It was the gentle sound of the waves lapping against the edge of the pier that awoke Alexis once morning arrived. Still feeling groggy, it took her a moment to recall the events of last night and just where she was. To her surprise, she was alone in Aster's impossibly soft bed, its owner nowhere in sight.
Taking a quick glance at the digital clock on the nightstand, Alexis was relieved to discover that she still had plenty of time to get ready for school, so Aster's unannounced departure couldn't have had anything to do with schedule demands as far as she knew. Heck, he didn't even attend classes.
Would it have killed him to wait for me to wake up? Alexis wondered. A part of her couldn't help thinking how nice it would have been to wake up next Aster, sharing a quiet moment of closeness between them. But apparently, Aster either didn't share that sentiment or he had just wanted to give her some space.
Trying to not dwell on her thoughts so much, Alexis proceeded to get ready as best as she could for the day (not having an extra set of clothes certainly didn't help her) by heading to the small, adjoined bathroom off to the side. Hopefully, Aster was at least still somewhere on the yacht once she was done.
Xxx
Once Alexis had made her way to the kitchen/dining room area of sorts on the yacht, she finally spotted Aster. He seemed to be in a hurry, moving around continually and alternating between putting things away in cabinets and drawers and checking his phone. When he saw her standing awkwardly near the entrance, he did give her a brief smile, but then immediately went back to typing away on his phone.
It was only after about five or so more minutes of his texting activity that Aster finally spoke to Alexis. "Hey, good morning! Sorry, but I gotta run right now. Just got word that there's some new duelists arriving today for the tournament, so I'm gonna be busy staking them out all day. I won't be back till later tonight, but feel free to stay as long as you want while I'm not here. Anyways, there's some cereal bars and whatnot somewhere around if you look hard enough and orange juice in the fridge, so help yourself. I gotta run, though. See you later!" Aster seemed to say all of this in practically one breath. Then with one last quick smile, he jogged out the door, not even giving Alexis a chance to say anything.
Alexis could only stare at the empty space where Aster had been. Was that it? Not a hug or kiss or even asking if she had any more nightmares? It was as if last night had almost never happened.
How can he just brush me off like that? Especially after we even slept together? Okay, it was really just sleep as in the literal sense of the word, but still! Alexis thought to herself frustratedly.
Alexis tried to tell herself she had no reason to feel so upset. They weren't an actual couple, and it wasn't like Aster had completely dismissed her since he had said he would see her later tonight. But she couldn't get rid of the nagging feeling that he had intentionally been evasive with her just now. What had she done wrong?
Xxx
It was hard for Alexis to believe Aster's rushed behavior had ever been present with how he was treating her now. Gently brushing her hair as they sat in bed together, he listened intently as Alexis recounted her newest Society of Light "dream". It was a disturbing scene in which she had yelled at insulted Atticus for sneaking into the white dorm in an attempt to reach out to her:
"But Lexi, I KNOW this isn't really you! I know you're still in there somewhere, so please, just hear me out!" Atticus pleaded desperately as he struggled against the other Society of Light members who were dragging him away towards the door. "That's where you're wrong, Atticus! Because this is how I've always wanted things to be! The Light has just finally given me the resolve I needed to act on that desire! I'm sick and tired of you always weighing me down and just using me to put yourself in the spotlight even more! So you can get lost now, loser!" Alexis retaliated. Atticus was then thrown outside the main entrance, the door only remaining open long enough for Alexis to viciously throw Atticus' guitar straight in his face.
Alexis stared down at her hands sadly as she finished telling Aster everything. "I can't help feeling that this was my punishment for ever resenting him in the first place like I did before," she confessed.
Turning to face Alexis, Aster put down the hairbrush and placed both his hands firmly on her shoulders, forcing her to look at him. "You and I both know that that's not true, Alexis. Not everyone is going to have a perfect relationship with their family; it's part of being human. And Atticus knows better than anyone that you were not yourself then and forgave you for it. The same as how you knew when he was possessed himself, too. You both never stopped trying to find each other."
Alexis smiled gratefully at Aster, letting her hand gently stroke his cheek. "Somehow, you always know just what to say to make me feel better."
Angling his face so that his lips brushed softly against the palm of Alexis' hand, Aster returned her smile. "What can I say? I have a gift. At least when it comes to you."
That moment was all it took to start another make-out session for Aster and Alexis. They had already had one earlier tonight when they had initially gone to sleep before Alexis' nightmare had woken her up, but this somehow felt even better with how easily it had ignited. It seemed like it was becoming more and more like that for Alexis each time; any simple contact from Aster was enough to set her senses ablaze.
Sometime during their kiss, Alexis felt Aster's tongue gently probe its way into her mouth. She gasped in surprise and arousal at the sudden move. There was nothing frantic or invasive about his sudden move; it was more like he was slowly tasting and giving her a first feel of it. In turn, Alexis found herself returning the gesture by trying to match her movements against his by letting her own tongue gently stroke his.
Eventually, Aster pulled himself out of their embrace once they stopped for air. It seemed to be his signal for when he thought they should end things for the time. Alexis noticed that he appeared just as dazed as she felt from the encounter.
"I hope that wasn't too sudden for you there. I've just been wanting to try that for awhile now," Aster admitted somewhat apologetically.
"Awhile"? Does that mean he liked me that much even when we were just friends? Just how long was that for him? Alexis couldn't help wondering. She couldn't help feeling touched by Aster's confession despite her surprise.
"Don't worry, I enjoyed that a lot, Aster. I didn't think I ever would after seeing how they usually make it look in movies. But let's just say this is a case of reality being way better than fantasy thanks to how you excel at this, too," Alexis reassured Aster with a slight tease.
Aster looked relieved. "I think that's all I can handle tonight, though. So let's try to get some sleep again."
Nodding in agreement, Alexis felt content for now. But she still couldn't shake off the nagging suspicion that Aster seemed to want to separate his time with her from the rest of his life with how he acted this morning. She didn't know why or even if she should try finding out more about it yet, though.
AN: I'm not sure if that was a very good description of them making out or not. Idk, maybe it was just weird? Anyways, I'm still working on the Destiny's Divergence update as well. I'm trying to finish one scene of a chapter every time I write, and I think it's working out alright so far.
