The warehouse where the photo shoot was taking place was chaotic with people running around. We had stylists on board, helping the guys choose outfits. The photographer that the guys chose was someone I had grown close with over the years, Adam Elmakias. I met him at Mike's birthday party back then and I ran into him in LA countless times because he worked for many, many bands that I had known and grew to be friends with as well.

I stood watching from afar, taking occasional sips from my beverage. Katelynne took it upon herself to go on and help the stylists if necessary. I smiled softly at her determination recalling when I was her age and first starting out. She had a much better job now than I did when I was her age. I was working at SPIN and Target. I was just an intern at first, but I would always help at shoots and interviews if needed. I caught her and Vic talking to one another, knowing that smile that he had on his face. I looked down and saw that Jaime was wearing flip flops. I rolled my eyes at him, laughing.

"Jaime! What's with the chanclas, dude!" All the guys looked down at his feet and they all laughed. Adam looked at me and shook his head laughing.

Jaime grinned and told me to fuck off, and I continued to go over how I was going to put this interview on paper as a template. I took out my iPad and tried to see how many pages we would have. Chewing on my lip, I was in a trance, focused solely on this spread. This wasn't my first spread, or my last, but I wanted it to be perfect; that was me, the perfectionist.

My phone lit up and it was Austin, I picked it up quickly and answered, "Yes Aust, what do you want?"

I could hear his smile on the other end then a chuckle come out, "Hello to you too, Luce. What are you doing?"

"I'm at Pierce the Veil's photo shoot. I'm trying to figure out their spread so I know how I'm gonna fit everything. You already know it has to be-"

"-perfect." He finished for me. "I know you. It will be, just make it look cool. You're good at that stuff. When do you head back home?"

I bit my lip, "Mmm, tomorrow afternoon, maybe tomorrow night. Why, what's going on?"

"I'm doing this signing in Huntington Beach at the U.S. Open. And then I'm doing this golf thing with Tal for Shecks."

"Aw, I miss Sheckler. Austin Carlile golfing? This will be hilarious." I joked, causing him to laugh on the other end.

"I know. It's for charity, though. You know I'm down with that charity life, Lucy."

I giggled, "Yeah, I know. Me, you, and Tal need to chill when you come home. Since you're leaving me for months at a time and all."

"If I could record this album at home, I would. Hey, Alan will be with me, too. He says he is still waiting for you to have sex with him." Austin chuckled on the other end and I heard a voice in the background laughing and yelling, "Fuck off!"

I chuckled, "That's the last thing I want to do is be around Alan's weird ass." I joked. Alan and I always joked around with each other and our relationship was more of a goofy-friend type friendship. We always hit on each other in the most creepy ways for our own entertainment. "Look, I'll call you when I get back home. I'm busy right now. Call Tally and ask him when he wants to chill."

"Alright bye ugly little girl." He smiled on the other end, trying to hold in his laughter.

"Bye, Fuckface Mcgee." I hung up on him as he was laughing and put my phone on the table before me. I was kind of excited to see Austin and Alan again. They've been gone for a couple of months in Jersey, so it was gonna be nice going to spend some time together before they were gone recording in New York.

I continued on my iPad, organizing the spread. I had two pieces of paper in front of me, signifying that these were the magazine pages. I was figuring out where the pictures were gonna go, where the interview was gonna be, and more pictures and what not. I looked over to see that Katelynne was overseeing the shoot, and she was. She was with Adam, helping him place the guys in certain spots. Mike made eye contact with me and smiled, me returning it, then going back to what I was doing.

---

"What are you doing tonight?" Mike questioned me once the photo shoot was over, and everyone was packing up their things.

"Nothing, why?" I asked, looking up at him as I put my iPad in my purse.

"Because-" He began but was interrupted by Vic chiming in next to us.

"-There's gonna be a BBQ at our house tonight, you should come. All the guys are going, Casey, Mal, my parents."

"Mal's going?! Oh my god, I haven't seen her in ages. I haven't seen your parents either!"

"So, come." Mike flashed me his best smile, and I nodded, "I'll be there."

He took his phone out of his pocket then said, "I'll text you the address."

I nodded and then seconds later, my phone made a noise informing me that I had a text. "What time should I be there?"

Vic answered, "Like at 8:30. Bring Katelynne." He winked.

"Go ask her to come." I nudged him. He shot me a nervous look, then walked over to her. Mike and I couldn't hear what he was saying but we knew she agreed to go because she nodded and then smiled huge.

"Look at Vic growing up and asking girl's out." I said, sarcastically wiping a tear.

Mike grinned, "Good, he needs to get laid. He's been a nightmare to live with lately." He scoffed, not realizing that Vic had walked back to us.

