Chapter 3: Time Heals Everything

Alex braced her self-tight up against an alleyway wall. Her face was red with aggravation and her fist white from clutching them to herself for the long walk away from Paige. 'What am I doing?' Alex thought. Paige had come to see her, and she was screwing it up by walking away. She bit her bottom lip and focused her eyes on something to get her mind of off the astonishing blonde. "I can't think of her right now. Not with everything happening with my family…what if she leaves me for Spinner…I wouldn't be able to handle it. I wouldn't even be able to stand up to her. I'm the 'bad-ass' and I'm taken by some confused cheerleader. I'm not confused." She reminded herself about the night after She and Paige had broken up. That night was the night she had ran into Jay sitting on her couch and watching football. When he turned around, she told him there was no hope. She knew for a fact that she was never confused. She was jealous when Paige was with Spinner. But thanks to him, that's how she met Paige in the first place. Paige wrecking Spinner' car into that jackass Dean's car, she had to get a job. Alex realized then that Paige would become a part of her that wouldn't be replaced anytime soon.

Alex looked from the ground and up to a slender body standing next to her. Paige was crying out of breath.

"I ran, all the way, here." She sobbed a bit, trying to catch her breath.

"Why, Paige?" Alex whispered.

"Because, I wanted, to catch, up with you."

"Paige," Alex looked into the blue eyes starring back at her. "Do you remember when Spinner got you fired from the Theater?"

"Yea, what about it?" Paige remarked, finally being able to speak properly.

"I got the job back for you. I saw you there, and I saw how he was treating you. I knew then you didn't deserve to be with a guy like that. And for a while, you weren't with any guys. I had you all to myself. Then you started hanging over Mr. O. What was I to do, Paige? The woman that I was falling madly in love with," she paused, giving her fakest smile ever, "Was falling into the arms of another sleazy guy. He wouldn't appreciate her worth, her beauty, or her intelligence."

Paige bit down on her lower lip, looking down at Alex's feet.

Alex continued, "But then I got to thinking about it one night all alone in my room, and I thought, "Am I any better then those guys? Would I even be better than Dean?" I knew I could hurt you so horribly, that you might be afraid to be with anyone else. So, what did I do? I saw that when Matt came back into town, and he had hurt you, again and again. This time, he gave you as present, this time; he gave you something that would at least take that pain away for a momentary fake bliss. And I was right there with you. Because I knew you needed that joint. Maybe, I don't know, maybe it wasn't the smartest thing to do, but I knew, I knew deep down, that if I couldn't be with you, I could at least try, in my own messed up, fucked up way, to make you feel a little better."

"I remember. I almost didn't get into Banting."

"I know…and a part of me didn't care about Banting, or what Mr. O would think, it wasn't about any of that."

"Then what was it about Alex? Were you trying to make me look like a complete…"

"It was just about you. It always has been." Alex cut Paige's sentence off. "Even when we were dancing together at the movie premier, and Jay came up, I wanted to do nothing more than protect you, and make you feel better, because Mr. Smith cut you out. Because you deserved that night more than my need to want to go out and have a good time, to get away from the craziness at home. I wanted to go because of you. I went and danced and tricked the damn bouncer, because I knew you would enjoy yourself. You would be magnificent. And that's when I knew."

"What?" Paige took Alex's hand in her own, lacing there fingers together.

"That's when I knew I was better than those guys. I knew what you needed. And yea, I screwed up because I got scared about the future. Banting won't accept me, I don't have the money for it, but I could find somewhere to go. I could find a college around you that would accept me. And I got so excited. But then I started thinking about how I don't want to know what the future will entail for me; I just know I want it with you. I know that's what I want in my future. Screw college or a job. I know that doesn't make you happy to hear, but that's not what is on my ten year plan, Paige. I know that loving you is." She leaned in, her lips closing in on Paige's pout teary lips, and kissed them slowly, grazing her soft lips against Paige's and back again.

After a while, Paige stepped back and looked into Alex's eyes. "Fuck Banting…"