Many thanks to my amazing reviewers: Sassy Ava, xxxlil-miss-mercerxxx, Rmeyer90, and Gingermegs! You guys are awesome!

Yes, Dom is a complete butthead. :p but I love him anyway, I swear I do! :)

I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Mickey and Alex

Diamond in the Rough

Chapter 7: Just a Girl

By: LoveInk

Vince woke up feeling miserable. He was alone. Alex had had to go to some bogus rehearsal the night before and hadn't come back over. It was a rare occurrence that he woke up alone; he usually let himself into her house or she would sneak into his. This was the first night they hadn't slept next to each other in months. Sighing, he got up and took a shower. Once he was out, he brushed his teeth quickly before heading over to the fort. He was surprised to find the table relatively empty. Only Letty and Dominic remained seated. "Where is everyone?" he grunted, heading to the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee and breakfast from the oven.

"Michaela is at work, Lee is at work, Mia's in class, and Jess is still dead to the world since it's his day off," Letty explained quickly before pushing away from the table. "And I need to go to open the damn store. I'll see you boys later." She gave Dom a quick kiss and playfully mussed Vince's hair before walking out the door.

Vince sat down with his plate, digging in quietly. Dom cleared his throat. "You ready for tonight?"

He raised an eyebrow, wondering if Dom just trying to make conversation. How could he be ready to jump off one truck onto another? It wasn't something you could really practice. "Sure," he grunted in response.

"You take care of the girl?"

He stopped chewing, all of a sudden feeling sick to his stomach. He'd completely forgotten all about Dom's stupid idea. Swallowing, he tossed his fork down, done with his meal after two bites. "Fuck Dom, I'm not going to kill her."

"But you did break up with her? Last night?"

Vince shrugged a shoulder. "Not yet," he mumbled.

"Vince," Dom reprimanded, looking very unpleased. "When are you going to take care of it?"

"Would you stop talking about her like that?" Vince shouted, slapping a hand on the table.

He sighed and ran a hand over his bald head. "She's just a girl. Same as all the other girls at the races. She's nothing but trouble, V."

Vince took one last gulp of coffee and nodded. "Whatever, Dom," he said, standing to put his mug in the sink before heading for the door.

"Vince!" Dom called after him.

"Yeah?" he asked, turning around to glance at the bald man.

"Take care of it."

He rolled his eyes at Dom and opened the door. "Fucking bald-ass dickhead," he muttered under his breath as he headed to his Maxima. He started up the car, sighing as his music pumped through the stereo. Turning down the radio, he set his forehead on his steering wheel. This was not going to be easy. He decided to take the longest route to work he could while he thought of the best way to let the girl he cared for so much go.

"You're late," Leon called as soon as Vince stepped into the shop.

"Fuck off, Leon," Vince growled heading toward the car he was working on. He sat down on the creeper and slid under it. Staring up at the engine, he sucked in a deep breath before pulling out his phone.

Alex got home from the studio and threw herself on the couch. She'd had a particularly hard day with the Tiny Hip-hoppers. How she had let Fisher convince her to open a dance class for pre-schoolers, she'd never know. Rubbing at her temples, she tried to banish away a headache. The house phone rang making her wince. Grumbling tiredly, she stood and headed over to the phone. "Hello?"

"Hey Tiny," Vince's low voice came from the other end.

The fact he was calling her house should've tipped her off that something was not right; he usually called her cell phone because she always answered that phone. Calling the house phone was a hit or miss. "Hey big guy. What's up?" she questioned, a smile on her face.

"Can I come over? I need to talk to you," he said on a sigh. She could practically see him running his hands through his hair.

There was something in his voice that made her uneasy. Shaking her head, she ignored the notion. What could possibly have gone wrong in the few hours they'd been apart? Was he mad that she didn't go over to his house the night before? "Sure, baby. C'mon over."

She knew something was wrong when she heard his tires roll up the driveway with no music accompanying them; Vince only turned the radio off when he was thinking about something difficult. She opened the door to meet him on the porch. "What's wrong?"she asked immediately, her dark green eyes worried.

Vince felt his heart sink to the very bottom of his chest at her concern. No girl had ever been able to read him as well as Alex could. No girl had ever cared enough to learn how. "I don't…I can't..." He couldn't find the words to tell her. "Alex, I don't think we should see each other anymore," he said finally.

Her eyes widened in shock. "What?" she choked out, taking a few steps away from him. "Why?"

"I'm no good for you," he muttered, yearning to pull her into his arms as her face fell.

