A/N: Okay so here's a new chapter, I'm sorry it's a little bit shorter than normal but a major plot point is coming up in the next chapter so I kinda needed a filler chapter. Thanks to everyone who has continued to read this story, it means so much to me.
Thank you to my anonymous reviewer - I'm so glad you like the story and I hope you like the new chapter too!
"What's wrong with you, dude? You seem a little bit nervous for your date tonight," Tom said, as he watched Justin pace through his apartment.
Justin stopped to look at him, "First of all, I am not nervous, and second of all, this is not a date."
Tom scoffed as he flipped through T.V. channels, "You could've fooled me. I don't know about you but most guys I know don't spend an hour and a half getting ready for a 'friend'. Besides, I really don't understand why you're freaking out, it's just Alex."
"I'm not freaking out, why do you keep saying that?!"
"Because, you got ready like two hours ago and you haven't been able to sit still since. You need to just chill out and relax, dude. You act like you've never gone to dinner with a girl before."
"Yeah, well it's been a really long time since I have."
"Somehow that doesn't really surprise me," Tom said rolling his eyes.
Before Justin could reply, he felt his phone vibrate in his back pocket. Pulling it out, he noticed it was a unknown caller but decided to pick it up anyway. "Hello?"
"Hey Justin, it's me, Alex."
"Hey! I didn't know you already had my number."
"Yeah, I called Lizzie earlier today and asked her for it."
"Oh, okay. Well, what's up?"
"It's about dinner tonight; I don't think I'm going to be able to make it. I really haven't been feeling well for the last few days and I went to the doctor yesterday and found out I have the flu. So, I think I'm going to stay home tonight. I'm sorry for not telling you sooner but maybe we could reschedule it?"
"Oh, uh… that's okay. But yeah we can go to dinner some other time, I understand. Are you sure you're going to be okay?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine. I've just been really sick to my stomach lately."
"Have you eaten anything yet?"
"No, although my mom did try to make me drink her fish oil and tree bark tea earlier. That didn't work out so well."
Laughing, he replied, "I'm sure it didn't. You know what, how about I bring over some chicken noodle soup? I remember that always seemed to cheer you up when you were sick."
"Justin, you really don't have to. I'll be okay, plus I don't want you to get sick."
"No, I insist. I'll bring over some soup in about twenty minutes. Is that okay?"
There was a moment of silence before she replied, "I'll leave the door unlocked."
xxx
Making his way down the hall of Alex's apartment building, Justin held tightly onto a paper bag that contained two cups of soup and some plastic utensils. He also took the liberty of stopping by a coffee shop and picking up some regular tea. He knew she wasn't a fan of tea anyway but he figured it would help calm her stomach.
Walking to the door he grabbed the handle and pushed it open. It had been about three weeks since he had last stepped into this apartment and he was a little bit uneasy about it. He still felt guilty about what happened but he still didn't know how to tell her. For the first time in his life he didn't know how to handle a difficult situation and that scared the crap out of him.
Closing the door behind him, Justin took a better look at her apartment. With the exception of a few random items spread across her living room floor, her apartment was cleaner than he expected. Currently most of the lights were off and just the light from the T.V. lit up her living room. The couch was empty but there was a mountain of blankets sitting on one side. Moving closer to the couch, he set the food and drinks on the almost empty coffee table in front of the couch. Sitting on the edge of the table, closer to the blankets, was a nearly empty box of tissues; a few of them wadded up, still sitting on the ground. Before he could investigate any further a door opened and light came from the hall, the light flipped off and a figure approached coming into the living room. Justin couldn't see very well but he could tell it was Alex, but he nearly jumped back in shock when she suddenly screeched loudly.
"Geez, Justin! You nearly scared me to death," she glared at him with her hand over her heart as she gripped the doorframe tightly.
"I'm really sorry, I didn't mean too!"
Making her way further into the room, Alex plopped herself down on the couch and began piling the blankets over her body. She was wearing sweatpants, socks, and a tight long sleeve shirt, she looked comfortable and warm, which seemed nice because her apartment was freezing. "How long have you been here?" She asked settling into her spot.
Justin was still standing awkwardly in front of the couch but he replied nevertheless. "I actually just got here a minute ago. But why is it so cold in here?" He said, rubbing his hands up and down his arms as he moved over to sit next to her on the couch. He noticed her cheeks were a little puffier than usual, almost as if she had been crying. He disregarded the thought though, Alex and vulnerability never really mixed well, so he figured it would be best to avoid bring up her emotions in any type of conversation.
Alex sighed loudly, "Well, my heater decided to stop working a few days ago, which is probably why I'm sick. And I can't get it fixed until next week so I had to resort to blankets and sweatpants. I probably should have warned you about how cold it was before you came, sorry." She said, giving him a weak smile.
Justin waved her off, "No, no, it's totally fine, I've always wanted to freeze to death."
Rolling her eyes, she smiled, "Being a little over dramatic today, are we? And you can check your sarcasm at the door; it's my job to be cynical."
Scooting closer to her, he replied, "Don't act like you didn't miss this, Alex. You've been waiting years to bicker with me again."
She scoffed, "Don't flatter yourself, dork."
"I've missed you too, Alex." He leaned forward, grabbing the bag of food and two cups of tea, placing it in front of them.
"This wasn't the dinner I was expecting to have tonight but hopefully it will make you feel better."
Taking a hold of her share of the food and drinks, she leaned back into her spot, setting the cup of tea and container soup on a nearby in-table. "I appreciate this Justin, I really do, but you didn't have to do this for me. I can take care of myself."
He shrugged, "I'm sure you could've taken care of yourself but that doesn't mean you have to. Plus, it's not like I had anything else planned, and I figured it's better to have company when you're miserable instead of being alone and miserable. Right?"
