Spending the night at Alex's house was weird... Or maybe just unexpected. It was amazing of him to suggest it, but it seemed too early in our relationship. I could tell that it hurt him when I said I didn't want to share a bed with him, but that was still a little too intimate for me. I was definitely starting to feel more comfortable with him, but I was still hesitant and kind of afraid. We'd only actually been together for about two weeks. Like I said, I didn’t expect him to offer, but I couldn’t deny what he said about not wanting to be at home.

“Hey, Lex,” I said, looking over at him. “Are your parents really going to be okay with this?”

We were on our way to his house; the radio was playing softly in the background as Alex drove. It was nice—peaceful, really. In comparison to the hectic day I’d had, at least. As much as I liked having a lot of friends, it got really exhausting. I was used to only having a few, and since Alex’s friends had become my friends, too, I wasn’t used to the extra attention and it wore me out.

Alex glanced at me and smiled. “We might have to tell them a little bit about what’s going on, and I could always use the Gaskarth charm if I need to.”

I raised an eyebrow at him. “Does that really work on them?”

He shrugged. “It hasn’t failed me yet. They’ll probably be okay with it, though, considering you want to sleep in the guest bed.” His smile faltered momentarily.

“I’m sorry,” I said quickly.

He turned his head to look at me properly. “It’s okay, angel. I want you to be comfortable.”

“I-it’s just, we haven’t be-een together that long,” I stuttered, feeling my cheeks heat up. “I just w-want to give it a l-little more ti-time.”

“It really is okay,” he assured, his gaze returning to the road. “I’m not going to force you to do anything. I just want to help you out.”

I smiled but didn’t say anything. It was nice to know that he was there for me. I wish I could’ve gone to him first about my parents, though. But it was whatever. It’s not like he could have helped me while he was sick. And by telling Franceschi, I was able to make some new friends, so I guess it all worked out in the end.

When we got to Alex’s house, I could literally feel myself retreating back into my shell. I’d only briefly met Alex’s parents once before, so I was a bit concerned about just barging in, but Alex seemed so sure they’d be fine with it…

“Hey,” Alex caught my attention before he opened the front door. “If you want, I can go inside and talk to them first, and you can wait out here…”

I nodded quickly; it was like he could read my mind sometimes.

He smiled. “And even if I can’t convince them to let you stay the night, they’ll at least let you stay for a few hours, you know, since you’re already here.”

I felt my cheeks heat up again, causing him to laugh softly. “Thanks for all this.”

He brought a hand up to my cheek and caressed it gently. “Of course. Like I said before, I want to help you out as much as I can. Cause you’re important to me and all.”

---

It turned out Alex’s parents were fine with me spending the night there after Alex explained what the situation was. I didn’t like the looks of pity they gave me when I walked in, but I guess there’s always a downside to everything.

Surprisingly, the night wasn’t as awkward as I thought it’d be. It actually wasn’t much different than a normal night at home for me, except, you know, with different people. I ate dinner with them, which was, I’ll admit, a little bit awkward. Then Alex and I went up to his room, where I did some homework while he messed around on his laptop; it must have been nice for him to not have to worry about grades, being the quarterback and all. After that, we watched a movie, and then I went to the guest bedroom and went to sleep. I don’t know what I was expecting, but I guess I just didn’t think it would feel so normal.

When I woke up the next morning, it was the same thing. Alex kissed me good morning before ushering me to the bathroom with a set of clothes he had picked out. We even left his house early to pick up breakfast on the way to school, which was awesome because hello, hash browns. I found that I didn’t mind it when he tried to make conversation with me. I was never really much of a morning person, but spending that godforsaken time with Alex just made it slightly better.

It seemed like the good morning was leading into an even better day. I aced a pop quiz in English, and found a bag of Skittles at the bottom of my locker. I don’t think I’ve had a day this good since I found out Alex liked me back.

I was walking from my locker to meet Alex and the guys at Ramsay’s locker a little later in the day. We were all going off campus for lunch and probably like half of the period afterward. I was walking through the nearly empty halls kind of quickly—I had to stay behind a few minutes in my previous class to ask the teacher a question that I thought would have had a quick answer. Boy, was I wrong.

