I sat in Ashleys lap watching adventure time with him for a while until he gently picked me up and placed me into the spot next to him. At first I thought I thought I was in the way but maybe he just got tired of me sitting there, but then I saw him get up.

"I'll be back, bathroom" he said smiling at me before he walked to the back. My phone went off and I checked seeing it was a text from Jess.

Jess: NEGATIVE! I'm not pregnant just all the stress I'm going through ATM, what r u and purdy doing?;)

"Oh thank god!" I said under my breath sighing in relief. I quickly sent her a text back before Ashley made his way back out to where I was.

Me: Yaysie daisies! Well, about the not being pregnant, not the stress. But I should've known it was probably from that. Anywho, I'm happy for you though! :D and omg shush your face, we're just watching a little adventure time. We'll be over in a minute once he comes back out from the bathroom! xx

I smiled and rolled my eyes as I sent the text locking my phone and putting it back in my pocket. Ashley came back out and I smiled at him as he stretched to reach in my bunk grabbing his shirt and jacket. He walked over standing in front of where he was sitting and placed the jacket in his seat. He smiled and winked at me which caused my brain to spin and me raise a brow. 'What is he do-' my thoughts were interrupted as I watched him slowly put his shirt on. 'Oh sweet jesus what the fuck are you trying to do to me Ash?' I thought as my eyes roamed his outstretched torso. I unknowingly bit my lip and realized he caught me watching when I saw him smirk and chuckle. I snapped out of it and looked away feeling my cheeks burn. 'Smooth fucking move, Melissa! You just got busted drooling over purdy purv and now he's probably never going to let that go and tease you about it. Well, it's a good thing you don't have a penis. But wait, hold the fucking phone! Am I admitting to being turned on by Ashley? WHAT?! No! Nonononononononononononono, abso-fucking-lutely not. Stop it!' I thought as I mentally slapped myself and my ovaries in my head. I was brought back to reality when I heard Ashley chuckle again. I was so lost in thought I didn't even feel him sit on my lap.

"You okay Mel?" he asked smirking at me again. Oh god that smirk. 'unf.. NO, STOP RIGHT NOW!'

"Uhm, yeah I'm good" I said smiling at him.

"Okay then, if you say so. Come on, we should head over to the bvb bus now" he said and I nodded. He got up allowing me to as well.

"Oh wait!" I said stopping and taking out my phone. Now that I have his number I need to get a picture of him for his contact picture.

"Smile Ash" I said and he stuck out his tongue, as usual, as I snapped the picture.

"How wonderful" I said sarcastically and he took my phone from me.

"Hey!" I whined at him pouting my lip.

"Come here you goof" he said as he got the camera on my phone ready. He walked over standing behind me and leaned his arms on my shoulders holding my phone up at an angle. The first picture he took was of us just smiling, the second one he stuck his tongue out and I made a blowfish face and the last one was of him kissing my cheek which caused me to smile widely.

"There you go" he said as he handed me my phone after he sent all three to his phone as well. I was able to edit the one of just him to where he had a drawn cat nose and whiskers. I giggled to myself as I set that as his contact picture. I set the funny faces picture as my home screen wallpaper and the cheek kiss as my lock screen. Not like anyone was gonna see them anyways, I always keep my phone on me. Before we left I went over to Matts bunk and tried to wake him up just enough to let him know where we'd be.

"Hey matt" I whispered to him.

"Hm?" he grunted.

"Just letting you know so you don't freak later, but me and Ash are going to the bvb bus. Come over when you guys wake up, okay?" I whispered to him receiving a nod and a tired 'mhm' in response. Me and Ashley quietly made our way off the bus into the bright sunlight. I got to ride piggyback on Ashley's back all the way to the bvb bus. We stopped in front of the door and I got off as he opened the door letting me go in first.

"Morning guys!" I sang happily as I walked onto the bus.

"Morning Mel" jake said and I smiled sitting next to Jess with Ashley sitting next to me on my other side.

"So where are we today?" I asked them.

"New York still, just a different part not entirely sure what part though" Jinxx said.

"What's after New York?" Jess asked.

"Boston" Jake said to her.

