Thanks to Mrz Letty Ortiz-Toretto, Rue Dawn (I'm glad you loved the sweetness)and GallagherGirl4Evah for taking time to review! I love reading them and they encourage me to write more, faster. :)

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Mickey, Alex, and now introducing...Lauren.

Italics is for a flashback... just in case ;)

Diamond in the Rough

Chapter 37: Women

By: LoveInk

"I'm going to lose him, Jess," Michaela said, trying her best not to cry. She sniffled and wiped at her eyes. "I know Lauren's your sister and everything, but she's a bitch. And you know she has it out for Leon and he…he loves her. You know that. So what the fuck am I going to do? I feel like I just got him back and now I'm going to lose him all over again."

She stopped and ran a hand through her long hair as she leant back in her chair. Studying the ceiling, she started counting the tiles trying to keep her memories from when Lauren visited Vegas at bay. One filled her mind and sent a fresh wave of tears down her cheeks.

"Michaela, stop! It was nothing!" Leon called after her. She could hear him chasing her down the stairs but refused to turn around. She'd seen enough. They'd been way to close for it to be nothing. Their noses had almost been touching and her hands were…she squeezed her eyes shut; she didn't even want to think about where her hands had been. To top it off, he'd taken her to their spot on the roof! Somewhere that was special and private for them.

He caught up to her; grabbing her wrist and making her turn around. "Get off of me, Leon!" she shouted, struggling against his grip.

"Michaela, it was nothing!" he insisted.

"No," she said, shaking her head furiously from side to side. Tears were falling faster than she could stop them. "That was not nothing! You love her, Leon! God, it's so obvious! What are you doing with me? I'm not the one you want."

He pushed away the hair from her face, his fingers brushing away her tears. "Yes you are. Can't you see that?"

She shook her head again. "No, I can't see that. All week she's been telling me all these promises that you made her. Leo said we'd have three kids and live on a ranch in Arizona and Leo said he'd take me to Europe and Leo said I was his soul mate and we were meant to be. Leo this and Leo that and all I can think about is that I don't know who the fuck this "Leo" guy is because he's certainly not you! Last time I checked you didn't want kids yet and you don't like the country or Arizona or Europe or believe in soul mates or corny crap like that!"

"Michaela," he said, trying to calm her down. "Lauren's full of shit. She's crazy. And yeah, I may have said all that to her when I was sixteen, but now...I don't want those stupid daydreams with her. I love you. And I want a whole different set of things with you. Things that are real and within reach."

Her eyes widened when he said those three words; he'd never said them to her before. "You want me?" she asked, her voice sounding small and insecure.

He chuckled and shook his head at her. "Yes, Blue. I want you."

"What about your preference for blondes and your hatred of dancers and how you don't like competitive girls or girls who swear or with long hair or…"

His laughter cut her off yet again. "She's full of shit. None of those things are true."

Michaela smiled and let out a long sigh. "Who am I kidding, Jess? We're going to be fine, right? He loves me."

"Yeah, I do, a lot," Leon said as he walked in.

She turned around and gave him a soft smile. "I'm sorry. I totally overreacted. It's just…Lauren, you know? I bet you haven't seen her in years."

He leaned over to kiss her before he sat down in the chair next to her. "Not exactly. She came to visit us here once."

Her sharp intake of breath told him she'd jumped to the right conclusion. He watched her jaw clench, her hands curling into fists. "Oh no, Lee, you didn't."

"Princess, we'd just broken up and…"

She stood up, anger rushing through her veins. "And you fucked her! God, Lee! Of all the girls in all the world you slept with HER!"

"I was trying to get over you!"

"Ugh!" she shouted loudly, stomping her foot. "That doesn't make it any better!"

If she wasn't so angry with him, he would've laughed at her foot stomp; it was such a childish act. "I didn't think I'd ever see you again!"

"So you ran straight back to her?"

Leon was tongue tied, he'd never thought of it that way. "No," he managed to get out. "I didn't run back to her. We didn't date we…did it and that was it. The next day she tried to fuck your brother and then she was gone."

"Not helping!" she said trying to erase the mental picture from her memory. He stood and reached out a hand to grab hers. She pulled away as if she'd been stung. "Don't touch me right now, Lee. I can't…I just…ugh!" She was so angry, she couldn't put it into words. With one final huff, she stormed towards the door.

"Where are you going?"

"I need a shower. I feel fuckin' dirty right now," she said, already feeling her skin crawling. Those hands that she loved so much, they'd touched another woman. They'd touched her. She wrinkled her nose at the thought. "Ew."

Leon fought the urge to roll her eyes. "Don't be dramatic. It wasn't like she was the only person I slept with the entire time we were apart!" he called after her.

She turned, but continued walking backwards to the door. "Fuck you, Leon!" she shouted, flipping him off before disappearing out the door.

He winced as the door slammed behind her. Turning to look at Jesse, he shook his head as he sat down heavily in the chair. "Women," he mumbled to himself. He'd never understand the opposite sex.

