over the amplified mic, as he looked over towards the side of the stage at her for the first time since their talk this morning. Allison just continued to look at him, too petrified to move from her current safe haven out of the public eye. “Please?” he asked, his eyes begging her to come out onto the stage.

She reluctantly began to glide across the stage toward him, not allowing her eyes to move from his. She knew that if she took one look out into the crowd of thousands, she would just lose it entirely. She had never been out on the stage with the boys before. She finally reached Brendon, and quietly whispered, “What?” to him, as if it was perfectly normal for him to call her out on stage just to talk.

Brendon looked at her for a second, and then turned his attention back onto the eerily silent crowd in front of him. “Now, just so that everyone can get caught up to speed,” he stated. “Allison here has been my best friend since…well, since as long as I can remember. She’s the most amazing person I’ve had the opportunity to meet and get to know. We’ve had our share of rocky times, but it’s the good times and the bad that made me finally realize what I had right in front of me.”

He took a pause to try to get his mouth to stop being so dry, and Allison took this opportunity to look away from the side of his face to the boys that stood behind them. She looked at them for any kind of answer as to what Brendon was doing, but Jon just shrugged at her, and Ryan was still staring at Brendon’s back.

            “Well I guess there’s only one way I can do this,” Brendon continued, and with that he pulled a small box out of his pocket and got down on one knee. “Will you marry me?” he asked as he opened the box to reveal a rather large diamond ring.

Even though the mic didn’t pick up his question, everyone in the crowd knew what was happening, and that caused them all to gasp out of disbelief. Allison continued to stare down at Brendon, not sure what to do. Deep down she knew that he didn’t love her in the way that she loved him, and that made her truly question what to do.

            “I know I’ve tried to maintain a purely friendly relationship between us,” Brendon began, understanding the doubts that had to be racing through her mind at this point in time. “I just didn’t want to destroy our relationship, and I knew that there was a very high chance for me to do that if we were more intimate. I love you though. I’ve always loved you. I’m just not sure that you feel the same way, but I’m willing to put my heart out there to see if you’ll accept it. We’re bringing a child into this world, and we have to do it together. Please. Marry me.”

Allison continued to look down at the boy of her dreams as she felt tears line her eyes once more. She was surprised that she even had any tears left to shed at this point. She shook her head ‘yes’ and wiped the tears away from her eyes. “Yes.” She whispered.

            “Yes?” he asked, almost sounding surprised.

            “Yes.” She repeated, a little louder this time.

He grinned at her widely as he took the karat diamond solitaire out of its current spot in the box, and slid it onto her finger. Then he stood up and placed his plush lips upon hers, as they engulfed one another in a rushed embrace.

Even though the crowd was already cheering slightly, Brendon broke away from Allison and leaned into the microphone. “She said yes!” he shouted triumphantly, and the crowd broke out into a loud roar; everyone happy for him, but secretly hating Allison for taking this pre-teen heartthrob off of the market.

A week later, Allison sat on the couch in the bus, still staring at her ring in disbelief at how things had turned out. Brendon and she had had a very long talk, and Allison was shocked that he had never known that she had stronger feelings for him than that of purely friendly ones. She was truly happy now, but she still wished that they hadn’t had to proclaim their love for each other in these circumstances.

The pair was truly unstoppable together though. They pulled the greatness out in each other, and everyone could tell that they truly cared for each other. On their next day off, Brendon took Allison to the doctor to make sure that everything was fine with the baby, and they had even started doing some very minor planning for their wedding. It almost seemed unfathomable that just a week ago they were still just childhood friends.

Allison was snapped away from the sparkling stone on her finger, as she heard a few light knocks on the wall of the living room. “Ryan, you don’t have to knock when you walk into a living room…” Allison stated as she rolled her eyes with a slight laugh.

            “Well you looked like you were in thought, so I wanted to make sure you were aware of my presence.” Ryan answered as he sat down across from her in one of the armchairs.

