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Damn Regret	By : medievalcutie Category: Singers/Bands/Musicians > Red Jumpsuit Apparatus Views: 981 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: This is purely a work of fiction! I do not know any members of RJA, and I do not profit from these writings.

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Stella sat in her favorite little café in town. It was small, cozy, and above all else, had great weekend entertainment. It was a Friday night, and (for once) Stella was allowed to go out on her own without having to accompany Allen to some benefit or such, and so of course she had come to the café for the night’s show. Tonight it was a local band with a few people she recognized from school. They had already played a few songs, and were taking a break.

She smiled as the waiter brought over another iced mocha. She probably shouldn’t be drinking coffee with the medicines hat she was on because of her broken leg and ribs, but she couldn’t resist. This café made the best iced mochas that she knew of, and that was saying something, given that she was an amateur coffee connoisseur.

“Elizabeth?”

Stella turned and smiled when she saw Ronnie standing beside the small couch on which she sat. “Oh, hey Ronnie. I didn’t hear you walk up. Here, sit down.” Stella moved slightly to where she was offering more of the small sofa. She managed to mask a grimace of pain that shot through her leg and ribs at the movement. The pain in her leg was sharper, just because it was a newer pain. Her “fall” had only been a few days ago, rather than the one that left her ribs bruised from a week ago.

She glanced up and saw Ronnie just staring at her. A faint blush covered her cheeks at the stare. She could tell that he thought it was something less innocent than a fall that had caused the cast on her leg, as she had told him when he had called to ask her out on the small date they were apparently now on.

Ronnie smiled and sat down beside her, absently pushing the hair from his face. He glanced around the small room with a smile. He seemed nervous and Stella couldn’t exactly understand why. He was acting like a teenaged boy out on his first date. Surely he had been out with other girls, given that he was several years older than her, right? So what was making him so nervous?

The waiter came by again and took Ronnie’s order and left before Ronnie even spoke. “So, how is your leg? I mean, aside from being broken and such.”

Stella smiled and shrugged, watching as the band took the stage again. “It’s fine. The cast itches like crazy though.” She laughed before turning back to Ronnie with a small frown at the expression on his face. “Is there something wrong?”

Ronnie jumped as if he had been shot or such and turned back to Stella with a small smile. “No, just thinking about some things.”

She nodded before trying a smile. “Hopefully nothing too bad. You looked as if you wanted to hurt someone or something. A very angry face.” Stella lightly touched his arm, frowning as he jumped and pulled his arm from her touch.

Ronnie turned to stare at Stella, with a frown. “The other night, at the benefit, were you trying to use me to swindle my father out of his money? And don’t lie to me, Elizabeth.”

Stella stared open-mouthed at Ronnie, feeling the faint prickle of tears about to come to her eyes. “Allen made me distract you, but –“

“No more! I can’t believe you would do such a thing! And then lead me on? You didn’t even have the decency to just drop it after the benefit! You are sick, Elizabeth Freemont. And I thought you were an okay sort of girl.”

“Ronnie, wait, you don’t understand! If you’ll just give me the chance to explain –“ Stella reached out to grab his hand as he started to leave, royally hating that she was on crutches at the moment, as she wouldn’t be able to try and follow him.

Ronnie pulled his hand out of reach and shook his head with a frown. “No, I’m not going to listen to any more of your lies, Elizabeth. Why should I? No. Goodbye.” Ronnie walked out, leaving Stella in tears on the small sofa.

~*~

“Um, hello? Are you okay? Miss?”

The feel of warm hands brushing the hair from my face made my eyelids flutter, and when I finally opened my eyes I screamed at the person kneeling beside me. It was Joey, and given that I had just woken up from being unconscious on the sidewalk of another dark street, it was easy to understand my panic.

“Get away from me! Don’t touch me again!” I stood and quickly backed into the wall, moving away from him and ignoring the spinning in my head.

