Episode 9

Lexi maintained an irritated silence. She was sitting in the backseat of Connor's SUV, having been unceremoniously pushed in there when Laurel, Wes and Connor came storming down from Wes' apartment as if they were being chased by the cops. She hadn't even had time to protest before Connor started the SUV and followed Rebecca down the street.

"If one of these idiots touches my car, I'm going to run them over," Connor snapped, glaring at a few celebrating students that were coming a little too close to his precious SUV. Lexi looked around in irritation. They were moving at snail's pace. Not to mention that the cheering and screaming coming from outside was starting to make her head ache. Shouldn't they be studying at the moment?

"Still not picking up?" Laurel asked, concerned, as Wes put his phone down with a huff. Lexi sank back into the seat. While Wes was sweet and she didn't want to hurt his feelings, she couldn't help but wonder why they were sitting in the middle of insane traffic, trying to follow a girl that could clearly take care of herself. They had exams in a few days!

Connor sighed. "How do you even know she's at Annalise's? I mean, maybe she got hungry, or went to score some drugs."

"She went there," Wes replied firmly.

"I know, that's what you keep saying, but I'm suggesting otherwise." Connor was clearly trying to keep his cool. Lexi frowned, poking his shoulder roughly, and giving him a 'what the hell?' look in the rear-view mirror. Connor sighed and turned to look at the stone-faced Wes. "I mean, even if she's there, what does it matter? We have to study, there's-"

"Sam killed Lila, okay?" Wes burst out. He looked around at all of them, and the expression on his face told them that he'd been holding this in for a long time. "That's why she's going over there! She's trying to prove it."

Lexi stared in shock. She exchanged glances with Connor and Laurel, both of whom looked equally horrified. Sam Keating had killed Lila? She slumped back into her seat, as she tried to straighten her thoughts in her head. It wasn't possible. Surely Wes didn't seriously believe this? She leaned forward, to see that Conor looked amused.

"Wait. You're serious? This isn't a-a joke?"

Wes was stiff. "I don't care if you believe me. Just drive faster."

Connor laughed. He seemed amused, and he turned around to look at Lexi. "Are you hearing this?" he chuckled.

Lexi frowned, suddenly feeling angry. "Look Wes, this is insane. It was fine when you were a lovestruck kid chasing after your girlfriend, but I'm not going to sit here and listen to you tell me that Sam Keating killed Lila Stangard. You go have your stupid fantasies elsewhere, I have places to be. Connor, turn the car around."

Laurel shook her head, and held up a hand to stop Lexi from continuing her rant. "Why would Annalise defend Rebecca if she thought Sam was involved?"

"Because I said I'd go to the police if she didn't."

Connor laughed harder. "O-hoho. You blackmailed Annalise. The kid who that was so scared, he almost crapped his pants on the first day of class. This is ridiculous!"

"You two, shut up," Laurel muttered. She leaned forward to look at Wes. "Sam killed Lila?"

"Yes."

Lexi felt her head spin. She had intended to spend a quiet night at study group, catching up on her coursework. She didn't think that she'd be trying to catch the husband of her professor, who had apparently murdered a girl. She groaned and put a hand to her head, as she felt her phone buzz. Great. Asher was sending her messages now; she was supposed to be at his place. Lexi put her phone on silent and slid it back into her pocket. She couldn't deal with him right now.

Wes' phone rang, and he picked it up instantly. "Michaela?" he asked in surprise. "Whoa, whoa, Michaela, slow down. Who's fighting?" he demanded. There was a long pause, before he asked quickly. "Is Annalise there?" There was another long pause, and Wes looked frustrated. "Sam killed Lila, and Rebecca's trying to prove it," he blurted out finally.

Connor smiled weakly. "I would pay to see her face right now."

"Shut up," Lexi muttered, scooting to the end of her seat so that she could hear what was going on. She could hear Michaela's voice vaguely through the phone, but it wasn't coherent. Wes was clutching his phone so tightly that Lexi felt he would break it.

"Look, you can't leave her alone," Wes insisted. "Promise me you won't leave her alone. What's he doing? Michaela? Michaela, talk to me! What's happening?" Lexi heard a scream through the phone. "Michaela! Answer me!"

Connor swerved the car abruptly, managing to pull into the Keating's driveway. Wes leaped out of the car in an instant, rushing to the front door. Lexi stumbled out as well, hurrying after Connor. She could feel her heartbeat thudding in panic, and she grabbed frantically for Connor's hand as they ran into the house. Connor turned to glance at Lexi briefly.

