The First Punch

I was still laying in bed by the time I should’ve been up and walking around. This wasn’t because I was trashed from last night, I’m just fucking lazy. Tony was out running errands and I was just in bed laying with Ghost. He was laying on my stomach and I was rubbing in-between his ears. I could hear him purring in delight as I continued. I glanced at my phone and picked it up off of the side table. I had a few texts from Mel and one from Emme. I rubbed my eyes and held down my finger on the home button to get into my phone.
Mel: Hiya babes. Can I come over?
Mel: I’m coming over. I’m getting in my car now.
Mel: I’m picking up Emme.
I went to Emme’s message and read it.
Em: We will be there at 12. My fucking head hurts.
I looked at the clock on the bedside table and saw that it was 11:30..
“Fuck” I mumbled to myself and looked at Ghost. “Have you eaten today?” I asked him playfully. He brushed up against my arm and meowed. I got up and held him in my arms. “Let’s get you a treat.” I laughed walking to the kitchen. I still had only underwear on but it was comfortable and I looked good. I put him on the counter and he trotted over to the treat jar. I opened it and handed him one.. I was a softie for animals so I gave him a few.. My phone started to ring and I saw it was Lian. I picked it up and walked over to the fruit bowl. Ghost walking over to me.
“Hey Li.” I said getting an apple from the bowl.
“Alex! HI! I was wondering if you wanted to go shopping for baby stuff today? I mean only if you’re not busy..” She giggled nervously.
“What time?” I asked taking a bite of the apple.
“Uhm around 2. Sound okay?” She said, I could tell Jaime was doing something funny in the background because Lian just kept laughing.
“Sounds great. I gotta go take a shower and get ready. I’ll text you later. Bye Li, I love you!” I said picking up Ghost.
“I love you too.” With that she hung up, put the apple on the counter, and headed for the shower. I set Ghost down on the floor of the bathroom and I got into the glass enclosure. I started to sing and clean myself. After about 20 minutes I hopped out and wrapped myself in the towel that was beside the shower on a rod. I heard knocking at the door and I just started to rush as I got my clothes on. I slipped on a bra and underwear. I heard knocking again and I heard Mel whine.
“Al let us in!” She said and I laughed.
“I’m not dressed!” I yelled back.
“I’m coming in!” Mel opened the front door and walked through the door.
I slid on some skull shorts an a Marilyn Manson tee. I walked out into the living room and saw the girls sitting watching some shitty news on the TV.
“What’s on?” I asked drying my hair with my towel.
“Just some shit on how the music kids and teens listen to makes the depressed and suicidal.” She shook her head and sighed. “Why are people so fucking stupid?!” I giggled and I looked to Emme. Whom of which was holding her head and laying down on the couch.
“I have to do my makeup. And by the way I’m going out at 2 so..” I said walking towards the bedroom. Mel got up to follow me and Emme was still laying there on the couch.
“Whatcha' doin’ at 2?” She asked sitting on my bed and picking up Ghost.
“Shopping with Lian, for baby stuff.” I explained starting to work on my eyes. Really all I ever do is my eyes.
“Ah I was going to go back to my flat and chill with Emme and Alex. And Jack I guess is there now. So yeah. I just wanted to drop by.” She smiled and looked at her phone. “I think I’ll be heading out now..” She stood up and kissed my shoulder. I have no clue why she did this but she always kissed my shoulder.
“Bye Mel.” I laughed and continued to do my makeup. A few minutes later I finished my makeup and slid on some slip-on vans.
“You ready Em’s?” Mel said walking to the living room. “Em’s?” She said frightened. I ran into the living room to see what was going on.
“Mel she’s just sleeping..” I giggled. Mel let out a sigh of relief and laughed nervously.
“You mind If we stay here until she wakes up?” Mel asked brushing Em’s hair out of her face.
“Do what you need to do..” I laughed and picked up Ghost whom was at my feet. I walked over to the counter and started to eat my apple again. Soon we heard Tony pull into the drive way and shut the door. He brought in two bags full of food and set them on the table.
“Hey Axl.” He kissed my cheek and went over to Mel. “Mel.” He kissed the top of her head and looked at Emme. “What happened to her?” He asked.
“She’s a lightweight…” I said laughing.
