Gah! Sorry it's been so long! Spring Break made me lazy! :\ I promise the chapter after this will be up a LOT sooner! :D

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Disclaimer: I own nothing but Mickey, Alex, and Ronnie...if you don't remember who Ronnie is, check out Chapter 13 ;)

Diamond in the Rough

Chapter 32: Heads or Tails

By: LoveInk

The next time Vince opened his eyes, he was met with Michaela's staring right back at him. She gave him a tired smile. "Hey big brother," she greeted softly. "How you feeling?"

"Stupid," he murmured in response. "Tiny leave?"

She nodded. "Sorry."

He shrugged a shoulder. "I had it comin'. I shouldn't 've treated her like that. She doesn't deserve it."

Michaela sighed in response. "She shouldn't have left you either," she said, a disappointed look on her face; whether she was more disappointed in Vince or Alex had yet to be determined. At the moment, she was equally disappointed in both. That didn't mean she had been just in saying those things to her. "I think I hurt her feelings too."

"What'd you say?" he asked, already glaring at his sister.

"There's a few things you need to be caught up on before we get to that," she hedged, sighing as she ran a hand through her hair. She quickly caught him up on everything that he'd missed. She could tell he was trying to be strong about Jesse, but she could see he was upset by it. "Jess is in some medically induced coma or something so he can heal. Doc's aren't sure he will though so that's…great."

Vince didn't appreciate her sarcasm, but he didn't comment on it. It was her coping mechanism, the only thing keeping her from falling apart was to make light of the situation. "What's that have to do with Alex?"

"She wanted to call Leon and tell him."

"Seems like a good idea to me."

"That was the general consensus," Michaela answered, bobbing her head up and down. "But I didn't want her to so I told her that she's not really his sister and this is none of her business."

Vince was at a loss for words. He just shook his head at his sister. "Che é incasinato, Micks. How could you say that shit to her?" (That's messed up.)

She winced grabbing at her stomach as a particular bad cramp twisted it in knots. She hissed in pain. "Shit," she said squeezing her eyes shut.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she answered, wincing again as she sat down. "Just cramps."

He didn't need to hear anything more. "Sorry."

Michaela shrugged, it wasn't his fault. They sat there in silence for a little while before he cleared his throat. "You think she'll come back to me?"

"I wouldn't," she answered bluntly. "But I'm also not her so…"

Doctor Kaine strode into the room, a file in his hand. He cleared his throat, nodding in greeting to Vince. "Ms. Catella, some of your test results are in. I'd like to discuss them with you."

"Sure thing, Doogie," she said pushing herself up from the chair. They stepped towards the door, but did not exit the room. She knew it was useless to keep things from Vince. She leant against the wall, glancing at the doctor with raised eyebrows. "What's up, Doc?"

The doctor didn't laugh or smile, he just sighed. "Michaela, were you…off at all on your monthly cycle?" he asked, his voice quiet.

A feeling of dread slowly crept into her stomach. "A little, but I've been under a lot of stress so…you know."

"Well, we found a relatively high amount of human chorionic gonadotropin in your system," he said, looking at her as though she should know what that means.

She raised an eyebrow, unsure if that was a drug or something else. "I don't do drugs."

"It's not a drug; it's a hormone, Ms. Catella. The pregnancy hormone."

Her face paled slightly as her mouth went dry. "But I've been having these wicked cramps and you know, I think I just got my…"

"You're probably having a miscarriage, Ms. Catella."

That was the last thing she heard before everything went blank. She came to in another hospital room. Groaning as another strong cramp hit, she pulled her knees up to her chest. An IV was hooked up to her arm, a heart monitor on her finger. Her eyes watched the drip of the clear liquid in the IV bag. She could feel Mia standing at her bedside and sighed. "Hey Mi."

"Hi," Mia said, leaning over the railing to softly push Michaela's hair out of her face. "You okay? You scared the crap out of your brother. Fool tore out all his tubes jumping out of bed to get you."

Michaela frowned, her arms were wrapped tightly around her stomach. "Is he okay?" she croaked.

She nodded in response, still stroking Michaela's hair. "He's fine, sweetie. Asleep now."

Michaela nodded absentmindedly. A tear slipped down her cheek. "I need a hug, Mimi," she said in a small voice.

Mia climbed onto the bed and wrapped Michaela in a tight hug like she used to when they were younger. Her fingers gently rubbed up and down Michaela's back. "You want to tell me what happened, Micks?"

"I lost Leon's baby," she admitted quietly. Hot tears soaked through Mia's tank as Michaela began to cry.

"It's okay, sweetheart," Mia mumbled, holding onto her tighter as she pressed a kiss to her temple. "It'll be okay."

"Mia," she sniffled, pulling away and looking up at her with tears glistening in her eyes.

"Yeah, hon?"

"I want Leon."

Alex was halfway to Lake Tahoe when her phone rang loudly. The ringtone was distinct, a happy corny melody playing in her gloomy car. She picked it up slowly. "Hey Lee," she said on a sigh.

"You know anything about Jess?" he asked quickly. She could hear his heavy breathing and knew he was running somewhere. The sound of a car door slamming told her she was right.

"Yeah, they found him," she said sadly. "But Lee…"

She heard him swear under his breath. "No news or good news."

"No news then."

"Fuck," he murmured in response. She could picture him running his hands through his hair. "Lay it on me, Shorty."

She was torn then. Michaela had specifically asked her not to, but she couldn't leave her brother hanging. "Tran shot him, Lee."

There was a long pause before she heard Leon suck in a deep breath. "Is he all right?" his question came out choked.

