"Hey Lacey," CC walked up to her on the sidewalk outside her house. "Do you know where Athena is? I checked her house but no one is home."

Lacey looked up at him. "She's not home? Well, then I have no clue where she could be."

Lacey turned to go back up the pathway to her house but someone started calling her name from down the street. She looked and saw Max jogging towards her and CC with a big cardboard box in his hands.

"Hey, Lace. I came to bring you all of my Black Veil Brides stuff. I'm not into them anymore." Max said, knowing CC was standing right there but pretending he hadn't seen him. "Oh, CC. I didn't even see you there."

"Um, thanks, Max." Lacey took the box from him.

CC really didn't want to deal with Max's dramatic attitude but maybe Max knew where Athena was.

"Do you know where Athena is, Max?" CC asked, trying to keep himself calm.

"She's not at home and she's not with you? Then there's nowhere else she could be." Max said. "Oh, by the way, CC, how's fucking my girlfriend? She good? Cause you know, I wouldn't know. I've only known her for ten years but no, she trusts you, some random guy who's way too old for her and who she's known for, hmm, two months?"

"Three..." CC corrected him.

"And she's no longer your girlfriend." Lacey added.

"Oh, we're keeping track, are we?" Max ignored Lacey and continued to mock CC. CC couldn't take it any longer. "Go ahead. Punch me. I know you want to." Max egged him on.

CC threw a punch that Max dodged. Max threw a punch back and hit CC square in the jaw.

"Guys, please stop this! You don't need to fight!" Lacey pleaded.

When punches kept going left and right, Lacey did something she would come to regret. She stepped right in front of them so they would stop fighting. CC saw her and backed off but Max was mid punch when Lacey stepped in front of him. His left fist connected with her jaw and a second later, his right fist hit her temple, knocking her to the ground. When Max realized who he had just hit, he backed away in shock.

"You idiot! Look what you did!" CC cried.

"I'm... I'm sorry... I-"

"Just shut up, Max." CC barked at him. "Lacey! Can you hear me? Lacey?" CC knelt at her side.

"Andy?" She asked, groggily.

"No, Lacey. It's CC. Can you hear me?"

Lacey groaned and her head fell limp to the side.

"She's out cold. We need to get her to a hospital. Now."
***
"How is she?" Andy asked CC as he walked into the room. Ashley, Jake and Jinxx followed him in.

"She's still unconscious..." CC looked down at the floor.

Andy just nodded somberly and looked at her bruised face. "Any idea when she'll wake up?" Andy asked, hopeful.

"No... I'm sorry, Andy..." CC shook his head. "Hey, do you wanna get some food? We might be here for a while."

"Sure..." Andy agreed. "You guys wanna come?" He looked over at Jake, Ashley and Jinxx.

"I'm gonna stay here with her, in case she wakes up before you guys come back. I don't think she would want to wake up in a hospital room all alone." Ashley said.

"Alright, we'll be back in an hour or so." Andy said before following the rest of the guys out the door and down the hallway.

Ashley sat in the chair beside the bed and took one of Lacey's cold hands in both of his. He looked longingly at her face, studying how each strand of hair covered parts of her face in such an elegant way.

He sighed. "Lacey, I'm sorry. I know you can't hear me, or maybe you can. Either way, I want to apologize for the way I acted when I drove you home that night. I guess I was just... keeping my guard up. I mean, you look totally bang-able but I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I hurt you. I see the way Andy looks at you. Hold onto him while you can. I know he really cares about you. Fuck, he tells me everyday how much he likes you."

As he lifted her hand up and pressed his lips against her fingers, her eyes fluttered open. She looked at him and smiled. He didn't need to say anything because she knew exactly what he was thinking.

"Yes," She said, "I heard everything."