Alex left thinking Marissa didn't love her. Few years later they meet again, they have to work in the same place in LA. Marissa is now engaged to Ryan. Alex goes for the get some, get gone routine. Appearances from old friends and new ones.
Don't own anything.
Thoughts are in italic.
Flashbacks are in bold.
AN: Thanks to WonderousPlaceForAnEcho, caesaraugusta, drumstiix, andygirl007, shassy25, Seventh Theory and Ashley for the reviews.
shassy25, a jealous Alex? i like it... maybe we'll see her soon...
Okay, i know this is getting old, but i'm sorry for taking this long to update. Truthfully, i didnt have much time, and when i did have the time i had absolutelly no idea of what to write. I had really good help from andygirl007, basically all of the ideas in this chapter are hers. Therefore i really wanted to thank her for it.
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Chapter 23 - A Not So Quiet Afternoon
By the time Alex got out the bathroom, Marissa was already awake waiting for her.
"Good morning" The blonde said.
"Morning. Sleep well?"
The blonde was taken aback by the comment, wondering if Marissa hadn't been sleeping that morning, therefore Alex took a moment to analyze it. Deciding that there was no hidden meaning behind that sentence, Alex finally answered it.
"Yeah, sure. What about you? Sleep well?"
"Yeah. Great actually." The other girl answered "Better sleep I got in a very long time" Marissa continued with a smirk, making her way to the bathroom, and leaving the blonde once again to wonder if Marissa wasn't all that innocent in the whole thing.
--
"So, what do you wanna do on our last day here?" Alex asked as they had breakfast.
"I'm not sure. How about we just walk around for a while?"
"Okay. But are you sure you don't wanna see those big castles and museums and things like that? I know you marked some of them on the map."
"Yeah, I'm sure. I just wanna enjoy a quiet day with you." Did I just say that out loud? Marissa thought.
"Okay" What was that supposed to mean? Alex thought as she stared at the brunette, Marissa realized that and decided she needed to say something to change the subject and clear the mood.
"Besides, we'll have plenty of time to see big castles and museums while we are here. We still have 8 cities to see."
"True. So, walking it is"
--
It was cold, but the girls were wearing winter coats, and didn't mind. Besides, the cold gave them a chance to scoot together as a way to warm each other up. They were walking around an average sized park. It was big enough to get lost in, but still possible to see the same faces walking around. That is, if there were many faces to be seen, because seeing that most people were working the park was pretty much empty.
"So, what do you think of our little trip?" Marissa asked.
"Little?"
"You know what I mean."
"I think I like it. I've always wanted to meet Europe." The blonde answered.
"Yeah, me too. France. I think I'll love France."
"Yes, when you get to all those fancy stores and manage to buy every single item in them, you'll have fulfilled your dream."
"Haha. Very funny." Marissa responded, giving the blonde a little push.
"Thought so."
"Alright, then, smartass. What's the one place you really want to meet?" They found a bench and sat down, making sure to be in contact of each other.
"I wanna see everywhere, but right now, Italy. Rome. I think I'll love it."
"I hear it's beautiful." Just like you. The brunette thought.
"Yeah. That's what they say"
"If you could be anywhere, be anyone, do anything, what would you do?"
"I would be me, living in LA, working in a club." Alex answered.
"Wouldn't you change anything?"
"I don't think so. I like my life. I love my friends, my job, my freedom. Why? Do you wanna be someone else?"
"I don't know. Sometimes, I feel I'm not where I'm supposed to be" Marissa said carefully, she wasn't sure how much she willing to admit, how much she could admit both to Alex and to herself.
"And where are you supposed to be?"
With you. The brunette thought.
During the entire conversation, they had unconsciously moved closer together. And only at the moment the two girls realized how close their mouths were. Marissa let her hand caress the blonde's face, as her vision alternated between Alex's eyes and lips.
They were both too far gone to remember why they shouldn't be doing this, why Marissa shouldn't just lean in and kiss Alex, and that was what she decided to do. But before their lips connected, Marissa's phone started to ring.
"Hey, Summ" The brunette said, after she checked the caller ID, trying to sound normal.
"Hey. Is the time right? I didn't call you in the middle of the night or something, did I? You sound funny."
"Nope. It's the middle of the afternoon." Marissa replied, not allowing her voice to tremble. Much.
"Good. I just called to check up on you, Coop. I haven't heard from you in ages."
"Summer, we talked two day ago."
"Exactly, way too long. You were supposed to call me every day." Summer replied somewhat disappointed.
"Sorry?" There was no trace of regret in Marissa's tone, after all she was still frustrated with Summer's interruption.
"Damn right you are. Now tell me, how are things going?" Summer decided to ignore the other girl's tone.
"It's okay. Everything is good. It's like we are on vacation."
"Speaking of we, how is Alex?"
"She's fine too. At least, she seems to be."
"Good. Say hi to her for me"
"Summer said hi." Marissa told Alex
"Tell her I said hi back"
"Sum, she said hi back."
"Okay. She's with you now." It wasn't a question.
"Yeah."
"You two are getting really friendly to each other"
"Yes" Marissa said wondering where the conversation was going.
"Is there something I should know about?"
"No, not really. Why?" Marissa wasn't about to tell Summer about their pretended kiss/make out section, nor the moments the seemed to be getting into lately, specially not with Alex by her side.
