What's So Good About Picking Up the Pieces?

Lyla's P.O.V:

I reached down and pulled my phone out of my back pocket checking the time: 4:30 pm.

I had been shopping alone for the past hour or so; accourding to Alan there was "only so much shopping he could take" and he conned Austin into going to find something else to do, leaving me alone, which was fine.

I walked through downtown Dallas, stepping into several shops, and even taking a few pictures along the way.

I hadn't really come prepared, clothes-wise, to go out, so I was on a mission to find something amazing to wear tonight. I was hoping looking good on the outside would make me feel good on the inside; if that didn't work there was always alcohol.

I ended up deciding on a simple, strapless LBD (Little Black Dress). I found an amazing pair of tall, bright blue heels to give the outfit some color, and I also bought some earrings and a few bracelets to finish it off.

The girl in me was really coming out; if I didn't watch it I'd drain my bank account.

I began wandering aimlessly down the street, feeling satisfied with my purchases. I felt my phone buzz in my pocket. I took it out to see I had a text from Austin.

Loser Bff: Hey shoppaholic......you haven't been kidnapped have you? Haven't heard from you in hourrrssss....... :P

Me: Nope, your still stuck with me. I've been to busy buyin shit. I didn't have time to check in with you, dad! Hehehe

Loser Bff: Never call me that again......that's creepy!! Anyways we just checked into the hotel.....want me to come get you?

Me: Actually yes.....I can't shop anymore......I have no money :/ Hahaha I'm over on Medow Street out in front of a park.

Loser Bff: Be there soon my dear.

I put my phone back into my pocket and took a seat on a bench, closing my eyes behind my sunglasses, letting the warm sun beat down on my skin. I looked around at all of the people hustling around; I wandered what they saw when they looked at me? Could they see how broken I was? Or were they oblivious to all the pain I was hiding underneath?

"Boo!" Someone yelled as they grabbed my arm, causing me to scream loudly. I stood up and faced a laughing Austin, and crossed my arms across my chest, trying to control my heart rate.

"Ass!" I muttered, before walking past him to the awaiting van.

"Hey! Lyla! I'm sorry I didn't mean to scare you!' He said, grabbing my wrist and turning me around to face him. He pouted his bottom lip out at me, similar to what I had done to him earlier.

"You make it hard it stay mad at you when you have such a cute face!" I said, grabbing his chin with my hand and squeezing his cheeks, shaking his head back and forth. He put an arm around my shoulders and we made our way to the van. I climbed inside grateful for the air conditioning.

Austin turned his Slipknot music on, and I glared at him, to which he responded with a big smile, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel in rhythm with the music. I turned my attention out the window, watching the buildings and people pass by.

"Hellooooo!!! Lyla??" I was snapped back to reality as I felt Austin poking at my arm. "You okay?" He asked, truly concerned. I noticed we were parked outside of the hotel; I wondered how long I had been staring out into space.

"What? Oh yeah I'm fine," I gave him a fake smile before grabbing my bags and getting out of the van. He raised his eyebrows at me in suspicion, but didn't say anything. We walked into the big hotel and rode the elevator in silence until we reached the 6th floor. We walked to the end of the hall, stopping at a door before Austin opened it, motioning me in.

"Where's everyone else?" I asked as I sat down on the bed, crossing my legs indian style.

"Oh we decided to get two rooms; this one's for you. I figured you'd want a little time away from all of our craziness! We also have the room next door; they're all in there playing video games I'm sure." He said, smiling and rolling his eyes. He walked over to the bed and grabbed one of my bags. "What'd you buy?" He asked. I jumped up, grabbing the bag out of his hand quickly.

"No peaking!!! It's a surprise!" I said, smirking at him. "Now go! I need to shower!"

"Yeah you do you stink!" He said scrunching up his nose. I dropped my jaw and punched him the arm.

"Meany." I pouted. He walked over to me and hugged me.

"Bye Lyle. See ya later," he said before walking out of the room. I made my way to the shower, stripping my clothes off before stepping into the spacious shower, enjoying the feeling of the hot water running down my back.

