Once again, I'd like to thank everybody who read my story

You are all awesome!

A/N: this is by far my favorite chapter/part of the story…you guys will have to read it to know why…

I'll get you to it

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Alex was in her 3rd hour of her strokes training and she was exhausted already. "Is my favorite tennis player getting some already? You seemed so out of it." Alex coach asked her. She sat down and grabbed her towel from her bag. She wiped her face then her forearms then her face again. She took her cap off and finished a bottle of Gatorade.

"I think I have a date later…" Alex doubted the thought of having a 'date'. Her coach nudged at her and began teasing the teen. "Who is the lucky guy…or girl…you're good at both sides anyway." "I'm guessing you mean my tennis swings, right?" Alex and her coach tried to out do the other.

"No, seriously. Who are you going out with?" Her coach asked more seriously. They started to pack up their things in their bags. "Marissa" Alex said unexcitedly. Her coach stopped walking but Alex kept her stride. "Marissa? The Marissa Cooper that you had been madly in love with…" her coach wanted to make sure. " 'HAD BEEN' being the operative words there…yup! She's the one" Alex answered as she got in her Jaguar. She pressed the button for the top of her car to drop.

Her coach then leaned on the car door. "She finally said yes, huh" "More like I did" Alex answered as she pulled the handbrake. "She asked you out?" Her coach couldn't believe it. Neither did she…Alex nodded her head in response.

"Why aren't you jumping for joy?" Her coach noticed her disinterest. Alex took a deep breath and sighed. "I'm tired. 3 hours of hard training…I just won a tournament, you know…" Alex fired back trying to avoid the topic already.

Her coach tapped her car a couple of times and nodded his head. "Okay…you better get ready for your date…it may be your only chance" Her coach teased her. Alex shook her head and smiled. She switched the gear to first and she was on her way.

~o~o~o~

Marissa opened the door to the Kelly's residence with the set of keys Alex had given her in cases of emergency…and her pseudo date with Alex was that kind of emergency. "Hello?" Marissa asked as she entered the empty reception hall. She looked around at huge room and saw the massive painting of Alex and her parents. She smiled as she set her eyes on her best friend.

"Marissa?" Mrs. Kelly said as she looked down from the second floor on top of the staircase. "Hello Mrs. Kelly." Marissa waved at Alex's mom. Alex mom quickly went down and hugged Marissa. "You haven't dropped by in weeks. How are you parents?" Alex's mom took Marissa by her arm and led her to the kitchen. They sat on the breakfast table and one of the Kelly helpers gave them fresh lemonades.

"They're okay Mrs. Kelly. They had lunch somewhere and Kaitlyn is out so I figured I'd stop by and say hi" Marissa answered after she thanked the young lady who just gave them their drinks. "Jane, can you please give us the fresh cookies that I made. Thank You" Jane nodded her head politely at Mrs. Kelly as she got back to the kitchen island and prepared their cookies in a plate.

"How are you and Mr. Kelly?" Marissa asked courteously. "We're great, honey. Robert's busy since he skipped work for a week so we could support Alex… but we're very proud of Alex. Have you eaten lunch, honey?" Mrs. Kelly offered. Marissa shyly shook her head and smiled. Mrs. Kelly smiled wider. "We're still waiting for Alex to come back from her training and then we'll have lunch."

"Can we have lunch now? You two can still talk about me while we're eating" Alex interrupted the two. She walked over to her mom and kissed her cheeks. "Hi, mom" Mrs. Kelly hugged her daughter and Alex hugged back.

"So what have you told my best friend that would embarrass me?" Alex joked. The three laughed as Alex got to the refrigerator and drank a glass of water. "Oh you know, the usual…baby stories…you peeing on your bed…pooping, burping…getting all muddy…" Marissa answered lightheartedly. Alex went back to them and sat on the seat in between the two.

~o~o~o~

After lunch…

"So…prom is coming up" "Oh here we go" Alex interrupted her mom before she embarrassed Alex. Marissa just laughed at the two. She hasn't stopped laughing ever since they had lunch. Alex mom practically told Marissa all the funny stories about Alex. Stories she had heard before for many times already but still found it funny. There was something in the way Alex's mom delivered the stories over and over again.

"Alex told me you asked her to the prom" "MOM!" Alex gave her mom the look. Marissa almost fell from her seat from laughing now. "Please ignore her now" Alex pleaded. She reached for Marissa's hand that was on the table instinctively as she spoke. Marissa immediately felt the sparks and her laughter subsided. She looked at their hands and felt the butterflies again. Alex looked at what Marissa was staring at and immediately retreated her hand.

"Sorry" Alex apologized. Mrs. Kelly smiled happily for the two. She got up and left the best friends by themselves. "I didn't mean to…" "It's okay" Marissa interrupted Alex as she continued talking. She wished Alex would reach for her hand once more but Alex never touched her again.

"You know, we can go look for prom dresses now if you want…I have nothing else to do besides take a quick shower." Alex offered as she helped Jane fixed the small table. "Maybe we can hang out in your room first and wait for 5pm." Marissa suggested.

"Sounds great! I'm tired as hell and I want to get some sleep before we get tired again from shopping. I know how you love shopping." Alex said as she stood up and waited for Marissa to stand up as well. When she did, they walked together to Alex's bedroom.

