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So, Here’s The Thing About Love : chapter o n e.

excuse me while I suck at life

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Alexis paced the bathroom back and forth, running her hands nervously through her straightened brown hair with her eyes glued on the object placed on the counter. Biting on her lower lip, she shut her eyes briefly. She could only expect the worst and if that thing placed on the counter gave her the news she was dreading, she saw herself trashing a bathroom that wasn’t her own while crying hysterically.

“Alexis fucking Cassidy…I can’t believe you,” came a feminine voice from the other side of the door.

She dropped her hands to her sides, staring at the door with her mouth open. “Um, I’m sorry. Am I the only human being that gets into these kind of situations? I believe not.”

“I just didn’t expect it from…you. You’re Alexis Cassidy. Miss Innocent.”

“Mya…not in the mood to talk right now.”

Her best friend sighed dramatically from outside the door as Alexis went back to her pacing, her hands now busy at knotting her red shirt. “How many minutes has it been?”

“…One.”

Her back met the front door of the unfamiliar apartment, her hands on his face as his mouth assaulted hers. She felt his hands on her hips, his head tilting to achieve better access to her sweet mouth. The moan he tugged out of her heightened his need for her, one hand leaving her hip to search through his pockets. He checked both front pockets of his jeans, his back pockets, successfully finding his keys in his chest pocket. Alexis held onto him as he tried to work his way around her to unlock his front door, failing as he dropped his keys drunkenly.

Alexis sat on the edge of the tub, tugging at her hair almost painfully as time ticked by agonizingly slow. Time would choose torture her at the worst moment in her life. She couldn’t sit still. She stood, turning away from the bathroom counter at she closed her eyes as that night continued to replay in her head.

Their clothes were long gone by the time they reached his room, a few bumps into the walls and stumbling over their own feet occurring on the way to their destination. Alexis removed herself from his arms, struggling in removing her underwear as she maneuvered in the darkness of his room, tripping and making it halfway on the bed. She heard his laughter and due to being intoxicated, she laughed along with him; ignoring the pain of her knees meeting the wooden floor.

“Why me, why me?! Why did I choose to drink? Why—actually, why the hell did you leave the club without finding me?”

Leaning against the wall outside of the bathroom, Mya grabbed a few strands of her black hair, eyeing her split ends. “Austin said he called you and when you answered, you said that you were with a friend. That was a lie…you met some random guy and considered him your ‘friend’.”

“Everyone is your friend when you’re under the influence,” Alexis mumbled to herself, opening the door and looking at the other brunette. Mya turned to her, placing her hands on her hips and staring back at the her. “I hate myself. I don’t deserve this. I’m not a bad person!”

“I know, I know, but these things happen. Shit happens…and shit decided to pick on you that night at the club and just shit all over your night.” She watched as Alexis rubbed her palms on her face, groaning loudly and mumbling incoherent words to herself. Not being the best at comforting, Mya simply stood in front of her. She was clueless when it came to comforting people. She never knew what to say, when it was the right moment to hug someone, and it didn’t help that she always said the wrong things at the wrong time. “And since we’re already talking about that night and you just decided to tell me now that you had a drunken one night stand…care to tell me how the next morning was?”

Warmth surrounded her comfortably and quickly she found herself getting irritated with how warm her body was getting. She felt sticky, sweaty—just plain dirty. Then the headache hit her, along with the growing nausea in her stomach. Alexis groaned softly, curling into a fetal position. Only then did she realize that she wasn’t alone when her knees nudged another body. Her eyes shot open to meet a tan bicep, her green eyes slowly widening as she stared in shock.

‘No. NO. No!! Bad dream—shut your eyes, Alexis. Try to wake up! Wake up!’ She shut her eyes once, opening them and shutting them tightly when the man was still there next to her. ‘No, no!! Damnit! This isn’t happening—’ Her thoughts were cut short as she flinched due to the man shifting in his sleep and his head turning to face her. She sat up quickly, clutching the black sheet to her bosom. Sitting up that fast proved to be the wrong move as her unfamiliar surroundings spun and blurred together. Alexis groaned, placing a hand on her forehead as she snuck a peek to the man next to her, finding him asleep.

She stared at his parted lips that she undoubtedly kissed the night before, his strong jaw covered with stubble, and his messy blonde hair sticking up everywhere.

“…” ‘Shit. Of course…it would be someone I don’t even know!! I THINK I would react just a smidge better if I at least knew who the hell I slept with the night before. No…wait, I’d still flip out. I suck. It’s that simple—I suck at life. The only good thing about this situation is that he’s actually a good-looking guy and not some hideous troll masked by alcohol—’

A large wave of nausea interrupted her thoughts, a hand flying to her mouth as she looked around the room, spotting the small black trashcan next to the bed. Forgetting the sheet, Alexis nearly fell out of the bed as she worked her way onto the floor, grabbing the trashcan and emptying her insides out. Tears stung her eyes as she vomited harshly, unaware that some of her vomit was ending up on the ends of her hair.

