"Shhhh, shutup Ashley.... don't wake her up," I heard roughly from my fog clouded sleepy mind.
"Oh she sleeps like a rock, I deffiantly wont be able to get her up," Ashley whispered back.
"She's been out cold for 5 hours...what do you think happened?" Mariza said sounding worried.
"When she wakes up we'll just have to ask her," Jill tried sounding reasuring.
Realizing I wouldnt be able to fall back asleep, I fluttered my eyes open to see what was going on. Stretching out my legs I began to search with my hands for the warm muscular body that I had been snuggling into this entire time. Opening my eyes completely now, I was a bit discouraged to see that no one was there anymore.
"He left about a half an hour ago when we got home. He said you were in good hands now," Ashley said from right next to me.
Seeing that I was awake, she moved to were Alex had previously been and wrapped her arm around my shoulder. Mariza and Jill snuggled there way into the now newly formed group and I instantly felt warm again.
"Alex said he was sorry about leaving before you woke up but he didnt want to intrude on our little group," Jill added as she locked gazes with me.
"He also mentioned that the same time is good for tomorrow morning for your run," Mariza added.
"Thanks you guys," I mumbled still a little dazed.
"You ready to tell us what happened? Alex refused to tell us anything but he seemed very upset... and almost a little embarrassed?" Jill asked, the curiousity in her voice not hidden at all.
Blushing at the fact Alex seemed a little embarressed, I looked around at each one of my best friends faces. This was the thing I loved about my friends the most, they always knew when something was wrong even if I hadnt said anything. They just knew me that well. It was going to be hard opening up about Evan, but in order for me to officially move on from him, I needed to do this. Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and began to tell them what had happened.
"Well I'll start off with telling you why Alex seemed embarrassed," I said, my voice becoming less groggily as I layed there.
"This should be good," I saw Mariza say with some humor.
Rolling my eyes, I just continued, "Anyways, after we got stuck out in the rain, we ran back here to get dry and see how badly we were covered in sand. Well, I wasnt that bad so I let Alex take a shower in our bathroom Ash."
"Oh god, did you see him naked?!?!" Jill shouted.
"Shhh! No!" I retorted, "Let me finish my story before you assume anything. Okay, so I made sure I heard the rushing of the shower water before I started to change out of my soaking running clothes."
"Mhmm," all three of my friends replied in unison.
"Well I had just changed into my kinda skimpy underwear and bra when all of sudden Alex comes out of the bathroom asking were the soap was!"
"Holy shit balls," Ashley said with wide eyes.
"Wait he practically saw you naked!" Mariza added with her motuh hanging down in shock.
"I knew it!" Jill said triumphantly.
"Shutup Jill," I said laughing, "His eyes looked as if they were going to pop out of his head they were so big....it was embarassing!"
"He was probably like 'Dayummmm she hot as hell!'" Mariza said giggling.
"After I told him were the soap was, he went back into the bathroom and I just wanted to die..." pausing, I let this news soak in with the three of them.
"Wow, you guys are crazy about each other and you probably still wont say anything," Ashley said shaking her head.
"Oh shutup," Jill said surprisingly, "Look at you and Justin...Its been two days and you guys are all over each other."
"Hey, I'm just trying to have fun," Ash replied with a cocky smile."
"I don't even want to know..." I heard Jill whisper to herself.
"Anyways, what else happened that made Alex upset?" Mariza asked.
I might as well get this over with now I thought to myself. If I truely wanted to be happy this summer, I needed to forget about Evan and move on. Hitting the 'Accept' button on skype last night was something I shouldnt have done...but secretly wanted to. I mean, I did love the guy, thats extremely hard to move on from.
"I had a chat with Evan Last night while Alex was in the shower," I said shakily.
"No! Kat you need to stop contact with him completely!" Mariza shouted in a shocked tone.
"Let her finish," Ashley said sincereily, knowing right away this was going to be a challenge for me to talk about.
"Well the conversation didnt last that long but it wasn't that great either. He like expected me to be over everything and to forgive him..."
Trying to continue I felt the familiar ball in my throat that meant tears were on there way. Taking a deep breath, I felt the first tear drip down my cheek as I went on with my recap, "When I denied being over everything he ended up calling me a bitch. And you guys know how I feel about being called that."
"That bastard-"
"Stupid men-"
"What an ass-" Ashley, Mariza and Jill all said at once. There hatred towards Evan comforted me in a way, it made me reasured that they had my backs.
"Well," I continued with fresh tears, "Thats when I hit the 'end' button and just crawled into bed crying. Just like I am now."
"I'm so sorry sweetheart," Jill said sweetly, "We should have never gone into town."
"No, its fine. Alex came out from the bathroom, he had heard the entire cnversation, and just came over and held me. He was so warm I just ended up falling asleep."
"Ya we came home to find you guys curled up into each other and we thought you had hooked up or something," Ashley said sheepishly.
"No, he was just really sweet and nice about everything," I defeneded.
"You need to delete Evan from everything," Mariza said suddenly, "You have to give him up Kathryn."
"But--"
"No buts, I already deleted him from your skype account and phone," Ashley said cutting me off.
"....should have never gave you my passwords..." I mumbled in defeat.
"Alex will so much better for you honey," Jill said honestly.
"Too bad Alex thinks of me as just a friend. We only just met two days ago after 9 years of not seeing each other."
In fact, I wish Alex had just stayed. Having a day alone with him was really amazing and fun. But thinking about Alex reminded me of something else.
"Wait so what did you guys do in town earlier today?" I said while wiping my face clear of any tears.