“Okay, I’m not moving. I’m right here. Now are you okay, miss? Should I call someone for you? Any friends or family? How about I take you to the police and you can file a report against whoever did this to you?” Joey was standing with his hands up in surrender, but I couldn’t believe what he was saying. He was acting as if he didn’t know me.

“Are you crazy?! You attacked me last night, asshole. You should know who I am.” He frowned and took a step towards me and I couldn’t help but scream again. “Get away from me! Don’t take another step, asshole!” Tears were now flowing down my cheeks and the world was spinning even faster, and I knew that I would have to sit down again or risk fainting again.

“I’m sorry, but do I know you? As for the accusations, I’m sorry, but last night I spent the night with my daughter and then I passed out in bed as soon as she was asleep. I’ve never met you before in my life.” Joey looked like he was telling the truth. I almost believed him, aside from the fact that I had seen him last night, and more.

My vision started to go white around the edges and I slid down the wall, not noticing that Joey had moved closer. “But I saw you. Elias set up the meeting, and then you attacked me.” My head was splitting from trying to figure out what all was going on. I turned and noticed that he was now sitting beside me, his hand lightly pushing the hair back from my face.

“I’m not going to hurt you. I promise. Besides, I thought I had told Elias no more attempts at trying to get over Alyssa. I’m sorry that something happened to you, but you have to understand that it wasn’t me who did this.” He took my chin and turned it to look into my eyes. I couldn’t help but see truth there and feel a little less angry and judgmental towards him. I knew it was crazy, given what had happened, but I honestly started to believe that he hadn’t done any of the things.

I couldn’t help but smile in return and shrugged. “Do you have a twin brother who has a penchant for pretending to be you while attacking people in the streets?” I laughed, trying to disperse a little of the strained mood. But instead of laughing, Joey frowned, staring at me, particularly my neck. Damn. Ronnie had probably left a massive bruise on my neck. That wouldn’t be good for business or just life in general, as Addie was sure to remark about it when I got home. She always thought it amusing when I had some evidence of a john, and hickeys were her favorite subject for her teasing.

Home. Just that thought reminded me that I needed to get back to the apartment. I slowly stood, but frowned feeling the same swirl of the dizziness. I almost fell, but Joey’s arm around my waist caught me. I gave him a smile, after all, he was being helpful. No reason to be nasty and rude.

“Sorry, I seem to be a little dizzy. Would you mind helping me back to the apartment? At least until the dizziness passes?” I gave him my best smile, hoping that he would be willing to help, as he seemed to be a friend. His smile in response made me feel a little better, and he pulled one of my arms around his neck and started off towards my apartment.

A few blocks later, we stopped so I could empty my stomach again in the gutter. That left me weaker than I was already, and I stumbled, almost falling into the street again. Almost as if I weighed nothing, Joey scooped me up into his arms.

“You really don’t have to do that. I can walk perfectly fine.” I shook my head, not wanting to be any more of a burden than I was. I couldn’t help but feel embarrassed that I had first screamed at him and accused him of attacking me, and now he was helping me back to my apartment. I hid my face in his shoulder to hide the prickle of shameful tears from him, as I felt like scum.

We reached the building with my apartment and I tried to stand and walk up the stairs myself, but Joey merely shook his head with a kind smile. If his smile wasn’t completely sincere and friendly, I would think that he was gloating at my current state. And if there was one thing that I didn’t like it was a gloating man. A couple flights of stairs later and we were at the door to my apartment. I tried to get down and stand on my own, but his grip around my waist was iron tight as he knocked on the door.

“Oh my god, Stella! What happened?!” Addie opened the door and automatically went into panicking mother hen mode. I tried to get Joey to put me down again, as it was obviously making Addie even more nervous that I was having to be carried in, but he still wouldn’t relent, and merely carried me into the living room and sat me down on the sofa before pulling Elias off towards the kitchen.

I didn’t have too much time to ponder what they were doing, as Addie was right at my side again, attacking me with questions. “Addie, calm down. I’m fine. I just had a bit of a fainting spell after I left the meeting with that reporter. Joey helped me home. Although he acted like a caveman and refused to let me walk, despite the fact that I am perfectly capable of doing such a thing.”

