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Here's chapter 4! As always, your reviews are greatly appreciated! ;)

Diamond in the Rough

Chapter 4: Carried Away

By: LoveInk

Alex walked back into the room with a sandwich on one plate, a sliced apple on another and a jar of Nutella under arm. "There you go big guy," she said, handing him the plate before getting on the bed.

His eyebrows rose in surprise. When she'd gotten out of bed to get a snack, he'd jokingly asked her if she could make him a sandwich, but he hadn't anticipated her actually listening to him. "I wasn't really expecting…"

She gave him a soft smile as she shrugged a shoulder. "Seemed like you were having a tough night. Thought I'd do my best to make it better."

Vince felt his heart swell with an emotion he couldn't quite name, but it felt great. Suddenly, his whole dispute with Dom didn't seem so bad. He leant over and kissed her forehead. "You're the best."

"I know," she said with an arrogant shrug of her shoulder. "You want to talk about it?"

He shook his head as he took a bite of the sandwich. "Not really," he muttered around the mouthful of food.

"Mmkay," she said, dipping her apple slice straight into the jar of Nutella.

Once again, he looked at her in complete shock. Never had he been able to tell a woman he didn't want to talk about something and have her just say "okay." The three girls he was used to would push and push until he told them, which only put him in a worse mood. He wracked his brain, trying to think if this was something unusual for Alex and came up blank. He usually just told her what was bothering him when she'd asked. "Thanks."

She glanced over at him, her green eyes mystified. "For what?"

"For not pushing. The other girls, they push and they whine until I'm ready to beat the crap out of them."

Alex shrugged a shoulder. "Yeah because I really want you to feel that way about me," she said, foregoing the apple slices and dipping her finger straight into the Nutella jar.

"Is that why you don't push? Because you're scared of me?" he asked around a bite of sandwich.

She shook her head exaggeratedly. "I don't know why you think you're so scary," she muttered more to herself than to him. "I don't push because I don't see the need to. It's not like you went to the basement with some girl, you went down there with Leon, Jesse, and Dominic. Whatever it was you were talking about is between you guys. If you want to unload, I'm here. If not, there's really nothing I can do about it."

"But you're not mad?" he clarified.

"No," she assured him with a light laugh. She wasn't surprised it was taking so long to convince him. She had been forced to talk about something she didn't want to talk about by Mia and Michaela before; it was an exhausting experience for all parties involved. "Unless you four stash girls down there- which I highly doubt because last time I was down there, it was disgusting- I'm not mad."

He nodded as if he understood and she went back to eating. With her attention off of him, he took the opportunity to study her. She wasn't wearing much, just her usual bikini top with a pair of his boxers, clothes she'd only thrown on in case Mickey or Leon were around when she went to get food. She was sitting cross-legged on the sheets, giving him a view of her back. Her smooth caramel skin was marred with scratches from his short fingernails and marks from his beard. A few spots on her neck stood out, an angry red color in the light that flooded in from the window. He'd been too rough with her that he knew, could tell by the finger-shaped bruises starting to show on her hips and thighs. He'd taken all the anger he'd felt at Dom and let it fuel their love making. "I'm sorry, Tiny," he muttered, sitting up and gently running a finger over one of the marks on her back.

She looked at him, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "For what?"

"I hurt you," he said, gently grazing a particularly dark mark on her neck with his knuckle.

She smiled. "Don't worry about it, big guy. I got you back," she said looking at his arm before giving him a wink.

He looked down to find three thin scratches along his upper arm. "Somebody got a little carried away," he teased, smiling when a wicked grin turned up the corner of her lips.

"I had to get you back somehow," she said with a devilish grin. "Are you feeling better?"

Vince polished off his sandwich and nodded. "That was a good sandwich. Thank you, babe," he said leaning over to give her a kiss.

She pushed his face away with Nutella covered fingers, leaving the stuff on his face. "Don't call me that!" she said, giving him a playful glare. He knew that she hated that nickname. She could stand "baby" or "sweetheart" or anything else but "babe" just grated on her nerves.

