Compilations & Complications

***Finally, an update! Sorry about that, but I finally have a working plot for the rest of the story. Please read and leave some love in the form of votes, ratings, and comments. Also, check out my new stories Playlist Love and Pen Pal!***



I turned the lock on the door and stood in front of it. I looked around at the confused faces of my friends as they stared at Dani. She was sitting at my desk, facing the four of us. Mike was sitting on the floor against my bed, Tony was sitting on the bed, and Jaime was leaning against the bedpost.

“What’s going on?” Jaime asked again. Dani sighed.

“I know who’s after you,” she said softly. I almost didn’t hear her.

“You what?” Tony asked in disbelief. It was safe to say that we were all shocked.

“How?” I asked, getting straight to the point.

She sighed again. “That’s not important. What’s important is that there’s a crazy person after you and I can help you.”

We simultaneously stared at each other, each of us thinking the same thing.

How the hell could she help?

“Look,” she began, “I know I haven’t given you guys a reason to trust me and I know you’re still skeptical, but I’m over that and I hope you guys can get over it too. I’m your only shot at coming out of this alive.”

“What do you mean ‘coming out of this alive’?” Tony asked.

“I mean the shit that’s gonna go down isn’t gonna be pretty.”

“But how do you know?” Jaime asked. He looked frustrated; it was clear to see that Dani’s vagueness was upsetting him.

She sighed again. “Let’s just say I know some people who know some things, okay?”

“No, let’s say that you tell us what the fuck is going on,” I spoke up. She huffed in frustration.

“It’s too dangerous,” she said desperately. “Believe me, if I could tell you anything more then I would, but I can’t. Talking to you guys right now is putting me in a lot of danger. “

We were all quiet as we took in her words. The only sounds that could be hear were the loud music of the party and the chatter of people trying to talk over it.

“What can you tell us then?” Mike asked, speaking for the first time since we entered the room.

“There’s a guy, he goes by T. I think he’s the one who ran you guys off the road, but I can’t be too sure. All I know is that he wants something from you, but I don’t know what.

“He’s young, our age, but I don’t think he goes to school here. He lives somewhere in the city but likes to keep a low profile. I’m not sure of who his friends are, but I know he has some sort of contacts around campus. I know that a few of the dealers deal to him so we could start there.”

“We?” I interrupted.

“Yes, ‘we,’” Dani said. “I have more information than you do, and I’m sure I can find more out than you guys could together. I get that you don’t like me but I’m your best shot at not getting killed by this lunatic.”

“So do you have a plan?” Jaime asked.

She nodded. “We have to take him out before he takes you out.”

“Murder?” Tony asked in disbelief.

“So you want us to kill someone?”

“It’s the only way, Vic.”

I ran my fingers through my hair and tugged on it, something I did when I was frustrated.

“No. I’m not a murderer. We’re not murderers.”

“Vic, this guy tried to kill you. He injured you, your boyfriend, and your brother. And I’m pretty sure he had your brother’s girlfriend kidnapped.”

That sentence caught Mike’s full attention.

“That fucker kidnapped Kay?”

“Most likely,” Dani answered.

“You mean to tell me some nameless, faceless bitch is the reason why my girlfriend is afraid to sleep at night?”

“Mikey, keep your voice down,” I said.

“And sit down,” Tony added.

“No, fuck you guys,” he said angrily. “I’ll be dammed if I let some shit hurt my girlfriend, let alone my best friends.” He turned to Dani. “Whatever your plan is, I’m in.”

“Mike,” I warned.

“Vic, let’s be real, your plan wasn’t much of a plan in the first place. At least Dani has something we can use.”

I bit my lip. He was right, I didn’t have much of a plan. I basically wanted us to play detectives and find our own clues since the police were useless. Once we found the guy I wanted to teach him a lesson. Rough him up a little bit, maybe break some bones. Nothing was executed, and the guys were starting to lose faith in me, but this was unnecessary. No one needed to die.

“I’m in too,” Tony said.

I looked at him with a shocked expression. “Really, Tony?” He was the last person I’d think would be okay with killing someone.

“Mike’s right, this guy did horrible things to us and the people we love. And right now Danielle has more information than you do. Besides, if we let the cops handle this then he’d only end up in jail if he were caught. That would give him a chance to carry on more of his schemes from inside the cell. With this plan, we won’t have to worry about getting hurt by him again.”

“That’s a good point, Tone,” Jaime said slowly, as if he were thinking. “I’m in too.”

“Jaime,” I said, not really knowing where I was going with that.

“He makes a compelling argument, Vic.”

I shook my head. “I don’t think I can be a part of this,” I said. “No, I know I can’t be a part of this. This is too much.”

“But Vic,” Jaime started, “this guy is responsible for all of your recent pain. He ran you off the road, he kidnapped your sister, he’s been endangering the lives of those who matter the most to you. Don’t you want to make things right?”

“Of course I do, but this isn’t the way.”

“Well what other way is there?” Dani asked. I thought about it.

Sure, killing this guy seemed like the easiest option, but that would make us murderers, young ones at that. We’d lose our futures because we’d spend them behind bars; that’s if we didn’t get the chair. It just didn’t seem worth it to me.

