**Aleah's POV, Saturday Morning, After The Party**

I woke up with a whole bottle of whiskey's worth of a hangover pounding in my head, and a snoring Tony holding me close. "I'm going to go get some pain killers and start breakfast, come down whenever you're ready." I whispered to him. Tony nodded and gave me a quick kiss on the forehead before I got up. After sliding on my bra and underwear, I pulled on the Pantera shirt Tony wore the night before and headed down to the kitchen.

Thankfully, I knew Jaime's house very well, and was easily able to locate some aspirin. After I took two, I got started on making a huge breakfast for everyone. Before long, the smell of bacon lured in a sleepy Mike. "Morning, Smurfy." He mumbled with a small wave. I gave him some orange juice and pain meds then stayed quiet as I cooked. "You seem like you slept off all that whiskey you drank." Mike said with a smirk once his headache had died down a bit.

"Yeah, you look like you worked off whatever was in your system with Lin." I chuckled as Mike glared at me for my comment.

"You're asking for it." He whispered.

"What…?" I mumbled. Before I knew it, Mike lunged out of his chair and was chasing me around the kitchen. After about a minute, he caught me and started tickling me mercilessly. "MIKE!" I shrieked and felled out his name, and in the back of my mind worried that it could be misinterpreted.

"Mikey?" Lindsay mumbled as she walked into the kitchen, Mike's arms still around my waist. The tickle-war was still in full uproar.

"Get the fuck off my girlfriend and give me a damn aspirin." Tony snarled as he walked in.

"Don't mind him, he's always cranky in the morning." I giggled as I untangled myself from Mike and walked over to kiss Tony's neck. We all finished up cooking and sat down to eat. Once everyone woke up we talked and joked around and, fortunately, there was no tension left.

---

Tony and I left to head back to our place around 3:00 PM. Once we got home we got in the shower, and eventually we did actually shower. Afterward, we sat on the bed in comfy clothes watching a movie on my laptop because it was comfier than the sofa. "Hey, babe?" Tony whispered to me.

"Yeah?" I whispered back.

"I'm bored." He announced loudly as he closed my computer and set it on the bed-side table. In response, I snuggled close to him, placing soft kisses on his neck. "I love you." He whispered into my hair as he pulled me so I was more-less laying on top of him.

"I love you t-"

Can you hear the silence?
Can you see the dar-

Oliver was cut off as I answered my phone, now sitting up with Tony's head in my lap. "Hello?" I said into the phone as I played idly with his hair.

"Hey, sweetie! Guess who's coming home for a week?" The man on the other line said.

"Dad! When are you coming?" I cried excitedly into my phone.

"Well, I actually just landed in SD. Due to… well shit went down with your mother, and I'm staying in a hotel nearby. But we need to talk." He went on to say that he knew I moved out but didn't know who I was staying with or where I was staying, but that he wanted my "roommate" and I to meet him for dinner at a small restaurant he used to take me to when I was a kid.

After hanging up, I gave Tony the rundown, and we went our separate ways to get dressed. I pushed in some loop plugs and a purple lip ring after finishing up my makeup. "Tone, you ready?" I called as I exited the bedroom and started down the stairs.

"Yep." We walked holding hands to the restaurant, which was right in the mall. We figured there was no point in wasting gas when we could practicality see the place from our building.

"Dad!" I practically ran over to my dad when we got there. I hadn't seen him in two months, and it had been really hard.

"It's great to see you, sweetheart." He said, hugging me back and putting out his cigarette.

"Tony Perry. It's great to meet you, sir." Tony said, with his hand out once my father released me from his bear-hug. My dad is a surprisingly cool guy, with a bunch of tattoos and a great taste in music.

"You too, son. You can call me Josh." My dad smiled kindly at him, and I had a good feeling that they'd get along. We went inside and ordered before having any more real conversation.

"So, Aleah, you've been living with your boyfriend?" My father asked calmly. I nearly choked on my food.

"I-I never said…" I stuttered

"You two walked here holding hands, it's pretty obvious. Besides, I can tell just by how you look at each other."

"Okay then, yes. But we weren't dating at the time he took me in. And I never asked to leave, mom kicked me out and only gave me a few hours…"

"I know, she told me. I think it was fucking awful what she did. That's why we're uhh… Honey, we're getting a diverse."

"That's why you stayed in a hotel… This is all my fault. Tone, let me out of the booth, I need to go to the bathroom…" He got up silently, but kissed my forehead as I passed.

---

**Tony's POV**

While Ali went to the bathroom, her father and I talked a bit, on a different subject. "So, Tony, what do you do?" He asked me.

"Well, right now I've got a solid career at Hot Topic with Ali," we both chuckled a bit, "but in all seriousness, I've always wanted to have some sort of career in music. Right now a couple of friends and I are in a makeshift band, and what I really want is to make music for my entire life. But realistically if that doesn't happen I'd like to be maybe a producer or something for a record label."

"Interesting. I neglected to mention that I'm Vice President of Fearless Records."

