Chapter Nineteen

"Tori, you need to get up", Wren said.

My brother was standing in my door way, slumped against the door frame. He probably looked more alive than I did though.

"Leave me alone", I whined, rolling over onto my side so my pyjama clad back was to him.

"Victoria Beth Robinson, you have not left your bed in the last two weeks. You need to get your fat ass up", He said sternly.

"That is a lie. I've been to the bathroom", I argued lifelessly, "And my ass is not fat considering I haven't eaten in two weeks."

I could practically feel Wren rolling his eyes in the good natured way only siblings could. Wren's arguments were basically true. It was true I hadn’t moved from my bed in two weeks. I had nothing to do.

"You haven't been to work in two weeks", He said, "They're going to start getting suspicious and fire you."

"They think I've got chicken pox. It's highly contagious", I replied bluntly.

I heard footsteps and thanked God that Wren was leaving. He'd been hassling me nonstop to get out, but I couldn't I just couldn't. There was too much chance I'd see Tony or one of the guys. Suddenly the mattress shifted and I felt him sit down on it. He rested his hand on my shoulder and pulled me over to face him.

"Tori, sis, you need to get up. Sitting around makes nothing better. I promise you. You need to get up, distract yourself, take your mind of things."

I groaned in response and rolled my eyes, "How would you know?"

Wren had never experienced a breakup in his life, he shrugged.

"I still don't see why you're complaining though. I mean you broke up with him", Wren shrugged.

That caught me off guard, and I sat up abruptly, "You know why I did it. I couldn't have him constantly worrying about me. He has a life and he doesn't need me or my drama ruining it."

Explaining the situation again brought tears to my eyes. The last two weeks, were blurred into one long day in my memory. One long day that consisted of millions of tears, more movies than I could count on all my fingers and toes and that night playing over and over again in my head. It could have happened a million different ways, and it seemed at least half of those would've ended better than the reality.

"Sorry I brought it up", Wren held up his hands in up surrender, "At least come out with us tonight."

His change of subject had been abrupt and I looked at him curiously.

"What?"

"Charlie wants to know if you'll come out with us tonight. We're going to hit a few clubs, have some drinks, maybe a dance. It'll be fun. Plus even she thinks you need a night out. Maybe meet someone new?"

Smacking his arm at the suggestion of meeting someone new, he grinned at me.

"So your in?" he asked.

I nodded, I guess a night out couldn't do me any harm. If anything drowning my sorrows would make me feel numb, and feeling nothing would be better than how I feel now.

"Ok, sure." I huffed.

"So it's five now and we're gonna meet Charlie at seven so you've got two hours to get ready", Wren's smile grew even bigger.

Standing up he shoved my shoulder on the way.

"You better hustle, little sister. It smells as though you haven't had a shower in two weeks", he laughed before walking out my room and shutting the door behind him.

~ 2 Hours Later ~

Walking down the stairs I saw Wren sitting on the couch. His shirt sleeves were rolled to his elbows, showing off his tattoos. Standing up he tapped his watch.

"Come on Tor. You're late", he huffed sarcastically.

I rolled my eyes as I walked towards the door, my heels clicking on the floor. Walking out the door he locked it behind us and I made my way to the car.

"I'll drive." Wren called, jogging over to his car.

I shrugged, sliding into the passenger seat. Resting my head against the cool glass window as Wren pulled from the driveway.

"You look nice tonight", He said quietly.

I glanced down at the short black dress I'd dug out from the back of my closet and shrugged.

"Yeah I guess", I answered quietly, "Where are we going again?"

Looking out the window as my brother drove erratically through the streets.

"Um, just one of the clubs in downtown", he mumbled almost nervously.

Suddenly he slowed down and I looked around. We were downtown and the popular bars and clubs lined the street, neon lights flashed from every window and sign. Illuminating the people scattered everywhere. One club seemed especially popular, and young people seemed to be lining the street for blocks before it to get in.

"I hope that's not where we're going", I murmured.

"Uh, yeah actually it is", Wren said sheepishly.

"Oh."

"Don't worry though", he continued sounding more confident this time, "I know a guy so there is no waiting in line for us."

