Thanks so much to: sweetist of sin, xxxlil-miss-mercerxxx, Violet201, lover of many things804, and Sassy Ava. You guys are the greatest!

Author's Note: This chapter has a few minor characters from "The Blue Diamond". (I.E. Fisher and Ronnie) If you can't remember who Ronnie is, check out Chp. 29 of The Blue Diamond for a refresher. ;)

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OCs. :)

Diamond in the Rough

Chapter 13: Promises

By: LoveInk

As Vince drove to Alex's house, he cranked up his music for the first time in weeks. He let his excitement take over as he weaved in and out of traffic. He was finally going to do something for himself and it felt good. He pulled into the driveway and practically ran to the door praying that she hadn't left yet. He knocked on it quickly, waiting anxiously for a few minutes before it was opened. The man who opened it was wearing a shirt with rhinestones on it that was a little too tight. His arms were heavily muscled, his hair perfectly into a faux-hawk. A cocky smirk was on his tan face, his hazel eyes amused. "Look who we have here," he sang.

Vince had only met Ronnie once before, but he had seen him many times both in the pictures around Alex's house and in the magazines Mia was always reading. "Ronnie," he greeted the other guy with a nod.

"I should kick your ass, but I have a feeling little Miss Lex would have a problem with that," he said, folding his arms over his chest. He gave Vince the once-over as if assessing whether or not he could take him. Vince had to admit that it'd be a fair fight; Ronnie was about the same size as him. "Is there something you want?"

"Is Alex home?"

"Yeah, man. She's packing though. Fish and I convinced her to go on tour with us. We're off to Paris in about five hours. Should be sweet."

"I heard," Vince admitted, scratching awkwardly at the back of his neck. "Can I talk to her?"

Ronnie shook his head. "Nah," he answered. "I don't think anything good will come of it."

"I want to fix things," Vince explained, hoping the explanation was enough. "You know, before she leaves."

Ronnie contemplated that thought for a moment. He heard his name in the background. "Hold on a sec," he told Vince, before leaning back. "What's up, Lexi?"

"Have you seen my orange Chucks?" Alex questioned, her eyes on the ground as she looked for the shoes.

"Yeah, fool, I almost tripped on them on my way to the kitchen," he answered her, positioning himself in front of the door so she couldn't see Vince.

"I don't see them," she said, getting down on all fours and searching under the couch. "Found them!" she exclaimed, standing up. "What are you doing?"

Ronnie shrugged a shoulder. "What's it look like?"

Alex narrowed her eyes at him. "Ron, if you're smoking again, I swear…"

He waved her away, shaking his head with a scowl. "I don't do that shit anymore. I was answering the door, dumbass."

"Who is it?"

"Its Vince," Ronnie stated easily. Alex felt her heart beat kick up a notch as she stared wide eyed at her friend. He looked confused, as usual. "You want me to kick his ass?" he offered with a smile.

Alex shook her head. "No, no," she said approaching the door slowly. Ronnie moved to share the space of the doorway with her instead of leaving. She glared at him. "Bye Ronnie."

"Oh come on, Lex," Ronnie begged with a scowl.

She shook her head and pushed him into the house, before closing the door behind her back. "What do you need, V?" she questioned, her green eyes looking tired and defeated.

"You," he answered honestly.

She squeezed her eyes shut as the word pulled at her heartstrings. Sucking in a deep breath, she shook her head; no, she wouldn't fall for that this time. "Don't say stuff like that, Vince. You broke up with me, remember?"

"Tiny, that was a mistake," he insisted, taking a few steps closer to her. He took it as a good sign when she didn't back away. "Someone told me it would be a good idea because we're doing some stupid shit and I went along with it."

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "What exactly are you doing?"

Vince sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I can't tell you; the more people that know about it, the bigger risk we have of getting in trouble."

Her emerald eyes hardened as she folded her arms over his chest. "So why come back to me?" she asked, anger creeping into her voice. "Why risk it?"

