**Tony's POV**

I texted Aleah an hour after she was supposed to get here, but she never answered, same with Mel. I was starting to get worried… What if something happened with Mike or Cara? Or maybe she's just not that into you. The hateful part of my mind spat the second part at me. "Tony, I'm sure she's fine! Her and Mel probably just got caught up shopping!" Jaime tried desperately to cheer me up, but I wasn't going to stop worrying.

"Why the long faces?" Mike walked into the garage with that black-haired girl under his arm. "Oh, wait… Guys, this is Lindsay, my girlfriend. Lin, this is Tony, Hime-Time, and my big bro Vicky." Mike smiled proudly while gesturing to each of us. Vic and I waved a bit and gave small half-smiles, but Jaime – obviously trying to lighten the mood – ran up with a huge smile on big face and shook her hand.

"I'm Jaime, welcome to our glorious practice space!" The next hour went by in a blur, and nobody brought up Ali, but I called her every ten minutes. Call me psycho, I was terrified.

---

*9:00 PM, Two Hours After Aleah Was Supposed To Arrive*

"Tony…" I heard Aleah's soft, beautiful whisper as the door cracked open. Without a second thought, I practically threw my guitar at Lindsay (she was the only one with empty hands) and sprinted to the door. I picked Ali up and spun around, then set her down and kissed her lips firmly. "Im sorry for the blood on your jacket…" I pulled back to see that she had a shiner on her right eye, and her left cheek had three sharp cuts, and there was blood all over the sleeves of the jacket I'd lent her.

"Baby it's okay! What happened to you?" By this time, all the other guys were crowded around her, and she began to start shaking a bit. "Guys! Give her space, or she's gonna have an anxiety attack!" I yelled at the other guys, who all took a few dramatic steps back, and Ali slammed her black, tearstained face into my chest. "Honey, your lip is bleeding, did you tear your piercing?" I whispered gently to her, rubbing her back as I hugged her.

She shook her head gently, "No, that's the other side… it must be hard to tell since it's all covered…"

"Ali, baby, will you please tell me what happened?"

"Cara." She backed away and spoke coldly. I was engraved and instantly started freaking out. "Tony, Tony, Tony! Before you freak out, almost all the blood on me is hers! She only hit me twice."

It's true!" Mel said enthusiastically. I'd only just noticed her standing there, still in the doorway. "Your girlfriend beat the living shit out of that bitch! I took a video!" I was pissed that she found it so funny, and hugged Ali to my chest again. Mel had the video all ready to go and handed me her phone. I hit play and it started with Aleah grinning at Cara, three fresh cuts on the side of her cheek.

Baaad move, sweety! she mumbled. I saw Ali get punched, making my eyes burn with tears, and explaining the black eye. After that, she pounced and pounded on Cara's fugly face. She freed her hand once, punching Ali's lip, but was quickly defeated once again.

"That's my girl." I smiled down at Ali who was still in my arms and kissed the top of her head.

"Aww!" Everyone sang as she looked up and kissed me back.

"Guys, if you don't mind, I'm gonna head home and get a shower." She hugged everyone and exchanged an awkward goodbye with Lindsay, we headed out.

---

**Aleah's POV, Time Lapse: 10:00 PM, Apartment*

"I'm going to go get a shower, babe. Could you just put this jacket in some hot water to try and get the blood out?" I asked him nervously, biting my lip.

"Of course, baby girl. Do you need anything else?" He spoke very gently. I shook my head a bit and handed him the jacket.

"I'm sorry again for getting blood all over it…" I looked down, still guilty, plus I had a horrible migraine.

"Sweetheart, stop saying you're sorry! The only people to blame are Cara and… Myself. I knew I shouldn't have left you alone." He hugged me tightly to his chest.

"Tony, it's okay! My lip isn't bleeding anymore and my eye will heal. Please don't blame yourself, I started the fight, anyway." I knew it was a lie, but I had to do something to make him feel better. "I'm going to go shower. You better not be in a bad mood when I get out." I made a serious face at him, then smirked. I was about to kiss him, but I remembered the dried blood on my mouth, so I buried my head in his chest again. After a minute, I walked up to the bedroom to grab a change of clothes, then to the bathroom.

Once I was in the bathroom, I let go if the happy act I'd put up for Tony. I wanted him to feel better, but I was fucking miserable. Fortunately, Cara wasn't going to press charges because she hit me first, and Mel could testify to that. Regardless, everything she said was true; There was no way Tony could actually love me. He was so perfect, and I was just… Me. I knew I would never be good enough for him.

