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This chapter is a long one! I hope you enjoy it and as always let me know what you think...
Disclaimer: I own nothing but Alex and the other characters that aren't from the movie…
The Blue Diamond
Chapter 29: Who I Am
By: LoveInk
Mia's eyes were as big as saucers as Alex led her backstage at the concert venue. There were so many things going on! Boxes filled with equipment were being wheeled around, the opening act was doing warm ups from her spot against the wall, guitars were being tuned, drums were being played, and through it all Alex looked unfazed. As they walked through the halls, people would shout greetings to her and she'd greet them like she'd known them all her life; throwing out the most random questions. "How do you remember all of these people?" Mia questioned incredulously.
"They're just like people at the races, Mi," Alex explained with a shrug of her shoulder. "You know all of their names, don't you?"
"Good point," Mia said with a laugh.
Alex was about to say something back when she was side swept by a beefy guy. He lifted her up off the ground by her torso and tossed her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. While she hung there, complaining loudly and cursing him, he flashed a dimpled smile at Mia. "Hi, I'm Ronnie Romero," he said his dark eyes gleaming with a childish light.
Mia had already known who he was. He was Eddie's younger brother and the "bad boy" of the group, or at least that's how he was marketed. She didn't see anything bad about him other than the fact he seemed to be torturing Alex. "Ron! Put me down you big gorilla!" Alex exclaimed, pounding fists against his muscled back.
"I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name," he continued his conversation with Mia as though there wasn't a girl draped over his shoulder.
"I'm Mia," she said with a giggle.
Instead of shaking the hand she held out for him, Ronnie pulled her into a side hug. "Nice to meet you, Mia. You're a lot prettier than Alex described you!"
"Ronnie!" a voice shouted down the hall. Mia pried her eyes away from Ronnie's gorgeous face to find Eddie heading toward them looking pissed off. "Would you stop acting like a child and put her down? You're making a fool out of yourself."
Ronnie set Alex down with a roll of his eyes. "Party pooper," he murmured so only Mia could hear before wrapping Alex in a bear hug that could put Vince's to shame. "Look at my beautiful little sister!" he exclaimed placing a loud kiss on her cheek.
"Ugh! Get off of me you weirdo!" Alex exclaimed pushing him off as she turned to Eddie. "Hey you, long time no see."
Eddie gave her a trite smile and a quick peck on the lips that was about as romantic as the kiss on the cheek Ronnie had just given her. "Hey, Lex. I've been missing you, baby girl," Eddie said with a tired sigh. Ronnie snorted in disbelief leaving Mia with the feeling that Eddie hadn't even noticed Alex's absence. He glared at his little brother before his eyes landed on Mia. "Who's your friend?"
"This is Mia. Mi, this is Eddie," Alex introduced with a smile.
"I've heard a lot about you," Mia said shaking Eddie's hand. He wasn't nearly as friendly as she would've thought.
The cocky grin on Eddie's face stirred a feeling of disgust in Mia. She knew that cocky grin well, her brother had a similar one and it always made her want to smack him when he used it. "I can't say that I'm surprised. We do have the number one album in the country right now."
"Okay, Mr. Humble," Alex said with a roll of her eyes. "Let's not delve into that right now. Don't you have a show to do in a few minutes?"
Eddie nodded. "I do. Nice meeting you, Mia." With that, he turned on his heel and headed back to his dressing room. Alex watched him leave, wincing when a scantily clad dancer walked by and her boyfriend gave the girl a quick slap on the bottom.
"Eddie!" Ronnie called out before giving Alex an apologetic glance and muttering, "You stupid asshole!" He chased after his brother and Mia watched as he smacked the back of Eddie's head.
Mia glanced at Alex and watched as her clench her jaw in irritation. "You're not going to get mad? He just smacked that girl's butt!" she exclaimed incredulously.
"I think Ron is angry enough for the both of us," Alex explained, running a hand through her hair.