He blinked at her, his face covered with Nutella. "Oh you're going to get it," he muttered, lunging for her. She was already up and out of the bed, sprinting down the hall.

After pulling on boxers, he chased her down the stairs where they almost ran into Michaela. She looked at them with wide eyes. "What the hell? If this is some kind of sick sex game…"

"It's not," Alex said quickly, giggling when Vince ran into her back.

Michaela eyed the darkening, finger-shaped bruises on Alex's waist before her eyes traveled to the thin claw marks on her brother's arm. She shook her head at them before clearing her throat. "Lex, can I steal my brother? I need to talk to him."

"We're kind of busy, Mickey," Vince stated, wrapping his arms around Alex's bare torso. "Can it wait?"

A brief look of hurt passed over Michaela's features, it was apparent that whatever was bothering her was important and couldn't wait. Alex gave her a reassuring smile. "Babe, we can continue later," she said reaching up to scratch the back of his neck soothingly.

"Babe, huh?" he asked, dropping his arms from around her waist.

"Annoying, huh?" she shot back at him with a teasing smile as she skipped to the couch. "Go ahead, I'll watch some TV."

"Wash your hands before you touch my couch," Vince said before turning back to Mickey. "Let's make this fast."

Michaela nodded and begun the trek up the stairs. She stopped in front of her own room and opened the door. At his questioning look, she shrugged a shoulder. "There's no way in hell I'm going anywhere near your bedroom right now. I don't know what you guys were doing in there."

Alex washed the Nutella off her hands with a small smile. She'd left Vince covered in it. With a light laugh, she skipped over to the couch and plopped down on it. She'd just found a decent channel when she heard the door open and shut behind her. Leon walked in, his shoulders slumped, head down. "Hey you," she greeted him casually. "What's wrong?"

"Mickey here?"

She nodded and pointed upstairs. "Talking to Vince. You guys fight?"

"Yeah," he said on a sigh as he threw himself on the couch next to her. "She's being stubborn and usually I just let her win, but this time, I'm right."

"Can Vince prove you're right?"

Leon shrugged a shoulder. "I don't know. It's about Dom and whether he said something offensive to V or not. She doesn't believe he'd say something mean about his "best friend" when I clearly heard him say it."

"Dom's a touchy subject with them, huh?" she commented offhandedly.

"What'd you say?" he asked, wondering if she knew from experience.

Alex sighed. "I may have mentioned that he didn't like me. Vince got all defensive and I had to apologize before he got all sad puppy about it."

"Dom doesn't like you," Leon stated easily. "He's said it before. Not to Vince, but to the rest of us. You give Vince a life of his own and Dom can't handle that."

"I knew it!" she exclaimed with a grin. It didn't really bother her that Dom didn't like her. It wasn't like he'd really tried to get to know her and found her to be an awful person, he just resented the time she spent with Vince. She wasn't surprised, she usually felt that way about Fisher's boyfriends in the beginning. "I wasn't crazy after all!"

He smirked. "Well, let's not go that far."

She smacked his arm in mock offense. "So you were coming over here to apologize then?"

"Sort of. I was going to apologize for saying she had a thick-ass skull. I was hoping it'd get me somewhere."

Alex laughed at his gall. "You called told her she had a thick-ass skull? Rookie mistake."

"Shut up."

"You're lucky she didn't smack you."

He chuckled and nodded. "I could see her thinking about it."

"I just wanted to smack him so bad!" Michaela exclaimed as she paced the room. Vince was sitting on her bed in just his boxers, annoyed at his little sister's interruption of what was supposed to be a fun night. "I couldn't believe he was saying!"

He rolled his eyes. She had been saying the same thing for the past ten minutes. "Mickey, what exactly did Leon say?" Vince asked finally.

"He told me Dom said you have to jump the trucks because apparently you have less to lose. But that can't be. Dom wouldn't say that, not to you. Right?"

He let out a long sigh, hanging his head down slightly as the conversation and all the emotions that went with it came surging back to him. "Wrong."

Michaela's eyes widened. "He said that to you?"

