Running my hand through my hair, I decided it really needed a clean. I grabbed a towel from the drawer and headed to the shower room. I just stood and let the hot water run down my back. It made me feel so much better; it gave me time to relax. I could of spent all day under it but Alex was waiting for me downstairs. I stepped out onto the cold tiles and wrapped myself in my towel, collecting my clothes from the floor. I made a mad dash across the hallway to my room in case someone saw me. Jamie was sat on the end of my bed, looking at his feet. I stood in the doorway, waiting for him to speak.

“Alex is waiting for me” I said in a flat tone. I wasn’t sure how I felt about him right now. Of course I still loved him, but it wasn’t his secret to tell. He lifted his gaze from his feet to look at me with guilty eyes.

“Amber feels terrible,” he said awkwardly.

“She’s still downstairs, she wants to apologize herself” I didn’t particularly feel she needed to speak to me, I didn’t want to have that conversation with someone I barely knew.

“I don’t really think it’s her that needs to” he slowly nodded in response, returning his eyes to the floor. I closed the gap between us, sitting down next to him on the bed. I crossed my arms across my chest, becoming very aware I was in only a towel.

“I didn’t tell her everything, I promise. And I wasn’t gossiping; Everyone was worried when you came home from Alex’s yesterday. Mike said you seemed…off”

“You thought I was going to…” I didn’t need to finish my sentence for him to understand me. He nodded.

“Why didn’t you just ask me? I’m not unstable; I’m not gunna jump off a bridge every time I have a bad day. You have no idea how frustrating it is to be tip-toed around all the time, how am I supposed to get back to normal if everyone is treating me like a child?!” What started off calmly became a bit of a rant, my voice louder than I had intended. I huffed, running my hand across my forehead. Jamie broke the short silence.

“I’m sorry Phoebe; I know it wasn’t for me to tell. I just never know what to say, I don’t want to keep bringing it up. And I have to talk to someone about it or my thoughts drive me insane” I dropped my hand and turned to face him. He smiled at me apologetically at me. I put my arms around him and squeezed him tightly. I knew it came from the right place, I was just being touchy.

“Go tell Amber everything is fine, I was being stupid” I gave him a reassuring smile as he stood up.

“You sure you’re okay?” He asked, hovering at the door.

“Everything’s fine” I repeated. He nodded and left, closing the door behind him.
After I got myself dressed and ready, I made my way downstairs. Everyone was sat in the lounge, watching something random on TV. The first person I turned to was Amber. She looked up at me with the same worried expression, her lips trembled as if she couldn’t decide whether to say something or not. I smiled at her warmly, crossing the room to her. She returned my smile with a sense of relief, budging up to make room for me on the couch. I folded myself down next to her. We both opened our mouths to speak at the same time, she laughed nervously. She spoke quickly, rushing to get her words out.

“I’m sorry about before, I didn’t mean to unnerve you. I-“ I interrupted her.

“Honestly Amber it’s fine. I’m not used to being around new people, I’m just a bit jumpy”

“And I promise to keep what I know to myself” She said sincerely.

“Thank you” I answered with a smile. I looked over to Alex, who was watching us discretely. I turned back to Amber.

“I’ve got to go, I’ve kept poor Alex waiting for almost an hour. I’ll see you soon though?” She nodded.

“We should go for coffee sometime or something” She said as she accepted the hug I was pulling her into.

“Definitely” I said with enthusiasm. She beamed at me as I stood up.

“See you later guys” I shouted as I pulled Alex out the door by his arm. They all shouted goodbye in unison. I slammed the front door shut and immediately felt a weight lift from my chest. I took a deep breath in and began walking alongside Alex. It was a really nice day. The sun was hot but there was a fresh breeze, making it cool enough for me not to have another episode. We’d barely been walking five minutes when we came across a man walking on the other side of the street, he stared at me and Alex as we walked past. Alex saw him too, exhaling heavily.

“Great” he said under his breath, I didn’t get the chance to question it.

“Hey stranger!” The guy shouted cheerily from across the street.

“Hey Rex” Alex answered half-heartedly. Rex crossed the road and stood beside us.

“And who’s this?” He turned to me with a slightly over-friendly smile.

“This is Phoebe, she’s visiting from England” I could tell by the strain in his voice he couldn’t wait for this conversation to end.

“Hey” I said quietly, not quite able to meet his eyes.

“England? That’s cute. So, how long are you staying here for?”

“Uh… I’m not sure yet”

“A while longer I hope” He said with a crooked smile. Was this guy hitting on me? I felt Alex tense up next to me. I forced a pleasant smile, not sure on whether I liked the attention or not. Rex ignored Alex’s reaction and kept talking.

“You like New Found Glory?” He said, gesturing to my shirt. I didn’t even look at it when I put it on before we left. I met his eyes again and nodded.

“Who doesn’t?” I responded with a smile. Rex laughed.

“Well, i was going to their show this week but my friend bailed. Shame the tickets will go to waste, unless… You’d be interested in coming with me?” His eyes became intense, staring into mine with hope. It took me off-guard, I wasn’t expecting it.

“Um…I…Uh...” I fumbled around in my head trying to find a good excuse. I didn’t want to be rude but there was no way I was going.

“She doesn’t know if she’ll be staying that long” Alex cut in quickly, ending my suffering. I sighed quietly with relief. I discretely flicked my gaze to Alex, who was glaring at Rex at my side. Rex was glaring right back at him.

“I’m sure Phoebe can answer for herself” He retorted, his smile becoming unpleasant. I stood there awkwardly while they glowered at each other. For a moment I thought something was going to kick off.

“Right well, we’d best get on. Bye!” I said brightly as I dragged Alex by the arm. He even looked behind him to carry on his stare.

“That guy is such a jerk” He said as he returned his eyes to the street ahead of us.

“Who is he?”

“He lives a few streets away. He works on warped tour sometimes as a roadie, so I know exactly what he’s like.” I noticed our pace had increased since our encounter with Rex.

“In what way?” I could guess what he meant, but I didn’t want to assume.

“With girls, he’s such a man whore. Fucks them and dumps them” he still sounded irritated. By this time we had reached his house. We walked up the path to his front door, he turned to face me before pushing it open.

“And there is no way I’m letting him anywhere near you.”

Notes

This wont be the last we hear of Rex ;)
Sorry its taken me so long to update!
I'd love to know what you guys think of the update <3
Thankyou!!!! xxx