"Oh." I said again, as he turned down a side street next to the club.

Driving down into a small parking lot I noticed a few mini vans. I guess a DJ or something was playing tonight. Pulling into a park, Wren and I stepped from the car. Following him up to a back entry he said a few quiet words to the security guard, who let us in quickly.

"Where are we going?" I asked as we walked down a corridor.

"Just follow me. Charlie said to meet her down here", he murmured as we walked.

I wondered how my brother knew this place so well. Maybe he'd been here before? Hell, what did it even matter. I was coming here to get away from everything. Suddenly the hall widened and I glanced around. To my right I could see out onto what looked like a stage. I guess it wasn't a DJ, more like a band. Instruments were being set up by tattooed guys and I wondered what sort of band they were.

"A band?" I asked Wren.

He turned to me and placed his hands on my shoulders, making me look him in the eyes.

"Now Tori. Whatever happens I need you to stay here. Ok?" he asked and I nodded half heartedly, "Promise."

I wasn't some child that needed warning. What I needed was a drink. Alcoholic preferably.

"I promise?", I shrugged half heartedly.

A roar rose from the crowd and I guessed  the band was starting. I now realised that we were standing side stage and in the perfect position to watch the show. Pulling out of Wren's grip I turned and froze.

"No", I hissed quietly.

Walking out from the other side of the stage were the four people I'd come to get away from. Vic. Mike. Jaime. And Tony.

"No, no, no, no", I murmured turning back to Wren.

"You promised", he said, trying to repress a cheeky smile.

"What is this some sort of orchestrated thing!?" I yelled at my brother.

We were shushed by someone walking by as Pierce The Veil started to play. The crowd roared and I doubted anyone could even hear me yelling.

"You promised", he repeated and I glared at him, If looks could kill.

Of course that's why people were lining the block, to see the band. Why had I not connected two and two. Finally I'd stopped thinking of Tony for a second and here he is, shoved in my face again. I'd finally been able to convince myself for a moment that maybe I could live without him, but now every emotion from the past two weeks came flooding back and it was doubly as painful. And it was all Wren's fault. Reaching out a hand, I steadied myself on a crate. This was all too much. All at once the crowd went quiet. What? Their set couldn't be over already, they'd only been on for twenty minutes. Looking out onto the stage, I saw Vic shushing the audience.

"So, tonight is very special for someone in this band, " Vic said to the crowd.

A cheer rose.

"And because of that I'd like to let them talk", he continued.

Another cheer.

"Tony. Take it away", He announced and stepped back.

The crowd went very quiet and I swear you could've heard a pin drop. I watched as Tony walked to Vic's microphone. I'd watched enough Pierce The Veil video's in the last two weeks to know that this was a first time thing, or rare enough to shock people. He took  a deep breath and I did the same. I felt like crying and smiling at the same time, and a war was raging inside me between the two emotions.

"Um", he started, "So here's the thing. There's this girl. And I really like her."

He was speaking slowly, and I guessed he was nervous. It took me a while to process his words and I wondered if he was talking about me or he'd already moved on. If he'd moved on I didn't think I would be able to handle it.

"But she's getting bullied pretty bad right now", he continued and there was a collective 'awh' from the audience, "And I know that some of you have been bullied so you know what it feels like. It's pretty bad right? So if you see people posting her number out there on the internet and if you see people posting about her tell them to take it down. Because if you've ever met her you'd know she is amazing. She's funny and talented and does not deserve to be bullied. No one does."

Tony paused for a moment and turned so he was staring right at me. I felt my hand go to cover my mouth in shock. He knew I was here the whole time. He planned this. God, he's perfect.

"Tori. I love you."

That was it. Running out onto the stage I didn't care that people were watching us. I didn't care about anything other than Tony. Getting to him, he pushed his guitar to his back and I wrapped my arms around his neck. Crashing my lips to his a cheer rose from the audience, and the sound was deafening. But I didn't care. It was in that moment I realised that I needed him more than anything. He was the only one for me and I was the only one for him. The kiss was sweet. The sweetest I've ever had.

"I love you too", I whispered in his ear.