"He's a good guy. Why don't you date him?" Mia questioned.
"I did," Alex answered with a small smile at Mia's shocked expression. "Back in middle school. He's way too much of a brother. It'd be like you dating Vince or something."
Mia knew exactly what she was talking about. Vince was a great guy and sometimes even a better brother to her than Dominic, but she would never ever see him that way. "That makes sense. But middle school? How long have you known them for?"
"The Romero's house is right by ours. Ronnie's my age, Eddie's my sister, Lena's, age, and their brother and sister fall somewhere in between my other sisters. We grew up together. Eddie was Lena's best friend so he was always over and when I was around thirteen, I fell in love with Eddie."
"And, let me guess, he didn't notice you until you were sixteen?" Mia finished with a raised eyebrow.
Alex shook her head. "Earlier. Fifteen. He noticed me when I started dating Ronnie."
"That's just wrong!" Mia exclaimed with a scowl. "He stole you from his own brother!"
"Oh no, of course not! Eddie would never do that to Ron! He waited until after we were done to step in. He really is a good guy at heart. He just does stupid things sometimes."
Mia shrugged. She didn't know Eddie well enough to comment so, for once, she kept her mouth shut. "Sure. Where's Fisher? Isn't he one of the dancers?"
"He's probably warming up with the rest of the dancers or changing the choreography up on them. He likes to keep them on their toes so the concert doesn't get too boring for the fans that go more than once," Alex explained with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Let's go to our seats, shall we?"
The seats were the best in the house. They were up with the sound people so there was no one blocking them and they had a clear view of the venue. The dance routines and light shows were impressive, but as cool as the show was, Mia couldn't enjoy it because she was disgusted with the band's lead singer. At least, she had been until he grabbed the mic and pointed up toward where they were seated. "Lexi, this one's for you, baby. It's a new one that I just wrote for my favorite person who happens to be here tonight."
As the guitar started playing and girls started screaming, Eddie sang the catchy love song. One line in particular made Mia re-think her first impression of Eddie: "It's known that I'm a liar, often they're blacker than white. Add on my uncanny ego, no one's less humble than I. But you don't care; you keep sticking around, while I'm acting a clown. You're bigger than me."
When the song was over, she turned to Alex with a big smile on her face expecting to see Alex just as happy as she was. She wasn't. In fact, she looked pissed off. "What's wrong? That song was so sweet! I totally misjudged him."
"Yeah, it was. It would've been sweeter if actually had written it," Alex replied through her teeth. She didn't comment more on it and Mia knew that asking her then would be a mistake; she'd wait until later to interrogate her. When the concert ended, Alex dragged Mia backstage where they ran into Fisher.
"Mia! What a surprise!" Fisher exclaimed giving her a sweaty hug. "Did you enjoy the show?"
"It was awesome, Fisher!" Mia replied enthusiastically. "The routines were perfect!"
"Why thank you!" he said, turning to Alex with a big smile on his face as he waited for her praise.
"Good job, Fish," Alex said half-heartedly. Her eyes wandered down the hall to where Eddie was heading into his dressing room. "Hey Mia, would you mind if I went and talked to Eddie privately?"
Mia nodded. "Sure! Go right ahead!"
"Wow, she's pissed," Fisher commented with a sigh. He glanced at Mia. "How much would you love to hear their conversation?"
"I don't know. She likes her privacy."
"C'mon! Just blame it on me!" Fisher said, already dragging Mia to the door next to Eddie's. You can hear everything in Ed's room from Ronnie's vent!"
Ronnie was inside leaning against a table, a bottle of water in his hand. He raised an eyebrow as the two hurried over to the vent. "You've heard that conversation a million times, Fisher. I'm surprised you don't know it by heart. I know I do."
"You shush," Eddie hissed at him.
Mia let out a giggle but stopped as soon as she heard Eddie's voice. "Let me guess, you're mad again."
