A/N- BRACE YOURSELVES.
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The next morning, I woke up to the sensation of someone lying beside me. Not just beside me, but they also had their arm wrapped firmly around my waist and their face buried in my neck. I scurried out of bed and sprinted over to my door just to see a startled Alex turning over in bed, his wind-swept hair sticking out at odd ends. I let out a sigh of relief and slowly walked back over to the bed.
“Everything okay?” He asked, his morning voice begging me to just run over to him and hug him and tell him how adorable it is. I mentally punched myself for thinking that and forced myself to nod.
“Just forgot you were here.” I reassured him.
“Will you come lay back down with me then?” he yawned.
I hesitated but found my feet dragging myself over to him and back into bed. I lay down beside him but not all the way next to him and he didn’t try to hold me like he was doing when I woke up. He probably didn’t want to startle me again.
“Did you sleep well?” Alex yawned again, his eyes drooping.
I nodded, “I did. Best sleep I’ve gotten in a while.”
A tired smile found its way to his lips. “Any reason?”
“I don’t know.” I lied. I knew it was because he was there and that I felt safe for once in my life.
He didn’t answer me. He was too tired to I guess, but he wasn’t tired enough to throw his arm over my waist and pull me to him. My body tensed up but he showed no signs of discomfort.
“Um, Alex?”
“Hm?” he moaned.
“What’re you doing?” I asked as casually as possible.
“Laying here.” He mumbled.
I sighed. “What else?”
“Holding you.” he whispered.
“Why?”
His eyes opened slightly and met mine. “Do you not want me to?”
“Well I mean,” I shifted my eyes to stare at the wall, just anywhere else but his face, “I don’t know.”
He sighed. “We need to talk about last night.”
“There’s nothing to talk about.” I insisted, even though there was a ton to talk about. I kissed Alex. Well, Alex kissed me but I kissed him back.
He put his index finger and thumb on my chin and turned my head towards him. “Yes, there is.”
I looked down and mumbled, “I know.”
“Did you like it?” he asked with full confidence.
“What?” I asked, startled.
He raised his eyebrows in that, “You heard me” gesture and waited patiently for me to answer. I didn’t know what my answer was going to be, actually. Did I like it? I realized last night that I did, in fact, want him to kiss me. I wanted it so bad. And when he did, it was so different from the other kisses I shared with the other guys I’ve been with. Good different, of course. But the question now is: Did I like that “good different” feeling?
“Sapphire?” Alex asked, eyebrows scrunched together.
“Um,” I started.
Before I could finish, his lips were over mine. They were in no way forceful, just gentle and still somewhat hesitant. I could tell he wasn’t looking for anything else out of that kiss; he just wanted to do it to remind me how it felt last night when he first kissed me. I lightly kissed him back, feeling those fireworks explode inside me again, causing me to pull back in shock.
“What’s wrong?” Alex asked his voice full of panic, “Did I hurt you?”
His eyes searched my face, looking for any sign of pain. When I shook my head he let out a sigh of relief.
“What’s wrong then?”
“I liked it.” I looked down, somewhat embarrassed.
“Really?” I could hear the smile in his voice.
“That doesn’t mean we’re an item or anything though.” I said as gently as I could.
“Not yet.” I heard him say under his breath but decided to ignore it.
I sighed and heaved myself out of bed and over to my closet. I didn’t know if Scooter got back to the house yet but if he did, I was kind of scared to see his reaction when he saw that Alex had spent the night and was still here. In my bed. So I decided to get dressed and look presentable so maybe I could play it off and say he stopped by as soon as he woke up to see how I was doing.
I yanked a pair of skinny jeans and a black t-shirt out of my closet. I grabbed a pair of scissors off the desk and took them to my shirt, creating a design on the back that looked like a skull. I used to do this all the time and Rita used to get so mad but I didn’t really care. But now that she’s not here, screw it.
I heard the bed squeak followed by the soft pitter patter of footsteps walking up behind me.
“What’re you doing to the poor shirt?” Alex asked.
I cut the last hole in the shirt and held it up proudly. “This.” I smiled.
He chuckled softly and shook his head. “Why am I not surprised?”
“I wouldn’t be. But if you plan on staying then you should go make yourself look presentable in case my uncle comes up here and sees that you’re here.”
“Good idea. Can I use your bathroom?”
“Feel free.” I said, not looking up from the masterpiece in my hands. I wonder how mad Alex would get if I did this to one of his shirts…
“Thanks.” He said before disappearing inside the bathroom.
