Chapter 8: the search for something more
AJ stayed until the late of hours of the night as him and Alex lay in her bed and simply talked about everything yet nothing at all until Karen came up to Alex's room to tell them that it was time for AJ to go since she was aware of them being in alone in her room and that it was late. Despite everything that had happened and everything that was said at Dan's party, Alex and AJ only seemed to have gotten closer as a result of it all. Which meant that the following Saturday morning while Alex was working at the café as well as running it while her mom and Keith went to get supplies for the café, AJ decided to hang with Alex as she worked before he needed to leave for his own job at the local supermarket as a bag boy since he liked having his own money due to feeling like he already own his brother too much.
" dude, I don't get how you can even say that!" Alex said with a chuckle as she walked passed where he was sitting in order to serve for table the plate of pancakes and cup of coffee that he had ordered
" come on, are you for real? The whole thing is so flawed and ridiculous!" AJ said as he eat the last of the French toast that he had ordered as well as the coffee as she leaned against the counter to talk
" have you even read it? I mean Heathcliff and Cathy are like the ultimate couple, they may be flawed but that's what makes them so relatable" Alex said as she thought about the current book they were talking about
" relatable? Come on, he basically abuses her and they are such horrible people too" AJ said as he thought about the book at hand as he smiled at her as he realised how much he loved talking to her
" you know it's a good thing that you're so cute because you have lousy opinions in books" Alex said as she leaned over the counter to kiss him as she laughed, loving how easy things between them were
" okay, how about this... you read my favourite book and I'll read yours. Meaning you need to read 1984 by George Orwell" AJ said with a smile as he thought about what she might think about the book
" and you need to read little women by Louisa May Alcott.Don't laugh, I know it's such a girlie book but it's one of my moms favourites. She used to read it to me when she would me to bed" Alex said softly
" in that case, I'm sure that I'll love just as much as you do" AJ said leaning over to give her another kiss which was interrupted by someone clearing their throat as they pulled away to see Brooke
" hey, you two! I was hoping you were working today. You think you could give us a minute alone, AJ?" Brooke said noticing the change in attitude the moment that Alex saw her standing next to AJ as he gave a questioning look
" it's fine, go to work and I'll call you later.... what do you want?" Alex said first softly to AJ as she tried to reassure him as she gave him one last kiss before becoming slightly colder as she turned to Brooke
" I guess I should have expected that, I'd be a bitch to me too after last night" Brooke said knowing that she definitely had some making up to do when it came to the Scott siblings including Nathan
" well if it was up to me, I'd have been more than a bitch to you but AJ said last night that I couldn't punch you so..." Alex said as she walked over to a table that just left as she began to clear it all away
" You're feisty. I see what AJ likes about you. What Tim and I said about you last night wasn't fair, I was drunk and I was pissed and I took it out on you but I want to make it up to you" Brooke said smiling
" how exactly? By going away?" Alex said bluntly as she began to collect all of the empty plates and cups before moving them to the kitchen to be cleaned before cleaning the table for the next customer
" by inviting you to a party with me and Peyton tonight" Brooke said with an excited smile as she thought about how good the college party would be that night as she hoped that her and Alex could friends
" and why would I go to a party with you and Peyton?" Alex said knowing that was the last that she wanted to do with her Saturday night when she could spent the night hanging out with AJ instead
" because it'll be fun and I'm trying to be nice, I think if you got know to me and I mean the real me then we could be friends. Plus we play on the same team, we're both ravens" Brooke said trying to convince her to say yes
" fine... I'll come, just pick me up at my place tonight. It's same place as Lucas's" Alex said with a smirk before going back to her walk since she knew that Haley would be in soon to take over her shift
~~~~~~
Once Alex had finished work, she sent a quick text to AJ to let him know what had happened between her and Brooke as well as the fact that she was going to a party that night with them before heading home to start picking out an outfit for that night since she had already texted her mom and asked for permission on whether she could go or not. After she was showered, dressed and done her makeup and hair, she headed downstairs to the kitchen to grab something to drink as she notice that Lucas was sitting at the table listening to some Italian guy on their answering machine
" Bonjouno. I am Marcello Vivari of the Genoculudidian Institute in Florence. I call for Seniorina Karen Roe" the Italian man said causing the twins to give each other a confused and questioning look