"Damn I haven't been there in 2 years, the closest we've played was in New Hampshire" Jess said.

"Aww Jess miss her home town?" Ashley said to her teasingly.

"Fuck no, I hate it there but I'd like to visit John and Emma.." she said. I could tell from the look on her face that she missed them more than anything.

"You should" Jinxx said giving her a small smile.

"I should really find time to visit Johnny's parents while I'm down there also, I haven't seen them since the funeral.." she said sadly trailing off.

"I'm sure they'd love that" cc said to her as he rubbed her shoulder.

"Then maybe stop by Haley's house and light it on fire" she said and the guys all burst out in laughter.

"Okay, how about no" Andy said.

"No I vote yes" Jess said raising her hand and Ash raised his too.

"Ash!" Jake hissed causing him to chuckle.

"Sorry but that girl was a bitch, they all were" he said.

"Who's Haley?" I asked.

"Just a girl who used to beat me up a lot" Jess said and I gave her a sad smile.

"I stood up to her once.. But then I gave up after" She said.

"I still remember that day, she was such a bitch" Andy said.

"What?" I asked confused.

"Basically before school he told me that if anyone touched me, to fucking kill them.. Yeah 3 hours later they were called to the school because me and Haley fought then during the meeting I ended up jumping over the table and beating the crap out of her I had to get dragged out by ash" she said and they all started laughing. I looked over at Ashley shocked.

"Wow.. Good role model" I said to him and he stuck his tongue out at me causing me to smile.

"so mel, we don't know much about you, first of all why are you here with us? Doesn't your family miss you?" Jake asked and all of a sudden I felt the color from my face vanish. 'Shit' I thought to myself. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest as I sighed. I swallowed as the memories flowed back into my head. Ashley put his hand in mine giving it a light squeeze as I smiled sadly at him then turned back to the guys.

"Well, you see Jake, that night I met you guys was when Jess found me. I had took a bus here to new york to see the show and checked into a hotel for a night. I ended up running out of money after that and had no idea what to do so I went into the alleyway outside of the club and started crying trying to figure out what I was going to do, until someone heard and came over to see what was wrong" I said looking at Jess as she smiled sadly at me. I sighed and looked down.

"As for family, all I have is my mom, who's currently in Georgia for business. I lived in Texas with her but about 2 months ago she was informed that she was going to be transferred to another state for a while." I said trailing off and turning to look at Jess again.

"Remember how I told you how I ran away from my abusive ex?" I asked her and received a nod in response.

"Well, I was being serious when I said he had kidnapped me. I wasn't living with him or even with him at the time. Me and him had broken up months before that. I didn't want to be completely honest with you about it because I didn't want to seem like I was whining or trying to make you feel bad for me." I said to her sadly as I saw her tense up and frown.

"I guess I should start from the beginning with how it started. I've honestly never had the greatest life. Most of my childhood was a blur, to sum it up as short as I can, my family hated me except for my mom and grandmother. When I was around 7, my grandmother had hired a babysitter that would look after me after school and help her out around the house and well, he used to touch me and molest me when no one was looking. My dad got locked up when I was just a baby so it's always just been me and my mom. The older I got, the more people picked on me and pushed me around. I started getting bullied in fourth grade and it went on till about eighth grade then things got worse. A new girl had transferred here from California and well as soon as she saw me all hell broke loose. Her name was Megan and she tormented me and beat the shit out of me up until senior year. She actually did the same shit to me as Haley did to you, which was give me the beating of a lifetime one day after school. At this time, I no longer had friends so I had to face her and her clique on my own." I said looking up at Jess with a shocked face.

"Jess, I've always looked up to you and thought you were such a brave courageous person. I always wished I could be as strong as you." I said to her.

"That day I was getting beat up made me think of all the shit I was put through before and I just, snapped. All I kept telling myself was how I have had enough of this bullshit and this ends now. So after a while of laying on the ground getting kicked in my ribs and punched in the face and stomach. I was able to stand back up and prepare myself for what Megan had coming to me. What was funny is at that moment when she was aiming to punch me in the face, one of her friends tried to go up behind me and hold me so Megan could get a good hit but I moved out of the way just in time for her fist to connect with her friends face instead. So just like you Jess, I finally fought back." I said smiling at her and she smiled back. I felt Ashley stroke my hand with his thumb as he scooted a bit closer.

