"Peter!" I called, opening his door. "How are you feeling today, sir?"

He groaned, clearly still half-asleep. "I've been better. How's the study going? Have you heard anything on the status of it?"
I frowned. "It won't start for another month or so. Until then, we're going to have to just sit tight. There aren't that many volunteers for this sort of procedure." I explained. I washed my hands and slipped on gloves. It was starting to wear on me when I had to repeat things.

I didn't know if I should mention that Alex was here, or not. Peter wasn't stable recently, and his memory waivered more when he was under stress. Would Alex being here be stressful, though? I wondered. I also didn't know if Alex could handle seeing his dad like this, in his current mental state. I shrugged it off and decided to keep it a secret a little while longer, just until I could stabilize Mr. Gaskarth's condition.

That night, Alex was waiting in my apartment for me to get home. He wasted no time before speaking.

"So, I know you're tired, and I know it's been a long day for you, but I don't have anywhere else to go." He hung his head. "If you really don't want me here, I can get a hotel or something, I just would rather be around someone that doesn't make me want to jump off a cliff. This city doesn't feel like home anymore. Not to mention, the press is out on a manhunt for me because of my little outburst..."

I furrowed my brow and took in the scene around me. My normally clean apartment was a mess, with pizza boxes, empty beer cans, and clothes strewn about haphazardly around the living room.

The mess stressed me out a little, but it wasn't enough to make me want to kick him out.

"Besides," he continued, clearly unhappy with my lack of response. "I owe you one." In his outstretched hand he held an ice pack. "For your head."

I eyed the ice pack and my head throbbed from the hit I took from Alex's fist earlier.

"Okay, you can stay." I sighed. His eyes lit up. "Really? You mean it?"

"Yes. I mean it." He ran over to me and gave me a giant bear hug.

"I really do need to be getting to bed, though." I yawned. "I put in a 14 hour workday today."

"Yes! Yes of course!" he swept me off my feet and carried me to my bedroom. "I'd help you undress, but that might get me thrown out." He kissed my forehead and walked out of the room.

What the actual fuck? I thought to myself. I thought to myself. It was getting hard for me to comprehend Alex's emotions. He goes back and forth from asshole to Prince Charming and it was confusing as fuck.

I stared at the closed door and picked up my phone to distract myself from Alex's ever-present mood swings, though I couldn't deny feeling slightly giddy from his outward displays of affection towards me.

Don't get too excited, I thought. He's just sad and lonely because of his dad.

I flipped though my phone's password to see what I had on my phone. As expected, there were several unopened messages from my very recent ex, Jonathan. The busyness of the past few days had drawn my attention away from my recent breakup, and I surprised myself by how little I had actually thought about it. I must be making progress, I thought.

Jonathan and I ended on okay terms. Conflicting work schedules and lives that weren't meshing together caused the breakup. We both worked for the hospital, though Jonathan was on the philanthropy board. He was scheduled to leave for Nigeria in a few months and remain there indefinitely. I knew that he wanted the trip more than anything, and I supported him, but I didn't want that kind of future. We eventually made the decision to split, because it wasn't working for either of us and all it did was cause us stress. For the past few weeks, I'd been avoiding his calls and texts, but tonight felt different.

I almost felt like I could handle seeing what he had to say. I hesitantly opened his thread and scanned the messages I'd ignored for so long.

The most recent message caught my eye.

"I don't want you out of my life. I've been thinking. Maybe Baltimore has more opportunity for me than Nigeria. I love you, Lauren. Please give me a call."

My heart stopped. I definitely could NOT handle this. This was not what I was expecting. The tears stung my eyes and I buried my face in the pillow.

I needed someone. I was so lonely. It finally hit me that maybe I was constantly keeping busy to hide the void that I felt in my life, a void that work did not satisfy. A void that could only be filled through being in love with someone else. In that moment I wanted nothing more than Jonathan to be in bed with me, like he used to. I sighed as the memories came flooding back.

A soft knock at the door awoke me from my daydream.

"Hey, can I come in?" Alex asked, peering through the cracked doorway.

I quickly wiped my eyes and nodded. He stepped through the dark room and climbed beside me in bed.

"I kind of wanted to talk to you." He whispered, laying on his side so he faced me.

I looked him in the eyes and nodded, unable to say anything.

"Well, while you were gone today, some guy came by your apartment." He started. My face fell. The only man that would have come by here was Jonathan, and I did not want the two of them to mix. "And by 'some guy' I mean Jonathan fucking Cook." He sighed, "Really, Lauren? HIM? Of all people?"

My face fell and I lowered my gaze.

"I mean, what happened?" asked Alex, his tone lightening slightly. "Aside from the obvious fact that he was the lead singer in the biggest rival band of All Time Low for years before retiring to be a doctor. I know we've grown up and stuff, but I'm not over it! They almost stole our gig at prom!"

"He's not the same guy anymore." I smiled slightly. "But as for us, our lives just didn't match." I whispered. "He wanted to go to Nigeria. For his philanthropy work. It's really important to him."

"Oh…" Alex's face twisted into a thoughtful expression. "I don't see why he'd choose Nigeria over you, though." He half smiled at me.

"Wouldn't be the first time a guy chose a dream over me." I mumbled, turning away from Alex. "Look, I'm really tired. It's been a long day."

"Lauren…" Alex sighed and I felt the bed shift. "You can't blame me for that."

"You're right." I answered after a long pause. "There was nothing left for you here."

"You make it sound like I just threw you away," his voice was starting to sound angrier by the second. "You have no idea how hard that was. I tried to take you with me."

I sat up and shook my head. "I'm not talking about this tonight. I have bigger problems than a guy I dated when I was 16."

I regretted it instantly when I saw the hurt flash across his face. He immediately regained his composure and his expression hardened. "Well, in that case, I'm going to leave you to it."

He hopped off the bed and exited the room.