I turned on the water and got undressed, and grabbed my razor from my cabinet (we'd arranged the medicine cabinets so that we each had one and didn't use the others without asking), and jumped in the shower. I shaved and washed my hair, then I couldn't take it anymore. I picked up my razor and pulled out a blade, and slid it once across my arm. It bled a bit, then I went again, and again, and again. After about ten minutes, I had fresh cuts almost the whole way up my left forearm.

"Ali, baby," I heard Tony call from the other side of the door, "you alright? It sounded like you were crying…" I heard the door begin to open, and Tony walked in. I had the a towel over the side of the shower, and the glass was fogged. I quickly set my blade under a shampoo bottle and rinsed my arm, but it continued bleeding. I heard the shower door open, and turned around to see Tony standing without a shirt, wearing just a pair of basketball shorts. I panicked and thought of only one way I could stop him from seeing my cuts – I threw my arms around his neck and pulled him in. He didn't kiss me back at first, but it didn't take long. I was ridiculously self-conscious considering I was completely naked, but it was better than him seeing my arm.

After a few minutes, he lifted me up and held me against the wall, my legs around his waist. It didn't take long for me to completely forget about my cuts, and become overtaken with my longing for him, and I could feel him getting excited too. I moaned softly as he bit my neck, but suddenly I felt him completely stop, and he set me back down so my feet were on the floor once again. In an instant, my whole world fell apart – he grabbed my left hand, and ran his fingers over my still-bleeding arm.

"Ali…" he gasped out my name, and I began sobbing. As I was about to sink down to the floor, Tony picked me up and carried me (with my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck) to the bed. As I sat there sobbing, Tony went back to the bathroom, and returned with two towels, one of his shirts, and his first-aid kit.

He helped me slip on the shirt, and lifted me up to put the towel under me, then set me back down. I felt his lips press gently onto my forehead, then he went to work cleaning and wrapping my arm. My panic attack finally passed, and Tony got up from where he was kneeling in front of me, trying to calm me down. He walked to the doorway before turning around and speaking to me gently, "Are you hungry, sweetheart?" Tony looked at me with so much love in his eyes, and I truly couldn't understand why. I shook my head, and he made a sad face. "Okay, I'm gonna go grab a bite and take Dixon out. If you want to watch a movie or something let me know. If not, I understand and I'll see you in the morning." He came back and kissed my head once, and I hugged him tightly.

---

**Tony's POV**

After I ate some pizza rolls from the freezer and walked the dog, I made two cups of hot cocoa. I knew Ali was still awake, because I heard her in the bathroom just a few minutes before. I took the hot chocolates up and nocked on the door. "Come in," she said softly.

"I brought you something, babe." I smiled as I saw her look up at me, then her eyes lit up as she saw what I held in my hands. I could tell that she'd combed her wet, blue hair, as well as put on her underwear. It warmed my heart a bit that she was still wearing my Avenged Sevenfold shirt, which only went a bit past her butt. She moved over and patted the empty part of the bed. I handed her the mug of cocoa and sat down next to her. "Why did you do that to yourself, baby girl?" I looked into her eyes, and I needed to know why such a beautiful, perfect girl would do these awful things to herself.

"Because I'll never be good enough for you." she said it flatly, trying not to cry.

"Ali, I love you so much, it breaks my heart that you feel that way. Everything about you is absolutely perfect. You are my everything." I poured my heart out to her, but she didn't respond, and we sat in a sad, yet comfortable silence. When she finished her cocoa, she set the mug on the nightstand and rolled over. Once I finished I took the mugs to the kitchen and put them in the dishwasher. I went back up to the bedroom and covered Ali with a blanket before kissing her head and stepping toward the door.

"Stay with me?" she whispered. Without responding, I crawled back into the bed and pulled her close to me, burying my head in her hair. "I'm sorry, Tony."

"It's okay, baby. Just get some sleep. It's already 11:30 and we have school tomorrow." I whispered gently to her, but she sighed at my words. "Just rest, sweetheart. I love you." I said before she fell asleep quickly in my arms, and soon I did too.

Notes

this chapter was nice to write <3 what do u guys think?

thanks for reading, ilysm!

QOTD: How do you guys think Jordan will react to Aleah and Tony living together?

{Title Credit To: Mayday Parade}