" okay, well this validates my thinking that accents just sound instantly sexy despite what's being said" Alex said leaning against the counter as their mom came in with her hands filled with grocery bags
" When's that 'do not call list' kick in?" Lucas said to their mom as he assumed that the call was just some random Italian dude hitting on his mom as he turned to see that Alex was helping her with the bags
"Excuse me, but we haven't heard from you. We sent a letter inviting you to start next week and, uh, we haven't heard a word so would you be call enough to call me back" the man said before Karen deleted the message
" wait, is that that Italian cooking school you've been talking about since forever?" Alex said knowing that Lucas and her had always been interested in what their mom's dreams were since she had to put them on hold for them
" Yeah but-" Karen said before she was interrupted by Lucas who stood up to hug his mom, although he failed to see that she wasn't exactly looking the most excited about the prospect of going away
" Mom, that's great!" Lucas said sharing Alex's excitement as she walked currently squealing out of happiness for her mom, although two of them would soon become deflated by her next words on the subject
" It's no big deal. I'm not gonna go" Karen said knowing that the school in Italy was nothing more than a pipe dream since she knew that she couldn't just leave her two teenager alone in the house
" It is a big deal, Mom. Come on, it's a huge deal. Right, Alex?" Lucas said looking to his sister for support on this since they knew that they had always felt guilty about taking her dreams from her
" such a huge deal! Mom, this is all you've been talking about years and you have this chance to actually go" Alex said knowing that their mom had always wanted to go to Italy to learn from the best
" Well maybe I'll just go some other time" Karen said dismissing it once again as she began to put away the groceries as they had talked as she knew that there were a lot of reason why she had to stay
" No, Mom. Now's the time. Come on, you've put your whole life on hold for us. Every choice you've made has been about us" Lucas said knowing that they wanted their mom to have something of her own
" That's the way it's supposed to be. I'm your mother" Karen said as she turned to her kids, knowing that she would do anything for them in an instant if it meant making her children happy in any way
" yeah but mom, you got pregnant when you were 17. You've barely done anything for yourself apart from opening the café, you need to do this" Alex said thinking abut how great this could be for her
" And we want you to have this. Alex is right, it's time for you to do something for yourself" Lucas said knowing that she had never got the chance to follow her dreams or go to college due to having them
" I'll think about it" Karen said still sounding reluctant and hesitant abut going to Italy and leaving her two teenagers behind, although she knew that her children weren't going to let this go anytime soon
" Don't think about it, Mom. Do it... okay, I'm out of here. I'm going to the River court since the one is ditching me for the night" Lucas said as he grabbed his ball before kissing his mom and sister as he left
" so this party that you're going to, where it is?" Karen said changing the subject as she looked at the outfit that her daughter was wearing to see it that it was a little sexy while still very much her style
" it probably just going to be a normal and very lame high school party. You know me, I'll spend ten minutes inside in the party before finding somewhere to hide" Alex said knowing that parties weren't her thing
" is AJ going tonight?" Karen asked knowing that her daughter and AJ had gotten really close to each other over the last few weeks making Karen smile at the thought of her daughter falling in love for the first time
" no, I think him and his brother are going to do something tonight. Eric works all the time st the hospital so they don't get to spend a lot together" Alex said as she took a sip from her water bottle
" so who are you going with?" Karen said giving her daughter a look since she knew that Haley was working tonight so she wondered who she was going to with since all of her normal friends were busy
" Brooke and Peyton, actually. Brooke came to apologise for getting so drunk and being a bitch last night, I kinda felt had to say yes. I mean she was offering this olive branch, I couldn't refuse" Alex said knowing she wanted to stay home
" just make sure that your cell phone is on you at all times and be safe, okay?" Karen said kissing her daughter on the forehead, not sure how to feel about her going to a party with girls she didn't know
" I will... that's them, I should go. Bye mom" Alex said kissing her mom's cheek before grabbing her jacket that held everything she needed in its pockets and left out the kitchen door to meet the girls
~~~~~~
Brooke drove her, Peyton and Alex to the party which turned out to be in a party in one of the dorm halls at Duke University which made Alex slightly more uncomfortable than she would have been if it had been a normal high school party as she looked around at the large crowd of college students in such a small contained to space. Alex suddenly felt the need to leave like she always did whenever she was in a large crowd like this, as she put her hand in her pocket as she held her cell phone in her hand while still in her pocket as if it was her lifeline.
