Catching Up

This story used to be under one single title, but I split them up so there wouldn't be so many chapters... That's why when I reply later to reviews at the end of the chapters, you probably will no longer see the reviews that were there when it was all one story. So if you're new to reading the story, you should probably go back and read all of One-Night Stand, because this is the sequel.

12/30

It was hard to sleep. I kept thinking about how I'd seen Matt again after so long. But I didn't tell Luke, who was currently sleeping beside me. Sometimes he stayed in mine and Kyle's dorm overnight, and sometimes I went to his. Would he have been upset? After all, whenever I used to talk about Matt, he would change the subject. That would have made sense if it wasn't perfectly clear that I harbored no feelings for Matt and that I was in love with Luke. But as it was, it was stupid.

Kyle suddenly let out a loud snore. His bed was on the opposite side of the room. I turned on my side to face Luke. We'd been together for sixteen months, and it felt right to be with him. My parents didn't like it. Mom loved to comment about how I used to be married to Matt. Dad didn't give a flying rat's ass who I married, really. And Jesse, who was in eighth grade now, liked Luke more than Matt.

I tried to recall all the details of that afternoon, picturing Matt's blue eyes perfectly, recreating his smile in my mind. But then I bit my lip, knowing I wasn't allowed to think that. After all, I had a fiance. But I couldn't deny that I'd been tempted to say yes to go out with him, almost forgetting about Luke for a second.

Ah. That's exactly why Luke didn't like me to talk about Matt. He knew me well enough to know that I could very easily start to fall for him all over again.

---

12/31

"Stop twitching. You're going to make it hurt worse," I snapped at Kyle. He had a piece of glass stuck in his hand. A little one, which is no better than a big one. "Well I hope you're happy now that you know that you can, in fact, break the dorm window by hitting your fist through it." We'd have to call someone over to fix it later.

He just grinned like an asshole. Finally I pulled out the little piece of glass, and he jumped up and left the dorm without even a thank you. I sighed and put the tweezers away. It was like I had a child rather than a roommate.

Luke chuckled a little, sitting on my bed. "You knew what you were in for when you agreed to be his roommate." It wasn't too cold today, and not too warm. Perfect. But I wished it could be just a little bit warmer, like in California. I missed The Golden State.

"I thought maybe he'd grow up soon," I remarked dryly. "He's twenty-one years old." I sat down on Kyle's bed, facing Luke from across the room. "So, uh...guess who I ran into just yesterday."

"Who?"

"Matt. Matt Ryans. Can you believe it?" I said, hoping his reaction would be more surprised than wary. "It's been three years. Never thought I'd see him again. I mean, we talked on the phone after I left California, but--" Luke watched me skeptically. I shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. "I sort of invited him to the wedding in June," I added.

There was a definite change in expression at this statement. Luke sighed, about to say something, but then changed his mind. "That's great," he said monotonously.

"Oh, come on, Luke." I walked over and sat next to him, hugging him around his shoulders. "Don't be so...you know...weird about Matt. He's harmless. If you want, I'll tell him he can't come."

"No, it's fine. It's your wedding, too, and your friends are all invited."

I stared at him curiously, releasing him. "I wish you'd let all that go. I have. Remember, I was the one who asked for the annulment. Obviously I didn't want to be married to Matt."

"Alexis...I'm not worried. I trust you." He kissed my forehead and stood up. "I have classes right now." He left the room, leaving me all by myself.

---

"He's so full of it!" I said angrily, venting to Elizabeth, one of my closest friends since I moved to Washington. She was also Kyle's girlfriend, so me and Luke double-dated with them a lot. "I mean, he said he trusts me, but really I'm sure he'd like to have a spy follow me around all day and make sure I'm not going out with Matt or anything. I've never given him any reason not to trust me."

Eliza nodded her head sympathetically. "Well, you have to understand where he's coming from, Alexis. You used to be married to Matt, he was the first person you ever slept with, and that's a big deal." She knew all about my miscarriage and former short-lived marriage to Matt.

"But Luke was the second, and he'll be the last. It was just a quick little conversation on the sidewalk. I didn't stop for coffee with him or anything." We were actually at a little cafe near campus, and I nibbled on a blueberry scone while she had a cup of hot black coffee. Disgusting.

"Well, what if he met up with that one girl you hated, Lacy? Wouldn't you feel threatened that he met up with his hot ex-girlfriend?"

I rolled my eyes. "Eliza, the difference is that Matt isn't a beautiful girl. He's my ex-husband."

She sighed and shook her head. "I've seen that picture of him from three years ago that you keep on your cell phone. He's hot. And you've always had that strange infatuation with blue eyes, haven't you?"

"You're not helping. You're making me suspicious of myself."

"I'm just trying to help you see through Luke's eyes, Alexis."

"Well, anyway, I can't possibly let my parents know he's in Washington. My mom will go crazy and invite both me and Matt to dinner or something and exclude Luke. She can be completely awful like that."

Eliza smiled. "You're obsessing over it. I thought you didn't really care? Look, if you want to take your mind off your ex, think about your current fiance. Okay?" I nodded slowly. "Good. Now I have to get to Physiology. I'll see you later."

She left the cafe, abandoning me to finish off my scone.

---

Matt had called me asking to meet up today. It was New Year's, so tonight Luke and I were going out to dinner. But my early evening was free, so I met him and his friends at a shopping center where Rena and Angie wanted to buy some new clothes. Apparently Rena and Tyler broke up, but Angie and Ben were still going strong.

"So, did you and Megan ever hook up after I left?" I asked curiously. It seemed impossible to me that they would really pass up the opportunity.

"No," he said firmly. "But about six months after you moved here, I met someone else."

"Oh," I said, suddenly even more interested. "Are you still with her? Tell me all about it."

He laughed. "No, we broke up two months ago."

"That sucks." We were walking around the shopping center alone, talking and catching up, while the others were off buying things. I really didn't have much to say about what I'd been doing except for my engagement and my job. "Do you guys still talk as friends?"

"Actually...two days after we broke up, she got into a car accident. Right now she's in a coma at a hospital in California. I visit her, but of course we can't really talk or anything."

Huh. Wasn't expecting that answer. "Oh, that's so..."

"Awful, I know. So how are things with you and Luke?"

I smiled. "Great. I never imagined when I first met him that I'd end up marrying him. By the time the wedding comes around, I'll be twenty-one, so I'll be allowed to drink legally at the reception."

"No more fake IDs?"

"Not so much. I only use it when--" I stopped, wondering how much of my personal life I should tell Matt about. I mean, this was the first time we'd really talked in three years. He didn't need to know my secrets, expecially the ones even Luke didn't know about. So I just said, "When I'm stressed out."

"Sitting out dances on the wall, trying to forget everything that isn't you." -Fall Out Boy