I was excited to go out tonight: but all I kept thinking about was Vic.

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Vic's P.O.V:

I had been laying in my bunk staring at the wall for hours. I wasn't in the mood to get up. We had pulled into Dallas a few hours ago, and the guys had left to go get some food and find a hotel; we had 2 days off in a row before our next show.

It had been almost 2 weeks since I had seen Lyla that day, and I couldn't get her out of my head. I hadn't seen her since, well not really. A few times I saw her walking around the venues, camera in hand; she was happy, at least that's what she was trying to pretend; I had known her so long to know the difference between real happy and fake happy, at least I used to.

I wanted more than anything to talk to her, but I knew she didn't want to talk to me; hell, she wouldn't even talk to Mike and he was her best friend; he didn't break her heart for no reason; that was me.

A few times I thought about approaching her, but she was rarely alone. She was almost always with Austin, and I couldn't help but wonder if they were really "just friends". They held hands a lot as they walked around, he even sometimes carried her. They were constantly touching; I found myself getting jealous, which I had no right to be. I threw that away a long time ago.

If she wasn't with Austin she was with Alan, occasionlly with either Tino or Phil, and once in a while I saw her with someone random: Beau, Matty, even Kellin on occasion. If she ever was alone I couldn't bring myself to gather the courage, or the strength, to say anything. She obviously wanted nothing to do with me and I couldn't blame her.

I heard the door to the bus open as the guys came running back in. Jaime threw the curtain to my bunk open.

"We're goin out tonight," He said excited. "A bunch of people are getting together and hitting up downtown. You have no choice but to come. I don't know why you've been all mopey and weird lately but it's time to snap out of it, dude! Let's get drunk!" Jaime said dramatically as he yanked me out of the bunk.

I was looking forward to the distraction that alcohol would provide tonight. I needed it.

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Lyla's P.O.V:

I heard a knock at my hotel room door.

"Lyla it's time to go!" I heard Alan yell from the other side of the door.

"Yeah hurry your little butt up!" Austin added.

I looked at myself once again, happy with the result. My hair was pin-straight, my makeup heavy and dramatic, but not over the top; my new dress fit perfectly, hugging in all the right places, my heels accentuaing my toned calves. I grabbed my clutch purse and my phone and walked to the door, flinging it open.

I physically saw Alan's jaw drop as Austin's eyes almost bulged out of his head.

"Holy shit...." Alan muttered.

"Woah." Was all Austin managed to get out.

"Jeez, drool much boys?" I asked, smirking, and blushing a little, as I pulled the door shut behind me. "Are we gonna go or just stand here all night like fools?"

"Ummm.....uh...yeah...let's go." Alan muttered, taking off down the hallway quickly. I shook my head and rolled my eyes and I soon felt Austin snake his hand into mine. I looked at him and smiled, letting it be.

"Lyla you look amazing." He said.

"Thank you," I muttered quietly as we reached the elevator. We met Tino and Phil outside who had hailed a cab.

"Damn," Tino mumbled as I walked up. Phil just shook his head at Tino's comment, and I felt myself blushing. The 5 of us pilled into the taxi as it drove off downtown. I was practically sitting on Austin and Alan's laps; the cab wasn't quite big enough for all of us. We drove for about 20 minutes before we reached the place that Kellin had told us to meet the others at.

Austin paid the taxi driver as we climbed out. I got out slowly, trying not to have a Britney moment. Austin noticed me stuggling and reached his hand out, pulling me out of the cab up onto the sidewalk. We walked up to the front door; Alan and I were the only one's who were stopped to be carded.

Alan was still a baby so he expected it; eventhough I was 26 I got carded everywhere because I'm short and little. Austin made fun of the two of us as he waltzed inside. I grabbed Alan's hand and walked inside. I found Austin and the guys at the bar, shots already awaiting us. I grabbed mine and downed it quickly, the dark liquor stinging my throat. I ordered another, doing the same.

I recognized a few people inside the club: I saw Kellin and the other SWS guys, and we chatted briefly before they wandered off elsewhere. I recognized Beau Bokan, dancing alone off in the distance, as well as Matty Mullins.