"Mel, what did you mean you no longer had friends at the time?" Jake asked me causing me to glance over him giving a sad smile.

"And how exactly did your ex-boyfriend manage to kidnap you?" Jinxx asked me worriedly. I looked back down sighing and gripped onto ashley's hand tighter as I felt him tense up next to me.

"Well, before I actually used to have a group of really great friends. All of them were guys, except for one girl who was my best friend. Actually, now that I think about it, you guys remind me of them" I said looking around at everyone who looked shocked and had a glimpse of sadness in their eyes. It was true though, these guys reminded me of my boys and Jess reminded me of Alexx. These people were my family now and no one's going to throw them out of my life again.

"They were all considered family to me, even to my mom. So to me, they were like brothers and a sister, so it was Alexx, Mason, Chris, Josh and two of them were both named Daniel. Just so it wouldn't be confusing, I nicknamed the more protective one Batman because he looked out for me and was my favorite. Me and Alexx were closer than anyone though, she was practically my twin. We had a love for the same music, movies and everything. Our daily routine after school was go to either ones house, make popcorn chicken, play left 4 dead 2 together and listen to Whitechapel or Dethklok while killing zombies. I honestly never got tired of it" I said smiling and they laughed.

"Once Junior year started that's when we ended up going to a new school with each other and Megan. A month after school started, that's when Alex dug his way into my life. He was really nice to me and caring, I ended up developing feelings for him and apparently he did the same for me as well. He had started to get me to hang out with him more and then asked me out a couple weeks later. Well, a week into our relationship I noticed Batman and the guys were acting weird and being distant with me. By the next week I went back up to them to see what was going on and noticed they had busted lips, black eyes and cuts on their faces. They ran as soon as they saw me, except for Batman who looked at me as if he'd seen a ghost. His face went pale and I saw he was looking around cautiously as if someone was after him. I asked him what the hell was going on and just told me he couldn't talk about it, not at school anyways. Before he walked away from me he quietly told me to call him when I got home and was alone, so later that day I did." I sighed and clenched my jaw angrily. I never realized till now how pissed Alex made me.

"I couldn't fucking believe it when he told me what happened. I was in such shock that at first I wasn't sure if I should believe him or not, but he always told me the truth, no matter how bad it was, he never lied to me. Apparently Alex and his fucking piece of shit friends beat the life out of them to make sure they'd stay away from me. He threatened to put them in the morgue if they ever came near me again. And apparently he traumatized Alexx so badly that she moved to Michigan and refused to keep in contact with me. I was heartbroken when he explained everything to me. My best friends, my only friends, my fucking family for christ sake and the only girl to accept me for the way I was were now gone because of him. I felt like I was alone again, I never went to him for anything because he said I was so annoying and whined too much. So it seemed like the only person I could go to for anything anymore was my mom, again. It was as if once he was satisfied with running off my friends, he changed into this monster. After a month of dating, that's when the beatings started" I said blinking away the tears that threatened to fall when I thought about that horrible moment in my life.

"Mel, why didn't you leave him, why did you put up with it?" Jess asked me and I saw her eyes starting to water as I shrugged.

"I would have but I honestly didn't have a choice, not with him" I said as my voice cracked.

"After he repeatedly beat me one day at his house, I had told him that I no longer wanted to be with him anymore and it seems like at that moment, when I said that, it was as if I had tried putting out a fire with kerosene. As I was walking away from him, I felt my legs give out on me and the next thing I knew, I was on the ground feeling nothing but pain. I think I even went into shock for a minute before I realized what what happening. Turns out the idea of us splitting was the last thing on his mind because he grabbed his baseball bat and swung it hitting just below my knees." I trailed off hearing everyone gasp and felt a tear slip from my eye quickly wiping it away.