            “How could you ever go unnoticed to me?” Allison asked playfully as she reached out to pinch his cheek, but he backed out of her grasp uneasily. “Alright…either you’re mad at me or you have something that you want to say, but you’re unsure of how I’ll react. Either way, start talking.” She stated sternly, she was already practicing her motherly tone of voice.

            “Well I just wanted to ask you…” Ryan began, but his voice faltered off as he began to cop out.

            “Just ask.” Allison replied. “You’re right. You’re always 100% honest with me, and I don’t normally return the favor. I’m going to start changing that right now though.” She assured with a smile and a quick head nod.

            “Alright…” Ryan responded. “Well, do you think that you and Brendon are rushing into this?”

            “I don’t understand…” Allison said as she cocked her head as she tried to comprehend what he was asking exactly.

            “I’m just saying that you don’t have to get married just because you’re having a kid together.” Ryan explained. “I mean, I know that it’s his religious tendency to do the right thing in God’s eyes, but he’s gone against his religion in so many other ways, so I don’t know why he’d feel the need to rush into this.”

            “Because he loves me.” Allison answered.

Ryan cast his eyes away from hers, slightly ashamed as to what his thoughts on the situation had been lately.

            “You think something else…?” Allison asked, in a nonchalant tone that still had hints of anger and fear in it because she too still had doubts on the way Brendon had changed.

            “If he says he loves you, who am I to question it?” Ryan asked, not really wanting to respond to her with what he was actually thinking.

            “He does love me.” She responded shortly, her angry tone taking over as she stood up from the couch. “And you shouldn’t question that!” she added as she stormed off the bus.

Ryan sighed as he placed his head into his hands. “He just doesn’t look at you the same way that I do…” he stated softly as he thought of what a mess this situation was turning into.

**Sorry this took a little longer than it has been recently. I've just been super busy and stressed, but it's all good and I finally got this part written! Yay me! Warped tour tomorrow!! I'm stoked. Too bad I have to drive the entire three hour drive there and three hour drive back all by my bigself. Blech! But I'm definitely stoked. I love musack! Hopefully I'll have some pictures tomorrow or the next day. :) Hope you guys liked this part!@!**

So I'm just going to write this entire blog in this wonderful purple color because a.) it's perdy and b.) I don't want to write in my typical black print. So hopefully no one has anything against the color purple... :P

Uhm...this is basically just a random blog. Nothing bad really happened, and nothing good either. I just feel the need to write and let you guys know what's going on in my life, and blogs are always the best way to do that. And I can never remember what all I tell you guys, and I know some know more than others, but if you ever have a question about something going on in my life; feel free to ask. You'll find I'm a very open person. :)

Hmm where should I even begin? Let's start with the fact that my emotional stability has been crazy fucked up lately. Like I had two emotional breakdowns on Thursday about work. One at home while I was on break, which ended with my mother saying "You can quit your job! It's okay! Just quit!" (she's still harping on that by the way...which I find weird since she was the one who forced me to get the job in the beginning when I didn't want one. Ah well!) Then the second breakdown happened like ten minutes after I returned to work after break. I was just sitting at the computer towards the front of the store, and Josh said something to me. Then I started bawling my eyes out. Josh had no idea that was coming, and neither did I. I mean, I've never had my emotions just randomly come out like that so...uncontrollably. Either way, he started rubbing my back and trying to calm me down. It was awful!

I had plans with a friend that night, but thank goodness I had cancelled them like an hour before I took my break. I definitely was not in the right mindset to hang out with anyone, especially not someone I wouldn't be comfortable crying in front of. The next day I didn't have work, and Curtis picked me up around 4 o'clock, and we went to his lake house. It's absolutely gorgeous! We just sat and talked and talked to his parents; who surprisingly love me. It's pretty awesome. I ate dinner over there, then we went for a boat ride. Talked a bit more...and then I ended up going home around 10. I mentioned to him about how awful work was for me at this current point in time, and he just listened. He's a great listener.