"Be careful," he told her firmly and she nodded, tightening her grip on his hand. They made it up to the bedroom, where Sam Keating was banging on the bathroom door, screaming. Lexi stopped, suddenly feeling terrified of the violent man. She was relieved when Connor stepped in front to cover her slightly.

Wes burst into the bedroom. "Stop," he said, in a tone that none of them had ever imagined coming out of Wesley Gibbin's mouth.

"Get out of my house," Mr. Keating replied, turning around to glare at all of them.

"Let her go. Then we'll leave,"

"She took my computer. What the hell is she trying to get?"

"I don't know," Wes said. "Just… calm down, and we'll leave."

Sam Keating stared at them for a long moment, before slowly stepping away from the bathroom door. Lexi could feel her fingers going numb as she grasped Connor's hand tightly. There was something dangerous in his eyes that terrified her. Wes slowly walked towards the bathroom door, and called for Rebecca to come out. Her muffled voice came through the door and a few seconds later, it clicked open. She came out, slowly, staying behind Wes.

"What did you do?" Sam Keating hissed, as Rebecca set the laptop carefully back on the bed.

"Nothing. I didn't find anything," Rebecca replied simply.

They all edged away from Sam Keating, Wes slowly leading Rebecca towards the door. Lexi could feel her heartbeat slowing down. They would all get out of this unhurt. She released her grip on Connor's hand and was about to turn around when she heard a sudden thud. Whirling around, she realized in horror that Sam Keating had tackled Wes and Rebecca to the ground.

Michaela screamed as the three of them wrestled on the ground. A silver pen drive slipped out of Rebecca's hands, and Wes lunged for it. It was just out of his reach. "Grab it!" he screamed at Connor, who reached for it quickly. Sam Keating growled and hit Connor in the face, causing him to reel back and stumble into Lexi.

Lexi felt her legs give way under her as the heavy weight of Connor landed on her. The back of her head hit the wall with a dull thud, and Lexi felt the world spin for a brief moment. She could still hear the screams and yells, but the blinding pain in her head was making it all seem distant. Connor placed his weight on her leg, trying to get to his feet, and Lexi felt pain shoot through her ankle.

"Lex! Lex, get up, are you okay?" Connor demanded. He was clutching his face with one hand, trying to help her to her feet with the other. Lexi stood up shakily, just as Michaela screamed again. They both ran out of the bedroom and hurried to the landing, where Wes, Rebecca and Michaela were looking over the railing, at the fallen body of Sam Keating.

There was a long silence, during which Lexi could hear nothing but Michaela breathing in her ear. Her own mind went blank for a moment, before the first thought occurred to her with surprising clarity- He's dead.

"We need to call an ambulance," Michaela muttered shakily, as they all walked down the stairs and approached the body. Lexi could feel her head throbbing and her stomach was starting to spin. She grabbed onto an armchair, slowly lowering herself into it before her legs gave way.

"Why?' Connor demanded roughly as he walked over to stand beside Lexi. "He's dead. You killed him, Michaela."

Michaela looked horrified. "Me? He-he was coming at us! I was protecting Laurel!"

"Fine," Connor replied with a laugh. "You both killed him!"

"So did you, then."

"No-no, we didn't do anything!" He insisted, moving away from Michaela and grabbing Lexi's shoulder. He was looking at her for support but Lexi was frozen, her entire body stiff as she sunk into the armchair and clutched her pounding head.

"It doesn't matter what any of us did, we're all responsible!" Laurel declared. Rebecca was stealing private information off Sam's computer. That's a felony. And since we were all helping her- we could be charged with felony murder!"

Connor shook his head rapidly and took an angry step forward. "No-no-no… no prosecutor would do that, we were defending ourselves!"

"We broke into his house! He was defending himself!" Laurel declared.

Lexi looked up and noticed Connor shaking his head, looking frustrated. She got to her feet shakily, feeling her head spin. Despite that fact that her stomach and head were churning, her mind seemed unnaturally clear. She grabbed Connor's arm, stopping his from pacing. "Laurel's right," Lexi choked out. "It's group liability, Connor. It doesn't matter what any of us did, we're all ultimately responsible for the outcome. There is no way to prove who did what."

"I was just trying to turn in the trophy," Michaela stammered. "I wasn't part of your plan-"

"There was no plan!" Connor yelled, before pointing at Rebecca. "That was all her!"