" We're young, we're fun. Lets do some damage" Brooke said looking around at the wide selection of boys that she could hook up with as Alex was suddenly glad that she had a boyfriend back at home
" Want some while it lasts?" A girl nearby them said as she held out a glass of beer to her as she knew that the beer would soon run out the way that the college student were currently drinking the keg
" No thanks. Designated driver. Too desperate... too geeky... hello, Abercrombie" Brooke said looking through the selection of boys in front of her as she tried to pick out of the crowd making Peyton and Alex laugh
" and on that note, I'm going to find a hole to hide under until it's time to go home" Alex said as Brooke went to talk to the boy she had picked while Peyton went to find a drink leaving Alex to go exploring
" be safe and make good choices!" Peyton said calling out to Alex as they parted ways making the other blonde girl laugh as she began to walk into the dorm halls as dorm room caught her eye
" wait, is it that a Banksy original?" Alex said as she stood outside the dorm room in question as the slightly older boy was lying on the bed in front of her as he continued to paint his nails black
" Yeah, you know him?" The boy said as she stepped further into the room to see the collection of pictures and photographs that were decorating the wall as she tried to get a better look at the,
" yeah, I'm kind of into photography myself. I'm Alex" she said introducing herself to the boy who she assumed was trying to had to come across as edgy and cool by wearing all black including black nail polish
" I'm Gabe... you wanna see more? Ok so there's no way you'll know this one, Weegee?" Gabe said a he grabbed of his photograph books to show her the artist in question causing her to roll her eyes
" otherwise known as Arthur Fellig, born in Hungary June 13 1899 and died December 26 1968. His photos of the realistic New York's crime life is amazing" Alex said scoffing since she knew everything about him
" Alright then... man, I was wrong about you. I guess the blonde hair and uh, clothes through me off" Gabe said since he had assumed that she was just another blonde cheerleader type as he looked at her
" first of all, this is my natural hair colour and second of all, what about these docs or leather jacket screams preppy to you?" Alex said wondering how many times she was to be judged by how she looked
" there's different something about you, there's more to you than meets the eye but I guess I'm the same way" Gabe said as he tried to connect with her and flirt with her a little as she looked at the bird
" you think? Well maybe some of us can love the art without painting our fingernails black and dressing like all the colour has left the world" Alex said knowing that she didn't needed to act like emo her all the time
" Let me get you a drink" Gabe said as he stood up to get her a drink as something told her that the last thing she wanted to do was make her vulnerable by drinking since she was still very wary of him
" it's cool, I'm not really drinking tonight or into alcohol if I'm honest" Alex said trying to play it off cool as she didn't want it to seem as if she was being weird about the whole underage drinking thing
" So that's why we haven't met before. You're still in high school, I bet you're a cheerleader" Gabe said knowing Thayer he could imagine her shaking a pair of pom-poms and cheering on some sports team
" actually, I'm on the basketball team" Alex said playing it off with a chuckle as Gabe joined in as he tried to picture as the jock type but he couldn't see it so she still seemed like one of the popular girls
" so what then? you're a straight edge jock type?" Gabe said still trying to figure it out as he knew that there had to be something more to her as she sat on the bed as she thought about her next move
" I wouldn't necessarily say that" Alex said knowing that she definitely didn't always play by the rules and definitely had a rebellious side to her when she needed to us such as when someone she loved was in danger
" How about this? One drink, we haven't even gotten to the really good stuff yet" Gabe said with a hopeful reassuring and comforting smile as he gestured to the nearby cups that he had on his dresser
" umm... sure, why not?" Alex said realising that she wanted to come across as some kind of bore or stiff as he got up and poured her a drink while discreetly slipping a pill into it when she wasn't looking
" here you go... come on, drink up. Hey, are you okay?" Gabe said as he handed her the cup and encouraged to drink in one go before noticing the way that she was suddenly got sleepy looking
