This is probably one of my favorite chapter in this story. I don't know why, I just really love it. :)

Many thanks to: Sassy Ava (sorry I didn't thank you in the last one! I got your review seconds after I uploaded it!), sweetist of sin, Violet201, and xxxlil-miss-mercerxxx

This chapter is named after the AMAZING song "Need You Now" by Lady Antebellum. I didn't listen to the song while writing it, but it captures the feeling of this chapter pretty well.

As always, your reviews are much appreciated! :D I'm studying for two HUGE midterms so any distraction is welcome! :)

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Mickey and Alex

Diamond in the Rough

Chapter 11: Need You Now

By: LoveInk

Vince approached her house knowing he shouldn't be there. It was late and he was drunk, but he needed to see her. Needed some type of assurance that she was still there. He wanted her to tell him everything was going to be all right, even though he knew it wasn't.

Alex looked at the half-filled suitcase of her bed, wrinkling her nose in distaste. She did not want to go on tour especially since Eddie was there. He was a complete pain in the ass. Every day since they'd broken up he'd call to "see how she was doing" and then beg her to take him back. Their CD sales had dropped drastically after they broke up and word got out that he was a cheater. He figured if they got back together, things would change. "Stupid," she murmured to herself. Why couldn't she just find a normal guy?

Opening her closet, she picked up the old blue jersey that lay stuffed in the corner. It was Vince's; he'd given it to her just last month. Had it really been that long? Sighing, she picked it up and buried her nose in the soft fabric. His smell was still there, but it was fading. Sniffing she threw it into the suitcase. She was close to letting him go like she wanted, but not close enough to throw that away. Bringing it on tour would be like bringing a small piece of her life in LA with her.

The sound of the doorbell made her jump. She checked the clock. It was almost two in the morning. Fisher was gone for the night and Ronnie was picking them up in the afternoon tomorrow so they could all head out to the airport together. There was no one else she could think of that would be at her door so late. Standing on her toes, she tried to see through the peep hole. A small gasp left her lips. "Go away Vince!" she shouted through the closed door.

"Tiny, c'mon!" she heard him yell through the door as he pounded his fist against it. "Talk to me!"

"No! Leave!" she shouted as she pressed herself against the wall, her mind racing. What was he doing there? Hadn't he left her? He kept knocking on the door, pleading with her to open it. She heard one last, loud bang followed by a roar of pain. Without thinking, she ripped open the door to see if he was okay. He was holding his fist to his mouth in an attempt to staunch the bleeding of his split knuckles. "What did you do?"

"Punched the wall," he muttered.

Alex glared at him and then back down at his bleeding hand. She breathed in a long breath through her nose, trying to keep calm. "Let me see that," she said grabbing his injured hand. Two of his knuckles were split. She sighed heavily. "I'll wrap it up but then you're going home. Did you drive here?"

"Yeah." He staggered forward as she pulled him into the house and towards the bathroom.

"Drunk?"

"Yeah."

"Are you stupid?" she questioned angrily. "You could've killed yourself driving in the state you're in!"

Vince shrugged, sitting down on the toilet while he watched her look for her first aid kit. "I needed to see you."

She paused briefly, shaking her head to erase what he'd said. If she let it sink in, she was bound to get hurt in the long run. She pulled out the first aid kit and set it on the counter, opening it up and rifling through it.

He watched her small hands as they sorted clumsily through the box. Her lips were moving quickly as she swore to herself in Portuguese. "I missed you," he said interrupted her stream of curse words. She ignored him and began wiping at his knuckles with alcohol. She could feel his eyes on her face, expecting an answer, but she kept quiet. She was determined to get this over with as quickly as possible. "A lot. I was so stupid. I shouldn't have…"

"Stop talking," Alex ordered, cutting him off. She couldn't bear to let him finish that sentence.

Vince caught her eyes briefly. He'd never seen them so worried and sad. All he wanted to do was hug her and tell her he was all right. "I'm sorry."

She had to look away. His pained eyes were too hard to take. Sucking in a breath, she strengthened her resolve; no, she was not going to let it bother her this time. This chapter in her life was over. This time tomorrow, she'd be in Paris with her best friends. Away from him and all this heartbreak.

As she wrapped his injured hand with gauze, his other hand gently grasped her thigh just underneath the hem of her jean shorts, pulling her from her thoughts. The familiar fire that always came with his touch ignited in her veins as his thumb gently grazed across the skin there. She smacked his hand away, but he put it right back, looking up at her with innocent eyes.

Just his simple touch drove her crazy. Her heart was beating much too fast and those damned butterflies were fluttering around her stomach. Swallowing hard, she taped the gauze down before stepping as far away from him as possible. "Done!" she exclaimed, holding her hands up in the air. "You ready to go?"

He nodded, standing and taking a few steps towards her so they were only inches apart. "Thank you," he murmured, dipping his head to place a soft kiss to her temple.

She closed her eyes at the feel of his scratchy beard against her skin; oh, how she'd missed that feeling. It took all her self-control to keep her arms from wrapping around his neck and pull him in for a kiss. "You're welcome," she breathed. "Just don't make this punching walls thing a habit, okay?"

"Okay."

"Let's get you home then," she said as she began the trek towards the driveway.

Once there, she headed to her Jeep, but Vince stopped at his car, his keys in hand. "I'm not leaving my car," he stated.

"Well, you're certainly not driving it," she shot back at him, crossing her arms over her chest.