“Just because everyone can’t party as hard as you two don't mean they’re a lightweight..” Emme said quietly.
“You had three shots and then you were wasted. You didn’t even snort anything or smoke anything.. Or take any pills.” I laughed and so did Mel and Tony.
“Yeah I’m a lightweight. I never partied a lot because I was always working really early in the morning.” Emme explained still holding her head. Tony started to put away groceries as Mel, Emme, and I watched TV. We had popped in the movie School of Rock and watched the entirety of that. In the middle of the movie Tony sat beside me and put his arm around me. I put my head on his shoulder and started to rub my arm. I had Mel dozing off on my side, Ghost asleep on my lap, and Emme becoming more and more wide awake.
“It’s 1:30 I should get going.” I said getting up and putting Ghost on Tony’s lap.
“Where you goin'?” Tony asked looking up to me.
“Shopping for baby stuff with Lian.” I kissed him and grabbed my bag off of the hook by the door. “Bye guys!”
“Bye!”Tony and Em said in unison. Mel said it when she eventually jolted awake.
I headed to my car and threw my bag into the passengers seat. I sat in the drivers seat and took a deep breath.. This morning at 9 Lian went to the clinic to see how long she’s been pregnant for. She thinks its 2 months but we shall see. I put in the key and started the car. Just a minute later I pulled up to Lian’s house and she came walking out of the door holding her stomach. Which I saw was showing more than I thought she was.. I really never looked at her whole body.. It feels weird to know that she is going to have a baby..
“Hey Alex!” She said moving my bag and sitting in the car. After she buckled in she smiled at me. “Apparently I’m 8 months and I could give birth at any moment, oh and I Jaime’s card.” She said holding up the card.
“8 months?! How’d we not know this sooner. You’re barely showing at all!” I pulled onto the road and headed for the store where all of the baby stuff was.
“I know Alex.. And uh.. The lady today told me that I’m having.. A girl..” She looked so happy.
“Li I’m so happy for you.. You’ve always wanted a girl!” I smiled and continued to drive. “You think of any names yet?” I asked looking at her seeing that it was a red light. She nodded. “What is it?”
“Ellie Mae Preciado.” She smiled.
“Ellie.. My moms name?” Lian nodded and I smiled.
“She was one of the most amazing women that I have ever known. She helped us so much when she needed help the most.” Lian said putting her hand on my leg. I drove fast down the road until we got to the store. I pulled into the parking lot and drove around trying to find a place to park. After 2 minutes someone pulled out of the nearest non-handicapped spot and we pulled in.
“Will there be children here?” I asked turning to her. She giggled and unbuckled her seatbelt.
“Maybe.. I don’t know… I mean it’s a baby store.. I don’t know really.” She laughed again waiting for me to get out of the car. When I got out and grabbed my bag I locked it and we headed for the door. We were greeted by a 16 yearly girl that was so happy sounding, it was almost like she didn’t was to be here.
“Hi ladies! If you need to look for a friend’s list the machine is right over here.” She guided with her hand.
“Actually I’m pregnant..” Lian laughed nervously. The girls eyes opened wide and looked so embarrassed.
“I’m so sorry.. I didn’t know! How far along are you?! You aren’t showing all that much. 3 months?” She asked embarrassed. And Lian shook her head.
“8 months actually..” Lian giggled and the girl looked astonished.
“You’re so small. I hope that when I have a baby I look that good! Well feel free to wander! By the way my name is Jess.” she smiled and waved, walking to the victim that was walking through the doors. We reached the baby clothes aisle and we had no clue where to start working..
“So do you want typical girl clothes or anything cute?” I started looking at the cool music and rock related clothes were.
“Really anything cute.” She smiled holding up a small onesie that had a giraffe theme and a hood that was the giraffe head. As I was digging through the clothes I saw they had a special rack that was from this company that specializes in cute band merch for babies. I was so excited and I started to dig.
“Is band merch okay?” I laughed pulling a little PTV shirt off of the rack and holding it up for Li to see. She turned around and gasped.
“Baby band merch… Yes.. Jaime will love the little shirt!” Lian said happily. I threw it into the cart where the onesie was. We spent a while there but eventually we had picked out like ten outfits and we moved on to furniture.
