Disclaimer: Don't own it.

Dark blue, dark blue
Have you ever been alone in a crowded room? Well, I'm here with you
I said the world could be burning 'til there's nothing but dark blue
Just dark blue

Dark Blue- Jack's Mannequin

She soon realizes where she is when she walks out onto the street, just a few blocks from her dorm. Thank god. Sure, they've reached, she doesn't know, an understanding or something, and she's way grateful for everything that he's done for her, but she isn't quite sure she wants to head back up to that tiny apartment to ask him for directions.

She walks slowly back to her dorm, enjoying the air (seriously, his apartment was cramped or something) and trying to process everything's that's happened. Abby must be worried. She told Alex the night before that she would stay up and wait for her to return. Ugh, she really hopes Abby isn't the dramatic type. She doubts it.

*****

So she's really bad at reading people? Abby throws herself at Alex when she enters the dorm, throwing her arms around Alex's neck and squeezing her and talking a mile a minute, "Ohmygod!" she gets out in one breath, "I was so worried about you! You were supposed to be back by three, and you weren't. I was going to call the police, but, I wasn't sure. I was just about to though! I said to myself 'if she doesn't walk through that door in ten minutes I will totally call the police!' but you walked in," she inhales deeply and looks down at her watch, "with four and half minutes to spare."

Alex eyes widen in response, wow, she hasn't met anyone other than Harper that can talk that fast. She loosens herself from the other girl's embrace and walks to her bed, she plops down on the hard mattress (and it's weird that she misses Justin's, right?) and unlaces her shoes.

Abby follows her movements with a raised brow, still obviously concerned, maybe even more so because Alex hasn't replied, "Alex? Are you okay?"

Alex glances up at her and nods slightly, "Yeah. I'm fine. I uhh…I was at a friend's?" She realizes that what has just left her mouth sounds more like a question and maybe that was a mistake. But soon Abby's shoulders relax and she seats herself on her own bed, so maybe everything's okay now.

"A friend?" Abby asks, a teasing smile playing on her lips and Alex feels her eyes on her, taking in the clothes that clearly aren't her own and she cringes, shit, how could she forget about that?, "And is this friend a boy?"

Something weird happens then, an odd sensation wells in her abdomen, oh no. No, no, no. That is so not okay. She tries to play it off, scoffing and replying, "No!" But it sounds forced, even to her own ears and she hates the grin that continues to blossom on her roommate's face. "Ugh, whatever," Alex sighs, "Don't believe me. I'm tired, alright? And I have class in," she pauses, looking at her alarm clock, "Four hours and I really need a power nap."

Abby nods, "Sure. That's fine. I have to leave now anyway. Look, Alex, I'm really glad you're okay; you had no idea how worried I was about you. And sorry for teasing you."

Alex waves her off, mumbles a goodbye and falls back on her pillow. She tosses and turns, trying to find a comfortable position (really, like looking for a needle in a haystack) before she finally gives up and sits up in her bed.

She finds her phone (which she left in her drawer in her nightstand, wow, that would've been helpful last night, what the hell was she thinking? Oh right, she wasn't) and scrolls through the numbers, she finds names of people she doesn't really know and pauses when she finds the one person that used to know her better than anyone else (well, other than her Justin). She bites her lip, contemplating whether or not to hit the green little button.

She closes her eyes tightly as she pushes it. She holds her breath, tries not to focus on the fact that it's on the third ring and usually that means the other person isn't going to pick up.

"Alex?" Comes the hesitant voice from the other end. Alex doesn't say anything for a minute, too surprised by her old friend's voice.

Finally, "Harper," she replies, trying to keep the tears out of her own voice.

She hears Harper's breath catch before she says, "Oh, Alex."

*****

It's been three weeks since she's seen Justin (she used to say "since the incident" but let's face it, she's more concerned by the fact that it's been twenty one days since she last saw Justin). It's okay, she guesses. Well, it's not.

He's the only person (other than the dick that tried to rape her) that knows about that night. And, well, she's kind of having a hard time dealing with it and it would be amazing just to sit and talk to him. Maybe even have has his arm around her…

And there's the other problem.

She finds herself thinking about him often. About how comforting his body heat was. She's reminded of him when she hears a sweet song on the radio. Remembers the fact that he freaking defended her honor. She tries to ignore the swell of excitement that overcomes her when she sees a boy that looks like him from behind.

Is there something wrong with her? Because for all intents and purposes, she grew up thinking of him as her brother. They were raised as siblings until just a couple of years ago. But surely liking him isn't, well, illegal or a sin or anything of that sort now. Right?

It only weirds her out a little bit. But come on, he beat some guy up for her. Got himself battered and bruised in the process. It's only normal to have a sort of hero worship, right?

Ugh, whatever. Boys are confusing. Being a girl in confusing. College in confusing. Everything in Alex Russo's life is a little more than mind baffling at the moment.

*****

She tries to forget about Justin (because it's been five weeks now, and come on he knows where she lives and if he wanted to he could come and find her) and she goes out to dinner with some guy in her math class (and that's another thing that's been rubbing her the wrong way lately, this is college, shouldn't she be taking all the art classes she wants and not Pre-Calc? Come on people, there is a reason she didn't take it in high school).

He's sweet. She supposes. With wavy blonde hair that's just a little too long, a tan (that's fake, she's sure) and bright blue eyes. His laugh is annoying, sounds a little haughty and she forces a grin whenever he chuckles.

But, it's not like she's going to marry the guy, she's just going to eat a meal with him. He tries to prolong the night, asks her to take a walk (she's been there, done that, not doing it anytime soon) and she fakes a yawn. "Sorry," she mumbles, "I have a huge test in the morning, I'm really going to need some sleep."

His face falls for a moment before he's faking another grin (good lord, she's going to choke him) but he helps her from her chair and walks in the opposite direction when they exit the restaurant. She lets out a sigh of relief and reaches into her purse, digging out her phone. She calls Harper, reiterates all of the details of the horrible date and enjoys a laugh with her friend.

She's almost to her dorm, still poking fun at her cheesy date and snorting at something Harper just said. She tenses when she sees the male figure outside her door, furrows her brow as she takes in his outline, when she's at the top of the stairs she has more light to see and realizes that it's Justin creeping outside her door. "Harper? I got to let you go, I'll call you tomorrow, alright?" She doesn't give Harper time to respond, just hangs up.

Justin turned at the sound of her voice and offers her a small smile when she snaps her phone shut.

"Hey," she says, trying to act casual, ignoring the flip that her stomach just did when he checks her out (which, yeah, he totally did).

His smile grows and he holds up a plastic bag, "I have something for you."


A/N: I love all of you! Leave a review and let me know what you think!