"Yeah," he answered, running a hand over his hair. "But you know Dom, he didn't mean it like that. He just didn't say it right."

"You sure? That's a little harsh, V. You know, Lee took it to mean that Dom thought you were expendable."

Vince shrugged a shoulder. "Dom doesn't think that much. He definitely didn't mean that."

"So Leon was kind of wrong," Michaela stated more to herself than to her brother.

He rolled his eyes in response. "Does it matter? Can I get back to my girlfriend now?"

"You've got Nutella on your face and neck. What were you two doing?"

"Don't worry about it," he said with a wicked grin. "Are you done?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "That's my Nutella, you know."

"Tell Tiny. She was the one eating it," he said getting up slowly. "Go apologize to Lee for being stubborn," he ordered her, pushing her towards the door.

"I'm not stubborn, I'm right," she mumbled.

Vince snorted, shaking his head at her. "You realize you were wrong."

She shrugged a shoulder. "Only a little."

He chuckled as he opened the door and headed toward the stairs. He found Leon sitting on his couch while Alex was nowhere to be seen. "Where's Tiny?" Vince questioned from his spot at the top of the stairs.

Leon nodded toward the opposite side of the couch. "She fell asleep on me mid-conversation. What the hell did you do to her? She's covered in marks."

Vince smirked. "Might've gotten a little carried away."

"Ya think?" Leon said, a protective look on his face as he glanced at the sleeping girl next to him. Shaking his head, he remembered why he came over in the first place."Mickey up there?"

"Yeah. I've convinced her she's half wrong. Either take it and make up or leave it and suffer another one of her annoying speeches," he said on a shrug.

He sighed, running a hand over his slicked back hair. "I'll take it," he muttered on a sigh.

"Take her back to the fort, Lee. Remember our bet," Vince said as he approached the couch.

"Give me a minute. I have to think," he replied, running his hands through his hair.

Vince gave him a disapproving glare, but didn't say anything. He crouched down next to the couch, putting his face level with Alex's. "Tiny," he whispered, reaching out a hand to gently stroke her hair. When she didn't wake up, he slipped his arms underneath her and lifted her up off the couch.

Halfway up the stairs, she stirred slightly, nuzzling her face into his neck. "You awake?" he questioned.

His voice rumbled through his chest, making her grin. "No," she said sleepily. She loved the warm, safe feeling she felt when he held her. With a sneaky grin, she started trailing kisses along the column of his neck.

"I thought you weren't awake," he teased, dipping his head to kiss her shoulder.

She nipped at his neck inciting a low growl from Vince. "You taste like Nutella," she whispered, her breath hot against the skin of his neck. "I love Nutella."

He chuckled, walking just a little bit faster. "Maybe you can help me get it off then," he said, setting her on her feet on top of the bed.

She bounced up and down on the balls of her feet, her arms looped around his neck. Leaning forward, she licked some off his cheek before giving him a naughty smile. "I think we can work something out."

Michaela could hear Alex's giggling from her spot in the hall. When her brother's low growl joined it, she sprinted towards the stairs. Hearing her brother and her friend get it on was not on the list of her favorite things to do. From her spot at the top of the stairs, she could see Leon. He was sitting on the couch, his elbows on his knees, his head bent down so his fingers could run through his hair. She smiled briefly, as butterflies fluttered in the pit of her stomach. She couldn't believe she'd ever doubted him.

His head lifted and turned, green eyes falling on her. "Hey Princess," he greeted, his voice husky. "Look, I'm sorry for…"

She sat down next to him, a small smile playing at the corner of her lips. "For what?" she asked intrigued. He hadn't done anything wrong, but she was curious as to what he'd come up with.

"Uh…I…" he stammered, searching his mind for something, anything.

She quieted him by pressing a finger to his lips. "Baby, you have nothing to be sorry about. I'm sorry for not trusting you."

"So I was right?" he asked with a grin.

"Yes."

"And you were wrong?"

Michaela bit her lip. She wasn't about to admit that, no matter how true it was. "No, I wasn't wrong. I just wasn't all the way right."