" I ummm I don't feel so good. What is this?" Alex said suddenly feeling woozy and sick as she tried to work out what was going on with her since she had been fine a moment ago as she looked at the cup
" Why? You like it?" Gabe said still looking confident and cool as he watched the pill began to take affect as she lay more on the bed as she began to lose consciousness as she worked out what was going on
" no, I don't. Something isn't right, did you slip me something?" Alex said as she began to panic as she realised what had happened as she tried to stand up and get away from Gabe as he pushed her down
" why don't you lie down? That's it" Gabe said as he pushed her back down on the bed before turning up his music and closing his bedroom door so that no one would be able to interrupt them
" Leave me alone... get off me! Help! Ow, you're hurting me!" Alex said as she tried to fight him off her as her phone began to ring as she managed to answer it but didn't speak into it as Brooke and Peyton tried to find her
" Are you looking for someone?" A nearby guy said as he stood outside of the room that Gabe and Alex were in as he noticed that Brooke and Peyton had tried to open the door while on the phone
" Yeah. No, ummm I think my friend's in here" Brooke said as she began to panic at the fact that something had happened to Alex since she could hear her pleas for help over the phone to whoever she was with
" Get it opened... now! Hey!" Peyton said to the boy before they saw Gabe hovering over Alex who was clearly unconscious and out of it as her and Brooke walked into the room to push him away from her
" Get out!" Gabe said not happy at all about the sudden interruption as he looked to see who had disturbed them as Peyton pushed him away enough for Brooke to grab a hold of Alex to leave
" Get off of her. Peyton! Oh my god, this perv attacked my friend" Brooke said as she tried to support most of Alex's weight as they walked out of the room with Peyton now holding her up on the other side
" She's lying. Her friend's just wasted" Gabe said trying to defend himself as he tried to play it off that Alex had simply had too much to drink and that she was somewhat consented to fool around with him
" yeah, she's not really the wasted time. Stay the hell away from her, you creep... come on, Alex. You're okay" Peyton said pushing Gabe as she walked passed him before her and Brooke took Alex outside
" Peyton, we need to call someone. We need to call Lucas, he's her twin and he'll know what to do" Brooke said trying to scramble a plan together as they got outside to see that she wasn't any better
" no, not Lucas. Call someone else, anyone but Lucas" Alex said slowly and showing signs of still being woozy, knowing that Lucas would completely freak out if he out what happened and saw her like this
" okay, not Lucas... so who do we call? Peyton, she's not okay" Brooke said as Alex's head soon fell onto Brooke's lap as they sat down on the steps due to the fact that Alex was struggling to stand up
" I know who we can call, just give me a minute... hey Nathan, it's Peyton. Ummm listen something is wrong with Alex, she's in trouble" Peyton said nervously as she wasn't sure what his reaction would be
" is she okay? What the hell happened to her?" Nathan said as he decided to pull his car over instead of continuing to drive home from his terrible date with Haley as he began to get worried about his sister
" I don't know, somebody drugged her drink and we can't wake her up. We were going to call Lucas but she didn't want us to" Peyton said in a rush of emotions as she realised what could have happened
" Okay, Peyton. Slow down. Where are you?" Nathan said prepared to go to wherever they were to go and make sure that his elder sister of three months was okay as he began to get worried about her
" We're on the steps of Chapman Hall" Peyton said looking around to figure out where they were as Brooke stroked Alex's hair trying to comfort her as well as tried to get her to wake up by talking to her
" Alright, call the campus police and I'll be there as soon as I can" Nathan said thinking that the campus police would be able to take care of the guy if he came back, at least until he got there
" we can't, she's been drinking!" Peyton said knowing the the campus police would forget about whatever the guy had slipped her and simply focus on the fact that she was minor under the influence
" okay, just stay where you are and I'll be right there" Nathan said before hanging up in order to drive in the direction of Duke University as he prayed that the cops wouldn't pull him over for speeding