Austin introduced me to some people I hadn't met before: Jack and Alex from All Time Low, who were already plastered. I also met Tay Jardine from We Are the In Crowd; we got along from the start, and I was glad to have another girl around for once.

After a while I was starting to get a good buzz. I wanted to dance so bad.

"Austinnnnn!!! Dance with me!" I begged, trying to pull him up off of the bar stool. He shook his head. He never danced: ever.

"No way, Lyla," he replied, taking a swig of his beer.

"Ugh fine! Ummm....Alan!!! Dance with me?" He shrugged his shoulders; he was already drunk so I knew he would be fun. I grabbed his hand and pulled him to the dance floor, squeezing our way in with the masses of people. We danced silly as the dance beats filled the speakers, moving around, jumping, moving our arms crazily. I was laughing my ass off and so was he.

I really needed this; I was letting loose and just having fun, not worrying about anything!

I walked over to the bar and ordered another shot and a beer. I downed the tequila quickly, and grabbed the beer and walked back out onto the dancefloor where I had left Alan, who was entertaining himself. The song ended and one of my favorite songs to dance to came on: Porn Star Dancing by My Darkest Days.

I was basically drunk by now; the silly dancing was long gone. The song began and I backed up against Alan, swaying my hips against him to the rhythm, holding my beer in the air, taking occasional drinks from it. I was surprised to find Alan knew how to hold his own; he wrapped an arm loosely around my waist, moving his hips with mine.

I glanced at Austin a few times, who seemed to be shooting me disapproving glances, not in a jealous way, more in a worried way; he knew I only danced like this when I was smashed, which I was at this point.

I grinded on Alan until the song ended. I turned around and kissed him on the cheek before wandering through the crowd to find someone new to dance with.

"Damn Girl!!! You look good!" I turned around expecting to yell at some random dude trying to hit on me, but I was pleasantly surprised to see Jaime from PTV standing behind me, a beer in his hand, grinning like a fucking idiot.

I hadn't talked to Jaime since the day I met him a few weeks ago, but I wasn't avoiding him, I just hadn't seen him around much. I smiled and walked over to him. He grabbed my hand that wasn't holding a drink and twirled me around. I giggled at the goofy guesture.

"Wanna dance, my lady?" He asked. He was obviously drunk, but hey, so was I. I smiled and pulled him behind me out into the middle of the crowd.

Some weird dubstep shit came on next; this club was all over the place with their music selections, but I didn't really care I just wanted to dance. We danced face to face at first, only inches between our bodies as we swayed to the annoying beat; he was making goofy faces, and he would occasionally bust out some weird random dance move, earning a laugh from me. He was fun.

The song changed again, this time "Ni***s in Paris" by Jay-Z and Kanye West blasting through the building.

"This is my JAM!!" Jaime practically yelled. I shook my head and laughed at him. I turned around grinding against him lightly, not as sluttily as I had been with Alan since I didn't even know Jaime.....I didn't want him to think this was anything more than a dance. I would occasionally hear Jaime attempt to rap some of the lyrics, failing miserably.

We were laughing and having fun; I felt better than I had in a long time; the tequila had made me fun and happy instead of sad a depressed this time, which I appreciated. I glanced over to see Austin and Tino laughing at something Alan had either said or did; he looked over at me and smiled widely, which I returned as Jaime as I continued to dance. The song ended and I turned and hugged him sloppily.

"Thanks, Jaime that was fun. See ya around." I smiled and stumbled off. I made my way to Austin, ordering another drink.

"Having fun?" He asked, smiling down at me.

"Tons!" I replied excitedly, receiving my drink and taking a big gulp.

"Good. Just be careful. You've already had quite a bit," he said, patting me on the head before getting up and walking over to Kellin and Jesse.

"Have time for one more dance?" I heard someone say from behind me. The voice didn't sound familiar, but at this point I honestly didn't care who I would be dancing with. I grabbed my drink and turned around, getting ready to respond.

My eyes went wide, seeing the one person I didn't expect.

Vic.