"You drive then," he said, tossing her the keys.

She glared at him as she caught them, watching him as he set his shoulders stubbornly. She knew there was no way he was going to back down. "Fine," she hissed. "But I'm driving it back home tonight and you'll have to pick it up tomorrow."

"Fair enough, Tiny."

Alex unlocked the doors and slipped into his seat. Her feet were nowhere close to reaching the pedals. Vince let out a chuckle at the annoyed look on her face. She glared at him before she began messing with the different levers to find a comfortable position. She made sure to move every single setting possible knowing it would take forever for Vince to get it back the way he liked it.

Once she was comfortable, she pulled out of the driveway and headed toward Vince's house. Vince couldn't keep his eyes off of her. He loved to watch her drive. She was always so careful about everything, her green eyes flitting between the mirrors. When she drove, her full concentration was always on the road.

His mind drifted back to the time he taught her how to drive his car. He'd been shocked when she confessed she didn't know how to drive a stick so he decided to take her into a parking lot and teach her how. Alex had protested the whole way saying that she didn't want to wreck the car, but he'd insisted. She was terrible. After stalling the car a few times, she'd been so focused on getting the gears right that she accidentally scraped the side of the front bumper against a lamppost. Her dark green eyes had gone wide as she muttered a curse word, her face completely red. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she repeated over and over. "I told you I was no good at this!" He'd just laughed. It was too hard to be mad at her when she looked so cute. It was an easy fix anyway since he worked at the garage.

"You going to crash my car again?" he teased her now.

"Don't tempt me," she answered on a laugh, her foot pressing down harder on the accelerator. She wanted to get him home as quickly as possible and go back to packing before she lost what little self-control she had.

As soon as they got to the house, Alex saw why Vince had gotten away from the team so easily; a huge party was going on at the fort. His house, however, was completely dark. "Mickey isn't home?" she asked, her palms already sweating nervously; she'd hoped his sister would help handle him so she could leave.

"Nope," he muttered. "She's with Leon. He got to keep her."

The comment caught her off guard. What did that mean? Shaking it off as a meaningless drunken comment, she got out of the car and went to help him get out. "Let's go, drunkie."

"I'm fine, Tiny. Don't worry," he said slipping out of the car easily enough since he was slightly sober now. He trudged toward the front door but couldn't get the key into the lock.

Alex sighed and grabbed it from him before unlocking the door and opening it. She shoved him inside following quickly after. She could've left then. He would've been all right getting to sleep on his own, but something told her to stay. With a sigh, she went to the kitchen and filled a glass with water before grabbing some aspirin for him. When she walked back into his bedroom, he was lying on his bed shirtless, his eyes closed.

Her eyes fell on his bare torso and a gasp left her lips. His stomach was covered in bruises. Some were old and fading while others were still dark purple. She set the water glass and pills on the table before stepping closer to make sure her eyes weren't playing tricks on her.

Reaching out a hand, she gently trailed her fingers over the bruises. They were real all right, and apparently painful. Vince winced as he caught her hand in his. "It's nothing," he told her, catching her hand and holding it in his own. The bruises were remnant from where the truckers had hit him, from where he landed on the trucks, and some were from Brian's fist.

He sat up then, putting his face dangerously close to hers. "Liar," she replied softly. She sat down on the bed, her dark eyes filled with concern as they studied his face. Almost instinctively, she gently laid her other hand on his cheek, tracing her thumb along the skin just under his eye. "What is going on with you?"

Vince leaned his face into her hand, enjoying her touch while it lasted. He considered telling her the truth about the heists and about Dom's stupid plan. He thought about telling her how he felt, how she made him feel, but he decided against it. Shaking his head, he said, "I can't tell you, Alex."

All the anger Alex had been feeling that night came back with a vengeance. "That's bullshit!" she seethed, pulling her hand away from his grasp. Frustration bubbled up inside of her; why did he have to come back? Why that night? She was so close to escaping him. "You came to me, Vince! Why? Why did you come over?" she demanded, standing up from the bed.

He winced at the loud volume of her voice. "I just needed to see you again," he answered honestly.

"What does that mean, Vincent?" she asked, her eyes pleading for an answer. He was bringing back all the feelings she had managed to bury away deep down inside her. He merely shrugged his shoulder in response. "You don't know?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.

"No."

She could feel the tears starting to form behind her eyes, but held them back. No. She was not going to cry in front of him. Not again. "Cool," she said bobbing her head up and down. "You saw me. Happy now?"

"Alex…"

"I've got to go," she said curtly. She didn't want to hear more of his bullshit stories or excuses. No, this time she was going to leave him.

Alex made it halfway to the door before he caught her wrist in his hand. Wordlessly, he spun her around, wrapping one arm around her waist while cupping the side of her face with his other hand and pressing a hot kiss to her lips. "I need you," he whispered, his face just centimeters from hers.

She knew it was wrong and stupid and bound to hurt her in the long run, but she couldn't help it. She needed him too. Standing on her tip toes, she caught his lips in another kiss. His hand buried itself into her hair as hers gently slid up and over the muscles of his back. Crouching down, he caught the back of her knees, lifting her up off the ground so she could wrap her legs around his waist. He walked her over to the bed, gently laying her down without breaking their kiss. He pulled away, burying his face into her neck, nuzzling the skin there while inhaling her sweet scent. "I missed you, Tiny."

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~LoveInk