Nyaaaa. Do I like this chapter? I have no idea! But I was listening to some of my favorite bands while writing it. So.. um.. yeah.

Also, thanks for the reviews! I get a warm feeling inside my heart when I hear someone likes my story. And no, I'm not being sarcastic. :p

-----------

Come over, she had said. I want to see you...

No one ever wanted to see a sorry sight like Johnny. That sick-looking boy with the styleless white t-shirt. No one seemed to be happy to see him when they saw dragging himself along the sidewalk. The people passed on, maybe raising an eyebrow at the most, but they didn't seem to care much about him at all. Usually, Johnny didn't enjoy seeing other people, either.

But when he knocked at Aria's door, Johnny was greeted by a warm smile. Even a strong hug. Behind her was an inviting couch, and a TV with some old movie playing. The coffee table had newspapers and a remote control strewn across it. It was obvious that people lived in the house, unlike Frank's house. He was constantly at work, and the woman.. who even knew where she was.

Sit down, she had said. And so Johnny did. He found a spot on the couch, resting against the tall arm-rest. The movie was near its end, he could tell. The main characters were saying their final words, saving each other from falling off the cliff, confessing their love, and whatnot. It was amusing to see how similar to a fairy tale the whole plot was. Everything ended up to be perfect; a happily ever after followed by hours of credits.

And then another movie started playing immediately after. "It's the movie channel," Aria explained to him when he stared at her, puzzled. "Nothing else is really on at midnight, anyway. Infomercials, is all."

"Hmm," was about all Johnny could say. It was funny, how the two barely spoke, but they never felt awkward. Aria rested her head on his chest. Things had been different ever since that day at the Lonely Road.

How long had it been? A month... at least.

Anyway, things were very different. Johnny didn't know if he liked the closeness or whether he loathed it, but he wasn't about to object to a friend... his only friend.

Silence, besides the conversations in the movie.

It was the romantic scene, the mandatory scene required for any movie. Aria looked up into Johnny's loyal eyes, and whispered, "I never thought I'd say this... but, I'd do anything for you." A spontaneous, almost materialized tear dripped down her face, and Johnny wiped it away gently with his fingers.

And suddenly, everything felt naturally right; happy. In a materialized sort of way, or a pure sort of way, Johnny wasn't sure. But, then again, he wasn't sure of anything.

"Oh, my God."

A teenage boy Johnny had seen around school came walking in through the garage door. "Do I live here?" the kid asked, fully disgusted.

He found Aria and Johnny, laying on the couch, wrapped up in what looked like a romantic tongue lock. Aria gripped somewhere up Johnny's shirt, oblivious to the other in the room. This lasted for a second. Immediately after realizing what was going on, Johnny jumped up, thrusting the girl away from him. She looked up for a few moments, and wailed, running into some other room. She didn't stop to say anything to Johnny.. she simply ran.

This made him confused. Not even a glance of apology? His emotions had shifted from a complete high to one of fight-or-flight. He, instinctively, sprinted for the front door. He furiously jiggled at the knob to find it was locked.

"Oh... oh, fuck! It's that little scrawny Johneethan kid! You... you, with my sister!"

Johnny jiggled the door again, this time kicking it and slamming up against it with all his might.

"You do know who I am, don't you?"

Johnny turned around, panting a little. And as soon as he did, he recognized the kid's face from his first day. He had been one of the ones who pulled him off of his own chair in the cafeteria. Towering above him, laughing, as he lay on the floor.

"Well, it's Alex," Alex explained, secretively pulling something out of a kitchen drawer. "Now, Robert told me if I ever saw you out of school, I was to kick your ass." He pulled out a large kitchen knife, that reflected the movie image in its blade. "Now, I don't like to call myself an over-achiever, but, seeing as you just raped my sister, or, God, I don't even know what..."

The blade inched closer and closer. Closer to Johnny's cornered little body. There was no way of escaping this kid, except going through him. Which probably wasn't going to happen. Johnny had never really known what it was like to know that you were going to die.

When you aren't faced with a choice of life or death, some people lean towards the "death" side, not really aware of what knowing you're going to die feels like. But when you're face to face with a blade, you realize how valuable life really is.

The situation filled his eyes with some angry, watery substance he had never felt before, either. Too many new things at once.

"I'd like to get the job done right," Alex finished. "You crybaby." Johnny gasped for a breath, when suddenly--

"SHIT!" Alex growled, as Johnny quickly grabbed his wrist, just before it was about to reach his neck, and the knife dropped to the floor. They both stood in a perfectly still stance, panting angrily, staring down first at the knife and then into each other's red eyes. "Oh, you little fuck. You think you're better than me. You... oh, God. What are you doing, in my house! Stay away from my sister, you sick little---"

In one swift motion, Johnny lunged to the ground, grabbed the knife, and, with one merciless motion, stabbed Alex's stomach. Alex collapsed to the ground, now dizzy from his pain. His impending death.

"I can promise you I won't ever be seeing your," Johnny paused, shivering, "sister." His knees were on the ground, palms being drowned in a puddle of red. Johnny shuddered, breaking one of the windows as quickly as possible, and rolling himself out. The angry liquid coming from his eyes came out faster and faster as he ran down the street. He dodged past honking cars and green traffic lights, unaware of anything.

He didn't like this feeling.

Upon reaching the bathroom, he stripped himself of everything he was wearing. Everything except what was underneath his clothes, at least. He turned the cold water on, as high as the pressure would get. He flushed his face with it, letting the cool water soothe his burning red face, and eyes. His hands were trembling. Had he really just done what he thought he did? He stared into the mirror, examining his shaking, half-naked self.

You sicken me.

Of course, he was talking about three people. First of all, himself. Second of all, Alex. And third, Aria. Yes, even that girl he had seemed "happy" with before.

He gripped the edge of the sink, clenching it as hard as he could. He leaned in, to get a closer look at himself. Now, he hadn't been scratched at all during the act of.. stabbing Alex. He hated himself for it. One side of him knew it was an act of self-defense. The other saw it as ... well, a murder.

Oh, that's priceless.

You're too weak to stand, huh? At least you could have been careful not hit your head on the edge of the bath...

He gasped for air like a fish out of water, shivering on top of the cold bathroom tile, his body still wet from splashing himself.

Cold on your bare skin, isn't it?

"Fuck."

Isn't it comforting to know that there's no one to hold your hair back in your time of need?

...While you're vomiting your insides out?

"Come over, I want to see you," Johnny growled mockingly. "I never want to see you again."

You better clean that up. No one else will.