"I don't know," she answered around the lump in her throat. "Last I heard he was in surgery. I'm on my way to my parents' place right now, so I don't know anything."

"I'm going back. As soon as I get Letty to her cousin's house, I'm turnin' this car around," he replied through clenched teeth. "Fuck."

Alex sighed, running a hand through her hair. "You can't tell Michaela I told you, Lee. She made it very clear she didn't want me to."

"Why the hell not?"

"She wants to keep you away from the feds. Said you're not really my brother and I should stay out of it but I can't…I can't keep this from you."

She heard Leon clear his throat. "You did good, Shorty. And you are my sister. Don't let anyone tell you differently. Mickey loves you. She's just angry and looking to take it out on other people."

"I know. Go get your ass over there. Take care of them for me. Call me when you get there so I know you're all right."

"Aight, Shorty. Thanks. Love you."

"You, too, Lee," she said before shutting her phone. She felt slightly better now that he knew, although she had a feeling Michaela would find out eventually who had told him. Sighing, she pressed the gas pedal down a little more, elevating her speed to a level that was sure to get her a ticket it she got caught. Before Vince, she never would've dreamed of going over the speed limit down the Grape Vine. Now here she was, going way over the speed limit.

It took her two hours less than it usually did to get to her parents' house. She parked in the massive parking lot of the lodge and wrinkled her nose at the huge main house. She's always resented her parents for exchanging their small city house in San Francisco for this massive country lodge. It had never really felt like home. Stepping into the huge living room, she let her bag slip off her arm and onto the floor. "Hello?" she called out.

"Look who decided to show up," a low voice greeted her in response.

She quirked an eyebrow, she knew that voice. "Shouldn't you be in Europe?"

Ronnie shrugged as he rounded the corner wearing a simple pair of jeans and a t-shirt. His usually gelled hair was gel-free and lay flat on his head. This was the Ronnie she'd grown up with. Not the gelled up, faux-hawked, muscle tee wearing fool she usually saw. "Nah, I quit last week," he answered on a shrug.

Her eyes widened. She knew there'd been trouble within the band for awhile now, but she never saw this one coming. "Shut up."

His cocky grin got bigger. "Eddie is an asshole. He wanted to premiere his solo career while on tour with us. I don't need that shit. I get plenty of money off the song credits anyway. As long as I keep writing, I'll be fine." He nodded toward the magazine on the table. "Check it out. You get an honorable mention."

Alex raised an eyebrow at him as she read the cover. "Ronnie Romero leaves the Entourage. Was it the sibling rivalry? Money? or did his brother's broken relationship get in the way?"

"Wrong, wrong, and super incredibly wrong."

She rolled her eyes as she flipped to the main story. There was one picture of her with the brothers and a small blurb about how Ronnie's quitting might have been a result of bad blood between her and Eddie. "Wow. I'm going to be killed."

Ron chuckled, shaking his head at her. "Nah, you won't be. I had my publicist write something up on our fansite about it."

"Thank you," she said on a sigh of relief.

"I got your back, sis," he said winking at her. "What brings you here?"

She shrugged a shoulder. "I just needed to be home."

Ronnie chuckled and opened his arms to her. "Hug?" Nodding, she wrapped her arms around him, grinning when his strong arms wrapped around her and squeezed tightly. After Vince, Ronnie gave the best hugs, she decided. "I know something's wrong. You don't come home for no reason. Spill it, baby girl."

She pulled away, digging through her pocket and holding out the ring to him. "He gave me this."

Ronnie's eyes widened. "No shit! That why you came home? To tell everyone? They're gonna flip, girl. Can I tell Ed?"

"No! Listen to me!" she said rolling her eyes at him.

He sat down on one of the couches and raised his eyebrows. "Go."

She told him everything. Every little detail. Ronnie was like a vault when it came to secrets, so she knew it was safe with him. When she was done, he sighed. "Damn, Lexi. I leave for a few weeks and your life goes to shit."

"Shut up, Ron," she said sticking her tongue out at him. "What do I do?"

"You hang out with me for a few days and then see how you feel, duh," Ronnie answered confidently. At her glare, he shrugged a shoulder. "Lex, I can't make this decision for you. I'll tell you what I know, though. I know that he loves you. I only met him once and I could tell. It's disgusting. And I know you, Lexi. I know you love him and I know you're running because you're scared and you think you need space, but you don't. Not really. You've already made your decision."

Alex sighed and ran her hands through her hair. "I have not."

Ronnie rolled his eyes and pulled a quarter from his pocket. "We'll flip a coin then. Heads you stay with him and get married and live happily after, tails you break up and find a new guy."

"This is ridiculous. I can't base this on a coin toss."

"You can't seem to base it on anything else."

She gave him an angry glare before rolling her eyes. "Fine. Go ahead. Make the biggest decision of my life with a coin toss." With a cocky grin, he tossed the coin in the air, his hazel eyes never leaving her face. He caught it easily and slammed it onto the top of his hand. Her eyes widened. "Well, what is it?"

"When it was in the air, what were you hoping for?" he asked, his hand still covering the coin. The realization of her answer showed on her face and he grinned. Slipping the coin back into his pocket, he shrugged. "There's your decision."

"You're crazy," she said on a laugh. He was right though, as soon as he threw the quarter in the air all she could think was: Please be heads, please be heads.

Ronnie snorted and shrugged a shoulder. "Crazy brilliant."

Sorry its a little sad. :\ I hope you liked it though! Let me know in a review!

~Love Ink