The shower started running so I took this time to hurry and get dressed, deciding I would take a shower tonight since I already took one last night. I prefer showers at night anyway. I shimmed out of my pajamas and tossed them on the floor. I did that little dance I always do to get into my skinny jeans. Once they were on, I reached for my shirt. I was too busy admiring the back of it that I didn’t hear the door open over the roaring of the shower coming from the bathroom.
“Hey Sapphire, can I-whoa…” he cut off.
I jumped and covered myself with my shirt as best as I could. I could feel my cheeks growing blood red and I looked anywhere but his face. He eyes quickly looked over me before clearing his throat and looking at the floor.
“Guess we’re even now. You saw me in just my boxers and now I saw you with no shirt on,” he laughed nervously trying to lighten the mood to no avail.
He cleared his throat again, “Um, where are the towels?” he asked.
“In the cabinet next to the sink.” I told him.
“Thanks.” He said quickly.
I nodded before turning around so I could finally just put my freaking shirt on when I heard Alex’s voice again.
“What happened to your shoulder?”
“What?” I asked quickly, looking at my shoulder.
Shit.
“Um, I don’t remember.” I lied, scurrying to put my shirt on when I felt his hand cover my shoulder.
“That doesn’t look like nothing.” He ran his fingers over the faded scars on my shoulder.
“What happened?” he asked carefully.
“It was a while ago, no need to worry.” I tried to blow it off. I reached for shirt again.
“Sapphire. Tell me.”
I let out a shaky breath. I was always so afraid of someone finding out about my habit. It happened when Toby first left. I wasn’t used to being alone all the time but once I started talking to Toby on the phone, it got better. So I stopped.
“I think you know what happened.”
“Did you used to cut yourself?” he asked, astonished.
“Don’t act surprised.” I mumbled.
“But I am! Why would you do that to yourself?”
I shrugged, hoping to just blow it off and forget it but of course it wasn’t that easy with Alex.
“Why?” he whispered.
“I wasn’t used to being alone okay! I felt like no one cared and no one was ever going to be there for me. Toby left and I was alone.”
“What about Ariel?”
“She never found out.”
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “You haven’t done it since he left?”
I shook my head. I left out the part of how bad I wanted to do it again when Rita said that stuff about me.
He nodded and pulled me to his chest and hugged me tight and rocked me back and forth. I wrapped my arms around his torso and breathed him in. My secret was out now.
“I care. I’m always here for you. And you’re never alone. I promise.” He whispered.
A silent tear escaped through the corner of my eye and fell onto his shirt. I nodded into his chest and pulled back and did my best to smile at him.
“If you’re not going to take a shower then you should turn it off.” I said, trying to change the subject.
He chuckled and went to turn it off. “Yeah it’s not even hot anymore, really. I’ll take on later.”
I pulled my shirt over my head and grabbed my makeup and applied it as quickly as possible so Alex wouldn’t say anything about too much makeup. I heard Alex in the bathroom brushing his teeth with the spare toothbrush that was underneath the sink. I was running a brush through my hair when he walked out of the bathroom. He was still wearing the same clothes from yesterday but I don’t think that kind of thing bugs guys.
I stood in front of the mirror to make sure I looked presentable, moving my hair this way and that. Alex came up next to me and bumped me out of the way with his hip and started messing with his hair too. I stood there with my hands on my hips just watching him. He looked at my reflection in the mirror and winked.
“Like what you see?”
I rolled my eyes, “Totally. Marry me.”
“Okay.” He winked again.
I rolled my eyes again and sat on my bed.
“I hope your eyes get stuck like that.” He mumbled.
Before I had time to ask him to repeat that, if he even dared to, someone knocked on my door. Knowing it was probably Scooter; I hopped off my bed and opened the door. Instead of being greeted by his usual cheery face, his eyes were downcast and full of worry that could be mistaken for rage.
“Everything okay?” I asked hesitantly.
He ignored me, stepping inside and closed the door behind him. When he saw Alex there something passed over his eyes that I couldn’t quite recognize. It was gone before I had time to realize what it was.
“Scooter?” I asked.
He took a deep breath and rubbed the back of his next. “I need both of you down at the station.”
“Why?” Alex asked.
Scooter looked him dead in the eye. “Because your fingerprints were found on the gun that was used to kill my nephew.”
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A/N- OH SHNAP. WHAT WILL HAPPEN NOW?! DO YOU THINK ALEX IS GUILTY?! LET ME KNOW!!!
Also, a picture of Sapphire's shirt is on the side lol.
Sorry about taking forever to upload! School is bleh. Still adjusting!