"No reason, just asking"
"Okay. What about you? Everything all right?"
"Yeah, it's great. Seth is being Seth, which means he keeps on annoying me to no end. But that's why I love him anyway. Oh, yeah. Your mother called, she said you haven't called her ever since you left to Europe, and I think she's depressed about it."
"I completely forgot to call her." With Alex by her side all the time, Marissa was having trouble focusing on other things.
"No need, she said she was going to call you today. Just wanted to give you the heads up."
"Thanks."
"Sure. I have to go. But call me tomorrow."
"Okay, talk you tomorrow then."
"All right. Bye."
"Bye."
"Hey, do you wanna get an ice cream?" Alex asked, just as Marissa hung up the phone, the blonde didn't want to leave any room for an awkward conversation.
"Are you serious?" Marissa answered giving her an 'are you crazy' look.
"Yeap." Truthfully that was the first thing that came to Alex's mind, but it worked to take the spotlight off of the almost kiss.
"It's freezing"
"Not really, you are just being a baby." The blonde said matter of factually.
"You've got two coats on." The brunette responded in the same tone.
"So do you."
"Yes, but I'm not the one saying we should get an ice cream"
"But,-"
"Are we really having this discussion? 'Cause we both know that I'll win it. Can't we just skip to that part?" Marissa cut the blonde off with a smile.
"I can not believe you just said that." Alex replied laughing
"Why? It is true." The brunette continued with the teasing.
"In that case, I'll get myself an ice cream."
"Now, look who is being a baby."
"I'm not. But just for that you are not getting any" The blonde replied "ICE CREAM!" Alex continued quickly, once she realized what she had said.
As the blonde left to get said ice cream, Marissa couldn't hide her smile at the other girl's cuteness.
--
Alex was walking back with her vanilla ice cream and a chocolate cookie for a very spirited brunette. Only said girl was nowhere to be found. The blonde had looked where she left Marissa, but found no one. Where is she? She wouldn't have gotten back to the hotel, would she?
"Marissa? Marissa! Maaariiissaaaaaa!" Alex screamed in the middle of the park, an almost got ran over by a guy. "Hey, watch it!" But he probably didn't understand what she said, also he didn't stop.
"Alex" The blonde heard faintly and followed the voice. She found Marissa leaning against a tree, holding herself.
Alex ran to her, dropping everything she was holding.
"Marissa, are you okay?" The blonde asked, holding her.
"Ye-yeah." Marissa replied, but her voice was telling a very different story.
"What happened?"
"Th-this g-g-gu-gu-guyy, a-a-after yo-o-oou lef-left, h-h-h-he lo-o-o-oked, h-he looked so-so much li-li-like him. Ju-ju-just l-l-l-li-li-li-ke Tr-Trey." Marissa's voice was shaking.
"Marissa, ssshhh. Calm down, okay? Take deep breaths" Alex said holding her tighter, as the brunette did as she was told. "Now, tell me. What happened?"
"Af-after you left, I was looking around, wai-waiting for you to come back. Then this guy c-ca came up to me and pushed me against the tree. H-he had a knife. He held it-it against my neck." And sure enough, there was a small cut in Marissa's neck, close to her left ear. "He seemed angry, pushing and pulling me. Talking. I told him I couldn't understand him over and over again. But he didn't stop. He kept grab-gr-grabbi- He kept grabbing me" At that Marissa stopped talking, letting a few tears run down her face.
"Marissa, he can't get to you anymore. I'm here, I won't let him." And the brunette believed her, that moment she knew she could trust Alex to keep her safe, to take care of her.
"I gave him my purse and my cell. He took my cell, my money and credit cards, but he let my wallet and my purse on the floor. I thought he had gotten what he wanted and would leave me alone. Th-then he seemed to change his mind. He came to me and pushed me against the tree again, this time he didn't have a knife. He grabbed my ass, I tried to fight back, but he was stronger. His hands were everywhere, touching me. I couldn't free myself, I had already given up trying and then, out of nowhere, he stopped. I think he heard your voice. He made sure he had what he had taken from me and ran. I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't shown up."
Alex was having a hard time controlling her anger, she was sure that the man that almost raped Marissa was the man that had bumped into her, and she wanted to beat the hell out of him. But she was also angry with herself for letting Marissa alone, for allowing him the possibility of hurting her. Rationally, she knew the brunette was an adult and very much capable of taking care of herself, but Alex wasn't thinking with much rationality at the moment.
"I'm sorry I let you alone. I promise it won't happen again. You have nothing to worry about anymore, he won't get to you. I won't let him."
"It wasn't your fault, Alex." But she could help hoping that the blonde would follow her word and never leave Marissa's side again.
--
They had just reached their room and Marissa still hadn't let go of Alex. Throughout all the time they stayed in the park, called the police and gave them their statement, the brunette clung to Alex, as if the blonde was the air she breathed.
Alex led Marissa to the bed, where both girls laid down. The brunette was half on top of Alex, who was placing small kisses on the other girl's forehead.
"Marissa?" Alex had finally built up the courage to ask the question that had plagued her mind ever since Marissa told her what happened.
"Yes?"
"Who is Trey?"
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There you go. That's all for tonight. Hope you liked it.
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