“All of this stuff is so shitty… And normal.. I kinda want to get unique baby stuff.. Not this shit that everyone and their mother has.” I laughed at Lian’s remark and thought of places we could go.
“There’s this place called Restoration Hardware.. They have really nice shit..” I said laughing at the cheesy little plastic cribs.
“To there we shall go!” Lian said. We finished up getting what we had too which was like glass bottles, small spoons and the clothes.. oh and other baby stuff. We checked out and walked back to the car. We threw them in the back seat and headed for Restoration Hardware. The store itself was huge but their catalog was even bigger, and all of it was so beautiful. Just a few minutes down the road and we arrived.
“I love this place!” I said squealing as I turned into a parking spot. Lian laughed at me and got out of the car.
“Let’s go..” I said getting out of the car, I took her hand and dragged her into the store.
“Hello ladies I’m Toby! So just saying y’all are cayute.. What can I do you for today?” He asked adjusting the hem of his shirt. He was this tall, skinny black man with some perfectly done makeup. He was dressed to impress, with tattoos from his neck down, and he gave off this cheery vibe.
“I’m actually pregnant, 8 months.. So uh I need baby stuff.” Lian explained and Toby’s jaw basically hit the floor.
“Honey you don’t even look like 8 months! And I love babies but I’ll never be able to have one. Unless my boyfriend is secretly a woman. But I KNOW he’s not a woman.” He laughed which made us laugh, I was almost in tears laughing. “Okie ladies!! Follow me..” He chuckled and we walked with him. When we got to the kid portion of the store he pointed to these amazing cribs. “And the best thing about our cribs is that you can make them into toddler beds! I love this one!” He led us to a crib that looked like it was the best of the best. “And it’s the cheapest one here..” He whispered and we all giggled. "So anyways do you like it?" Lian nodded and he smiled. “What else do you need?” He asked.
“Nothing, this is all we needed!” I said smiling. He nodded and looked at me closer.
“You like Marilyn? What other bands do you like?” He asked leaning on a dresser.
“Uh well I have to like Pierce The Veil an-“ He cut me off.
“Are you Alex? Like the Alex? Like alternative model Alex? Like merch girl Alex? Like-“ I cut him off before he got to wound up. I nodded laughing.
“Yeah I’m Alex.. Alternative model, merch girl, ex of Mike now with Tony. Yeah I’m Alex.” I continued laughing. “Nice to meet you Toby.. Can I just say your makeup is flawless..” I said looking more at his face and he was smiling.
“I’m so happy you like it. It means a lot. Everyone here makes fun of me for it. I really want to become a makeup artist for alternative models…” I smiled as he continued to talk about his dream. "I’ve already made it through school.. I just need to find a job.”
“You want to meet Adrien Foster?” I asked like it was nothing. His face turned to a huge smile and you could see he was nervous.
“THE Adrien Foster?” He asked nervously happy (if that’s even a thing?). “I would love to!” She smiled.
“When do you get off?” I asked him as we walked to the counter to buy the crib.
“I get off.. at 3.” he said getting the papers ready. “So Lian just fill these out and we will tell you when it come in. Probably will be tomorrow.” He smiled and handed her the sheets.
“You should come home with us.. Seeing that it’s 2:50” I laughed and he nodded. Lian finished the papers and slid them to Toby. His put it all into the computer and looked to us.
“All set ladies. Let’s go.” He grabbed his stuff from under the counter and we headed out.
“Get in the back bitch!” I said laughing, Lian and Toby laughed too. He got in the back and moved around all the bags. I drove to Adrien’s apartment, which was right down the road, and I saw that his car wasn’t on the side of the street. I pulled out my phone and called him.
“Betch what do you want? I’m at a shoot.” He said clearly on speaker phone.
“Is it the shoot for all of the new/hopeful SuicideGirls??” I asked curiously.
“Yup.” He said, mostly likely telling some one to look up because he was mumbling up under his breath.
“See you there in 5.” I hung up and headed for an apartment that Suicide Girls have bought for shoots. The place has huge windows and its just a wide open concept. We continued to drive and now we were at the richer part of the city. Where we lived is a where tons of band members live, because ether always away and the houses are nice. But this part was for the singers and actors.. Where the houses were huge and the apartments were expensive… But they sure had a nice view. I pulled up to the tall building it was amazing looking. This was the area where Will lived, except he lived in a big house.
