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Veto had a very innocent smile on his face.

"Yeah. I was actually about to leave when we heard your car pull up."

The second officer looked both boys up and down.

"Well, have a good night and call us if you see anything else."

The officers hoped back in their squad car and drove off still scoping the neighborhood.

"Another time Dante." Veto said stepping off the porch and disappearing behind the house across the street.

~~~~

Aria silently cheered in her head.

Aria ran down the stairs and sat on the couch by Dante. She didn't want to anger him any further, although she did want to take both bottles of alcohol from him. Instead she just sat...then smacked him.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

"Alot of people almost died! What does that tell you? That you should be sitting here feeling sorry? No! You need to get up and live life to the fullest!"

Aria was standing now.

"I know you miss Alex. I know you probably blame me for his death. I honestly thought you were going to stop being my big bro after her died." she half smiled at the big bro comment while tears started falling.

"But you shouldn't be sitting here trying to drink yourself to death!" she said as she took the bottles and set them on the counter.

"Think about what you have to live for. Think about your mom, your friends, Victoria.."

Aria just looked at Dante. He looked like a shell of the person he used to be; he'd been looking that way for a while now.

"I..can't. But if you need anything.." she trailed off.

She ran back upstairs to Dante's room where she saw Daren sitting on his bed.

"Soo...how are you?"

Daren watched the men scatter, and saw the leader walk away after a few minutes too. He was obviously the leader, he looked to be the biggest one. Daren ran a hand through his hair and looked away from the window, glad that they hadn't pulled the gun triggers. He had seen the leader's gun pointed at someone inside, and he hoped it wasn't someone important.

He walked over to the bed and again sat upon it, thinking about the night's events. The music had turned off a long time ago, and everyone had gone, except Dante. Of coarse, it was his house. He sighed and closed his eyes, but heard low talking downstairs. He wanted to get out of the room, he felt like he had missed all of the tension.

Daren stared at his surroundings and saw almost a bare room. It seemed Dante didn't spend much of his time here, he noticed. Suddenly the door open and in came Aria. She stood there looking at him and he stared back. Her words broke the spell. He blinked as she asked how he was. He almost laughed at her. How was he? How was he!?

He was..confused. Humiliated from sitting up in the room alone. He felt left out, amazed at what he had seen, scared, fearful for his life. Everything. He was not okay..but in other words, he was. He smiled at her but didn't get a chance to say much, because Dante entered the room. Daren stared at him. He seemed to walk in a weird fashion, and he sat beside Daren on the bed. He felt an arm around his shoulder and he widened his eyes, looking at Dante. He thought that the guy hated him, but they were almost..hugging...

Feeling awkward, he scooted away a few inches and let Dante speak after waiting a few minutes. Daren listened and stared at the floor as he spoke of Aria. He almost perked his ears up when he heard himself being called lucky. Why? He wanted to ask this, but Dante spoke again, and Daren closed his mouth.

He heard a question and he tilted his head back to look up at the ceiling. He chuckled lightly and then stood up, away from Dante's arm. He shook his head at the offer of alcohol. His mom would kill him if he came home drunk, and he knew it. He turned to Aria and a smile lifted up the corners of his lips. "I think..Veto had some jealous issues for a while. It sounded like he wanted something..maybe it was you?" He asked Aria, slightly confused and wondering if he was right. This brought him back to his question as he glanced at Dante and asked quickly, "And why would I be lucky? I missed out on the awesome stuff!" His thoughts seemed to sound like a complaint and he shut his mouth, raising an eyebrow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Victoria fed her cat quickly, almost forgetting about him, thinking about earlier with Dante. She sighed and then sat on the couch, turning on her old satellite television. She flipped through the channels for a couple of hours and then decided to read a book. Suddenly she heard sirens, and she jumped up from the couch, giving a little scream. Her cat jumped off the couch, complaining lightly. She ignored him and ran to the window to see a line of police cars, flashing their blue and red lights down the street, the siren getting louder it seemed.

Her hand flew to her mouth as she began breathing hard. What was happening? Where were they going? Her eyes widened as she remembered going to a certain store that night with Dante. It was Dante. They were going to take him to jail! Then who would she be left with? Was he drunk driving?

She got her coat, put her shoes back on, and rushed blocks down to Dante's house, getting lost for a moment on the way, but finding her place again. She saw no police cars in his driveway by then. It had been 20 minutes. They're were lights on in the house, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Good sign. She thought, anyways. She ran up the porch, not stopping, and tried the lock on the door, which was open.

She threw open the front door and screamed, "DANTE?! ARE YOU HERE? ARE YOU OKAY?!"

Victoria slapped him before feeling his hug and she smiled, relieved that he was alright. She suddenly felt bad for hurting him and she touched his cheek, and put her hands to her sides. "I was worried about you." She replied, biting her lip. "I..I thought those cops that passed by my apartment were after you. But it likes like your okay." She smiled gratefully at him and glanced up the stairs, seeing the guy from earlier. He seemed to recognize her and she waved hello, saying softly, "Hi, Daren." He nodded at her before walking down the stairs, coming to stand behind Dante and staring at her.

Hearing that he almost died, she bit her lip in worry and confusion. She laughed lightly when he commented that Daren was a toothpick. She admired him for coming to say hi, but she thought Dante was..she left the thought at that and let him lead her to the couch. She nodded and then sat down with him, putting her hands in her lap. "So..what happened, Dante? Are you really okay? Why is Daren in danger?" She wanted to know all this and more, and she knew that he would probably be here all night talking and answering her questions.