-X-
Alex watched every single person who walked into the coffee shop, waiting to see the familiar face. She drummed on the table nervously, trying to figure out what to say. Her phone buzzed every few minutes, signaling incoming text messages. She ignored them, put her phone on silent. She felt like hours had passed, seen so many people come and go, she began to get worried, wondering if she should go look for her, but every time she checked her phone, only a few minutes had passed. Finally the door swung open and in walked the familiar blonde that Alex had grown accustom to seeing every morning. Alex stood slightly, but Jay spotted her immediately and rushed over to embrace her.
"Thank god you texted me. I was about ready to call the police." Jay said into her ear.
Alex sighed softly, holding her tightly and not saying anything. Slowly she let her go and sat back down, pushing a coffee cup towards her. "Here. I got you your favourite." She said quietly. She looked down at her hands, picking at her nails, not able to look Jay in the eye.
"Alex, are you alright? Why won't you look at me?" Jay asked nervously.
Alex smiled softly and shook her head. "You always know when something is going on." She murmured.
"Of course I do," Jay responded. She reached across the table and lifted Alex's head to look at her. "I love you."
Alex took a shaky breath, pulling her chin out of Jay's grasp and looking back down at the table. "Maybe we should go somewhere else. So we can talk." She whispered.
Jay nodded slowly. "Okay." She said, biting the inside of her cheek. "Let's go back home."
Alex nodded. "I'll meet you there, I still have my bike."
-X-
Jay beat Alex home, although Alex wasn't exactly rushing to get there. She didn't know why she had asked Jay to come to the coffee shop. Maybe she thought that telling her about what had happened the night before would have been easier in a public place, but as soon as it came time to talk about it, to tell Jay exactly what had happened, she couldn't get the words out. Not in the coffee shop, and if she truly thought long and hard about it, she didn't know if she would be able to get the words out properly at all. And so she made her way back home, taking a few back streets and stopping once or twice to catch her breath. When she finally got there, she found Jay pacing the floor.
"So, first you ask me to meet you at some obscure coffee shop halfway across town, and then you won't talk about what happened last night, and then, you take forever in getting home?!" She said, a tinge of anger in her voice. "Alex, you're going to give me a heart attack one day!"
Alex shut the door slowly behind her. "I know." She murmured quietly.
Jay fell onto the couch, shaking her head and staring over at Alex. "What the hell happened, Al?" she murmured nervously.
Alex took a deep breath and sat down next to her. "I – I met her at the bar," she began. "And it was like absolutely nothing had changed. Like we had gone back in time. The bar was exactly the same. The beer, and the pool tables and everything was exactly the same." Alex said, tears gathering in the corner of her eyes. "It felt like we hadn't lost any time together. And so we played pool and we drank, and talked, and then-" Alex shook her head, covering her mouth with her hand, the hint of a smile on her lips. "And then we talked about you. And I could feel all the time that had passed. And I felt everything. Everything that I had felt for her – and everything that I feel for you. And then it all broke." Alex said, the tears finally falling down her cheeks. "And she was leaning in – god, she was so close. I almost –" Alex broke off, shaking her head, staring at Jay, her eyes pleading.
Jay had crossed her arms around her knees, pulling herself back on the couch, as if she was trying to distance herself from the situation. "D-did you kiss her?" she asked, staring back at Alex.
Alex shook her head, resting her head in her hands. She sniffed, and wiped away the tears on her cheeks. "No." she answered. "No, because I love you." She pleaded.
Jay stood up suddenly, shaking her head. "I need- I – " she didn't finish her sentence. She grabbed her jacket and raced out the door, hearing Alex calling after her.
-X-
Later that night:
Alex waited for her to come back. All day, she sat on the couch, just waiting for the door to open. Every time she heard footsteps in the hall, her heart would lift, hoping that it would be Jay coming back, so they could work things through. But after waiting for hours, Alex was getting nervous. She grabbed her phone out of her pocket and suddenly realized that she had never turned it off of silent mode. She turned it on and watched as the screen jumped to life to reveal an abundance of missed text messages and calls from the same number.
Maggie: You can't just ignore me, not forever.
Maggie: Alex we have to talk about this.
Maggie: Alex
Maggie: Alex, come on.
Maggie: Seriously?
Maggie: This is what teenagers do when they have a fight.
7 missed calls from: Maggie Sawyer
Maggie: Come on, you have to be seeing some of these.
Maggie: Just let me know that you're alright and not lying dead in a ditch somewhere?
Maggie: We both had a lot to drink and you took off on your bike.
Maggie: I could have you arrested for Driving Under the Influence.
Maggie: Please, Alex, I need to know that you aren't in ICU
Maggie: Alex.
Maggie: Alex please.
14 missed calls from: Maggie Sawyer
Finally the door creaked open and Jay slipped through. Alex stood, waiting for her to notice her. Jay turned and jumped slightly. "God, Alex. I thought you would be asleep."
Alex shook her head. "I can't. Not with things like this." She murmured.
Jay sighed softly, taking off her jacket. She sat back down on the couch. "Okay." She responded.
"Okay?" Alex asked.
"You said that you almost kissed her. Almost. But you didn't."
Alex nodded. "I didn't kiss her."
Jay took a minute to think. "Did you want to?"
Alex nodded slowly.
"Do you still love her?"
Alex shook her head vigorously. She kneeled down in front of Jay, resting her hands gently on Jay's knees. "No, I don't love her. I love you. She is my past. That chapter of my life is closed. You, you are my future. You are who I want to be with." Alex said, her eyes pleading.
Jay finally looked up at her, her face softening as she saw Alex's expression. "Promise?" she whispered.
Alex nodded, "I promise." She said firmly. She sighed softly as Ajay pulled her up onto the couch, squeezing her into a tight hug, neither of them noticed the face-down phone on the coffee table that lit up every couple minutes with a new text message.
-X-