Love, Beneath the Lyrics

She would ride out the amazing cloud being with him put her on as she let herself bounce on his pole with almost reckless abandon. Maybe she would even be a little rough with him. She would place his hands on her ass and she might take a little nibble on his neck. The lover in Tony would just caress her and gently rub everywhere he had access to while he would lick and suck on her now swollen nipples and glide his fingers along her back as she continued to bounce until she felt herself be flooded with the essence of the man that stole her heart that day on the roof of the Zoo.

Or the neck sample might awaken the demon again.

Tony wouldn't need her hands to guide him to her bouncing ass. He would give it a firm smack as she rode him, leaving her breasts sore as he kneaded them in his hands before trying to milk her dry in one go. He knew she would let him do it. He would grab her ass and bounce her even harder as he drove upward with his hips, taking control of her even while she was on top of him.

To finish her off, he would pull her as close as he could bring her before letting out one more hard thrust, forcing all of his load straight into her eager womb.

Thankfully, she'd been on the pill for over a year, so even if he couldn't get her pregnant right away, the knowledge that he would would be all she needed to push her over the edge and experience another of those mind-splitting orgasms. It had already nearly killed her twice, what was one more to finish her off for good?

Instead, here's what actually happened.

Rose had failed to take into account how close to the edge they were. Just going off what felt right at the moment brought the party to a halt when their heads hit the floor. Imagine dropping a fresh coconut onto a solid marble floor. That's how hollow Tony's head sounded as he hit the involuntary stop, drop and roll technique. Rose hadn't taken too much to get up herself and attempt to help her, whatever he was at the moment, up off the ground. Once he was standing up again, Tony could tell by looking at her that she was unsure of how to react. But something in her face told him just what she needed to hear.

"Go ahead. I know you want to." Tony said as almost immediately Rose burst out into a fit of almost uncontrollable laughter, falling back onto the bed and holding her sides. "That was supposed to go soooo different" she managed to get out in between her fits. Tony just rubbed the back of his head but before long was laughing himself. Outside of feeling his head rattle a bit, he was fine. No harm, no foul. He also knew she felt bad about it, but it was probably better to let her get this out first. In hindsight, Tony knew that he would've wanted to laugh had the roles been reversed.

Once the humor in the moment wore off, Rose pulled herself up and watched as he stood up as well. As soon as he was standing, she stepped up to him and put her hand on the back of his head, feeling around the area for a knot, bump or bruise. Tony let out a chuckle as he pushed her hand away, insisting that he was fine. The room grew quiet as the two just stared at each other for a moment, neither one knowing exactly what to say. The two just walked up to each other and kissed. Her arms sot around his neck and his hands settled on her lower back just above her ass. Eventually, the kiss was broken and Rose found the words she'd been looking for since his confession from a few moments ago.

"Okay, there's something I gotta say." Tony nodded and, in a moment that would be impossible to explain to anyone, the two took each other's hand and sat down to talk while their clothes stayed under their feet on the bedroom floor.

"First off, I owe you an apology, Tone." Rose said. Tony shot her a look of utter confusion which had only been partly intentional. "If I had just said this earlier, we wouldn't be here right now."

"What's wrong with right here?"

"You mean outside the fact that we're both completely nude right now trying to have a serious conversation?"

"Well, yeah."

"Tone, the only other problem is that I know you're still floating around the idea that this might be the end. Of you and me." she let out. Tony's silence and gaze shifting to the floor told her she hit the nail on the head. She squeezed his hand as firmly as she could without trying to hurt him, waiting until he felt enough at ease to return her gaze. It took a few seconds, but he did. When that happened, she gave him the most heartwarming smile he had ever seen before he watched four simple words leave her lips in almost a whisper while she herself started to tear up again.

"I love you too."

Tony lowered his head, this time his hair couldn't hide the look of relief on his face. Rose continued to hold his hand. She figured this would be a lot for him if it ever happened. He flipped his hair up and looked at her again. "What's this mean, Rose? Where do we go from here?" She sighed before she started.

