Disclaimer: Don't own it.
There's a drumming noise inside my head
That starts when you're around
I swear that you could hear it
It makes such an all mighty sound
Louder than sirens
Louder than bells
Sweeter than heaven
And hotter than hell
Drumming Song- Florence and the Machine
She swears her mom knows the moment she walks into the Sub Station the weekend after she went to Justin's to study.
Theresa's eyes sparkle in excitement, a dazzling smile playing on her lips. She pulls Alex to her excitedly, squeezing her tight, "Oh, Alex!" She whispers animatedly, "You met a boy!"
Alex tries to scoff, pushing her mother's body away from her own as nicely as possible, "Yeah, okay, mom. And why do you think that? Because I didn't come home last weekend? I told you, I had to study."
Theresa sends her a skeptical look, one eyebrow raised, lips pursed and arms crossed. Damn her mom, that look always makes her cave.
Alex sighs impatiently; she walks briskly past her mother, ignoring the steps that follow behind her. When she reaches the bottom of the stairs her mother calls out, "Happy to have you home!"
Alex rolls her eyes and stomps childishly up the stairs.
*****
Her mom makes one of her favorites for dinner. And cupcakes for dessert. Alex narrows her eyes at her mother from across the table. If she thinks that Alex is going to cave because of some stupid baked ziti and chocolate cupcakes slathered in rich frosting, well, she's wrong.
Maybe.
Alex stabs at her dinner, ignoring her father's concerned look and Max's confused one. Her mother just smiles at her and asks, "So, Alex, anything interesting happen at school lately? Anything your father and I should know about?'
"No, mom," Alex says tightly, her tone catches Jerry's attention and he looks at her worriedly.
"Alex, what did you do?"
Alex can sense her father's sputtering coming and quickly says, "Nothing!" But she half yells it and sounds guilty, even to her own ears.
"Alex…" He starts warningly, face slowly turning red.
She sighs heavily, putting her fork down and resting her head against the palm of her hand, "Nothing, daddy! I swear."
Her mom still has that stupid smile on her face and Alex knows what's coming. Ugh, her mom may think she's helping Alex out but she totally isn't. If anything, that vein on her dad's forehead is going to explode, "Oh, Jerry," Theresa soothes her husband, "Alex is telling the truth, she hasn't done anything wrong."
Jerry relaxes slightly, lifting up his fork and bringing his food to his mouth, "Then what are you two being so secretive about?"
Oh god, Alex really hopes her mom is smart enough to wait until her dad has safely swallowed all of his food. "Alex met a boy!" She says gleefully.
Alex hears her father choking, cringes slightly before turning to her dad and defending her case. And oh, she doesn't think anybody is supposed to be that shade of red. "Mom! You couldn't have waited until he was done chewing?"
Max chimes in, "Whoa! Mom! I think you killed dad!"
Alex rolls her eyes at her brother and gets out of her chair at the same time as her mother; they both stand and pat her father on his back. She isn't sure if this is helping, he's still coughing. Eventually his coughs subside but he's still an unpleasant color. "What boy?" He says through gritted teeth.
Alex sits back down, "Oh god, calm down. So what I've met a boy. I've met a lot of boys at school." Her dad clenches his jaw, hard, she swears she can hear his teeth grinding. Uh-oh. Wrong thing to say. "Not like that! I'm just saying."
Theresa waves her husband off carelessly, sitting back down in her chair, "Oh, Jerry, calm down. It's only normal. She's an eighteen year old girl. It's perfectly fine for her to have a boyfriend."
Alex stares worriedly at her father, biting her lower lip anxiously, "Chill dad, we're just friends." She hates how disappointed she sounds about that fact but, whatever, it's true. He made it clear last week when he droned on and on about Chemistry for four and half hours. Four and half freaking hours! God, her lecture wasn't even that long. He still walked her to class every day but, things seemed awkward between them. There was a tension between them now.
Theresa's eyes soften and she reaches over to grip her daughter's hand momentarily, "Oh, honey, I'm sure he likes you, too. Don't worry, things will work out. You just have to let him know how you feel."
Jerry seems to breathing regularly again, but now seems upset for a completely different reason this time, "Who does he think he is, not liking you? How could he not? You're beautiful, smart, and talented. Is something wrong with him? Huh? Be honest, Alex. Something must be wrong with him if he doesn't like you."
Theresa and Alex both roll their eyes and turn their attention back to each other, "Seriously, don't worry. You just have to let him know. Ask him to do something with you. Go to the movies, something. Ooh!" Alex winces at the unbearable decibel her mother's voice just hit, "I know! Invite him over here for Thanksgiving! If he can put up with a Russo family dinner then he really loves you."