Rebecca looked up calmly. "I didn't ask for anyone's help," she said calmly, before standing up and walking out of the room.

"Shouldn't we be calling an ambulance? Or the police, whatever, we can't just sit here!" Michaela cried.

Lexi felt her heart skip a beat as the reality of her situation suddenly sunk in. She was in a house with a murdered man lying in the next room. "No police. Nobody's calling the cops, do you hear me?" Lexi hissed in desperation. "They'll just come here and arrest all of us anyway, you don't get credit for calling the cops when you've just murdered somebody-"

Wes stood up. "It's true. No one knows we were here. We should leave."

"You wanna run?" Michaela demanded.

"I'm just saying he fell after drinking too much-" Wes began, but he was cut off by a loud thud and choking noises coming from the other room. They all sprang out of their seats, only to see Sam straddling Rebecca, his hands choking her throat while she writhed under him. Lexi felt her heart drop down into her stomach. He wasn't dead. How did we not check to see if he was dead-

"Get him off her!" Michaela screamed. Lexi watched in frozen horror as Wes grabbed the trophy, which was lying on the coffee table and hit Sam Keating in the back of the head with it.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Lexi felt her entire body go numb. She couldn't breathe. Tears were streaming down her face and she clutched desperately at Connor's jacket, trying to keep herself upright. Connor clutched Lexi shakily as he felt her gasping for breath. She was facing away from the dead body lying on the floor, but she could still see the blood behind her eyelids.

"Connor, I can't breathe-"Lexi choked out, feeling her windpipe close up. The pounding in her head was getting worse, and she could still see the spatters of blood- all over the floor, all over Rebecca's face, leaking out of the gaping wound in Sam Keating's dead. He was slumped on the floor in a pool of his own blood, which was growing larger and larger. She closed her eyes tightly, trying to block out the images. There was a shaky hand that was rubbing her back, but it was distant compared to the closing up of her throat and the pounding in her head.

"We need to leave," she heard Connor say, his voice trembling. "She's having a panic attack, she can't stand the sight of blood."

"Okay," Wes said calmly. "I'll get Rebecca cleaned up. Get ready to leave."

Lexi stumbled back against the wall as she felt Connor suddenly release her. She heard his footsteps hurrying in the other direction, and then the sound of Connor retching in the kitchen. She leaned against the wall, clutching her head. She couldn't think. Breathe, she tried to tell herself. Breathe. Calm down. You're okay. You just need your medicine. She felt Connor grab her hand as he returned, looking slightly more composed. She was still clutching at her throat, trying to breathe,

"Medicine-" she choked out. "Pocket-wallet-"

"Okay," Connor muttered, reaching into her jeans pocket and grabbing her wallet. He found a couple of small tablets inside and handed one to her, before realizing her hands were too shaky to hold the tiny pill. "Open up," he muttered, and shoved the pill into her mouth. He watched for a moment as she swallowed it. Her shaking seemed to stop within a few seconds. "Better?"

Lexi nodded. She could feel her head clearing. The throbbing pain was still there, but she was relaxing and her body stopped shaking. She looked up at Connor, letting out a deep breath. Oxygen flooded her lungs and shot to her head, instantly clearing her muddled brain. "I-I'm fine."

"Good," he muttered, rubbing his hands together nervously and then running them through his hair. "Good, we need to keep a clear head. We'll be fine, okay? You don't worry, Lex. We'll be fine."

Lexi slumped against the wall. She nodded, although she didn't believe a word that he said. This was completely beyond control. They had killed Sam Keating. Lexi wondered for a moment what Annalise would think; how anyone would react if they came home to find their husband lying dead on the hallway floor, covered in blood. She hurried to push the thoughts out of her head. Nothing could be done now. Sam was dead. That was over. The only question left was what was going to happen to them.

"We need to get out of here now," Lexi said. Her throat felt raw as the words came out. Connor was pacing nervously in front of her and she grabbed his sleeve to gather his attention. "We need to go now. The longer we linger, the more likely Annalise will come back."

Connor looked at her shakily. He was still tense, but he seemed relieved that Lexi was speaking with a clear head. "Right-yes, you're right. Wes! Wes, hurry the hell up, we need to go!" he yelled. Wes came out of the bathroom a few moments later, escorting a now clean Rebecca. Laurel was trying to coax a trembling Michaela to her feet.

"Okay, here's what we do. You guys take Michaela to the woods, I'll get Rebecca out of here," Wes declared authoritatively. Everyone turned to look at him with wide eyes.

