This Is What Happens When Love Meets Destruction

"Yeah, I know," Jack sighed into his cell phone that was currently being held up to his ear by his shoulder, seeing as his hands were full with grocery bags. "I know, mom. Yes, it's taken care of. Yes, we have enough diapers. I - "

With that, I heard Jack's mom start into an entirely new rant about something else that Jack should be keeping an eye out for. Jack growled lowly in annoyance, but bit his cheek, keeping himself from uttering a few choice words into the receiver that he would only end up regretting later. Despite his annoyance, I couldn't help but smile to myself. After two weeks of being in the hospital, both Vinnie and Ryan had been released from the hospital just this morning, and both Vinnie's mom, and Jack's mom have been calling nonstop, reminding them to do this and that.

Eli, however, is still in the hospital, but his doctors say that he should be ready to go home in a few days or so.

"Mom, I gotta go." Jack muttered. "Alex and I just got back to the house, and neither of us have any free hands to open the door," he paused momentarily, listening to his mom's response, "no, Vinnie's probably asleep. We left her with Ryan a few hours ago so that Alex and I could go get some groceries." Another pause. "Mom, I've basically been camping out at the hospital for the past two weeks, of course I had to stalk up on groceries ... yeah, okay, sure ... Alright, bye mom."

With that, Jack carefully reached up and grabbed his iPhone, hitting the end call option before letting it slide into his pocket. Sighing heavily to himself, he gave me a look that conveyed his thoughts to me in an unspoken manner, and then grabbed his keys. Quickly making work of the lock, he opened the door, forgetting to take the keys out of the lock in his rush to get inside. Knowing that they would be fine for a couple of minutes, I followed Jack inside to the kitchen, and then set the bags of groceries I had been carrying on the island.

Setting his bags down as well, Jack frowned softly as he glanced up at the ceiling, looking as if he were trying his hardest to see through the solid material to the second floor.

"It's really quiet in here." He said slowly.

I shrugged my shoulders as I started pulling items out of their bags. "Vinnie's car is still in the driveway, she and Ryan must be taking a nap."

Still frowning, Jack hesitated slightly before he took began slowly pulling items from their bags to put them away. "Vinnie doesn't take naps." He mumbled. "Not if she can help it."

"The past two weeks have been hectic, Jack," I said, "she's bound to catch up on all her sleep sooner or later. She - "

"Shh," Jack insisted suddenly. Having been caught off guard, I did as I was told and then listened carefully, just as Jack was doing. "Do you hear that?" He questioned.

"Hear wh - " I stopped myself short when I heard a strange noise, originating from the room directly above us.

Jack's eyes widened in panic before he hurried from the kitchen, "that's the nursery," he called over his shoulder.

With my heart suddenly in my throat, I hurried after him and together we raced up the stairs. The door to the nursery was open, revealing the bright room within, and at first we didn't see the source of the noise. In unison, Jack and I went to the crib to see Ryan sleeping soundly inside of it. While Jack double checked to make sure Ryan was alright, I looked up and finally noticed Vinnie sitting in the corner of the room, her knees hugged tightly to her chest, rocking back and forth as she cried to herself.

"Vinnie?" I asked slowly, taking a small step toward her.

Hearing me utter her name, Jack looked up and was at her side in a split second.

"Vinnie?" He whispered softly. "Sweetheart, what's wrong?" He asked as he placed his hand gently on her shoulder.

"Don't touch me," she wailed, "go away Jack!"

Jack immediately removed his hand. "But, Vinnie," he choked out, sounding as if he were on the verge of tears himself, "what's the matter?"

"You guys were gone so long, and he wouldn't stop crying ... I didn't know what to do." Vinnie continued to cry into her knees. "He finally just fell asleep, but you guys still weren't back yet. I-I just ... " she trailed off, another string of sobs escaping from her lips.

"Oh, sweetheart," Jack whispered, trying once again touch her shoulder, but she shrugged out of his grasp. "Please, Vinnie, why are you being like this? Ryan's okay, he's sleeping. Why are you so upset?"

"Go away, Jack." She repeated her earlier command.

"But ... " Jack looked up at me hopelessly, clearly begging me to help him.

With a sad look, I watched Vinnie, not quite sure what to do. I was afraid that she was having a mental breakdown, that all the things she had been through within the past couple of weeks had finally caught up and crashed down upon her, reeking havoc with her emotions.

Silently, I stepped forward and kneeled down beside Vinnie, placing a hand on her back.

"I said go away, Jack!" She yelled.

"Shh, Victoria, it's me." I whispered.

"Get away from me, Alex." She growled. "I just want to be alone right now."

"Stop it, Victoria," I said sternly, yet gently.

The tension in her body relaxed, and I carefully took her in my arms. She shifted her body slightly, wrapping her arms tightly around my shoulders as she continued to cry.

"Vinnie, please stop crying." I whispered.

"I just want to get out of here, Alex." She whispered back.

"Okay, okay," I told her, "we'll get out of here then.

Slowly, I stood up and then readjusted Vinnie so that I had a better grip on her. A few feet away, Jack watched me with expectant eyes, and I sighed quietly.

"She needs some time," I said quietly, and Jack nodded his head, his eyes falling to the ground as I passed.

Just as I exited the room, Jack told me, "you can take my car."

I muttered a faint 'okay' in response, and then continued my way down the stairs. At the front door, I paused momentarily to take the keys out of the locks where they had been left, and shut the door behind me before walking up to Jack's car. I opened the passenger's side door and set Vinnie down. It took me a couple of attempts to free myself from her grasp, but in the end, she reluctantly agreed to release me.