“And you left his trashcan the way it was, didn’t you?”

Alexis rolled her eyes, “Well, yeah. Did you want me to take my time emptying it out for him?”

“Ew. I bet he woke up to the most pleasant smell ever…”

She shrugged carelessly, “As if I care. But…I quickly threw up and went on the hunt looking for my crap. Found my dress, my purse, but I couldn’t find my shoes or underwear. So, I go back into his room to look and just my luck…his phone starts ringing. Because…life hates me.”

The dress was easily found on the back of a living room couch, along with her purse tossed on one of the cushions. She was more than pleased to find that nothing was missing from the small purse. Alexis came to a stop as she reached the spacious bedroom she woke up in, peeking in to see the nameless man still sleeping peacefully. Standing in the doorway, she scanned the room for any sign of her shoes and underwear. Her eyes went back to the blonde, her green eyes landing on his bare chest and making their way down his stomach to the sheet riding dangerously low on his hips. She blushed profusely at the sight, glancing around the room to brush the inappropriate thoughts away.

Entering the room cautiously, Alexis made her way to his bed as she tried her best to recall the events that took place the night before. Minutes into the attempt of gathering pieces together, she gave up as she dropped to her knees, checking underneath his bed. Just as she smiled, the girl nearly jumped out of her skin as a phone started to ring in the bedroom. She snatched her bra and panties, staying crouched down when she heard a groan come from the bed.

“Mmm…shit.”

At that moment, Alexis could only think of two things to do.

One, slip under the bed and wait to sneak out.

Two, just stay out of sight and pray that he ignores the phone and simply falls back to sleep, making her escape a lot easier.

The phone continued to ring, much to her displeasure. It was too loud, making her head pound painfully with each sharp sound the phone gave off. She wanted to scream at the stupid thing. She fleetingly wished he would stop the noise and just answer the phone. That thought produced a third option: crawling out of the room (hopefully unnoticed) as he spoke on the phone. After seven rings, the room fell silent. Alexis estimated that a minute or two passed before she decided that the blonde fell back to sleep. He didn’t make a noise, the bed didn’t shift to make her think that he had gotten up…she was in the clear!

“YES,” she whispered to herself as she sat up, her mouth dropping open as she came face to face with a pair of brown eyes. Her body instantly went rigid, seeing that the man had rolled over onto his stomach with his face turned in her direction. Maybe he did move and make noise and she was too busy thinking of escape plans and trying to block out the ringing.

At that moment, her mind went blank and she could only focus on how gorgeous he was.

Confusion entered his brown eyes as he stared back at the strange girl. Right there and then, Alexis knew that he was just as plastered the night before. She could only assume that they got a cab back to his place because otherwise they wouldn’t have made it back with either of them driving. The confusion slowly left his eyes as reality set in and he clearly figured out the situation. “…Hey,” he spoke gently.

Mind blank, Alexis could only focus on how gorgeous he was. ‘Do something! Stop staring! Leave!’ “I…” ‘No, stop talking, Alexis!’

“Hey!”

Alexis didn’t bother to turn around to see what the man wanted as she took off. She simply ran out of his room and the front door, almost resorting to letting herself crying as she was met with rain and realizing that she was still barefoot.

“You…ran?”

“I ran,” Alexis said simply.

Mya nodded slowly, “And you left your shoes there…the red heels?”

“Yeah…”

“…And I wanted to borrow those,” she murmured quietly. “You didn’t say anything when he saw you?”

Alexis shook her head in a negative manner. “No…I just…ran.”

“So…he woke up and you just ran away like some crazy woman?”

Alexis threw her hands up, turning around and walking over to the bathroom counter. “What was I supposed to do? Ask him if he wanted bacon and eggs for breakfast? Introduce myself and tell him that I enjoy gazing at the stars at night while lying on a blanket in the park?” She sighed angrily, snatching the pregnancy test off of the counter and bringing it up to her face. She remained quiet as she turned to face her friend, her brows furrowed and her mouth tight as she continued to stare at the test.

Mya moved closer, stopping in her tracks as the brunette burst into tears. “Oh shit—”

Alexis suddenly screamed in enthusiasm, jumping from one foot to the other, “It’s negative!!”

“What?! O-oh my—yes!!”

Mya joined in on the jumping up and down mixed with screaming, the pregnancy test long forgotten on the bathroom floor.

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“You what? You had a—what the hell? Why am I just now finding this shit out?”

Alexis sighed happily as she entered her room, tossing her purse on her bed as she made her way to her small bathroom. “Gee, I don’t know. Maybe because it’s something I don’t want to brag about and have everyone know? BUT, I wasn’t feeling too well a week ago and I’m starting to believe that I probably ate some bad food…”

“…What the hell!”

She briefly held her phone away from her ear. “Austin, I’m sorry. I should’ve told you when it happened, but I was too…it was a bad situation and I didn’t want to say anything. When I got sick, I freaked and I needed someone with me while taking the pregnancy test. I jumped to conclusions and thought the worst as soon as I got sick.”

