Last chapter was short, this one is long. Six pages long. :) I played a lot with the different dynamics of the characters. Let me know what you think. :)

Thanks to Mrz Letty Ortiz-Toretto, Magenta Stone (I'm glad you like the OCs! Sometimes I have my doubts about them and whether they're "real" or not :\) SurferGirl711, Violet201, Rue Dawn, GallagherGirl4Evah, and xsparklesthemagicalunicornx for taking time to review! Ya'll are awesome!

EIGHT days until FAST FIVE! (That is, if you live in the US) ;)

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Mickey, Alex, and Lauren

Diamond in the Rough

Chapter 40: Time

By: LoveInk

Leon shook his head at the girls before grabbing his keys from his pocket. "Don't worry, Lo. I'll be right over. Relax. It's just Jess and he's sleeping," he said into the phone, on his way to the door.

He didn't drive quite as fast as he usually did to the hospital. Honestly, he was stalling. He had yet to tell Lauren he was with Michaela again; had yet to even mention that he wasn't single. When he finally pulled into the parking lot, he sucked in a deep breath as he tried to think of the best way to tell her. He walked past the front desk and decided on taking the stairs instead of the elevator so he'd have more time to think. The door to Jesse's room was already open and he could see Lauren sitting in a chair, flipping through a magazine looking as bored as ever. Her bright blonde hair was longer than usual and hung in loose curls down her back. He had to admit she was looking good; Santa Barbara had treated her well. Then again, he had always thought she was attractive. Some things never change. "Knock, knock," he greeted, leaning against the door.

"Leo!" she exclaimed, jumping up at once and sprinting towards him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, giving him a tight hug before kissing his cheek. "You look fantastic, sweetheart!"

"Thank, Lolo," he said, pecking her cheek, as was custom. "You don't look too bad yourself."

Lauren's smile got wider at the compliment, her big blue eyes sparkling mischievously. "You don't know how much I've missed you, Leo," she said, her voice lowered in a sexy tone.

He took a big step back; a line had to be drawn before she started getting ideas. Gently removing her hands from around his neck, he cleared his throat, "Lo, I'm with someone."

She rolled her eyes at him. "Honey, you're always with someone," she purred at him. "Never stopped us before."

"Um. Yeah it has," he replied, looking at her like she was crazy. He'd never cheated on Michaela with Lauren despite Lauren's attempts. "Lo, I'm with Michaela."

Lauren sneered at the name. "Ugh. That bitch again? C'mon Leo. You can do better," she stated, putting her arms around him once again. "Remember our pact? Once we hit twenty-five, we're getting married."

Leon remembered. It was a stupid promise he'd made her back when they were sixteen and all he wanted to do was to please her. "We're not there yet."

"It's not too far off, Leo. You don't want to be stuck with her, do you?"

He shrugged a shoulder. At the moment, the idea didn't sound so bad. "I love her, Lo."

She rolled her eyes at him again, making a tutting sound with her tongue. "Whatever, Leo. Where the hell did she come from anyway? I swear she broke your heart or something."

He winced at the memory of the way Michaela had broken up with him before. It was something he hadn't thought of in a long time. "She's Vince's sister. We got back together a year ago."

"Vince's sister? Oh, he definitely got all the good genes. What a man! My only regret is that I didn't hop into bed with him before he got all wifed up. You think I still have a shot?"

"With Vince?" Leon asked incredulously.

Lauren nodded, a pensive look on her face. "Yeah. C'mon, you can't tell me that little sprite satisfies him. She's like half his height!"

"Vince wouldn't touch you with a ten foot pole," he said on a snort, shaking his head at her. "He loves Lex too much to fuck it up."

"Want to bet?" she asked, waggling her eyebrows at him. "I bet I'll sleep with him before I leave."

Leon couldn't believe her gall. "Stay away from him, Lo," he said, his tone borderline angry. "Alex is pregnant."

"Oh gosh! That's even easier! Just wait 'til she gets big!"

"Lauren! I'm not fucking kidding," Leon growled at her. He loved Alex too much to hear someone trash her relationship like that. "You fuck that relationship up and I will never speak to you again."

Lauren smirked. "Woah, Leo. I can't tell if you're jealous that I'm interested or super overprotective of that little munchkin."

"Don't mess with her, Lo. She's a good person."

