Give Me Your Heart And Your Hand

*Aleah's POV*

"Nikki," I sighed, breathless, as I pulled away from his lips. "I can't be your girlfriend."

"I was afraid of that…" his face dropped, and he removed his hands from my hips. "You still love him." I was shocked by his words, but I wasn't sure I could deny them. "It's okay, I understand. I'm sure as hell gonna work on ya," Nikki patted my butt playfully as he walked toward the exit, "but I do understand that you just got out of a bad breakup, and I'm more than happy to just be friends… for now." I just laughed as he gave me a mischievous smirk before we walked back out into the main bar.

"'Bout time!" Ash yelled as she stood up from the booth. "You were amazing by the way! And that Punk Goes Pop cover… we are gonna have words about that!" She gave me a look as if to say If that dick cheated on you, he's not gonna have a dick to cheat with!

I said goodbye to my uncle and thanked him for the gig (and the money for playing there) before we left. We piled into Ash's bright red Viper and headed back to my place.

"There's my little girl!" Mike yelled as I walked in the door. He held up bottle of JD in each hand and grinned brightly.

"God, Mike, you talk like I'm your daughter!" I laughed.

"Just practicing." He smirked.

"Who's pregnant?!" Ash asked.

"ASHYYYYYYY!" Mike squealed, setting the whiskey on the table, and ran over to our old friend. She laughed loudly as he lifted her up and spun her around. "I haven't seen you in years!" He laughed like a little boy. As he set her down, Lindsay appeared behind him.

"You… must be Ashley." She stated, an odd mixture of emotions dancing across her face.

"Lindsay, right?" the ever-friendly Ashley asked, completely oblivious to Lin's displeasure. "Le-Le told me all about you in the car. 'Bout time someone straightened this goofball out!" she giggled and lightly slapped Mike across the face, which caused Lin to crack a small smile. "You're gorgeous by the way!"

"Thank you!" Lin finally responded happily to Ash's gushing.

"Oh!" Mike interrupted excitedly, wrapping his arms – once again – around Lin as he stood behind her and held her tummy in his hands. "This is our Whis-"

"If you say 'WhiskeyBaby' one more time…" Lin warned vaguely and we all laughed. She sighed as Jaime began asking everyone what cocktails they wanted.

"I'll stay sober with you, if you'd like." Ash offered kindly. "I don't like drinking. I get kinda loose-lipped." Lin thanked her, and the pair ran off somewhere.

After about half an hour, everyone was settled in and we were mostly just sitting around the living room chatting and drinking cheerfully. Vic seemed to have dropped his bitterness toward me – though that may have been the liquor – and Tony wasn't glaring at me too heavily. Tony and Vic were sitting on the big couch while Mike just leaned on the side as he was running out of the room to check on Lin and Ash in the backyard every few minutes. Melissa and Jaime shared the recliner, snuggling closely, while Nikki and I sat on the love seat. We weren't snuggling or anything, but his arm was slung lazily over the back of the couch behind me.

"I'll get it!" Tony jumped up cheerfully as the doorbell sounded through the house.

"This place is beautiful!" I heard that familiar high-pitched voice flooded my ears.

"Nikki," Tony called, gaining his attention, "this is my date, Cara. Cara, this is Nikki-"

"My boyfriend." I interrupted smugly, scooting a bit closer to him. Though he knew what I was doing, he complied and allowed his arm to fall comfortably over my shoulders.

Notes

sry this is so short but i wanted to get something up! im going to continue writing for a bit, so another chappy might be up tnite but otherwise itll be up asap. anyway, ily guys sooo much and thank you for reading<3

QOTD: What do you think of Tony inviting Cara over?

{Title Credit To: New Years Day}