My Complicated Love

Chapter Six: I'll never be too old to fight with her

*Chapter Six: I'll never be too old to fight with her*

For a while, Alex was basically home alone. Her dad was there but he was working in his office so she knew not to disturb him. Suddenly, her mom came in, screeching about some hotel room her dad had checked into on a Wednesday in the middle of the day. He had cheated on her again. She flinched, hearing her dad scream back. They had always bickered, but lately their fights were getting worse and worse. She didn’t understand why they didn’t just get a divorce. It would be so much easier. She sighed because she knew what to do when this happened. She went over to Caleb’s and spent the night whenever her parents fought. She quickly grabbed her backpack and quietly slipped out of the front door, not that her parents would have noticed either way.

When she got to Caleb’s his mom answered. “Hi,” she said, slightly surprised to see Alex. “Hey… Is it okay if I sleep over? My parents are fighting again…”

“Of course honey… Caleb’s in his room.” She nodded, walking into the familiar house. Now to get to the stairs, she had to go through the living room. And who was sitting in the living room? Jace and Amelia. They were watching some cheesy romance movie. He had an arm around her and they were cuddled under a blanket. “What’s dog-face doing here?” he said when he noticed her. She didn’t have the energy to retort, so she just walked past him.

“Why are you so mean to her?” Amelia questioned him crossly. He shrugged. “It’s always been that way. Ever since you and I have been in seventh grade. You know that.”

“Don’t you think it should stop? Aren’t you two getting a little old to be always fighting?”

“I’ll never be too old to fight with her.”

When Alex saw Caleb’s room, the door was open so she walked in. He looked up at her from his homework with an annoyed expression, which changed when he saw who it was. She never came over without calling first unless her parents were fighting. “Come here,” he said, holding his arms open. She walked over to hug him, finally letting the tears fall from her eyes. They lay in his bed silently until she finally quit crying. That was the best part of their relationship. They were like brother and sister. They could sleep in the same bed without it being weird to anyone. That was just them. “Do you want to talk about it?” he asked when she finally quit crying. She sniffed. “Not really.” He just nodded, and continued to hug her. He fell asleep eventually, but she couldn’t. Her mind was too wide awake to think about sleep. At about one in the morning, her stomach growled loudly. She rolled out of bed and went downstairs to get Frosted Flakes. She groaned when Jace was there and went to head upstairs. “Wait,” he said, making her stop, but not turn around to face him. “Mom told me what’s going on. I’m not going to say anything, just eat your cereal.”

She agreed, mostly because she was really hungry. He was sitting at the counter eating cold pizza so she went to the table. They sat in silence, eating their food. When she was done and there was only milk left in the bowl and when he was just sitting there staring at an empty plate, she said something. “What the hell is wrong with them? Why don’t they just get a divorce like normal people would? It’s worse like this. Him cheating on her and her screaming until she loses her voice.”

“Well, your parents are pretty stubborn.”

“I know they are; they made me.” He smiled an adorable crooked smile. “Yeah, you are stubborn.”

“I just don’t get why soul mates can’t be like… matching colors or something, so then we know exactly who it is.” While she was saying this, she brought her bowl to the sink and then leaned on the counter facing him. “Well, that’s the exciting part isn’t it?” he said, a small smile on his face, “You get to try out a few, maybe a lot, before you finally get to meet that person you want to spend the rest of your life with. You can look back and laugh at all the stupid mistakes you’ve made on the road to finding them. Because the people before that won’t even compare to your soul mate.”

Now, later she would blame it on her mental instability or the intoxicating happiness she always felt after eating her favorite food, but she kissed him. And he really wouldn’t have an excuse later, but he kissed back. This kiss was different than the last one. It was slower, gentler. He cupped her face in his hands, as if she would break if he held her too hard. She moved from across the counter to right in front of him without breaking the kiss, and he lifted her up, carrying her to his room. He set her down on his bed, finally breaking the kiss to shut the door and turn a light on, before climbing on top of her and kissing her again. She wrapped her hands around his neck, the kiss becoming slightly more urgent. He broke the kiss to take off both their shirts, before staring at her. “What?” she asked, getting self-conscious. “Nothing… just beautiful…” She blushed, and pulled him down to kiss her again. “Wait,” she said, pulling away, “Do you have a…?” His eyes widened. “Yeah I do… But are you sure?” She nodded, and that was all the reassurance he needed.

He quickly fell asleep when they were done. She just laid there for a few minutes, staring up at the ceiling. She finally got up, deciding she should go back to Caleb’s room before he woke up and saw that she wasn’t there. She quickly got dressed, trying to ignore the pain between her legs. She looked at him. He looked so peaceful, nothing like how she had ever known him to be. But he had a girlfriend. That could never happen again.

 She went to Caleb’s room and crawled into the bed, finally falling asleep.