" Nathan's on his way, he should be here soon" Peyton said suddenly thankful that Duke university wasn't that far away from Tree Hill as she sat down on the steps on the other side of Alex with Brooke
" I can't believe you called Nathan, we're just lucky that she's unconscious... oh god, Peyton" Brooke said making a joke out of it before the reality of what they had stopped began to sink into her
" hey, is your friend okay? I'm Cassie" the girl who had offered them a drink before said as she came out of the party to check on them after seeing the two girls enter the door to rescue their drugged friend
" we don't know, she can't stay awake" Brooke said as she looked down where Alex's eyes kept flickering open as she struggled to stay away as she wondered what the guy had drugged her with
" Do you know where you are? Do you know your name?" Cassie said to Alex as she gently stroked her hair trying to get her attention and trying to get her to focus on her as Alex opened her eyes briefly
" Alex, I'm Alex... just dizzy and so tired" Alex said struggling to form a sentence together due to the pull she was feeling to lose unconsciousness causing the other two girls to worry about her more
" Brooke! Peyton!" Nathan said as he jumped out of his car that he had parked right by the steps to see his sister passed out and currently resting her head on Brooke's lap as he knew something was wrong
" I'm sorry, I know how you feel about her and Luke but I didn't know who else to call. She asked us not to call him" Peyton said ranting since she didn't know what else to say or how else to react to this
" it's okay, I'm glad you called me. Is she okay? Hey Alex, can you open your eyes for me?" Nathan said as he bent down to her height and gently lifted her head hoping that she would wake up for him
" She's not drunk. I think he gave her a sedative, we just need to know what it was. I'm a med student" Cassie said trying to help them as much as she could as she knew that this could be serious depending on the drug
" Okay, Brooke. I need you to show me what room she was in. Peyton, stay here with her and try to get her into my car if you can" Nathan said knowing that he needed to be the one to deal with the guy who did this
" It's this one" Brooke said after leading him to the room that they had found Alex in as she thought about the sudden wrong turn that the night had taken as she knew how bad things could have gotten
" Hey, open the door" Nathan said as he Nathan had knocked on the door as he tried to keep his cool and not lash out over what the guy on the other side had done to his sister who he actually began to care for
" piss off" Gabe said from inside as he continued to play his music, assuming that whoever was on the side of the door was someone wanting to bother him with questions about the drunk girl from before
" Piss off, huh? Is this your dorm? Go get your R.A." Nathan said clearly not liking his answer as he turned to the guy who had opened the door for them before as he stepped back and kicked the door in
" Hey man!" Gabe said jumping off the bed as he wondered what was going on as he didn't recognise the tall dark haired boy in front of him as Brooke stood behind him as Nathan was slightly shielding her
" It's him, he's the one that drugged Alex" Brooke said as the imagine of him hovering over Alex's unconscious body on the bed began to flash through her mind as she knew what he had been about to do
" What did you put in her drink?" Nathan said as he lunged at Gabe and pinned him up against the wall as he thought about what might had happened if Brooke and Peyton hasn't found Alex when they did
" I didn't put anything in her drink" Gabe said still denying that he had done anything wrong as he tried to fight against Nathan's grasp as he underestimated how angry Nathan was about this situation
" look at it this way, man. You can tell me or you can tell the police" Nathan said knowing from the way this guy was trying to pretend he was some kind of goth that he was nothing more than a coward
" It was nothing, man. Alright? It was one roofie!" Gabe said as if this was something that was completely normal and that happened all time which only made Nathan that little bit madder at him
" Where are they? I said where are they!" Nathan said slamming Gabe off the wall before punching him after Gabe had laughed at him for asking where the pills where since he didn't trust him to tell the truth
" They're over there. In the box. You know she was asking for it, right?" Gabe said as Nathan headed over to the box where Gabe had pointed to as he held his nose that was now gushing blood from the punch
