Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own The Tribe. Kinda wish I did but that's another story.

He was quiet as he crossed the room and sat at the edge of the bed. "Siva, I want to…"

"No," she cut him off, "I really just don't want to hear it."

Lex stood and began pacing the room. "What on earth are you angry about? Please tell me something.

She sat up and looked at him. "That girl you've been keeping is…"

"No, you were pissed at me before Rose showed up. Siva, I just don't know what I did this time."

"You're… you're, you're just you Lex."

"Well, I was me when we met and I've been me all the whole time I've been with you, so what's your excuse now?"

She moved and sat on the edge of the bed. "I don't know."

"I don't like fighting with you." He sat beside her.

"I don't like fighting with you, either."

"So what are we gonna do about it?"

"I can't stand you lying to me, Lex."

"You've got to trust me sometimes when I tell you I'm not lying."

"Were you keeping that girl in the city?"

"No, I wasn't. Rose and I were friends before the virus. I ran into her, with you," he emphasized, "at the carnival. That night I went back and talked to her again."

"What did you talk about when you went back?" there was an edge of annoyance in her voice.

"The people we used to know. Just what happened since…everything."

She nodded and looked at the floor. "I believe you."

"I haven't seen her since that night."

"Till you took a walk with mouse yesterday."

"Yes."

"I have no reason to believe you."

"No, you don't but I'm telling the truth."

She nodded. "Can I think about it awhile?"

He nodded and stood, "I've never lied to you Siva, never."

Lex wandered around the mall. He had tried to sit still but he just couldn't. Talking with Siva had made him think about far too many things. He swore up and down that he never lied to her but that had been just another lie. There were so many lies. Not so much lies, he thought, more like omissions. He never told her Ebony was actually the one that convinced Ram to let her go. He never told her he had been selling paradise. He didn't tell her he and Rose had been more than friends. Even when he told her he wasn't lying he lied about going outside with Mouse. He didn't lie technically. She just didn't ask exactly what happened; she assumed he took Mouse for a walk. And anyway even if he was lying he was doing it to protect Mouse, he rationalized. Maybe he was as bad as everyone always said. He wanted to laugh at himself. His entire life people had been telling him what a horrible person he was and he was just now starting to believe them. Rose never listened, he thought. Everyone, her parents, he teachers, her friends, told her she was crazy for even thinking of dating him. They told her he never could be with one girl, he drank and smoked and he would hurt her in the end. But she just brushed the off. She stayed with him for six years. And he absolutely never did anything to betray her trust. Maybe that was the difference. Rose trusted him completely. Or maybe it was because Rose was as bad as he was. She drank and smoked and had quite a reputation too. No, he thought, despite everything she was always a good girl. Sure he had flirted with other girls. He flirted with every girl it was an unconscious thing for him but Rose never minded. She teased him a bout it and all his attention always focused back completely on her. And when people asked her why she never got angry she just said that she knew him better than that. She knew she didn't have to worry about him doing anything. Siva didn't really even know him as a person. She only knew what everyone told her and she obviously never really trusted him. She did to an extent but only when things were how she wanted. Sometimes it seemed like if he even spoke to another girl he was cheating. Even if it was just Trudy of Salene. If he didn't agree with her every word she took it as a personal attack. There were fewer and fewer things he could remember her thinking he did right. Lex knew he loved Siva he was simply beginning to have a hard time remembering why. He had hoped talking things over with Siva would help smooth things over at very least. The more he wandered and the more he thought back about what had been said the more he realized that there might be no fixing things. He realized suddenly that he had been pacing for hours, most of the day actually. And without even noticing he was back where he started. The room was still silent. He debated going in and reliving whoever was sitting at Rose's bedside. Without warning Mouse came tearing out of the dark room and ran straight into him.

"Lex, Lex come quick!" she grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the door.

"What is it, Mouse." He quickly reclaimed his hand.

"She's waking up!"

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