Before I can decide what to do, Val comes over to me and shakes her head.

"But Val... They're bothering you and you had nothing to do with it."

"It's not worth it Michael. They don't know me at all. They're just petty, childish insults."

I sigh and put down my phone. This is all so stupid. I look back over at Ronnie and he's glaring at Zakk. Right, he doesn't care about her, at all. It'd all be so much easier if he would just admit that shit. Zakk doesn't even notice though, he's too busy asking Val out.

"Well since I'm here and you know that number was mine now. Would you like to go out to dinner with me tonight?"

Val smiles and looks at me.

"Can I Michael? I promise I'll come straight here after to hang out."

I think for a minute and I feel Ronnie's glare.

"Only if you stay here tonight so we can hang out tomorrow too."

She smiles excitedly and hugs me.

"Yeah of course!"

Zakk goes out to start the car and Val is about to head out but Ronnie stops her. I'm about to step in but Val motions that she has it under control.

"Can you let go of me Ronnie?"

He lets go but doesn't move out of her way.

"You're just going to go on a date with my bassist? What, because I didn't want to date you? Because I've been sleeping with other women? You can't use my bassist to get back at me like you did with Derek."

"I'm not using Zakk to get back at you. We actually had a nice time at the party and I actually like him. I'm going to enjoy getting to know him. Derek was the one that kissed me and, excuse me Michael, you fucked me like your life depended on it that night. What you do is your business Ronnie. That has nothing to do with me."

I stand, staring at them, shocked. I watch as Ronnie grabs Val and kisses her hard on the lips. She turns and punches him in the face. I stare, unblinking, looking from Ronnie's face to Val's hand.

~Valentina~

Immediately after I punch Ronnie, I regret it. Not because it looks like Ronnie is gonna cry, but because I think I broke my hand. He has a hard ass jaw. Fucking bastard. I leave, not saying anything to Michael. I take the pain throughout the dinner with Zakk. It was very sweet. We get ice cream and he drops me back off at Michael's. Once I close the door I let the pain sink in. I walk into the living room expecting Michael to be waiting for me but instead it's Ronnie, holding a bag of ice.

"Is your hand okay?"

"Where is Michael?"

"He's in his room. He wanted us to talk."

"I have nothing to say to you."

He sighs and reaches for my hand. He checks it and massages it. It actually feels nice.

"Fine just listen. Surprisingly, your hand is not broken. Just really sore probably. Look, I'm sorry about what happened earlier. I was angry and frustrated and jealous."

I look at the ground.

"Why would you be jealous? You don't care about me."

"That's the thing. I do care. I really do like you. I just... It's weird for me to say this stuff."

He lifts my chin so we're making eye contact.

"I did and said some horrible things to you. I was just pushing you away. I just felt like such a horrible person for how we met, considering your past. I thought I was doing you a favor because I have such a bad temper. I didn't mean any of that stuff, I'm not that kind of person."

"What's the point of you apologizing?"

He gets quiet.

"Give me a 2nd chance. Let me start over and show you the person I really am. I'm not a bad guy you know, I just do dumb shit sometimes. Please Valentina?"

I stay silent for a little bit, then smile up at him. I really do like him. He doesn't really deserve a second chance but I'm a sucker for that face.

"I'm sorry? Do I know you? Why are you in my friends house?"

He frowns for a second, catches on, and smiles back.

"Oh I apologize for my rudeness Miss. My name is Ronnie Radke, I'm Michael's roommate."

We shake hands.

"Nice to meet you Ronnie, I'm Valentina Emerson. You can call me Val."

"The pleasure is all mine Val."

I go upstairs and head straight for Michael's room. I knock and walk in.

"You two talked?"

"Yes dad. We talked and made up."

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Michael pats my head and pulls me into a hug for my sass.

"Doesn't that hurt you?"

"Hmm? Why because my dad died? Nah, I'm lighthearted about it."

We cuddle up on his bed, playing video games and watching movies. Somewhere in the middle of our 3rd movie I fall asleep. I wake up to Michael carrying me into the spare room and instantly fall back asleep.

