Alex stretched in the bed with a groan and rolled over, hoping to wake her counterpart. But the only thing her arms and hands awoke were the sheets and pillow that were there. Her eyes opened and her sky blue eyes were not met with the normal, groggy half opened dark eyes that were usually always narrowed at her, when she woke him. The usual embrace that she was greeted with and the always whispered, "Go back to sleep." wasn't there.
She rolled back on her back and pouted at the ceiling. Then she stopped. Pouting, wasn't something she normally did and she shouldn't start now just because her boyfriend wasn't in bed.
So, Alexandria rolled out of her bed, readjusted her tank top and pull up a bit on her pajama pants and stumbled towards the bedroom door. She walked down the steps, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes trying to remember what day it was and wondering what time it was. When her feet touched the hardwood floor of he downstairs she heard his nervous laughter.
She smiled and walked to where it was coming from listening to his end of the conversation.
"HELL YEAH." Alex smiled at his excited voice, leaned against the doorframe of the kitchen and listened.
"Ok, so then the SECOND time was up in Alaska. Now that junk was NIIICCEEE. And then their have been a few times since we got back." Her smiled faded and she stood up straight, wondering what the HELL he was talking about.
"SHE HAS, man. Like last night was the first night that we just went straight to sleep without one of us trying something. I mean we don't ALWAYS do...that. But..ya know..she's my girlfriend...Trace....dude...stop laughing." So now she was stepping silently closer to him, hoping that he wasn't talking about what she thought he was.
"Why?...Not EVERY night. Just ..well a lot. But I mean sometimes she'll have to get up real early or just want her space or I'll want mine I mean..but usually we sleep together."
So now Alex had assumed and figured out Justin was blabbing about their sex life. She was fuming.
"Whatever man. But my Lexia is mine. And no one else can have her. That's for sure."
"OH IS THAT SO?"
She watched as he turned sharply and his eyes widen slightly. "Uhh, Trace I gotta go." He clicked off the phone and slid off the stool. "Morning, baby."
"Don't do that..." She shied away from him when he tried to hug her.
"How much of that did you hear?"
"Enough to know that you are blabbing about our SEX life." She pulled the refrigerator door open and it hit the cabinet beside it with a bang and came back to almost trap her in the appliance.
"Lexia..."
"Oh don't Lexia me." She snapped, slamming the carton of milk on the cabinet. She ripped open a cabinet and snatched a glass and then pouring the milk in it.
"Fine then. ALEX. I'm sorry ok? It was Trace, he was buggin' me. He knows everything about me and just..." He stopped when she spit the milk back into the glass, looked at the date on the carton, made a face and went over to the sink. "...I'm sorry I was a jerk. I shouldn't have said anything."
Justin bowed his head and began to walk out of the kitchen but stormed back in and snatched the now empty glass from her and put it in the sink. "No! NO! I'm not going to feel sorry for this ok? Trace is my closest friend, and he is the only one I've told anything to. And it wasn't like I was being all graphic and stuff."
"Well I'm sorry I don't want the world to know that we are screwing around." She threw her hands in the air and walked back to the refrigerator.
His head lowered his mouth dropped a bit. "So now it's just screwing to you. Well thanks."
She clinched her fist together and gritted her teeth. "Ugh, that's not what I meant. Dammit Justin. Just...ugh." Her feet stomped and she kept growling to suppress her anger...or to show it.
"What? I wanna hear what you obviously HAVE to say. So maybe I shouldn't have told him, but oh well. Excuse me for having a best friend."
"You're not excused. Be glad you have a best friend Justin, not everyone DOES!" She pushed into his chest and passed him, walking out of the kitchen.
Justin's shoulders slumped and he shuffled after her to go say he was sorry, make up, anything so she wouldn't be mad at him. If it was one thing he hated, it was when Alexandria didn't want to be near him. "Lexia..." He whispered going out into the foyer.
He looked down the hallway to see her black hair whip over her shoulder and her bedroom door slam shut.
Alexandria stormed to her closet and pulled out a dress to wear to church. She glanced at the clock and saw it was almost 10 so she had about an hour to get ready. She stomped to the bathroom and turned on the shower water. She looked at her herself in the mirror and gasped. "Oh my Gosh, why are you doing this." She mumbled to herself wiping away her few tears. "I must be pmsing there is no reason for me to be this upset. YES there is!..." She went on to mumbled about how she couldn't believe he had been talking about what they did in private to his best friend. Maybe she was just jealous because she had no one to talk about this with. She wasn't about to tell her brother or JON for that matter. God, no. And though she would talk with her mother, well...that just wouldn't work out for Alex.
