**Tony's POV**

I woke up with Aleah curled tightly into a ball with her head in the crook of my neck. I heard her phone ring, and I answered it quickly in a hushed tone so she wouldn't wake up. "Ali's phone," I laughed, "What's up?"

"Ali? Do I have the wrong number?" the other voice asked, confused.

"Uhh… This is Tony, I just answered her phone 'cause she's still asleep. Who is this?" I responded, getting up gently and leaving the room so she wouldn't be disturbed.

"Oh oh oh, hey man. It's Jaime. Sorry, as long as I've known her, she's been Smurfy,"

"That's cool, bro. So, can I take a message or something?"

"Well I was actually calling for you, anyway," I stayed quiet, waiting for an explanation. "Vic wants to know if you wanna come over and jam with us. I know shit went down between you and Mike, but he won't be here 'til tonight, and he'll probably cool down by then anyway."

I looked at the time and saw it was close to 9 AM, "Well, I just woke up, and Ali's still asleep, so we might be over then, but she has to work later, so I don't know."

"That's cool bro. Catch ya later." and the line went dead. I really did want to jam with them, but I wasn't sure what was up with Mike, and I didn't know if Ali'd be up for it.

I went back to the bedroom, realizing I was still naked, and threw on a pair of underwear. Then I crawled back into the bed with Ali, hoping it wouldn't bother her, considering she was still completely undressed as well. Instinctively, she curled back into my chest, sighing in her sleep. I wrapped my arms around her shoulders and gently pushed her head into my neck, and kissed her gently. I felt guilty for waking her as I heard her begin to speak, "Who called?"

"Jaime. He and Vic want us to come over and jam a bit. I know you have to work tonight, though, so I told him I wasn't sure." I whispered gently, rubbing my hand gently over her shoulder.

"You can head over there whenever, and I can walk to work, then have Mel or Kellin drive me over there when I get off work,'' she said, looking me in the eye. "You don't need permission to leave my side, you know," she laughed a bit.
"I know I don't it's just-"

"Just what?" she asked, concerned.

"I promised that I wouldn't let anyone fuck with you, and now there's Mike, Cara, and whatever goons she has that all know where you work. I just worry about what could happen. I've seen Cara draw blood from her best friend… I don't want to imagine what she might do to you." my voice was weak as I involuntarily began imagining Cara's wrath being inflicted upon Ali.

"Oh, Tony," she whispered as she wrapped her arms tightly around my neck.

---

**Aleah's POV**


That was the sweetest thing I've ever heard, I thought as I wrapped my arms around his neck. As I felt the skin of his chest against mine, I was certain I'd never felt more self-conscious in my entire life. I stayed still a few seconds before I realized I had two options – I could either get up and put on a shirt, or I could get over it and kiss him. I chose plan B. I pulled my head back from his neck and placed my lips gently on his. He kept his arms around my shoulders – the placement was a bit awkward, but never for a moment did he forget to be mindful of the wound on my back. "About last night…" I said, backing away enough to look into his eyes, but still be close.

"I get the feeling that this is about to go somewhere negative…" he said sadly, "but I want to say that it was fucking amazing." He pecked my nose, and I giggled.

"Well I was going to talk more about what was said… but I really can't argue with that." We both laughed a little bit, and kissed. It started as a quick peck, but became passionate in seconds. "Well… that's not where I meant for that conversation to go," I huffed out after a few minutes of kissing.

"I'm sorry…" Tony said, with a mischievous grin that suggested he was all but sorry.

"It's my fault for thinking you had any sort of willpower," I laughed a bit. "Now, can I say what I wanted to say?" Tony nodded like a small child who had just been scolded.

"I just feel like a whore. I mean, I meant… the thing I said… but I've never felt this before, or said it before. I don't know… I mean, I'm only sixteen. I'm not sure I know what love is, so I don't know if that's what I'm feeling. I just want to be honest. I don't feel right about having said it without telling you I wasn't sure." my voice began to crack at the end.

"Ali, darling, you're sixteen and I'm seventeen. Neither of us really have all of this entirely figured out," I ran my hand from his shoulder down to his finger tips, maintaining eye-contact. He shuddered a bit as I grazed his forearm. That's funny, I thought to myself, I do the same thing when my… my thoughts trailed off and I burst into tears.

"I felt them, Tony." I sobbed out loudly. I bolted up from the bed, grabbing Tony's shirt from the floor and throwing it on, then collapsing in the corner of the room.

Without speaking a word, Tony sat down on the floor and pulled me onto his lap and held me tightly. After giving me a few minutes to catch my breath, he finally spoke, "If you recognized it that easily…" He took my left hand in both his and removed my six inches of bracelets one-by-one, "then you have some experience as well, darling." His eyes filled with tears as he came to realized that some of them were only a few days old. "Ali," he sighed out, making no effort to conceal or stop the tears streaming down his face.

"I'll get my shit and get out of your way," I mumbled, but as I tried to stand up, Tony just held me tighter.

"What the fuck? You felt some lines on my arm, so now you'd rather live on the street than with me? I can go back to the couch, but I won't let you leave until you actually have a place to stay." his voice started to break, and I felt so unbelievably guilty for coming across that way.

"Tony, that's not what I meant! I thought that you would want me to get out now that you saw…"

I thought I was going to cry, as Tony began to sing to me one of my favorite songs, "Baby, days come and go, but my feelings for you are forever," {Forever, Papa Roach}

"Tone, I-" he placed his lips gently against mine, shutting me up. We sat there for a few minutes before my alarm went off, signaling that it was time for me to start getting ready for work. "You can get dressed and head over to Vic's. I'll walk to work."

"You don't have to-"

"I just need some time to myself."

Notes

OMG SORRY ITS BEEN SO LONG! do you guys like this chapter? its hard for me to update when u stop commenting :,( so I'm going to start doing question of the day, and if i don't get at least 5 answers per question, i might not update :/ i just need to know that ur still reading for me to keep updating.

QOTD: What do you guys think about Aleah and Tony hooking up after knowing each other only a few days?

{Title Credit To: Papa Roach}