"I can't stand it anymore, Eddie," Alex said, her tone frustrated. "I don't deserve this."
"Well that's new," Ronnie said unhitching himself from the wall and heading towards the vent. "She hasn't stood up for herself in a long time."
"Deserve what? Getting a song dedicated to you? Is that so terrible?" Eddie questioned sarcastically.
Alex snorted and Mia could picture her shaking her head at him. "A: That's Ronnie's song and if I remember correctly they lyrics were a lot more profane and insulting to you than the ones you just sang and B: the dedication loses its sentiment when only minutes before you were smacking some dancer's ass."
"It's a good luck thing, we all do it," Eddie claimed.
Ronnie shook his head. "No it's not," he murmured. "I hope she doesn't buy that."
"Since when?" Alex asked, doubt in her voice.
"Since…since…" Eddie faltered. "Okay, so it's my good luck thing."
"Since when?" she repeated.
He let out a long sigh. "Since you've been gone, Lexi! I need some action too, all right? I mean you've got that grease monkey here. Don't tell me you're not screwing him."
"I'm not," Alex answered honestly. Eddie paled ever so slightly, and she knew that was how he'd justified everything he'd done. "Are you telling me that you're screwing the dancers?"
"I have needs, Lexi."
A loud slap rang through the vent and Ronnie chuckled. "Atta girl. Smack him harder!"
Alex couldn't believe he'd said that. He had needs! That didn't justify anything! If she'd told him about Vince and explained it was because of her "needs", he would completely freak out! "I do too, Eddie. I need someone who is going to respect me," Alex stated, trying to keep her tears at bay. "And if you can't be that person, then it's over."
"Lexi, I respect you," Eddie tried.
She let out a light laugh. "Smacking another girl's butt and then telling me you're screwing the dancers because you have needs! Yeah, that's real respectful."
"I'm not perfect, you know."
"I'm not asking you to be. I'm asking you to stop sleeping with other girls when you supposedly love only me!"
"But you're never around anymore! Maybe if you'd come back on tour with us!" Eddie was grasping at straws now. So he played the only card he had left. "Plus, you kissed that guy! Don't deny it either! I heard Ronnie and Fisher talking about it!"
She felt like someone had kicked her in the stomach. Was she being a hypocrite? No, she thought with a shake of her head, no, that was different. She hadn't sleep with him after all…well, she had but she hadn't had sex with him. "Are you going to compare kissing someone to fucking someone?"
"At least when I fuck someone, there's no feelings involved!" Eddie shouted back.
Alex shook her head. "What feelings? I've only had feelings for you since I was thirteen!"
"Then why did you kiss him, Lexi?"
"Why do you cheat?" she shot back at him. Eddie's mouth started to form words but he just shrugged in response. She ran a hand through her hair and sighed. "What are we doing here, Eddie?"
He sighed and sat down heavily on the couch, letting his head fall into his hands. "I don't know, Lexi. What happened to us?"
Alex sat down next to him, resting her head against his shoulder. "We grew up. We're not the same people anymore."
"I know. I knew when you left the tour that it wouldn't work out, so I pushed you away," he explained leaning his head against hers. "I'm sorry."
"Me too," she murmured. "This is it, isn't it? Five years down the drain."
Eddie swallowed thickly and nodded. "I guess so."
"Wow," Alex breathed, a slow tear making its way down her face.
"Yeah," he agreed, rubbing at his eyes tiredly. "Can we still talk though?"
She let out a slow breath. "Sure. I mean, we'll still see each other at home and stuff."
"My fans are going to flip."
"Our parents are going to flip."
Mia, Fisher, and Ronnie stepped back from the vent, each of them in shock as Alex and Eddie's conversation turned into one about their families with no mention about what had just occurred. "Did they just break up?" Mia asked on a breath.
Fisher nodded, stunned. "Uh-huh."