Alex is still rubbing her ear gingerly; she notices her dad and Max mimicking her motion. "Yeah, sure mom," she says finally.
She revels in the silence that occurs once she ends the conversation.
She rubs her ear lightly again, ugh, she's pretty sure her mom blew her right eardrum.
*****
There's snow on the ground the next Monday. Justin is still weird around her, not chattering endlessly like the previous weeks. Instead she's only greeted by the sound of snow crunching under their feet. She sips her coffee greedily; eager to rid herself of the cold that seeps into her bones. She swears, as soon as it turns to November the temperature plummets twenty degrees. She shivers slightly and pulls her coat tighter around her body.
Usually, Justin walks practically on top of her. He's keeping his distance now and she aches for his body heat and closeness. "Hey," she says suddenly, surprising herself, "What are you doing tonight?"
He stiffens for a moment, "Um, nothing?"
She smiles and walks toward him, looping her free arm through his, "Good. I'm coming over."
He tries to protest, opens his mouth to do so, but she lowers her hand, interlacing their gloved hands, and silences him.
*****
It takes her about twenty minutes, but she finds it. She smiles at the DVD case in her hand, tracing the letters in the title. She used to watch this all the time. It's one of her favorites, even if she doesn't speak the language. That's what the subtitles are for, duh.
Justin never understood her obsession with it. She tried to explain it, made him sit down and watch it with her countless times. He was always too critical. Analyzing every little detail. "How can you watch this?" He would always ask. "Pictures can't talk. Don't people realize that? Yet, these people talk back to them."
She would roll her eyes, "This is coming from the guy that watches movies where people fight with flashlights?"
His lips would disappear into a thin line and his jaw would clench, "Lightsabers, Alex. Lightsabers."
She would shrug and turn her attention back to the events occurring on their small television screen, "Whatever."
She hopes that this Justin will be quiet and just enjoy the movie.
*****
He lets her in after one knock, hell; she still had her hand up in the air when the door flew open. Someone seems eager for tonight. He's smiling at her, he's a little tense, but he seems much more relaxed than he has the past couple weeks.
"Hi," she says merrily, her lips curling up in response to his.
"Hey," he replies, his shoulders sagging as more tension leaves his body.
He lets her into the apartment, helping her out of her coat before hanging it up in the cramped hallway closet. She follows him to the living room, handing him the DVD. He looks at the case curiously, scanning the title with his eyes before opening the case and taking out the DVD.
He sits down next to her, remote in hand and fast forwards to the Menu. Once there he clicks play and Alex makes herself comfortable. She can't contain the grin on her face as the movie starts. This movie always makes her so freaking happy.
She can feel Justin tense next to her when the naked woman appears on screen. She doesn't look at him, but she knows he's blushing. Her brother always did that, too. She doesn't understand why. It's just a body. Maybe, that's the artist in her, she's never really been bothered by nudity, instead always finds the beauty in the nude human form.
He loosen ups once again after that. And tenses all over again during the orgasms scene. Alex laughs, she can't help it, "Chill, Justin, they're just having sex. It's okay."
He shoots her a glare but takes her advice. They make it through the movie without much incidence after that. He only talks when he has a question about a character, asking their name, what their history is, what Amelie is doing to help them. She tells him patiently, this is so much easier than it was watching it with her brother.
The movie passes by quickly, probably because she enjoys it so much, and she feels a warmth in her belly during the final scene between Nino and Amelie. She always does.
Justin shifts next to her, inching closer and closer to her. She doesn't pay him much attention because this is her favorite part, but she may cut him if he moves again in the next five minutes. She watches intently as Amelie kisses the corner of Nino's mouth, then kisses his pulse on his neck and ends kissing his left eyebrow. She sighs happily; this part turns her into a sappy girl. Every time.
Justin moves again and she turns to yell at him, because, is he kidding? Can he not tell that Nino is about to kiss Amelie? He shushes her before she gets the words out, kissing the corner of her mouth. Butterflies erupt in her stomach and her pulse quickens. "What are you doing?" She asks quietly when he brushes his nose against her neck, kissing her pulse.
"Shh," he says, running his nose across her cheek. She closes her eyes, sighs breathlessly, preparing herself for what's next. Sure enough, seconds later his lips are on eyebrow.
She opens her eyes, finds his grey ones staring at her intently. She nods, giving him all the permission he needs and seconds later she feels his lips on her own. Their chapped, but soft and warm and after a few seconds he runs his tongue over her lips.
She kisses him back fervently, moaning into his mouth and wrapping her arms around his neck.
Well, her mom was right.
But, she's not going to tell her that.
She smiles against Justin's lips and loses herself in the kiss. She'll ask him about Thanksgiving later.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed it! Thank you so much for your wonderful reviews. Hope you leave one. :)