" oh you better hope to God she's alright because if she not, I'm coming back and finishing the job... and oh hey! That's for drugging my sister and trying to take advantage of her" Nathan said punching him again before storming out of the room with Brooke trailing behind him
~~~~~~
While Nathan and Brooke had been away confronting Gabe, Peyton alone with Cassie's help had managed to Alex securely into the passenger seat of Nathan's car in time for them to come out as he insisted that he would take her home with him and look after her since it was clear that if she didn't want Lucas to know then she probably didn't want to go home just yet allowing Brooke and Peyton to go home in Brooke's car. Nathan knew that his parents would be away to bed by now so he didn't need to worry about them coming out to find him carrying an unconscious Alex into his room, although he had managed to wake her enough to get her changed into some clothes of his mom's that he had stolen from the laundry room before placing on his bed with a blanket over her. A part of Nathan knew that he couldn't do this on his own as he decided to call his best friend for help before calling the one person he was reluctant to call but knew he had to while he was waiting for AJ to arrive
" Alex? Where the hell are you? Mom is freaking out right now" Lucas said the moment that he had noticed that his sister was calling his cell, not allowing Nathan to speak to let him know that it wasn't Alex
" actually, it's Nathan" he said as he leaned against his desk to look over where Alex was currently resting, blissfully unaware of what had happened or what might have almost happened to her tonight
" why are you calling me on Alex's cell? Where is she?" Lucas said suddenly panicking that something has happened to his sister as he knew that he should have insisted on going with her to that party
" currently passed out on my bed. Some guy at the party that Brooke and Peyton took her to drugged her, nothing happened thank god. They found her before he could do anything" Nathan said calmly
" oh my god, is she okay? Why didn't they call me?" Lucas said now freaking out and worrying about his younger twin as he knew that he had had a bad feeling that something wasn't right with her
" yeah, she's just sleeping it off and I'm keeping an eye on her. Also she told them to call you hence why they called me, I guess she was scared of what would happen if you found out" Nathan said looking down at his bruised knuckles from punching Gabe
" more like she was trying to hide it from our mom, we're trying to convince her to leave for Italy and this will stop her... why are you telling me anyway?" Lucas said more to himself than to Nathan
" because I'd want to know if something had happened to my sister too if things were different and she was my twin and not yours. Plus I knew your mom and you'd be worried about her" Nathan said softly
" thanks, man. I'll come and get her just now" Lucas said as he grabbed his keys from where they were resting on his desk in his room as he knew that he needed to make for himself that Alex was okay
" no it's late and she's been through a lot tonight, let her rest here and I'll bring him in the morning... bye, Lucas" Nathan said before hanging up the phone as he held it up his phone thinking about it all
" hey, where is she? Oh god, I can't believe this is happening. How long until it wears off?" AJ said as he came bursting into the room and ran over to where Alex was laying as he gently cupped her face
" the internet says that it should wear off overnight, she should be okay in the morning" Nathan said as he sat down at his computer after closing his bedroom door again so that his parents didn't hear them
" does it mention any side effects?" AJ said as he gently swept the hair that had fallen over her face so that it was away from her face allowing him to see the face that he had began to fall in love with
" Says here she'll be disoriented and may have some short term memory loss, which is maybe not a bad thing" Nathan said reading the list of side effects off from the website that he had found on the drug
" you think that she'll be okay though when she wakes up?" AJ said as he worried about what kind of physical and mental state that his girlfriend would be when she woke up from this terrible nightmare
" I don't know, man" Nathan said as he prayed to god or whoever was listening that this would be something that his sister would be able to forget about and move on from since he'd hate to see her hurt
