Sick Little Games

Alex Gaskarth walked towards Jack’s living room, still with a jumbled mind and uneasy words flowing through his head. He still wasn’t sure what to say to Katherine, but at least now, he had somewhat of an idea. He reached his destination a lot faster than he would have hoped, clearing his throat as he got there, causing both Katherine and Christine to jolt their heads towards him. Christine smiled softly at him as he stood awkwardly next to the couch, taking Lucy with her into the other room so she could leave Katherine and Alex alone.

At first, neither of them uttered a single word. The tension was evident from a mile away, however, so was the chemistry.

“This is crazy,” Alex finally spoke up, breaking the silence.

“What?”

“Why aren’t we talking again?” Alex asked, sighing. Besides the fact that this whole situation was kind of awkward, neither of them had any kind of excuse, and Alex knew Katherine knew it as well as he did.

“Well…” she trailed off, trying to think of something valid, “I don’t know.”

Alex sat next to her on the couch, a soft laugh escaping his mouth as he shook his head at their behavior. “Come on!” he smirked, the spark of an idea portraying through his features, and of course, through his mind. He took Katherine’s hand in his own, taking her towards the front door. “We’re going out!” he yelled to their friends, wherever they were, as he continued to drag her outside.

“Where are we going?” Katherine asked curiously as the two of them jumped into Alex’s car, slamming the doors behind them. Alex stuck his keys in the car’s ignition and held onto the steering wheel as the car started, backing out of Jack’s driveway.

“It’s a surprise,” he smiled, looking over at Katherine, completely aware of how cliché he was sounding. She just nodded her head slowly, smiling at him as he reached out and grabbed her hand delicately, thumbing circles in it.

The drive was so short that they could have walked, but Alex was too lazy to do so. He parked his car and jumped out of it, unable to see Katherine’s expression of the place he chose, for he ran over to the other side of his car as fast as he could, opening her door for her. She giggled as he grinned at her, and she muttered a simple “thanks” as she got out of his car.

Katherine breathed in the air around her, her shoulder blades going up closer to her chin as she did so. “How’d you know I loved this place?” she asked, looking around at the playground before her.

Alex shrugged, “Lucky guess.”

-----

Katherine Murphy didn’t know what to say when she was around Alex Gaskarth in the first place, now, she especially didn’t. She didn’t know what was happening between them, and she was such a mess of emotions, but in that moment, she didn’t really care. In that moment, she forgot everything. In that moment, she was infinite. She never wanted time spent with Alex to ever end.

“I call monkey bars!” Alex exclaimed, running towards the playground in front of them. Katherine followed his lead, laughing as she ran after him. He grinned as he reached his destination, causing her to grin as well. If Alex Gaskarth on the monkey bars wasn’t the most amusing thing she’d ever seen in her entire life, she wasn’t quite sure what was. Katherine laughed at him, his pants hanging half way down his legs from swinging them around so much as he climbed across.

“Shit,” Alex muttered, jumping off the bars and landing on his feet in the wood chips below. “That hurts your hands like a bitch. Kiss them better?” he smirked, throwing his hands in Katherine’s face. She laughed, shaking her head ‘no’ and running the opposite way as Alex.

Unfortunately for her, she was not a good runner and Alex caught up to her in no time, wrapping his arms around her waist in a ‘gotcha!’ kind of way. Since it was summer and absolutely no one was on the playground, it was suddenly silent when they stopped running and laughing, except for Alex’s slow breathing on Katherine’s neck as he placed his head on her shoulder blade, and the faint sound of his heartbeat. She breathed in deeply, smiling as he swung her around gently, twirling them both in a circle. Katherine stared at Alex when he stopped, her eyes getting lost in his. She stared at the genuine smile planted on his lips, keeping her eyes on the prize.

It’s not hard to guess what happens next.

The two of their faces gradually came together as the seconds passed, however, seconds felt like hours in Katherine’s mind. Time came to a halt as their faces inched closer and closer, both of them closing their eyes as their lips gently brushed against each other, moving in synch. Katherine broke it seconds later, and she smiled up at the boy standing in front of her, but he just pouted in responce. She smirked, realizing how soon she cut off their kiss, and opened her mouth to speak.

“We really need to talk about us, Alex,” she sighed, dreading this conversation as the worry spilled out of her voice. “What are we going to do?”

“Well…” Alex trailed off, looking like he was trying to find the right words to say. “If you need help with anything Lucy-related, I’ll be there, okay?” he asked, and she nodded. “This is all so crazy…” he looked at his feet, kicking the wood chips below him, “But I’d love to call you my girlfriend, Katherine,” he said softly.

“Do I get a say in this?” she smirked, looking up at his deep brown eyes.

“Maybe,” he replied, pausing, before he spoke up again. “Hey Katherine?”

“What, Alex?”

“Do you want to be my girlfriend?”

“Yeah, Alex.”

And their lips met for the second time that evening.