“We are not friends anymore,” he said on the other end of the phone.

“Yeah, yeah. Listen, next time it happens, you’ll be the first person to know,” she joked lightly.

“…I guess that makes me feel a little better,” he mumbled.

Alexis moved objects around on her messy counter in search for a rubber band, unaware that her bedroom door was slightly cracked open.

“I’m just…stunned. It’s…you.”

“Why do people keep saying that?”

“You’ve always been known as the ‘good girl’ and now you’re…tainted and reaching skank level like Mya.”

“Thanks…Austin.”

She heard his deep laugh, a small smile coming to her lips. “You know I’m kidding…but hey, listen, I’m on my way out the door and I’m coming over. I’ll bring some ice-cream to celebrate your…victory of not getting knocked up by some dude. I’ll be there in fifteen and we can talk more about this when I get there.”

“Okay, and make sure it’s cookie dough!”

“Yeah, yeah…” He went silent for a moment, “I’m still stunned…my sweet, innocent Alexis…”

Her smile left her face as she hung up, not wanting her friend to continue. Throwing her hair up into a messy bun, Alexis turned, her hand flying to her chest and over her heart as she came face to face with her younger brother. He was leaning on one hand against the wall with a casual look on his face, a smile creeping onto his face.

“Wyatt—what, how long were you there?”

“Long enough,” he answered slowly, eyeing her from head to toe. “My older sister, the one who calls other girls sluts has become one herself!”

She sent a glare to the blonde fifteen-year-old, leaving her bathroom and slipping her phone into her back pocket. “Whatever, Wyatt. I—he—look, it’s not of your business to begin with and you shouldn’t be eavesdropping. I don’t eavesdrop on you.”

“You never tell me anything and it’s my duty to find out information and report back to Dad. Especially when it deals with men…he told me so. Blame him.”

“Get. Out.”

Amusement danced in his blue eyes. “Man, Dad would flip if I mentioned a pregnancy test in the same sentence as your name.”

Alexis stomped her foot childishly, pointing to her door. “Get out, or else…”

He rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest. “Or else what, Lex? You’re a wimp. You won’t do anything.”

She crossed her arms as well, her brows lifting, “I can do harm to that new game system Dad just got you three weeks ago. I am so clumsy, I may just be walking around with a glass of water, minding my own business and woops, water ends up all over that stupid thing you spend so much time on.”

The smile was gone from his cute face in an instant. “…You can do that all you want and I’ll get you back ten times worse and you know it…”

A staring contest between the siblings commenced, Alexis being the first to break after five minutes of glares sent between the two. “Ten.”

“Fifteen.”

“TEN.”

He glanced away with a bored look. After so many battles with his sister, he knew who was going to win. “Twenty.”

“What the—ten!”

“Thirty. I have the habit of rambling just like you and sometimes,” he sighed sadly, pretending to be contrite, “information tends to just slip out of my mouth…”

“Fine, thirty, you little…” Jumbled words were spoken under her breath as she went to her purse, looking through it. Finding only a fifty dollar bill, she went to her bookcase, motioning for Wyatt to turn around. “You can’t see.”

“Your ‘secret’ hiding place? I already know you keep money stashed in the back of that stuffed animal,” he said openly. He shrugged as Alexis removed the stuffed animal, pulling money out and handing it to him, grudgingly. “I can’t wait until I move out, which will hopefully be in a month.”

He snatched the money from her hand, giving her his half smile, “I suppose I can keep my mouth shut about this whole false alarm pregnancy thing…” Slipping the money into his pocket, curiosity was still floating around him. “So, do I know the guy?”

“…No.”

“…I see.” Sitting down on her bed, Wyatt scratched his head, “Well, it’s good you’re not…pregnant. That would’ve sucked and Dad would’ve been on the news for murder.”

Alexis grinned, “Probably.” Even if her younger brother could be a monster at times, they were still very close. After their parents separated, they only had each other to lean on and while adjusting to the separation years ago; they became closer than ever.

“…So, he was a nobody?”

“A nobody,” she said with relief.

“Ah…one night thing?”

Alexis cringed as he said it, but Wyatt chose to smile.

“Hey…look at it this way. You’re not pregnant, you have no STD’s, and you’ll never see this guy ever again.” He gave her a thumbs up. “Sounds pretty awesome to me.”

“…Well…yeah, that is actually…pretty awesome.” She watched as he got up from her bed, heading towards her door. “Do I get my money back?”

“No.”

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A/N: the start of a new story that’s been in my head for some time now. I got the whole story pretty down in my head, so updates shouldn’t stall because of writer’s block. life will most likely be the reason for updates being put on hold…if that happens. I’m moving into a new place, working…title may change? or it could be a keeper. I’m always indecisive :} more character development in later chapters, but I think that you kinda get a small sense of what the characters (that are introduced in this chap) are like so far…maybe. sooo, hopefully you’ll like and stick with this story (: I apologize for any mistakes that may be found in this chapter. anything concerning updates, stories-check my livejournal.

as always, reviews are appreciated!