Addie wrapped her arms around my neck in a tight embrace, and I flinched at the soreness of my neck. She obviously noticed and pulled back with a frown. “Stella, what’s wrong? Why did you flinch? Oh my god!” Addie jumped backwards and covered her mouth with a hand before turning to Elias and Joey. “Eli, she’s been bitten.”

I raised an eyebrow at Addie’s hysterics. Bitten? Impossible. Unless . . . “Ronnie.” I lightly fingered the sore spot at my neck, unconsciously biting my lower lip in thought. He couldn’t be a vampyre, could he? I mean, sure it’s plausible. After all, I was living with one. But Ronnie?

“Wait, what did you say, Stella?” Elias stalked over and gently moved my hand from my neck and examining the area. Their stares made me curious . . . and afraid. Because the way they were looking at me, it looked like they were almost looking at someone who had just found out that they had an incurable disease and only had a few weeks to live.

I jumped up and out of the suffocating closeness of them and started to pace uncomfortably. I really needed a cigarette right now. I glanced around the room, looking for my purse. “Damnit!” My purse was nowhere to be found. So either I had lost it in the streets or . . . I left it at the ESB after the run in with Ronnie. Damn that man for being distracting.

I turned back to the others with a frown. “I left my purse at the ESB. I went to meet with that bitch of a paparazzi, then ran into Ronnie, again. He was my first john of the night. Well, only one really. He must have bit me when . . . But I must have left my purse there. Addie, I hate to ask, but can I bum a smoke?”

Addie frowned at the mention of Ronnie. She knew that we hated each other. Hell, even Elias knew that. But neither of them knew the real reasoning that we had our dislike for each other. And as far as I was concerned, they wouldn’t find out. Because for them to find out why we didn’t so much as look in the same direction, would mean that they would find out about Allen and my teenaged years. And I really didn’t want to have to do any explaining about that.

“Wait, Ronnie Winter? Your arch nemesis, Ronnie?” Elias looked as if he couldn’t believe what I had just said. I sighed and nodded before catching a glimpse of myself in the mirror we had hanging across from the entranceway as a sort of decoration. My neck was a mass of bruises, and as I stepped closer, I could see two marks that looked like little punctures. Stereotypical vamp stuff . . . and it scared the shit out of me.

Elias caught me as I almost fainted at the realization. He gently helped me over to the sofa and moved to give me the space that I needed. My mind was racing at the thoughts. Ronnie was a vampyre. He had bitten me. I suddenly remembered the money he had put in my bra and fished it out and removed the band and unfolded it, the money falling from my hands at the sight.

He had not only paid me, but he had practically given me a month’s payment. Why would he do that? I noticed a piece of paper in the middle of the bills and I picked it up and tucked it back into my bra before any of the others noticed. Hopefully it would at least have a small explanation. Because with the way things were shaping up with Ronnie Winter, he was going to have a lot of explaining to do.

Addie whistled at the sight of the amount of money that was in my lap. Of course folded up, it looked like any other payment, but when you unfolded it and saw how much was actually there, it was shocking. “Looks like he might not hate you as much as you think, Stellie.”

I turned and frowned at Addie. “Shove it, Addie. He probably just doesn’t know what to pay.” I ignored the smirk on her face, trying to think of why he would give me this much money in the first place. Perhaps he had just mixed up the amount and given me the wrong amount. But then again, there were a lot of things about Ronnie Winter that were starting to fade at the corners.

Joey started for the door, with a kind smile. “I hope you’re alright Stella. But I really should be getting back to Ella. The babysitter is hopeless. Elias, just call me if you need me again. And I’ll see you tomorrow for what you were saying.” I raised an eyebrow at his last comment before he left. I turned to Elias with a look that was sure to make him know just how much I didn’t like being in the dark on these sort of things.

