Eric's fist connected with the stranger's nose, causing a crunching sound and the stranger to stumble backwards slightly. The stranger reached up to his bloodied nose before throwing a punch that Eric swiftly dodged.

"You're a fag and she's a little slut." The guy said.

At that point, Eric lunged at the stranger, pinning him to the ground and sending repeated punches to his face.

Athena felt pressure on her arm and looked over to see Lacey holding onto her with tears filling her eyes. Poor Lacey had never seen a fight before.

"Eric! Please stop this! You're going to kill him!" Athena cried.

"That's the point!" Eric growled and continued to beat the guy underneath him.

"Hey! You two! Knock it off!" Athena looked over to see two very tall and very large security guards making their way over to them.

One of them pulled Eric off the stranger and the other picked the stranger off the ground. The stranger obediently left the venue and Eric was taken by one of the security guards and forcefully removed from the building. Athena held onto a still crying Lacey. Confusion jumbled her mind into a big mess. She couldn't understand what had caused Eric to want to beat this guy to death.

"Are you Athena?" A voice called out to her and pulled her out of the depths of her thoughts.

"Y-Yes. That's me. What-"

"Please come with me." The security guard ordered.

"May my friend come with me? Please, I'm the only one she has. I can't leave her here on her own."

"Yes, that's fine. Now, if you would please follow me."

Athena and Lacey followed the security guard through the crowd and through a door that appeared to lead to a hallway that contained many rooms on either side. The security guard arrived at a door that had a sign on it that read 'Black Veil Brides [i]un[/i]-dressing room.'
'Un' had been scribbled on in front of 'dressing room'.

The guard opened the door and allowed the girls inside. "You may take a seat. Someone will be with you in a few moments." He said before closing the door and returning to his post.

"Athena...What the hell just happened?" Lacey's shaky voice filled the silent room.

Athena couldn't answer. She had no idea what had just happened. As much as she hated Eric, she did hope he was okay. She just couldn't get over Eric's sudden protective behavior. None of it made any sense.

A group of voices and laughter was heard outside the door. Lacey and Athena looked at each other. The door opened and the voices poured inside, filling the room with noise.

"We so kicked ass, bro!" One voice said.

"Dude, that was so awesome!" Another said.

The guys from Black Veil Brides walked in.

"Athena!" CC shouted.

He ran over to her as she stood up from the couch. He picked her up in a hug and spun her around.

"CC! Can't... Breathe..." Athena coughed.

"Oh, sorry..."He released her from the hug and sat down on the couch, motioning for her to sit next to him. "Oh, I don't believe we know each other yet." CC looked over at Lacey who was still sitting on the couch, awkwardly.

"I'm Athena's friend..." Lacey said shyly, not taking her eyes off Ashley.

"Well, Athena's friend. Do you have a name?" Ashley walked closer to her.

"Oh, uh, yeah, Lacey."

"That's pretty." Jinxx commented.

"So..." Athena began but CC cut her off.

"I saw the first punch and Andy was still trying to get his mic working so I snuck off stage and warned security and told them to bring you back here."

"Oh..." It was as if CC had read her mind.

"Yeah, goddamn stage techs didn't give me a working mic in the first place." Andy grumbled while he started packing up his things.

"Um, it's getting late. We need to get home." Athena interrupted Andy's little rant.

"Let me take you home." CC offered.

"Are you sure? I don't want you to have to go out of your way."

"Oh, trust me. It's no problem." CC smiled.

"Well... Okay. But what about Lacey?"

"I'll take her home." Ashley said.

Lacey smiled widely. Ashley laughed at her over-excitement.

"Would you like that?" He asked her and she nodded vigorously.
***
"Thanks for the ride, CC." Athena said as he pulled up in her driveway.

"It was no problem. I live three houses down from you."

"Wait. What? Oh my god... You're kidding."

CC laughed which made Athena laugh. CC had the most contagious laugh.

"No, I'm serious."

"Oh my god. This night has been too much for me to handle."

"Why don't you get some sleep, then." CC suggested.

"Do you want to come in for a little? No one is home." Athena asked.

CC thought for a minute, going over the pros and cons of going inside an empty house with a girl that he most definitely had feelings for. After realizing that the pros outweighed the cons, he agreed to join her.

Athena led CC through the front door, down the hall, up the stairs and to her room.

"Hey, look! It's me!" CC pointed to the poster above Athena's bed.

Athena laughed as she sat down on the bed and CC sat next to her.

"So, are you okay? You're safe and all?" CC asked.

Athena nodded and felt her cheeks flush with heat. She was touched by the fact that CC cared so much about her. She saw him smile and she looked down, her hair covering her face so he wouldn't see how badly she was blushing.

"Aw, no. I want to see your pretty face." CC reached over and lifted her chin to face him.

He carefully studied her face as their faces began to get closer and closer. They kept moving closer to one another until their noses touched.

"No, CC. I-I can't do this." Athena backed away.

"Oh... No, it's cool. I get it. We pretty much just met. Things are moving a little too fast--"

"And I have a boyfriend..." Athena mumbled.

"And you have a boyfriend, and--Oh... You have a boyfriend..."

"I'm sorry, CC."

"No, it's okay, Athena. You don't need to be sorry. You didn't do anything wrong. But I should probably go now." CC stood up and walked to the door.

"CC, wait." Athena said.

He turned around to look at her.

"Can you... Can you stay with me tonight? My dad is working the overnight shift and my sister will have probably heard about Eric and go over to his house after work and I'd rather not be alone tonight."

CC walked over to the bed and gave her a sympathetic smile. "Of course." He said. "I would love to stay with you."