"It's as if this demon had came out and was taking over him, he just kept swinging the bat at me. He broke one of my ribs and even managed to split a huge gash in one of my calves. Which is the reason why I always wear thigh highs if I don't wear skinny jeans." I said as I took off my boots and slipped off my thigh highs. I had stood up to show everyone the still visible faded scar that went from the back of my ankle bone and went up half my calf. I saw the guys starting to tear up as well, including ashley. I never mentioned to him about this or even showed him. I sighed heavily and sat back down in between Jess and Ashley again.

"So, it was either put up with a few cuts and bruises or dig my own grave. But anyways, to answer your question Jinxx, he kidnapped me the day my mother left for Georgia and I ended up walking to work. I got halfway there when all of a sudden everything went black, I had no idea what was going on, all I know is I woke up in a pitch black room in my underwear with a massive headache. Long story short, I found out Alex knocked me out that morning and took me back to his house locking me away in a room with the window boarded up and the door locked from the outside. I was stuck in that shit for two fucking months, I ended up crying myself to sleep most nights and he would come home drunk and beat the shit out of me just like he used to, except it was worse. And while I'm tossing everything out on the table might as well come clean all the way, right? That pile of garbage fucking raped me the night he kidnapped me. He was also the reason I even self-harmed in the first place." I said as I felt the tears stream down my face. I felt Ashley wrap an arm around my shoulder.

"Mel" he said worriedly.

"I'm fine, Ash" I said wiping the tears and smiling at him. I looked at everyone else to see tears on their faces as well.

"Don't worry guys, it's all over now. When I escaped is when he chose to come home more drunk than ever and be careless when trying to have his way with me again. He left the door open and just like I did with Megan, I snapped, I had had enough of being put through that and since he was so uncoordinatedly drunk when he tried to hit me, I dodged his hit, getting up kicked him in his crotch and gave him a taste of his own medicine. While he was down on his knees, I grabbed him by his hair and made me him look at me as I screamed my final words to him, 'Now I'll show you how it feels you lousy motherfucker' I let my anger out and swung my knee up right into his jaw and knocked him out. Before I ran out of that fucking house, I locked his sorry ass in that room, took his car back to my apartment and packed most of my stuff then drove halfway to the bus station leaving his car in an alleyway and the keys in a dumpster. So now you guys know my story." I said smiling weakly. I felt the the couch shift and the next thing I knew Jess was standing in front of me holding out her hand, I'm guessing to see my scars. I sighed deciding to show her the ones on my thighs first by moving up the bottom of my shorts all the way exposing the old marks. I heard one of the guys gasp from the other couch.

"Oh mel.." Jinxx said sadly. I then gave my arms to Jess and let her remove my bracelets showing those old lines as well. I looked down shamefully and frowned.

"Jessy, I swear to you I haven't done it since the day I ran away from home" I said looking up at her as tears filled my eyes again.

"I'm sorry.." I trailed off hearing my own voice crack. Jess pulled me up off the couch hugging me tightly, I hugged her back and cried into her shoulder. A few seconds later I heard someone else get up from the couch, I looked up to see Jinxx standing there with tears running down his face and hug us too. One by one the other guys joined in making one big group hug which caused me to let out a small chuckle after a moment of crying and realizing these people do care. The guys let go after a moment as well as Jess allowing me to wipe my tear stained face.

"No more from now on, okay Mel?" Jess asked me and I nodded smiling.

"Ash already had me promise I wouldn't" I said as I lightly elbowed him on his stomach and felt my cheeks grow slightly warm. I saw her and Jinxx smile at him as he smiled at me.

"Thank you guys, for giving me another chance at being happy again. For giving me a new life to start over with along with a home and another family that you can make damn sure I'm not letting out of my life." I said causing them to chuckle. Ashley stood next to me putting his arm around my shoulder again.

"Don't worry melly, we're not going anywhere. We'll always be a part of your life from here on out" he said smiling at me and I smiled at him. I saw all the other guys including Jess nod.

"Yeah, you're a part of our family now mel" Jake said smiling at me. Truth be told, I had never been as happy as I am now, standing here with my friends, my family. We all sat back down and ashley pulled me into his lap smiling sweetly at me causing me to blush. He looked down at my feet and looked back up at me shocked.