“I don’t know,” I finally said, “but this isn’t it.”

I quickly turned around and unlocked the door before walking back out to the party. Thankfully no one followed me or tried to convince me to go back.

I quickly spotted Kellin sitting where I left him on the couch. He was talking to Justin, who looked pretty buzzed by the way. Justin was facing my direction, so he noticed me before Kellin did. He patted Kellin’s knee before he stood up and went back to the section of the apartment where kids were smoking.

“Hey, where’d you run off to?” Kellin asked as I sat next to him.

“Oh, we just went around the rooms. Wanted to make sure no one was messing up our sheets,” I said quickly, proud of myself for coming up with a believable lie.

“Well thanks for keeping the sanctity of our rooms intact,” Kellin said with a giggle.

I smiled back at him before looking out into the party. It looked like your typical college party: there were people smoking and drinking, couples making out, and loud music blasting throughout the space. It was the kind of thing that would cause us to get kicked out if our RA wasn’t cool.

“Hey, you wanna go somewhere quieter?” I asked Kellin.

“Yes, please. I’m getting tired of watching that couple try to fuck on our floor.”

I turned my gaze to where he was looking. As he said, there was a couple practically ripping each other’s clothes off right in the middle of our living room.

I turned my eyes away from the sight and stood up, Kellin following my lead, and went to his bedroom.

“Man, I can’t remember the last time I’ve been in here,” he said as I closed and locked the door behind me.

Ever since Kellin and I had gotten back together he had practically moved into my room. The only things left in his room were some clothes that couldn’t fit in my closet, his bedding, and some posters that couldn’t fit on my walls.

Kellin sat on the bed and patted a spot next to him. I sat next to him and laid back. He took the opportunity to place his head on my chest, and sighed contently as I gently played with his hair.

“I have a question to ask you,” I said after a few moments of silence.

He gave me a confused look as he turned his head to face me better. “Shoot.”

I let out a deep breath before speaking. “Do you hate the guy who ran us off the road?”

“Why do you ask?”

“Well I realized that through the whole thing we only ever talked about my anger and my feelings, how I wanted to get him back and all, but we never talked about you. So, do you hate him?”

He chewed on his lip and stared off into space, something he did when he was thinking of a perfect answer.

“Hate is a strong emotion. It eats you up inside and takes over. You can’t think straight because that’s all you can focus on. Hate for one person that you won’t be able to let go of until it’s dealt with.

“I don’t necessarily feel that. I mean, yeah, I think about what happened a lot and I get angry. Hell, I get scared too.”

“You do?” I interrupted.

“Of course. My entire life flashed before my eyes when the car burst into flames. I saw my mom, my siblings, the band, you and Kay, and everyone in PTV; all the people I love. I saw memories from the best times of my life: birthdays, holidays, the first time SWS performed in front of an audience, and meeting you. Then I started thinking about losing all of those; about not seeing my loved ones or doing what I love doing. And it scared me.

“For a few weeks I hadn’t been able to sleep. You would fall asleep and I would for about half an hour, then I’d wake up in a panic. I never wanted to wake you, so I stayed still in bed until you woke up the next morning.”

My jaw nearly dropped at Kellin’s confession. I had no idea he had felt those things during the five weeks he spent with me.

“Why didn’t you ever tell me this?” I asked as I put a hand on top of his.

“You spent so much time talking about being grateful for life and cherishing each moment that I didn’t want to bring you down with my sob story. Besides, I thought you’d be able to tell. I’m pretty transparent.”

That was true; Kellin was like a book. He sucked at hiding his emotions. They were always clearly written on his face for everyone to see.

“Still, you should’ve said something,” I scolded.

He simply shrugged. “It doesn’t matter now.”

“Are you still scared?”

He bit his lip and turned to look at the wall before he answered.

“A little. Or maybe more than a little. It’s hard not to be, you know? It happened only a month ago, and I still don’t have any closure.” I nodded in understanding.

“I still feel the flames on my skin,” he continued. “It’s like they’re in every room with me. They fill up the room with this intense heat and bright light, and then they tear my skin off piece by piece.

“And then there are times when I think I’m never going to see you again. Like a few minutes ago when you guys went into the room. I panicked a little because I thought a car was gonna run into the apartment and kill me. I don’t know, it’s stupid when you think about it.”

Kellin looked down at his hands as he finished speaking. I didn’t push him to say anything more; he had already said so many emotional things in such a short amount of time.

I had no idea he had been holding so much in in the last month. What I did know was that my boyfriend no longer felt safe on his own, and that I was mad at whoever made him feel that way.

I knew what Mike was getting at when he let his temper get the best of him in the room. He was trying to look out for Kaylee, and Dani’s plan seemed to be the best way how.

If I had to be honest, it seemed like the best way for me to look out for Kellin.

“I’m gonna go get us some chips or something,” I said. Kellin nodded and lifted his head off my chest so I could leave the room. Once outside I scanned the living room for my friends. Since I didn’t see any of them I figured they were still in my bedroom.

I turned the knob on the door, happy to see that they had left it unlocked. All eyes were on me as I opened the door and stood in the threshold.

“Count me in.”

Notes