I was so focused that I jumped slightly when I heard someone say, “Hey, Barakat!” in my direction.

I stopped walking and looked in the direction that the voice came from and saw Oli leaning against the lockers. I smiled and walked over to him. “Hey, Oli,” I said cheerfully. “I haven’t seen you in a while.”

He chuckled lightly. “I haven’t really seen anyone in a while, what with being suspended and all.”

I was a little bit shocked to hear that he’d been suspended. “What did you do?”

He scoffed and shook his head. “That’s not funny, mate. Don’t act like you don’t know.”

That had me really confused. “What are you talking about?”

His eyes widened significantly. “Wait, you seriously don’t know? That’s weird… I thought he would’ve told you…”

“He who?” I asked. “Oli, what are you talking about?”

“I honestly thought you would’ve known,” he said. “It’s not a huge deal, not really. I just got into a fight is all…”

“A fight?!” I exclaimed. “That is a big deal! With who?”

He bit his lip nervously. “I—um—It was my fault… I was trying to joke around with him, since we used to be friends and all, but I guess I underestimated how much he doesn’t like me anymore…”

I raised my eyebrow. “Who was it?”

He sighed, almost like he was hesitant to tell me. “Gaskarth…”

My eyes widened, and I’m pretty sure I started choking on the air in my lungs. “Wh-what?”

“Are you okay?” Oli asked, putting a hand on my shoulder to steady me. When I confirmed that I was okay, he spoke again. “Like I said, I provoked him. I should’ve stopped when he asked me to the first time…”

“I don’t care!” I exclaimed. “Violence should never be the answer!”

“It’s okay, it really is,” Oli tried to assure me. “I forgive him. I can’t believe he didn’t tell you, though… Where did you think he was all last week?”

“Franceschi told me that he was sick…”

He smiled bitterly. “That’s Josh for you, loyal to a fault.”

“So was Alex, like… suspended, too?” I asked even though I already (unfortunately) knew the answer.

Oli nodded. “I got an extra day, though, since it looks bad for a captain to be getting in fist fights with one of his teammates…”

“I can’t believe he lied to me,” I sighed, the high I was previously experiencing from having such a good day having left me. My body just felt heavy.

“I’m sorry, mate,” Oli said sadly. “I shouldn’t’ve told you…”

“I’m glad you did,” I disagreed. “I’ll talk to him later, okay?”

He smiled. “I should probably get going, though. I have friends waiting for me, and you probably do, too.”

Right as he said that, my phone started vibrating in my pocket. When I dug it out, I frowned when I saw it was Alex. I almost didn’t want to answer it, but I went against my better judgment and did anyway.

“Hey, Alex,” I said, trying to keep my voice even when I was actually quite mad at him.

“Hey, angel,” he replied happily. “Where are you? We need to leave soon, or we won’t beat the rush.”

I sighed. “Actually, I just talked to Rian, and he needs me to stay to help with some homework since I’m the only person from our group that’s in the same class,” I lied.

I silently thanked whoever could possibly be listening that I didn’t stutter. It would’ve been harder to convince him if I would’ve.

“Really?” he sighed.

“Yeah,” I responded, proud of myself for controlling my anger towards him. “I’ll see you after school.”

“I know,” he said. “It just won’t be as fun without you.”

I scoffed. “I think you’ll be fine. I have to go meet Rian.”

“Tell Dawson I said hi,” he responded. “And I’ll see you later.”

“Bye, Lex,” I sighed, hanging up before he could say anything else.

I almost felt bad for lying to him, but if he thought it was okay to lie about something as big as a fight, then I figured I was allowed a small one. I just couldn’t believe he did that. It made my blood boil—violence should never be the answer. Ever. I’m glad I didn’t have any classes with him in the afternoon. I at least got some time to calm down and figure out what I wanted to say to him before I actually saw him. I didn’t know if I’d be able to bring it up peacefully, but I did know that it totally killed my buzz.

Notes