Come Around

"We need to talk," Cassie said, turning the TV off in the middle of the show and dropping the remote into her lap.

Alex scrunched his forehead, "Are you breaking up with me?" he asked.

"No."

"Then can it wait until the show is over?" he asked, not waiting for a response as he reached for the remote and turned the TV back on.

Cassie sighed. Angie would be home soon and more than likely would want to discuss their assignment for work. That wasn't a problem, but Cassie wanted to talk it over with Alex so it didn't come as quite as big of a surprise to him.

"It's kind of important," she mumbled.

Either he ignored her or he didn't hear her. She tried not to get frustrated with him, but there were some ground rules that needed to be laid down. It wasn't going to be all fun and games in the studio. It was going to be business, and it was important to her that he knew and understood.

When it went to commercial, she sighed again, a little more loudly than before. Alex looked at her, confusion playing across his face.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing. It's just kind of shitty that the only thing you would deem important enough to talk to me about before the show ends is us breaking up," she said. It came out a little more harshly than she intended.

"Are you seriously upset with me right now?" he asked and when she didn't reply, he turned the TV off, "I'm sorry. If I had realized it was something important, I would've listened. What's up?"

"Forget it," she said, "Just watch the rest of the show. We can talk when it's over."

Alex stayed quiet and stared at her. After a minute, he drew in a breath, "Cassie, I feel like I can't win this one. If I turn the TV back on, you're going to be upset that I don't want to talk. And if I don't turn it back on, you're going to be mad that I didn't listen when you said it was okay. I don't know what to do."

In spite of herself, a small smile broke across her face, "It's really fine if you watch the rest of the show. I didn't mean to overreact."

"And I didn't mean to be a jerk," he said, setting the remote in her lap, "What do you need to talk to me about?"

"You know how you guys are going into the studio this week to get started on the new record? Well, Angie and I are going to be there with you."

Alex's whole face lit up, "That's great! I knew someone was going to be there, but I didn't know it would be you. Why don't you look happy about this?"

"Because I'm not."

"Okay," he said slowly as his face fell, "Why not?"

Cassie sighed, "Somehow Justin found out that we're dating. I can't say I'm really surprised because sometimes I think things are on the internet before they ever happen. Anyway, I got a big lecture this morning about how it's unprofessional. I tried to get out of it, but I couldn't because Vanessa, Angie and I are the only people who actually know how to do our jobs and Vanessa apparently has a million other things she's working on."

"I'm still not seeing the problem."

"Let me spell it out for you," she said, irritation present in her tone, "Justin told me flat out that I can't date you."

He raised and eyebrow, "And what did you say?" he asked cautiously.

"Obviously, I told him where to stick it. My personal life is my business and he has no say in what I do," she said.

"Then what's the problem, Cassandra?" Alex asked, matching her irritation.

"The problem is that he's right!" she said exasperatedly, "It's highly unprofessional for me to work so closely with someone I'm dating."

Alex sighed, "Okay, but you said you're not breaking up with me. So how exactly is this going to work?" he asked.

"We just need to lay down some ground rules," she said, "When we're in the studio, we have strictly a business relationship. That means there's no kissing, no unnecessary touching, no discussion of anything that happens outside of the studio."

"So, it's basically like we break up every morning?"

Cassie rolled her eyes, "No, it's not like that at all. We just have to separate our business relationship from our personal relationship. I'm going to have to do the same thing with Rian and probably even with Jack. And I have to put my loathing and disgust for Zack aside too. I'm not saying it's going to be easy for either of us, but it's necessary."

Before Alex could say anything, the front door burst open and Angie bounded into the living room, a huge smile pasted across her face.

"Did you hear about our assignment?" she asked excitedly.

"Yeah."

Angie's face fell similarly to the way Alex's had, "Why aren't you excited?" she asked.

"All Time Low kind of sucks," Cassie said, her tone disinterested and her face completely serious. Next to her, Alex laughed quietly as Angie's jaw dropped and after a few moments, Cassie was unable to keep a straight face. "I got lectured for dating Alex," she said.

"By Justin?" Angie asked and Cassie nodded. "That's weird. He didn't say anything about Rian and me."

"He probably doesn't know about you and Rian. Let's be honest, I love Rian and all, but I think people don't even realize he's in the band sometimes."

"They don't," Alex said.

"So there aren't any huge rumors going around the internet or wherever about you two. And I wasn't about to sell you out," she said.

Rian wandered in and wrapped his arms around Angie's waist from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder, "Sell who out?"

"Jesus, are you like a dog, or something?" Cassie asked.

"Excuse me?"

"Did you smell her coming home? Where did you even come from?"

Angie and Rian both laughed, "I was so excited about our assignment that I went over to their house to tell him about it. He came back here with me but got a phone call right when we got here, which is why he didn't come in with me," Angie explained.

Cassie stared at her friend blankly, "Good story, tell it again," she said.

"You asked, asshole." Angie replied, laughing.

Rian took a few steps forward, arms still around Angie and fell into the chair, bringing her with him. She smiled and adjusted herself, finding a comfortable position and resting her head against his.

"You two disgust me. Have I mentioned that lately?" Cassie asked.

"Your boyfriend disgusts everyone," Rian said.

"Really?" Alex asked, "Because that's not what your mom said."

Without warning, Cassie smacked Alex in chest hard, causing him let out a very uncomfortable grunt. Rian and Angie didn't even try to hold back their amusement as they burst into laughter.

"I was kidding!" Alex said, rubbing his chest.

Cassie shrugged and turned the TV on. They all watched in relative silence for awhile before Cassie dropped the remote in Alex's lap and stood, heading for her room. She grabbed a notebook from her desk and sat in the chair in the corner of her room, pulling her feet up on seat and using her knees as a table. It wasn't long before she became lost in her thoughts as she scribbled down notes and ideas for the time she would be in the studio with the guys.

Downstairs, they were still silent, eyes glued to the TV set. At a commercial, Alex looked over at Rian, "I don't really disgust people, do I?"

Rian laughed, "Nah, dude. I wasn't serious."

"Oh," he said and was quiet for a minute, "Where did Cassie go? She's got up a long time ago. I figured she would be back."

Angie and Rian both shrugged. Alex stood and went upstairs, stopping in Cassie's doorway. He smiled as he watched her, thinking how cute she was when she was focused on something.

He leaned against her door frame and said nothing. After a few minutes, she closed her notebook and set it down before looking up and seeing him.

"Hey," she said.

"Are you okay?" he asked, stepping into her room.

She nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine. I was just writing down some ideas that popped into my head. I didn't want to chance it and lose any of them."

"Work, work, work," he said, "But since you're done now, how does going out for sushi sound?"

Cassie smiled, "You want to take me on a date?" she asked.

"Of course I do. Why wouldn't I?"

She shrugged and walked over to him, placing a quick kiss on his lips before heading into the bathroom. Alex sat on her bed and waited patiently for her.

"Thank Jesus," she mumbled as she emerged.

Alex's ears perked up and he looked at her, unable to read her expression, "Hmm?" he asked.

"I'm not pregnant."