Nothing Goes As Orchestrated

"Fucking finally!" Cassie exclaimed as she jumped out of the back seat of the Runner Runner van they had borrowed.

What should have been a four hour drive from Los Angeles to Las Vegas had taken nearly six hours, thanks to Los Angeles traffic. And though they had given themselves plenty of extra time for the drive, Rian's driving had made her beyond nervous, as he had insisted on texting for a good part of the drive. On a few occasions, both Cassie and Angie had tried to take his phone away, but he insisted he could multi task.

She turned and poked her head back inside the van when no one else got out, "Are you guys coming?" she asked.

"Nah," Rian said, "We've gotta go drop the trailer off at the venue so the crew can get us all set up and shit. We'll come back after we do that."

"I could've come with you guys. You didn't have to bring me here first."

Rian shrugged, "We all know you wanted to see Alex. Now go! He's waiting for you," he insisted.

"Alright!" Cassie exclaimed, slamming the door shut.

It took her awhile, once she entered the casino, to find Alex. But after wandering all over the place, she finally spotted him and made her way over. His arm slipped around her waist when she stopped next to him and he placed a soft kiss on her cheek.

"Hey you," he said quietly.

"Hi," she said, a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth, "Having any luck?"

Alex shrugged, "A little," he said, "Are you gambling?" he asked.

"I don't know. I can," she said.

"Okay," he said, "Go have some fun. I'll come find you when I'm done losing all my money."

She let out a soft laugh as his arm fell from her waist. Before walking away, she leaned over and kissed his cheek for luck and then wandered off to join a game of blackjack.

About an hour later, Alex wandered over and stood next to her. His eyes nearly bulged out of his head when he saw the stacks of chips sitting in front of her. They both remained quiet while Cassie finished playing the hand and then cashed out, sliding off the stool and smiling at Alex.

"You didn't have to stop," he said.

"I know," she replied, "But I want to spend time with you before the show tonight."

Taking her hand in his, Alex led the way through the casino to to the hotel lobby, "How much are you up right now?"

"About five hundred," Cassie replied as they stepped inside the elevator. A few people followed suit and Alex pressed the button for the floor his room was on.

"Not to shabby," he said, wrapping his arms around Cassie's shoulders and pulling her to his chest. Her arms wrapped around his waist immediately. "I really missed you," he mumbled quietly into her ear.

She nodded, "Me too," she replied, just as quietly.

When the elevator stopped, they let go of each other and stepped out. Alex caught her hand in his once again and led her down the hall. At the door, he dropped her hand long enough to pull the key card out of his wallet and open the door. Upon returning his wallet to his pocket, he took her hand again, as though he thought she might run away if he didn't keep a hold on her.

"So," Cassie began as she followed Alex into the room, which turned out to be a suite, "Oh, wow. This is nice," she said, looking around.

"Yeah. It's only got one bed, so Flyzik and I cuddled last night," he said.

She laughed, "Really?"

"Nah," he replied, "I actually slept on the couch. I let him have the bed, since we work him to death and pay him like shit."

"Well, the couch looks comfy," she said, walking over to the large, long couch.

"It is," Alex said, "So, what were you going to say?"

She hesitated briefly before speaking, "I was just going to ask if Jack told you that he and Chelley have been hanging out. Um, and that he brought her," she said, knowing she was bringing up a sensitive subject.

"Chelley told me, actually," he said with a shrug.

"Oh. You've been talking to her?"

Alex nodded, "I called her yesterday. I was thinking about what you said, how she involved you and I just, I don't know, I wanted to talk to her. I told her that it wasn't fair to any of us, including her, to involve you in anything and if she wanted to know something, she should've asked me. We talked for awhile and she told me about hanging out with Jack and that he asked her to come to Vegas. And I just told her that I want her to be happy. And, you know, Jack's a good guy," he said.

"That he is," Cassie said, "So, you can tell her that, but you couldn't tell me that? Matt's a good guy too."

Alex stared at Cassie, somewhat taken aback by what she said, "Are you saying you would rather be with Matt?" he asked.

She sighed, "No, that's not what I'm saying. I just want to know why you can say something like that so easily to her, but when I was potentially interested in someone else, it was a completely different story," she said.

"Because I'm not in love with her, Cassandra. Maybe it's selfish but I wanted you to be with me, not Matt, or anyone else for that matter," he said defensively.

Cassie sighed again, louder this time, "I'm not trying to start a fight. I'm sorry," she said.

