Someone like you

Chapter eighteen

Alex looks frantically through the crowd for the face she has been waiting to see. Lilly tries to calm her down but there is no point. Spinning around she stops suddenly and her heart skips a beat. Alex reaches out blindly to Lilly and Emily behind her without taking her eyes off the back of his head. Emily turns around from where she was looking at souvenirs on a temporary stand with a small grunt. They follow where Alex is looking and smile at each other.

"Well what are you waiting for?" Lilly says giving Alex a slight nudge. She smiles giddily back at them before taking off through the crowd. She shoves past people who complain slightly but are in to high spirits to care. As she approaches, Ross turns around and that wonderful smile spreads across his face. Nobody needed to see his eyes hidden behind his sunglasses to tell how much she means to him. She keeps running at full speed and he opens his arms to her. She jumps and wraps her arms and legs around him while he wraps his arms around her in relief. She slides down so her feet are on the floor but they don't let go of each other. It's been months since they've seen each other, held each other, denied how their bodies react to each other.

"I missed you" he whispers for only her ears. They pull away slightly only to look in each other's eyes as the crowd passes them by. Their breathing quickens as their breath mingles and Alex wants to rip the sunglasses off his face.

"Alex!" Riker cheers as he approaches. She turns her head away from Ross and pulls out of his embrace to go and give Riker a friendly hug. Ross doesn't move from where she left him for a moment. Simply thinks with his arms limp at his sides. His hand twitches as if grabbing something none existent to the side of it.

"Haven't seen you since new year's, thought we'd scared you off" Riker jokes as him and Alex pull out of their embrace.

"You, scare me off, never" she jokes with a big smile on her face, which only wavers slightly when she looks back at Ross and remembers being pressed up against him. His lips on hers as the world celebrated the arrival of new beginnings in a new year. And all they did was relapse. Ross's eyebrows knit together in confusion as she looks away from him hastily.

"Well I'm glad. You coming back to the mad house for Christmas again this year?" Riker asks in high spirits. Alex stumbles for a minute, her mind drifting back to the semidetached house in Grantham. Her Mum and Jess sitting with a dark cloud over their heads.

"You've got to live your life Alex, it's what your Mum would want" Ross says in a serious tone behind her. She looks back to see that he has taken his sun glasses off and is giving her a caring but stern look. She takes a deep breath in and lets it out in a short sharp burst as she thinks.

"Okay" she feels guilty as she says it.

"Okay?" asks Riker excitedly.

"Okay" she confirms nodding.

"Okay!" Riker cheers putting his hands up. Alex turns to Ross to see him smiling at her and so she smiles back. And for the first time in a long time she feels as if she is part of a family. Feels as if she belongs somewhere. But the fact that it can be taken away from her so easily terrifies her. But, as her new year's revolution she decided not to fixate on when something may run out, and what comes after. But instead focus on enjoying it while it lasts. And so she will enjoy the friendship and family she has found here.

"Yo Ryland" Riker calls behind him. Ryland looks up from where he was exchanging numbers with a girl. Ross comes up behind Alex.

"He has become a bit of a player since you last saw him" he says chuckling. She looks back at him over her shoulder.

"Has fame gone to his head" he smiles.

"A little. It does everyone at some point, you just need someone or something to bring you back down" Alex knows that there is more behind what he is saying but he doesn't let his face betray it.