" I swear if I ever see this guy, I'll kill him" AJ said hating the fact that she had gotten so close to being hurt and had been drugged while he had been no in sight to help from getting into further danger
" I already beat you to it. You know that you didn't have to come here, right? I mean I had this handled if you want to go home" Nathan said knowing that his brother would be worried about him being out
" nah, man. If it's cool, I'd rather stay here until she wakes up. Anyway look at you playing the brother act, what gives?" AJ said knowing that than had tried so hard to keep his distance from Lucas and Alex
" I don't know, for a while Alex has tried to make it clear to me that she wants to be my sister then tonight when Peyton called... I just knew that I needed to be her brother" Nathan said shaking his head
" that sounds like Alex alright" AJ said chuckling lightly as he knew that his girlfriend could persistent and determined if she wanted to be as he removed his shoes and made himself more comfortable
" there's something else, she said something to me at the father son game that I haven't been able to get out my head... about how if the three of us are fighting each other then we aren't fighting Dan and that's what he wants, for us to be divide and not united against him" Nathan said remembering it well
" yup, definitely sounds like her but for what it's worth she's right. If I was Dan, I'd want you all to separated if not only so I can pretend that the past didn't happen the way it did" AJ said honestly
" man, I'm so sick of my dad and him trying to control everything in my life you know including what think of her and Lucas you know" Nathan said as he began to pace as he knew that he wanted to know his sister
" then stop letting him control you like that and do what you want, if you want to get to know her the do it because I know she'd love that. Don't let him stop you from knowing your siblings" AJ said simply.
~~~~~~
Eventually AJ decided to lay next to Alex as he wrapped his arms around her securely as if in an attempt to try and protect her while she recovered from the drug that was currently in her system and that was how she woke up from being unconscious for so long from the drug. As she gently eased herself up into a sitting position being gentle not to wake up the sleeping form next to her, she noticed first of all that she was in different clothing form before and that she was in a different bedroom than she had remembered although she stopped panicking as she noticed Nathan sitting in a chair next to her as he waited for her to wake up.
" Hey. How are you feeling?" Nathan said as he handed her a glass of water that he had left on the bedside table for when she woke since he had thought that she might need it to help with the grogginess
" like someone's played a human version of whack a mole with my head. Where am I?" Alex said as she tried to mentally fill in the blanks of what happened at the party to lead her and him being in the same room
" my room. You don't remember last night, huh?" Nathan said as he wondered what she did remember as he knew from his research on the drug that was in her system that memory lost was part of the side effects
" I remember Brooke and Peyton took me to a party, there was this guy..." Alex said trading of the end of sentence as she remembered that she had gotten a bad feeling from the guy but not much else
" he slipped you something in your drink, Peyton decided called me to help out since you told her not to call Lucas. Don't worry, nothing happened! Brooke and Peyton stopped him" Nathan said reassuring her that she was okay
" oh thank god... oh man, my mom must be freaking out" Alex said realising that it was way past her curfew and that her mom would be going out of her mind with worrying about her as she looked at the time
" it's okay, I already called Lucas and told him where you were so he could tell your mom. I told them what happened, I hope that's okay" Nathan said hoping that she wouldn't be too mad at him for it
" that's okay, I kind of don't have any secrets from Luke and my mom... thank you for coming to get me and helping me and stuff, you didn't have to" Alex said knowing that they would found out eventually
" I know but I wanted to. As soon as I got that from Peyton and heard you were in trouble, I knew that I had to come help you" Nathan said knowing that he had felt like his heart was in his mouth when he heard
" careful, you're starting to sound like a real brother" Alex said showing that she still had her humour and sarcasm despite everything that had happened that night making Nathan chuckle along side her