Ronnie whistled and shook his head. "Unbelievable. They slipped right back into being friends, after all that. I bet it hasn't even hit them yet."
"They're both going to be devastated when it does," Fisher said in agreement.
It was then that the doorknob turned before slowly opening. Alex stood behind it looking completely worn out. Ronnie wrapped her in a tight hug before kissing her forehead. She pulled away and smiled up at him. "You heard?"
Ronnie nodded to Fisher and Mia. "They were curious."
"Well, at least I don't have re-hash it," she said softly. "You ready to go, Mia?"
Mia gave her a sad nod before giving a quick goodbye hug to Ronnie. The big guy held her close and whispered into her ear, "Take care of her."
"Of course," Mia murmured back.
Mia and Alex walked in silence back to Alex's Jeep. She cautiously got into the passenger's seat and watched Alex jump into the driver's side. She sat there for a second staring at the wheel and then suddenly, a surge of anger made her slam her fist into the side of the wheel. "Shit," she muttered before pressing her forehead to the top of the wheel. "Shit," she repeated, a tear falling down her cheek.
"Aw, honey," Mia said placing a comforting hand on Alex's shoulder.
"Sorry," Alex said shaking her head while wiping away her tears.
Mia furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "For what?"
"That you had to hear that," she answered. Swiping at her tears, she let out a light laugh. "I swear, I'm not normally this much of a crybaby."
"Lex, I'd be worried if you weren't crying," Mia assured her, smiling softly as she rubbed the girl's shoulder. "C'mon, let's go rent some crappy movies and eat our feelings."
Alex laughed before sniffling. It sounded like such a girly thing to do. She wasn't used to girly, she had always been "one of the guys" for lack of a better option. Girls usually avoided her because she'd rather learn a new skateboard trick than learn how to braid hair. "Does that really help?"
Mia shrugged a shoulder. "It helps take your mind off things."
"Sounds like a good plan to me."
"Yes!" Mia agreed with a happy smile. "All right. We can get some cookie dough, chocolate frosting, and some of Dom's movies; they're all terrible. That should be perfect."
And that was exactly what they did. Letty joined them after her work, bringing along with her a bottle of tequila, a bag of ice, and some margarita mix. They played drinking games as they watched and wound up completely trashed. "Lex, girl, have you told Vince you're single yet?" Letty questioned from where she was lounging on Alex's couch.
"Nope!" Alex replied from her spot splayed out on the floor. "Should I?"
Mia sat up and nodded. "Oh my gosh, yes! Call him now!"
"Okay!" She giggled and grabbed her cell phone. She searched through it, her brows furrowed in concentration. "Found it!"
"Well, call it!" Letty ordered with a smirk. "What are you going to say?"
"I don't know," Alex slurred as she held the phone up to her ear. "But it's ringing!"
Vince groaned as his phone vibrated on his bedside table. He spared a glance at the clock, glaring at the red numbers that told him it was four in the morning. Picking it up, he raised his eyebrows. "Tiny?" he asked as he hit the answer button. "It's four in the morning. What's going on?" That's when he heard three different, drunken giggles. "Are you drunk?"
"No, of course not," Alex denied before bursting into giggles. "Okay, maybe a little."
"Is that Mia and Letty I hear with you?"
"Yeah! They're here!" she answered, her voice higher than usual. "Girls night!"
Letty 's husky voice chimed in. "Tell him!"
"Oh yeah! That's why I called," she exclaimed and he heard a thump in the background. "Guess what I did tonight?"
Vince let out a low chuckle. "Drank way too much alcohol?"
"Um yeah! That is true! Letty makes delicious margaritas, Vinny. You should try them!"
He cringed at the nickname and prayed it wouldn't stick when she was sober. "I bet she does. What's going on, Tiny? Why'd you call me?"
"Oh! Why did I call you? Hold on, talk to Mia for a sec," she said before tossing the phone to Mia.
