Alex’s Point of View

She was gone before I had even woken up.

All my teenage life, I had been the one to leave in the morning. Whether it be because my ride was leaving, I needed to sleep in my own bed, or I was just over it, I was the one to sneak out of bed and leave before the girl could wake up and see me. It kept things light. It let them know that there was nothing serious going on.

And apparently, it also hurt like hell.

While I had never pegged Peyton as the hookup type, I’d also never pegged her as the type to leave without so much as a goodbye. Clearly, I knew much less about her than I thought.

What sucked was that I had actually thought Pey and I were getting somewhere. She was no longer repulsed by me, as I had begun to make a serious effort to stop being such a dick to her, and I hadn’t hooked up with anyone else in weeks, with the hope that maybe that would show her that I wasn’t as scummy as she’d thought.

But apparently, we were more alike than I thought.

I banged my fist down on the mattress and rubbed my eyes, debating whether or not I could get away with staying in Jack’s room all day and avoiding the world. To be honest, I was embarrassed, really fucking embarrassed that Alex Gaskarth had been left like it was nothing. And I was angry.

After around ten minutes of rolling around in bed I decided that I should probably get up, clothe myself, and help Jack clean up the disaster that was probably his house. I pulled on my shirt and jeans from last night and sighed, glancing at my haggard looking reflection in the dresser mirror before thumping down the stairs.

“He lives!” Jack cheered as I entered the kitchen in search of hangover food. I grunted and looked around at all my friends that had gathered around the table, eating bagels from the local coffee shop. Rian was always so good about morning-after breakfasts. Usually, bagels meant everyone was to sit down together and listen to hookup stories from the night before, no matter how shameful or ridiculous they might be. I gulped when I realized that my hookup was slouching in the chair furthest from me, quite obviously avoiding eye contact. At least she had stayed in the house instead of leaving like I thought, right? From the way Megan was staring at me yet everyone else was caught up in their own conversations, she was the only other person who knew. I couldn’t tell whether the stare she was giving me was angry or confused, and that just made things worse. Peyton refused to look at me all together

“Nice of you to join us,” Rian joked as he passed me the paper bag full of bagels from the local bakery. “Did you get all of your beauty sleep? Or were you too busy watching some other beauty sleep?”

“You’re so not funny,” I grumbled, knowing full well that if it were anyone else, I’d be right there cackling with the rest of the table.

“So tell us then,” Zack chimed in. “Who was it? And don’t tell me no one, because there’s no way Alex Gaskarth disappeared for the whole second half of the craziest party of the year so far and didn’t score. That’s not like you.”

“Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t,” I smirked. “But if I did, let me tell you that she was smoking hot-”

“Too bad you didn’t.”

Everyone seemed to freeze at once as they turned their attention to the one person who, up until now, I was dying to hear speak. “What?” I asked dumbly, taking note of the way Peyton’s face flushed when she realized we were all staring at her.

“I said, too bad you didn’t,” Peyton muttered, quickly averting her eyes as mine widened. “I saw you stumble up the stairs alone after what must have been you seventh shot. You must have passed out in the bathroom or something.”

My eyebrows furrowed as I desperately looked to Megan for backup; clearly she knew the whole story. But Megan just shrugged her shoulders and gave me a helpless look before turning back to examine her bagel.

“I did not pass out in the bathroom,” I glared. “I slept in the spare room. What are you still doing here, Peyt? Oversleep under the couch? Did you come back for breakfast this morning? Or maybe you found a roommate for the night yourself?”

“Alright, alright,” Jack cut in, placing his hand on my shoulder. “Relax man, she’s just joking.”

“Whatever,” I muttered as I stood up from the table angrily and roughly pushed my chair in. I walked back out into the living room and kicked the first beer can I found, balling my hands into fists in the process. I was furious. Not only did she leave before I woke up, but she was actually acting like nothing happened? Really?

I heard a sigh behind me and spun around to see Megan standing behind me, with a weak smile on her face. “I’m sorry,” she sighed. “Pey told me everything. I don’t know why she’s acting like it didn’t happen. It’s not like she’s hurt or anything. And from the way it seems, she doesn’t even seem that mad about it…”

“That’s funny, because she seemed pretty damn angry about it,” I snapped, pausing when Megan flinched. “I’m sorry,” I sighed almost immediately. “I shouldn’t be yelling at you. I just…I don’t understand.”

I watched as Megan sighed in return and bent down to pick up a stack of red cups that had been knocked over the night before. "We'll figure it out, I'm sure. You sure know how to pick 'em, Gaskarth."

And damn was she right.

Notes

Short-ish and filler-ish, but I just want to get to the next chapter. -<3-