Southern Constellations. (A Tony Perry Fanfic)

Caught By Surprise

Chapter 2

-Tony’s POV-

We finished the last song and again the crowd went crazy. “Goodnight San Diego, you guys were the best fucking crowd yet! We love you guys!” Vic said to the fans. Jaime and I threw our guitars above our heads, Vic raised his hand up with microphone in hand, and Mike had each drum stick in his hands and put both of his arms up. As we looked at the crowd we couldn’t stop smiling. The stage was like our second home, and it was sad that it was the last show of the tour but it was time for us to kick back and just relax.

As we got off the stage I see Arden and Autumn cheering for us and I watch Arden’s eyes light up as we passed her. “So you asked her out?! Tone I’m so happy for you man,” Vic said running up to me. It honestly made me smile that I had enough courage to ask her out tonight. “Yeah man, I’m taking her out to wherever she wants to go!” I said to Vic. Vic smiled at me and gave me a pat on the back.

As I head back to the green room I hear a female’s voice, “Stop calling me! Eric we broke up weeks ago. There’s nothing you can tell me that will ever make me think twice about what we had. You hurt me and I’m done!” It was Arden and she was practically in tears when she turned around to me. She quickly whipped her tears but I grabbed her into my arms, she was warm but she was shaking as if she was freezing. “It’ll be fine, everything will be fine,” I said while rubbing her back trying to calm her down. “It’s fine if you don’t want to go out with me tonight, I understand,” she said letting go of me and whipped her tears. “No, I want you to come with me. I want you smiling again and I promise tonight will be fun!” I said reassuring her. She smiled at me and I grabbed her into another hug and this time the hug was tighter than before.

We walked into the green room where the guys and Autumn were. They turn to face us and they all have worried faces, I look over at Arden and she started smiling. “Tony told this really funny joke to me and it’s the most hilarious thing, it seriously had me in tears,” she said as she sat down next to Autumn. As I look around the room everybody gave her a smile and I felt relieved that nobody questioned her.

“Don’t be out too late you hear?” Mike said messing with me and Arden. “Ha-ha whatever man, see you guys later,” I said to the guys. “Have fun Arden! See you back at home,” Autumn said to Arden. I smiled at her and said, “Thanks for coming out tonight.”

When we walked out the venue it grew cold and I noticed she didn’t have a jacket on so I gave her my Love Before Glory jacket. “Thanks Tony,” Arden said shyly giving me a smile. “No problem at all, you need it.” I said smiling at her. As we were walking toward my car I heard vibrating, it was Arden’s phone that had went off. She didn’t even give it a second thought and just rejected the call. I looked over at her, her eyes grew sad but she gave me a fake smile. I pulled her into the side of me and I gave her a tight squeeze. I was really worried for her because I already knew who it was. This Eric guy really made her upset and I wanted to get to the bottom of this.

“I heard about this really cool coffee shop. They’re opened 24 hours, it called… Um,” she said trying to think of the place. “Lestat's Coffee House right?” I said finishing her sentence. “Yeah, that place! You’ve been before?” she asked. “Ha-ha yeah, I always go there when I’m back home,” I said. “We should go there and you can recommend me something,” she said smiling at me again.

I turned the radio on so we would have something to ride along to. “God I hate this song, they overplay this song and it’s so annoying,” she said as Happy by Pharrell played. “Yeah, I agree. It is pretty annoying,” I said. As I let the song play I heard her humming along to it. “I thought you didn’t like this song! Liar! You know you love it, you can’t deny it!” I said teasing her. “Nooo, Ha-ha leave me alone. It just gets stuck in my head sometimes,” she said trying to convince me. It was really nice riding with her, the moment that I thought would be awkward wasn’t at all. She laughed at the cheesy jokes I made and even sang along with me to the dumbest songs on the radio. I was thankful for having enough courage to ask Arden out tonight because if I didn’t it could have been the last time I actually got to see her.

-Arden’s POV-

“I really recommend the Caramel Bear, its sweet like you,” he said smiling at me. What he said totally made me blush so much. “Thanks Tony,” I said as I smiled at him. “No problem at all,” he said smiling as he placed his arm on my shoulder looking up at the menu.

“Hi, what would you like to order sir?” the barista said. “For my girl she’ll get a Caramel Bear and I’ll get a Vietnamese iced coffee” Tony said to the barista. He actually referred to me as his girl, my cheeks flushed red and I tried to hold back my smile. “Alright that’ll be $10.56” the barista said to Tony. Tony handed the barista the $20 and said, “Keep the change.” A big smile went across the barista’s face and he said, “Thank you so much!”

After we got the drinks we decided to walk around the city for a bit even though it was chilly. I always enjoyed the city at night so this walk with Tony made me love this city at night even more. I hooked onto his arm as we walked down the street. As me and Tony were having a conversation at the corner of my eye I seen a male figure run toward us. My first thought was that it was just a fan wanting to say hi to Tony but as the person got closer I realize it was my ex-boyfriend Eric. I froze when I saw him, thoughts went across my mind to how he knew where I was or was it just a coincidence. “Who’s that?” Tony asked. “Eric…” I said as the sound of my voice changed. “You fucking whore! You left me for this loser!?” he yelled at me. His breath reeked of alcohol as he yelled in my face. “Aye man, you need to back off. Don’t fucking call her that, you look pathetic yelling at her.” Tony said to Eric. Tony held me behind him as he told Eric to back off. “Fuck off! Come on Arden you’re coming home with me!” Eric said. And with that said Eric took a grip of my wrist and pulled me toward him. As soon as I knew it Tony had Eric against a brick wall holding him by his throat. My eyes widen as I watch Tony put Eric against the wall and I was shocked how Tony stood up for me. Tony’s eyes grew furious as he warned Eric, “Don’t you dare lay another hand on her, and if you do you’re fucking with the wrong guy.” Tony let him go and Eric fell to the ground, the fear in his face placed a smirk on my face.

“Tony… I’m so sorry about that. I didn’t know he was going to show up. He doesn’t leave me alone and I just don’t know anymore,” I said as we walked. “Don’t worry at all, he can’t hurt you anymore. I’m here for you just know that and you’re always safe with me,” Tony said reassuring me. “Thanks for being here with me,” I said. He pulled me into a tight hug and at that moment I felt all my worries drop from my shoulders. “Hey, I should take you home. It’s getting pretty late and you need your rest,” he said to me. He put his arm over my shoulder again and we walked to his car.

The drive back to my house was silent but the silence wasn’t awkward, I would catch Tony looking at me here and there. I would give him a small laugh and he would turn bright red. When we got to my house Tony walked me to my door. “Are you busy tomorrow? I wanna take you somewhere to cheer you up,” Tony asked. “You’re lucky, tomorrow is my day off,” I said smiling at Tony. “Okay good, I’ll call you tomorrow,” he said. He gave me another hug and when I walked closer to my door I turned around and gave him a kiss on the cheek. It caught him by surprise and made him speechless. “Goodnight Tony, thanks again for everything tonight.” I said closing the door.