Streetlamp's shown on the full parking lot as muffled music was heard from the outside. I jumped out of my car and locked it before seeing Nicole standing outside of the backside of the building on her phone. She must've heard the clicking of my heels on the pavement and how fast I was trying to get inside, or saw the six multi-colored balloons I had in my hands because she looked up at me and smiled softly. I made a two hour drive from LA to San Diego thirty minutes shorter with my speeding; hopefully there wasn't a trail of cop cars following me to my destination to arrest me.

She looked at my outfit of the night and complimented, "You look beautiful, darling!"

I grinned, "Thank you, Nic."

An uncomfortable silence fell among us and her face fell, "Bonnie, I'm so sorry."

"Hey, it's okay." I accepted quickly. "I get it. You're just looking out. Friends?" I offered with a handshake.

Her red lips pulled into a genuine smile and she hugged me tightly, "Friends. Come on, let's surprise Mike. They are gonna go on in like ten minutes." She grabbed my hand and dragged me inside, explaining that she had an extra pair of jeans and a top with her and that I could use her leather jacket as an accessory. She lead me to the green door that had a white sign taped on it that read: Pierce The Veil Dressing Room in bold letters. "Go in there. I'll be out here waiting for you, okay?"

I nodded, taking a deep breath before softly opening up the door and having four pairs of eyes look at me. Jaime smiled a little as did Vic and Tony, but Mike's eyes looked at me for a second before going back to tying his shoe. My heart sank at how angry he was and at how obvious it was. "Uh, we're gonna go wait side stage for ya, bro." Vic said, patting Mike on the back before shooting me 'good luck' eyes. I guess Nicole explained to him why I was late. Vic, Jaime, and Tony left the room, shutting the door behind them and I took a couple steps toward Mike.

"Happy birthday, baby." I said sweetly, handing over the bouquet of balloons, hoping he would take them, but he didn't. He just raised an eyebrow. "Mike, I'm so sorry. You know I wouldn't miss this show, or your birthday for anything."

"Why are you dressed like that?" He spat out, eyeing my outfit of choice for tonight. I mean, this wasn't your normal concert-going outfit.

I licked my lips before speaking, "Tonight was my dad's firm's Christmas party. I got my days confused and I thought today was the 13th, not the 14th. Again, baby I'm so sorry."

He stayed silent, not stopping his eyes from burning holes into me. "Are you, though? I mean, you've been real occupied with Steven lately, so I just assumed, you know..." He stopped talking, not wanting to get into it, but thinking about going into it anyway. "First he's on your little blog thing, and then he's on your Instagram, and you hung out with him last night, and today, it seems."

"Mike, that's not what it looks like. We're friends again, we called a truce. And, since Nic and I weren't talking, he was there for me."

He chuckled, "I'm sure he was there for you..."

Someone from behind the door shouted, "Mike, five minutes to stage!" They banged on the door twice then walked away.

"Bonnie, look. This isn't about forgetting to tell me happy birthday, or forgetting about the show. I don't care. It's the fact that you forgot about it and it was with him you were forgetting me with. Is that what you want? Steven?" I was about to defend myself and plead that that wasn't the case but he wasn't done yet. "Bonnie," he kept saying my name and it reminded me of when we first met how he kept repeating my name over and over. But this time, it wasn't cute. It stung. "You and I are completely different people. I grew up two blocks away from here, in a house where both of my parents worked themselves to the bone, where they still do, and they have less than I have right now. You grew up in fucking Beverly Hills, to a lawyer as a dad. Your mom doesn't have to work, and you get to go to fancy dinners that require you to wear expensive designers like what you're wearing now. I know I said that it didn't fucking bother me, but it does." His voice was getting louder as he was speaking. "You are the type of girl that sticks to your own circle. This guy, Steven, your ex-boyfriend who, last I heard was the biggest asshole to you, is now the person your spending all this time with? But it makes sense because he's the same way you are. He has the money, he has the security." He paused, his fury dripping off of him like a wet dog. His brown eyes got darker and he was breathing. "This was never going to work and you know it! We're too different from each other. Bonnie, you're a diamond. And I'm just a fucking stone." He said before giving me one last look with saddened eyes and walking out of the door.

The door slammed shut, causing me to jump and I turned around to Nicole frowning. She came up to me and hugged me and the immense flow of tears just came out of me. Mike Fuentes just fucking broke up with me.