Then I had work today... 9:30-5:30. I was obviously not in the best of moods. I was just really reserved and quiet, and just did my work without saying much. Which obviously caused Josh to ask if I was okay (about 300 times...), and Scott pulled me in back and asked what was wrong with me, and everyone was making a huge deal about it. Then there was some drama with a customer I helped earlier, and I was not handling it well. Then lo and behold, at like 3:45, guess who pulled into the Scott's parking lot. Curtis! haha He stayed until we closed, which meant that I just stood and talked to him for like an hour. It was awesome. He brought me the CDs he borrowed from me (all 3 Motion City ones and the FTSK one...) and then he stayed and talked to me, cause he could tell I was having a bad day. I dunno if his only reasoning for coming down there was because he wanted to give the CDs back or if he knew I was going to be having a bad day so he came to help me make it through it. It doesn't really matter either way...cause it was nice. It really did pick my mood up. Enough about amazing friends...

I go visit a college on Monday. It's in Wisconsin, and it's right on the coast of Lake Michigan. It's a private school, so it's really expensive and I'll never end up going there. I just mentioned that it was gorgeous, so my parents signed me up for a tour. We'll see how it goes, but it'll definitely be a nice break from work.

I have Warped on Friday, so that'll be friggen' sweet. My sister's coming home from Chicargo to go with me again this year. I hope it's equally as amazing. :) I imagine it will be. Especially if Jack's Mannequin is there. Then I was smart and thought to ask for that Saturday off from work as well. Thank goodness! Then the following Tues. I'm going to see 1997 and The Morning Of in my favorite venue ever! It should be awesome, and I'm majorly excited!

I think that's all the cool updates I have actually...

Music that I'm currently in love with:

Roark, Socratic, Steel Train, well...basically any band signed to Drive-Thru pretty much. That is seriously my favorite record label. I'm also currently in love with The Morning Of, and their song entitled "Shine" is my current fave. song. 1997's new album is stunning. Definitely check that out if you get the chance.

Oh! And I have a question. Do you think it's weird for me to hang out with one of my guy friends alone when he has a girlfriend? Cause I didn't think anything was wrong with that until one of my other friends said that was kinda shady... I guess it's just cause I'm not a jealous person, but I dunno. I don't think I'd ever be upset if my bf hung out with other girls. Like...a lot of my friends are guys. I dunno. What do you guys think?

p.s. I love all of you, and I really wish that we talked more. If anyone has interest to talk to me more frequently... my aim is tadertot3141. :)

Allison was standing around talking to some of the venue workers when she heard someone’s voice from behind her say, “We need to talk.” Then two seconds later, she was being dragged away from her new acquaintances by a firm hold on her upper arm until she and the “kidnapper” reached seclusion.

            “Well…that was quite the attention getter.” Allison stated as Brendon released her arm, and she had time to gently massage the tender part now. “Bad news is, I think the techies probably think you’re a bit psychotic…” she added with a smile.

            “Cut the bullshit.” Brendon snapped at her instantly, causing the smile to immediately disappear off of her face.

            “What the fuck is going on lately?” Allison responded, feeling on the verge of tears. Most likely because her emotions had been going haywire lately, but she was also just feeling very frustrated that everyone seemed to be upset with her. “First Ryan’s pissed at me for God knows what, and now you randomly became pissed at some point in the last two hours between the time I made you breakfast and now. Did your scrambled eggs suck or something?”

            “No they were delicious,” Brendon responded, feeling slight sympathy for a millisecond before remembering why he was upset. “But I am pissed at you.”

            “Are you actually going to tell me why?” Allison asked. “Or am I better off just apologizing and hoping that’s good enough for you?”

            “It’s about Jon.” Brendon answered, thinking that would be enough for her to put things together inside of her head.

            “Jon…?” Allison asked, slightly puzzled.

            “Yea Jon.” Brendon responded. “The bassist of our band; Jon. Your ex-boyfriend; Jon. One of my new best friends; Jon. All the same person.”

            “I know who you’re talking about,” Allison replied shortly. “I just don’t understand how you can be upset with me over anything he did. If you have a problem with him, you need to take it out on him.”

            “I have a problem with the fact that you guys are together and you didn’t tell me the night we…the night we…you know…” he finished in a hushed whisper, using his hands to help gesture what he was trying to explain.