Alex raised an eyebrow when the doorbell rang. She hadn't been expecting anyone. In fact, she was getting ready to take Vince to physical therapy. Slowly, she opened the door. A tall, leggy blonde stood in front of her with big blue eyes and long blonde hair. "Um hi," Alex greeted awkwardly. "Can I help you?"

"Hi! I'm Lauren, Jesse's sister. Leo told me to come over here. Are you Alex?" she questioned, the words all running together quickly.

She nodded in response. "Yeah, that's me."

"Oh my gosh, you're gorgeous!" Lauren exclaimed, wrapping her in hug. "You must be Leo's new girl!"

Alex pulled away and tried not to look too disgusted with the idea. "Um no. I'm not Lee's…girl."

"I'm so sorry!" Lauren exclaimed, though she looked a tad relieved. "I just assumed, the way he talked about you was so sweet and I just thought…never mind that. How do you know Leo?"

The nickname was so unfamiliar to her; Alex had to remind herself that the girl was talking about Leon. "Um…I'm Vince's fiancée."

Lauren clapped her hands in excitement. "Oh I loved Vince last time I was here. He's so manly and big. You're a lucky woman!"

Alex shifted uncomfortably; she did not appreciate the way the girl talked about her future husband. "He's big and manly all right," she murmured in agreement. "And mine."

Vince chuckled as he walked into the living room. He had never seen the possessive side of Alex. He had to admit it turned him on a little to hear her talk that way. "Hey Lauren," he greeted, nodding to her.

"Vinnie!" Lauren shouted, throwing her arms around him in a tight hug. She pulled away and ran her hands over his shoulders, her eyes looking up at him hungrily. "You look so good!"

Alex clenched her teeth together, now she understood Michaela's hatred. She'd just told the girl she was Vince's fiancée and it seemed as if she already was planning a way to get him into bed! Stepping in between them, she faked looking at a watch. "Yeah, and he's going to be late to his physical therapy appointment if we don't go soon."

Vince fought the urge to laugh. Alex never wore watches; she'd literally checked the time on her wrist and deemed it was time to go. Last time he checked, they had half an hour until his appointment.

Lauren took a step back and gave Alex a dazzling smile. "So sorry. Where's Leo?"

"He's probably at the hospital with Jess," Alex answered. She found it odd that Lauren had yet to ask about Jesse. "Jess is doing well. He just needs to wake up and everything will be good."

"That's great," Lauren replied. "I bet Leo's been taking it really hard, hasn't he? He and Jess were always so close."

Alex couldn't hide her annoyance now. "Leon is fine," she said curtly. "Jesse's the one in the hospital."

Vince chuckled, putting a hand on Alex's shoulder as a silent sign for her to calm down. "Hey Lauren, why don't you follow us to the hospital? That's where my appointment's at anyway. You can meet Lee there."

"Do you think I could ride with you?" she asked, her blue eyes gazing up at him hopefully. "I mean, I've been driving for over an hour and I'm so sick of it. If I have to spend one more second in that car…I'll go crazy!"

He looked at Alex, waiting for her to say yes or no. He sure as hell wasn't going to answer for her, that would only get him in trouble. "Fine," she said on a sigh as she headed towards the Jeep.

Lauren looked at the huge car with the tiny back seat and wrinkled her nose. "Oh. This is what you drive?" she questioned, disgust lacing her words. "How am I supposed to fit back there?"

"If you don't like it, you can drive there yourself," Alex shot back, climbing up into the driver's seat. She hadn't missed the metallic pink convertible parked in front of the house. Who did this girl think she was, Barbie?

She sighed in response. "No, it's fine. I'll just climb into the back," she said as though it was some kind of sacrifice and they all she be thankful for it.

Vince pushed his seat forward to allow her to get in before pushing it back and climbing in himself. He watched Alex as she drove. She was all tensed up. Her knuckles were white from where they were wrapped around the steering wheel and her jaw was clenched tightly. He was about to say something when Lauren stuck her head between the seats. "So, Vinnie dear, what happened to you?" she asked, her voice sickly sweet.

Alex tried to tune her out, but when she started running those perfectly manicured hands up and down Vince's arm, she'd had enough. At the next stoplight, she made sure to stop hard enough to send Lauren flying back into her seat. "Sorry!" she exclaimed, trying to sound surprised. "That red light came out of nowhere!"

"Jeez! Could you drive better?" Lauren whined, pouting slightly as she rubbed at the spot where her seatbelt was. "I think you gave me a bruise!"

Vince chuckled when he saw the corner of Alex's lips turn up in a triumphant smirk. He shook his head at her before leaning over the center console to kiss her cheek. "Woman, I fuckin' love you," he said softly for just her to hear.

So? What'd you think about Lauren? About the chapter as a whole?

Let me know! I love hearing from you! :) 11 more days til FAST FIVE!

~Love Ink