---

Nicole's POV:

Bonnie and I stayed in the dressing room for a little bit while the guys were on stage. She changed into the extra clothes I had before I had waved Cam over to me during the set.

"I'm gonna go home, okay? I'm gonna go with Bon." I frowned at having to leave him, but my best friend just got dumped; for the exact reason I had a feeling would happen.

He nodded, wiping the sweat off of his forehead with his sleeve. "She okay?"

I shook my head, "No. She's not. Cam, I knew this was going to happen. I knew he was gonna do that to her. I tried telling her, you know? It wasn't just me being cautious, it's because I knew Mike just wouldn't get it. Did you hear what he told her?" I kept replaying the scene in my head.

"Didn't hear it directly, but Vic told me. He had stayed behind to eavesdrop. I don't know. Is he wrong, though? They are totally different. And then the whole Steven thing? C'mon Nic, all of a sudden he's back in the picture. You kidding me?" He raised an eyebrow at me.

"Who cares about Steven? You were all friends with him before they broke up. You know he's a nice guy, but he was just mad that she broke up with him. Anyway, why the fuck are you siding with Mike here, like he's right? How fucking shallow of him."

"I'm just saying." He shrugged.

"Well, I'm just saying that Bonnie has been your friend and always sided with you when it came to your shit. Don't be a prick and leave her hanging now. Anyway, I'm going home. You can take the car home for the LA show tomorrow, okay? I'm gonna head out right now. I'll talk to you later." I kissed him on his cheek before walking away, and before he could stick up for Mike even more than I cared to listen to.

I walked down the two steps from the side stage to the ground floor and Bonnie was sitting there staring into space. "C'mon, Bon. Let's go home." I linked my arm with hers and we walked down the hall to the back, where we piled our stuff in her car. I drove home since she was a teary-eyed mess right now, which was okay. She had every right to be.

---

Nicole's POV: The Next Day

With my hands filled with two hot coffees, two grocery bags filled with junk food ranging from chips, to ice cream, to sour gummy bears, to fashion magazines; I was looking at my key ring as I got off of the elevator and walked toward Bonnie's door. I was the only one that had the spare to her loft, and the red and black plaid printed key showed it. I turned to the end of the hallway and there was a man standing outside of her door, with a white paper bag filled with stuff inside of it. I immediately recognized him by his stance.

"Steven, what are you doing here?" I questioned curiously. I knew he wasn't over Bonnie yet. They've been broken up for two years and it was blatantly obvious that he was in still in love with her.

He turned to me and smiled softly, worry written on his face. "Oh, hey Nicole. I came to check on Bonnie. She just got up and ran out of the Christmas party last night and neither her parents or myself have heard from her. I just wanted to see if she was okay. I've been ringing the doorbell but no answer."

"Yeah, she threw her phone somewhere in there last night and lost it." I explained with a stifled chuckle. "But, she's okay. Alive and well, I promise. She just needs some alone time. Well, she needs alone time with her best friend."

"Did something happen?" He raised an eyebrow.

I decided to just tell him. It's not like he's a bad guy, he obviously cares about Bonnie and is worried about her. "Her and Mike broke up last night. That party she was at, well she got the days confused. Yesterday was Mike's birthday and she forgot." I paused biting my lip. "He thinks you had something to do with her forgetting."

"Me?" He asked, his eyebrows furrowing together in confusion. "Why me?"

"He saw her post of you on the blog, the two pictures with you on Instagram..." I trailed off.

"Nicole, you know no matter how I feel about Bonnie, if she was happy with somebody else, I wasn't going to ever get in the way of that. I love that girl enough to let her go and love someone else."

"I know. But, it wasn't just you. It was...other stuff, too."

"Oh, god. He mentioned the whole background thing, didn't he?" He made a face, a face that only someone who grew up the same as Bonnie could understand. The, 'Why Am I Always Judged Because My Parents Are Successful' face.

I nodded. "Yeah, and it crushed her. But, look it's Bonnie we're talking about. She's gonna be okay."

"I know. Tell her I'm sorry. Actually, don't Just, take care of her alright? And here," He handed me the white bag. "Give her these donuts for me. They are her favorite." He nodded giving a small smile before walking back down the hall and disappearing.


Bonnie's POV:

I was laying down in my bed, the faint noise of The Office in the background. I didn't know where my phone was because when I got home last night, I threw it and it landed somewhere. All I kept thinking about was what Mike had said. "Bonnie, you're a diamond. And, I'm just a fucking stone." Honestly, I was pissed. I was heartbroken. We were together for three months and this break up in particular felt like it was years and years of commitment with him. I felt fucking sick to my stomach to be completely honest.