"I know what I want. You. Just you. Whatever you want to do, I'm fully behind you. Look, I've felt like this for a long time, Tone. I practically fell in love with you the first time I saw you."

"Ah, the Zoo. Kind of a hard day to forget for multiple reasons."

"Yeah, same here. Wait, not the exact same-" Tony let out a chuckle at her getting her words mixed up. "It's fine, I know what you meant. You've really been into me that whole time?"

"Yeah, I have. Truth is, I can't control myself around you. Sometimes, I felt like maybe you figured me out. Other times, not so much. I wanted to tell you. I wanted to say something, but every time I tried...it just kinda fell apart in my head."

"Damn."

"Yeah." Ros noticed something change in him. He had a rather determined look on his face. "You all right?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah. It's just...you're like the most honest, amazing person I've ever met, so..." Rose put her hand up, picking up on what he was trying to ask her.

"It's never really been that simple. Yeah, I was worried about messing up our friendship, but that wasn't my main reason. I just wanted to be there for you. It didn't matter what we were."

"I can understand that. I mean, I know i'm not the easiest guy in the world to deal wit-" His thoughts were interrupted when he saw the look Rose was giving him. "Sorry, I did it again. I'm working on it." Rose's smile returned upon hearing his acknowledgement. From very early on in their friendship, one of Rose's major goals was to try and reverse Tony's warped view of himself. By this time, a simple look was all that was necessary to bring him out of that old habit.

"There's nothing wrong with you, Tone. I...I love you just the way you are. All of it. Sure, you're an anti-social shut in with some pretty rough anxiety issues. But you're not as bad as you were two years ago. Or last year. Even six months ago, it's like looking at two different guys. I loved them both. Still do."

"For me, you've always had this sense about you. Maybe you were a mess inside, but you never let that keep you from trying to raise up everyone around you. Especially me. You tell me all the time how much I've done for you, but..." Rose started to tear up for what felt like the fourth or fifth time today, but this time Tony took the initiative and wiped her tears away. She never took her eyes off of him and waited until he was done before trying to finish her statement. She took a deep breath and started again.

"Things like that. That's why I love you. Tony Petersen, you are the kindest, funniest and most selfless person I've ever met. Anyone you meet is better for it, I genuinely believe that. You're a gentle and talented soul. You had every reason to give up on everything and everyone, but I can't express how glad I am that I went after you that day. I had no idea what I was doing or where I was going in life, and meeting you changed everything for me. At first, I was just as motivated to help you as I was to get to know you, and now that I've done both I don't want to give you up. Not to anyone. There's always a chance of that, but-" Now it was Rose's turn to get cut off as Tony leaned in for another kiss.

"Thank you." He said after they broke the kiss. "This...means a lot to me, Rose."

"It can mean even more." she said as she took his other hand and gave herself one nice, long breath before she was ready to lay all her cards on the table.

"Tony, you and I love each other. I don't think we have to question that anymore. The only thing left to decide is what we do now. Like I said before, I love you. I've loved you from the beginning and that's not gonna change. Ever. We can keep being friends and I promise I'll get over it eventually. But...I wanna be with you, Tone. Forever. You're the best part of my life. When we're together, I feel like I can do anything. Go anywhere. Be myself inside and out. I was always afraid of hurting you, but now things feel different. It feels like a weight was just lifted off my heart. So, I wanna give it to you."

"You mean your heart?"

"Duh. Come on babe, follow along!" Rose said with a chuckle as the conversation suddenly felt far less tense.

"Babe? Well that settles it then, I guess!" Tony replied, laughing as well. When things settled back down, they just sat next to each other, holding hands while each off in their own little worlds. Suddenly, the silence was cut by the sound of Rose's stomach. She had been in such a rush to get to his apartment, she forgot to grab something to eat on the way.

