Turbulence.

Groaning loudly, I pushed my books and papers off my bed, watching the scatter on the floor.
Halloween night and here I am, doing homework. I'm supposed to be some sort of rebelious teenager. Maybe not so rebelious that I'm hugging a toilet bowl, drunk and high at the same time, scared that I'm gonna puke myself to death. But more of staying out late with my friends, walking around town, maybe crashing a few parties.
Nothing where I end up in the back of a cop car, or dead. Just typical teen stuff.

I rolled over to lay on my back and pulled my phone out of my pocket.
Lydia's name flashed on my screen. She had texted me over 30 minutes ago.

From:
Lydia:
I seriously wish you would come out tonight.
Also, the stupid guys didn't dress up. :c
Let me know if you change your mind.

I locked my phone and dropped it on my stomach, sighing and groaning at the same time.
"Jeeze. Will you shut up?"
I rolled my eyes as Hailey opened my door, poked her head in.
"Why are you even here? I know that Lydia invited you to their Halloween night."
As she started to reply to my question, she walked into my room and sat down my my desk, turning to look at me.
"Because I knew you weren't gonna go because Vic was gonna be there."
"Stop using me as an excuse to get out of things you don't want to do. Now spill. Why didn't you go?"
"I have plans with somone later tonight. So pretty much, I'm not going out with Lydia, so I can go to his place. But when mom asks, I was with her? Got it?"
"Slut."
I quietly laughed and threw a pillow at her.
"Hey! It's not my fault you don't get any."
She caught the pillow and threw it back at me.
"You have no idea how much I get."
When I looked over at my sister, she was staring at me. A look that pretty much said 'Are you serious right now?'
"Okay, okay. I don't get any."
She laughed and stood up walking to my door.
"Don't worry. We can go man hunting for you."
"Jeeze, Hail, I don't want to be a whore. I'm fine with waiting until I actually have a boyfriend."
"Suit yourself."
She sang out as she walked down the hallway, most likely to get ready for her night.

I shouldn't be bummed about not going anywhere, due to the fact it was my decision, but I was.
I wish that when Hailey told Lydia that she was staying in for me, that she wasn't lying. Hailey had this thing where back in high school, she thought that everytime she dated someone, he was 'the one'. So once he broke up with her, we'd scarf ice cream, watch stupid movies while yelling at the screen, and spend the night talking about everything and nothing all at the same time.
Although I don't want my life being surrounded by the fact I'm not dating anyone, but it would still be nice to spend time with my sister.
I had a eternal battle with whether or not I want to put my big girl panties on and just go out. Who cares if he'll be there? I shouldn't stop hanging out with my friends because he's involved with them.
Groaning for the millionth time in the past hour, I rolled off my bed and walked around my room, pacing back and forth.
I don't really have anything to wear for a Halloween costume. I don't really want to go out and spend my night with drunk people.
"I guess I could just go on a walk."


~


I pressed the lock button on my phone and stared at the black screen, trying to process what I had just been told. Vic's been stabbed?
I couldn't wrap my head around the idea at all. Was Tony fucking with me, or is Vic actually hurt?
Before I thought of doing anything, my body took over as I grabbed my pants off the floor, my hoodie off my bed, and quickly slipped a pair of Toms on my feet. My clothes and shoes were still warm from my walk, which was over close to five minutes ago.
My mind seemed to be in a different place as everything seemed to fly past me in a blur. Although I found myself constantly repeating Tony's words in my head.
Am I ready for this? Can I actually see Vic laying in the hospital bed and not break down?
Who the hell would stab Vic?!