"Speak for yourself, dickwad." He punched his arm, then walked off to where Jaime and Tony were.

My nose scrunched up and I laughed, lightly rubbing Mike's arm for him. "It's okay. Looks like both Fuentes brothers need to get laid, huh?" I gave him a wink then walked to where Kate was to see if she was ready to go.

I looked back and Mike stood in the same spot, his eyes never leaving me, with the biggest grin on his face. He shook his head laughing then walked to where his bandmates were.

"Are you ready?" I asked her as she grabbed her bag, nodding.

"Yeah, hey Vic asked me to go to his BBQ at his house, tonight. Are you going?" She smiled as we walked past the boys.

"Mmm, yeah. I don't see why not. If you wanna go..." I trailed off.

"Of course I wanna go!" We got in my car, throwing our bags in the backseat. "Vic's so cute, I'm glad he asked me to go."

"Look at you, liking Vic." I started up the car and backed out, seeing the guys and waving to them as we drove off, "Vic's a really good guy. He's the hopeless romantic, I feel. Very laid back, doesn't get angry too often. I think you two would be cute together!" I gave her a grin and she lit up.

"Now I have to go pick out an outfit." She groaned, adjusting her sunglasses.

As we drove to her aunt's place, I couldn't help but think about Mama and Papa Fuentes. What if they hate me for breaking their "baby's" heart. I couldn't live with myself if they didn't like me. Suddenly, I didn't feel like going anymore.

---

Katelynne and I pulled up to the guys' house and I was freaking out. "Maybe I should just drop you off and then leave?" I suggested, picking at my steering wheel.

"You're insane." She looked out the window then shrieked "You can't leave. Mike is outside smoking a cigarette and he is walking over here. Oh my god."

"What?!" I exclaimed, knowing my escape plan was ruined.

She opened the door and walked out, "Now you have to come."

"Just go inside!" I said before she shut the door behind her, coming face-to-face with Mike. She told him something, then he nodded and pointed inside, she walked up the steps as he flicked his cigarette on the sidewalk. Before I knew it, he opened the car door and got in, closing it.

I guess he saw the look on my face and asked immediately asked, "What's wrong?"

"I'm like ninety percent sure that your parents hate me." I rested my head on the steering wheel, letting the voice of Matt Pryor of The Get Up Kids relax me as best as he could.

"Luce, why would they hate you?" He asked, rubbing my back, making circles.

"Because, I don't know." I didn't want to say why, but my emotions were too overtaking at this point, so I just spit it out. "Because I broke up with you, and broke your heart, and all that shit." I looked at the concerned look in his eyes and how they softened.

"Hey, let me tell you something. They told me after you and I broke up that us breaking up was the best thing for the both of us. My mom had said that she agreed with you, because you needed to get your life in place. We both did. They applauded you for that. They could never ever hate you."

I look into his eyes and let out a soft smile, "Really?"

He nodded, "Really. Now, please come inside. Yeah, it might be weird, but it might not be. Plus, I have something to show you." He smirked, biting on his bottom lip.

"What'd you do?" I asked furrowing my eyebrows. He always had something up his sleeve.

"Oh, I did nothing. I just want to show you something, little one."

I took a deep breath, looked in the mirror one last time, then I killed the engine and got out of the car, Mike walking next to me to the front door. Before he opened the door, he said to me with a smirk, "You look hot as fuck, by the way." He winked then opened it revealing everyone. I rolled my eyes and looked down at my clothes and smiled back at him.

We walked in and Mal's eyes looked as if they were going to bulge out of their sockets. "Lucy! Oh my god! They said they had a surprise tonight, but I didn't think it was you! You look fucking amazing, oh my god!" She ran to me, pushing Mike out of the way and hugging me so tight I was begging for oxygen. She spoke a mile a minute and touched my long braid that had fallen to the front of my shoulders.

I grinned, my nose scrunching up, "My little Mally, I've missed you!" I hugged her back, then we let go.

Casey and the guys laughed from afar as she continued telling me that I looked so good and where did I go and all these things. Mike shouted from the kitchen, "Mal, how about you let her walk in and say hi to everyone?"

She nodded, "That's a good idea." I giggled and we walked into the kitchen. I gave everyone hugs and then Victor and Vivian walked in from the backyard.

Her eyes grew and a smile formed on her lips, "Is that Lucy? Hi, mijita." I walked over to her and gave her a big hug.

"Hey, darling." Papa Fuentes said, giving me a kiss on the cheek as he carried a tray of food into the kitchen.

"How've you been?" I asked Vivian, flashing my best smile.

