⇾ 𝐃𝐎𝐍'𝐓 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄 | 𝐆𝐞𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐈

↠ 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐲

Once the school bell rang, Alexandria practically ran out of the school building and to the bus station. Paul and George had agreed to meet for a little while after school, so she was on her own today, and for the first time, she was actually happy about it. She needed time to think, time to get ready for this date, and time to talk to Kathleen. She'd kept the bulk of her problems with Paul away from her opinionated older sister. However, she was in desperate need of advice now, and Kathleen seemed like the perfect candidate to get this advice from.

Alexandria leaned her head against the window as the bus rattled down the road. Her mind raced at a million miles a minute and her nerves mixed with the rocking of the bus were making her a tad queasy. It felt like her stop couldn't come any sooner, and when it did, she was practically running to get off the bus. She hugged her pea coat around her a little closer and rushed back to the house.

"Kath?" Alexandria asked as she sat her bag by the front door and fiddled her thumbs anxiously. "Kath, I really need to talk to you!"

Kathleen appeared at the top of the stairs, Wesley laying his head on her shoulder. "What?" Kathleen asked, sounding tired. "Wes is sick, Alex. I really need to be looking after him."

Alexandria bit her lip and looked around the room. How important was her conversation? Did she really need to burden her sister with it?

"Alex? Are you going to speak or not?" Kathleen asked, patting Wesley's back impatiently.

"I—." Alexandria began, but Wesley interrupted her by letting out a strained cry. She closed her mouth again and shook her head. "It's not important," she muttered, moving away. She went toward the kitchen, wrapping her arms around herself. She wasn't sure why she chose the kitchen to seek refuge. She really just wanted to be alone. She wanted to curl up into a ball and just cry until she vomited. She wanted her head to stop spinning and she wanted her stomach to stop churning. She felt sick as Wesley right now. She reached up and brushed her hair behind her ear, dragging a hand across her forehead in the process. Her hands shook and she felt tears well up in her eyes, tears of complete frustration. She wasn't sure what in the world was wrong with her! She was bloody hysterical!

She stood in the kitchen, walking around in a tight circle as she tried to decipher the thousands of words in her brain. She felt like she was completely losing her mind. Her breathing sped up and she placed her hands on the counter. It felt like her entire world was just spiraling out of control. She was worried about his date. She was worried about the future of her and Paul's relationship. She was

"Alex?"

Alexandria's eyes went wide and she turned around to see Kathleen standing in the doorway to the kitchen behind her, concern etched into her eyes. "W-where's Wes?" she asked. "Don't you need to be lookin' after him or somethin'?" Alexandria wiped furiously at the tears on her cheeks. She wasn't sure where this sudden breakdown had come from, and she wasn't sure how she was supposed to stop it.

"I got him to sleep," Kathleen responded, her legs moving quickly as she got closer to her sister. Alexandria covered her face with her hands, feeling embarrassed at the way she was acting right now. She was crying and she didn't even know why! "Alex, what's the matter?"

"George kissed me when I didn't want him to, and Paul wasn't mad, but I didn't tell him fast enough; and now I feel like everything is falling apart, and I love what we have and I'm scared to lose it because I've given so much to him, and I'm gonna feel like a complete idiot if it was all for nothing!" Alexandria said in a rush. "I mean, just think of all the stuff I did with him...what if it was all for nothing? What if it didn't even mean anything to him in the first place? What if he w-was just using me and now that he's got an excuse to throw me aside, he's going to just take it?" Alexandria's words came in broken pieces and she heaved breaths in between each fragment. I'm s-scared of being without him. I need him, Kath. I don't want it to end."