Nothing Goes As Orchestrated

Cassie slowly made her way into the living room, Alex following behind her. She sat down on the love seat, staring at the floor. He took a seat on the couch and reached for the remote. He pressed the power button, silencing the only sound in the house and stared at Cassie.

"Why did you come here?" he asked quietly, finally speaking after nearly ten minutes of silence.

"I don't know," Cassie replied just as quietly, not looking up from the floor and he sighed, "Every few years, I seem to feel the need to screw up my life," she said."

"Um, okay?"

She sighed, "I guess that's what this is," she said.

Her words stung him as they tumbled from her mouth. He hadn't been expecting that. Really, he hadn't known what to expect, but of everything she could've said, that wasn't even something that had crossed his mind.

"Good to know how you really feel," he said quietly, his eyes leaving her and turning toward the floor.

Upon hearing the sadness in his voice, Cassie looked up at him and bit her lip, "That came out wrong," she said, "I just," she sighed softly to herself, "I need someone to talk to. But before I can do that, I think you and I need to talk."

"I think you've pretty much said all there is to say," Alex replied.

"Don't do this. Don't shut me out again. That's what got us in this whole mess in the first place."

"What do you want me to say, Cassandra?" he asked, his voice raising slightly as he looked up and caught her eye, "Huh? What do you want from me?"

"I don't know!" she exclaimed, "I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place, Alex. I don't know how to trust you. I don't trust myself around you, especially when no one else is around. But fuck if I don't miss you."

Alex laughed dryly, "You don't trust yourself alone with me, yet you show up at my house in the middle of the night when you know that my only roommate isn't home because he's at your house," he said, "Your actions contradict your words."

"I'm aware of that," she said, "But I can't talk to you about this when anyone else is around because nobody knows," she paused, "Well Rian knows about the night after the club. So does Angie. But they don't know about the following day."

"You really think Rian is that oblivious? He knows, Cassandra."

Cassie sighed, "Either way, it's not anyone's business but ours. And I'm not going to have this conversation with you if other people are around," she said.

"What conversation is there to have? I don't get it. What more can you say?" he said exasperatedly.

She didn't say anything for awhile. After a few minutes, Alex's frustration grew to the point that he couldn't sit there and look at her anymore. He stood and walked toward the kitchen.

"I just want to know why it's so difficult for us to be friends," she said quietly.

He stopped and turned to look at her, "Because we don't know how to be friends," he said, watching her for a moment before turning back around and disappearing into the kitchen.

Cassie sat and stared at the floor. He was right. They had so quickly moved past being friends in the beginning and then when things started to get bad, they had were suddenly nothing. She felt moisture building behind her eyes and sighed to herself. If there was one thing she tired of, it was crying.

She stood up and went into the kitchen when she heard Alex slamming things around in the kitchen. He had a beer on the counter and was searching through the drawers, slamming them shut when he didn't find what he was looking for.

With a roll of her eyes, Cassie grabbed the bottle from the counter and held it tightly with one hand, using the other to pop the top off. She set it back down and Alex looked at her as he grabbed it and took a drink.

"You know," he said quietly, "The moment I fell completely for you, and I'm talking to the point of no turning back, was the first time I saw you do that at the Runner Runner house."

Cassie's eyebrow raised, "Really?" she said curiously.

He nodded, "It wasn't so much the fact that you could do it, but just that you did. And with such ease," he said, getting quieter with each word due to the look she was giving him, "It's probably stupid but..." he trailed off as she moved closer to him, her eyes falling closed as she did so.

Just before their mouths met, Alex's phone vibrated against the counter. Cassie quickly jumped back, her eyes snapping open. When he didn't make a move to pick up his phone, she did, glancing at the text message that was one the screen.

"Your girlfriend wants to know if you're awake," she said, holding the phone out to him.

He stared at Cassie for a minute and then looked at his phone. Reluctantly, he reached out and took it from her, reading the text for himself and then sending a reply. It wasn't long before his phone vibrated again and he read the message.

"She can't sleep," he said, pressing the buttons on his phone's keyboard.

"Bummer," Cassie replied, taking a step closer to Alex again.

He kept his eyes on her as she slid her fingers down his bare chest. His phone vibrated once more and he looked at it, then back at the girl in front of him. Her fingers were at the waistband of his shorts.

"She wants to come over."

Cassie slid her fingers across Alex's stomach and around his side. She moved even closer so their bodies were touching and her hands slid up his back and down again. Her breath tickled his neck when she spoke.

"It's your call. I can always leave," she said.

Alex felt her remove her soft hands from his skin and her body leave his. Before she got far, he set his phone down and pulled her back to him, their lips meeting in the middle. The kiss was rough and needy. And before long, Alex was sliding down the zipper on her hoodie, revealing the tank top she had on underneath it. Just as he began to remove the sweatshirt, his phone rang.

The two broke apart and stared at the phone. After taking a deep breath, Alex picked it up and pressed a button.

"Hello?" he said. Cassie was still close enough to him that she could hear the girl on the other end.

"Why did you stop texting me?"

"I sent a reply to your last message," Alex lied, his eyes glued to Cassie as her lips pressed against his chest.

"I never got it," she said, "Can I come over?"

As Cassie's mouth moved over his skin, she felt his muscles tighten as she got closer to the spot she knew would make him lose control.

"I'm kind of busy right now, Chelley" he said, biting his lip.

"With what?" she asked, "It's one in the morning."

"I'm helping Rian with something," he lied again. Cassie was getting dangerously close to causing him to give them away, "I have to go. I'll call you tomorrow morning and explain everything," he said, not waiting for a response before hanging up. Just as he did so, Cassie bit down hard enough to elicit a gasp from him, but not so hard as to leave any kind of mark.

"Fuck," he muttered, dropping his phone on the counter and grabbed the hem of her shirt, pulling it over her head.