"I've been good, just taking care of these boys over here, you already know!" She gestured to Tony, Casey, Vic, Jaime, and Mike. She gave me another hug and murmured in my ear, "I still wouldn't want anybody else for my baby, only you." She tapped my shoulder then went on to help her husband. I stood there, her words still lingering behind even though she wasn't near me anymore. My eyes began to sting as they wouldn't blink. I was brought back to Pierce the Veil's first show and how she told me that.

Mike came up to me, breaking me from my trance and handed me a bottle of beer, "Corona with lime and salt." He had a huge grin painted across his face.

I took a sip, "Yum, exactly how I like it. Thank you, Mikey."

I sat on a bar stool in between Mallorie and Mike, and we all talked about countless things; tours, relationships, where I've been, how I ran into the guys again, how Katelynne is single. You already know Vic started that conversation.

"So Lucy, Mike hasn't shut up about you since he and the guys ran into you a couple weeks ago." Victor said, eyeing me with a smirk.

"He hasn't?" I asked smiling over at Mike, who's face turned beet red, so he put his head in his arms. Shy Mike was the cutest Mike.

Papa Fuentes shook his head and then chuckled, winking at me. I tapped on his arm and said to him quietly, "Stop talking about me, creep." I joked earning a laugh out of him. He looked up from his arms and fixed his gaze on me.

"Shut up, ass." He came back at me then took a big gulp of his beer.

---

After everyone ate and was continuing to hang out, all of my attention seemed focused on Mal since she had so much to tell me and vice-versa. She told me about what's been going on in her life, and she even went into saying how she liked Mike's ex as a person, but not for Mike. She said she was like the odd ball out on that one because she knew something was off. I could tell Mike was annoyed with something, but I didn't know what. It was written all over his face. Once Mal stopped talking, I told her I'd be back. I went up to him because he was sitting alone looking up at the moon.

"Hey, Lone Ranger." I said with a smile.

He looked over at me at smiled softly, "Hey."

"Why are you all by yourself?" I questioned, sitting next to him on the swing bench.

"Because the person I invited is too busy hanging out with everyone else." He squinted his eyes at me then stuck his bottom lip out, frowning.

"Don't even start, you know I haven't seen Mal in forever. I haven't seen your parents either." I rested my head on his shoulder and he rested his head on mine.

"I know, I just wanna hang out with you, though."

I looked up at him, "What'd you have to show me earlier?"

He grinned, "It's in my room, c'mon."

We both got up and walked inside the house, going up the stairs into his room and shutting the door behind us. "Cute room, Fuentes." I mentioned, sitting on his bed, crossing my legs.

He chuckled, digging for something in his closet, then he came out with the bong I had got him on his birthday, "You still have that?!" I asked, getting up and looking at it.

"Duh, Danzig is an essential." He winked then went into his nightstand drawer getting something else, but not showing me yet. "And also, the other present you got me," He dug into another bag getting out drumsticks. "I use them every night. Yeah, they're a little worn, but they're my most prized drumsticks."

I smiled, "I'm glad that they are. What's that other thing in your hand?" I pointed to his right hand.

"This," he began. "This is the picture we took at work, remember that one day when one of the sodas in the back popped so we got to close like three hours early?" I began to laugh as I looked at the photo, remembering that day so vividly. Whenever him and I closed together, it was always a party. "Remember we took it when we had to put all that white powder stuff to soak up the syrup?"

"Oh my god, and that stuff made an even bigger mess and we were covered in soda and that powdery stuff!" I added, laughing.

"We always got ourselves into some funny shit at work." He sat down next to me on his bed and looked at me.

My eyes stayed on the picture of him hugging my neck and kissing my cheek, causing my nose to scrunch and my eyes to close. My eyes began to water as I remembered the good times him and I had. "I miss those days."

"Me too. That picture has been here with me since the day we took it. I never had the heart to get rid of it. Look on the back."

I flipped it over revealing my lips in red lipstick that I printed on there one day. Seeing that sent a tear to fall down my cheek. I tried to hide it from him, but he noticed, like he always does. He wiped my cheek with his finger and brought me into a tight hug. I felt warmth being there in his arms. I felt security and happiness. I know that him and I were trying to just be friends, but it was really hard when he was so amazing and caring all the time. I hated that I had to go back to LA tomorrow, and I hated that I didn't get to see him everyday, and hug him and kiss him all the time. I hated not being in his presence, and him not being in mine.

"You're still all that matters to me." He said looking me dead in the eyes before moving a piece of my fallen bangs from my eyes, and placing a soft kiss on my forehead.

Notes

Here we gooooooo. Her time has ended in San Diego with the guys. What do you think will happen when she returns home to LA, and what will happen when Austin visits?

I love every one of you, thank you so much for being into this story because I never thought anyone would be.

xoxo