"What?" Connor asked. "What, you're just going to leave?"

"She can't be here, you know that!"

Connor laughed hysterically. "Great!" he said, bouncing on his feet in frustration. Lexi felt panic rise up inside of her as well. Wes was the only one of them who could be trusted to keep a clear head. Michaela was talking to herself, Connor wouldn't stop giggling, and Laurel was too busy trying to comfort Michaela. Lexi felt adrenaline pump in her head. Screw Wes. He was only concerned about Rebecca; they needed to start acting by themselves if they wanted to save their skins. "Okay, fine," Lexi declared, stepping forward. "Here's what we'll do-"

A loud thudding sounded from the front door. Lexi felt her skin crawl at the sound, and the voice that followed. "Hey!" the muffled voice yelled. "Are you guys in there?"

What is he doing here? Lexi thought, feeling her heartbeat thud. How did he know that she was here? She clutched the wall desperately, shrinking away from the front door, as if that would make Asher go away. He couldn't be here; he couldn't know what was happening. "We have to get rid of him!" Lexi whispered frantically. "Is the door locked? He can't come in, right?"

Asher was still yelling. "I see your car in the driveway, Connor! Open up the damn door!" he yelled, his voice muffled. Knowing Asher, he would try to find some other way to get in. Lexi glanced around the windows desperately, hoping that none of them were open. The knocking shifted from the door to the window, and Lexi could see the faint outline of Asher trying to peek in past the curtain.

"Everyone get down!" Laurel hissed. Lexi felt an arm pull her to the ground, and she sank down to it, feeling her heart sink. There was no way Asher would just leave. He would come in and find them. She wondered briefly what he would think; walking in to find her crouching beside a dead man in a pool of blood.

"Are you guys seriously trying to ignore me right now? Is Lexi in there with you?" Asher demanded, pounding harder on the window and trying to peek in despite the closed curtains. "Let me in! You guys seriously call me immature? I'm like, the most grown up grown up eve compared to your dumb asses! Who's the one who promises to come over and then ditches me later, huh, Lexi?"

Lexi clasped her hands over her mouth, trying to control her breathing. Asher was still pounding on the door as Laurel whirled around to face her. "You guys are back together?" she asked Lexi desperately.

Lexi was breathing shakily. "This isn't really the time-"

"We should let him in," Laurel suggested quickly. "If he's been in the house he'll be a part of it, you know? The five of us have witnessed him here. And if he claimed otherwise, he'd be incriminating Lexi along with the rest of us, which he wouldn't do-"

Lexi stared at Laurel in horror. "Are you crazy? What makes you think he wouldn't testify against any of us? If he calls the cops right this moment-"

Conner cut her off. "No, no, it's a good idea. Then daddy Millstone will help get us off!"

"We could get him to step in the blood," Rebecca suggested.

Lexi could feel anger boiling in her stomach. She glared around at all of them. It was bad enough that all of them were screwed, how could they even think about dragging an innocent person into this horrible mess? She took a deep breath. She wouldn't let Asher's future get screwed along with hers. "If you're going to let him in, then just know that I have no intention of giving false witness against him," Lexi replied sharply. "I will tell the cops that he wasn't involved."

There was a long silence as they all looked at each other. "Wait," Laurel whispered, slowly getting up and moving over to the window. "He's gone."

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Lexi could feel frozen twigs crunching underneath her feet as she paced in the wood. Michaela was screaming in her high, panicky voice, Connor was yelling at Wes and Laurel was trying to cut them off with her usual brilliant logic. Lexi clutched her hair, wishing they would all just shut up. There was a dead body, didn't they understand that if they didn't work together then they would all end up in jail? She felt herself panicking. They were in over their heads. They were going to get caught.

"We flip a coin," Wes said finally. Everyone froze and turned to look at him. "Heads we get the body, tails we leave it where it is."

The coin flipped into the air, and Lexi watch in horror as it landed back on Wes' hand. "Heads," he whispered. "We go back for the body."

"No!" Michaela cried. "This makes no sense at all! We go back for the body and then what? What do we do with it? Have any of you thought about that?"

"We burn it!" Wes replied. "It'll get rid of our DNA and the bonfire will cover the smoke, it's kind of a perfect plan!"

Laurel's eyes widened. "That's it! The bonfire! That's our alibi!"