I grabbed my mom's keys off of the kitchen table and ran into her room, She had just finished getting changed into her pajamas. As where I had other plans to go to the hospital.
"MOM! I JUST GOT A CALL FROM TONY! VIC'S IN THE HOSPITAL!"
"What do you want me to do about it?"
She stared at me and pulled her hair up in a messy bun, preparing for bed.
"Just drop me off there, please. I need to see him."
As much as I wanted to be strong, telling my mom I needed him, made my voice crack and my eyes well up with tears.
"I'm sure he's fine, hunny. Just go to sleep and we'll see him in the morning."
"If you don't take me, I'm going to drive there myself."
She sighed in defeat, knowing I've taken the car before, even though I only have my permit.
"Yeah. Lets go."
So much for trying not to revolve my night around him.

The ride there was one of the most stressful rides ever. I couldn't stop fidgeting in my seat as we hit every red light on our way there.
"GOD DAMMIT!" Out of frustration, I slammed my hands against the dashboard.
"Melanie! Mouth!"
I quickly sunk back into the chair and apologized for my language. How is it so late at night, and people are STILL on the roads? Where are they going?!
Two streets away from the hospital and everything inside decided to turn against me. My heart was beating fast, stomach in knots, i felt like I was going to pass out. No matter what I told myself, I expected the worse out of all of this.
Tony said he's not doing well, and he sounded pretty torn up on the phone call.
I tried calming myself down by closing my eyes and breathing deeply. Without even realizing it, the next stop we made, was outside of the emergency room.
I quickly got out of the car and slammed the door, yelling to mom how I'll get a ride with someone there, knowing that everyone was going to be inside waiting for any news on Vic.
I made my way to the front desk, and as soon as I was going to ask what room he was in, I heard Tony down the hall. Without saying anything to the lady, I made my way to where the voice came from.
Tony was laying on a bench, mumbling to himself. Every word he whispered was incoherent. Was he drunk?
In the room infront of us, I heard talking. Assuming it was Lydia and Vic, I quickly ran into the room. Alittle faster than I had planned. The doorknob slipped from my hand and the door flung around and slammed into the wall.
Lydia sat in the chair next to the bedside, and both of them quickly turned their attention to me.
Looking past her, Vic sat upright on the bed, with a bandage on his arm. Other than the bandage, I couldn't find anything else wrong with him, physically. Did he only get stabbed in his arm?

"Tony called and said that Vic was stabbed, and that he was bleeding bad and wasn't doing well. He sounded horrible on the phone. I was scared... But I guess he was wrong..."
Lydia lightly chuckled and shook her head, before looking at Tony who was still in the position he was in when I arrived.
"No. Tony's drunk and overreacting. Just a misunderstanding taken out on my arm."
Vic held him arm up to me, showing off his bandages. As for Lydia, she made her way to the door, leaving us with some privacy.
"I'll leave you two alone to talk. You have a ride, right?"
I nodded, hoping Vic would be the one to give me the ride home. When I glanced over, he gave me a small nod, answering the question I had never asked out loud.
Once Lydia closed the door behind her, Vic scooted over on the bed and patted the spot next to him. Although there was enough room that he didn't have to scoot over.
I have to remind myself to hit Tony next time I see him, scaring me like that.
I sat down next to Vic and looked down at my feet that swung back and forth off the bed. All of the feelings I have been fighting this past month rushed back to me. How can someone fall inlove with someone so quickly? Was I in love with him or was I just infatuated with him? No. It couldn't be infatuation. It had to be love. Or, at least the beginning of what could be love.
"Will you stop thinking. You're making weird faces."
Vic quietly laughed and once I looked up at him, started mimicking my faces. Only he was making them over dramatic.
"I was not that bad!"
I lightly slapped his leg and he continued to laugh harder.
"I knoooow. I just like making fun of you. You get embarrassed and it's cute."
Once again, my eyes made their way to my feet as I felt my cheeks heat up. He called me cute and I'm blushing? Really? He's always called me cute. It's nothing new.
"Hey..."
Vic's index finger lightly brushed my chin before he lifted up my head. His face was only a few inches from mine.
"Thanks for making sure I'm okay."
I slightly nodded then had slowly started to lean in for a kiss. How could I not with his face so close to mine? When suddenly he pulled away and laid on his back, tucking his good arm behind his head as a pillow.
I really hope he didn't notice me leaning in... I wanted to slap him, knowing that he did that on purpose. He's always done that to me.
"Y-yeah. Of course. Tony told me you were dying. I'd visit any of my friends if I thought they were dying."
That is true, although as bad as it sounds, I don't think I'd be as panicked as I was if it was someone else. But I wasn't going to tell him that.
"Oh? And here I was thinking I was special."
I looked back and smiled at Vic, before hopping off of the bed.
"Nope."
"Well that sucks, 'cause you're pretty special to me."
I stopped in my tracks and turned around to him. He was now sitting up on the bed, like he had a few minutes ago.
"I mean it. Maybe I was just scared and needed a reason to push you away."
"Hey, it happens. It's whatever."
I honestly didn't want Vic to know he had gotten to me in some sort of way. Although, everything I had ever felt for the guy was clearly written in my expressions. I was still falling in love with him.
"It's not whatever. And we both know that. I'm sorry for what I did. Pushing you away, I'm sorry.
Whether or not we're romantically together, I would still like you in my life. By my side. I want to see your smile any day that I can. I want us to go out with the rest of our friends and them not feel extremely awkward because of us.
Melanie, I've seriously liked you since I opened the door and you were standing there smiling."

