Thanks to: Krue3ger (I'm glad you left a comment! :) I'm working on Between Inked Lines, but its not going very well...hopefully I'll find some inspiration and get it started again), xxxlil-miss-mercerxxx, Sassy Ava, and Violet201.

You guys are awesome! Your reviews make my day! :D I hope I don't let you down with this chapter! :)

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Mickey and Alex

Diamond in the Rough

Chapter 12: A Big Mistake

By: LoveInk

The next morning, Alex woke up to the sound of her phone ringing. Opening one eye, she found herself to be in Vince's bed, her head pillowed on his bare chest. One of his arms was wrapped around her waist, his long fingers curled around her hip. She sat up slowly feeling slightly sore from the events of the night before. Groaning, she got out of bed, pulling on whatever she could find and grabbing her still ringing cell phone off the ground. "Hello?" she asked grumpily.

"Alex?" Michaela's voice sounded surprised. "Why are you answering Vince's phone?"

She cursed under her breath as she looked at the small Nokia in her hand. Of course it was Vince's phone! She'd forgotten hers at her house in her haste to leave the night before! "Because…" she began slowly. She tried to think of a lie that could convince Mickey, but decided against it; she was a terrible liar and Michaela would catch her right away. Running her hands through her hair, she sighed, "Because I just made a big mistake."

Michaela let out a long sigh. "Oh Alex. I'll be right over."

Moments later, Michaela threw open the front door to find Alex sitting at the couch watching TV dressed in one of Vince's sweatshirts and a pair of jean shorts. Her legs were pulled up to her chest, her arms wrapped around her knees. "You fucked my brother, didn't you?" she asked taking a seat next to her.

Alex felt miserable. Not only had she betrayed herself by allowing him to use her, she'd also dug up all the old feelings she'd managed to push aside in the month they hadn't been together. "Yep."

"How on earth did my brother convince you to sleep with him?"

She let out a light laugh in response, shaking her head in disbelief. Tears gathered in the corners of her eyes as she thought of how stupid the whole situation was. "I don't know," she said, using the sleeve of her sweatshirt to wipe at her eyes. "He came over to my house, drunk, and punched a fist into the wall; I patched him up, and then drove his car back here. One thing led to another and…"

"Spare me the details please," Michaela interrupted, a look of disgust on her face. "What'd he say?"

Alex shrugged. "He said a lot of bullshit, and I fell for it."

"Like what?"

"He told me he missed me and needed me. Stuff that doesn't mean anything."

Michaela smiled, how could Alex not see that those statements were both true? "Lex, he meant it. Life has been hell for us since you've been apart. When he's not elbows deep in an engine, he's drowning himself in Coronas. He needs you."

If Alex agreed with her statement or even heard it, she didn't acknowledge it. Instead, she changed the subject. "Have you seen the bruises on your brother's stomach, Micks? They look bad."

"I know," she answered softly, her tone sad for once. She'd heard Vince complaining about them for a few weeks now, but he refused to go to the doctor to get them checked out. "He's fine, though. He's a tough cookie."

"What are they from?"

Michaela bit her lip. Maybe if she told Alex, Dom wouldn't get mad at Vince. Maybe then, Vince could have a second chance with her. But what if Alex ran to her FBI brother? She knew that was the definitive reason her brother decided to break it off with her, and though Michaela trusted Alex with most things, she didn't want to put her family in danger either. "I don't know."

"That's a lie!" Alex accused, shaking her head sadly. How could these people not trust her? Had she done something wrong? "What is it you guys are keeping from me?"

"I can't tell you," Michaela replied with a grimace. Alex threw her arms up in the air in defeat before heading for the door. "Lex, stop. You have to understand."

Anger surged through Alex; she couldn't hold it in anymore. "Understand what?" she yelled, her hands balled into angry fists at her side. "I have been trying to break through those thick walls he has, and just when I think I've done it, he breaks up with me! For a reason that he can't even put into words, Michaela! And you expect me to understand? I'm sorry, but I don't! I can't!"

"I know it's hard and I'm sorry about it, but it's not my place to tell you. This is something between you and him. Not us."

"You're right. Sorry," she said, sounding tired and defeated. She took in a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. "It doesn't matter anyway, I'm leaving tomorrow."

"Leaving?" Michaela repeated, her eyebrows raised.

"I took the spot on Eddie's tour, remember? I'm leaving tomorrow."

With everything that was going on with her family, Michaela had completely forgotten that her partner at the dance studio was taking a month long vacation to fill in for someone on the tour. She'd gotten a substitute, of course, but Mickey was worried about the reason Alex was leaving. "You can't just run away from your problems, Lex," she stated calmly.

"You're right, I can't. But right now, I don't know what my problems are," Alex replied with a shrug. There was nothing better to say. She was taking the coward's way out, but she saw no better solution. She had to get away.

Michaela nodded. "Did you tell him?"

"No, but he'll find out eventually," she answered softly. "I'm driving his car back home. Tell him I'll leave the key in my mailbox for him. I really don't want to see him again, not before I leave."

"Fair enough. I'll let him know."

Alex gave her a sad smile. "Thanks. See you in a month then?"

"Yeah," Michaela said as she pulled her into a hug. "Be safe, girly. Stay away from Eddie."

She laughed briefly and nodded. "Bye."

Michaela watched her get into Vince's Maxima and leave from the front porch before heading back inside. She took a seat on the couch and let her head fall into her hands. She felt awful. This wasn't how things were supposed to work out. Her brother was supposed to stay with Alex and live happily ever after. And in a perfect world, it might have worked out that way. But not in this world. Not with the stupid truck heists hanging over there head like a storm cloud. "What an idiot," she mumbled under her breath.