Mia giggled drunkenly as she picked up the phone. "She'll be back. She just went to the bathroom to say hello to the toilet."
"I'm coming over," Vince said, already halfway out of his bed.
"See! That's why she should date you! Eddie would never have gotten out of bed to help her! You're great, Vince. You know that?"
"Sure, Mi. I'll see you in a bit."
Vince pounded on the door until Letty opened the door looking completely sober. "She's in the bathroom," she stated jerking her head back. "She's had a hard night."
"I bet she has," he commented, glaring at her as he walked past. "Why are you sober?"
Letty shrugged, walking with him to the bathroom. "Someone had to be. Mia's passed out in Fisher's bed. Lex is…well, here she is."
Alex was lying on the floor, her eyes closed in sleep. Her hair was pulled back in a low ponytail, strands of it falling in front of her face. He picked her up easily and walked her down the hall. He found her room easily enough, it had a simple lime green 'A' painted on the door. Setting her down on the bed, he turned to Letty. "What happened here?" he asked, brushing a hair out of her face.
"She broke up with Eddie tonight," Letty answered from where she was leaning against the door frame.
Vince looked up in shock. "Are you serious?"
"Oh yeah," Letty said with a nod. "Right after his concert. Apparently, it was a mutual thing and they're still friends but she seemed pretty broken up about it."
"You think she'll be okay?"
She nodded. "Yeah, of course. She has you."
He smiled as he sat at the end of Alex's bed. "Do you think I have a chance?"
"Check out the picture next to her bed and then you tell me," she answered, nodding toward the picture frame on the nightstand. Vince glanced back in the direction Letty had nodded to and found the photograph taken the time he'd helped her escape Mia's makeover. It was a black and white picture with the sun shining just right so it lit up just a part of his face, his eyes. "The nearest picture she has of Eddie is over there on her dresser. That's got to say something about how she feels for you. Now, I'm going to check on Mia."
"Yeah. See ya." He waited until Letty was out of sight before he leant over Alex, gently shaking her shoulder to wake her up. "Tiny. Wake up!"
Alex stirred slightly before her dark green eyes opened, blinking a bit before focusing on Vince's face. "Hey big guy," she murmured sleepily. "What are you doing here?"
"Making sure you three survive the night," he joked with a smirk. "Nice picture you got there."
"I told you it'd be a good one," she said, groaning as she got out of bed. "Pajama time." With that, she pulled off her shirt revealing a lacy black bra with tiny lightning bolts all over it.
Vince's eyebrows shot up as he took in the smooth caramel skin that covered the soft curve of her back. He could not believe she was undressing in front of him. She caught his glance over her shoulder and a sexy smirk turned up the corner of her lips. It took all of his self control not to attack her, but then, to add insult to injury, she walked over to him and stood right in front of him before raking her fingers through his hair. He swallowed hard, his hands reaching up to grab her hips. "What are you doing?"
"I broke up with Eddie," she said, leaning forward to press her forehead to his. "I'm free."
"I know."
"I'm all yours now," she stated, her breath smelled of alcohol and sunscreen. She leant in and caught his lips in a kiss.
He dug his hands into her hair as he deepened the kiss, loving the way she tasted of tequila and something else, something sweeter. All he wanted to do was give into his urges and flip her onto the bed, but he pulled away. "Tiny, stop. This isn't right."
A brief look of hurt passed over her face before she nodded in understanding. "You're right," she agreed on a sigh. She moved to sit next to him, her cheeks red with embarrassment. "I'm sorry, big guy."
He let out a breath. Turning her down was one of the hardest things he'd done in his life, but he was no girl's rebound…well, none that he knew of at least. "Why don't you go get something more comfortable on" Vince suggested, gesturing toward the pajamas lying on the floor next to the bed. "In the bathroom, though…please."