“What was that all about? And don’t give me some bullshit answer about it being nothing. I know something when I see it. I lived with Al---“ I stopped before the sentence finished itself. Because while it might help in explaining some things about me, I really didn’t feel like talking about Allen.

I started pacing again, and stopped at the fire escape. I had the urge to just stand outside in the dark night, and smiled lightly. Perhaps I could get away from the smothering roommates and have enough time to try and read the note from Ronnie. At the very least, I could always bum a smoke from Addie. I turned and walked back over to Addie, giving her a pleading look. “So, can I bum a smoke? I swear when I get my purse, I’ll give you one back.”

Addie rolled her eyes, and I knew that she would relent. Good, because I desperately needed a smoke with all the shit that had happened tonight. And by having a smoke, that meant I could (hopefully) get away from everyone else for a while. And boy, did I need a break from the mother hens I had for roommates. Addie reached into her purse and pulled out her cigarettes, before holding one out to me. Addie was a lifesaver!

“I think I’ll have a cigarette too, Stellie. I could use one, after all the scare you gave me.” Damn! There goes my alone thinking time. Because one thing that Addie was, it was talkative, particularly when stressed.

I shrugged before opening the window and stepping out onto the fire escape, moving away from the window as far as I could. I really would much rather stay out here alone for a while, but c’est la vie. Sometimes you have to do things that you don’t want to.

Addie stepped out a minute later, and started over towards me. I instinctively moved back farther into the shadows, wanting to disappear for a while. After all, she couldn’t really kill me for it, could she? Besides, I was just itching to see what the note from Ronnie had to say. And I wasn’t about to take it out with Addie around.

“Stellie, what’s bothering you? I know you, and when you act like this, something’s wrong.” Addie stepped closer, and I inwardly cursed. Damn her for knowing me. Although hopefully she wouldn’t get too close, close enough to see that I was crying in frustration. Because if she saw that I was crying, I would never be left alone. And then I would go crazy.

“I’m fine. Just a little jumbled at all the crazy shit that’s happened. Just give me a little time and the night sky, and I’ll be fine. A cigarette or two, and I’ll be just peachy. Just sort of a little panicked over the insane bombardment of everything.” I glanced out at the night sky and sighed. Ever since I was a kid, the night sky has always fascinated me. Call it some weird childhood fetish, but I liked to just stare out at the blackness of it all.

Addie stirred and I turned back to her with a bit of a frown. After all, could I really help it that I wanted a little time to myself and the night sky? Of course not. “Addie, please, just let me have a little alone time. I have had a bit of a rough night, you know. A little alone time would help.”

“Stellie ---“

I shook my head, mentally willing Addie to understand and leave me alone for a little while. “Please. I just need a little time.” I frowned as my voice showed the tears in my eyes. Damnit, that probably wasn’t going to help my case any.

Addie shrugged and snuffed out her cigarette butt on the railing before tossing it to the alley below. “Okay, Stella. But if you so much as need anything, if you don’t let us know, I will personally kill you.”

I couldn’t believe it, she was actually going to give me a little peace and quiet to myself. I laughed and nodded. “Yeah, sure thing. I’ll let you know.” When Addie went back into the apartment, I moved to sit on the stairs of the fire escape, close enough to the light of the window to be able to read the note, but far enough away, where Addie and Elias couldn’t see what I was doing. I pulled out the note and slowly unfolded it, moving it to where it was in the light enough to read what it said.

Elizabeth,
Meet me at the angel fountain in Central Park. Midnight. I’ll be waiting.
Ronnie

I quickly refolded the note and stuffed it back into my bra. I was not going to let Addie or Elias see that. Because of course, they would try to stop me. And I really didn’t want them to stop me. Because with Ronnie making this little meeting, I could try and get some things figured out. I walked back in the apartment, hoping to get out without having to stop and explain where I was going. Luckily, there was no sign of my roommates and I managed to escape the apartment and headed back out into the night streets. I glanced down at my watch and muttered a curse as it was already 11:45.
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Damn Regret