Welcome To My Life

Since I was pretty tired and weak, I fell asleep as soon as everyone had left. By the time I woke up, it was already dark outside. I found myself having a deja vu when I noticed Alex sitting next to my bed.

"You need to get a life" I joked, causing Alex to look up.
"Don't tell me you don't enjoy my company" Alex replied.
"I'd be lying if I did" I replied, trying to sit up.

My attempts to sit up straight caused Alex to rush over to my bed and help me. He lifted the end of my bed and adjusted my pillow so that my back could rest on it.

"How long have you been sitting here for though? You could've woken me up" I asked him.
"About ten minutes" he replied. "And I don't mind, I like watching you sleep."
I rose my eyebrows. "Do you now?"
"Okay that came out wrong" Alex chuckled. "I just mean... You look so peaceful when you're asleep..."

"I don't usually look peaceful?" I asked smiling.
"Not very often" Alex shrugged. "I mean, it's not like you always look like you're about to fight someone but it's just... in your eyes, I guess"
I gave him a confused look. "What's in my eyes?"
"A lot, but hardly ever peace. Sadness, anger, pain..." Alex said quietly.

I looked away, avoiding Alex's gaze. He was right, of course, but I didn't exactly feeling like talking about my feelings. I already told them way too much earlier and I wasn't about to do it again.

"So, you like Fall Out Boy right?" Alex changed the subject, probably noticing my discomfort.
I looked back at him and nodded.
"Did you hear the new song they released yesterday?" he asked.
"Nope" I replied.

Alex pulled out his iPhone and earbuds. He handed me one of the earbuds to put it in my ear while he put the other one in his ear and searched for the song on his phone.
"It's called American Beauty/American Psycho. It's pretty different from their older stuff but I don't know, I think it's cool."

After that, Alex pressed play. For a couple of minutes we listened to the song in comfortable silence. I could tell what Alex meant by "different but cool". It was indeed different from Fall Out Boy's older stuff, but it was cool.
"Their new album is coming out January 20th by the way" Alex said after the song ended.
"Awesome" I nodded, sticking out my hand. "Give me your phone, I want to see what else you listen to."

Alex obliged and handed me his phone. I scrolled through his Spotify playlist and saw a lot of bands I liked as well. My music taste might be a bit heavier, but we still liked a lot of the same bands.
"You've got good taste" I said approvingly, putting on a Green Day song.
"I know" Alex replied, faking a posh voice. "So, are you seeing Fall Out Boy in January at Sound Stage? Me, Jack, Zack and Rian already have our tickets."
I shook my head with a sad face. "I'm afraid not. I don't exactly have money for that kind of luxury."

"Don't you have a job?" Alex asked.
"I used to, at home. But I was fired shortly after the car crash because I didn't 'function properly' as they put it. I never bothered to find another job which is why I don't have money" I explained.

"How about... I buy you a ticket?" Alex suggested.
"Alex, no, you don't have to do that" I said quickly.
"I insist" Alex said resolute. He took his phone out of my hand and started doing something on it, while Green Day was still playing.

"Done, bought you a ticket" he said, locking his phone.
"Alex!" I exclaimed. "You shouldn't have..."
"I wanted to" Alex shrugged, causing me to smile.
"Thank you" I said. "I'd hug you, but I don't think my body will let me."
"How about I help you" Alex winked, leaning in to hug me.
I let my head rest on his shoulder, while he carefully wrapped his arms around my waist.

The hug might have lasted a little longer than appropriate but I wasn't about to break from Alex's gentle and comfortable embrace.

"Do you need me to come back later?" we heard a voice say and we quickly let go of each other.
Jenna was standing in the doorway, giving Alex a look. I looked at the both of them, trying to figure out why the air was suddenly filled with tension of some sort.
"No, come in" I quickly said.

"How are you feeling?" Jenna asked, coming closer.
"Okay, I guess. A bit weak" I replied.
Jenna's gaze shifted from me to Alex and for some reason I felt like she didn't even hear what I said.
"What was that all about?" she asked, pointing at the both of us.