"We all got jobs!" Mariza said excited.
"So did I," I replied smiling for the first time in what felt like ages.
"Wait...really?" Jill asked surprised.
"Ya at this snack shack about a half mile down the beach, I start Wednesday."
"Gotta get that money bitchess!" Mariza said in her best version of a thugs voice, causing us all to laugh.
"Anyways," I began after we all calmed down, "How were the boys?"
"Well Ashley and Justin were...well just them," Jill replied, "Mariza got a job at this sports shop. The exact shop that Jordan just happens to work at...OW!"
"Shutup," Mariza said punching Jill in the arm while blushing horribly.
"It's alright bud, theres nothing to be embarrassed about!" Ashley said while laughing at Jills glare war with Mariza.
While my friends continued there conversation, I just smiled and looked out the window into the pouring rain. With out them I truely dont no what I'd do in life, they were the glue holding me together. Lettting my mind wonder, I felt myself drift once again into sleep as my friends continued to talk around me.
"Night girls!!" I heard in what felt like only a few minutes later. With the slam of a door down the hallway, I felt myself wake instantly. Rolling over sluggishly, my alarm clock glared back at me 12:39 a.m.... how much had I slept yesterday? It had to have been close to 12 hours or something around there.
Tip-toeing out of bed, I sneeked down the spiral staircase and headed into the kitchen, my stomach was growling uncontrably. Switching the lights on, I began ransacking through the fridge for something desent to snack on. After a few minutes of searching, I finally just settled on an apple.
Not wanting to spend any more time indoors, I headed out of the back door and down to the beach. The night was a perfect temperature with a slight breeze on the beach, the air was still moist from all the rain we had today. My large sweatshirt kept me warm while my legs stood bare from my short cut-off jean shorts. The smell of the ocean consumed me as I walked closer to the water. Stopping about 20 yards from the crash of the waves, I sat criss-cross in the sand as I let my mind wander to yesterday and everything that had happened.
After Alex and I's run yesterday, every thing that happened in the rain, our awkward moment in my room and him cuddling with me... what was happening? It had only been 3 days since we had seen one another for the first time in years, how could I already feel this way so fast. More then anything I want to be with him but in the rain yesterday he just pulled away whenever we got close.
"Kathryn-"
"Holy shit!"
"Sorry, Sorry!" a familiar deep voice said from close behind me, "Didnt mean to scare you Kat."
Turning around, I took in the one and only Alex I had just been thinking about not 10 seconds ago. He was in his University sweatshirt and a pair of khaki cargo shorts, and yet he still looked absolutly amazing.
"Hey Alex," I said with a smile before turning around towards the ocean agian, taking another bite of my apple.
"Sorry for leaving before you woke up," he said softly before sitting down next to me, "I just didnt want to intrude on you and your friends."
"Oh its fine," I replied simply, "I understand."
I sent him a quick re-assuring smile to let him know that I actually meant what I said. Examining his face I realized that he had that serious look on his face, the one he had when we had accidently landed ontop of one another.
"That guy had no right to say that to you Kat," Alex said suddenly, "You deserve so much better."
"Thanks Alex," I replied with another smile, "But its whatever now, theres nothing to do but move on with all of it."
Turning away towards the ocean once more, I couldnt help but hear Alex mutter something else under his breath before taking a deep calming breath. Sliding closer to me in the sand, Alex wrapped his arm around my shoulder....causing my heart to skip a beat. I couldnt believe it, Alex Brooks had yet again wrapped his arm around me for the second time in one day..... the world could end and I would be just fine with it.
"When we were little," Alex began after a few moments of comfortable silence, " I had the biggest crush on you? Of course it was puppy love back then but I thought you were the coolest chick around."
"No way!" I replied laughing.
"Yepp. I just never got the chance to tell you when we moved."
"That is to funny," I said a bit shocked, "I always thought you were goofy."
Giving me a slight squeeze, he put a face of mock horror up and said, "How dare you!"
"Well you've obviously changed since then," I said before I could catch myself.
"Oh really?" He grinned almost triumphantly, "How so?"
Blushing horribly, I dug my face deeper into his enclosed arm to try and hide. I was deffaintly never going to admit how I really felt, the only chance that would happen is if I got extremely drunk.
"I'm not saying anything," I replied stubbornly.
"Oh come on," he said giving me a nudge to the shoulder, which just happened to send both of us flying to the side. Alex apparently didnt know his own strength still. With his arm still wrapped around me, we lay in the sand laughing hysterically at our little accident.
"Whoops," he said a few minutes later.
"Ya, way to go," I added sarcastically.
"Mhmm...." Alex said in a more serious tone, "Personally I like this accident 'position'."
"Oh really..." I managed to mutter, my mind was spinning from his sudden intensity.
Suddenly, Alex cupped the side of my face with his free hand and looked me dead in the eyes. His lower jaw seemed to clench as his blue eyes burned like a summer sky. Moving his face slowly closer to mine, I lifted my head to his as our lips met. Pure joy radiated through me as my stomach burst with butterflys. The kiss was sweet and soft, almost as if he wanted to make sure it was perfect.
Breaking away after what felt a million years later, I opened my eyes to see him smiling brillliantly at me....almost as if he had just won the lottery.
"Kathryn, I have been waiting 13 years to kiss you."
"Well why dont you do it again...."
Happily obliging, Alex kissed me yet again; making me one of the happiest people on earth at that moment.
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Sorry this was a slow chapter and it took me this long to update, the next few instalments will be much more interesting.
Thanks for reading!
-writing4fun