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

"Hey, can I have that?" Lexi yelled over the loud screaming and music that surrounded the bonfire. Connor was taking selfies with his phone; Lexi was looking around trying to spot as many people as she knew to go speak to. A random guy clutching a large glass of alcohol paused at her request.

"Uh, yeah, sure!" he replied, handing her the glass. Lexi took it and downed the entire thing in one shot. The guy watched her in amazement, laughing as she handed the empty paper cup back to him. "Wow that was amazing! I'm David, and you are?"

"Alexis Gray," Lexi replied smoothly. She winked at him, feeling the burning in her throat from drinking it all at once. She grabbed the collar of his jacket and pulled him closer seductively. "Get me another glass of that and maybe I'll give you my number, handsome!"

The guy grinned and hurried off, just as Connor came and put his arm around her shoulder, holding his cell phone camera up to their faces. "Say cheese!" he told her; Lexi grinned as widely as she could as the flash went off in her face.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Lexi took a deep breath. She was sitting in the front seat of Connor's SUV. He'd dropped off Wes, Laurel and Michaela, after they lugged Sam Keating's dead body into the woods and burnt it. Lexi could feel her hands shaking. It felt like a dream. Her head was spinning and she couldn't think straight. Despite everything that had happened, she knew one thing for sure.

They were going to get caught.

"We're going to jail," Lexi said quietly. She turned to look at Connor's sweaty, slightly manical face. He glanced at her and Lexi knew that he was thinking the same thing. It didn't matter that they'd cleaned the trophy with bleach or burned the body in the woods. There were too many holes. They were going to get caught, and they were going to jail. The exhaustion of the whole night hit her at once. "Oh god, Connor, we're going to jail," she croaked. "My parents- how am I ever going to look my father in the eye? David Gray, the ideal self-sacrificing American cop and his daughter is in jail for murder."

"You're worried about what your parents will think?" Connor demanded. "How about your future? What was the use of everything we've done to get to this point in our lives if we're going to spend the rest of it in jail?"

Lexi shook her head. "We can't go to jail. It'll kill my Dad. We can't. We have to do something."

"We've done what we can." Connor swerved the car abruptly, and turned to look at Lexi with a sharp gaze. "You realize we can't trust the rest of them, right? They'd sell us out to save themselves, the same way we would do to them. We can't trust them."

"I know," Lexi whispered. She leaned her head against the cool window, glancing out at the familiar street. "T-take a left here."

"What? Why?"

"Just do it."

Connor took a left, before he realized where they were. "You want me to drop you off at Asher's?" He stopped the car at the side of the street. "Lexi, you are not going to tell him anything! Do you hear me? You don't say a fucking word to Asher Millstone. I don't care if you think loverboy will save your ass, because he won't!"

"I won't tell him!" Lexi cried. "For God's sake, do you not have any faith in me? I was the one who didn't want to let him into the house, I don't want him involved in any of this crap! I'll keep my mouth shut, okay? He's going to provide me with an alibi for the rest of the night."

Connor took a deep breath. "Okay. Go."

Lexi nodded. She unbuckled her seatbelt, before turning and leaning over to hug Connor tightly. He stank of blood, lighter fluid and dirt, but she closed her eyes for a long moment, pretending that they were fine. "It's going to be okay. We'll get through this."

Connor looked at her for a long moment as she released him. "I hope so."

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Asher opened the door, rubbing his eyes slightly to get the sleep out of them. He blinked in surprise when he saw Lexi standing on the doorstep. She was covered in sweat; her jacket was dirty and she was breathing heavily. His eyes widened at the sight of her.

"Lexi?"

Lexi couldn't control herself. The sight of Asher; the concern on his face, the way his dark eyes widened made tears well up in her eyes. The exhaustion of the entire night hit her, and she felt sudden, choking sobs erupt from her throat. She couldn't control them. She began gasping for breath as tears streamed down her face. Asher stared at her in shock.

"Lexi! Shit, what happened?" he rushed forward, pulling her into the house before wrapping his arms tightly around her. He half-expected her to scream and push him away, but she clung to him, arms wrapped around his neck to tightly that it hurt. She was sobbing uncontrollably into his shirt. He could feel the shuddering breaths that she was struggling to take and he held her tightly to stop her shaking. "Shh, it's okay. It's okay. You're all right. Calm down, Lexi, it's okay," he whispered, gently stroking her back. Her shaking relaxed eventually, and her sobs reduced to quiet sniffles.

