I wake up with a headache. My face feels tight and sore and I slowly roll out of bed to the bathroom. I can still feel the tears that dried on my cheeks and I feel my cheeks flush when I realize how vulnerable I was last night and how embarrassing that must’ve been.

Glancing at my reflection in the mirror, I cringe at the puffiness of my blue eyes and the blonde rat’s nest that seems to be my hair. I turn on the hot water in the sink and scrub away all evidence of last night.

Pulling my hair up into a bun, I walk into the kitchen and turn on the coffeemaker.

“Mornin”

I turn around, startled, only to see Alex. My surprise becomes annoyance as I wonder why he’s here. “What are you doing here? Don’t you have a house to live in?”

He shrugs and jumps up to sit on the counter. “Maybe I got lonely. A man has every right to need company. Do you need help?”

I look at him really surprised by his nice act. This is Alex Gaskarth. The boy who has always been and will always be an asshole. Why is he being so weird?

“Yeah, I guess. What’s with you today?”

Alex shrugs again and drums his fingers on the counter as he gets off the counter to come help. “Nothing, I just thought that you might need help. Just being nice. I mean last night seemed kind of rough for you.”

Of course, Alex saw me last night. Of course, I’ve now become his new charity case. “You don't know anything about last night.”

“No, I don't, but I can still be nice to you.”

I shake my head. “Don’t be nice. I’m not your charity case. You don’t have to be nice because I had a rough time. I can handle myself.”

“Fallon what are you-”

“You think that just because Daniel screwed me over, everything works out? That just because I was upset, you can be nice one time and everything will be okay?” I know I’m overreacting, but I can stop. Alex being nice to me only because last night was kind of rough for me. “You have no idea Alex. Don’t pretend that you know.”

Alex stares at me for a while and then he laughs, long and hard. This is a joke to him. “Whatever Fallon. I thought that maybe I could be nice to you, but you're still a selfish bitch. No wonder Daniel cheated on you. No fucking wonder-”

“No wonder you cheated on me too right?” I reply, smiling at him. He flinches back, just like he does anytime anyone mentions the years when we used to date.

I wait for his reply, but there isn’t one. Instead, he turns and walks away, shoving Rian who just began walking into the kitchen. Rian looks back at him, confused. “What’s his problem?”

I shake my head and shrug, laughing. “I have no idea. Do you want some pancakes?”

…

“So basically what you’re saying is that Daniel has always been the fucked up scumbag that we thought he was?” Cassadee says while shoveling ice cream into her mouth. I stare at her amazed. She can eat so damn much but she stays so damn skinny.

In reply to her question, I dump my body back onto the couch and bury my face in the pillows. I honestly don’t think of Daniel as any of those things. I still can’t grasp the fact that he did do something horrible to me. I only see him as the guy I met after high school who saved me from a rough break up. He was funny and sweet and swept me off my feet with his compliments. He was never a fucked up scumbag who cheated.

Cass mimics me and throws her body down next to mine. “Fallon-”

I shake my head, stopping her from giving me sympathy that I don't feel I deserve. Maybe I’m meant to spend my whole life being cheated on or broken up with. Looking at Cass I smile brightly and fakely and say, “We should go out tonight. Let’s go dancing.”

Notes

There's a huge blizzard and I'm SO bored.