“Hey,” Vic looked at me, worried. It’s been almost six months since the bus accident, and things were finally beginning to get back to normal.

“What’s up?”

“Did you see the news?” he still looked worried.

“No, what is it?” I asked. I was writing some music in his living room when he walked in, so my mind was distracted.

“Er, well,” he scratched the back of his neck. “Your ex, Jake, he was released from jail today.”

“Fuck that,” I grumbled. I wasn’t about to break down over Jake again, especially in front of Vic. We had finally gotten to a point where nothing bad was happening. I hadn’t tried to hurt myself since the moment Vic’s eyes had reopened. And I vowed to him that no matter what happened, I would never attempt suicide again. Which was a silly promise, because why would I ever want to leave a world where he existed? I was naturally selfish. I was still haunted by that time I almost did kill myself, and every now and then my memory would flash back to the horrific crash, but even my nightmares were under control. And I wasn’t about to let some fucker ruin that. Because I was finally strong.

“He’s dangerous,” Vic said, sitting next to me.

“At this rate, I think I’m more dangerous than him,” I commented. And it was true. I was done with taking shit from him. I knew how to fight back, and I knew where Mike kept his handgun.

I had sold my apartment and I moved into Vic and Mike’s house (well, they made me sell my apartment and move in, just in case). I always felt safe, because I was never alone. The guys, despite my many promises, refused to leave me alone for an extended period of time. I was on “suicide watch” for the first month after my failed attempt—although all thoughts of killing myself quickly dissolved when Vic woke up.
We tried not to talk about it, though.

“Let’s just not worry about it,” I said about Jake’s release.

“What ever you say, bear,” he said, snuggling up close to me.

“Ugh, get a room,” Mike suddenly walked in.

I stuck my tongue out at him, but Vic picked me up, saying “If you really want us to, Mike,” with a wink.

Mike made a face, and I laughed. “Put me down, fool,” I giggled.

“So, what are we doing tonight?” Mike asked.

“I was thinking that we should invite the guys over. I wanna cook,” Vic said, a mischievous look stretching across his face.

“You’re creepy,” I said. He lightly threw me back down on the couch.

“So, what are you making tonight, Chef Fuentes?” Mike yawned.

“It’s a surprise!” he answered. “But I need to go get groceries,” he added.

“Alright, I’ll call Tony and Jaime,” I said, reaching for my phone.

“I’ll be back,” Vic said in his creepy terminator imitation, kissing the top of my head.

~~

“You’ll never believe who I ran into while I was getting groceries,” Vic said, drooping his head down onto the table. I was having trouble focusing on what he was saying, though; he was wearing a white, ‘formal’ shirt, the top few buttons undone, and a loosely tied tie. He was wearing his black beanie, and he looked hot.

“Who, Vic?” Mike leaned in, interested.

“Cara,” he grumbled, shaking his head.

Mike made a face. “Ew,” he said.

“Yeah, and she acted like she knew me. Like nothing had even happened. She hugged me and squealed when she saw me,” he groaned.

I spoke quietly. “Is this…?” Mike nodded before I could finish. I faintly remembered the conversation Mike and I had—before the bus crash—about Vic’s ex girlfriend who was cheating on him.

I put my hand on Vic’s arm. “Hey, if we are lucky, maybe fucking Jake and Cara will show up tonight at the same time,” I mocked. They both laughed, but the laugh didn’t spread to Vic’s eyes.

“That was just one person I could live without running into,” he said. “Dug up some old wounds,” he said quietly. I rubbed his arm sympathetically; I knew how he felt.

~~

Vic looked hilarious, goofing off while cooking. I tried not to watch him too much, but he made my heart ache.

Parker—the old merch girl—and I had kept in touch, especially after the bus accident, so I invited her over. Her hair was no longer red, but now blue. It looked awesome; I wished I could pull off colored hair.

Jaime now had a girlfriend—Jess—and she was over, too. Jess and I got along great, which was good because seeing the way Jaime looked at her, I knew she would be sticking around for a while.

Vic was making enchiladas and rice. He had some secret recipe, and it was surprisingly very delicious.

“Good job, babe,” I said, pounding my fist with his.

When we were finished, we hung around with our beers in the living room. Parker and Tony were having a very serious conversation about Star Wars, and I smiled; they looked cute together, both being pretty nerdy (in a good way).

“Fuck yeah!” Mike all of a sudden exclaimed.

“What, Mike?” Jaime asked.

“The guys from All Time Low are in town. Can they come over?” Mike begged, smiling.

“You don’t have to ask me, it’s your house, too,” Vic said, raising his hands up.

“So can they?”

“Yes,” Vic rolled his eyes.

It wasn’t but five minutes until the doorbell rang. “Bear, you get it!” Mike said.

“I barely know them!” it was true. We were supposed to tour with them, but then the bus crash happened… they had been over a few times back when Vic was recovering, but that wasn’t really the time to become best friends with them. “But I’ll do it. I like Jack,” I said, winking at Vic to make him jealous.

When I opened the door though, it wasn’t Jack, Alex, Zach, or Rian. It was a woman. “Um, may I help you?”

“Yes, hi, are you Claire?” the girl smacked her gum as she talked.

“Uh, yeah?”

“Is Vicky—er, I mean Vic, is Vic here?” She looked around my shoulder for him.

“Uh, Vic?” I called back inside the house. He appeared within seconds.

“What’s up? Oh…” his face changed from happy to worried to confused to sad in a millisecond. The pain on his face was very easy to read. I knew who this was.

“Cara,” I mumbled under my breath.

“Vic, I was in the neighborhood and thought I would stop by,” she said, pushing past me. At this point, everyone else was silent, watching her.

“Um, you can’t come in,” Vic said harshly.