~Michael~

When I wake up in the morning, Val is still sleeping. She should've never moved into that apartment in my opinion. I know she's had a lot of trouble sleeping but when someone is with her she sleeps fine. Must be the comfort of having someone there and knowing she's safe. I go into the kitchen and get surprised by Ronnie cooking breakfast.

"Good morning."

"Hi. What's all this for?"

"I told Val that I'd show her the real me if she gave me a second chance."

I laugh out loud when he puts a single rose in a vase.

"This isn't the real you. You've never made me breakfast. You've never given me roses. I thought we had something special man."

He rolls his eyes at me and I smile.

"I'm trying to stay on her good side. I really like her and I figured making breakfast, for ALL OF US, would give me extra points."

I shake my head.

"Always going over the top for the ladies Ronnie. By the way, how is your mystery friend taking all of this?"

He shrugs at me and continues cooking.

"She's fine. Angry at Ashlee, but still fine."

I raise my eyebrow.

"Angry at Ashlee, not you?"

He just nods his head at me. If you ask me, that's a bit suspect. I wonder who this girl is besides just a cashier at a store. He must've been pretty upset to go to a random girl for help instead of coming to me or Max, his two best friends. I wonder if there's something more going on with this girl then he's telling us. Better not hurt Val again. I don't think Max would be able to stop Alva this time. Speaking of my sweet little sister I get a phone call.

"Where's Valentina? She's not answering her phone."

"Hello to you too, dear sister."

"Hi Michael. I love you so much. Where's Val?"

"Yeah I love you too. She's probably still sleeping."

"I heard she punched Ronnie in the fucking face!"

"Yeah she sure did."

"Aww I'm so proud of her!! Tell her to call me when she's awake!"

"I will. Gotta go."

Before I can put down my phone, there's a loud crash from upstairs, followed by screaming. Ronnie sprints up, not even turning off the stove. I turn off the burners and head up after them. By the time I get up there Ronnie is holding Val in his arms.

~Ronnie~

The second I heard the crash and screaming, I ran upstairs. I found Valentina laying on the floor, surrounded by broken glass from the fallen lamp. When I came in she looked up at me and busted out crying.

"I'm s-sorry. I accidentally broke t-the lamp."

She had fallen on top of the lamp. When she tries to get up I see the glass cutting her hands and the blood starting to drip out. She looks down at her hands and moves them back up. Since I have shoes on, I step onto the glass and lift Val off the floor.

"Oh thank you."

Michael comes up and sighs in relief that Valentina is okay.

"I'll go get the broom, dust pan, and first aid kit."

Michael disappears back into the hallway. I start checking Val's arms and legs. She has various small cuts and scraps on her legs, thighs and arms. That means that most of the damage is to the palm of her hands. When I try to set her down, she clings to me.

"No.. I had a bad dream... Please."

I sit down on the bed with her in my lap and wipe the tears off of her face. She's holding onto my shirt, unintentionally covering my shirt in blood. I gently grab her hands and she whimpers.

"It's okay. I'm not leaving. I just want to check your hands. I promise Val."

She nods her head and watches me curiously as I look at her palms. Michael comes back in with the stuff. He hands me the kit and starts gathering up the glass. She has a few pieces of glass stuck in her hands. Luckily it's not too bad.

"Do we need to take her to the hospital?"

Valentina starts freaking out in my lap. She's trying to pull her hands away from me and get up. I hug her into me.

"Shh. It's okay Val.. No Mikey, she's okay."

Michael nods his head and watches Val with a worried look.

"This is gonna hurt Val. I'm sorry."

I disinfect her hands. When I try to gently pull a piece of glass out, Valentina slaps my hand away and pulls out the remaining pieces. Michael and I just stare at her as she sniffles.

"What? You think I've never done this before? Arthur once pushed me through a sliding glass door. I wasn't allowed to go to the hospital. That was way worse than this."

I bandage up her hands and Michael takes out the bag with glass in it. When I'm done, she practically smothers herself in my chest. I just stay still holding her into me.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

She sighs against me and I feel the wetness from her tears.

"After we eat? I'm hungry."

I laugh and we go downstairs where Michael is thankfully finishing up the food I was cooking.