NEW AN:

Okay, I've been going through some really hard times lately, including boy troubles that bordered on emotional abuse, so this is me getting my "teenage angst" out on paper. I've put a lot of emotion into this, so please review - it doesn't have to be much, just something like "please continue" or "please scrap" (but please, I have enough issues right now without "you suck", so only constructive criticism). And for those of you who haven't read "She Loves the Way He Lies" (though I highly recommend it) you don't have to to know what's going on here. Enjoy!
~AmbyrRose

. . .

So maybe I'm a masochist
I try to run
But I don't wanna ever leave
Until the walls are going up
In smoke with all our memories . . .
~Rihanna, "Love the Way You Lie (Part II)"

. . .

Beep . . . Beep . . . Beep . . .

Beep . . . Beep . . . Beep . . .

He called her beautiful. Maybe that's why she didn't see.

Everybody talked about her, she knew that well enough. Tori, the singer. Tori, the actor. Talented. That's what they called her. Talented Tori.

Everybody here was talented. That's how they got into this school. Would it be so hard for someone to call her beautiful?

Beep . . . Beep . . . Beep . . .

When he finally had, of course, she'd been flattered beyond belief. She knew the rumors. Bad boy, heartbreaker. She could handle that. She was Tori Vega. She'd taken on much worse.

Beep . . . Beep . . . Beep . . .

At first she didn't think she'd have to. He was all interlocked fingers and sweet hushed words, kickback slow dances and joking battles of wit. How she'd laughed. How she'd teased.

Beep . . . Beep . . . Beep . . .

The hospital was too quiet. The silence sank into her dreams, seeping through, tugging at memories best left hidden. She struggled, jerking away. Sleep. The only haven she had left. Well, actually, there used to be two, but the other one had probably gotten fed up with all this crap anyway and left her, so only sleep remained.

Maybe, just maybe, if she'd known that her other haven was sitting right next to her, if she'd known he hadn't moved for the past eight hours, if she'd known he was singing her song and holding her hand and stroking her hair, she would have been a little more likely to come back to herself. Even if the world outside had become a living hell.

He just stared at her face and cursed himself for ever letting this happen to his best friend.

Beep . . . Beep . . . Beep . . .

Beep . . . Beep . . . Beep . . .

Beep . . .

Beep . . .

Beep . . .