A few days had passed, and Austin, Alan, and I were at lunch. We were talking about random things and laughing, me mostly at them because they are idiots. I was kind of sad because in a couple of days, they leave back to New York for a couple of months so that they could finish recording their new album. I was excited, but I was gonna miss these two dorks. Alan went on telling us about his ex, that I was still friends with by the way, and he admitted how bitter he was because she dumped him.

"But, you cheated on her. She should be the bitter one."

He nodded after he stopped and thought about what I said, "That's true. I need to find me a lady. Hook me up with that girl Katelynne."

I laughed. "She's not interested in gingers." I grinned at him, "Plus, she's into some other dude." I smiled at the thought of her and Vic. They were both obviously interested and the other night at the BBQ, she didn't want to leave, he didn't want her to leave either. I had to drag her out of the door and back to her aunt's house.

"Yeah, whatever. I guess I shouldn't be worried about that since we leave in two days. Right Austin?"

Austin was in a daze, lost in the screen on his phone. He hadn't heard a word that Alan and I just spoke, but seconds later, his eyes grew wide then shot straight to me. "You're fucking kidding me?"

I looked from Alan to him, genuinely confused, "What?"

His tongue ran over his teeth as he faked a sarcastic smile for me. "Mike."

As soon as he said his name, my heart began to beat faster than before, causing a lump to form in my throat. "What about Mike?"

"Mike, who?" Alan questioned, going over in his head the Mike's that he knew.

"Fuentes." Austin's eyes were still burning into me, following my every gesture.

"What about him?" I asked again, hoping to get an answer to what he was talking about.

"Tal just told me all I needed to know."

Heat ran through my body as anger was injected inside of my veins. Austin continued to talk, "He's the fucking dude you left back in San Diego. He's the dude that you were so in love with. I toured with him in two of those six months when I was in Attack! Attack!. Well, I remember him talking about some girl that he loved back home." A small laugh escaped his lips, "Why didn't I ever put the two together?"

"Why the fuck are you so mad?" Alan asked, as he saw Austin getting more and more angry.

"Why the fuck is my ex-boyfriend any of your business? He's my fr-"

"-Don't dare say friends. Tal knows everything and he just fucking told me."

"Once again, what the fuck do you have to do with me and Mike?" My words spit venom, hoping to hurt him in the process.

His face turned beet red, but I didn't care anymore to hear him talk. I had to go see Tal and beat the shit out of him. I shot up from my seat and grabbed my bag. I didn't say another word as I walked out of the restaurant and to my car. I felt arms pull me back by wrists and I was spun around to face Austin.

"What the fuck do you want? Leave me alone!" I said, ripping my arm back from his grip.

He was breathing heavily, "Fine, do you wanna know why I'm pissed? Because he doesn't deserve somebody like you!"

"Who the fuck are you to decide who deserves me and who doesn't?!"

"Because I'm your best friend, Lucy!"

"Austin, leave me alone. I'm gonna go find Tal and fuck him up!" I turned back to his car and he shouted, causing me to stop in my tracks, me still facing my car.

"Because, I love you! There, I said it! I know that you don't love me back but I can't help it, okay? You're my best friend in the entire world and you're always there for me no matter what! I mean, who was there when I was getting divorced? Who was there when I had my surgery? You were. You mean everything to me!"

I turned around and looked at him. He stared into my eyes, relief flying off of his shoulders, but panic piling on top of mine. I stayed quiet then unlocked my car as water begain to form in my eyes, "I gotta go, Austin." I had to get out of there before I had a panic attack. He couldn't see me have an episode. He stood there as I backed out, calling Tal almost immediately.

"What's up, Luce?" Tal questioned. I could tell he was smiling on the other end.

"Where are you?" I asked, blankly. I didn't want to come off angry just yet. He was gonna have to wait a few minutes to see that.

"At my house, what's up?"

"I'm coming over." I said then hung up. I sped over to his house, not even bothering to look at how fast I was going as the Road Gods gave me every green light that I went through.

Once I arrived at his house, I went up and rang the doorbell repeatedly. Taav ended up answering it. "Hey Lu-"

"-Where's your brother?"

His eyebrows furrowed, "In the backyard, are you okay?"

"Peachy." I said, letting myself and walking to the back. Tal was sitting around the glass patio table with Benji, and a couple of his other friends that I had met before but couldn't remember their names.

"Hey Lucy!" Tal shouted, getting up to give me a hug.

I pushed him away, "Dude, fuck you. I can't fucking believe you right now!" I shouted, not even caring that his three friends and little brother were staring at us, bewildered.

He stepped back, wondering why I was here screaming at him. "What are you talking about?"

"You fucking told Austin about Mike and I! He got mad at me for some fucking reason, then said that you told him everything! Fuck you, dude! I told you all that stuff because I trusted you!"

"I thought he knew! My fucking bad that you don't tell your 'best friend' everything!" He threw up air quotations around best friend.