"Someone didn't stop at Mary Brown's on the way."

"Shut up, I was in a hurry!" Rose replied as the two stood up and started grabbing their clothes off the ground. At one point, their hands touched when they both reached for something. Rose rolled her eyes with a smile before Tony pulled her to him, causing her to jump at the sudden gesture. She looked at him and kissed the tip of his nose while his hands roamed her now covered ass and lower back.

"Rose, will you go out with me?" Tony asked. She smirked at him while shaking her head no. This threw him off a bit but he didn't let it show. "Come on, you can do better than that." Tony thought for a second before he looked down at her with a grin on his face now. "You. Me. Brown's. Twenty minutes. We're gonna need all the energy we can get." he said, leaning in for another kiss. After, he stepped around her, slapping her ass on his way out of the room. "You're gonna need to put on a little more than that, babe!" she heard him shout from the bathroom. She ran a hand through her hair before taking off her pants and tossing her t-shirt in the hall floor on her way to tell him she had a different idea in mind for dinner.

It took them about a half-hour to finish up in the bathroom. They cleaned themselves up and had an amazing first date, settling on A&W over Brown's. It was closer to the house and she wanted to get back to the apartment as fast as possible. She ended that night spooning with the man she loved with everything she had, full in more than one sense. This was the start of something new. Something beautiful. She just knew it.

The lyrics only told a part of the story. Love did the rest.

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Epilogue

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16 Months later...

Inside the sold out Rogers Centre, the temperature hit a high of almost 90 around the backstage area. Tony felt every degree as he fought to stand still while his manager worked to straighten out his tie before they took the stage. He had a habit of putting it on correctly, only to annoy the girl who always ended up fixing it by letting it hang around his neck. The classic bright red Vilarosa tie had been given to him by one of the executives at RMG, or rather by an image consultant they hired when Anthem signed on for the tour that was set to begin in a few weeks. Before that, they were obligated to perform as the headliners for a show at the Centre that went on to sell out about an hour after the tickets went live.

Quite a feat for a stadium that seated nearly 50,000 screaming fans.

"Done. Happy now, ya big baby?" Rose said once he was finally ready to go. He just smirked at her before leaning in for his gratitude kiss. He ended up picking her up and twirling her around before he let her go. "Y'all act like that's all you two know how to do. It can't wait 'till after the show just once?" their friend and lead guitarist Ryder asked sarcastically from directly behind them while he went through his fourth sound check in the last ten minutes.

"Don't hate us because you ain't us!" Tony and Rose both said in unison as they turned around to address him. Once they were done laughing, she asked if he was all set. Ryder gave the all clear before she turned her attention to their drummer warming up on the opposite side. "You all set?" she asked. He met her gaze and gave a strong nod.

"Man of few words," Tony started,

"And a whole lotta action!" Ryder and Rose finished in almost a makeshift war cry that left everyone feeling pumped and ready for war. Those fans were only getting louder as the second to last act finished up their last song. She turned around to face her fiancé as of two months ago. "I don't have to ask you. Give 'em the works babe. Don't forget this, " she said as she took his hand and removed his engagement ring from his hand.

"If you guys are gonna stage dive, leave your shit back here. Fans will be fans. Speaking of which, King, your chain please?" King took off his gold chain and gave it and his cell to Rose, while Ryder gave her his earrings and his wallet. She rolled her eyes at him but smiled as she gave them both their high fives as the last act made their way past them behind the curtain. Tony got set to take stage, but not before giving a wink to the girl that he'd be watching walk down the aisle in just a few weeks. He and his boys hit the stage to a thunderous reaction from the live crowd.

Rose always loved when Anthem got to play here. This was their last show as an unsigned band before they were set to fly to Miami for a meeting with the label tomorrow morning. Her eyes shone with pride as soon as the first note was hit, starting off with her personal favorite: Feels Like Forever.

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