"I'm sorry," Lexi whispered, once she had calmed down. She kept her face pressed against his shirt, inhaling his familiar scent. It was comforting; she didn't want to let go. But Asher gently pushed at her arms and held her a little further away so that he could look at her face. She shook her head. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"It's fine," Asher replied quietly. Lexi took a step back, forcing him to drop his arms back to his sides. She quickly wiped away her tears with the back of her hand. "Where have you been all night, Lexi? You were supposed to come over hours ago!"

Lexi hesitated. "I went to the bonfire," she mumbled. Her legs were starting to feel weak. She turned and sat down gingerly on the sofa, afraid that she might collapse Asher followed, kneeling down on the ground beside her legs and putting his hands on her knees. "You're okay, though, right? Are you hurt?"

Lexi shook her head. She wrapped her arms around herself. "I'm fine. I'm just a little drunk. I-I feel dirty. Can I take a shower?"

"Y-yeah. Of course."

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Asher paced outside the bathroom door. He could hear the sound of running water; Lexi was in the shower, and she'd been in there for a long time. He couldn't understand why she would come over at this time of night. She was acting so oddly; jittery, not making eye contact with him. There was something in her eyes that made him think she was scared.

"Lex, are you okay in there?" he yelled through the bathroom door. It suddenly struck him that she could have collapsed in the shower. She'd seemed weak earlier, and she wasn't her usual self. He breathed a sigh of relief when he heard her muffled voice through the door.

"I'm fine," she replied.

"Okay, good. Are-are you hungry? There's a lot of snacks here, although I could-I could make something if you want. Do you want anything?" he asked nervously.

The sound of running water stopped. There was a short pause as he heard the screech of the shower curtains being opened. "I'm fine," Lexi's voice came through the door, a little clearer. There was the padding of footsteps, and then the bathroom door clicked open. Lexi stepped out. She was wrapped in a white towel, her dark, wet hair over one shoulder. She seemed cleaner and calmer- but the same haunted look was still in her eyes.

"Are you sure you're not hungry?" Asher asked hesitantly. He was trying not to stare at the drops of water that slid down her neck, and into the top of her towel. Lexi closed the bathroom door behind her. She stepped closer to him, and shook her head.

"I'm not hungry."

Asher nodded, before sitting down on the edge of his bed. "Then will you tell me what happened? I've never seen you cry like that- you had me terrified, I thought you were hurt, I thought someone had died-"

Lexi twitched slightly at the sentence. She stepped closer to him, placing both her hands on his cheeks. Asher looked up at her, his eyes filled with worry. He fixed his gaze on hers, as she cupped his face gently. "Asher, do you love me?" she asked in a shaky whisper.

Asher stared at her. "What?"

"You said the other day in Keating's house that I was the only girl you've ever been in love with. Did you mean that? Do you love me?"

"Fuck, Lex, of course I do. That's what I've been trying to prove to you this whole time!" he insisted, lifting a hand to touch hers. He grasped her fingers in his, feeling her soft, damp skin. He looked at the beautiful girl in front of him; her eyes were welling up with tears again and she looked broken. He took a deep breath. "Lexi, I love you."

"Then I need you to do what I ask," Lexi whispered. She dropped her hands from his cheek, before moving to sit sideways on his lap, the towel still wrapped around her torso. Asher grasped her waist, holding her upright as she buried her face into his neck. He could feel her wet skin; she smelled of soap. "Don't ask me any questions tonight," she mumbled against his neck. She was pressing light kisses against his skin. Asher closed his eyes as he felt something stir inside him.

"Okay," he whispered, clutching her waist tightly as she gently kissed his skin. He bit his lip to hold in a groan. "I won't ask you any questions. What else?"

Lexi pulled back from his neck, and tilted his head up so that it was inches away from hers. Her lips brushed lightly against his. "Help me believe that you really love me," she mumbled. She kissed him again, her fingers sliding into his hair and clutching it. "Prove it to me, Millstone."

Asher closed his eyes for a long moment. He could feel Lexi pressing kisses to his skin desperately, almost as though she was begging for comfort. Her soft lips were caressing his jawline, his cheeks and his throat. Asher paused, sliding a hand under her knees so he could lift her off his lap. He laid her back on the bed; the white towel was sliding off and revealing more of her skin.

"Are you sober?" he asked her.

Lexi's head fell back on the pillows. She stared up at him and nodded quietly. "Yes."

That was all he needed to hear.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

A/N – Sooooo. There you guys go. Most people wanted me to ignore Bonnie/Asher, so that's what I'm doing! Let me know what you think.