"Who?" Leon asked, catching her comment just as he entered the house. He could see the tension in her shoulders, so he put his hands on them and began giving her a massage.

"My brother," she answered, relaxing a little under Leon's touch. "Alex just left."

It took a few seconds for him to put two and two together, but he got it eventually. His grip on her shoulders tightened a little, a clear sign he was angry. "You gotta be kidding me," he said, his voice frustrated.

Michaela shook her head, rubbing a hand over her face. "Vince went over to her place last night. He told her he needed her and the he missed her and since she feels the same way they...hooked up," she explained, trying to put it in less graphic terms. "She saw the bruises and freaked, but he didn't tell her and I couldn't tell her," she let out a frustrated groan. "She's leaving tomorrow."

"Does Vince know?"

"I doubt it," Michaela answered on a scoff. "You think he'd still be sleeping if he did?"

Vince walked across the street to the fort and sat down at the kitchen table with his head pounding. The events of the night before were still fresh in his memory despite his drunken haze. She was gone when he woke up and it didn't sit well with him. It reminded him too much of the days before her when girls would just come in and slip out, but this time, he wasn't grateful for her disappearance; it didn't make it any easier for him the next morning. In fact, he would've rather had her stay so they could talk like they used to. Sighing, he let his head fall onto his crossed arms that were resting on the table.

"Rough night?" Letty asked on a chuckle. The rest of the team was still at work, but it was her day off. A half eaten sandwich sat in front of her and she pushed the remaining half toward him.

He sat up, shaking his head as he pushed the sandwich back. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

Her eyebrows rose in surprise at his refusal of food; she still couldn't get used to that. He'd always been the human trash disposal, but lately it was rare he was even present at the dinner table. "Well, let's see," she began, taking a bite of the sandwich. "First, you drove to Alex's house drunk, which was a brilliant idea, by the way. Second, she drove you back in your Maxima, which she still has. And third, you somehow convinced her to sleep with you. That about right?"

Vince nodded, running a hand through his hair. "Mickey?"

"Yep," Letty answered. "She saw Alex on her way out. You know she's leaving, right?"

"Who?" he muttered while rubbing at his forehead in an attempt at banishing his headache.

"Alex, dummy."

"What?" he snapped, suddenly awake and sober.

Letty nodded slowly. "Yeah, she's going on tour with Eddie's band." She watched his jaw clench in anger, his fingers twitching as though he was about to hit something. "What are you going to do about it?"

After a moment, he relaxed and shrugged a shoulder. "Fuck it. It wasn't meant to be."

"Don't be like that, V," Letty chided him on a scowl. "She likes you. She may even love you. I bet if you go after her, she'd stay."

He shook his head. "Why should I? She always goes running back to Eddie anyway."

"She's not running back to anyone; she's running away from you because you hurt her. She doesn't want to deal with it anymore, so she's getting away. Does that make sense?"

"No."

"She doesn't want Eddie, V. He's not the reason she's going on tour. The reason is she wants to get as far away from you as possible because you continually mess with her head."

"Mess with her…"

"Yes, V!" Letty exclaimed, hoping she was getting her point across. "You're sending her all kinds of mixed messages. You want her, you don't, blah blah blah. It's gotta be hard on her. So she's leaving to escape from you. That's the reason. She's not leaving to go to Europe or to get back together with Eddie, she's leaving because of you."

Vince shook his head again. "Whatever, Let," he said, dismissing her words. "You think you can drive me to pick up my car?"

Letty let out a long sigh. She really wanted to get through to Vince, to make him see the mistake he was making. Sure, she wasn't as close to Alex as Mia or Michaela, but she liked the girl. Alex made Vince happy and that was really all Letty cared about. "Yeah, but you have to come to the grocery store with me after."

"I don't mind," Vince said before downing the rest of his coffee.

They drove to Alex's house in complete silence, save for the Latin music on the radio. Letty was surprised when Vince just walked up to the mailbox, grabbed the key, and got into the Maxima. She'd expected him to knock on the door and explain to Alex, or maybe apologize, but he left with his tail between his legs like a coward. Shaking her head at him, she followed him to the grocery store.

They hadn't been there long when Leon showed up with another list of things to buy for the barbeque. Letty could tell Leon knew about Vince and Alex by the way he refused to talk to Vince, but luckily, he kept his hands to himself. If the situation had been reversed and Leon had hurt Michaela, Letty sincerely doubted Leon would get by scotch free. She figured the reason Leon let it slide was because it was evident from the hurt in Vince's eyes that no punch in the face could make him feel any more pain than he already was experiencing.

The shopping took way too long since Vince was hungry and wanted to buy everything and Leon couldn't remember the extra things Dom had asked for. In the end, Letty had to call Dom and ask for specific instructions. After that, the three of them raced back to the fort.

Vince wasn't angry that he'd gotten last place in their race. He usually did. Leon's car was tuned to be faster than Dominic's and Letty used her NOS, which was against the rules, but he wasn't in the mood to fight her on it. What ticked him off was when he saw the punk standing next to the grill. He couldn't believe it. Dominic had let him in on their closest family ritual. This Brian guy was shady as shit, but Dom didn't seem to care. Of course, if Vince brought Alex back, Dom would've flipped, but this kid, this punk with a dirty past and a fondness for Mia; he was allowed in with no question. Then, it came to him. He knew exactly what he had to do. Fighting a smile, he handed the bag off to Leon. "I'm out of here," he stated, glaring at the punk so Dom thought that Brian was the reason he was leaving.

"Vince! Come over and help!"

"Looks like you've got all the help you need, brother!" he called back, getting back into the car and driving off with a squeal of his tires.

So? what'd you think? Good? Bad? Ugly?

Let me know in a review! :)

~LoveInk