Her bloodshot eyes focused on something in the distance, she paid no attention to me as I buckled her in. After I was done buckling her seatbelt, I reached up and wiped the excess tears away. Slowly, her eyes focused on me, and her frown deepened before she looked down at her lap. I opened my mouth to say something, but then quickly shut it when I realized that I didn't know what to say at the moment. Instead, I closed her door and made my way to the other side. We were on the freeway within a matter of minutes.

"Vinnie," I whispered after about five minutes of silence, "what's wrong?"

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Vinnie shrug her shoulders. "I don't know," she muttered, "I've just felt so overwhelmed by ... everything lately. And then Ryan started crying, and I did everything I knew how to do, and he wouldn't stop. I guess I just ... I don't know. I guess I had a breakdown."

"It's okay, sweetheart," I said softly, "it happens."

"I've felt so ... depressed lately, Alex." She admitted.

"Depressed?" I repeated. "About what?"

Again, Vinnie shrugged her shoulders. "The kids." She said. "The wedding. Me and Jack's relationship."

I frowned at the last part. "Are you and Jack having problems?"

"No," she sighed. "But ... after the wedding, you guys will be gone again for another tour. Seriously, two weeks after the wedding, you guys will have to leave. I mean, fuck, at least give me some time to get sick of him before he has to leave again, but two weeks?"

"Vinnie," I frowned, "when you set the date for the wedding, you already knew that it would be close to the start of one of the tours."

"What, it's my fault then?" She snapped meanly. "I don't get any sympathy votes because I knew what was going to happen?"

"I didn't say that, Vinnie." I whispered. "I just ... " I trailed off, shrugging my shoulders.

Beside me, Vinnie huffed in annoyance and then muttered a few choice words under her breath. The frown on my face deepened, and I quickly tried to think of ways to cheer my best friend up.

"Where are we going anyways, Alex?" She growled.

"Victoria, you said you needed to get out of the house, so I got you out of the house." I sighed. "I - " I stopped myself short when I saw a familiar exit, and then quickly merged into the appropriate lane to get us off of the freeway.

I saw Vinnie open her mouth to say something else, so instead I took her hand in mine and squeezed it tightly. "Shh," was all I said, and it was all I needed to say to keep her quiet.

After a couple of minutes, she finally realized where I was taking her. "Alex," she asked softly, "why are we going back to the high school?" the anger was gone from her voice, and was replaced instead by wonder and curiosity.

"Instead of sitting around and worrying about things that'd haven't even happened yet, how about we sit around and laugh about the things that already did?" I suggested quietly.

"Gaskarth, are you taking me on a trip down memory lane?" She asked with a faint smile pulling at her lips.

"If that's what cheers you up." I replied. "Do you think it will work?"

"Yes, I think so." She admitted. Taking a deep breath, she let it out slowly before resting her head against the back of the seat. "You always know what to do to cheer me up, Alex." She said, her eyes gazing out the window.

"Not all the time," I mumbled, "I honestly had no idea what I was going to do this time."

Vinnie squeezed my hand tightly before she answered, "you figured it out eventually though."

Not knowing what else to say, I remained silently until we arrived at the high school and we had gone to. Once in the parking lot, I killed the engine, and together Vinnie and I simply stared upon the building where we had had classes for four years of our lives. Everything looked the same as the last time I had been here, at it seemed that simultaneously, all the memories that had taken place here seemed to flood my mind, scrambling my thoughts for a few seconds before I regained control of them.

Beside me, Vinnie had released my hand and unbuckled her seatbelt. Pausing slightly, she gazed around the parking lot before she opened the door and stepped out of the car. Seeing her give me an expectant look, I got out as well and then locked up the car before I joined her. Without a word, she took my hand in hers and led me across the parking lot.

I knew before we were halfway there, where she was leading me. The classes were still in session, but it was the middle of the period so there were no students or faculty in the hallways. Vinnie quickly led me through the familiar labyrinth of hallways, and across the campus to where the swimming pool and tennis courts were. When the tennis courts came into sight, Vinnie slowed down her footsteps, and instead hung back some.

Releasing her hand, I wrapped an arm around her shoulders and together we walked side by side through the opening that took us up to the bleachers that overlooked the swimming pool. Climbing up just a couple of levels, we took a seat and silently watched the placid water as if it alone contained the answers to everything we were going through at the moment.

"Three months, Alex." Vinnie whispered quietly.

"Three months?" I repeated.

"Three months until I take Jack's last name."

"Oh," I whispered. Hearing her words, I felt my heart drop slightly, as they had reminded me that the girl I loved was slipping away from me.

"Alex?" She muttered. "Can I tell you something?"

"Anything," I whispered.

"Sometimes I think that we're too young for this, too young to get married." She said. "Like we're not ready for marriage yet."

"When you're married," I said slowly, "nothing would really be different. The only thing that would change, would be the fact that you two would have the same last name ... right?"

"It's just ... I don't know ... something doesn't feel right about it."

"Well ... if something doesn't feel right, maybe you two should wait?"

"Alex, we've spent months planning this whole thing, though," she frowned, "we can't just cancel everything."

"Wouldn't you rather cancel it though, and wait until the moment you felt ready?" I whispered.

"It'd be too much of a hassle, Alex." Vinnie sighed as she leaned her head against my shoulder. "Maybe I'm just being stupid. Jack and I are in love, that's all that should matter, right?"

I forced an 'mhmm' in response, because at that moment I wasn't sure if my vocal cords would cooperate with me.

"Maybe I'm just getting nervous," she continued, talking more to herself than to me, "just a case of pre-wedding nerves."

As Vinnie continued to mutter a few possibilities aloud to herself, I did my best to ignore her, and ignore the voice inside my mind that wished that the real reason she were having these sorts of doubts, was because deep down inside she still had feelings for me.