"Mel you have tattoos?" he asked me as everyone looked over at me and I nodded. I had 2 on my feet. One foot had a compass that said Be The One To Guide Me and the other had an anchor that said But Never Hold Me Down. The way my mom talked to me about finding that special person and never letting them control my life inspired it. Ashley brought my feet closer so he could read what they say.

"Be the one to guide me, but never hold me down" he said

"My mom was the inspiration. She had always told me that if I ever find that certain person to love and be with for the rest of my life, then they'll lead me in the right direction of happiness and life but they'll do it without having to control me or keep me from going after my dreams. I told her about the tattoo ideas and she honestly loved it, she took me to get them for my sixteenth birthday." I said giving a small smile thinking about how much I missed my mom and being with her.

"I like them" Jinxx said smiling at me and I smiled at him.

"Me too" Ashley said stroking his thumb on my side. I put my thigh highs back on along with my boots. Burn bright had made it onto the bus finally smiling and saying good morning to everyone. Cam sat next to Ashley and started talking to him about something, I was honestly zoned out till I felt my phone go off. I took it out seeing a text from Jess who was trying her hardest not to smirk at me. I glared at her before reading the text.

Jess: So are you and purdy a thing now? ;)
Me: OMFG no jessy! He just for some reason likes for me to sit in his lap now since I accidentally did last night v.v
Jess: Riiight. I wonder why ;)
Me: Aslkjldf fuck off.. Maybe he just likes the warmth or something, idfk! GEEZ! :s
Jess: I'm gonna go with or something ;p you two will be together mel, trust me it'll happen, we can obviously see he for sure wants that
Me: oh my glob jess, you're crazy.
Jess: Whatever, just don't fuck on the bus while we're there please.
Me: BLEHHH! LALALA I CAN'T HEAR YOU STAHP
Jess: Well no shit you can't hear me, we're texting silly ;)
Me: Fuck you, smart ass..

I looked up and glared at her as she laughed and I stuck my tongue out at her. I was about to lock my phone and put it away till I saw a random number calling. I froze and my heart started pounding in my chest when I saw it was a Dallas area code. 'What if it's Alex?' I thought to myself. I shook my head and stood up getting a confused look from Jess and Ashley.

"I'll be right back, I think it's my mom" I said reassuringly with a smile so they wouldn't tense up. I quickly made my way to the lounge closing the door behind me and pressed answer.

"H-hello?" I answered cautiously.

"Hello, ma'am. This is Officer Burroughs with the Dallas police department. Is this Melissa Medina I'm speaking to?" the man asked me.

"Yes, this is she" I said.

"And is your mother miss Monica Revillas?" he asked me.

"Yes, she is. Why, what's going on?" I asked worriedly. I heard him go silent for a minute then a sigh and him clear his throat.

"Well, miss, I'm afraid I have to inform you that something terrible has happened" he said sadly.

"What? What do you mean?" I asked feeling my heart starting to pound again.

"It, well.." I heard him trail off as he sighed heavily again.

"What's wrong, please tell me!" I said raising my voice unexpectedly feeling my stomach tangle in knots. I heard a soft knock on the door.

"Mel, is everything okay?" I heard Jess ask but didn't answer her as I awaited the man anxiously on the phone. I heard the door open quietly and even started to feel my eyes tear up again.

"Miss, I'm sorry, it pains me to tell you this, but it's regarding your mother. Something, happened.." he said trailing off at the end. I even heard him swallow.

"What?.." I said as my voice cracked and the tears ran down my face.

Notes

Ahoy me mateys!
AHEM! *clears throat for about 2 minutes* Sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry! I love you guys so much and I apologize for taking longer than I should have and said D:
Also, left you guys with a lovely cliffhanger for all your closets<3
Oh and here's the tattoo: http://i44.tinypic.com/15gxs28.jpg
And if you don't already, I strongly recommend reading my best friend Jess's story I Can't Feel Anything Anymore, it goes with this story and feel free to read her other amazing stories I Am Jessica Pitts, My Feet Are Dangling Off The Edge and As You Fade Into The Night :)
Love you guys, bye!