Poison.

"Don't do it again, please," she pleaded helplessly to the dark room, a silent tear rolling down her flushed cheek.

"She'll get suspicious if I'm not back soon," a tired male voice replied from somewhere on the other side of the bed in the dark. She heard him turn her bedside lamp on and the room flooded with light. He was handsome, she could never deny it. It was one of the many reasons she let herself become so broken every time she was with him.

"She doesn't deserve you."

"She doesn't deserve what I'm doing to her either." He sat up, running a hand through his dishevelled dark brown hair.

She was too familiar to the heart-wrenching, breaking and empty feelings that had become their routine. But that didn't mean that she had ever stopped him, that she had ever wanted to stop him. She flipped the covers from her body, stood up, crossed the room to the connected bathroom and locked herself inside. She slid down the wall, trying to keep the tears that began flowing rapidly as quiet as she could.

After a few moments, he sighed and stood up, slipping on a pair of jeans that he had discarded earlier that day. He walked over to the bathroom and knocked softly on the door. He hated hurting her, it killed him every time. But he had convinced himself that she was worth so much more than he could ever give. He hadn't told her that, of course. He was just too selfish to stay away.

"Sienna, open the door, please." He waited a moment for the click of the lock. No reply. He knocked again, this time Sienna opened the door slowly. Even when her dark hair was a mess, and her deep blue eyes were puffy and red, she was overwhelmingly beautiful to him. She always had been. "I'm sorry."

She put on the best fake smile she could muster, but Alex had always been able to see through all of her facades. "Alex, don't. It's fine, really. You know me; I overreact before I think and get my hopes up. I understand how much she means to you and that what you and I have is just a helpful, convenient friendship. Nothing more."

"Sienna, I..."

"If you hurry, you'll be able to welcome her home." Alex nodded solemnly as Sienna shut the bathroom door again, taking her routine shower. He gathered up the remainder of his clothing and dressed. Knowing it was just best not to be there when Sieena came out of the bathroom, so he grabbed his keys, phone and wallet from her nightstand and left her apartment, shutting the door behind him.

Sienna sighed and leant against the shower wall. She never did understand why she couldn't stay away, why she couldn't just say 'no' whenever he called. Maybe it was the history they shared. She never was the best at letting go of her past. She still held a grudge against one of her cousins for beheading her favourite doll when they were four.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of a phone in the next room. She quickly turned the taps off, wrapped a towel around her body and ran into the bedroom to answer the phone.

"Hey Si. You wouldn't be able to do me a massive favor, that I will of course return, and cover Ben's shift tonight, would you?" Sienna could clearly hear the desperation in Mel's voice. Sienna worked the bar at a local up-and-coming nightclub downtown, and Mel was Sienna's boss and self anointed 'life guru'. Mel was also the first decent person that Sienna had met when she moved to Baltimore.

"Sure. I'll be there at seven to set up."

"You are a fallen angel. See you when you get here."

"See you then." Sienna ended the call and placed in its cradle on her nightstand. She took note of the flashing digits on her alarm clock and sat beside the phone; 4:53. She could fit a much needed power nap in before she had to be at the club, and pick up her 'bartender survival kit' on the way.

"Sienna Braxton, you are my hero!" Sienna turned to see Melissa Feldman rush down the spiral staircase that lead to the VIP area, a stunning smile across her porcelain face. Sienna shrugged with a smile and continued to stock up the bottles and glasses in her area of the bar. Mel sat at the bar in front of Sienna and began flipping through the pile of paper attatched to the clipboard she'd been carrying.

"I do what I can." Sienna went over her stock lists for the bar on her own clipboard and studied her station, running a hand through her long wavy brown hair. "My areas as stocked as I can get it." A glance at the clock on the wall behind the bar told her that she still had half an hour before the doors opened. "I'll be out the back if you need me." Mel simply nodded, not removing her eyes from the paperwork she was filling out.

Sienna walked out the back foor to the staff lounge, grabbing the sandwich and one of the energy drinks she'd stuck in the fridge of the kitchenette when she'd arrived, before relaxing on the two seater couch. She picked at the food and sipped her drink for the most of the time, not being able to remove her mind from the events that had taken place that afternoon in her Baltimore apartment now that she had time for thought to flow freely.

As much as Sienna hated it, Alex Gaskarth intoxicated her. She fought the temptation to the best of her abilities, but the boy was alluring. A simple crooked smile and she forgot her own name. A tender touch and the foundations of her morals crumbled around her. Alex was her weakness, and they were yet to create an anti-Alex patch.

"Sienna, doors open in five," Jeff, an honor student who was bartending his way through law school who preferred the gentlemen over the ladies, told Sienna with a smile. She nodded back and looked down at her barely touched food. She re-wrapped the sandwich she'd bought from a local deli on her way to work, stuck it back inside the fridge and downed the rest of the drink before heading back to the club.

"Thanks, Jeff," Sienna told the younger male when she was back behind the bar.

"No problem." Jeff put an arm around Sienna's shoulders and rested his head on top of hers. "You seem pretty out of it though. Anything on your mind, sweetheart?"

"No more than usual. You all set up? It's gonna be a crazy night."

"Well, if I'm not, we're fucked. Aren't we? We're lined up around the block already." Just as he finished saying it, people started to pour inside the club. It was going to be a very busy night.

Sienna yawned as she unlocked the front door to her city apartment at five a.m. The short brunette had just finished a nine hour shift bartending for average wage plus tips, as she did five nights a week. She stumbled around in the dark, not wanting to bother with lights, kicking her shoes off in the hallway, dropping her purse on the kitchen bench on the way down the hall to her bedroom. Once in her room, Sienna used the light from the streetlamps peering through her curtains to navigate around the furniture as she stripped down to her underwear, too tired to care about pyjamas.

She sat down on the bed and looked over at where Alex had been hours before. Running a hand along the cold mattress where he had lain, she rolled over to his side of the bed and curled up againt his pillow. She closed her eyes and breathed in the scent that lingered behind. Memories of him flooded her mind of when they were kids playing on a swing set; laughing, joking, innocent. The use to be best friends, and now, she didn't know what she was to him except for a quick fix. Mid-memory, Sienna fell into a restless sleep as the sun came up, dreaming of what once was, what could've been but never would be.

So, I've been writing this. And decided to post it here for all the amazing people of Buzznet to read. Its an Alex Gaskarth fanfic in the works... possibly. I want to know that judging by this first chapter, would you guys read it if I turned it into a story or should I leave it as a one-shot? Lemme know please. I'm writing the second part anyways, just in case.

Anyways, I have to go to work right now. Hope to have some feedback when I get back! (:

kiaRAWR !