What's So Good About Picking Up the Pieces?

Mike's P.O.V:

"Mike's right here," I responded after hearing someone question my whereabouts. I walked up and saw Jaime and Tony talking to Carlile and some girl, who from the back looked pretty hott I might add. Austin turned around to face me, and I reached out and shook his hand. Austin turned the girl around as he spoke.

"Lyla James this is THE Mike Fuentes, drummer for PTV," Austin said to her. Her face dropped before she averted her gaze to the ground.

Had I heard that right? No......it couldn't be. I pushed my sunglasses up on top of my head, my eyes opening wide at the realization of who was standing in front of me.

"Lyla?" I questioned softly. She glanced at me quickly before she took of sprinting, awfully fast, towards the buses. Austin looked at me questioningly before he took off after her, shouting her name, but she wouldn't stop. She just kept running.

I stood there frozen; I couldn't believe it.

Lyla James. She looked so different than last time I saw her....7 long years ago.

Her once shoulder-length blonde hair was now long and dark brown. She was still short, but she was thinner. She had a ring on the left side of her nose, and I couldn't help but notice tattoos on her arms and legs. She used to hate tattoos.....

I was so in shock. Lyla and I had been best friends when we were younger; we met the first day of 7th grade and were best friends from then on. We spent a lot of time together. I hadn't heard from her since my idiot brother dumped her for no reason.....she was perfect.

After the break up I tried to get in touch with her but she wouldn't answer my calls. I found out from her dad that she had moved, but he wouldn't tell me where.

I could feel the color drain from my face, and I was pulled out of my thoughts as I heard Vic approaching. I turned to Tony and Jaime, who were looking at me, confused about what had just happened: they had never known Lyla, and they didn't really know the whole story.

"Do not mention this. I mean it." I snapped at them quietly as Vic got closer. I put my sunglasses back on my face; Vic couldn't know about this, not yet.

"Hey guys. Woah, Mike what's up? You look like you've seen a ghost, dude," he said as he slapped me on the back.

"I think I have," I muttered under my breath.

"What?" he asked, looking at me questioningly.

"Um....nothing, man. Let's go get ready to play." The guys started walking towards the stage and I followed close behind.

I hope she's okay........

Lyla's P.O.V:

I wandered around the Salt Lake streets for a while before I found a small bar, and I dipped inside without even thinking. Luckily it was pretty empty at the moment. I sauntered up to the bar, took a seat, and ordered a drink, and then another, and another, desperatley trying to numb the pain and forget about what just happened, who I just saw.

After a while I was starting to feel the effects. The bar was starting to fill up a bit as nightfall drew upon us, and I had to fend off a couple of guys in the process. I pulled out my phone and had about 50 missed calls: most of them from Austin, a few from Alan, and one from an unknown number. I was ready to leave, but I had no idea where I was. I walked to the corner of the bar and dialed Austin's number. He picked up on the second ring.

"Lyla?" he answered, worry apparent in his voice. "Lyla, where are you? Are you okay?" He asked.

"Are you drunk, Lyla?" He asked. I let out a little giggle.

"What??? Noooo....nooo never!!" I answered, yelling into the phone as the noise in the bar escalated.

"Lyla, where are you? I'll come get you," he said, his voice calming down a bit.

"Ummmm....I'm not sure." I paused and turned to one of the guys who had been hitting on me.

"Hey you! Hey, where am I right now?" I asked him, laughing a little. He mumbled the name of some bar, and apparently he took that question as me hitting on him and he stood up and walked over to me, trying to have a conversation.

"Apparently I'm at CT"s Bar on Fifth Avenue," I relayed to Austin over the phone.

"Okay, okay. I'll be there as soon as I can." I could hear a hint of anger in his voice. I hung up the phone and shoved it back into my pocket before heading back to the bar, the guy I had spoken to still following me like a lost puppy. I let the guy buy me a shot of whiskey, and we downed the drinks, laughing in the process. I was getting too drunk....nothing good could come of this.

It wasn't long before I saw Austin walk hurridly in the front door, making a bee line for me when he saw where I was.

"Austinnnnn!!!!" I yelled obnoxiously, wrapping my arms around him as he stood next to me. He pried me off of him, looking down at me disapprovingly. He paid the bartender for my drinks before pulling me up.

"Hey can I get your number or something," the drunk guy asked.

"Fuck off!!" Austin yelled back at him. Yep, he was pissed. We walked out of the bar, him basically pulling me behind him. I tried hard to keep my balance but it was difficult. We made it outside and he stopped, turning around to face me. His eyes flashed with anger and sadness.

"Lyla, what the hell were you thinking? What is going on? You just up and run away for no reason and now you're plastered?" he said, shoving his hands in his pockets, shaking his head. "C'mon we need to get back so we can leave," he said as he turned to walk back to the van parked out front. I attempted to walk after him but I lost my balancing, falling to the concrete.

I laid there laughing even though it hurt. I saw Austin turn around and walk towards me, before bending over and picking me up. He put me in the passenger side of the van, before getting in the driver's seat and driving away. I fought the urge to barf and burst out in tears as we drove in dead silence.

It wasn't long before we reached the bus; I obviously hadn't ran as long as I thought I had. Austin threw the van into parked, racing over to the passenger side, pulling me into his arms as we made our way to the bus. He opened the door and stepped in. I was curled against Austin's chest but I could see Phil, Tino, and Alan sitting on the couch. They all stood up as we walked in the door, worried expressions on their faces.