My bedroom door opened slightly and in walked Nicole with bags of junk food, magazines, and coffee. "Here you go, babe. A piping hot peppermint mocha. just for you. And also, donuts!" She said, lifting up the white bag as best as she could.

I sat up in bed and smiled softly, "Thank you, Nic." I took the bags from her hand and threw them on the bed and took my coffee; trying to relieve her from the bags she was carrying.

"Did you ever find your phone?" She asked curiously, kicking off her black boots and climbing into my bed.

I shook my head, "No. Nor do I care where it is. Nic, thanks for staying with me. You know your the longest relationship I've ever had, right?"

She let out a laugh, "And you're mine. Guess that's the one thing we can count on right? Each other." I nodded and smiled a little as we clinked our coffee cups together. "Bon, you know this is what I was worried about right? It's not that he's a bad guy, because he's not. But he just didn't get you. You don't know how badly I wanted him to get you. I was just being protective of you. I mean, your last boyfriend wasn't going to have this problem because he's from the same circle. I'm just- I'm sorry I said those things and I'm sorry about what happened."

I smiled half-heartedly, "I know. I was just being stubborn. You know me. I'm sorry for overreacting. You know I love you, right?"

"And I love you." She smiled, the look of relief on her face. I missed her. She's my best friend and ever since we met, we always have been. I lost Mike, that I know. But, the biggest heartache I could ever have is losing Nicole. That I could never recover from.

---

Later that night, I was picking up all the clothes from the floor on my room while Nicole was picking up the pizza from our favorite spot. She was also getting wine since I was dried out. We were binging on Friends and The Office today; two feel good shows that have a way of making me feel better no matter what. I picked up the dirty clothes and put them in the black hamper and hanging up the clean clothes that I had thrown around when it came to finding an outfit yesterday.

Underneath all of the clothes, I found my phone hidden face down. I picked it up and was quite shocked the battery was still at a good percentage with all of the texts and phone calls I had received; mainly from my parents, Steven, Jaime, and Cam. None from the person I had wanted to be contacted by though.

I put my phone on the charger and then proceeded to look through it and text my parents back that I was alive and breathing, but my phone had died. They didn't need to know about what happened with Mike, yet. Not until I at least understood it myself. I also responded to Jaime who had asked if I was okay, in which I said yes. Then finally, I responded to the person who had tried to get a hold of me the most; Steven.

S: 7:45 PM: Everything okay? You just ran out.
S: 9:50 PM: Your dad has been calling you. Just making sure you're alive.
S: 11:00 PM: Careful on the way home, there's an accident on the freeway.
S: 10:15 AM: Sorry if I'm being annoying. But, I hope you're feeling better. I stopped by earlier to see if you were okay and wanted donuts, but Nic said you weren't feeling well. And yes, I was the one who bought those donuts. Lol.

B: 6:45 PM: I am feeling better, thank you. Thank you for the donuts, I could tell they were from my favorite spot. Sorry I didn't answer the door earlier, I just wasn't feeling well enough to get up.

S: 6:50 PM: I understand. I'll cover for you tomorrow when you dad asks me a million questions on if I've talked to you or not. Get some rest, Bon.

B: 6:53 PM: Thank you, Steven. I'll talk to you later.

Nicole popped up in my room with a box of pizza and wine, "I bought two bottles because I feel like it's highly overdue and so necessary."

"Great decision on your behalf, Nic." I smiled, looking at Nicole as she set the pizza box down and then got all these napkins and set it up nicely. "You told Steven, didn't you?"

She looked up at me, "Are you mad?"

"No. Besides you, he probably would've been the only other person I would've told."

"Wow, did he rat me out?!" She threw up her arms making me laugh.

"No, he actually covered for you. Saying you told him I 'didn't feel well'."

"Wow, who knew Steven could cover for someone?" She said plopping onto my bed. "Can I ask you something?" I nodded, taking a bite of my slice of pizza. "What's going on with him, anyway?"

Notes

ANOTHER UPDATE.
I would say hopefully there will be another one on Friday night.

Thoughts on what went down this chapter? The whole Mike situation, what Steven said, Nicole and Bonnie rekindling their friendship? LEAVE YOUR FEEDBACK, I LOVE TO HEAR IT.

As always, leave your questions/ comments/ concerns.

XO,
Ambs