"Stop teasing him, dad." Ali giggled as she came back to the table. I could tell as soon as she got near me that she'd gone out for a smoke. "So you're going to sign them, right?"

"It's not that easy, Aleah." He told her calmly. It was clear in his face that he knew as well as I did where she went. "First the other executives and I would have to hear them, and there's a lot of other stuff on my end to figure out…" Ali gave him an adorable puppy face and wimpered a bit. "Alright, tell you what, I'll have my brother give you a gig at his bar."

"Will Uncle Bobby be okay with a bunch of seventeen-year-olds playing in his bar?" She asked hesitantly.

"We'll work something out."

"Oh my god… I gotta go call Vic!" I said.

"It'll be this Friday night." Ali's father called behind me as I got up from the booth. I shot him a thumbs-up then dialed Vic. He picked up just as I walked out of the front door of the restaurant.

"Hey, Tony. What's up?" He greeted as I leaned against the outside wall.

"Tune your guitar, bro, 'cause we got a gig!" I told him with a little too much enthusiasm.

"Holy shit, Tone, are you serious?" Vic practically yelled into the phone.

"Hell yeah! Ali's dad's in town and he's getting us a gig and he might si-"

"Wait, you met Josh?" he asked, almost sadly. Really, Vic? I thought.

"Yeah, he came in town and wanted to see who she'd been living with. That's not the point – we're playing a show this Friday! That's less than a week."

"You were on speaker and Mike and I agree that we'll only play if Smurfy will do our song with me."

---

**Meanwhile, Aleah's POV**

"So," my dad said with a smirk, "speaking of seventeen-year-olds-"

"Dad, you really don't have to do anything for my birthday." I said reluctantly. I never liked people celebrating me.

"Well why'd you think I chose this week to come home? Besides, I can't return the present I got you." I gave him a questioning look, and he seemed to understand, as he went on. "It's custom." He grinned at me. "I'll show you when we go outside. In the meantime, I have another surprise for-"

"Ali, we need to talk." Tony said breathlessly as he slid back into the booth next to me. "Vic and Mike said they'll only play Friday if you do your song." My heart sank.

"Tony, no! You have to change his mind or something, I can't sing in front of all those people…"

"Ali, listen to me; It'll be me playing my acoustic and you two singing. I'll be right there with you, babe." I blushed, wondering how my dad would react to the nickname, but he stayed quiet.

"Tony, I can't. Why can't they ask Lin, or just don't do Hold On Till-" I argued, knowing it was pointless.

"Darling, it's your song, you wrote half of it. You're going to sing and I'm going to be right there with you the whole time." He looked at me with such sweet, loving eyes and I knew that I couldn't ruin this opportunity for the four guys that I love.

"Okay, I'll do it. For you guys, not because I want to perform." I said hesitantly.

"Ali, thank you so much!" Tony cupped my face with his hands and brought his lips gently to mine.

"Ahem." My father cleared his throat, pointing out the awkwardness.

"My apologies, sir." Tony said coolly.

"It's fine…" my dad responded awkwardly. "Aleah, we have one more thing we need to talk about. I nodded, signaling him to continue. "You're mother is going to move in with her… uhh… male friend… so we're selling the house. But there is good news." He smirked, trying to lighten the mood. "I bought us a new place! And it's fucking huge." The perks of having a rich producer for a dad. I thought. "Six bedrooms – hell if I know what we need that much space for – each with an adjoining bathroom. And since I won't be around much, you get the big grand master bedroom!" While I was excited, all I could think about was the one night over the past week when band practice ran late and I couldn't even think about sleeping without Tony's arm wrapped around me. Strange how quickly I've become accustomed to an amazing man who probably doesn't give a shit about me. I thought sourly.

"Dad… That sounds amazing, but, I pay rent and I cook. I couldn't just-"

"Tony," my dad interrupted calmly, "could we have a moment?"

"Of course." Tony kissed my cheek quickly before getting up and walking outside. We were done eating and we already paid, so he probably assumed we'd meet him outside when we were done talking.

"Under a few conditions, I would be okay with you inviting him to live in the new house." I'm certain my jaw hit the table. "But you have to make me a few promises. First, if I ever catch you doing anything… R-rated… He's out. "Next, no drinking period. And no smoking in the house. Plus if I find anything missing blah blah blah, but that seems like the least likely way this could go wrong."

"Is this some sort of joke…?" I couldn't believe that my father was inviting my boyfriend to live with us.

"No, I won't be home a lot and I don't want you staying all alone. Besides, this kid really does love you… C'mon, let's go."

"Can I tell him in private?" I asked as we approached Tony outside.

"You got it."

Notes

IM SO SORRY ITS BEEN SO LONG I THOUGHT I UPDATED LIKE 2 DAYS AGO BUT IT NEVER WENT UP FOR SOME REASON

anyway i hope u all still love me cuz i still love you. remember to comment telling me what you think of this chapter, vote, and subscribe <3

QOTD: How do you think Tony will react to Aleah asking him to live with her and her father?

{Title Credit To: Sleeping With Sirens}