Alexithymia.

Alex could feel the warm Maryland sun, shining through the cracks in the blinds, on his face. He squeezed his eyelids tighter to block out all light. No way was he ready to get out of bed this early.

But as soon as the smell of fresh coffee infiltrated his nostrils he was out of bed in a flash.

Alex found Adeline sitting at the table, sitting Indian-style on a chair, drinking a steaming cup of coffee.

Adeline looked different this morning to Alex, for some reason. Her blonde hair was left un-straightened, her milk-white face was void of make-up and sleep-deprived. She looked awful.

Alex quickly sat down in the chair across from her and asked, “Are you alright, Sunny?”

She shook her head, staring blankly at the table top in front of her, “No. Nightmares. Horrible. Terrible. Nightmares. Screaming. Blood. Death.”

Alex gingerly grabbed her hand. Cold. “They were just dreams, Sunny.”

“Nightmares,” she shuddered.

“Well, everything’s alright now,” Alex reassured her. “I'm here and I'm not going to let anything happen to you.”

Adeline shook her head, “When I close my eyes I can still see it. The terror, the horror, the pain.”

“See what, Adeline?”

“A car crash,” her gaze lifted from the table and to Alex's eyes. “My parents’ car crash.”

Alex got up from his chair, walked to Adeline’s side of the table, helped her up and wrapped her in a tight hug, “Everything’s going to be fine, Adeline. I promise. I’ll make it all better.”

“You can't,” she said solemnly. “No one can, Alex. And it's fine with me, but just please don’t try to. It's a waste of time.”

He pulled back and peered into her ocean-blue eyes, “You are worth every bit of my time.”

“Really?” there was now venom in her tone. “If I'm worth every bit of your time why have you been recently ignoring me, partying all the time, whoring around? God Alex, I don’t even know who you are anymore. I don’t think you even care about me anymore. Just because I'm no Brynne Parker, doesn’t mean you should treat me like chopped liver.”

Alex dropped his hands from her as if he’d just touched a scolding pot, “Ignoring you? I never ignored you, Adeline. Just because you have some fucking mental problem and your parents are dead doesn’t mean my world needs to revolve around you! I'm not your fucking babysitter. I have my own life, and you need to get one of your own.”

“It’s not my fault I have a mental issue and my fucking parents were killed in a damn car crash!” she hollered at him, hot tears rolling down her face. “Who the hell are you, Alex? Because I have no idea.”

“Cry me a fucking river,” Alex seethed. “Stop feeling sorry for yourself, and move on.”

“I’d rather fucking drown you in a river,” Adeline growled, narrowing her eyes at him.

Alex stared at her. He’d never heard Adeline so angry before. He didn’t even know she could get angry. All Alex knew Adeline to be was sweet. And especially since he loved her, and this anger was directed towards him, it hurt even worse.

He didn’t even know why he’d gone off on Adeline like that. She really hadn’t even said anything that bad. Maybe it was the fact that she said he didn’t care about her. . . because that was so incredibly wrong.

Alex opened his mouth to speak, but noticed Adeline was no longer in front of him.

He ran into the living room and say Adeline opening the front door, "Where are you going?"

"To see Addaleigh," she told him tonelessly, and slammed the door.

Alex stared at the closed door in wonderment.

Adeline hadn't gone to see Addaleigh in nearly two years. . .