"Since when?" she questioned, her voice a few octaves higher than usual. He shrugged in response and she took in a deep breath. "Why are you doing this?" she demanded trying her best to keep from crying.

The despair on her face ripped Vince's heart in two, but he had to do it. It was for her benefit and his family's that he was ending it. "Because you deserve better," he muttered miserably. It was a true statement, but it wasn't the real reason he was breaking up with her.

Her hand brushed across her cheek in an attempt to hide the tears that were slowly falling, but he saw them. He'd never seen her cry before and was glad for it because watching those tears fall made him feel like he couldn't breathe. Unable to handle watching her cry, he turned away from her and walked back to his car as fast as he could, hoping that he wouldn't have to see her suffer anymore.

She stopped him by grabbing his wrist tightly in her hand. "What if I don't want better?" she demanded, her voice obstinate. She was not about to let him go, not without a fight. Her hand reached up to cup his face, forcing him to look at her. "Vince, I want you. I love you."

Vince felt like he'd been punched in the stomach. She loved him. He knew she meant it, could tell by the serious look in her dark green eyes. In that instant, he knew he loved her too. But he'd already gone too far to turn back, though. He had to do this. For his family. Swallowing hard, he managed to get out, "This is for the best, Alex, trust me."

That's when she caught it, a flicker of uncertainty in his eyes; it was gone just as quickly as it had come, but it had been there. "You don't want to do this," she said slowly. It wasn't a question, it was statement. "It's written all over your face, Vince, you don't want to-"

"Alex," he cut her off, taking her wrist in his hand and pulling it away from his face. He didn't deny her statement, but he wasn't about to tell her she was right either. "Don't. This is the right thing."

"No." She shook her head, feeling anger bubble up inside of her. Why was he doing this? They'd been fine yesterday. "You're wrong."

He glanced down at her small hand encircling his wrist. "Let me go, Alex," he urged softly.

She looked up at him, studying his face for any hint of what he was feeling. There was nothing there anymore. Whatever she had seen, he'd hidden it away quickly when she'd called him on it. "No," she replied defiantly.

"C'mon Alex, don't do this. Just let me go," he replied more sternly this time. When she didn't move, he wrenched his wrist forcefully away.

A broken gasp escaped her lips and he fought hard against the instinct to apologize. "How am I supposed to let you go?" she wondered angrily, her voice shaking. "You won't even give me a reason why!"

"I have to go," he said, opening his car door.

"Fine, run like the coward you are, Vince!" she spat at him, hoping it would get some kind of rise out of him. She was trying to make him angry, trying to make him feel something. She got nothing out of him; he slipped into the car and started the engine. "Go ahead," she continued loudly, "run back to Dominic! Tell him you're finally free!"

Vince winced at that one, wondering if she knew how right she was or if she was merely saying things to hurt him. Either way, the comment had stung. He pulled out of the driveway and sped away from her without turning to look back.

Alex watched him drive away, the tears in her eyes blurring the red glow of his taillights. That was it. He was done with her. Frustration and anger overwhelmed her. How could she have been so stupid? Trusting him like that. Telling him she loved him. Did she think that was going to make him stay? She had been warned about his penchant for short relationships and the way he used women. Why did she think she was any different? Because he treated you differently, her mind answered.

She slammed the front door shut behind her and leant against it. Where had she gone wrong? Had she missed something? Was she not good enough? She slid down the cold, hard surface until she hit the floor, gasping for breath as she felt her heart break. Pressing the heels of her palms into her eyes, she willed her tears to stop. He was gone. It was over. No amount of tears would bring him back.

Vince looked at his phone. He'd dialed her number and erased it more times than he could count. Every time he got up the nerve to call her, to apologize, he would remember what Dom had said and back down. This was the right thing to do. I did it for my family. She's just a girl. He repeated those words in his head over and over hoping that the repetition would make him believe it, make it hurt less. It didn't.

He took another sip of his beer, his sixth one. He'd bought a twelve pack on his way back from Alex's and was steadily working his way through it trying his hardest to dull the throbbing pain he was feeling in his heart. He hadn't felt pain that went so deep in a long time. Not since his parents had died. "She's just a girl," he finally said aloud as if saying them would make them sound true. "Just a girl." Yeah, but she loved you, he thought to himself as he sucked down what was left in the bottle.

Gah! Sorry its a bit of a downer! :(

Did you like it? Hate it? Wish something else had happened?

Let me know in a review!

~Love Ink