Without Hate - Chapter 8
A/N: This one is mostly Alexis and Carly. The next chapters will focus on Sexis with Jarly.
Sonny gazed out of his Penthouse window. Images of Alexis flashed through his mind: the dress, the hair, her scent, her laugh. Physically, he ached for her. And yet, they'd never even kissed.
It had been torture holding her so closely on the dance floor, pretending to be content with only their friendship when he wanted so much more. She'd been preoccupied this evening and he couldn't help but wonder why. Every instinct he had screamed at him to go next door and hold her; to promise her that no matter what the problem, he'd fix it.
Jason descended the stairs. For a moment, he stood and watched Sonny, trying to determine what made him so somber. "Hey, did you have a good time with Alexis?"
"Yeah." Sonny rubbed the stubble on his face.
Never one to press, Jason waited.
On cue, Sonny continued. "Something's got her spooked. Wish I knew what it was."
"She'll tell you eventually." Jason patted Sonny's back. "Alexis means a lot to you, huh?"
"Yeah, we're friends."
Jason chuckled. "Right, just like me and Carly."
In Penthouse two, Carly and Alexis were having their own discussion.
"Why are you so freaked out that you might be pregnant? Trust me; having a kid's not that bad. I'll even let you share Leticia."
A small, sad chuckle escaped from Alexis's lips. "I wish it were that simple. I did something very wrong; something I totally regret."
"What could be so wrong?"
"I betrayed a friend."
"Betrayed a friend? You're not carrying Jase's baby are you? I've tried to ignore the looks I've seen between you." Carly propped her hands on hr hips.
Confusion etched across Alexis's brow. "What looks? I don't look at Jason."
"Why not? You think Jase's ugly?"
"Of course not. He's very handsome."
Carly suddenly looked like the cat that ate the canary. "Aha! I knew it! You do have a thing for Jase."
Alexis felt her patience wear thin. "No! Carly, IF I'm pregnant it's not Jason's. Jason kind of reminds me of the younger brother I never had."
"Good. Anything else I'm more than happy to help you get through." Carly may have been a new visitor to the girlfriends' camp, but she was only willing to make so many sacrifices for the cause. "So, how did you get knocked up?"
"I don't think I can say it out loud. You know I've never been impulsive. Playing by the rules is a good thing. The one time I do something I absolutely should not have...wait, there was the whole stupid thing with Luke, but that was more about illegality than morality."
"What thing with Luke?"
Alexis felt her face drop. "Forget you heard that."
Carly thrust her hands on her hips. "Will you just spill?"
Alexis shook her head, "no". "I'm afraid that once I say it, my life is going to speedball out of control."
"You might as well tell me. I've done enough that I can't judge anyone. Besides I'll find out anyway; trust me."
Alexis nodded. "It was one time; the night before I moved in here. Ned and I were fighting. He hadn't touched me in weeks. We never meant for anything to happen, but I guess we were attracted to each other." She let out a sob. "It never should have happened. Chloe is my best friend. She loves him and I should have never...but one thing led to another."
"Jax?" Carly's face remained expressionless.
Alexis nodded as she tried to fight back tears.
"So, your big secret is you might be pregnant by your ex-husband?"
Slowly, Alexis nodded.
"You are the most pathetic bad girl ever." Carly always assumed Alexis and Jax were sleeping with each other during their so-called marriage of convenience. So, Alexis's big revelation felt a bit anti-climatic.
"Chloe never slept with Ned while they were married."
"I don't blame her. I wouldn't have either." The thought made Carly's stomach turn. Ned was the most self-righteous man she'd ever met.
Alexis frowned at her.
"So why is having sex with Jax the end of the world?" Carly honestly didn't understand.
"Because, if Chloe ever finds out, it will wreck my friendship with her; it will ruin her relationship with Jax; it will ruin Jax's relationship with Ned and it will change things between me and Jax forever. I don't even want to think about what would happen if I'm pregnant."
"So don't." Tugging on her arm, Carly pulled Alexis up from the sofa. "You need to get some sleep. We'll deal with this in the morning."
Alexis drug herself slowly toward the stairs before she turned and surprised Carly with a hug. "Thanks."
Carly felt the tears well in her eyes. She hadn't felt this close to another woman in many years. In her mind, she vowed she'd help Alexis get through this, no matter what happened.
Morning broke and Alexis prepared herself to leave the fate of her future to a small plastic stick. She left the bathroom, too nervous to wait the required five minutes for the test results. Carly paced at the bottom of the stairs.
"Well?"
"Nothing yet."
Both women were surprised by the knock at the door. For a moment, they remained frozen; until they heard the knock again.
Alexis called out. "Who is it?"
"Chloe." The voice responded.
"Crap." Carly looked around frantically. "What should we do?"
Without a word, Alexis walked to the door and opened it. The moment she saw Chloe's tear-stained face, a chill ran up her spine. "Chloe, what's wrong?"
A sniffle came before a reply. "Jax and I had a huge blow-up."
Alexis invited Chloe in. On the off chance Chloe might like to use the restroom, Carly made an excuse and headed upstairs.
Chloe did her best to compose herself. "I don't think things are going to work out between us."
"Why?"
"He's keeping something from me. I think there may be someone else." Chloe had felt a distance between her and Jax for the last couple of months. He denied it, but she could tell even her questions made him uncomfortable.
Guilt rose from the pit of Alexis's stomach to the middle of her throat. "One thing I'm sure of is Jax loves you."
"I thought you and Ned loved each other too. Maybe the best thing to come out of our phony marriages was that we found out that none of us were supposed to be together."
"Just because it didn't work out between me and Ned doesn't mean you and Jax can't make it."
Chloe waved Alexis's words away. "I'm too tired to fight, Alexis. Jax's parents hate me and we always seem to have some obstacle in our way. I need some time away." She released a deep breath. "I came by to tell you, I'm going back to Europe...at least for a few months."
"What if I don't want you to go?" Momentarily forgetting about the messy situation that possibly lurked in the distance, tears flowed heavily from Alexis's eyes. She and Chloe had been through quite a bit together.
"The car downstairs is waiting to take me to the airport. I promise I'll keep in touch." Chloe stood and embraced her friend before she headed through the door.
Alexis leaned her back against the door. The tears flowed faster than she could wipe them from her eyes. Carly's raspy voice soon invaded her thoughts.
"Hey, you okay?" Carly called from the bottom step.
Alexis's eyes focused on the white plastic stick in Carly's hands. "You tell me."