And lately it seemed like he didn't understand her. Sometimes he would be up in his small studio and she would come home from school and try to give him a hug and he would ignore her. She knew he was working, but it was just a hug. And sometimes he would want to go and do things and spend time with her but she had school, and he didn't realize that she couldn't even miss one class. She had already missed too many. She knew they were different people, but that's what supposed to make this relationship fun; being able to learn about the other person. So why were their times when she was finding it stressful?
Alex didn't like stress. And right now she was stressed out.
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"Where are you going?"
Alex stopped at the garage door and looked back towards the doors that led outside. He was there with a towel around his neck, no shirt on, swim shorts on and all of him dripping wet.
She took in a calming breath and looked away. "Church."
He nodded and watched as she hoisted her purse strap higher on her shoulder and opened the door.
"Wait, Lexia..."
She turned back, hoping he would say something, anything. She hated when they were "fighting" it hadn't happened much, and usually they would make up two seconds afterwards and laugh about it. But now they weren't laughing.
"...ummm...nevermind..." With that he turned back outside, threw his towel off and she watched as he slipped back in his bubbling hottub.
She thought about skipping church and hopping in there with him. Having him hold her and kiss her and tell her how much she meant to him. She want to be near him and be able to feel him close to her and know that he loved her.
Whenever Alex felt in doubt about Justin, she always thought about how much he had been through and how much he had put up just to have her in his life the way he wanted. The way she wanted. He gave up his girlfriend of so long, he almost gave up his reputation. Sometimes she thought she might have been selfish in this relationship.
But she couldn't admit that. Alex had a hard time admitting when she was wrong and she didn't like giving up on her pride. So instead of running outside and hopping in the Jacuzzi with all of her Sunday clothes on and confessing how much she needed him, she walked out the garage door to her Jeep, got in...drove to church.
But her conscious kept nagging her the whole service.
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As soon as church was over she rushed back home hoping to see him again. But there was a note. And it simply said "Gone to studio."
He must have been in the studio for a very very long time because now it was nighttime and she was lying in his bed, waiting for him to get home. Sometime while she was lying there she drifted to sleep. A few hours later she woke back up and looked at the clock it said 3:28 a.m. She smiled and turned to her side ready to curl up to Justin, but he wasn't there.
In his absence she pulled his pillow to her body and held it close. Maybe it was just that she wasn't use to going a day without a sign of affection. She felt lonely, and she wanted him there with her. But he wasn't and after what seemed like forever she fell into a restless sleep.
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That morning Alex woke up to the sound of drawers being shut. She opened her eyes just in time to see Justin pull an undershirt over his head. She watched him as he walked into the bathroom and a few minutes later come back out and strolled to the bed. He pulled back the covers and slipped in. When his head hit the mattress instead of a pillow he sat up a bit and looked around. His eyes finally landed on her.
She was staring at him.
"Hi." He meekly said.
"Where have you been?" She handed him the pillow and he put it behind his head.
"The studio. I just got in."
"Ohh what time is it?"
"Like 6:30." He rolled over on his side, turning his back on her.
"Oh."
Alex knew she had a few hours before she had to be at class so she let her body relaxed, just glad that he was home. But she still felt shut out. She still wanted to be near him. And even though only 2 feet separated them, those 2 feet were enough to make her feel...alone.
And then out of no where he spoke. "Lexia, I'm not going to say I'm sorry for talking to Trace. He is my best friend, and he knows everything about me. I AM sorry that it hurt you, but I'm not going to take it back."
She sighed...relieved. She didn't care about that stupid conversation anymore. It was the last thing on her mind. She reached her hand out to touch his arm. Which she touched him, he turned around and rolled over to face her. "I'm tired." He said with droopy eyes.
"Did you get any sleep at the studio?" She let him curl up to her, resting his head on her shoulder and holding on to her waist.
"No." He barely said.
"Well, go to sleep. I have class in a few, but I'll lay here with you if you want me to." She ran her hand over the short hairs on his head.
His grip tightened around her. "Thanks. I'd like that."
He fell asleep in no time.
She stayed awake for a while just watching him.
But soon she had dozed off as well.
