“Bye, Ma,” Tony mumbled, giving his mom a small hug. “Mom, please stop crying. I’m literally six miles away,” he sighed.

“I can’t help it! You’re growing up!” she cried.

I grinned at the pair, silently wishing my mom was here to be proud of me. I didn’t dwell on the thought, though.

“It was so nice having you in our home, Vic. I’m glad you two are moving on, now. Be good,” she turned to me, giving me a hug.

“Thanks a lot, Mrs. Perry,” I smiled.

Over her shoulder, I spotted Alyssa, who, in response to her mother’s dramatics, was mouthing the words “save me”. I laughed lightly, and then pulled away.

“You coming, Lissy?” Tony called, and we all raised an eyebrow at him.

“What? You said you wanted to see the place. Why not now?” he shrugged his shoulders. Alyssa stared at him thankfully. Mrs. Perry’s mouth opened to say something, but Tony spoke again. “Don’t worry, Ma. We’ll get her home at a good hour,” he reassured.

“Okay. Fine with me. But not too late. She has school tomorrow,” she said.

“She can stay over if she wants, actually,” Tony suggested, and I raised another eyebrow at him. “And one of us will take her to school in the morning,” he said with another shrug of his shoulders.

“I guess I don’t see any problem in that. But don’t make it a regular thing,” she said. “Why the sudden interest in spending time with your sister?” she laughed. Tony shrugged his shoulders, but little did Mrs. Perry know was that Tony was trying to be there for her. Tony was trying really hard, too; we could all see the effort he was putting in.

“Alright, well, go ahead!” she waved us on. Alyssa grinned and slid into the backseat of the car.

“Don’t be annoying,” Tony said to her in a brotherly fashion as he pulled out of the driveway. I turned around in the passenger seat and gave her a wink and a sly smile just for fun.

“Hey, I just realized I don’t really have any clothes,” she said. “Or anything, for that matter,” she said.

“All of our stuff is already there. You can borrow something,” Tony said.

“What about school tomorrow?”

“We can leave early for you to change,” I said, and she nodded.

The drive to the apartment complex was short, as expected. And when we walked into the apartment, I wasn’t shocked with sadness about Bree’s absence, which was unexpected. I smiled softly to myself and gently held Alyssa’s hand as we walked further in.

“This is really nice,” she said with a small smile.

“Yeah, it’s a perfect size for three people, too,” Tony said, and I nodded in agreement. Although, my heart throbbed a little at this as I realized that this was supposed to be me, him, and Bree, but now it was just me and him and the occasional Alyssa. Things were constantly changing at a rapid pace, and I could hardly keep up.

“Lissy, do you want to change into something more comfortable now?” Tony asked. She shrugged her shoulders—a common action amongst the three Perry’s that I knew.

“Sure,” she said. “Thanks,” she smiled.

Tony disappeared into his room and reappeared with a t-shirt and a pair of basketball shorts. “These will do, I guess,” he said.

“Thanks,” she said. “I’ll go change now,” she said, walking away.

When she was gone, Tony turned back to me. “Hey, do you care if I go out for a little?”

“Sure, dude. Where are you going?” I asked.

“Drew’s,” he said with a happy smile. His face completely lit up whenever he talked about her. “I’ll be back later, though,” he said, shooting me a warning glance. I raised my eyebrows at him, but then he gave me a small smile.

“See ya, man,” I said. He waved, and then he left the apartment, leaving Alyssa and I alone.

I guess all of this—inviting Alyssa over, leaving us alone—was his way of showing that he was sorry for what happened yesterday.

“Where’d Tone go?” she reappeared, dressed in a pair of Tony’s shorts and a t-shirt; they were huge on her since she was so tiny and Tony was pretty big. I stared at her in adoration, and she hugged herself, mumbling that she was very comfortable and flashing me a shy smile. She pranced over and sat on the couch, tucking her bare legs into her chest.

“He’s going to see Drew,” I told her.

“Oh. So just you and me?”

“Yup!” I smiled. “So!” I said energetically, plopping onto the couch next to her. “What do you want to do?” I asked, smiling at her. I wrapped my arms around her bent legs and rested my head on top of her knees, staring at her. Her skin was smooth, soft, and velvety to the touch.

“I don’t know!” she said lightly.

“Oh, well, you should probably go to sleep early since you have school tomorrow,” I stuck my tongue out at her.

“I am not a child, Victor,” she crossed her arms. I laughed, running my fingertips up and down her thighs as I continued to hold them like a teddy bear. She giggled softly, sticking her arm out into my face. “Stop that,” she laughed, and I grinned, taking her arm in my hands. Her eyes widened and she quickly pulled her arms away, hiding the inside of her left one.

“Lissy,” I said sternly, sitting up and holding my hand out for her arm.

“I’m sorry. I’m just embarrassed,” she mumbled. “I haven’t done anything to it,” she said, showing me her arm. The cuts she had made the other day were already healing scabs. Not exactly a pretty sight, but they weren’t bad at all.

“I’m proud of you,” I said, planting a few tiny kisses onto her forearm. She sighed and adjusted her position on the couch so she leaned into me more.

“They’re just scratches,” she muttered. “Kind of pathetic,” she sighed.

