Alex-

To say I was surprised by Brook's visit to California would be a complete understatement. I normally don't surprise easy so the fact that she was able to pull the whole thing off was a surprise in itself. I guess the fact that she only found out she was coming to California twenty-four hours before the flight took off didn't hurt her cause. I had to remind myself to thank Rian since the whole thing was really his doing.

All of Saturday morning and most of the afternoon I spent in bed. Brook was serious when she said I needed to rest and gave me a problem every time I tried to move, even if it was just for bathroom purposes.

By five or six o'clock I had watched more movies than I cared to see and while I fucking loved laying around in bed with Brook curled into my side and her head resting on my chest, I was starting to go stir crazy.

I somehow managed to convince Brook that I felt well enough to take her to dinner. I gave a whole long speech about it being her first time in California and she deserved to see the town a bit.

I think she was more excited about being out here than she was willing to admit because it didn't take nearly as long to convince her as I thought it would.

She got dressed, paying more attention to her outfit than usual after I told her I was going to take her to The Ivy. She muttered something about all the celebrities that go there and immediately ran to change her outfit. Twice.

We sat through our meal, talking about everything really. It was one of the things I loved most about our relationship. It never felt like we had to force conversation. We could talk for hours and never run out of things to say. Sure, I'd spent my time with a few girls who loved to run their mouth on the most absurd, ridiculous things that I couldn't have cared less about. When Brook goes off on a tangent about a sale on these shoes she really liked or a new recipe she found, I cared. Not because I cared about the shoes or the recipe but because I cared about Brook and anytime she was excited about something, whatever it was, it made me excited.

Towards the end of the meal Brook had gotten up to go to the bathroom. She was gone for a couple of minutes and when she came back she looked like she had seen a ghost.

I immediately got nervous and thought back to the night she had pumped into her ex. I just couldn't possibly imagine who she'd see that she knew in LA.

After ruling out her ex, my mind immediately went to the fans next. Sure, I loved All Time Low fans and I owe them everything but when it came to me and any girl I may have been seeing, they were vicious. Most of them were cool but there's always a select few who lash out anytime pictures surface the internet of me and a girl who may be my girlfriend.

I don't know how they do it but they manage to track down every piece of information they could. By the end of our relationship, Lina had a variety of hate and support site in her honor all over the internet.

I had stumbled across a few things about Brook on some of the blogs I occasionally glanced at because I knew people posted about me and my band mates. Most of the posts were a discussion on who Brook actually was and where she came from. Obviously, Brook didn't participate in Twitter or Facebook, so it made it very hard for these girls to find anything on her really other than a few pictures from the party at my house a few weeks ago one of my friends may have uploaded to Facebook that somehow got out.

I was pulled from my thoughts of Brook being cornered in the rest room by a group of angry fourteen year olds when she dropped down into the seat and started to bounce around excitedly.

"You are never going to believe who I just washed my hands next to!" she exclaimed.

"Who?" I asked eagerly, smiling at her excitement.

"Miley freaking Cyrus!"

"Really?" I smiled a little wider knowing how huge this was for her.

"Yeah," she nodded. "I thought I was in there alone. So I'm washing my hands and then one of the stalls opened and she just walked out and went to the sink next to me. I tried to keep it cool. I didn't want to make a big deal about it because I know she's just a normal girl trying to live a normal life. I just kept on washing my hands while sneaking glances at her in the mirror. Then she smiled at me as we went to dry our hands and when we walked out together she told me she liked my dress. Miley Cyrus likes my dress!" she squeaked, essentially explaining all that in one breath.

I laughed at her a little and before I could say anything her smile faded.

"Oh Gosh. You totally think I'm lame right now. You don't want to be my boyfriend anymore, huh?"

I laughed a little more and reached over the table, giving her hand a squeeze.

"Of course I totally think you're lame right now but of course I still want to be your boyfriend."

Her smile quickly reappeared and she laughed.

"I'm sorry but that was literally the coolest thing that has ever happened to little ole boring Brook."

"I know," I nodded. "Just be glad you didn't make a fool out of yourself in front of her."

"What do you mean?" she asked, eyebrow raised.

"A few years ago, my record label was able to set up studio time for Jack and me to work with Mark Hoppus. This was before I basically considered him a friend. I kept trying to act cool and like I knew everything and almost everything that flew out of my mouth was wrong. He kept correcting me. I played it off like nothing but it was really embarrassing. There's a video on the internet of it somewhere."