"He didn't because that's none of his business, okay? Fuck you, asshole. You're supposed to be my best friend and then you go off and tell everyone my business. You told Benji and Josh the other day, and now you told Austin. And, guess what? Austin apparently loves me and shit and I literally left him standing there because I was about to have a fucking anxiety attack! Fuck you, Tal! I fucking hate you!" I slapped him across the face then walked back inside, fast walking to my car. Once I got inside, I broke down in tears.

Did I just do that? I can't believe I just did that to my best friend. Oh my god, I've never slapped somebody before.

There was a knock on my car window and Benji was standing there, worry splashed across his face. I unlocked the doors and he climbed in. As soon as he turned his body over to look at me, I cried even more, him bringing me into a hug, drawing patterns on my back, his hand rough from years of playing guitar. He didn't have to say anything, and that was what I needed right now. I needed everyone to stop talking and to just let me be for a second. The more I thought about all of this, I thought about Mike. I thought about how he kissed me in my house the other night. I thought about how I felt my heart skip beats and my body feel weak. I thought about my confused I am right now.

After a few minutes of silence, Benji and I parted and he wiped some fallen tears with his thumb. "Lucy, do you want to talk about slapping the shit out of Tal back there?" A small smile played on his lips which made me let out a little chuckle. I nodded and took a deep breath.

"He told Austin about me and Mike. I didn't want Austin to know because years ago, I found out that him and Mike are friends. Not that it would've mattered, but keeping Mike private was the only thing I had left of him. Does that make sense? I didn't want Austin, if he would, to like help me and Mike. If it was going to happen, then it was gonna happen by fate. So anyway, Tal told Austin today while we were at lunch, I guess, and then Austin got mad at me. I didn't know what I did wrong or why he was mad until he fucking told me he loved me. He told me he loves me, Benji." I muttered an, "Oh my god." At the end of my sentence as I put my head in my hands, resting on top of my steering wheel.

"Do you love Austin?"

"Not like that." I answered quickly. "He's my best friend, and that's all I'll ever see him as."

"Because you're still in love with Mike, because you've always been in love with Mike." He said, a smiling spreading across his face.

I smiled, too. Mike made me feel that way, he made me feel happy. Austin didn't even know the littlest detail about Mike and I. "He kissed me the other night." I spat out, Benji's eyes widening from grinning.

"No way?"

"Yeah," A grin began to play on my lips, as the tears stopped running and my eyes calmed down. "He kissed me, and I kissed back. It was like the sparks never left."

"That's special. I'm 34 years old and I wish I could find something like that. I know this may not be what you want right now, but I think you should go for it. Go for Mike, little Lucy."

I smiled, looking over at him, "Yeah?"

"Yeah. Let me tell you something. You're the kind of girl that a guy meets when he's too young. And, he may fuck up, or something happens to drive you two apart because there's too much living to do. But later on, the guy will realize that you two are perfect for one another, that you're perfect. And, I think that's happening right now; you and Mike are realizing how perfect you two are for each other." Benji said, looking away into the distance as he spoke. I know he was thinking about somebody, I don't know who and I didn't want to ask, but he was speaking from experience.

"Benji." I began as he turned his attention to me. "Thank you so much. You've been more of a best friend the last couple of days than that dickhead has." I pointed at Tal's house, remembering what I did back there.

Benji chuckled, "You're welcome. I don't mind being your best friend at all." After a couple of minutes, Benji opened the door and got out, telling me to let him know when I get back home so he can tell Tal that I'm okay.

I drove off, feeling calm already. I looked at my phone and had like four missed calls from Alan, two from Austin, and two texts each from them. I called Alan and told him I was okay after he asked, and that I would see him later. I wanted to go home and just be alone for a little bit. I felt bad for leaving Alan at the table, for leaving Austin in the parking lot after he just expressed his love for me, and for slapping the shit out of Tal. I basically had my limit for today and went off to get a drink from Starbucks, than to go home.

I had to head off to San Diego tomorrow to help Brandon and Steph. Mike and the guys said they were gonna help him, too. I just wanted to see Mike, and I think tomorrow would be a good day to talk about him and I, to finally talk about us.

---

The next morning, the birds were chirping extra loudly, making me groan in despair. I rolled over and saw a text from Tal that simply read, "I'm so sorry and I love you."

I decided to call him and discuss "The Slap" as Taav called it jokingly last night when he text me to see how I was doing.

"Hello?" His voice said, soft and groggy. I forgot it was really early, 9 AM, for Tal.

"Hey, can we talk? Sorry to wake you up."

"Yeah, yeah. Let's talk."

"You know why I was pissed, right?"

"Yes, Luce. I'm so fucking sorry, dude. I seriously thought he knew already and then he kept pressing on about it so I just said it. I already knew that Austin liked you or whatever the fuck and I swear I've been telling him to just chill with that because I knew you weren't into him like that. I'm sorry. I really, really am."