"Good idea," she said, standing and skipping toward the bathroom. She changed into a pair of lime green sweat-pant board-shorts with dancer emblazoned across the butt and a black beater. Vince was lying back on the edge of the bed with his eyes closed trying to control the lust Alex's little strip tease had left him with. "Are you sleeping?" she questioned, poking his bicep right on the tattooed eagle's head.
He opened one eye and nodded. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I can go now."
"You can stay the night, you know," she offered. It was her subtle way of telling him she didn't want to be alone. "It's not like we haven't shared a bed before."
He got the hint. With a low chuckle, he shucked off his jeans and hoodie before lying on the bed beside her clad only in his boxers and a black wife beater. "Spill it, little one," he said looking over at her.
Her dark green eyes glittered as they looked back at him. "He was cheating with the dancers the whole time I was gone. There's no justification for that, V. No way I can convince myself that what he did was okay. So it's over."
"You hurting?"
Alex shrugged a shoulder and nodded. "Sure. I feel like the world's biggest idiot. I have been off the tour for months and no one thought to clue me in on the fact he was cheating. He wasn't doing it discreetly either, I'm sure of it. It just hurts to think that I wasn't good enough…that he needed other people to "fulfill his needs" while I wasn't there."
"He's an ass," Vince commented, not knowing what else to say.
She shook her head. "No, we just grew up and apart. We both want and need different things now. I just wish it hadn't taken us five years to figure it out." With a sigh, a small tear fell down her cheek. "I'm just…lost. As ridiculous as it sounds, I don't know who I am without him, you know? Ever since I was sixteen, I was Eddie's girlfriend. Now…who am I?"
"I know who you are," he responded confidently.
His words made a stampede of butterflies invade her chest. She hadn't known him for that long which made it seem improbable that he was telling the truth, but he seemed so sure. "Who am I then?"
He sighed, folding his arms underneath his head. "I could give you this long and corny speech, but I'm not going to because it'll make you fall in love with me and we can't have that," he joked with a smirk on his face to let her know he wasn't being serious. "Honestly, I think deep down, you know exactly who you are. You just need to think about it. It'll probably help to be sober."
"Can I have a clue?" she pried, giggling at his previous comment.
Vince's blue eyes roamed around the dimly lit room. "Was lime green one of Eddie's favorite colors?"
"No, it's been mine since I was eight," she said, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Why?"
He gave her a shit-eating grin. "Who you are is someone who likes lime green, then," he answered, chuckling when she groaned in response before hitting him with a pillow.
She laid her head on his chest gently for a brief moment before a thought came into her head. "Hey! I'm single now."
"Yeah and…"
"You said you only sing to single girls," Alex pointed out with a grin.
Vince chuckled, lightly brushing some hair out of her eyes. "You want me to sing to you?"
"Yeah," she said, nodding excitedly. "Please."
He started to hum a tune before his humming became soft singing. She wasn't surprised that he was a good singer. At that moment, she forgot about everything that had happened; Eddie wasn't even a blip on her radar. Everything was Vince, and she was okay with that. More than okay with that. She would have no problem lying like that with him forever. And as conceited as it sounded, she knew he wanted her. He hadn't exactly been secretive about it. But it was unclear what he wanted from her. Another one night stand? A friendship with benefits? A relationship? She let out a soft sigh. Now was not the time to think about it. Cuddling closer to him, she let his soft, rough voice lull her to sleep.
The song Eddie sings is "Bigger" by the Backstreet Boys. I'm a big BSB fan. Have been since I was seven! :) This song is off their new (ish?) CD which isn't as good as their old ones but still fun to listen to. I definitely suggest checking it out! ;)
The song Vince sings to her...well, I'll leave that up to your imagination. Let me know what you think would be the perfect song for that part! I had one in mind while writing it but I think it's fun to leave it to the imagination... :)
Did you like the chapter as a whole?? Do you have a favorite part of the fic so far? (I'll try and add more of these) Least favorite part? (I'll do less of these)
Let me know!!
~Love Ink
