Lyla's P.O.V:
We had only been back at the hotel for maybe 30 minutes, but I had downed almost the entire bottle of Jack with little help. I had given some to Alan, who wouldn't leave me alone, which I was okay with. We were dancing and laughing and talking a mile a minute about nothing.


I don't think I have ever been this drunk before in my entire life. I was going to regret this in the morning.


I took another chug off of the bottle before handing it to Alan, him doing the same. The music was loud and I was dancing on Alan like I was at the club, except I'm sure it looked horrible because I could hardly stand anymore. I turned around and looked at Alan before pulling his face to mine and kissing him. We made out for a good 5 minutes, his tongue sloppily moving around my mouth; I didn't really want to kiss him but I did.


I finally pulled myself away from him and grabbed the bottle, making my way around the room. I spotted Austin sitting on a couch with Tino and Justin, SWS's guitar tech. I flung myself on his lap and groaned, getting dizzy.


"I kissed Alan for some reason," I said taking another swig of the tepid liquor.


"I saw that," Austin said. Austin had hardly anything to drink at all, so I was surprised he was so calm. He grabbed the bottle out of my hand, handing it to Justin who sat it on the other side of the couch. "Lyla I think you've had enough, hun." I pouted my face at him and let out a dramatic sigh.


"Awwww man! Not cool!" I said, trying to stand up but falling onto the floor. I errupted into a fit of laughter as I laid on the floor, staring up at Austin and Tino, who were shaking their heads at me.


Austin reached down and grabbed me, pulling me upright and keeping a hand on my shoulder to steady me. "Okay boozy it's time for you to go." he said. "Here's your room key and your purse. Want me to walk you?" he asked.


"No thank you ma'am," I said laughing because I called him ma'am. I grabbed my things and he eyed me. "I can make it upstairs to my room by myself.....I'm a grown up!" I said, putting my hands on my hips and making a stupid face."Goodbye Austin Robert Carlile!" I said dramatically as I turned and made my way to the door. I knew I needed to get to my room, I was determined.



I stumbled to the elevator, pushing the up button, singing to myself as I waited for the elevator to make it's way up. The door opened and I walked in as I looked at my feet, tripping over someone in the process. I caught myself on the wall.


"S-sorry," I muttered, looking up to catch the eyes of the stranger I had taken down. I tilted my head back and growned as the doors shut.


Of course it had to be Vic.


------


Vic's P.O.V:


"Hey! I was just coming to look for you!" I said when I noticed it was Lyla who had just entered the elevator. I was pretty drunk, but she was so drunk she could barely stand. "Are you okay, Lyla?" I asked, seriously.


"Oh I'm just peachy, Vic. Thanks so much for asking," she muttered, sarcasm apparent in her tone. The elevator stopped on the 6th floor and she made her way out of the elevator.....barely. I jogged after her a little.


"Can we talk Lyla? We can't avoid each other forever!" I said, she kept walking down the hall.


"Unfortunately," she muttered under her breath. I raced after her and reached out, grabbing her wrist and turning her to face me.


"Please? I really need to talk to you...." I said quietly. I kept my hold on her wrist as she stared at me, her eyes glassy, her face more beautiful than ever. I moved my thumb over her wrist without thinking, and I felt a few raised marks as I did so. I turned her arm over and saw what I never wanted to; her wrist was filled with horizontal marks, the scars diminished with time but still there. I felt my heart break.


She pulled her wrist from my grasp as she realized what I had just figured out. She stomped off to her room a few doors down and opened the door.


"If you want to talk you better do it now before I change my mind," she yelled, and I noticed she was holding the door open for me. I jogged to the door, walking into the hotel room behind her. She kicked her heels off across the room and just stood there, facing away from me, rubbing her face with her hands before running them through her hair.


Her body looked tense, like she didn't want me to be here. She turned around and looked at me just standing there.


"Are you gonna say anything or are we just going to stand here?" She barked at me, shocking me.


"Lyla, I know you don't want to talk to me..." I trailed off.


She scoffed, rolling her eyes. "You think, Vic?" Her voice sounded angry, but hurt.


I couldn't think of what to say; I hadn't thought this through.


"How have you been?" I asked quietly, mentally face palming myself for asking such a stupid question. She closed her eyes, biting down on her bottom lip, before letting out a fake laugh.


"Really, Vic? I haven't spoken to you in 7 years and that's the first thing that you think to say? Well I'll tell you Vic, if that's what you want to know. I've been pretty fucking horrible." She spat; I just stood there and took it, knowing I deserved all of this.


"You dumped me without a reason; ended our almost 4 year relationship over the phone, and I never heard from you again.....did you think I'd just move on and forget about you, Vic? That I'd just forget how much I loved you and believe it was "for the best"? I have spent the last 7 years wondering what the hell I did wrong, not feeling good enough, feeling worthless." She was no longer yelling, but her voice was full of sorrow, and it hurt me. I wanted to speak but I decided to let her finish.


"I mean seriously, Vic? My life has been a living hell. For some reason I have never been able to get you out of my head....out of my heart, and it's literally killing me! You broke me," she said, her voice getting quiet as a tear rolled down her cheek.


"Lyla.....I'm.....so sorry-" she cut me off before I could say more.


"Oh you're sorry? Well great that makes everything so much better!" she said sarcastically, the anger pushing it's way back into her voice.


"What else do you want me to say, Lyla?" I asked, yelling a little.


"You know, Vic, I don't really know. For the longest time all I've wanted was an explaination; I played this scenario in my head so many times, about how it would be when, or if, we ever met again. Now I don't know what I want from you, Vic." she said. "I mean when you walked in and saw Mike and I talking you just stood there, didn't say anything..." she trailed off.


"I didn't know what to say, Lyla. You were the last person I was expecting to see." I responded.


"Yeah Vic I wasn't expecting to run into you here either, and when I saw Mike that first day I literally ran away because I couldn't face him because I knew if he was there you would be too." she was quiet for a moment. She crossed her arms over her chest before looking up at me, tears welling up in her eyes again.


"I don't know why I did it," I said quickly, spitting it out. "I felt like I was holding you back from being you! We had been together for so long, and I was afraid I wasn't giving you a chance to explore the world and see what else was out there for you! I know I should've gone about it differently but I didn't know what to do because I didn't want to give you up, Lyla, but I felt like I had to! I didn't want you to be stuck with me forever, not knowing what else was out there for you!" Her mouth hung partially open as she stared at me.


"Vic! That wasn't really your decision to make!" She yelled back, tears streaming down her face now. "If anything you breaking up with me held me back! I've lived my life in fear; I haven't let anyone else in the way I let you in; you ruined me," she said. I know she wasn't saying it to hurt me, but more like she had to get it out. "And then to never hear from you again after that?" she paused.


"You have no idea how much I wanted to call you and find you, Lyla. I wanted to take back what I did, and over the years I've wanted nothing more than to see you....but what was I going to say to you? That I was sorry and that I love you, that I'm still in love with you?!" I said, mentally cursing at myself for what I had just said. Her eyes opened wide and she bit her lip.


I don't know if it was the alcohol or if it was just something I really wanted to do but I walked towards her and grabbed her face, pushing my lips onto hers forcefully.


I knew I shouldn't have done it, that kissing her wouldn't solve anything, it wouldn't fix the lifetime of pain I had caused her, but I didn't it anyways.


I was surprised at myself, but I was even more surprised when I felt her start to kiss me back.