PSYCHO ― John B. Routledge ✓

03. In The Moonlight

Alisha sighed but nodded in understanding as her eyes stayed glued to the stars. "You care too much for your own good, Rocky. Boys like John B don't deserve shit like that, I mean, did you see the shit his friend pulled? Hanging out with people like that will get you in more trouble than you think. I don't wanna see you get dragged into stupid Pogue shit. You're better than that."

"I can watch out for myself, Lish," he said, but there was no malice in his voice. He could never be angry at Alisha because he knew everything she said was because she cared about him. They were thick as thieves and all they wanted for each other was to be smart and not make stupid decisions. "But thank you. I would never do something like that without being careful about it. I didn't even take the car, I rode my bike."

"Good," was all she said before the room fell deadly silent. She sighed, but neither of them really knew what to say. After a moment, Alisha spoke again, "Rocky, you know how much I care about you, right?"

"Of course, I do."

She groaned, turning to the side and propped her head up by her elbow to look at him, "No, like, I think I really care about you."

He didn't know what she was trying to say at that moment. Really, the two had always had each other's backs and they never really said the sappy stuff because it was already established. They were hands down the closest two out of the friend group, so saying things like how much they cared about each other or loved each other was kind of unnecessary with them. It always went without saying what they meant to each other. So basically, he was confused as all hell right now. Alisha was never supposed to be confusing, not with him. That was practically their whole thing.

"Alisha, what are you trying to say?" was all he could muster, his tone confused and slightly frustrated. He hated beating around the bush, but he was willing to give the girl the benefit of the doubt since he knew she had a rough night. The girl groaned, rolling her eyes at him.

Next thing he knew, Alisha was kissing him. The idea of kissing Alisha had crossed his mind before, but he never executed it because he knew it would be weird. Now that it was actually happening, he knew he was absolutely right. He had kissed a girl or two before, but the idea of that girl being Alisha just felt wrong. Before he even realized it, he was pushing her off of him and scrambling off the bed. She looked up at him with those doe-eyes of hers and it took everything in him not to freak out.

"Alisha, what the fuck was that?" he exclaimed, not knowing what else could be said at that moment because kissing Alisha was something he never thought he would have to worry about. He could deal with hormones fucking up everything else in the group, but the idea of them fucking up what he and Alisha had was unbearable.

"I-I don't know! I thought it would be good that me and you would be good together!" she was frantic, clearly hurt at being rejected. Her eyes were beginning to tear up and the last thing he wanted was for her to cry. He couldn't handle Alisha crying. It was like when your mom cries and you can't help but cry with her. "Gemma told me she thought you were into me and that you had been forever and I got confused and I don't know."

Once he caught his breath, he got back on the bed and wrapped his arms around her in comfort. She was crying now and he was starting to tear up because of it. He couldn't stand it when Alisha -- or any of his friends or that matter, were upset. He also was never quite geared to handle it considering he couldn't stand when people cried. He just never knew what to do. So, he held her.

"Alisha I have to tell you something." The words were out of his mouth before he could even register what those words would mean. Sitting there with a crying girl made him feel like he had to give her some sort of reason for not having some stupid crush on her all these years. He didn't know how to properly explain that he loved her more than anything, just not in that way. He never got nervous around her or spent too long observing her facial features, no matter how pleasing he knew they were. He just didn't feel that way about her. Norman knew he should -- Alisha was every guy's wet dream with her beauty and confidence rolled up into one 5'3" package.