"I'm going to have to find that," she said with a laugh.

"You ready to go?" I asked, changing the subject.

"Don't we have to pay the check?"

"I did it while you were gone," I explained, standing from my seat, ignoring the scowl that plastered Brook's face.

I don't know why she had such serious issues with me paying for her all the time. I was just being a gentleman and any other girl would love it.

The walk back to the car was a little quiet. Brook was more than likely debating if she wanted to argue with me or not. Thankfully once we got into the car she seemed to have decided to let it go because a smile spread across her lips again.

"Where to now?"

"I don't know. Is there anything else you'd like to see?" I asked, starting up the car and pulling my phone from my pocket when it vibrated from a new text.

At that point Brook and I had already gone to see the Hollywood sign, the Walk of Fame and all the other tourist-y places in the area.

"We can go to Rodeo Drive and I can pretend like I can afford anything in any of the shops," she said, before she paused and thought about it and shook her head. "Actually no, that just sounds depressing."

I tried not to frown. I had to figure she didn't want to go anymore for fear that I would try to buy her something.

"We could, if you want..." I tried. "But Rian just texted me. They're all going to this little crap bar near the house later. It's kind of a hole-in-the-wall type place but we've made it our hangout while we're here. The staff is awesome."

"Let's do that."

"You sure?" I asked as I started driving.

"Yeah," she smiled. "I like your friends. Plus, I owe Rian a drink or two for dragging me out here."

“I do too,” I said with a laugh. "By the way, I think at this point it's safe to say they're your friends too or he wouldn't have done something like that."
***


Brook-

After dinner, Alex and I drove around LA a little longer so I could take pictures of the sights and act like a dorky tourist. Jenny was jealous that I was coming here so I promised I'd take plenty of pictures. I just regretted not taking any photographic evidence of my bathroom encounter with Miley Cyrus. My heart still raced rather quickly when I thought back to it.

We got back to the house and Alex volunteered to shower first before we got ready to go out that night. I cornered poor Danny in the kitchen and told him all about Miley Cyrus being my new best friend. Like the good guy I was convinced he was, he smiled the entire time and actually seemed somewhat interested in the story. It was lame but I appreciated it. My boyfriend had awesome friends and I was glad to be accepted by such a group.

After Alex showered, it was my turn. When it came time to pick my outfit for the night, I decided to wear the same dress from before. I figured if Miley Cyrus liked it, more people needed to see me wearing it.

I finished up my hair and makeup and was putting on my shoes when Alex poked his head into the room.

"Ready to go?"

"Yup," I nodded, standing up and slipping my light black sweater on. "Did you take all your medicines?"

"I did."

"Good boy," I smiled and kissed his nose gently.

He smiled, resting his hand on my hip and pulling me close to him for a real kiss.

"We don't have time for this," I mumbled into his kiss, my arms snaking around his neck.

He laughed and pulled away.

"You're right. Let's go," he said, gripping my hand and tugging me into the kitchen to wait for Danny. "Let's go, Danny!" Alex called out, jingling the car keys. "The bus is leaving."

Because of all the medicine Alex was taking, he decided that he shouldn't drink much tonight and he decided he would be the designated driver and by he decided to be designated driver, I mean I decided he should be designated driver.

"I'm coming!" Danny yelled and a second later appeared and I smiled.

"Looking good, dude," Alex complimented.

"Are you expecting someone special to be there?" I asked with a smirk.

Alex had mentioned something about Danny having a not so secret secret crush on one of the bartenders.

Danny rolled his eyes as a slight blush crept up his cheeks.

"Shut up," he groaned, glaring at Alex. "I just figured you never know when you may see Miley Cyrus in a bathroom," he tossed towards me and Alex poorly hid his laughter.

I jabbed him in the side with my elbow.

"You guys are the worst," I mumbled, walking towards the front door.

When we pulled up in front of the place, it was obvious that Alex wasn't exaggerating when e said it was a hole-in-the-wall. At first I was afraid to go inside because I thought it would be dirty and sleazy but it wasn't. It reminded me of the bars I went to in Baltimore. Family owned bars where people went for a few drinks with friends to talk and catch up. It was so not your typical LA club and I was thankful for that.