When they got inside, Alex immediately took off her shirt and threw it in the basket. Marissa just watched wide-eyed as Alex nonchalantly stripped in front of her. Alex didn't really mind…more like she forgot she was not alone in her room. She went inside her bathroom and started the shower. Marissa looked around Alex's room, looked over Alex's DVD collection and picked one. She looked for the remote, sat on the edge of the bed and pressed a button. The wall, in front of Alex's bed opened and revealed a huge HD TV. She opened the side table on the left of Alex's bed. She then put the DVD in the player and got comfortable on the left side of Alex's bed…her side of the bed.

"What are you watching?" Alex had gone back from her very quick shower and looked at the screen. "The Story of Us" Marissa answered as she looked at Alex. Alex had a Kobe Bryant's Jersey, with his signature and her boxer shorts. "Cool! Michelle Pfeiffer and Bruce Willis were good there…"

Alex said as she walked to her side of the bed, nearer to her balcony. She got the excess pillows that were on her side of the bed and placed them on the lounge chair near the balcony. She took off her bedroom slippers then got under the sheets. She laid on one side and faced Marissa. She smiled at her and spoke softly. "If I fall asleep, wake me up at 4:30, okay?" Alex said. Marissa looked down on her and nodded her head.

These were the moments that Marissa had with Alex that she didn't have with Chris. The quiet times where they were just all alone, doing or not doing something together. Both looked at the television and watched quietly. Alex moved closer to Marissa and moved her foot in search for a part of Marissa's foot. Marissa smiled as Alex's cold toes touched her. She felt a tingle as electricity went through her body.

"Your toes are cold" Marissa said. "Aren't they always?" Alex fired back. It was always cold Marissa thought to herself and smiled even wider. When they had sleepovers when they were kid, until now, Alex would always search for Marissa's feet before she would fall asleep. She'd always say how cold Alex's toes were and Alex would always say those words back. Whenever Marissa moved and their toes loss contact, she'd always wake up and readjust her position so a part of their body would always touch…they always managed to find their way back together.

"Did I ever tell you how much I love your mom?" Marissa asked as the movie played. "She loves you too…probably more now than ever." Alex said while keeping her eyes on the screen. "She always picked your side every time we'd fight…some times I think she's your mom and Julie is my mom…like there was a baby swap in the hospital…but that was impossible. I'm older than you by 3 months." Alex continued as sleep slowly crept to her.

"Or we could be twins, we got separated at birth and our birth certificates were just fixed up so that it won't look that way." Marissa created a story. "Or that!" Alex agreed to Marissa's bogus suggestion. "Maybe that's why we're so close" "and why we couldn't get mad at each other longer than two hours" Alex finished Marissa's sentence.

Marissa started to giggle and Alex laughed softly. Alex's breaths were getting deeper and deeper. Her eyes could barely keep themselves open. "Thank God we're not twins…or related…" Marissa looked at Alex and saw that Alex had fallen asleep. She poked Alex's side, where she was ticklish and noticed that Alex didn't even move a single hair or muscle. Alex's breathing got deeper and deeper. Marissa watched as Alex's shoulder and diaphragm moved up and down. She tucked a stray hair from Alex's face behind her ear and looked at Alex's peaceful face. She always wore a smile as she slept beside Marissa.

"Hey Alex…you up?" Marissa asked again. She waited for a while for an answer but Alex stayed unmoved. She narrowed her eyes and checked again. She grabbed Alex's hand and placed it on her ass. She waited for a reaction but she got none. She smiled wider, convinced that Alex was already asleep. "This is probably the best time to tell you something." Marissa started as she moved even closer to Alex, careful not to move her feet to prevent Alex from waking up.

She positioned herself so their faces were level at each other. Marissa took a deep breath and cupped Alex's face with her hand. She gently traced Alex's lips with her thumb and licked her own lip. She brushed her nose on Alex's and took another deep breath.

Then she made her move.

She closed her eyes and leaned in. She kissed Alex softly. She missed the feeling of her soft lips on her, the sweet taste of it and the feeling it gave her. Even though Alex didn't kiss back, every bit of that kiss was amazing. She pressed on Alex a bit more, trying to memorize every feeling, every scent and every meaning behind their kiss. She moved back after a while before she lost control. She looked at Alex and was relieved that her best friend didn't move…her breathing stayed the same and her hand was still where Marissa had position them. Marissa kissed Alex's cheek on her way to Alex's ear.

"I'm madly in love with you"

Marissa kissed Alex again as she absently pressed the off button on the remote. The screen died down and the wall closed. She grabbed Alex's arm and gently positioned it so she could sleep on Alex's arm. She grabbed Alex's other arm and enclosed herself with it. She turned her back on Alex and moved backwards so their bodies were touching. Alex had her face nestled on Marissa's nape and her breathing kept giving Marissa shivers…the good kind. Marissa closed her eyes and wore the biggest smile on her face. She felt at ease surrounded by only Alex. She felt comfortable and soon she found herself falling asleep. She blinked a few times, trying hard not to fall asleep…but she did.

Marissa closed her eyes as she submitted. She weaved her fingers with Alex's as she wrapped herself tighter with Alex's arms. As Marissa's breathing became deeper, their bodies moved in rhythm together. Both of them were lost in their dream…neither barely moved.

But only one of them had her eyes closed.

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