“How’d you guys know I lived in this building?!” I’ve the floor right under the penthouse!” Toby said happily getting out of the car.
“Seriously?!” I said as I got out of the car. We started to walk to the doors with Lian following close behind.
“Yeah!" He smiled and opened the door for us.
“Toby! What can I d- Alexandria!!” The guy in the lobby greeted us. He only knows me because I have done shoots here and I’ve helped produce shoots. I smiled at him and we headed for the elevator, hitting the up arrow.
“How do you afford to live here on just Restoration Hardware salary?” I asked curiously as we walked into the elevator and hit the button for the penthouse.
“My boyfriend is a big shot drummer.. He used to play in a band called The Day It Ends but he left.. They were really mean to him because he is gay.” Toby rolled his eyes and the elevator reached the penthouse. His boyfriend sounded familiar..
“Alex is here!” The shoot manager yelled. I smiled and walked over to him.
“Hello, are you new here?” I asked holding out my hand to shake his. He shook it and looked at me nervously.
“Yeah this is my first shoot where I’m the only manager.. If I do well then I get to have a manager position at the company. By the way I’m-“ I cut him off.
“You’re Ryan Welling.. I know who you are. When you’re as high up as me you know everything..” I smiled and he smiled nervously. “So get to work.. I want to see what you can do with these girls..” He nodded and turned away. He quickly turned back and looked at me.
“If I do well with all of these models will you model for a few shots?” He bit him lip and I laughed.
“You want me to model for free? I’m not even ready too.” I laughed and adjusted my shirt. “Ah what the hell.. one shot only.. That’s it.” He nodded viciously and I smiled. “Now get to work.” I said playfully serious.. He nodded and walked to the camera men.
“Alex!” I heard Adrien call me over and I led Toby there behind me. Adrien had all of his attention on the makeup but he spared one second to come over and give me a quick kiss. “Who is this?” He asked going back to the model.
“This is Toby.. He’s an aspiring alternative makeup artist..” I explained as Toby went to watch his put on the makeup.
“Oh really? Here I already have the skin done.. Do the finishing touches.” Adrien said stepping away and looking Toby up and down. Toby smiled and stepped in front of the model.
“What are we aiming for here?” He said looking at her face. “I assume pin-up by the clothes?” Adrien nodded and Toby smiled.. “Then let’s get this shit going.” He started to work his magic on her face. He started to put on some slight eyeshadow then eyeliner in a big wing. Adrien watched him intently, hip popped and hand on his side, as his moved down to the bright red lips. He watched carefully at his technique.. I noticed that Toby had almost the same exact technique as Adrien. The main difference was that Adrien just worked quicker with less mistakes. But for the most part you could tell Toby has done his research and has practiced a lot.. When he stepped away from the model Adrien came over to inspect. He looked closely at the woman and inspected Toby’s work…
“Well..” Adrien turned to Toby and smiled. He held out his hand for Toby to shake. “I’m opening a small makeup studio, so I can have people working under me and prepping for bigger jobs like mine.. Do you want to be co-owner of it? Even though I just met you I know you’re good and I need you to be mine.. Deal?” Toby shook his hand and nodded.
“I would love to..” Toby smiled and the model headed for hair. As the next model came to us Lian let out a slight whimper. I looked back to her and saw her crouching over, leaning on the wall. I quickly got over to her and got down to her level.
“Li?! What’s happening? Are you okay?” I saw that her dress was slightly wet and I started to freak out..
“I think I’m early…” She said not too calmly, obviously.. I quickly pulled out my phone and called Jaime. Before he picked up I yelled for someone to help us. Toby ran over and helped us out of the door and towards the car.
“Hey Alex” Jaime answered. “How’s shopping going?” I could hear him talking to someone and eating chips in the background.
“Slight detour… meet us at the hospital. Lian is going into labour!” I said heading to the car after we got out of the elevator.
“I’m heading there now with Vic and Tony! See you there.” He hung up and We helped Lian into shotgun. And Toby slid into the back seat. Toby call the emergency room and tell them we will be there in 5 minutes! We have a woman going into labour!..” I said pulling into traffic. He said okay and called. While he was talking I couldn’t help my mind from racing, 'She’s a month early.. This is so soon what if something is wrong?! What if the baby dies! What if she dies! I could never live without her..'