She let out a long sigh. It was obvious Leon cared about Alex enough to be angry at the mere thought of someone hurting her. She didn't want Leon angry with her; that wouldn't get her anywhere. "Fine," she said, pouting her pouty lips to show happy about it. "You know who that short girl looks like?"

Leon ran a hand over his face and shrugged a shoulder. "Who?" he questioned, expecting her to say something mean in response.

"Essie," Lauren replied, her voice soft as she picked at her jeans. "Is that why you're so protective?"

He sighed and nodded. "Sure, I guess."

She smiled softly, memories passing through her head of Leon's hot-headed twin sister. "Does she act like her too?"

"Sometimes," Leon answered honestly. "She's a sweeter version, that's for sure. Not as blunt or as mean."

Lauren laughed, sniffling as tears came to her eyes when she thought of her best friend. She didn't care about most people, but she had loved that girl like a sister. "God, I miss her. You remember Prom night?"

He nodded, smiling slightly. "Jess had just gotten his license so we let him drive."

"He ended up being the DD," she added giggling. "Man, he hated us on the way to the hotel. We were plastered because you spiked the punch."

Leon scowled at her, shaking his head. "No, I didn't," he lied, a sneaky grin on his face.

"You know, we weren't the only two who had fun that night. Essie slept with Jess."

He nodded laughing slightly. "They told me."

"Can you imagine if Ess was still around?" Lauren asked on a short laugh. "You two never would've left Arizona. They'd still be together, hell we'd probably be together. You ever think of that Leo?"

Leon shook his head. "No," he answered softly. He never thought of the past. Usually he was content with keeping things in the now since the past hurt so badly to think about. He knew what Lauren was really hinting at. She was trying to get him to think of the many "what-ifs" that he avoided like the plague and make him feel insecure about his current decisions. "I love Michaela, Lo. You and me are over. Have been for a long time."

Lauren shook her head at him. She stood up from her chair, sauntering up to him. "Leo, we'll never be over," she said in a soft, sultry voice. She reached out a hand to caress his face. "Not for me, not for you. That's why you called, isn't it? Because you missed me."

He pulled away as if he'd be stung. "Lauren, I called you for Jesse," he said, slightly disgusted by her answer. "You know, your brother?"

She rolled her eyes at him, the corner of her mouth turning up in a smirk. "Oh right, him," she said turning back to Jesse's bed. She leant over and gently brushed Jesse's hair out of his face. "Poor thing."

He could see how hard she was faking her concern and wondered why he'd even bothered to call her. Lauren didn't care about anyone but herself. "C'mon Lo. Let's just go back."

Michaela lay down on the dirty wooden floor of the dance studio. She was exhausted and her feet were killing her from the pointe shoes. The sad piano music playing from the stereo washed over her, making her sigh. Turning her head, she looked at herself in the mirror. There were tears on her face, though she didn't remember crying them. They're having a baby, she thought to herself miserably.

A baby. She was supposed to have one of those. That had been her fault. How could she not have known? She trailed the fingers of her casted hand over her flat stomach. There once had been a life in there. One she'd thrown away. Stupid.

She was happy for them, she really was. After all the shit they'd been through, Alex and Vince deserved happiness. They'd get married, have a baby, and live happily ever after. And where would she be? Fighting off Lauren for a man that wouldn't even commit to her?

He didn't know, but she'd heard him that day with Alex. He'd admitted he didn't know what he wanted, that he wasn't sure about kids and that he'd tried to get a ring, but couldn't do it. He was scared of that type of serious commitment.

Even when she'd lost the baby, he hadn't seemed that disappointed. Of course he was sad and worried, but it seemed to be more for her sake than his. We'll have our chance someday, now just wasn't the right time, that's what he'd said. Had she mistaken his relief for him trying to comfort her?

What if the baby had survived? He'd have been stuck then. Knowing Leon like she did, he would've felt obligated to propose because it was the right thing to do. And then where would they be? Up to their ears in diapers while she was happy and he was secretly in hell.

She loved him though. Had since the day she'd met him on that roof. Ever since he'd given her that sexy crooked smile, she'd been hooked. He'd been the first guy she genuinely cared about. Every other guy she dated she'd used to piss off her brother. Even Santiago, who everyone claimed was her "first love" hadn't even been close. She'd dumped him as soon as Vince stopped caring. But Leon had been different. He'd been hers, someone she chose because she liked him. He was her first love.

