CHAPTER EIGHT: as lovers go
Alex pulled a t-shirt over her head and slipped on a pair of jeans. She was trying to figure out why the hell she had told Marissa to stay. What was she going to say to her? I love you? I've loved you for years? Alex knew Marissa already knew that and apparently she didn't care. She was with Ryan wasn't she? So how was Alex going to change her mind? Should she even try to change her mind? She was married for chrissakes, and Alex didn't date married men or women. But apparently there was an exception, Marissa. Alex just couldn't seem to keep away.
Marissa took a seat on the couch and ran her fingers along the seams of the couch. She could vividly remember the first time she had sat on one of Alex's couches. Her mind drifted.
"Alex." She called, looking around. "Hey Alex!"
"Hold up!" Marissa heard a voice call. She walked over to the main room and sat down on a beat-up old sofa. Just being in the same house as Alex as giving her chills, but you know, the good kind of chills. A few minutes later Alex walked into the room, wearing pair of ripped jeans, a Franz Ferdinand shirt, and a pen stuck behind her ear.
"Hey." Alex said, brightening up when she saw that it was actually Marissa sitting on her couch.
Marissa sat back on the couch, but squealed suddenly and shot up.
"Something bit me!" She said, putting her hand on the small of her back. and practically dancing around the room. Alex started laughing, but stopped when Marissa glared at her. Alex smiled apologetically and crawled over to the sofa to find whatever had 'bit' Marissa. Marissa hung over Alex's shoulder, watching carefully. Alex was having some trouble concentrating with Marissa standing so close. She could feel the brunette's breath in her ear. Marissa's face was so close to Alex's. Alex stopped crawling and sat up a little, unconsciously trying to get closer to Marissa. Marissa leaned close to Alex, inhaling her scent, her lips a centimeter from the blonde's neck.. There was a freckle right behind her ear. She was barely resisting the urge to kiss the older girl right . . .on. . . that. . . freckle. Marissa slowly leaned closer. 'What the HELL?', she thought quickly pulling away, her heart racing
Marissa's brain skipped forward a few minutes.
Alex moved her lips on Marissa's and brought her hand up to the brunette's cheek. Marissa ran her fingers through Alex's hair and returned the kiss, just as fiercely. Marissa was glowing and she grinned into the kiss. Alex smiled back, both of them completely forgetting the world around them.
Marissa pulled herself back to the present when she heard the door to Alex's bedroom open quietly. She looked up to see Alex paused at the door, wearing the exact Franz Ferdinad t-shirt from five years ago.
"I was just thinking about-", Marissa started to say, but stopped. She was used to saying whatever came to her mind while she was with Alex, confident in the fact that Alex would accept whatever she said and love her anyway. That habit wasn't working out to well for her. Alex raised her eyebrows ad glanced down at her t-shirt, where Marissa was staring.
"Our first kiss?" Alex guessed correctly. "I was wearing this shirt, wasn't I?" Then Alex looked at Marissa's hands fiddling with the couch.
"The first time you were on my sofa?" It was scary how well Alex could read Marissa, even though they'd only been together for a week, years ago. Marissa nodded mutely. 'Our first kiss.' Marissa thought. She and Alex were the only ones who knew about it. Like a little sweet secret between them. Alex sat down in one of the armchairs. Marissa found words slipping out that she hadn't thought anyone would ever hear.
"You were looking in the sofa for that needle and I was standing behind you and all I could think about was this little freckle behind your ear and I just wanted to kiss it. . ." Marissa trailed off, looking off out the window. Alex grinned.
"I do not have a freckle behind my ear." She said.
"Yes you do" Marissa said, grinning back. "I definitely remember it. I don't think I ever kissed it though." Alex laughed.
"One your regrets?" She joked, but Marissa was quiet, staring off into space.
"Actually, yeah." She said softly, smiling at Alex. "So, what did you want to talk about?" She asked, but Alex was still stuck on the freckle statement.
"Huh?" She asked, then remembered. "Oh yeah. I just . . " She stopped, considering what to say. "I guess I just didn't want you to leave."
"Well it'd be the first time I left." Marissa said. Alex shot her a hurt look, but quickly hid it.
"So, are we going to this party?" Alex asked and Marissa nodded.
"Yeah, here's your dress. I just need to go do something and then I'll be back." Alex shrugged.
"Give me a sec, I'll go with you." she offered and Marissa nodded.
"I'll wait downstairs." Marissa said and went out the door before Alex could stop her again. She knew that if Alex had said a single word she would have stayed. Stayed all night.