She hesitated as her demeanor slightly changed for a moment. Justin noticed this but one again but didn't say anything. "I wouldn't say miserable," she said looking down at her entangled hands before glancing back up. "I would say stressed, but, you're right, company never hurt anyone."
xxx
"Come on, Alex! I can't sit through another one of these, there has to be something better to watch!" Justin stood up, walking over to the collection of DVD's Alex had sitting on her counter. He wanted some good entertainment because what he just watched definitely wasn't it.
Alex just laughed, "Justin, that movie is an American classic," he rolled his eyes. "You can never go wrong with an action movie," she finished.
"I would hardly qualify a movie with a title as blunt as Car Crash Every Five Minutes an American classic, Alex. Besides, I'm not even sure it could be considered a movie, it was more like a two hour long crash text commercial." He said, rifling through the different movies.
"You know, you're no fun."
He smiled, shaking his head, "What else is new? I think you've mentioned that to me once or twice in the past," he said pausing for a second, "Really, Alex? This is all you have?" Justin asked.
"You're not going to find anything. I pretty sure none of my movies are 'Justin approved', you are better off just picking one randomly and suffering through it," she explained sipping on her now cold cup of tea.
Justin opened his mouth to reply but was interrupted by a high pitched ring. Turning a little to his left he saw a small light coming from the kitchen counter, Justin assumed it was her cell phone.
Jumping up off the couch, Alex quickly moved towards her phone. Looking at the screen she sighed for a moment. With a quiet voice she answered the call, "Hello?"
"Yes…yes-no I can talk. Is something wrong?" There was a long pause before she unsurely replied, "Really?" Running her hand through her hair she leaned against the counter as she continued the conversation,"Uh…yes, that's fine. Thursday is good. Thank you, bye."
It's funny how quickly someone's mood can change. The phone call didn't last longer than a minute but what ever was said obviously upset her. Her face was scrunched up in confusion and she looked uncomfortable. But yet again something in the back of his mind kept telling him to just stay quiet but something weird was going on and he was starting to get kind of worried. Moving around her coffee table and couch he hesitantly approached her, lightly placing his hand on her shoulder.
She immediately moved away from his hand, "Are you okay? You seem a little spaced out. Is everything alright?" She moved a few feet away from him which was odd but he brushed it off.
"Uh…I'm fine. That was just-that was just my work. We've got a lot going on this next week and it's stressing me out."
He didn't believe her but he nodded in understanding anyway, "Oh… okay."
After an awkward 10-15 minutes Alex's spirits lifted some when Justin finally chose a DVD and settled himself on the couch. Because she was still standing in the kitchen Alex hadn't seen what movie was currently about to play. She stopped guessing when the soft, innocent voice of Judy Garland began flowing through her speakers as she sang Over The Rainbow. When the settings appeared on the screen, she smiled. Although Alex loved cheesy horror and action films, she did have a soft spot for classics, and Justin knew that. She watched it all the time when they were kids and for some reason it always made her feel better.
"Now, you see, The Wizard of Oz, that's an American classic." Justin said, patting the spot next to him.
Walking to the couch she sat down in her previous spot only this time she leaned into Justin giving him a hug as thanks because this was just what she needed. Draping his right arm across her shoulders he squeezed her back before hitting the play button.
xxx
It was hours later before either Justin or Alex moved from their spots on the couch; both had fallen asleep somewhere towards the end of the movie and laid only inches apart on the couch covered in blankets. When Justin woke up it was around five in the morning, his arm still securely wrapped around her shoulders. The first thing that came to mind was the fact that falling asleep next to her in her apartment was becoming a bad habit that he was starting to kind of like. Shaking those thoughts out of his head he lightly slipped off the couch he gathered his stuff and was about to leave when a cold breeze washed over him. Stopping mid-stride he got an idea. Turning swiftly he began searching for the heater in her apartment. Located in her bedroom, he inspected it. To Justin it was no surprise the furnace was broken, it looked no less than fifteen years old, wires were sticking out from behind, and even the white paint had chipped off as rust was already forming on the metal casing. It was a fire hazard just waiting to happen and Justin couldn't just leave it like this. Reaching into his back pocket Justin pulled out his wand and began working on it. With the help of his wand and his general knowledge of mechanics he was able to put new wires back into the right places and even give the heater a fresh coat of paint. Walking over to her bed, Justin pulled back the sheets then moved back into her living room. Making his way to the couch, Justin bent down and picked Alex up bridal style. She was still sound asleep only stirring for a moment when the blankets had been pulled off of her. Walking back into the bedroom he gently set her on the bed and pulled the covers over her small frame before turning off her bedside lamp. Jotting down a quick note, he left piece of paper on her dresser then left her apartment.
When she woke up in the morning Alex snuggled deeper into her soft sheets, her apartment was warmer than usual today but she liked it. Lying on her side she faced the bedside table. She didn't remember going to bed last night, in fact the last thing she remembered was sitting next to Justin as they watched the movie. Justin must have put me here, she thought gratefully. She hated falling asleep on that stupid couch her dad bought. He insisted it was a quality piece of furniture but she saw the price tag tucked under one of the cushions. Twenty dollars for a couch wasn't quality it was cheap. She would much rather wake up in her nice comfortable bed than her cold pleather couch. Looking over at her alarm clock to check the time Alex noticed a piece of paper in her way. Grabbing it she recognized the handwriting.
Hey, Alex. If you're reading this you probably just woke up so I'll make it short. I had a good time last night and we should do it again sometime. I hope you feel better soon, oh and I fixed your heater so no need to call the repair man. See you soon, Russo.
- Justin
Okay, maybe she missed him a little bit.
A/N: Let me know what you guys think! What do you think is going on with Alex? Thanks for reading!