"It's okay. Well, it's not okay to be spreading my secrets, but I understand that you didn't know. And, I'm extremely sorry for slapping you. Oh my god, I felt so bad the second I did it."

A small chuckle came from the other end, "It's okay. I didn't know you had that in you, to be honest. Hey, don't replace me for Benji as your best friend okay?"

I giggled, "But, he gives better advice than you." I half joked.

"I know he does, that's a given. Just try and keep me around."

"I'll always keep your bitch ass around. I love you, Tally."

"I love you too, Lucy. Best friends, again?"

"Best friends, always. Hey, I'll let you go back to sleep. I have to go to SD, today to help Brandon move."

"Alright, be careful. Let's try and do something tonight or tomorrow?"

"Okay, that sounds good." We said our goodbyes and I rolled out of bed, picking out something to wear as I brushed my teeth. I grabbed a pair of blue skinny jeans, and one of my UNIF tanks, a red flannel, and grabbed my black Dr. Martens to end the outfit. I didn't feel like doing much to my hair, so I just pulled it back into a curly pony tail, braiding my bangs back, securing it with a bobby pin. I got my phone and wallet, stuffing them into my purse as I put on little makeup so I wouldn't look like a total hot mess.

I got into my car, starting it up and beginning my road trip to San Diego. I grabbed some breakfast and iced coffee along the way. Once I arrived at Brandon's home that he shared with Steph, there was a UHAUL truck outside of it, some stuff already loaded into it. I killed the engine and walked up to the door and stepped inside.

"Brando, Steph! I'm here!" I shouted, hearing my voice echo throughout the house. Stephanie popped out from somewhere with a big grin on her face.

"Hey Luce! Thank you so much for coming to help!" She greeted me with a big hug.

"Not a problem at all." I smiled, looking around. Brandon came out of a room with Mike right behind him. I smiled, feeling my heart beat faster the closer he walked to me.

"Hey Lucy!" Brandon came and gave me a hug. Mike followed and wrapped his arms around me, hugging me tightly.

"Hey." He said simply, causing chills to crawl up my spine.

"Hey!" We looked into each other's eyes, forgetting the reason why we were there.

"Uh, are we gonna stay staring into each other's souls or what?" Brandon said, being a total dick as usual. Mike and I looked down and blushed and that's when I noticed Vic, Jaime, and Tony there, lugging boxes.

"Hey guys!" I shouted, waving at them and finding a box to grab. Mike smirked at me then walked outside to load up some things. We all helped move stuff up until 3, then all loaded up and drove to LA.

Mike rode with me, as I had a lot of Brandon and Steph's delicate things in my backseat, everyone else in their vehicals. Vic, Tony, and Jaime all rode together, following Brandon.

"Mike, can I tell you something?" I said, nervousness eating my up.

"Yeah, what's up?" He said, looking up from my iPod as he was searching for a song.

"Um, don't like think I'm a weirdo or something." I took a deep breath, "I'm just gonna come out and say it?"

He looked at me and smirked, "Tell me!"

I let out a nervous laugh, "Okay, so the thing is that..." I stopped, not knowing how to word this. I should've practiced this on the way over here. I mean, I had two hours for fuck's sake. "Basically, I can't stop thinking about you. And, you make me so happy, like I'm happy just being around you and-"

"-So, you're ready and willing then?" His smirk turned itself into a grin.

"Ready and willing for what, exactly?" I looked over at him.

"Ready and willing to like, try this again. Because I can say that you haven't left my mind, little missy."

"Yes! That's what I was trying to say." I looked at him, "I want to try this again, Mike."

"Dude!" He shouted, throwing his arms up as much as they could in my car. "I've been waiting six fucking years for this, oh my god. I just want to kiss you right now, but you're on the freeway!"

I laughed, "You're the cutest, sometimes."

He looked at me, moving his body. "I just got so fucking happy, I need to shout this from the mountaintops."

"Shout it from the freeway!"

He rolled down the window and shouted, "Lucy wants this dick again!" He strung out the land word, making me laugh uncontrollably.

I lightly hit him and giggled, my nose crinkling. He rolled up the window and gently touched my cheek, quickly turning my head from the road and placing a kiss on my lips. I looked in his eyes for a second as those butterflies that only Mike seemed to bring out, shot out from their hiding place and flew out. He grabbed a hold of my right hand and held it the rest of the way back to Los Angeles.

Notes

So, quite a bit happened this chapter, y'all. What do you think about Austin expressing his feelings for Lucy? What about the fight between Tal and Lucy and Benji being there for her? And finally, WHAT ABOUT MIKE AND LUCY FINALLY TRYING THEIR RELATIONSHIP OUT AGAIN?

Leave your questions, comments, and concerns at the bottom. I love you all to pieces, I hope you enjoy :)

And, hopefully I get the chance to update the Tony fic, tomorrow. If you haven't checked it out yet, here's the link: Hold The Door.

xoxo