~Tony's POV~

I'm completely and utterly shocked. How do I respond to that? Laura is the most broken, and rightfully sad, person I've ever met, and believe me, I've met a lot of people through the band, my clothing line, and life in general.

I can't do that to her. I won't do that to her. I will not hurt or abandon her. It's only been, what, a few hours, but I really care about Laura. Like a lot. I can feel myself taking on the overprotective older brother/super close male friend role already.

Honestly, I don't think there are any words I can say for her right now. So I'll settle for pulling her even closer, so her head is snug against my chest.

"I won't do that to you, Laura. I could never leave you. Believe me, by the end of this tour you'll be sick of how much time you'll have spent with me."

She giggles a little through the last of her tears. "Thank you Tony."

"Anything, Lala." I feel her grin against my chest at the nickname.

"If I'm Lala, then you're Tone-Tone."

"Agreed." I grin at her ability to be so happy even in such sad circumstances.

Suddenly, there's a soft knock on the door, and Vic comes in.

"Hey sweetie, I was wondering if you felt up to going clothes shopping or if you wanted to save it for another day?"

Laura sits up a lot more. "I think I'd rather do it now, if that's okay. I'm not exactly a huge fan of shopping, especially clothes shopping, so the sooner it's over and done with, the better."

Vic mocks hurt. "How dare you insult clothes shopping! It's my favorite thing to do! I'm only in a band to make enough money so I can buy all the clothes I want."

She giggles again, pretty much the most adorable sound I've ever heard. She twists in my arms and pecks my cheek.

"Thanks for everything, Tone-Tone."

"It was my pleasure Lala."

She smiles at me, a genuine smile, before hopping up and going to stand next to Vic who offers her his arm.

"Shall we?"

~Laura's POV~

If you had asked me yesterday who my best friend was, I would have said it was my guitar. Today, it's Tony fucking Perry. Um, excuse me? He really is the sweetest person though...

I latch onto Vic's arms and we maneuver our way down the stairs and out the door.

"So from your earlier reaction, I take it you don't have a preference in where we go shopping?"

I laugh a little. "Not really, no. Most of my clothes were consignment and salvation army, since it was the cheapest I could find. So I don't really know much about stores and style and such."

"Well come on then!" And he starts skipping down the street. I just giggle and play along.

This is wonderful. This is how life should be lived at seventeen, carefree and carpe diem. A few hours later, however, I have to disagree. Clothes shopping may very well be the most trivial and annoying thing it is my displeasure of partaking in. No matter how beautiful Vic tells me I am, I still don't feel it.

I still kind of feel like a shell. A cracked shell, my scars only proving the point further.

"You don't really feel like that, do you hon? Because you are so much more than that."

Crap, I was talking aloud. "Well, honestly, I do. In theory, I understand perfectly all individual's worth as human beings as such, and I've always been able to apply it to giving advice to other people. But I can never see beauty in myself."

"Look now, in the mirror. You're smiling, at least a little. You might not want to accept it, but all the males in this store have been gawking at you because you're gorgeous.

But you're not just a pretty face. You're a very young person who actually understands pain, and how your actions affect other people, meaning that you have to be careful and take personal responsibility.

And an incredible musician, to say the least. I'm not just saying that. If I was, we could have helped you out, and told you that you were good and all, and then left. But we invited you on tour with us. Does any of that mean anything to you?"

"Well when you put it like that, of course it does!"

"Then there you go. C'mon, I think we've both had enough for one day. Besides, we've gotta get back and get all this packed for tour tomorrow."

Maybe I can get used to clothes shopping.