The Innocent Can Never Last

Damn You Ruby

Emma's POV

I woke up in an unfamiliar place, enclosed in total darkness, to the sound of someone breathing contentedly right next to me. Where was I? I racked my brain back to several hours earlier. I woke up on the couch with Billie, we went up to his room and laid on his bed for a while...

We must have fallen asleep again, I realized. I could feel Billie sleeping on the bed next to me, and I gulped a bit, realizing how this would look to anyone that might barge into the room without warning. Sure, Billie and I were pretty comfortable with each other, but I wasn't trying to help him cheat on his girlfriend. I wasn't like that. With a bit of a shudder, I quietly pulled myself out of bed and stumbled over to the bedroom door in the dark. I tugged open the door, letting a bit of light from the hallway spill into the bedroom. I could barely make out the small lump that was Billie, sprawled out across the bed, still sleeping peacefully. I smiled, blew him a silent kiss, and closed the door behind me. The clock at the end of the hall said that it was about three in the morning, and there wasn't a sound to be heard throughout the whole house. I crept slowly down the stairs, wondering if all of the guys were still out somewhere, or if they had come home. It sure didn't sound like anybody was there. I stepped into the living room, where I could just barely make out Mike and Anastasia, still cuddled up on the couch. "Staj?" I whispered, walking over to the edge of the couch.
"What?" she whispered back.
"Are you awake?"
"Obviously."
"Oh. Well, are you ready to go?" I asked. "We should probably get home."
"Yeah," she answered, gently pushing Mike away from her and standing up.
She stretched a bit, before stumbling over to me in the darkness. The two of us headed out of the living room and over to the front door, which we silently passed through, before emerging into the bright moonlight. "What time is it?" Anastasia asked, with a yawn, as the two of us headed out to my car.
"Three something in the flippin' morning," I yawned, getting into my car and putting the key in the ignition.
"Great."
"Yeah."
I started the car and quickly drove away, focusing more on keeping myself awake than on anything else. The ride home was pretty quiet. When we reached our apartment, Anastasia and I both went straight back to our room and fell heavily on our beds, grateful to be home...

I didn't wake up until noon the following day, which was something that I rarely did anymore. I was usually up at the butt crack of dawn, as was Anastasia, but not on that day. When I finally did drag my sorry butt out of bed, I quickly headed into the bathroom to take a shower, feeling very grimy having spent so much time around a large group of guys that were all smoking and drinking.
Once finished in the shower, I headed back into my bedroom, where Anastasia was just waking up. "Oh, my god. I slept until twelve-forty-five," she moaned, throwing her blankets off of herself and climbing slowly out of bed.
"I know. I slept until noon, and I don't think I've slept that late since I was twelve," I said, throwing on a pair jeans and a black Fender t-shirt.
I began towel-drying my hair, as Ana got up and walked over to her dresser mirror. "So..." I said slowly. "You and Mikey were looking pretty comfortable."
"Shut up," Anastasia snapped.
"Just stating the obvious," I said, with a grin.
"Yeah, well...he's kind of cute, okay?" Anastasia said, with a sort of half-smile.
I stuck my tongue out at her and said, "Have at him. But if you hurt in any way I'll have to kick your ass, sorry. He's been my friend longer than you have. He comes first."
"I understand, and I'm not going to break his heart. We're not even dating," Anastasia said.
"But it could happen soon, and I'm just warning you," I replied, and she smirked at me.
"Don't worry, I'm not going to do anything to your Mike. He's safe with me," she said.
"Okay, but remember that I've got my eye on you," I said, winking at Anastasia.
She simply gave me the middle finger, and hurried out of the room to take a shower.

"Here to see Armstrong, I presume?"
"You guessed it," I said to the 'security guard' that was standing at the back entrance of the Gilman club.
"Enter," he said, stepping out of the way, so that Anastasia and I could get through.
She and I both pushed through the doorway, and emerged into the now-familiar hallway of the Gilman club. "Wow, fancy," Anastasia said, as we walked down the empty white hallway.
"Tell me about it," I answered, pushing open the door of the guys' dressing room.
Anastasia and I entered the room, only to find that it was completely empty. "Where is everybody?" Anastasia asked, as we stepped farther into the room and began looking around.
"I have no clue," I said, picking up an empty beer bottle off the table. "They said they would be in here."
"Where else could they be?" Anastasia asked, helping herself to a beer out of the mini-fridge.
"I have no clue. On stage, maybe?" I suggested, as Ana popped open the beer and took a swig.
"Well, then let's head over there," Anastasia said, and I nodded.