I could feel someone brushing the hair from my face. They spoke with urgency, but not to me.
“Yeah…. Please hurry, I don’t know what to do” It was a male voice. I could feel the soft ground below me, I could hear everything. But I couldn’t move or even open my eyes.

“Okay, thanks Vic” The voice sighed. Victor? Why was this person calling Vic? My inability to lift my eyelids and see what the hell was going on was beginning to frustrate me. His hand moved from my face to my hand, lacing his fingers through mine. I felt soft pressure on my forehead. Did he just kiss me? I began to feel the heaviness slowly release from my eyes as they sleepily opened. The concerned brown eyes on me were impossible not to recognise. My stomach dropped. Out of everyone, why him? We stared at each other for a long moment, unsure on what to say. I was laying on a leather couch, Alex was knelt down on the floor next to me with his fingers still laced in mine and his face only inches away.

“Hey” He broke the silence first, his soft sigh ghosted across my cheeks. His sudden closeness had taken me by surprise and I couldn’t quite get the words off of the tip of my tongue. His brows creased as my silence grew longer. He placed his other hand on my forehead.

“What’s wrong? Do you feel okay?” I could hear the panic setting in his voice.

Yeah… I’m fine” My voice sounded strange, raw. I didn’t move, only lifting my gaze to look around the room.

“How’d I get in here?” My forehead creased as I rummaged through my head, trying to work it out.

“I went looking for my dog and found you on the floor in the street. Don’t you remember anything?” I took a moment to think about it.

“Cute dog” I returned my gaze to him and he smiled at me with relief. I pulled myself upright; the movement made me feel ill. I scrunched my eyes closed and steadied myself on the edge of the couch. When I opened them Alex was watching me with a worried expression, still knelt on the floor.

“I’m okay, it’s just the heat. I don’t understand how people who live here haven’t turned into a raisin by now” He chuckled at me, crossing his legs.

“I guess it’s one of life’s mysteries” I gave him a slight smile.

“Do you want some water? Something to eat?” He spoke slowly, as if he was unsure whether he should ask. He ran his hand through the back of his hair. He was only being nice, but I couldn’t seem shake the awkwardness I felt. I just wanted to leave. He was pitying me because of what he knew. It felt like he was judging me. I wanted to know what he was thinking every time he looked at me, but I couldn’t and it was driving me insane. There was a knock at the door. Perfect timing.

“That will be Vic” Alex smiled at me, but he didn’t manage to stop his face dropping slightly. He uncrossed his legs and stood up, making for the door. I stood up slowly still feeling a little weird. It took a moment for me to steady myself, but I could manage to walk. I felt relief wash through me when Vic walked in.

“I can’t leave you alone for five minutes can i?” He grinned as he approached me, wrapping one arm round my waist to hold me up. His grin turned to a small smile.

“Do you feel okay? What happened?”

“I think I must have passed out when I left the car” I stared at the floor trying to remember. Suddenly I realised Alex didn’t know that I had been hiding outside his house. I risked a look at him as he stood, leant up against the door frame. There was a tender crease between his eyebrows, but it quickly smoothed out when he realised my eyes were on him. There was a brief awkward silence before Vic spoke up, saying we should get back to the house.
Vic walked out in front of me, walking out towards the car. Alex was stood to the side of the front door, holding it open. I stopped in the doorway, turning to face him.

“Thanks Alex” He smiled at me warmly and nodded his head slightly.

“You’re welcome. See you around?” I hesitantly nodded. I planned on avoiding that for as long as possible.
Just as I turn to leave, I spot something on Alex’s wrist. Something I was oh so familiar with. Alex whipped away his wrist, but it was too late. I looked up at him, my eyes filled with questions. He briefly stared back at me before dropping his eyes to the floor scraping his lower lip with his teeth. Alex cut? It was definitely old, but deep. It had scarred him. I felt guilt creep in as I considered the way I had acted around him. I searched for something to say, but found nothing. I decided to pretend that nothing had happened, saying goodbye and walking numbly to the car. I heard the door softly close behind me.

Notes

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Thanks for reading!