"She's fine, guys. Just wasted," Austin responded, sensing their apprehension. "Will you guys give us a minute?" he asked as he carried me to the back lounge, shutting the door, and setting me down on the couch. He sat next to me and grabbed my hand with his. I was silent for a long time before I couldn't help it anymore; a flood of tears escaped from my eyes. Austin pulled me into his chest, rubbing my back as I grabbed at his shirt, soaking it with my sobs.

After what felt like forever my crying had died down, subsiding to sniffles. I seperated from Austin; I could feel him hesitate to let me go, but he did and I scooted to the other end of the couch, curling up into a ball.

"Lyla what happened? Will you please tell me what is going on? I'm worried about you," he said, the tone in his voice no longer angry, but loving and full of concern. I sat up and looked at him.

"Mike Fuentes and I used to be best friends." I said, matter of factly. He looked at me, not quite understanding where I was going with this. "Mike's older brother, Vic...." I said, trailing off.

"Yeah, what about him?" Austin asked, still confused.

"Vic and I dated in high school. He's the one who dumped me 7 years ago....he's the one who broke me," I said as I started to cry again. Through my tears I could see the surprise in Austin's face.

"I haven't seen Vic or Mike in 7 years...haven't even talked to them. Mike tried to stay in contact with me after the break up but I couldn't, it was too hard. I cut off communitcation with him, and moved to LA, not telling him where I was going. Seeing him today brought back all of those feelings from so long ago....and I knew that if Mike was here then Vic must be too......I had to get out. I just ran, I didn't even think about it. I couldn't face him, either of them," I said, looking down, scratching subconsciously at the scars on my wrist, the scars I gave myself.

Austin saw what I was doing and pushed my hands off, grabbing my wrist and rubbing gently at the scars with his thumb. He pulled me into a hug, kissing the top of my head over and over.

"Lyla, I'm so sorry. I had no idea." He responded.

"You didn't know. I haven't heard about them in so long; I had no idea they were still in a band, let alone on Warped Tour." I managed to choke out through my sobs. Austin pulled my face up to his, looking me in the eyes, wiping at my tears with his thumb.

"It'll be okay, Lyle," he whispered. I don't know what came over me but I leaned up, connecting my lips to his. I don't know why I did it. It mainly had to do with the fact that I was three sheets to the wind. I don't like Austin that way, but I needed to feel something besides numb. I wasn't all that surprised when he pushed me away.

"Lyla, c'mon you don't want to do this," he whispered, still looking at me. I know he didn't like me in that way either; we were great just being best friends, but right now I needed him. I pressed my lips to his forcefully, and this time he didn't pull away, but returned the kiss passionately. He pulled me on to his lap, and I straddled him, my legs on either side of his waist, wrapping around him as he sat on the couch. I put my hands in his hair, and he wrapped his arms around my waist. I could feel him wrestling with his thoughts, and he pulled away once again.

"Lyla-" I cut him off.

"Shut up, Austin," I whispered. I kissed him once again, this time forcing my tongue into his mouth. Our tongues battled back and forth as I pulled at the collar of his shirt. He tugged it off, throwing it across the room somewhere. I moved my hands over his tattooed chest as I kissed from his jawline down to his neck, eliciting a soft moan from his mouth. I continued to kiss down his neck until I found the spot I knew would get him, and I started to lick and bite at it, getting the response I had hoped for. He reached for my t-shirt, and I gladly helped him take it off, tossing it off in the distance. His hands moved up and down my sides and over my flat stomach and I returned my mouth to his, our tongues playing back and forth once more.

I reached my hands down, finding his belt, and started to undo it. I unbuckled the belt and undid his pants, trying to slide them off. He soon flipped me over so I was laying on my back on the couch, him hovering over me as he slipped his jeans the rest of the way off. He kissed my neck and I moaned loudly, unable to contain it. He grazed his hand across my back as he unhooked my bra, taking it off and tossing it to the floor. He planted kisses across my breasts and down my stomach as his shaky hands worked to get rid of my shorts. I helped him slide them down my legs, and I found myself reaching for his boxers and tugging them down, feeling his hardness beneath them, making him shudder as I grazed my hand across it.

He yanked my underwear off forcefully, before meeting my lips with his and slamming into me. I screamed out in the process, Austin's hand moving over my mouth to silence me since we weren't technically alone. He picked up pace, his face buried in my neck, his moans muffled by my skin. He removed his hand from over my mouth and grabbed my hand with his, interlacing our fingers, I bit down on his shoulder and dug the nails of my free hand into his back.

He slammed into me once more, screams coming from both of us as we reached our high. He kissed me sweetly once more before getting up off of me, walking across the room to grab a blanket. When he returned to where I was laying he laid down next to me, covering us with the blanket. I felt the tears well up in my eyes again, and I cound't contain them. I cried for a long time, Austin comforting me.

I wasn't sad about what had just happened, and I didn't regret it; I wouldn't. This has happened between Austin and I several times before. We just roll with it, usually never speaking about it again, and as strange as it sounds it makes us better friends.

I couldn't help but think back to seeing Mike, how I felt when I realized who he was, and I felt my heart sink when I realized at some point I would see Vic.

I cried and cried until I eventually drifted off into a deep, alcohol induced sleep.