Allison probably would have laughed if she hadn’t been so confused and angry at the accusations that were being made here. “I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about Brendon.” She stated simply. “Jon and I are not back together, never have been, most likely never will be.”

            “But Ryan said that you were pregnant.” Brendon responded slowly, trying to figure out what was going on by piecing together the information he was getting from everyone.

            “How did he know?” Allison asked before thinking. “Shit!” she shouted as she realized what she just said. “I didn’t mean…ah fuck it.”

            “But if you’re not back with Jon then…?” Brendon asked, as his eyes got bigger as he began to realize what had happened. “Is it…it can’t be…can it?”

Allison just shook her head ‘yes’ unable to come up with any logical words or phrases to help answer his question. She stared intently at his face to see what his reaction was going to be, hoping that it wasn’t pure hatred.

            “Uhm…” Brendon spoke up after a few silent minutes. “Have you thought of what you’re going to do with the…with the baby?”

Allison cleared her throat as she felt tears begin to brim her eyelids. “This baby is going to be brought into this world.” Allison answered positively. “That’s all I’ve decided on from there. I didn’t think it was right for me to try and decide the fate of our child all on my own.” She finished, the usage of the word ‘our’ sounding out of place rolling off her tongue.

Brendon nodded his head as he continued to think about the bomb that was just dropped on him. “I need to…I need to go do some stuff before the show tonight.” He told her as he brought his eyes back up to meet hers. “We’ll talk after though. As soon as this all settles and I have some time to think about it. Okay?”

Allison nodded her head again, and struggled to keep the tears from falling.

            “It’ll be okay.” Brendon told her, flashing her a feeble smile in an attempt to comfort her. “We’ll get through this.” He added as he leaned in and kissed her gently on the cheek before turning to exit the venue.

Ryan walked into the venue after he had calmed down a bit. No one was back on the bus, so he figured that they might already be inside the venue. Well, Brendon at least. As he surveyed the dim premises, he saw no sign of any of his fellow band members; not even the wonderfully flamboyant lead singer. Then he saw Allison seating with her back towards him. He sighed, and decided that he’d rather talk to her than no one at all, and began to walk up to her. As he got closer he realized that she was crying.

            “What’s wrong?” Ryan asked, his voice full of concern, as he came to a stop directly behind her.

            “Why the fuck do you care?” she snapped back as she brought her hand up to wipe away the tear residue that was currently residing on her cheeks, so that she could look stronger in front of Ryan.

            “Because you’re my best friend,” he answered truthfully. “And I feel awful about how I treated you this morning. I just hope that you’re not crying because of me…”

            “Oh don’t be so full of yourself!” she shouted as she jump up from her seat and spun around to face him. “But it’s my turn to be pissed at you!”

            “What did I do?” Ryan asked, knowing he was about to get an earful.

            “What didn’t you do?!?” she shouted back. “I don’t know how you figured out I was pregnant, but then you ran off and told Brendon! The baby isn’t Jon’s!”

Ryan’s eyes grew wide as he listened to her scream. “Then whose…” he began to ask before she continued on her yelling tirade.

            “Then I was forced to tell Brendon that he was going to be a father!” she shouted, now crying once again. “Not only does he not reciprocate the feelings that I have for him, that I’ve always had for him, but now he’s going to resent me for making him become a father so early. I wasn’t ready to tell him Ry! I wasn’t ready…” she finished weakly as the tears became waterfalls down her cheekbones.

            “It’ll be okay.” He told her, when in reality he really had no idea what was going to happen. He hadn’t even known that all of this had happened.

            “What am I going to do Ry?” she asked, suddenly feeling terror come over her body. “I’m not ready to be a mother. I can’t do it. Definitely not by myself.”

            “I know.” Ryan replied. “We’ll figure something out.” He added as he walked forward and wrapped his arms around Allison as she cried into his chest.

**So here's the next part. Hope you're all having a good 4th of July, except if you don't live in America you don't really celebrate it do you...? Hope you liked this part though!**