I was about to ask what she meant, when I figured it was about us hugging.
"Alex bought me a ticket for Fall Out Boy!" I replied excitedly.
"Oh, how nice of him" Jenna said stiffly. "Isn't he just the nicest guy?"
Jenna seemed to be sarcastic. My look shifted from Jenna to Alex. "What am I missing here?"
"Nothing" Jenna said quickly.
"You should ask Jenna about that" Alex said at the same time.

I gave Jenna a quizzical look. "There's nothing, really, I was just kind of surprised Alex would buy you a ticket to see Fall Out Boy, while he knows you're not into him at all." she said.

I turned to look at Alex, who seemed to be avoiding my look.
"You know, I should get going" Alex said when he finally looked up. "Can I have the earbud back?"

I hadn't realized it was still in my ear and quickly took it out and handed it back to Alex.
"See you" Alex said shortly, before rushing out of the room.
"Alex!" I yelled after him, but he didn't come back.

I gave Jenna an accusatory look. "Care to explain what just happened?"
"Nothing happened, Alex probably just forgot he doesn't have a chance with you" she shrugged.
"Says who?" I asked.
"Uhm, I'm pretty sure you did" she replied.
"Yeah well, things can change" I said.

"Seriously? You're into Alex? Liz, you can do so much better" Jenna exclaimed.
"Do much better? I already don't feel good enough for Alex" I said, getting irritated.
"So he makes you feel like you're not good enough?" Jenna asked.
"No!" I exclaimed. "Since when do you dislike Alex so much? I thought you two got along just fine."
She shrugged. "Maybe we just pretended to, for your sake. He's still a friend of Jack."
"So what?" I asked.

"You said it yourself, just because Alex doesn't bully people himself, not stopping Jack from doing so makes him a bully as well" Jenna said simply.
"Are you kidding me right now? What are you, jealous?" I sneered.
"So what if I am?" Jenna exclaimed. "Sure, I didn't expect you to return my feelings, but Aléx? Really?"

"What are you even talking about?" I asked her, confused.
"You really don't get it, do you?" Jenna laughed darkly.
"Get whát?" I asked again.
"That I'm in love with you. Yes, I'm gay, shocker!" she replied, raising her voice.

I fell silent, not knowing how to reply to this.
"Bet you didn't see that coming" Jenna said, thankfully lowering her volume.
"No I didn't, so stop being so offensive. I'm sorry I hurt your feelings by hugging Alex, but you can't expect me to just know you have feelings for me if you don't tell me" I replied.

A nurse came in, asking us to keep it down and informing us that the visiting hour is over.
"I should go" Jenna said stiffly.
"Look Jen, can we talk about this later?" I asked her.
She shrugged. "I guess. Bye."
Before I could reply, she turned around and left the room.

I sighed. I managed to scare both of my only two friends here away, within an hour. This is why you don't have friends Liz, I told myself. This is the effect you have on people.

My thoughts were interrupted by a sound, which I figured came from my new phone as the screen lit up. It said I had a text message from Alex. I opened it, nervous as to what it might say.

Hey, I'm sorry I ran off so quickly. I'll explain later. I hope Jenna didn't give you a hard time. x Alex

Well at least I didn't scare Alex away. I pressed the reply button and started typing.

Not sure if that's what you want to explain, but Jenna told me she's in love with me. I guess you already knew and you left because of that? Thanks for coming by anyway, I had fun. x Liz

I pressed "Send" and within a minute my phone beeped again.

Uh yeah that was indeed why I left. I was afraid Jenna might've beaten me up or something ;)

I smiled and pressed reply.

Pretty sure you could take her. I should go get some sleep though. See you soon?

Alex: I know, the hospital just doesn't seem like an appropriate place to fight, you know. I'll see if I can come by tomorrow if you want me to?

Liz: Please do, this place is boring.

Alex: Okay, see you tomorrow then! :) Goodnight beautiful

My heart melted a little when I read his text. Beautiful... Though I didn't exactly consider myself beautiful, it was nice to hear, or well, read. I wasn't sure how to reply to it though, so I decided to play it safe.

Goodnight to you too! :)

After sending my text, I put my phone on my nightstand, turned off the light and lay down. I fell asleep almost immediately.

Notes

So yeah, when I started writing I had no idea what was going to happen and the chapter actually turned out to be pretty long.