But she wasn't his. That title was Lauren's, and he'd told her as much. It was why she initially didn't like her. After meeting her, the dislike grew to extreme hatred. Lauren was the devil, Michaela was sure of it. She didn't know how many times she'd caught her trying to make a move on Leon. It was like the girl didn't want Leon until he had someone else. Michaela was determined not to let Lauren win. Commitment or not, Leon was hers and it was going to stay that way.

Sitting up, she wiped away the tears on her cheeks and she unlaced her shoes. She turned off the music and then the lights of the studio before heading out to her car. When she got home, she was relieved to see the Skyline was not in the driveway. That meant she had time to prepare herself for the appearance of the devil reincarnated.

Mia was in the kitchen making lasagna with Alex sitting on the counter next to where she was working. Vince was sitting on the couch watching a basketball game. If Leon and Jess were there, everything would be perfect. Vince smiled at her when she walked in. "Hey pretty girl," he greeted.

"Hey bro," she said, plopping down on the couch next to him.

He draped an arm over the back of the couch behind her so she scooted in closer and lay her head on his shoulder. "You okay?" he asked, still looking at the TV. She knew he was trying to act casual so the girls in the kitchen didn't get suspicious. Mia was a notorious eavesdropper.

She looked up at him and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Your time will come, Mickey," he assured her. "Shit happens for a reason, you know?"

Michaela smiled softly. Sometimes she wondered if her brother could read her mind. "You always say that, even when you talk about Mom and Dad."

He shrugged a shoulder. "Helps get me by. If they hadn't died, we wouldn't have come here. If we hadn't moved here, you would never have started dancing because we wouldn't have met the Torettos and you wouldn't have Mia making you buy a tutu and forcing you go to dance class with her. If you hadn't started dancing, then you'd never have moved to Vegas and…"

"I would've never met Leon," Michaela finished with a smile. She leant over and kissed his cheek. "You're amazing."

Vince chuckled, rolling his eyes at her. "You're pretty great too. Except you smell."

Michaela scoffed as she stood up. "I just had a very hard dance session, thank you very much!"

"Smells like it," he teased.

"I guess I'll go take a shower then, asshole," she muttered, standing and heading over to the shower.

"Remember to wrap that cast!" he shouted to her back.

Michaela smiled to herself. Vince was always looking after her. "Yes, Father!"

Vince chuckled to himself, shaking his head at his little sister. "You like the sound of that?" Alex questioned as she took Michaela's seat.

He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in closer before kissing her temple. "I think I like Dad better."

"Daddy? Pops?" she tested, smiling as she did so. She liked the idea of Vince being her baby daddy. "Papa? Papi?"

His kisses trailed down her neck, his beard tickling the soft skin there. "You can call me Papi if you want," he growled. He loved when she spoke Spanish. It never failed to turn him on.

She laughed, pushing his face away with her hand. "Sosta," she said laughing harder when he looked up at her in confusion. (Stop!)

"Tiny, that's Italian," he said his tone just as confused as his expression. Alex didn't reply, she just winked at him before getting up and skipping back towards their room. He followed after her, still curious as to where she'd picked up that word. He leant against the door jamb, watching her as she took off his jersey and put on a simple tank top and a pair of jean shorts. "Are you learning Italian now?"

"Maybe," she said innocently, trying to button her pants and failing. "See what I mean? These pants just don't fit!"

Vince chuckled, shaking his head at her. "Why are you changing anyway? You looked good in what you were wearing."

"I was wearing your huge jersey and dance shorts, V."

"Exactly."

Alex rolled her eyes at him. "Yes because I'm sure I look so good in them next to Lauren in her tiny tight halter and painted on jeans."

"Don't compare yourself to her," he said with a scowl. "It's not fair to her. She's not beautiful like you are."

She grinned at him as she pulled the clothes she'd been wearing back on. "You're smooth, you know that?" she questioned, walking up to him and sticking a finger in his face.

He winked at her. "I had to be to get you."

A big thanks to Rue Dawn and Mrz Letty Ortiz-Toretto who said they wanted to about Michaela's reaction to everything! I honestly hadn't thought about it until I read your review! :) I hope that part was sufficient! :)

Any and all ideas are welcome and your reviews are well loved so please review! :D

~Love Ink