" tonight I felt like one too and I kinda liked it if I'm honest" Nathan said with a smile that she shared with him as she hoped that this meant that he was ready to be her brother as she noticed AJ next to her
" what's AJ doing here? Were you two hanging out when Peyton called?" Alex said as she noticed her boyfriend laying next to her as she began to play with his dark curls that had gotten messy in his sleep
" I actually called him, I kinda needed my best friend tonight and someone to talk to. If it means anything to you, AJ seems to be crazy about you" Nathan said thinking about AJ's reaction
" I feel the same way about him... is it okay if I go back to sleep? I'm still kind of tired" Alex said as Nathan said nodded as he made himself more comfortable on the bed that AJ usually slept in
~~~~~~
The next morning, Nathan woke Alex up early the next morning so that his parents didn't catch her and ask too many questions about why she was there although he had decided to just leave AJ sleeping in the bed since he knew that AJ would probably go and see Alex later during the day. Along the way to her house, Nathan used the opportunity to try and to know more about her since he knew that he couldn't go back to the way they were before as he knew what it was like to be her brother. Alex soon walked into her house carrying the skirt and tip she had wore last night as she still wore the clothes of Deb along with her boots and jacket, she wasn't surprised to see Lucas and her mom waiting for in the kitchen
" I would ask what happened to last night but Nathan called and told us, you okay?" Karen said as she watched her daughter sink into one of the kitchen table chairs as Karen sat in the one in front of her
" yeah, just tried and a little embarrassed I guess. I'm sorry for being so irresponsible" Alex said still feeling like she should have known that Gabe was a bad guy and planned on doing something horrible
" don't be, you have nothing to feel embarrassed about. The guy that did this to you should be the one to feel ashamed" Karen said as she tried to comfort and reassure her that she did nothing wrong
" yeah, the creep with roofie pills is the one at fault here" Lucas said as he poured them all a cup of coffee since it was so early in the morning as he knew that coffee would make it all better for them
" my children are definitely growing... I mean drugs, parties and I'm supposed to leave the country. I can't leave you guys when you need me the most" Karen said still refusing to go to the school in Italy
" no, mom! You can't not go to Italy because of this? Okay, Mom, please? Just go and we'll be fine, I promise" Alex said knowing that her mom was going to use this as an excuse to not follow her dreams
" We'll see but if I do decide to go then I'm going to have Keith come and stay here while I'm gone" Karen said knowing that there was no way that she was about to leave her teenagers alone in the house
" amazing, we love uncle Keith!" Alex said knowing that their uncle Keith was the closest thing that they had to a father figure in their life as she knew that him coming to stay with them would be good
" Great, just as long as you go. Last night while I was worrying about Alex, I went on the computer and booked you a flight on the emergency credit card, non-refundable" Lucas said handing the ticket
" nice use of the emergency credit card" Alex said nodding her head in approval as she knew that that credit card was only to be used if they were stranded somewhere or something unexpected broke in the house
" we just want you to have something for yourself, Mom. You've earned it" Lucas said as Karen tried to keep her emotions in as she looked at the ticket wondering how she got so lucky with her two children
" come here, you two. You know you're both such great kids" Karen said as she hugged her children at the same time as she tried to show how much she loved them for this and for everything else they did
" we know, now go and pack! You don't have much time left, I'll call Keith since he'll want to take to the airport" Alex said knowing that her uncle Keith was definitely harbouring some hidden feelings for her
" you know this means that she'll be gone for six weeks" Lucas said as he placed his arm around his sister as he realised that for a while that it would just be the two of them alone with Keith in the house
" yeah I'll miss her but if anyone deserves to follow her dream for once then it's mom" Alex said knowing that their mom had sacrificed enough for them throughout their lives and needed to do this