“No, Alyssa. It doesn’t matter if they are just scratches or cuts down to the bone; you are still thinking about hurting yourself. I’m just glad it’s not too bad,” I said gently, pulling her into a sideways hug. She didn’t say anything, but I felt her nod against my shoulder.

I accidentally let out a short laugh. “What’s so funny?” she looked up at me, her breath on my chin.

“It’s not really funny in the comical sense. It’s just, it’s so funny how fast things change. Hear I am with you and it’s barely been two days since—” I stopped talking abruptly when I realized what I was going to say.

“It’s too soon, isn’t it?” Alyssa connected the dots.

“I wouldn’t say that it’s too soon. More like really fast,” I admitted with a sigh. “So much has happened in the past two days that it feels like it’s been a lot longer than it actually has been,” I said.

“I know what you mean. I’m sorry,” she said.

“Why are you sorry?” I asked, confused.

“Well, I acted on my feelings for you barely ten hours after… y’know,” she said. “It wasn’t very fair to you. You were really upset and I feel like I took advantage of that.”

“I appreciate you saying that, Alyssa, but, remember, I was the one who kissed you,” I reminded her.

“That’s true,” she said.

“I don’t think it really matters, to be honest,” I said after thinking for a few moments.

“Yeah?”

“Like, I feel very happy right now,” I admitted.

“I’m glad,” she said, wrapping her arms around me into an affectionate hug. “It’s just kind of bad timing,” she said.

“I would say that it’s actually pretty good timing,” I offered.

“As long as you’re happy,” she smiled.

“Are you happy?” I asked, brushing her hair back a little.

She nodded with a shy smile. “Good,” I breathed. She smiled softly, and I chuckled when her breathing hitched as my face neared hers. “You alright there?” I grinned, delicately picking up a strand of her hair.

“Yep,” she squeaked, causing me to chuckle again. A light blush crept across her cheeks, and I raised my hand to brush over it with my fingertips.

“You’re being cute,” I said softly. She blushed again, averting her eyes from mine. I laughed lightly, realizing something. “Do I make you nervous?” I backed away a little, staring at her in amusement.

“Pft, no,” she shook her head, leaning back in my direction.

“I think I do,” I teased, poking her side. She didn’t say anything, except her blush remained prominent on her tan skin. “Why do I make you nervous?” I asked softly, inching my way closer to her again.

“You d-don’t,” she stuttered as I gently pushed her back onto the couch, slowly and stealthily maneuvering myself on top of her.

“Don’t lie to me,” I said with a grin, my mouth hovering over her jaw. I lowered my head and brought my lips down to her skin.

“For fuck’s sake, Vic,” she let out a ragged breath, and I smiled against her skin. “You know damn well that… that….” I chuckled softly when her sentence trailed off as I began to kiss up her jaw. I kept my lips at her ear.

“I know damn well that what?” I whispered lowly with a smirk. I felt her shiver underneath me.

“That I… shit, Vic,” she sighed. “I’ve had a silly crush on you for so long, and now here we are…” her voice trailed off again. I smiled, realizing that the way she was feeling now was exactly the way I had felt when Bree first reciprocated my feelings for her. Surprisingly, the thought didn’t bring me any pain; it only inspired me to mess with Alyssa a little longer, because I knew exactly how she felt.

“Where are we?” I smirked, moving my lips from her ear down to her neck.

I felt Alyssa just shake her head and breathe roughly again, and I laughed. I sighed, squeezing my arms around her and resting my face in the crook of her neck. I closed my eyes and continued to press my lips firmly to her skin. My arms were wrapped completely around her, my hands on her back and completely squished under the weight of both of us. I smiled, feeling her hands tangle in my hair.

I lifted my head up and looked up at her, smirking. I slid up so our faces were at the same level, kissing her softly and then pulling away.

“Jerk,” she grumbled.

“How am I a jerk?” I asked, pretending to be seriously offended.

She just shook her head again and brought her hand up to the back of my neck, pulling me back down to her. I smiled when our mouths collided, not a care in the world. Even though the time line in my head was a jumbled mess, I couldn’t bring myself to stress over it. Sure, it was weird to think that I had been with Bree this time last week, but I didn’t really think about that. Things changed so fast I could barely keep up, but that was the beauty in life, right? When one door closed, another one opened, right?

My entire life, whenever a door closed I was stuck out in the cold—a new one didn’t simply open. I was always stuck with everlasting pain, knocking on locked doors and sliding down the wall in defeat. Doors have slammed in my face—Mikey dying, my family pretending I was dead, Bree leaving me—but it wasn’t until now that I finally fell into a different room by a different door when I was pushed out into the hallway. I wasn’t used to this kind of immediate opportunity, but I liked it. It made the pain go away, and I wondered if this was what it felt like to live a normal life.

Notes

Guuuuyyyysssss
I'm Team Alyssa when they are cute together
But then I reread earlier chapters for inspiration and then I become Team Bree :(

wHaT dO i Do

Sorry this is a short filler... drama is in the near future! Promise!

Hahahahaha Vic being seductive *hides face*
Do you all approve?? lol
.....

PS PS PS PS hey guys go and read my good buddy's newest Tony story called Yeah Boy and Doll Face -- It will be a good one I promise you all that!