Alex took a breath in and sat down, pulling Cassie down next to him, "I know. And I'm sorry for getting upset. I just... I really hated the idea of you being with someone else. And I know I was an asshole and a hypocrite for having a girlfriend and feeling that way about you. I'm also sorry about that."

She nodded and leaned over, resting her head against Alex's shoulder. His arms found their way around her body and he held her like that for a moment before carefully shifting and laying down, pulling Cassie down with him.

"And I'm sorry for getting so upset about Chelley coming to you. It wasn't your fault," he said.

Cassie draped her arm across Alex's stomach and felt a small smile tugging at her lips, "It's alright. While I was talking to her, I had a nagging feeling that you'd be mad. But then, when I finished and she wasn't upset, I thought maybe you'd be okay. And I really tried to tell her that it wasn't a good idea for me to say anything..." she said, trailing off.

"I know," Alex said, "She told me."

A few hours later found them at the venue, All Time Low on stage and Cassie, Angie and Chelley watching from the side. It was only the middle of their set when Alex stopped everything and addressed the crowd.

"I had an idea a couple days ago, and decided yesterday that I was going to do it. It's a surprise for everyone, my band mates included," he said, "Um, about a year ago, I started to fall for this really great girl and at first she didn't want anything to do with me. Hard to believe, right? Well, I was kind of an asshole to her, so I guess I don't blame her. But I chased her hard and finally got her to warm up to me. Everything about her made me want to be a better person. But I still somehow managed to mess up continuously. She kept forgiving me, until one day, she didn't. Again, looking back, I don't blame her. We've recently reconnected, and in the time she was out of my life, I realized that I was hopelessly in love with her. So, anyway, I wanted to see if I could get my friends to clear off the stage for a few minutes, and maybe have someone bring out a couple of stools and an acoustic guitar," he said.

The crowd cheered as Jack, Rian and Zack walked to the side of the stage. Rian and Zack returned moments later with stools, followed my Matt with an acoustic guitar. Once everything was where Alex wanted it, the three boys once again retreated to the side of the stage.

"And now I was wondering," Alex said into the microphone as he got himself situated on the stool, "If you guys can convince Cassandra to come out here and have a seat on this stool next to me. Some of my favorite times with her were just the two of us and an acoustic guitar, and she would let me sing to her. I'd like to do that right now."

Again, the crowd cheered loudly and Alex was surprised that they were being so agreeable. It didn't take long for Angie and Chelley to give Cassie a push forward and she slowly made her way to the stool next to Alex. Her heart was pounding and she gave Alex a very confused look. In return, his look told her that everything was fine. She sat down and faced him while he faced the crowd in front of him and began strumming the guitar.

"Here's another pity and there's another chance," he sang, "Try to learn a lesson but you can't. If we can burn a city in futures and in past, without a change our lives will never last. 'Cause we're going fast. You can sit beside me when the world comes down. If it doesn't matter then just turn around. We don't need our bags and we can just leave town. You can sit beside me when the world comes down."

As he continued into the second verse, Cassie couldn't take her eyes off him. His eyes were closed and he was singing with everything he had in him. Her heart raced as he started the chorus again and finally opened his eyes, turning to look at her.

"We don't need our bags and we can just leave town. You can sit beside me when the world comes down. We say and we do all the lies, the truth. And all I need is next to me," he stopped singing and continued playing, his eyes never leaving her. "Yeah, we're going fast. You can sit beside me when the world comes down. If it doesn't matter then just turn around. You be the queen, and I'll be your clown. You can sit beside me when the world comes down. You can sit beside me when the world comes... You can sit beside me when the world comes down."

She stared at him, her heart finally starting to slow to a normal pace. His eyes gave away everything he was feeling and though words weren't necessary to her, he began to speak.

"I know I've said it before, but you're the first person who ever really took a chance on believing in me and trusting me," he said, "I love you, Cassandra, more than I could ever express in words or song. And I want to marry you and make babies and be with you forever."

There was no way to hide the look of shock that came over Cassie's face. And at the moment, she wasn't even concerned with trying.

"Now?" she asked.

A laugh escaped Alex, "Not now, not right now. But someday," he said.

Feeling a wave of relief wash over her, Cassie smiled, "Okay," she said.

"Okay?" he asked.

She couldn't deny it. Though they had both made many mistakes, she loved him. And she knew that it wouldn't always be easy. They would continue to make mistakes. The tough times would be really tough and the good times would be really good. But their relationship had always been that way. And he was worth it.

Every day was an adventure for them. And every day, she loved him a little more.

"Okay," she said.