Jack, Rian and Cassadee and a few other people I didn't know were already there when we showed up. Cassadee immediately abandoned her bar stool upon seeing me and ran over, enveloping me in a tight hug as if she hadn't just seen me the day before. I was introduced to a handful of people, some Cass's LA friends, and some Jack's. Zack showed up a little while later with his roommates and I was trying really hard not to get overwhelmed by all the new people. For my own sanity, I stuck close to who I knew, which was mostly Jack and Rian and Cassadee over my own boyfriend surprisingly.

Two hours had passed and I was definitely teetering on the verge of being drunk. I felt bad that Alex was being left out but when Shots by LMFAO came on the jukebox and Jack declared it our song, going back to the first night I met him at the party at Alex's house, all plans to stay somewhat sober disappeared as Jack had the bartender pour a line of Tequila shots for both of us. Alex stood behind me, whispering in my ear that I didn't have to do them all if I didn't want to. I figured what the heck? I was technically on vacation. I deserved to live it up.

We did five Tequila shots each and mixing with the four Malibu and pineapple juice I had earlier, I was a goner. I didn't drink much and when I did, I usually had a better handle on myself than tonight. Not to say that I was causing a scene and being obnoxious, because I wasn't, I just laughed a little louder than usual and didn't feel as self-conscience as usual. I was able to throw my inhibitions to the side which is probably why I didn't run screaming out the door when Cassadee suggested we do karaoke in the back of the bar.

I hadn't sang karaoke like that since college but it felt good to just let go and have fun with a group of people I considered my friends. I hadn't done that in a while since everything happened with Josh.

"Alex!" I yelled over the music, stomping over to where my boyfriend was sitting at the bar. "Why don't we have a song!?"

"What?" he asked confused, resting his hands on my waist, pulling me close to him, in less of an affectionate way, and more of a keeping me from falling over way.

"A song! Look," I thrusted my arm in the direction of Rian and Cassadee.

They stood in the corner clinging to each other as they slowly swayed back and forth as Brian Adam's song Everything I Do, I Do For You played from the jukebox.
"It's their song and we don't have one!" I gasped.

Alex laughed a little and I could admit I was being a bit dramatic. Under normal (non-alcohol influenced) circumstances, I wouldn't have brought this up now. Or maybe ever.

"Okay. So what do you want our song to be?" he asked.

I paused, biting my lip as I thought.
"I don't know. I'm going to have to think about it. There's just so many songs to choose from!"

"Okay," he humored me, pushing some of my hair out of my face. "Think of something and then let me know."

I felt my face fall to a frown.

"You have to think of something too, Alex. I don't want our relationship to be like a dictatorship where I just decide everything!"

I could see him struggle with not laughing at me.

"Okay, Brook. I'll think of something, too."

I frowned again.

"You're going to find something better than me. You know a lot more songs than I do."

This time, he didn't even try to hide it when he laughed, pulling me into his body and squeezing tightly.

"I bet between the two of us, we'll come up with the perfect song."

I smiled, leaning back just enough to press my lips to his.

"I think so too."

He smiled, kissing my forehead lightly before loosening his grip on me.

"Do you want to start heading back home?" he asked when I began to yawn.

"Yeah,” I nodded, my eyes feeling heavy all of a sudden. "Where's Danny?"

"He skipped out a little while ago with Marcy. She's the bartender he's crushing on," Alex explained with a grin.

"Good," I smiled. "Let me go find Cassadee and the guys to say goodbye," I said.

Then it happened…

I wiggled free from Alex's arms and immediately lost my footing. I bumped into the guy sitting on the stool next to me and knocked his drink into his lap.

The guy began to scream at me for making him spill his drink. Alex quickly intervened and offered to get him a replacement.

The guy wasn't having it and everything that happened after that was a bit of a blur. The guy continued to yell at me and Alex. After he tossed an inappropriate comment and a crude gesture in my direction, I felt myself shoved out of the way and the next thing I knew Alex was in the guy's face and fists started to fly.

I wasn't sure how it happened or by who, but just as the fight started to get really intense, someone grabbed me around the waist and dragged me outside before anything could get worse.
***

Notes

Story Title: Taylor Swift - Sparks Fly
Chapter Title: Peter Cetera - Glory of Love
Brook's outfit.

Uh oh...