I looked over to see Lian holding her stomach in pain. We pulled into the emergency parking lot and the staff came running outside. The helped her into a wheel chair and started to bring her inside.
“Now which one of you is her partner?” The main doctor looked at us.
“I’m her best friend. Her fiancé is going to be here soon.. Did you see a Mexican guy with goofy black hair?” I asked him.
“Ah yes. Feel free to come in.. Only one more person may come.” He said waiting for someone to get out of the car. I got out and told Toby to park the car and wait in the waiting room. The doctor led me to a room where Lian was in and Jaime was next to her. I looked in the window of the door and Jaime saw me. He came out and quickly started to talk to me.
“Alex we need a car seat.. Can you go get us one? Oh and infant diapers and-” I cut him off.
"I’ll go get Tone and Vic do it, I’m staying here with my girl.” I said as I walked back to the waiting room. “Tone they need baby stuff, diapers, carseat that’s it.. Got it?” He nodded and walked to me.
“Okay babe, let’s go Vic.” He kissed my cheek and walked out of the door. Soon after they left Toby came in and was talking on the phone.
“Babe I’m at the hospital one of my friends is in labour… The hospital by our apartment… If you want… Okay see you soon…. Love you too.” With that he hung up. “My boyfriend will be here soon you get to meet the amazing Luke!” I paused and looked at him for a second.. “What?” He asked looking at his outfit to make sure he looked okay.
“Luke.. He was in The Day It Ends?” I asked and he responded with a nod.. “Lukas David Rios?” He looked shocked.
“How do you know him?! Is he a friend of yours?” He asked.
“I went to school with him he’s close buds with Mike… And might take his place in PTV.” Right as I finished saying that Luke came in. He looked right at me and smiled.
“I knew you would make it..” He walked over to me and smiled. He pulled me in for a hug and smiled when he pulled away. “Alex.. I’m so happy for you that you’ve done things with your life.” He said.
“Well it’s not like you haven’t done anything with your life! I mean you’re one of the best drummers here.. So you thinking of joining PTV?” I asked smiling back at him.
“I was thinking about it but I was also thinking… He’s in rehab now, so I was thinking he can stay in the band and I can be a backup for him.” Luke explained as he took a seat. “Now go help Lian.” He said. I nodded and ran to her room. I saw Jaime standing at her bedside looking at her and she went through painful contractions. The doctor from before passed me and walked in. He pulled out a clipboard and looked to see how far along she was. He looked an nodded.
“She’s ready..” He hit a button and 4 nurses came in. As she was guided by the nurse to take deep breaths and push, and push she did. Jaime waved me in and I rushed in to help them. She took my hand and squeezed it tightly.
“You’ve got this Li..Good job Li!” I encouraged her through the 4 hour birth.. It was a quick birth but right after they clipped the umbilical chord the doctor yelled something and Lian started to black out.
“Babe! Lian! Lian!!!” Jaime started to yell. The doctors yelled for someone to get us out of the room. A nurse calmly urged us out and we nervously watched through the door window.. We watched the doctors work their magic. But it seemed as though their magic was black magic.. I heard Jaime start to whimper and I held his hand. I started to loose it and Jaime already lost it. As we watched through the tears in our eyes we saw the heart rate monitor go flat.. We heard the doctor swearing. That was when I put my back against the wall and fell to the floor.. I was sobbing and Jaime had joined me at my side.. We were both sobbing with our head in our hands.. I couldn’t talk right now and I think the only works Jaime could manage were fuck and shit… We heard her door open and the doctor stood in front of us.. He got down to our level and I looked up to see his eyes watering.
“I’m sorry, but she’s gone..” He got up and walked away to a nurses station.. Lian… Is… Gone… I started to cry harder as it sunk into me that she was gone.. And never coming back.. This wasn’t like tour where we would leave for a month our more and we would come back to her smiling face.. We would never see her smiling face again.. Neither would her baby girl...

Notes

Hey guys... I know none of you liked this chapter... but this is what came to me.. Comment if you cried, if you're super sad, and if you're wondering what Jaime will do with little Ellie... Comment, rate, subscribe.. </3 xoxo