He knew he was treading dangerous waters if she was angry. He had to be very careful about how he worded his next answer or he'd lose her. "Because I hate being away from you," he answered honestly. "I hate the thought of you going off somewhere without me."

She scoffed while rolling her eyes and he cringed. He'd never had a way with words and obviously she hadn't understood what he'd been trying to say. "Why? Because Eddie is there? Is that what you're trying to say? You don't want to be with me, but you don't want me to be with anyone else?"

"No!" he shouted, frustrated. "I'm trying to tell you that I…I…"

"You what?" she yelled, exhausted with his beating around the bush.

"I love you!" he blurted out finally. He sighed, running his hands through his hair again. "Okay? I love you and I've been trying to tell myself that I was fine before I met you, so I'll be fine without you, but I can't do it, Tiny. You're not just another girl to me, and I'm not okay without you."

Alex felt her breath catch in her throat. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Did he really just say he loved her? She studied him closely, searching for any trace of a lie and found none. "You love me," she repeated softly.

He nodded and shrugged a shoulder. "Yeah."

Without another thought, she grabbed his face in her hands and kissed him. His arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her in closer and lifting her feet off the floor.

A slow, loud clap was heard from the house. Ronnie stood there with a smirk on his face. "That's great, really," he said as they pulled away from each other. "But you do realize we're still leaving tomorrow."

Her face fell. "I forgot about that." She glanced at Vince's face and wasn't surprised to see he had already known about her "trip". News spread like wildfire with his team. "Malia's part in the dance routine isn't essential," she started slowly. "It can be worked around."

"Not according to Eddie," Fisher shot back as he strode into the room. He didn't seem surprised to see Vince there, probably because Ronnie had explained everything to him. He did, however, make it a point to ignore him. "He said Malia's part is a crowd favorite and the only one who can do it justice is you."

Alex rolled her eyes. "That's ridiculous. The fans go to see them not the dancers. Even so, Tonya's got that part down. Have her step up and put Malia in the background. She's got a fractured wrist so she can't stunt, but she can sure as hell do Tonya's part. No stunting there."

"Yeah, but the whole point was to have you there," Ronnie defended. "Our fans love you, remember? You had your own fan club!"

Vince's eyebrows raised at that statement. He always forgot that people outside of his small world knew who his girlfriend was. That she'd graced the covers of magazines more than once with her ex-boyfriend. Alex rolled her eyes at Ronnie. "I did not. I had a lot more haters."

"Who cares? Tonya's dumb."

Fisher scoffed at Ronnie and rolled his eyes. "That and there's no way in hell she can pull off the aerial like you can."

Alex fought back with more technical dance jargon. Meanwhile, Vince looked between them like they were speaking a different language. There were so many dance terms being thrown around as they rehashed an entire routine to figure out a way to make it look good. Their conversation finally ended with Fisher throwing his hands up in the air before storming back to his room, muttering to himself.

Ronnie smirked. "You always manage to get your way, dontcha Lex?"

She stuck her tongue out at him. "Bundão." (Asshole.)

"Vagabunda," he shot back as he followed Fisher. (Slut.)

She turned back to Vince. "They only want me to go so they can tease me all day."

Vince chuckled nervously. "So that means you're staying?" he asked, brushing her hair behind her ear.

"If you promise me you'll never pull a stupid stunt like that again, I'll stay," she said looking up at him hopefully.

He leant forward and pressed a kiss to her lips. "I promise."

I know, I know, Alex didn't really make him work that hard...but he said he loved her! That would be enough to make any girl's heart melt, right? ;)

Should Alex have been a little harder? Do you like Ronnie and Fisher (they're really fun to write, btw)? Your thoughts, comments, suggestions, etc etc are always GREATLY appreciated!

FYI: the language Ron and Alex are speaking is Portuguese. ;)

~LoveInk