I found myself with a goofy grin on my face. It will probably last for the rest of the night.
I'm guessing he took that as me forgiving him when he smiled back at me and held out his arm that hadn't been injured. When he realized I wasn't going to him, he stood up and wrapped his arm around me. He pulled meas close to him as he could and his scent took over my nostrils. The smell of faint cologne, sweat, alcohol and cigarettes.
As nasty as that all might sound, I just couldn't get enough of it.
"C'mon. Let's get out of here."

Vic lazily draped his arm over me as we exited the hospital. Our feet stepped off the curb then he abruptly stopped, looking out into the parking lot.
"What?"
"Fuck me. Lydia drove me here... my car is back at my place."
I rolled my eyes at him and continued to walk, leaving him a few steps behind.
"You act like it's such a long walk. And besides, it'll give us time to catch up."

~


"So, since Mike and I were in another band with two of our friends, we had already been signed to them. So of course, Equal Vision Records was willing to sign us under a new name."
"So, you guys are signed now?"
"Yep. We're now an official band. Mike, Tony, Jaime, and myself. Mike and I had slowed down and started working on music alittle bit, rather than getting our name out there and playing shows, because it was only us two. So now there's four of us, hopefully this process will be done faster and we can have more shows around Cali. Maybe open for popular bands and get our name out there."
"If I told you I want to help, will you let me? I mean, aside from telling people at school about you guys. But like, come up with a few shirt designs to sell at some shows?"

Vic had kept his arm around me the entire walk back to his house. It seemed like it didn't take any time at all from us talking so much. Now we're at the front of his house, still talking. There never seemed to be a quiet moment between us.
"That'd be awesome. Pierce the Veil has their own merch helper. I'm pretty sure Corey would probably want to help too. Due to the fact she's been a real big help. And well, because she does whatever she can to make Jaime happy."
He dropped his arm from around me and opened the door, holding it open so I could pass him.
"So, did you want to hang out for alittle and then go home or did you want to stay?"
"I should probably go home sometime tonight. Although, I'm already out. Why rush to get home?"
He smiled at me and started to walk up the stairs. As his hand hit the doorknob, he stopped in his tracks and looked towards Mike's door.
Which made me want to burst out in laughter. Lydia and Mike were going at it, very loudly. Which I'm assuming is because the adults are not home.
"Well that's obnoxious."

Notes

WHY DID IT TAKE SO LONG TO UPDATE?!?
Let me tell you, writers block is nothing fun.
Although, I got some ideas from writing this chapter.

So here's Mel's chapter! :D
I hope you like it.

Title credit;;
Real Friends - Late Nights in my Car.