Leon chuckled. "No, I'm pretty sure you were wrong," he teased.

She rolled her eyes before a sneaky smirk turned up the corner of her lips. "I bet I can convince you otherwise," she said, tackling him with a kiss.

He caught her easily as she forced him down on the couch, wrapping his arms tightly around her waist. Her hands played with his hair as they made out like teenagers complete with awkward over the clothes groping and tons of laughing.

They only stopped when they heard the sound of a whipped cream bottle being sprayed followed by a shrill scream and loud footsteps. Michaela sat up, still straddling Leon, and looked up toward the stairway where Alex appeared covered in whipped cream with Vince chasing after her, yielding the can like a gun. She grabbed a spoonful of Nutella from the jar in her hand and flung it at him and he sprayed her again.

They chased each other towards the back door and out into the backyard. Minutes later, a splash was heard. Michaela and Leon exchanged disgusted glances. "They are so weird," Michaela muttered, rolling her eyes.

Alex laughed as Vince grabbed her around the torso, hauling her up and throwing her over the water. She landed with a splash and shot out of the water, a huge smile on her face. "Again!" she exclaimed on a laugh. She kicked towards him before jumping on him, her arms sliding around his neck. "You know what I've always wanted to try?"

"Pool sex?" he asked hopefully.

"What makes you think I haven't tried that?"

A naughty grin spread across his face as he shrugged. "The fact that you're blushing like a school girl in her first sex-ed class."

Alex silently cursed herself for blushing. "Fine, I'll give you that," she said with a roll of her eyes. "You're close, but it's not what I meant."

"But now you're considering it?" he questioned, his eyebrows raising suggestively as his hands squeezed her butt.

"No! Stop that," she said slapping his cheek playfully. "Are you listening to me or fantasizing?"

He shrugged a shoulder. "A little of both now," he admitted, at her angry look, he chuckled. "I'm listening, Tiny. What would you like to try?"

"An underwater kiss."

He raised an eyebrow. "You, Queen of the surf, have never tried an underwater kiss?"

She shook her head, making water fly off her wet hair. "Eddie didn't like to get his hair wet."

"Good thing I don't mind," he growled before bending his knees so they were both submerged completely.

Michaela and Leon watched them disappear underneath the surface of the water. "You don't think they're…" Leon trailed off, a look of disgust on his face.

"They can't. Vince can't hold his breath that long," Michaela stated confidently. An impish grin spread across her face. "How badly do you want to crash their party?"

Leon smirked; he'd love that. "They'll be pissed. They won the house."

"So?" she asked, pulling her shirt over her head before shimmying out of her jeans. "Who gives a shit? Let's go!"

She was already off and bounding toward the pool before Leon could even get his pants off. She jumped into the pool just as Alex and Vince surfaced. Leon followed after her before shouting, "Cannonball" and plunging into the pool.

Vince rolled his eyes at his sister and friend before pulling Alex to his chest. "I swear we won the house for a few nights," he murmured to her.

Alex nodded. "We did, but then they got in a fight," she explained, her fingers toying with his hair, messing up the perfect slicked back do he had when he'd come up out of the water.

He buried his face in her neck. "So?" he mumbled against the skin there, tickling her with his beard.

"Vince," she said on a giggle. He pulled away and looked at her, his eyebrows raised in question. Leon was making faces at her while Michaela floated peacefully on her back. "I think you guys have all had difficult nights," she said, loud enough for them to hear.

The understanding and care in her eyes made that warm feeling he was starting to become familiar with spread through his stomach. He pressed a kiss to her lips. "Mine was getting better."

"I'll make it up to you tomorrow morning," she said giving him a wink. Michaela made a retching noise in response which was met with a discreet middle finger from Alex.

"Yeah?" he asked, eyes hopeful.

Alex nodded, kissing him again. "Definitely. Let's beat these two party crashers at a chicken fight first."

Michaela sat up, her blue eyes dancing excitedly as she swam towards Leon. "Oh you are so on!"

Love it? Hate it? Want more? Review!

~Love Ink