Chapter Five-
Marissa was glad that Alex was there for her; she didn't know if she'd have survived the first day if the blonde hadn't been there to comfort her. They'd skipped school that day, just catching up with each other, only returning at lunch for Alex to grab her books and introduce Marissa to Daniel and Annabel, her friends.
They'd spent the rest of the day at Alex's house. She'd been telling the truth when she said it was a 'borderline mcmansion,' it truly was, not quite as big as all the houses Marissa was used to, but it was spacious, well decorated, and to Marissa's surprise, clean.
"Did you finally learn how to pick up your beer bottles?" she asked in a joking tone as they walked through from the foyer to the living area, complete with beautiful burgundy carpet, stylish deep cream couches, a huge wide screen television and entertainment system.
"You're funny. I stopped drinking, figured that not being a bar tender anymore, no other place is going to serve me, I'm only 18 remember," she smiled, crossing the living room and disappearing behind a wall, returning seconds later with two sodas, "Thirsty?"
Marissa just grinned and took the soda Alex offered her, "Thanks," she smiled, following Alex over to the couch and sitting down beside her, placing her soda on the coffee table that sat between them and the television. "So, you enjoying this huge place all to yourself?"
"I'd enjoy it more if I had someone to share it with, but living alone in a huge place like this has it's advantages, dancing without getting laughed at for one," she smiled at the giggle that left Marissa's lips, "What? I dance, you've seem me dance, and I'm good."
Marissa laughed, "No, you think you're good, there's a difference here," she smiled as Alex playfully pushed her and she lost her balance and fell off the couch.
Laughing, Alex reached down and offered Marissa her hand, trying to control the mirthful tears that were falling from her eyes as she continued to laugh, Marissa joining in as she flopped back down on the couch, leaning over to bury her face in Alex's shoulder, pursing her lips to try and quell her laughter, her body shaking. "Sorry," Alex managed through her laughter, wiping the happy tears that had welled up in her eyes.
Marissa raised her head as her giggles subsided. "It's alright."
They smiled at each other, both their eyes shinning with mirthful tears. "You want to watch a movie or something?" Alex asked, standing up and crossing to the entertainment unit, "I've got… way to many to list."
Marissa smiled, standing up and grabbing her soda as she crossed the room and stood next to Alex, looking into the cabinet that was stacked with DVDs, so many crammed into the small space that Marissa wondered how she'd managed to cram them all inside without something breaking, "Ooh, Alias," she smiled broadly, "Please," she pouted at Alex who just continued to look at her with an amused expression, "Wait, is this mine?" she asked, pointing to the box set.
Alex continued to smile, looking slightly guilty, "Alex!"
Chuckling, Alex pulled out the box set and sat it on the coffee table, "Obviously you didn't miss it, and anyway, I brought it."
"For me," explained Marissa, picking up the box and examining it for scratches before looking at Alex with a smile, "Thank You, for everything you did for me back then, and now, you always knew how to look after me."
Alex just smiled, "Not a problem," she turned back to the cabinet and reached in, pulling out season two of Law and Order: SVU, "What do you think, want to watch Olivia and Alex make goggle eyes at each other?"
Marissa chuckled, "I always thought something was going on between them."
They settled into the couch, Alex pressing play with the remote that she pulled out from under the puffy burgundy cushions.
They watched the first episode in silence, "Ok, that's just sad," said Marissa, "How come I've never seem that episode before?"
"Dunno. I always like that one. It was Alex's first appearance, and I always love seeing smart people with my name, and a blonde to top it all off," she smiled at the expression on Marissa's face.
"You are a doofus, did I ever tell you that?"
Their playful banter was interrupted by Marissa's cell ringing, and she automatically reached into her bag to receive it. Looking at the display screen, her eyes widened.
She'd completely lost track of time, it was already the end of school, and Ryan was supposed to be picking her up. Begging her mind to come up with a reasonable excuse, she flipped open the phone, cheerfully greeting Ryan, trying not to sound too guilty.
She could imagine Ryan's reaction if he found opt that she was with Alex. Ryan had a short temper when it came to the blonde, maybe he could see that Marissa hadn't been the same sine Alex left, maybe it was a male ego thing, she didn't know, all she knew was that Ryan refused to talk about the time that Marissa had spent with Alex, whenever it came up, he urgently changed the subject.
"Hey," she said, mouthing 'Ryan,' to Alex who nodded sadly.
"Hey," she heard his voice on the other end of the line, "Where are you? I thought I was picking you up."
"Yeah, about that… I'm at a friends house, I met some people, they invited me over to get to know each other," she looked at Alex, trying to apologize with her eyes, "I'm really sorry," she said, more to Alex than to Ryan.
"It's alright, you have fun. Breakfast?" he asked, sounding slightly disappointed. She didn't hear him, to busy concentrating on the hurt expression on Alex's face. "Marissa?"
"What? Oh yeah, that sounds great, see you then," she hung up without waiting for his reply, trying to look Alex in the eye. "Hey, sorry about that. You alright?"
Alex nodded, briefly looking up at Marissa before returning her attention to the hand resting in her lap, "Fine. You want another drink?" she stood up without waiting for an answer, taking Marissa's empty soda and disappearing into the kitchen.
Marissa sighed, confused by her own feelings, wondering why she was lying to Ryan and why it hurt her so much that she'd hurt Alex's feelings by not telling Ryan about who she was hanging out with. "Well done Marissa, beautifully handled," she muttered to herself, standing up and following Alex into the kitchen.