“Oh, shut up!” she smacked his arm playfully, and he stood there dumbfounded as she walked into the living room. “Tony! Jaime! Mike!” I heard her squeal. “I missed you guys!”

I walked up to Vic and squeezed his hand. “Fuck that,” I muttered. He nodded.

“Cara I think you should leave,” I heard Mike say. I remembered now—he had said that he was “overprotective of Vic” because of this girl.

“What is your nerve to come here? Who do you think you are?” Vic spat.

I squeezed his hand harder. I hated seeing him like this. Hurt.

“Whatever,” she rolled her eyes, continuing to chew her gum obnoxiously. I could smell her from the second she walked in; she was very drunk. Cara approached Vic and I, looking at us up and down.

“What happened to your arms?” she asked, smirking. I blushed heavily. I saw Mike behind her; he was fuming.

“That’s none of your business,” Vic snapped. My face grew very hot.

“Damn, Vic,” Cara scoffed. She looked me up and down again. “You really down graded.”

“Cara, leave,” Vic said. “You can’t just come into houses unwanted.”

“Hey! You broke up with me, remember?” she yelled.

“First, that makes no fucking sense. Second, you fucking cheated on me. Now get the fuck out of my house,” he growled.

“I’m not with him anymore,” she said lightly. “I’m single, we can finally be together again.” She walked closer to Vic. He immediately recoiled. Now, everyone was crowded around.

“Is there a problem here?” Rian Dawson popped his head into the house, followed by the rest of All Time Low.

“Hello Rian. Hello,” Vic said methodically, still glaring at Cara.

“Come on, Vicky, it can be like last time,” she whined, touching his arm. He jerked it off.

“You do realize I’m with my girlfriend, don’t you?” Vic’s hand was squeezing mine harder than ever.

“That’s never stopped me, hasn’t it?” she winked. Vic clenched his teeth. I could tell that he wanted to end this, but he couldn’t. But I sure as hell could.

I stepped in between her and Vic.

“Excuse you,” she said.

“No, excuse you. I’m going to kindly ask you to leave, now. If you don’t, I will use force,” I glared. It felt weird to threaten her. Did I say the right things? Vic lightly put his hands on my waist from behind me, so I knew it was okay.

I’ve never been the aggressive type, but when she stared at me with stubborn eyes, I shoved her forward. “Leave,” I repeated.

“You really got a keeper there, Vic,” she spat. Then she turned and stumbled away. “Call me!” I heard her say in the distance.

Jack from All Time Low closed the door behind her.

We all just stood there for a long time, until Vic dropped his shaking hands and turned to his room.

“She really did a number to him, didn’t she?” I whispered. Mike nodded sadly. He then followed Vic.
I felt very awkward all of a sudden.

“Leave it to us to walk in when shit is going down,” Alex said, bowing. “How’s it going, sweetheart?” he approached me, squeezing me in a tight bear hug.

“I’ve been better, clearly.”

“So, I hear we are going on tour finally this summer?” Zach asked.

“Third times a charm, I guess!” I smiled. We were going on tour with All Time Low, Mayday Parade, and You Me At Six. I was fucking pumped, considering I had never been on a full-length tour before…

“Bear,” Mike nodded to me. Tony and Jaime smiled sympathetically as I made my way to Vic. He was curled up in a ball on top of his bed. My heart shattered for him.

I didn’t know what to say, so I said nothing at all. I climbed up there and faced him, taking his hands away from his face. “Hey,” I said softly.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

“Vic, we all have shit behind us,” I said, quoting his own words that he said to me from what seemed like an entire lifetime ago.

I sat against the headboard, putting his head in my lap. I played with his hair. I’ve never seen him like this before.

“Thanks,” he mumbled into my legs.

“I’m here for you,” I said, continuing to smooth out his hair. He sat up.

“I know. I shouldn’t let her bother me, because I have you, now,” he said.

I smiled. “Always,” I kissed his cheek.

“Always?”

“Of course, silly,” I said, furrowing my eyebrows.

“Hm, I guess Cara was right about one thing,” he said, a weird grin stretching across his face.

What? That I’m a downgrade? That I had ugly, irreversible scars on my arms? I didn’t say these things, because that would upset Vic, but they lingered in my mind.

“That you’re a keeper,” he said, kissing me on the lips. When our lips parted, something caught my eye. He held it up delicately in his right hand. “I suppose I should get down on one knee, shouldn’t I?” he whispered.

He did, and then he spoke. I tried not to cry. “I’m not going to make a huge speech, but I will say one thing. Bear, I know for a fact that I would be nothing without you. You saved me on so many different levels, and I will love you forever for that. You are beautiful on the inside and out, and I adore you. I love you forever; with you everything is better. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, so, will you marry me?” his big, brown eyes stared deeply into my soul.

I didn’t even have to think for a second. “Yes! Of course!” I exclaimed. It was barely a millisecond after he slipped the ring onto my left ring finger when I attacked him with kisses.

He pushed me back onto the bed, and I swung my legs around him. he kissed me hard and passionately, like we were meeting for the first time. He rolled me over so i was on top of him, and he sucked on my neck.

“Is everything okay in there?” I heard someone lightly knock on the door. I couldn’t tell who it was, though.

I responded “Yeah” to the person at the door, my voice shaky because Vic was still kissing me, his hands grasping at my body, my hips…

I sighed. I laid completely on top of him, resting my elbows on both sides of his head. “Later,” I winked, kissing him one last time on the lips.

We walked out of his room hand in hand. His eyes never strayed from my face, I flashed the ring to the crowd of my friends and family, and everyone cheered.

Notes

warning: this chapter is HAPPY <3

i decided to continue with this until i run out of ideas, but the ideas keep flowing :)

thanks for everything :)